I had expected it to be awkward between Tate and I, as I had never spoken aloud my sins from the past, to anyone. Yet I discovered he accepted me easily. I suppose he felt he didn't have a right to judge.
Unfortunately, however, with the 'discovery' of Moira and Hugo's bodies, by the end of the week, there were police 'round all the time, searching the house and grounds for anything incriminating even though years had gone by. They had ended up finding several other bodies and remains, Violet's included.
Such discoveries on their part should have been celebratory worthy, my plan was going accordingly, except it wasn't. I barely had time to see or speak with Tate, or any other spirit in the house, because police were always around, poking and prodding into every nook and crevice of the house at all hours, pissing off a great deal of spirits.
It was only because I had begged and pleaded, that I had been allowed to stay within the house. But they had cordoned off more than half of it, and there was an officer inside the mansion at all hours. It had been two weeks since I'd even seen Tate.
I laid in my bed, staring miserably up at the ceiling and wondering how I could so desperately miss a dead boy that I hadn't known very long. A dead boy that, may I add, had murdered several people among many other horrendous acts. Tonight, the only company I seemed to have were Officers Smithy and Summers, two female officers who were camped out in my living room at the moment.
They had said it was to keep me safe from Constance, who had fled without a word in the middle of the night, and to be able to be here in case she returned, but I suspected it was to also make sure I didn't mess around and bother anything in their investigation too.
I rolled over onto my side and stared at the wall where I'd tacked up a poster for one of my favourite movies, although it was too dark to make out any details.
I felt an arm sling around my waist as the area behind me sagged under the weight of someone. My breathing hitched slightly, for fear it was one of the not so friendly residents come to kill me in my sleep.
"Miss me?" Tate whispered in my ear, causing all the fear I had to flee as a shiver of excitement ran down my spine.
I stayed still, except for the grin that slid onto my face. "Not hardly." Came the whispered, halfhearted response that we both knew to be a lie.
He settled in beside me on the bed and I rolled over, placing my head on his chest and he held me close. "You're the first welcomed company I've had in two weeks. I think the police are going to kick me out of the house soon."
I felt his fingers tracing patterns on my back, over the fabric of my shirt. "We won't be able to see each other then. You know I can't leave."
I looked up into his eyes, reading the sadness there as he spoke. "Maybe this whole 'set free all the dead people' plan wasn't so smart." I shuffled out of his arms and sat up, and he followed suit. "I can't seem to find my redemption. I think this is karma's way of saying I don't deserve it."
Tate took my hands in his larger ones. "If anyone in this house deserves forgiveness, you're the one to get it. If it were easy, would it feel worth it?"
I sighed and shook my head, wondering when he'd gotten so wise. "Guess not. But what if they kick me out, or tear down the house? I won't be able to see you."
"We've both known this wouldn't last, unless you didn't plan to free me either."
He was right, there was no scenario, short of me dying in the house, that led to us being together. Tate was dead and I was alive. And that was that. There was no bringing him back, and it would be selfish to force him to stay if he could move on.
"How depressing. I fall in love with a dead guy I can never have." I smiled a bit, letting him know I was joking to lighten the mood.
"And so the lion fell in love with the.... Well other lion I guess...."
I quirked a brow at his words. "A female lion is a lioness, and I have lost respect for you if you've been willing away your not-so-afterlife reading Twilight!"
He laughed, trying to be quiet so the officers downstairs didn't get suspicious. "A resident before you watched the movie all the time, I can't be blamed if I picked things up!"
"If you're going to quote movies, quote one a bit more tasteful then one about sparkling vampires." I rolled my eyes.
He smiled, and I knew we were both glad to be on a lighter subject. "And what should I quote if I wanted to impress you?"
"In the terms of movies?" He nodded. "Crime and Punishment in Suburbia, The Phantom of the Opera, or Dandelion." I suggest, to which he looks confused.
"I've only heard of one of those. And I'm not the kind of guy to break out into opera at random moments." He shook his head.
"I guess we'll have to have a movie date sometime." I offer and he grins at the prospect.
"If we're still together on Halloween, we'll go to a theatre. Spirits can roam free on that night."
I nodded and tucked that little nugget of info away for later. "Sounds like a plan."
I flopped back down into a laying position and pulled him down with me before curling up at his side. "Tired?" He asked with a smirk on his face.
I pressed my face into his shirt, breathing in his scent. He smelled like dust after rain and match smoke, which was surprising since I never thought dead people had smells. "'Course I'm tired. It's almost four am." I looked up at him again. "Will you stay?"
"Until the sun rises." He promised, and I understood that he didn't want to be bothered by questions from the police downstairs if he was caught. Even still, I felt a twinge of sadness that he wouldn't be here when I awoke.
He wrapped his arms around me and I closed my heavy eyelids, allowing sleep to take me away.
I was underwater. My limbs felt heavy and the water was murky as I stared upwards, towards a small patch of light fighting to break the surface of the dark water.
The muffled sound of an old record player, scratching and skipping, slowly drifted on the push and pull of the current to my ears.
Although I couldn't make out any words, the music sounded sad.
I turned my body towards the sound and suddenly I was standing in the Rosenheim Mansion, as if I had never been in the water to begin with.
The house was silent and still. And I felt it in my bones, the spirits were gone.
"Tate?" I called out and his name echoed through empty halls, going unanswered.
I turned quickly at the sudden sound of approaching footsteps, and was somehow not shocked to come eye-to-eye with Sunny.
"What are you doing here?" She asked calmly, her eyes the colour of melted chocolate, looked straight into mine. "You shouldn't be here, Fox, not yet."
I blinked several times, taking her in before answering. I wanted to reach out and run my fingers through her hair, golden brown, it fell in ringlets down her back. "I live here."
She smiled softly, her pink lips curling up in that amused way I remembered so well. "Will you be careful? It's angry with you, you know. Because you have a chance to purge it."
"What's angry? I don't understand."
"The house." She replied. And as if affirming her words, a rush of darkness overtook the room, and I was filled with a primal fear. "It's here. I'm sorry, Fox. Try to stay alive." She pressed a soft kiss against my lips before fading away.
I wanted to call out to her, but was stopped. The darkness and evil in the house began to take shape. A dark clad form stepped forward, and my eyes widened. "No."
I shot up in bed, shaking the nightmare off as much as I could. Tate, true to his word, was gone now that the sun was up. But I was more preoccupied with the chill in my bones, the racing of my heart from the nightmare still.
But that's all it was right? A nightmare?
