Crimson Peak [COMPLETE]

Chapter Two

Another man in cover-all's came into the house carrying another one of my bags.

"Just take that one upstairs," I directed. "First bedroom on your left."

Most of the boxes were marked 'Kitchen' or 'Parlor' but my bags hadn't been. And anyway, I wanted to make sure all the boxes got put away properly. So I had come to direct the traffic of the move.

Both mine and Christian's parents had been very opposed to us moving out here. They had given their fair share of arguments saying that it was too far away and what if something happened. But, in the end, Christian and I held our ground and moved in by the end of the week.

I stared up at the gaping hole in the ceiling and pulled my shawl tighter around myself. It was the end of August so a hole that size would allow for a lot of cold air. I started thinking about all the different ways to fix that problem and the ideas quickly started to get more and more insane. I satisfied myself with trying to remember how many blankets we had packed and if it would be enough.

I jumped as somebody grabbed my shoulders. Spinning around, I saw Christian standing there with a wide grin on his face. 

"Christian," I chided, "you scared me."

"Surprise." Christian placed a soft kiss on my lips. "I know I said I wouldn't be back until this evening but I got so excited I decided to come see how it was going."

I hugged Christian. "I'm glad you're here." The place was starting to give me goosebumps with the cold and the moaning. "Is there anything we can do about that hole? It's making the house rather cold."

Christian nodded. "That will be the first thing I fix. Right after I get rid of the machine outside. And then I'll do something about this..." He stepped on the floor and red goo seeped up through the cracks.

I jumped back in surprise. "What is that?"

Christian just shook his head. "Red clay. Nothing to worry about."

"Ma'am, we've finished unloading," a tall man with a scruffy beard informed me.

"Thank you." Christian spoke and pulled a small pouch out to pay the man. As the man left, Christian turned to me. "I have to get back to work but I will be back this evening in time for dinner."

I smiled and he placed a kiss on my cheek before turning and leaving the house.

I was alone.

I looked around the house, finally soaking in the idea that this was where I would be spending the rest of my life.

The floor boards creaked above me and I looked up at the rotted ceiling. A gentle wind pulled at my skirts and tickled the back of my neck. The wind whistled and for a second, I could have sworn someone was hissing my name.

"Hello?" I called out, hoping to find that Christian hadn't left. But only my voice echoed back to me.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and decided to head upstairs and unpack so it would all be ready when Christian came home. I had only been unpacking for a couple of minutes when I realized that one of my bags was missing.

I recounted three or four times before deciding that the people Christian had hired must've been confused with their left and right. If the bag wasn't in the bedroom then it was either in the bedroom across the hall or downstairs in the parlor or kitchen.

So I left the bedroom and made my way down the hallway. At the end of the hallway was a set of stairs that I assumed must lead up to an attic. I hadn't noticed it before and Christian hadn't shown it to me because we couldn't both go up the stairs.

My curiosity overpowered me and I decided that my bag could wait. I made my way to the stairs and started up them. This set of stairs creaked worse than the first set, sinking beneath my every step. I held onto the railing so that I had that extra balance but it wouldn't have been very helpful since I could see where the wood had rotted away.

I could smell the dust coating everything as I walked inside. Trinkets covered tables all around the room and I realized, suddenly that the wood bits and springs and things were toy parts. I didn't know if the toys weren't built or if somebody had taken them apart and left them up here. Either way it was pretty eerie in this old house.

I made my way around the tables, trailing a lazy finger through the dust, until I found myself at the back of the room. It was then that I noticed a separate hallway leading back behind the workshop. The walls back here were decorated with moths and had pictures painted on them of a dog playing with a red ball. There was a door at the end of the hall and I made my way too it, wondering what room someone could possibly want up here.

Pushing the door open I say that there was a large bed in the center of it with a canopy over it and the curtains pulled closed. The only source of light that I could find was from a window on the wall to my left. I made my way inside the room, confused as to why someone would want a bedroom all the way up here, away from the rest of the house.

I stroked the velvety curtains. They were expensive, but old and worn.

"Who would buy something so expensive to keep it locked away?" I pondered aloud.

"Someone who didn't want other people to know it existed."

I let out a short scream as I turned around to come face to face with a stranger. He was tall with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. He had his hands raised in surrender. "Don't worry," he told me, his voice soft. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. I'm here to warn you."

"Warn me? Warn me about what?" I asked. My heart was racing wildly in my chest and my hands were shaking by my sides.

"You need to leave; before she kills you."