RoseBlood

Unsafe Place

I thought I would toss and turn all night, waking up in the morning I was supposed to be going home in a tired state, getting my things together and going through the ordeal myself, walking back into the house of the Cassias', everything going by in a blur that I could scarcely keep up with. But I sleep for nine hours straight when my head hits the pillow, and now I wake up, not one bit tired, full of simmering adrenaline flowing through me, my brown eyes glittering with anticipation that makes my hands grip the sheets a little tighter. I should be terrified, knowing that its my life on the line, but all the time and facts and pent-up thoughts and feelings make me alive with determination.

Come and get me, you bastard.

It was odd to make this house a place where I could concentrate on the case, bringing my book and my clothes into the guest room instead of being in my own, where everything was in its place and I could reach for them absentmindedly, without even knowing, and the right thing would be in my hand. I have to get used to that all over again when I'm back.

I have to get used to being careful and steady and watchful instead of relaxing in a place that's supposed to be called home for a reason, knowing that every second is a second of vulnerability.

I have to get used to being in a family house where Mum used to check her reflection in every mirror and drink her coffee daintily, Dad checking his schedule over and reminding Lizzie about things she already knew, while Lizzie nodded and smiled fondly, giving them warm pats on the shoulder as they went off to work. There'd be none of that now. Just a silence that would stretch on for as long as I would allow it.

I have to get used to acting as if I'm safe in an unsafe place.

I pack the rest of my clothes in my bag after I get a shower and get changed, folding them up neatly and pushing them down on top of each other, my casebook hidden amongst them, before I zip it all up together, and head downstairs to put it in the car. Edith meets me halfway down, taking it off my hands with a smile.

"Here, I'll help," she says, and I hold the front door open for her as she grabs the car keys from the hallway table's drawer, unlocks it and opens up the boot to put the things in. "It seems so final, all of this. I'm going to miss you around here, Holly. Promise you'll visit?"

"When I'm done with the Case of the RoseBlood Killer, I'll gladly visit you, Edith."

"Good," she replies, locking the car back up, and then goes over to me to give me a hug. "I'll speak to you really soon, okay? I've got to go stir some gossip, now, haven't I?"

I pat her back with a half-smile, and she goes indoors to put the keys away, then closes the door after her as she walks down the street.

Too young to drive. Maybe I should get a driver's license after this is over and done with, because that'll get on my nerves, I just know it.

Once Edith is gone, the boys are left eating breakfast with faraway looks on their faces, Elias' eyes hard with thought, Emerson's soft and distant as he keeps what goes on in his mind to himself. None of us know what to do, or what to say to each other. Brunsley comes to pick me up at long last after lunch, and Elias and Emerson get the car ready to follow his.

"Ready, then, Holly?" Brunsley asks me. "How are you feeling?"

"Doesn't matter, does it?" I reply. "It's got to happen."

"I'll stick around until you're happy enough to be left alone when you get back," he tells me reassuringly, "and I'm one call away, understand? One missed call, and I'm down the road and at your house in no later than two minutes. And the Tyrels, they'll be keeping watch. You're not in on this alone, just know that. We're all as prepared as we can be."