Stay Close✔️

07: One Reason

07: One Reason

I woke up at about seven in a bed that was oddly comfortable. I looked around to see Selena next to me. Kinley was slung carelessly across our feet and Spencer was on Selena's desk, which was pulled up next to the bed with an air up mattress. I shook my head and a grin crossed my face.

Knowing I wouldn't be able to get any sleep, I wiggled out from under Kinley and made my way out of the bed. I walked around the room before getting bored and leaving. The house was three stories, but we were only on the second.

I looked around, seeing one hall that veered off towards the right and a few rooms hanging off the sides. The floors were wooden, but they surprisingly didn't creak when I stepped. There was bluish grey paint smeared on the walls with a white stripe about three fourths of the way down and navy blue paint on the bottom.

Each door had a crystal looking doorknob. It was so fancy, I almost felt like I had to squint at the brightness of all of it.

The whole thing looked very crisp, and clean. The house hardly had a homey feel. There was more of a hardly lived in air, as if they worked very hard to keep it clean and crisp.

They probably had maids or butlers or something.

As I walked, I reached my hand out to brush against the doorknobs. I'd never seen one like that. Finally, I found the stairs and began walking down in a spiral only to be met with a man who looked elderly.

I stopped abruptly and moved over to let him pass. He gave me a curious look. "Where have I seen you?" he demanded, his voice slightly hostile. My eyes widened and I leaned back slightly. He didn't look familiar in the least. "I know you, I swear," he said suspiciously.

"Pa, leave her alone!" Selena's voice came from behind me.

"What is your name?" he asked, ignoring her.

"Uh..." I bit my lip. "Louise?" It was said as a question. I didn't know what was going on.

"My son," he rasped in realization. "You have met my son!"

"Pa!" Selena snapped. He glared at her before hobbling away and I almost forgot we were standing on the stairs. Selena watched after him with worried eyes. "He has Alzheimer's," she explained apologetically when he was out of earshot. "He'll occasionally think he remembers something and go ballistic on someone. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"It's okay," I said, looking after him in uncertainty. "Who is your dad? Maybe I do know him," I shrugged, trying to figure it out.

She shrugged and looked away, embarrassment slightly clouding her features. "He left us. He'll visit once every one or two years, but that's it."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, although there probably wasn't much apology in my voice. I was too distracted by what her grandpa had said. What if he was someone I knew?

What if he was dangerous?

Shaking with an imaginary chill, I shook the thoughts away. "Why were you down here? And why are you awake so early?"

"I usually wake up early. Internal alarm clock," I explained. "Why were you up?"

"I was going to the bathroom when I heard my Pa going off on someone and came to check it out. Good thing I did, right?"

I nodded, but I really didn't know. Curiosity ate at my mind as I looked towards where her grandpa had wandered off to. "Yeah."

"You hungry?" she asked.

"No. I actually think I'm going to head out," I decided. She frowned.

"It's seven thirty," she stated.