I glance up at Hannah and give her a genuine smile. She is too good for this place. But I am glad she is here.
***
I toss and turn. My dreams are filled with Vicky growing taller, her lanky body bending around me. Alex is in the background laughing maniacally and Lucas lurks in the shadows, watching me with dark empty eyes.
I open my eyes and they all turn to shadows that dissolve slowly. All except for one shadow. The blood turns to ice in my veins as I become fully awake. A large frame is standing in the corner of my room watching me.
CHAPTER TEN
LUCAS
Her eyes are trained on me as she clutches the quilt in her hands. I don’t know how I ended up here, but after hearing that Vicky hurt her, I just had a primal need to make sure she’s okay.
“Hello.” Her voice trembles.
I smile. She can’t see my features, the room is cast in shadows but she knows I’m here. I step forward like this is normal, like me being in her room isn’t strange.
“I heard one of the girls attacked you,” I say frankly.
She pushes the quilt fully off her and her small feet touch the carpeted floor. “Lucas?” Outrage tinges her words.
She’s standing up now but she doesn’t come any closer, so I take a step towards her.
“What are you doing in my room?”
“This is my room.” I inform her and her brows draw down, she’s standing in a pool of light that’s filtered in from the window, and she’s a vision in her white nightdress. My trousers tighten as my eyes roam across her body.
“I’d like you to leave, please.”
I tighten my fist at her dismissal.
“I’ll leave when I’m ready.” I bite back the anger that’s starting to swirl inside me feeds my words. Taking another step towards her, she flinches when our eyes meet, as half my face comes into view, at that moment I want to ask her what she sees, that frightens her so much.
Being this close to her, I can see the mark left on her porcelain skin. I close the distance and I touch her cheek, she flinches again like I might hurt her. When I don’t move, she remains still and I stroke my thumb across the scratch.
I didn’t have to ask why one of the girls hurt her, I knew why.
“She will be removed from the house.” My eyes trail up to Ella’s large green ones. Her mouth opens and my focus moves to her lips. The pulse in her neck jumps, I want to kiss her neck and see what happens.
“It wasn’t her fault.” Her words are low but grab my attention.
She swallows. “If anyone is to blame, it’s you.”
Her neck that I wanted to kiss only moments ago, looks so fragile, like If I wrapped my hands around it, I could break it so easily. I take a step away from her.
“How is it my fault?” I tilt my head and wait as patiently as I can as she chews on her lip. My trousers grow tighter. Is she doing that on purpose? Is she trying to tease me?
“You made it seem like I had asked for the dance when I hadn’t.” Her chest rises and falls faster the longer I look at her. Her lips tug down at the edges like she might cry.
My fists clench, I hadn’t done anything wrong. I am only here to make sure she is okay. I have no idea why she is always so hostile towards me.
“I said I’ll have her removed.” My words carry my anger and her body recoils from me.
She’s afraid, but not enough. “No, I don’t want that.”
I’m in front of her now, moving quickly. “Stop answering me back.” She drops her gaze and focuses on the floor. Her breathing is heavy and real fear is gripping her. I close my eyes and inhale. She smells of soap and something feminine. I clench my fists causing the pain to pulse up my arms and I soak it up.
I hate her silence.
“I saw you with Alex.”
Her head shoots up and something settles around me now that I have her attention.
She’s shaking her head. “I barely spoke to him.”
I raise both eyebrows. “But you spoke to him.” I can feel the smile grow on my face as she clutches her chest.
“What are you going to do?” She sounds so resigned that I am going to punish her.
I exhale loudly and she shivers. “I don’t know yet.” I focus on her lips. I could kiss her. The thought pops into my head quickly.
“You could kiss me,” I speak my mind.
Her mouth falls open and color splashes her cheeks. “No,” she says the word but I can see how her eyes keep flickering to my lips.
“I told you before, Ella, your eyes give away too much.” I take a step towards her and she doesn’t stay still, she takes a step back. I keep moving towards her until her back hits the wall and she’s trapped, just where I want her. I place a hand on either side of her pretty head, boxing her in.
“Don’t you dare kiss me.” Her words are like a lash to me.
“Why do you keep provoking me?” It’s like she gets off on it.
Her mouth forms an O and she shakes her head, her hair brushing my bare arm.
“I’m not.” Her eyes plead with me.
I lean into her neck, her pulse spikes and when she whimpers, it’s like a bucket of water over me. She sounds like a frightened animal. I push off the wall and quickly exit her room.
No one has ever made me feel so unsure. No one has ever made me feel so animalistic. The way she looks at me sometimes.
I’m down the hall quickly, needing to put distance between Ella and myself. I wasn’t sure if I went back into her room I would be able to control myself. I’m consumed with an irritation that I don’t know how to get rid of. The plants at the end of the hall are my destination. I move up the winding gold stairs to the attic. It’s dark as I enter. I reach for the light switch and the area lights up instantly. The space is neat, everything has a place. Nothing is left out. I want to find the small brown box. There is no time like the present.
I want to thrash the space, I hate everything about it. All the odds and ends that Henry collects makes no sense, just like him. I picture him arriving in the morning to find the area destroyed, some of my irritation leaves as I picture his face at the destruction.
I find the box stuffed behind a small Moroccan table. It’s neatly tucked away. I take it out and my stomach swirls and tightens as I push over the lid that slides open. The box wobbles in my hands, but I steady it quickly.
There isn’t just one finger in the box, but two. So, it is Henry. This is all I need. I bring the box over to the large lamp to get a better look. The fingers are from different people and the second is female. Who else had he killed?
I close the box and make sure the table looks undisturbed as I leave the attic. The hallway is still empty, as it’s three in the morning so no one is awake. I had been in bed, but after I heard that Ella was attacked, from Mark, I had wanted to make sure she was okay. It was an odd feeling for me, but I couldn’t settle until I saw her.
I pass her bedroom and slow down. I terrified her; I’m not going to apologize and if I enter the room I’m not sure what will happen. She would provoke me again, and a part of me didn’t want to hurt her.
I return to my own room. Sitting on the unmade bed, I flick on the lamp and examine the finger again. I notice how neatly it is sliced off. It almost doesn’t look real.