My heart finally calmed after awakening from my nightmare, only to jump back into my throat at the sound of bloodcurdling screams coming from downstairs.
I jumped out of bed, reaching for my sword, only to discover it was gone. My breathing quickened with fear as I rushed to my door to head downstairs towards the sound, but a pair of arms wrapping around my waist halted me, keeping me from going.
"No, Fox!" Tate warned in my ear, holding me tighter against his chest.
I struggled against him only for a moment before staying still, wondering why he was keeping me from going anywhere. "What's happening?" I asked him quietly.
"The angry residents of the house killed the policewomen." He responded, and my blood went cold.
I pulled out of Tate's grasp and ran down the stairs, ignoring his warnings that I must stay away.
The rushing of blood and pounding of my heart become deafening as I come to a halt in the foyer.
Blood splatters covers the walls and floor, along with large chunks of unidentifiable flesh and guts. The room smells of rust and some horrible smell akin to rot. My stomach lurches in disgust and pure horror, causing me to vomit.
Once through, I stand and wipe my mouth, casting another look at the disturbing scene inside my own home. Tate appears at my side, and I don't realise I'm crying until he's wiping tears from my face.
"The house is fighting back, Fox. You were warned about this..." He murmured as he drew me into his arms.
Moira came into the room and tsk'd at the sight. "Take her out of here, I'll clean this up."
I feel Tate's arms around me as he carries me back upstairs. Under a normal circumstance, I may have complained, saying that I knew how to walk, but as of the moment, I'm in too much shock to protest.
He sets me down on the bed and Mrs. Harmon is there, tucking me in like a worried mother, which she was, she just wasn't mine.
"We warned you, Fox. We told you the house wouldn't give up." She says, smoothing my hair down as Violet appears.
Violet sits on the edge of my bed. "Are you gonna be okay?" Her voice is quiet, sincere.
I nod my head. "Yeah." I croak out.
Tate balls his fists. "I won't let them touch you, Fox." He growls out, and I'm suddenly reminded of what I saw in my dream, the house's personification of evil.
I whimpered lightly and buried my face in the pillows, willing the nightmare to fade from my mind along with the visions of what I had just seen. I was terrified that what I had dreamt was going to be true.
'But it couldn't be, Tate wouldn't...' I shook the thought away as Caper, my kitten, hopped up onto the back of my head, purring because she sensed my distress.
"We'll leave you alone for a while." I heard Mrs. Harmon say, and I assumed everyone left, until Caper was picked up and there was a shifting on the bed next to me.
"Are you regretting the decision to stay?" Tate whispered. I rolled over and looked at him. He was laying on his back, Caper curled up on his stomach as he pet her.
"No. I'm just regretting going down and looking. Damn my curiosity." I replied, halfheartedly, trying to make a joke, but my voice wasn't very jovial.
I suck in a breath and close my eyes and the gore from downstairs replays behind my eyelids like a movie. Maybe this means I'm getting close. Close to the secret of freeing the house from evil.
I feel Tate taking my hand in his and rubbing his thumb over my skin. It's soothing in a way, the cold of him against the warm of me.
I open my eyes and stare at the ceiling, unable to draw my mind from both my nightmare and the gore I saw. As I replayed the dark and ominous dream in my mind's eye, I notice something I hadn't noticed when I was dreaming it.
Perhaps it's my imagination, adding on details that never were, but I can suddenly picture perfectly an old, leather bound book, lying on a lamp table downstairs.
I sit up and cast my gaze to Tate, ready to ask him about the book, but the moment my mouth is open, the words catch in my throat. Something tells me to not say anything, to keep my dream a secret. So I settle back down and Tate just stares at me in confusion.
"What are you thinking, Fox?" He whispers as he looks into my eyes. I know he realised I had been about to tell him something.
I shake my head and push away the guilt of secrets from my mind. "I just can't stop imagining what I saw." I tell him, and it's not completely untrue.
He heaves a sigh and nods sympathetically. "I'm sorry, I tried to stop you." His lips quirk into a soft smile and he lets go of my hand and brushes hair out of my eyes. "But you're a stubborn girl."
I try to return his smile, but it feels wrong to even attempt happiness when there has been a murder. The smile fades from my lips before it even forms and I curl up and press my face into his side.
"Sleep, Fox." He tells me, and I comply, if only to be free from reality for a little bit.
As sleep takes over my mind and I slip into my dreams, I can see the book again. I see it so clearly that I can read the words on the cover. At first the title is unreadable, a language time forgot, but as I stare at it, the rune like letters become the alphabet I know, and the title in English swirls into existence; 'Death's Grimoire.'
And I knew; I had a book to find.
