Crimson Peak [COMPLETE]

Chapter Six

First of all, I wanted to thank all of you wonderful people that have read this and gotten it to over 2k reads! When I started this, I didn't really think it was going anywhere. I was just mad about the stupid ending. But you guys are awesome and have helped me keep it going. So thanks for being wonderful people.

And now, onto the chapter!

Christian wasn't talking about work at dinner that night. Instead, he was explaining to me all the renovations he had planned for the house. He was talking about the new curtains and the new rugs; the new sofas and the new floors. I tried to listen, I really did, because I was really interested in what he had in mind for our house. Sadly I was pretty distracted.

The things that Delores had told me in town earlier that day kept running through my mind and I couldn't stop wondering if this would really drive my husband mad. I had talked to Thomas and he didn't seem mad to me. And how would the house drive Christian mad, exactly? Would it drive me mad as well?

"Rose? Are you okay?" Christian asked, interrupting my thoughts. He reached across the table and gripped my hand. "What's going on? You seem pretty distracted, like you're not really here."

I looked over at him and smiled. "Yeah," I told him. "I'm totally fine. Just a little distracted."

Christian looked like he was going to respond but just then there was a large crash upstairs, just above us, and I jumped, looking up at the ceiling. My first thought was that Thomas had tripped or dropped something. Christian raised an eyebrow, looking above us as well.

"I'll go see what that--"

I stood suddenly, palms down on the table. "I'll go." If it was Thomas, I didn't want Christian to know there was another man living up in the attic. And I certainly didn't want Christian to know that I'd known the whole time.

"Are you sure?" Christian asked. "I'm fine going to see what's upstairs."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I've got to run upstairs and...grab something anyway." I was a really bad liar but I left quickly so Christian didn't have time to argue. I made my way out of the kitchen and up the stairs. "Thomas," I hissed. It was pretty dark up here and I had forgotten to bring up my own lamp. I could barely see two feet in front of me and stuck out my arms, feeling along the walls as I made my way around the second floor. 

"Thomas," I hissed again. There was another bump further down the hallway and my heart skipped a beat, adrenaline pumping through me. I pushed open a random door to my left and the hinges creaked loudly as I walked inside. There was a single candle lit on the nightstand by the bed and I hesitated.

I hadn't ever been inside this room before much less lit a candle inside of it. I stepped deeper into the room and suddenly the temperature dropped drastically. My breath started appearing in front of my in little white puffs and goose bumps popped up on my arms. The candle flickered for a moment, the flame making shadow dance on the walls, and then was still again.

"Rose..." My name was just a whisper behind me and I spun around. There was nobody there. A cold breeze brushed my neck and I could feel someone else in the room.

"Thomas," I growled. "Is that you?" I inched closer to the door, away from the room and whoever--or whatever--else was in there with me.

I felt cold fingers clutch my shoulder and froze, tensing up as I looked over to see long black fingers against my dress, squeezing my shoulder tightly. "Rose," a woman's voice hissed in my ear.

My heart dropped to my toes and my mind blanked. Someone appeared in the doorway then and they gripped my hand, pulling me from the room and out of the grasp of whatever was holding me. I didn't fight as he pulled me down the hallway and then towards the abandoned workshop.

I realized the person tugging me through the mansion was Thomas when he dragged me up the small stair case and into the back room where I'd first discovered him and the few lamps in the room lit up his face. He looked like he'd just been woken up with tousled hair and only half of his shirt tucked into his trousers.

"Are you alright?" He asked. His eyes were wild and he was staring behind me as if waiting for something to follow us and come into the room.

I couldn't form a coherent thought much less a coherent sentence so I just sort of grunted in response, still shivering from the cold of the room before.

Thomas gripped my shoulders and looked directly at me, his face just inches from mine. "I told you this house was dangerous. You have to get out, Rose. Run away and don't look back."

"I know," was all I managed to get out.

"Rose," Christian's voice rang out through the house. "Are you okay? Where'd you go?"

"I have to go," I said. "I have to go." I turned around and left the room, finding my way through the workshop and then down the stairs where Christian was waiting.

"What was it?" He asked, looking up at me with his brows pulled together.

I shrugged, trying to seem like nothing had happened and that I was fine. "I couldn't find anything. It must have just been the wind."

Christian wrapped his arms around me and hugged me close. "How about some tea in the parlor? I cleaned up the kitchen already and I'll start a fire in the fireplace."

I nodded. "That sounds nice." Christian was sweet and that was part of what I loved about him. He always knew the right things to do and the right things to say. Right now, tea in the parlor was perfect.