Monsters

Chapter 19

Denis' P.O.V

John and I walk silently through the corridors of this mansion place, which definitely has something dodgy going on in it, but we're not sure what yet, but it could be why we were sent to England. We have no idea where the girls rooms are, we think they could be on the third floor since they went upwards when we went down two flights, but there's another two floors above the third, so it could be either of those that they're staying on, and from what we heard from Samuels when he came into the room the girls have quite nice places. I rub my hand over my chest as we go out of discomfort, allowing the material of my shirt to press against my healing tattoo which is itchy as hell, but I try not to press too hard.

I know it seems like I got the thing in the whim of the moment, but I didn't, I booked and had it done spontaneously, but I'd thought about the tattoo long and hard ages before we even knew we were coming to England, and during the consultation which I had after my piercing I told the tattooist exactly what I wanted. With the owl on top of the rams skull, it's wings spread, it just reminds me of how I could have died when I went into the mansion, when I tried to get back to my body, when I was in my body and almost floated off, but I didn't. I stayed here, I survived. And the owl itself, it's going to sound so fucking stupid, but I see myself in those creatures, I have for years from seeing them past the boundaries of the Wallows Mansion at nights.

I was awake for a hundred years even during the night, aware of what was going on all around me even though I spent a century in the shadows, I see that in the nocturnal animals. I watched people all the time from the mansion, it was the only thing I could do besides chase people out or talk to John, I observed them, learned from them, and owls are seen as watchful, and wise, so even though I'm not necisarnaly wise, I've still managed pretty well at adjusting to all these new things over the past few months. And I longed for freedom. For so, so long I just wanted to be able to walk out of those gates, go for a stroll, run so fast that my feet would be close to lifting off the ground, I wanted to be free, I wanted to fly off like those owls...

John and I stop when we hear footsteps, we've been diving out of sight anytime someone passes so far, not wanting to get caught as we don't trust any of these guys, and from what I've heard from him John really hates that Pierce guy. Although that could just be because he's friendly to Phoenix. But these footsteps are fainter, yet they're still close, like they're lighter on the carpet than the others we've heard, and we glance at each other as the person seems to wander softly over to the wall as their feet start to hit the bare marble flooring, and this one doesn't have any shoes on by the sounds of it. It's a crossroads of corridors in front of us, four meeting in the middle, and they're not coming from the one directly in front of us, so that only leaves the side ones, and both John and I seem to be in silent agreement that they're coming from the right as we slink over to the large set of draws by the left wall to slip behind, crouching slightly with him in front of me. That's the thing about working with someone for a century, your minds start to work in the same way. With our heads peaking out over the top of the drawers we see as Jinx appears from the corner.

I smile and straighten as she stands at the end of the hall, one hand still on the corner while she looks down the other two, and while I'm drawing closer I fully register what it is she's wearing. It's certainly not her usual jeans and a shirt, nor her usual sleepwear of a vest top and shorts, although that usually turns into nothing if I have a hand in it. Jinx is standing in a black nightdress, made of what looks like soft material and very short, the sleeves only spaghetti straps and just under her breasts the soft material is replaced by black lace. Her legs are bare and look a mile long in the clothing, and even though I can only really see her from side on at the moment, I know it's very low cut at the front. Her hair is down and waving around her thanks to the pleat she had it in earlier, the ends softly curling while she lifts the hand she doesn't have on the wall to grab the side of the robe she's wearing, pulling the black silk thing back on top of her shoulder. "You should be more careful, Darlin'." Jinx gasps in fright as I speak, my voice husky and by her ear while my hands go to her waist, instantly pulling her body back into mine. "Denis." She breathes out, and although there is some relief in her voice, tension stays in her body... Why the hell?