I am waiting by the door for Tate for about five minutes now. He finally comes from the staircase with a phone to his ear and he is yelling. When he stops me he quickly hangs up on whoever is on the other line and gives me a reassuring before walking to the door and motioning for me to follow. As we walk to the parked SUV I realize two things.
His home looks like a fricking castle and it is a lot colder then I first presumed it was. I pull on the light jacket I thought was all I would need and quickly climb into the passenger side door of the white SUV Tate opened for me. He closes and a gets in before turning on the car and turning the heat on for me as I shiver and he seems to be totally fine even though he is in less clothes than I am.
"So I will drop you off at the inn and come back for you in about two hours." He says as he starts driving down a dirt road that must lead to town and I look outside the window at the tall trees that have a thin layer of snow under them in some spots. "Yeah, that'll work." I tell him not paying much attention as I stare at the snow on the ground.
When I was younger my dad always told me I had reminded him of snow. So calm, beautiful, and pure. I would always giggle and tell him he only said that because of my snow white hair, but he would always shake his head and tell me it was for so much more. When I was older I realized how much snow and I did have in common. We both started out pure, innocent and clean, until someone stained us, stomped all over us, until we were nothing, and then watched us melt until everything we were washed away.
For having so much in common with snow this is the first time I have seen in up close and in person, and if I am honest it looks duller than I would have guessed. I always thought it was supposed to be something interesting and beautiful, but to me it just looks like frozen white water. There is nothing interesting or beautiful about it just like myself.
Once we reach the inn Tate reminds me three more times he will be back in two hours and if I need him at all to call him and I then had to tell him I have no phone which made him mad since I walk around with no way to contact help if I need some. After I assured him I will survive he finally left and once he was out of sight I turned to head to the diner before anywhere else.
I quickly make it there and see Patty in the kitchen slaving away while a teen boy takes orders. As the little bell jingles on the door Patty looks up and spots me and a huge smile comes onto his face. "Oh dear lord Haven you are alive! When I heard that Mr. Westbrook took you to his home I for sure thought you were gone for good, no one goes to his house." Patty says as he runs and grabs me in a huge but quickly releases when he sees my facial expression
"Patty." The teen boy calls out but he just gets ignored. "Patty.' He says a little louder but Patty still ignores him. "Patty the fricking kitchen is on fire!" The boy yells making both Patty and I to turn and look and see whatever Patty had been cooking is now burning up. "Oh crappers." He screams before running and grabbing the fire extinguisher and putting out the fire as I stand there and laugh not noticing the man who is now right be me.
"Excuse me miss. What is going on?" The man asks making me jump and turn to look at him. I turn around to see a tall man not as buff as Tate but still pretty strong looking with a sharp jaw line dark brown longish shaggy hair and piercing brown eyes that make me want to curl up in a ball and cry. "Oh um uh, there was a little fire." I stumble over the words as I try to speak to this man. He just keeps a blank suit and straightens his suit jacket before nodding and taking a seat in the old fashioned bar stools. "Would you mind joining me for a few moments? You see I am new in town and would love to learn some things from a local." He says as he pat's the empty bar stool next to him. "Uh I am actually a new um yeah I just moved here too." I say trying to form a comprehendible sentence. He gives me a weak excuse for a smile before replying.
"Well maybe we can discover this town together one day. I'm Vladimir by the way, but you my dear can call me Vlad." He tells me as he eyes me and I feel like tiny little ants are crawling all over me. The only man who doesn't really affect me when they eye me now is Tate. I don't understand why but I just feel a little safer around him than other men.
"I'm Ha-Haven. But I also have to go. Nice meeting you Vlad." I says before waving bye at the boy and Patty and quickly heading out to get back to the inn and wait for Tate. Once I get there I easily pack all my clothes up and keep an extra coat out for me to wear on the ride back. I make sure to grab my pill bottle that now only has 2 pills left and wrap it in my clothes at the bottom of the bag so it doesn't accidently get seen by him.
Once I am done and packed I head down stairs to see if Tammy is home since it is a Sunday. I walk to the front and see her behind the desk counting pennies. When she hears my footsteps her head lifts up and a smile come on her face. "Oh Haven where have you been?" She asked forgetting about her pennies. "I was Tate's house." I tell her and she freezes. "Mr. Westbrook?" She asks like she doesn't believe what I just told her.
"Yeah that's the one." I say holding back my laughter as her mouth falls open like in cartoons. "No way! That is so cool! My friends are going to be so jealous I know someone who has gone there. Barely anyone besides his closest friends and employees go there." She says. She starts going on and on about the topic until the door of the inn opens and Tate comes in with his blank face he has around most people.
When Tammy sees him she instantly goes silent and goes back to behind the desk while Tate walks up towards me. He looks at me for a few seconds before sniffing the air for some reason and having his blue eyes turn a few shades lighter. "Have you gone anywhere else besides here?" He asks me as he tries to keep his cool. "I went down to the diner for a few minutes. Why?" I ask him as I get up and start walking to my room and he follows.
"Did you happen to meet a man there that seemed off?" He asks me as I open the door and we both walk in. I am about to grab my bag but he grabs it before I can then hands me my jacket. "There was one guy I never saw before. His name was Vladimir." I say making Tate go still and have his eyes turn to almost a glowing blue. "Did do anything to you at all?" He asks in a real clipped tone. "No" I saw a little freaked out about how Tate is acting.
"We need to get back to the house right now." He says motioning for me to follow him. I look up at Tammy and wave bye before following him out. Instead of heading to his car I move towards mine only to be stopped by him coming to stand in front of me. "What do you think you are doing?" He asks me. "Getting in my car. I can't have you drive me around everywhere." I tell him trying to move around him. He gives in with a word and heads to his car. "Follow closely behind me." He says before getting in his car and I get into my old truck to follow him.
We quickly make it back to his house. Once we are in he takes his phone out and quickly runs off while I head up to my room. When I reach there I open the door and freeze when I see Hanna rummaging through my things. At the sound of the door opening she turns around and turns red as she sees me. She quickly leaves not saying a word to me as she does while I just stay where I am confused.
I don't have time to think about it as Tate walks into my room looking really pissed making me take a few steps back. He notices and stops coming in anymore and loses the look of anger on his face. "While I was out I got you a phone. My number is on speed dial." Tate tells me before walking out leaving me even more confused. Why are people in Westbrook so weird?
