Homesick Book 2. The Secrets of Blackthorn Manor

A Night to Remember

--

Chapter Nine

A Night to Remember

—

Adrian slept very poorly that night. Owethu didn't return to their room and Adrian did not leave to go find him. Their bond was still simmering with frustration and anger. Adrian felt ashamed and anxious and a whole bunch of other shit that he just didn't know how to process right this minute. So instead, he scooped up his cats, crawled under the blankets and tried to let their purrs soothe the fresh wounds on his soul.

It must have worked to some degree because he did manage to fall asleep sometime after midnight. Unfortunately, he didn't stay asleep for long. He woke up in the dark. It couldn't have been any later than three or four in the morning. His eyes felt heavy and itchy. His limbs weren't responding very well. For a long, aching moment, he had no idea what had woken him. He lay there, an exhausted lump, staring blearily into the dark. It was then that he noticed that both Duchess and Prince were sitting bolt upright. Their alert, still forms sent a bolt of fear through him, successfully waking him faster than any splash of water to the face.

He sat up, his eyes still sticky. He couldn't see anything in the gloom of his bedroom, so he reached out with his magic instead. He listened hard but nothing came to him. His two familiars glowed softly, their magic responding to his own. The problem was the huge manor was so old that it too seemed to hum and pulse with magic. He sat very still, concentrating. After a few minutes, he gave himself a shake.

'There's nothing there,' he snapped, whether to himself or his cats, he wasn't sure. He laid back down, punching his pillow a few times to try and get comfortable. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the creeping feeling of eyes. He wanted to pull the blankets over his head like a child. He lay there, his fingers gripping the duvet tightly. He had almost relaxed when something sent another chill of fear through him. He opened his eyes and squinted into the darkness.

There, in the very corner of his vision ... something moved in the room.

'The fuck!?' Adrian launched up again.

He was not crazy! Right?

He sat up in the huge bed, wide eyed and trembling as he stared around. He reached for the lamp, swinging for it so violently that he nearly knocked it off his nightstand. When the soft warm light finally filtered into the bedroom, he had to blink hard. Eyes adjusting, he looked around.

He couldn't explain this fear. He'd grown up in this house. He shouldn't be afraid of it. True, during his later years of high school, he didn't spend as much time at home, but he hadn't thought the place could ever feel so alien to him.

'Okay. We are done with sleep tonight,' he muttered. He got up and threw on some clothes. If he couldn't sleep, maybe he could work out until his brain shut down. Adrian grabbed his phone without looking at the screen and left his room, his two felines in tow.

--

'My, you look...' the director broke off.

Adrian didn't bother to respond. He was getting used to the vaguely alarmed looks he got from the people who saw him on a day-to-day basis. Hopefully the director just believed he was working hard on the security details and not that he was going crazy from the ghost apparently keeping him up at night.

'Did you have a chance to look over the file I sent you?' Adrian asked, peering into the nearest glass case.

'I did, but I will confess, I don't understand most of it and I took a class in western sigil work during my masters in curatorial studies.'