Winthrop Manor #Wattys2019

8

The little boy sat straight up in bed, looking at me with inquisitive, yet fearful light eyes. His hair was a mess of white curls, and his cheeks were flushed with sleep. He looked like a freshly-awakened cherub, swathed in dark blankets.

"Hi, Charlie, it's Cathry—" I recalled how Halis had made a point of introducing me as simply Cath last night and cut myself off. "Do you remember me? I visited last night... I am going to be staying with you today."

I tried to plaster a smile on my lips, to appear at least an ounce of friendly, but to be honest, Charlie looked pitiful, and his wretched appearance made me grimace more than anything.

He sleepily blinked at me, then his stomach let out a long, low growl.

"Oh," I said. That's right, breakfast. Kids need to eat breakfast.

"Well, er— lets go to the dining hall and get you some food!"

He didn't respond, only blinked again.

"Charlie? You were hungry?" I asked after a few moments.

A laugh sounded from the ajar door.

"I see Halis failed to tell you of Charlie's predicament," Felix said, bemused.

He came wandering into Charlie's room like a cat, meandering, taking all the time in the world. I think if Felix was a cat, he'd be a black-furred one, who blended into the night sans their light crystalline eyes. He definitely had the right eyes, and was always sneaking up on me, it felt like.

"Predicament?" I questioned. Charlie had already tumbled out of bed and was hooked around one of Felix's long legs as though he were a baby monkey.

"You see, Charlie doesn't talk."

My eyebrows flutter upward. "Oh!"

Felix modded, grimacing slightly, and reached down to ruffle Charlie's hair affectionately.

"Come on. I'll show you to the dining hall. It's pretty difficult for newcomers to navigate the manor," he said, taking one of Charlie's hands and beckoning me to follow.

We meandered down the corridors in the same lazy, catlike way Felix had entered Charlie's room. It was a nice change from Halis' purposeful, rushed gait.

I walked a few steps behind the pair. Charlie held onto Felix's hand like he was his lifeblood.

"Is he your...?" slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

"Half brother. We have—well. We had the same father," Felix answered, glancing at me.

Ah. That'd explain the unruly hair and nearly-white eyes. As for the sickly appearance they both held...

And the odd use of the past tense to describe their father...

"Had?" I probed, because I apparently need to buy a filter for my mouth.

"He died, a few months ago," Felix explained, putting the final piece in the puzzle.

That didn't attribute for Halis' clear disdain for Felix, but now her bitter mood was justified.

I didn't know how to respond. Death was a taboo to me. I'd never experienced it. Grief, loss, sure. I'd had my fair share of that. But death? I'd come so close my fingers had brushed it, but I'd only ever been on its doorstep, not past it's threshold.

"You're the first one not to apologize," he noted, pulling me out of my musings. I noticed he was looking over at me as he walked. He wore an odd expression on his angled face that might've been pleasant surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"Usually people spit out meaningless apologies when I tell them my father died."

"Oh."

He sounded like a Wattpad boy, honestly, but I let it slip. He was grieving, after all.

"I'm afraid I have... business to attend to," he stated when we arrived at the dining hall.

He ushered Charlie through the door, then held it open for me.

My breath caught in my throat as I passed mere inches from him. He smelled like winter, and his eyes up close mirrored tiny snow globes of light teal.

"I'll see you, Cathryn," he said softly.

Then the door swung closed.

Author's Note

Eww. Long boring chap. But we had some Felix action ;') He smells like winter, now you know, shhh.

I went back and edited out some of the more... "mystical" elements because I've decided this will simply be a modern romance that took some vibes from a vampire film. Lol.

I feel like my character's have horrible personality development, namely Cath and Felix. Someone wanna give me their honest opinion? Or if you could list a few adjectives to describe how you view both individuals. I need halp 😂

Anyways~for reading, I fangirl whenever y'all comment and genuinely like my book, literally.