Masked Roses

Chapter Seventeen

The cabin was silent as we entered, Jeff asleep on the couch with the TV airing some soap opera that must've put him to sleep with how boring it was. Helping the man from my errand inside, I shut the door quietly, since I was considerate of the people sleeping in this house. BP sighed as he winced, blood dripping from the wound around his ankle. Although it wasn't a deep wound, without a lot of blood circulation to his legs for a few days at least, he was rather wobbly and unstable by himself. He tried to resist my help, but it was inevitable after the fourth time he promptly face planted into the snow.

Walking into the kitchen, I pulled out a chair and set him down, a sigh escaping his lips behind the mask as he relaxed. "I'll go get some bandages and wrap up that wound." I started as I then left the kitchen, rubbing my cheek gently. I heard him let out a hum as I shut the door to the kitchen behind me, my quiet footsteps bouncing off the walls of the narrow hallway as I walked to the bathroom.

I wasn't very experienced with patching wounds, but I knew the basics, enough to keep a tied bandage in place. I'd have to remember to have Jack look at it in the morning. Opening the bathroom door, I stepped inside the small space and opened the cabinet under the sink, grabbing the first aid kit before leaving and heading back to the kitchen. Gently pulling the door open and peeking inside, I saw BP staring at the floor, his hand holding up his head by the neck as he sighed.

Shutting the door softly, I walked over and sat on the floor by his ankle, opening the kit and grabbing the bandages. He flinched at the noise of the kit opening and I glanced up at him. "Just sit still, it'll be over before you know it." I told him as I stretched out his leg to make sure it was straight. He only nodded and stayed silent as I gently wrapped the white cloth around his ankle, making sure it was tight, but not too tight. To my surprise, he didn't move one inch at all while I tied off a knot to secure the bandages to his ankle and I glanced up at him to make sure he wasn't asleep.

When I closed the kit and stood up, he reached for his mask, taking it off gently and setting it on the table. My one eye widened as I looked at his face. Ebony black bangs fell in front of his ocean blue eyes as he directed his gaze towards the floor, his pale skin taking on a faint shade of pink.

"Thanks...Scarlet." He said quietly. I only nodded and left him alone, going to return the first aid kit as I stalked through the silent house. He was odd, but then again, the whole house was to be considered odd. Murderers of every kind lived here, not just me. As I got to the bathroom and put the kit away, I turned to leave after pushing the cabinet door closed with a soft thud, only to quickly cover my mouth to muffle a choked shout of surprise.

BP stood there with wide eyes of admiration as if I were a real life angel, making me breathe heavily as he stood there, his blue eyes staring at my one red iris. Letting out a nervous chuckle, I lowered my hand. "D-Do you need something? Or do you need my help to get to...your room? Maybe some reassurance that someone will be there to catch you if you stumble or something...?" I asked a consistent trail of questions, making sure he wasn't trying to kill me or something like that.

He shook his head slowly and smiled, closing his eyes with his facial expression. "I just couldn't resist following you...Also, you had a twig in your hair." He held up a thin branch, only three or four inches long, a few strands of pastel pink hair loosely wrapped around it.

"O-Oh...I never really notice things like that until I run a hand through my hair or something..." I let out another laugh as I then slipped past him through the door. "B-But thanks for getting it out. I'm...heading to bed now." I waved and went to walk away, but his hand grabbed my wrist, making me stop and turn back to him.

"Wait! Could you maybe stay up with me? I don't feel like sleeping, since I need to fix my schedule after having slept during the day a few times...I adjust quickly to things." He chuckled nervously and I paused before glancing around the hall, avoiding looking at his face to express my hesitance.

"Well...I guess. Yet I need to change into something more comfortable, in case I do fall asleep...I've had trouble sleeping, due to being sent out on multiple missions recently." I gently scratched my cheek with one finger as he nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course! That's fine. I'll just be in the living room, trying to move Jeff or something..." He rolled his eyes and then put his mask on that was in his other hand. I sighed in relief and quickly speed walked away towards my room to grab a change of clothes and hopefully take my medication.

As I walked back to the living room with a fleece blanket wrapped around my shoulders, I stared at the floor as I sighed in the silence. Dressed in pastel yellow pajamas with sunflowers decorating the sleeves and pant legs, I peeked into the living room, seeing Jeff now sleeping in one of the recliners, soft snores echoing through the room as I turned my attention to the black headed man sitting on the couch. His gaze was fixated on the TV, the soap opera was no longer playing, replaced with an animated series that I couldn't quite remember.

Quietly walking to the other end of the couch, I sat down with the blanket, setting it on my lap as I leaned back into the cushions. His attention suddenly turned to me, his mask still on his face as he looked at me. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and smiled tiredly. He gently patted a gloved hand on his leg and I tilted my head to the side, earning a chuckle from him.

"You can lay down if you want. I can't blame you if you want to fall asleep." I could hear the kind smile in his words and I shook my head slightly as I turned my attention to the TV. "Well, just let me know if you change your mind." He was being awfully nice, which was okay, but a little off putting to me. I just hoped it was a one time thing as my eyes closed slowly and sleep dragged into the darkness.

A hand gently tapped my cheek, my eyes opening slowly as I looked up at a blurry face, the edges of my vision cloudy and hazy. I squinted as I then rubbed my eyes gently. Blinking for a few moments, my vision started to clear up finally and I suddenly scurried back, away from the hand that woke me up. A dark chuckle echoed through the room as I stared into two bright blue eyes. He stood there, watching as I moved away from him, his red curly hair falling in front of his icy blue gaze.

"Good morning, Serene." He cooed as he stepped forward. "I didn't think you'd wake up so easily. I was sure I had knocked you out pretty good with that spade..." He mumbled to himself as I moved back further, but was stopped as his boot stomped down onto something made of metal. I tried again, yet was tugged forward by his foot scraping along the concrete floor. A chain was all I could think of. Snarling, I gritted my teeth as I glared up at him.

"Bastard..." I muttered and I yelped as his hand flew across my face, an audible smack making me stare at the wall to the side.

"I don't like how you bad mouth me when it's just the two of us. But then again...I shouldn't be complaining since you don't bad mouth me when other people are around." He let out another spine chilling laugh and I clenched my fists, looking at my wrists to see the shackles wrapped tightly around my wrists. Swallowing a lump in my throat, I closed my eyes and ignored the hums coming from him as he thought about something that I probably didn't want to know.

"I know a game we could play..." He suddenly said and I glared at him out of the corner of my eye. I realized I was back to my usual self. Serene Evergreen. I put my hands over my face as I felt tears stream down my face, knowing that it was going to be a round of torture that I wouldn't be able to wake up from. The sound of his heavy footsteps walking away made me begin to tremble as I heard a box of tools open up. Latex gloves snapped over his hands as he chuckled in his sinister tone and began to walk back to where I sat, a trembling, shaking ball of fear and terror.

The strike of metal against the back of my head made me yelp and slump forward onto the ground as my head began to throb. I couldn't think straight anymore, my vision becoming dizzy as I was dragged across the floor, the rattling of the chains being the only thing to tell me I was still awake. When my back hit a wall, I let out a moan of pain as something sharp pierced the palm of my hand, making me cry out in agony. Sadistic laughter bounced off the walls, the man of my dreams becoming the nightmare I knew him as just three years ago when I was finally pushed over the edge.

These nightmares...They wouldn't go away for a long time now that they had come back. The pain in my hands, my legs, and my sore limbs. My whole body would remember everything he had done to me in our relationship. The torture, sleepless nights, and the fake smiles I had shown to everyone. But this time, my one and only savior was no longer here...My grandfather.