Chapter 3 - The morning after

10.4K 271 1
                                    

    Deepest night turns to morning, and pale sunshine peeks through the white lace curtains of the big window.
You're still fast asleep, and will remain so for a few more hours until the sun has illuminated the entire room.
Late in the morning you slowly open your eyes, and squint in the bright light. You lie there for a few minutes, your eyes wandering across the room.
The painting of a ship at sea above the mantle.
The wallpapers, the big toy car, teddy bear and rocking horse in the corner.
The little desk with the lamp on, the shelves with all the toys and books.
And the table with the violin and globe next to you.
You wonder if the mysterious Brahms could be watching you right now from somewhere. But there's no creaking or footsteps anywhere. You roll over in the little bed and clap eyes on something that wasn't there the night before.
On the night stand, next to the music box, there's a tray. You rise yourself up slowly, leaning on your right elbow. On the tray you see a plate of sliced jam sandwiches, a small bowl of oatmeal, a glass of juice and a napkin. You can't help but smile a little in the middle of all confusion.
Could this maybe be a humble gesture of apology?
With everything that you had witnessed last night... up until just a few hours ago you had still been convinced that Brahms was only just a doll. A haunted doll, sure, but still a doll. Not a tall, bearded human in a porcelain mask and dirty clothes.
But it all made sense now that you knew.
The shoes missing and then returned, the clothes, the voice and moving of the doll.
There was no supernatural spirit haunting neither the doll or the house. Instead it was a very strange person who seemed to be both boy and man at the same time. Living inside walls for twenty years, without any human contact except for his elderly parents who were now gone.
Who couldn't live with what they let him become. Who were willing to leave a girl alone with their son... for him to "love and care for".
You appreciate the breakfast tray but still have a hard time letting go of the fear you felt of him last night. You really thought he was going to do something horrible to you. Although it couldn't have been easy for him to suddenly face the stranger he had only watched from a distance, through the walls until then. He hadn't met any people what so ever in twenty whole years, no wonder he's deteriorated so badly.
Completely isolated and out of touch with reality like this.
Who knows - maybe you'd have built a strange doll to sleep with, literally, too if you were that lonely. 
You sit up with a pillow behind your back in bed, and carefully place the tray on your lap. You feel almost a bit touched when you look down at the breakfast someone else has made for you. You start with the oatmeal, followed by the sandwiches and juice. Maybe a little too much jam even for your taste, but it's the thought that counts.
You rest in bed for a while longer after finishing breakfast, before you decide to carefully get up and take a quick shower. You're still wearing the same clothes from yesterdays events, and they're both sweaty and filthy. You feel your head ache as you stand up, so you do everything slowly.
You make sure to bring a full set of clean clothes and a towel, and peek out in the corridor before you leave the room. No one out there, and not a sound anywhere except for your own steps as you make your way over to the bathroom. You make sure to lock the door well and try the handle before you check the walls for any suspicious, possible peep holes. You're glad that Brahms has left you alone today, to process everything and make some sense of it all.
You undress and place your clothes where you can see them from the shower. It feels even better than usual to stand under the hot water and wash yourself with foaming sweet scented soap and shampoo. You can't help but wonder when the last time Brahms took a shower or bath was. The heavy smell of him is hard to forget.
You step out of the shower a while later and find everything in the same spot where you put it earlier. Good. Maybe it's harder to pull creepy pranks on someone you've actually met. You return to the childhood bedroom in a set of fresh new clothes and hair that smells lovely from your conditioner. As you step inside the room you immediately notice that the tray is gone. Instead you find a couple of books on the stand. You look around to see if there's any other trace of Brahms like a note, but no, nothing. He clearly wants you to rest today. And then suddenly, out of nowhere, an unpleasant thought pops up in your mind.
Cole. The body.
He's way better off dead than living, no question about it. Brahms had done what you had wished to do so many times in the past. To get rid of him. The world is a better place without Cole for sure, but you can't stand the thought of his corpse laying somewhere in the same house as you. The idea of it makes your heart sink. You need to know that it's gone.
You tip toe through the corridors and down the many stairs until you stand in front of the closed door where it all happened last night.

You take a deep breath before you open it slightly, and peek inside.


Brahms x Reader - After the killingWhere stories live. Discover now