Everything happened in an instant. Y/n didn't know what was going on as she felt a force pushing on her side so violently it sent her to the ground. Instinctively shutting her eyes, she heard a loud thud ringing in her ears. Then a weight of something - someone - on top of her, and it took a long while for her to make sure whatever it was, it settled down - even though the weight never left - to open her eyes cautiously. The first thing y/n saw was a face of a raven haired man looking down at her. He had his hand on the back of her head. As if to prevent her from any injuries from hitting the floor. And they just looked at each other without saying a word. Both seemed just as shocked. Then it hit y/n that she could scream, that she should be fighting now that there was a stranger in her house, straddling her waist.
"Darling-" Before the man could utter another word, a burning slap on his cheek sent his head turning to the side. A kick soon followed, the impact sent him backward but not enough for him to fall off of her completely. The girl started screaming, her hands shot out trying to attack him, but he caught her wrists, holding it as still as he could. She wasn't making it any easy.
"Get off me! Get off me!! Who are you? Get off me!!" She was panicking, trembling like a leaf and it started to scare Thomas when the gravity of what he did hit. What had he done? He shouldn't have made his presence known! Lucille was going to be very mad at him. Now, to his current situation, how was he supposed to explain to her, what was he supposed to say that wouldn't freak her out even more than she already was? 'Hey, I'm Thomas Sharpe, yes, that infamous murderer who killed dozens of women, oh and I'm a ghost' ? He didn't think so. Maybe it was a stupid idea. Maybe he shouldn't have interjected in the first place. But.... but she would have died, if he didn't do something. Thomas couldn't let it happen - wouldn't - when he could help. He have had enough of watching his sister kill.
"Darling, please, it's okay. I'm... I'm not having any intention to cause you any harm." He tried to calm both himself and her down. And he thought it would be better if he wouldn't trap her between the floor and his body like this, so he stood up and freed her eventually. The second he got off her, she jumped up on her feet, backed away till her back made contact with the wall behind. God, she looked like a wounded dog.
"W-who are you? How did you get in here? What... what do you want from me?" The girl shouted, though her voice cracked.
"I just... wanted to save you." Thomas spoke truthfully because he didn't know how else to respond. That's when her eyes carried past him and to the spot she sat earlier. That quite explained the thudding sound she heard: the chandelier had fallen from the ceiling, and it would have smashed her skull if not for him.
She looked calmer, still shaking a bit but at least she wasn't screaming bloody anymore when she was convinced he wasn't going to hurt her. Though there were still many questions left unanswered, many questions she needed the answers. "But... but who are you? How did you...."
"My name is Thomas Sha- Thomas. Just Thomas." He said in a polite tone. It was obvious she only heard of the name Thomas Sharpe, not how he looked like. Which was a good thing, "I'm... ughhh..." His brain tried to come up with something, anything that wasn't 'I'm a ghost who's trapped in this house' "I'm a caretaker of Allerdale Hall" He finished with a soft smile he hoped would be friendly.
"A caretaker?" She never knew anything about the caretaker, y/n thought.
"And you must be the new owner. I believe I haven't learned your name..."
"It's y/n... my name is y/n." Her voice still a bit wavered. After everything that happened in the past three minutes, she was still pretty much overwhelmed.
"That's a beautiful name for a beautiful lady like yourself." Thomas slowly approached with the same smile, making sure he wasn't frightening her. He reached out his hand and when y/n reached hers out, thinking they were just going to shake hand, he took hers in his and bent down to place a kiss on the back of it. It made her cheeks flush. Besides from his handsome face, he was charming. Such a true gentleman, she noted. Even though he did scare her at first, something about him put her at ease.
"Thank you... for saving my life." The girl said and he just smiled at her. Though she thought she saw a hint of sadness in his eyes, it was gone as soon as it appeared.
"It's an old house after all. We just have to be careful, right?"
"I guess..." She shrugged slightly, returning him her soft smile.
"Hey, if you... if you want a guide, I can help introduce you to parts of the house. It's particularly big for newcomer to explore all by themselves." Thomas took one quick glance at the dark corner before his eyes returned to y/n. Suddenly he looked scared.
She followed his eyes. Though there was no one else she could see. What was he looking at?
"What'd you say?" Thomas's voice snapped y/n out of her trance. Her eyes fixed back on him and as curious as she was about what did he see, she nodded. "That'd be great." Said the girl. He offered her his arm and she hooked it with her hand, letting him lead her out the foyer.
The moment they walked out the door, Thomas looked back to the dark corner, there Lucille stood with her murderous expression and her eyes burned with pure rage.
