HAVEN BLACK - complete

BEYOND THE VINE CORPSES

CHAPTER 32 – BEYOND THE VINE CORPSES

Chapter Prelude

"I can see you're becoming somewhat smitten with him."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about... Your demeanor has clearly lifted ever since..."

"...ever since what? Our new arrival? Well, well, someone's bravely coming out of their shell... "

"I'll stand by what I've been telling you. It'd be unwise to get any closer to him – it could sabotage... Look, we still don't know anything about him...we don't know what harm..."

"...but if it was anyone else you would've advised me to kill him by now..."

"Yes, well, as true as that may be, he is different than the others...and I want to know why. Just be extra careful around him...at least until we have more intel..."

"That was him...but how? Do you think he could have heard us?"

"Was he calling out? I didn't hear anything, but I'm not surprised being surrounded by these thick stone walls... Anyway, this is why we need to be extremely careful...he's not like the others...and he mustn't find out...aaannd she's gone. Typical, she always disappears before I finish my sentences. Now where was I? Oh yeah, that's right, the temple on Venus and the Cave of Hell..."

My eyes which struggled to blink open felt crusty and hot and my mouth felt stagnantly dry. The bed sheets felt damp and as I turned my head on the pillow (which also felt damp) I saw a glass of water on the bedside table so I grabbed it hastily and took a sip. The water felt refreshing against the walls of my cheeks but as soon as I swallowed it my stomach lurched with a burning sensation and the water instantly lost its appeal. I heaved myself off the bed and stood up slowly waiting for the hang over to hit me but apart from feeling dehydrated and a little hungry, my body felt well rested. Placing the cup back down I then headed across the darkened room and peered through the gap in the thick drawn curtain to see that the afternoon sun that barely managed to pierce its rays through the hazy overcast clouds, was past its high point and was heading down towards the horizon – I'd slept most of the day away and a foreign feeling of shame hung over me, but it was laced heavily with a yearning for Jill. She was right there in my dream, within arms reach, and she felt so real. Jill... It felt as though she had been ripped away from me again leaving another huge tear in my chest.

I was sure I'd only slept until the next day, but as I had no phone or watch to tell me the date, I couldn't be sure and after spending weeks in hospital having no sense of time or date of when I came out of my coma, I'd be a fool not to think it was possible that I'd just slept more than a single day. Hell, I doubted whether or not I was still dreaming. After making my way downstairs (while rehearsing what I was going to say to Samara) and to the main room which I now dubbed as the "music room" I was surprised to see no signs of Samara. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing as I felt quite nervous after last night's events coupled with the nightmares but a part of me was eager to see her again. I had opened up her too easily, laid my heart out for her to control, but it was the wine I told myself. Nevertheless, I felt a little foolish, a little guilty even.

The steaks that still sat on the kitchen bench untouched appealed to my groaning stomach but upon biting into one of them a wave of nausea swept over me and I quickly spat the mouthful into the sink. So this is what my first hang over felt like, no headache but a loss of appetite – definitely could've been worse.

I stalked around the room for a few more minutes rehearsing quietly under my breath (Samara, about last night, I'm so sorry...) before deciding to see if I could find Samara and as I headed out of the room and into the hallway I instinctively called out "Samara" but my only reply was my own echo that bounced off the long hallway walls. After stalking hallway after hallway throughout the mansion, a pattern of the rooms and hallways emerged; methodically laid out, the rooms spanned down wings in opposite directions to the east and the west with the middle junction separated by the main tower. Both east and west hallways on both the main levels lead to door after door with the each hallway ending in a more decorative door at the furthest end. Upon entering through one of these more extravagant doors, I realized that they were master suites of their respective wings.