The known stranger

5(a). Square one

A/N : I hope everyone is doing well, this chapter was getting too long so I decided to split it into two parts, the next part will be updated soon. Enjoy reading ❤️
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I woke up with a slight ache in my neck and realised that I had fallen asleep on the chair, I massaged my neck lightly with one hand and pushed my weight against the chair with the other in order to get up, the floor felt unbearably cold against my bare feet so a shiver left down my spine, fire in the fireplace was dwindling out, leaving behind dying embers that crisped against each other. The clock showed that it was 2 in the morning, some of the candles were still lit thus the hall was illuminated enough for my vision, I looked around mindlessly, I was too scared to go back to sleep in this giant room in the middle of forest, alone.

Having Ethan nearby right now wouldn't be so bad I thought to myself, I looked at the large bookshelves and decided to read something.

I tiptoed towards it, almost worried about breaking the silence of forest at this hour, I pulled out a thick book bounded with tattered leather from a shelf, "eius personalis grimoire" was embossed on it in large golden letters, curiously I turned a page, everything was handwritten in a language that was foreign to my eyes. Casually, I flickered through partly torn pages of the book, nothing that I could comprehend except a few drawings of cauldrons of different shapes and sizes, a few others of different types of flowers including the one I saw outside, there were some skulls drawn here and there, and geometrical shapes including pentagrams that were all different from each other, some had weird geometrical shapes like circles and triangles, heads of various animals and symbols drawn inside them. Inquisitively I pulled out another book, but it too was in a language foreign to my eyes, one by one I pulled out atleast 10 different books, all of them were written in the same alien script, sighing, I stepped back and let myself fall on the large sofa, I massaged my temples, my mind was running stupidly fast analysing all possible scenarios, pentagrams were used by jugheads all over the world who claimed to cast "magic" and extorted money from gullible people or by satanic cults that did horrifying things for e.g., sacrificing innocent new born babies for nothing.

My blood began to seep with anger, what was Ethan even doing with all these books ? A book fell from my hand on top of a one legged table beside me, as a result the brass vase resting on it fell on my leg while the table fell in the other direction, reflexively I screamed but thankfully the vase wasn't too heavy and no sharp edges touched my skin.

Clutching my heart I stood up and stepped back but my back collided with something hard and I was picked up and turned around very sharply, I closed and opened my eyes due to the sudden jerk, Ethan stood there, clutching my arms with his hands a bit too tightly and looking over me frantically.
He finally met my eyes when he was done inspecting "what happened? Are you okay?" He asked, his voice was panicked and his eyes that looked like a very light hue of brown in the dim light of candles were wild, I gulped down and looked over his shoulder-at the book that was lying on the floor and met his eyes again slowly "a vase fell upon me" I said, stepping back from his hold, his grip left my arms sore, his eyebrows furrowed "I heard your scream" he said quietly, running a hand forcefully through his hair beginning to look slightly irritated now.

In a weird way I liked how he was there within seconds, to help me, was he not sleeping as well ? moreover the silent forest was beginning to creep on me and I was better off with some company right now. "Were you sleeping?" I asked, his eyes shot towards me instantly but he kept quiet.

"No" he said slowly.

"I couldn't sleep here as well, it's a little eerie" I blurted out, beginning to fidget with the hem of my long t-shirt.

He said nothing as he placed the vase on top of the table again, I stepped back a little more and folded my hands as he picked up the black book eyeing it for a second, he was looking at me as he placed the book back in the shelf, "umm I couldn't sleep so I decided to read a book, none of them were in a language I could decipher though" I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear "I hope you don't mind" I didn't want him to think I was a lurker, he just kept on looking at me and took a few steps towards me "they were my mother's" he said sighing, looking side ways.

"Is she around?" I couldn't help but ask, he looked back at me "no and yes" he said, confusing me even more, he saw me looking at me expectantly and sighed "I've not seen her in a few years" I nodded "but I do get a call from her sometimes" he said in a mocking tone as if sharing an inside joke with himself.

"Oh" I could only manage to say.

"You can sleep here on the sofa, I'll be here" he looked at me "or in my room upstairs" he said after a pause with a halfway there crooked smile and a mischievous glint in his eyes that wasn't to be missed.

I had a weird phobia about sleeping in large spaces, I would be fine to sleep in a large room, but halls or let's say open areas like under the night sky in a huge clearing were a huge NO, I probably had the reverse of what they called claustrophobia.

"I think I could sleep upstairs" I finally said, he just nodded and turned around, I looked at the large bookshelf one last time as I followed him to his room, upstairs.

It was a spacious room with even its own fireplace and enough furniture, I watched as he casually climbed his bed, put his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling "are you just gonna stand there and stare at me?" He said without really throwing a glance at me, a maddening blush crept on my cheeks, I rubbed my cold arms. What choice did I really had than sleeping in the same bed as Ethan, who was acting cocky all of a sudden except sleeping on the sofa that was lying beside his bed but I decided against it because it was too narrow and I had a habit of tossing and turning in my sleep, naturally I didn't want to break my nose especially after that mildly traumatic experience I had in the evening, it would be embarrassing. So quietly I jumped into the soft mattress, turned my back to him, pulled the covers upto my neck and pushed myself a little over the edge, the sheets smelt like him, shamelessly I inhaled deeply, my heartbeat was weirdly erratic inside my ribcage for some reason, I closed my eyes but events of the previous day wouldn't stop playing in my head.

How literally out of nowhere he was sitting in front of me on that goddamned tree in the woods, or how his eyes bore into mine when he spoke, his otherworldly aura, the genuine care, everything about him was pulling my soul apart and nothing made sense anymore.

I was alone when I woke up in the morning, I rose from the bed slowly, dust particles glimmered in the golden rays of sun that were entering the room through open windows, the forest didn't seem so threatening anymore-lovely even with all the flora and green moss that covered everything in plain sight, the woods were so dense you couldn't see beyond 100 metres and the trees were so tall, the sky was barely visible, only bright light filtered down through rich canopy.

My clothes were neatly folded and placed on a chair, 5 minutes later I walked downstairs dressed in my own clothes, Ethan suggested that we leave as soon as possible, walk to the road was barely 5 minutes long which was weird because the cabin was surrounded by dense woods, I saw my car parked on the same spot I left it yesterday "would you be able to drive by yourself?" He asked not really looking at me and opened the door of the driver's seat before I could even open my mouth to speak, hesitatingly I climbed the seat, I looked at him while he looked anywhere but at me, I cleared my throat and uttered a thanks, he finally looked at me and nodded, his eyes were cold and completely devoid of any emotion, my heart skipped a beat and suddenly I didn't want to be there anymore, I started the ignition and began to drive away, when I looked in the rear view mirror just before taking a turn he was nowhere in sight.