Is It Love? DROGO

Chapter 28: Little danger

Note: We're already in the 11th chapter. And so, Season 1 is about to end.

Red Crandall

When evening comes, I still haven't managed to rid myself of this persistent anxiety. I feel restless. I just can't get the forbidden door and what lies behind it, out of my mind, not knowing what it is, nor the danger that might be lurking behind it all sharpens my senses. The slightest sound makes me jump. I'm on the lookout for anything and no longer feel very safe. This mansion should have been a home for me. A shelter. Instead, I feel like a caged animal, the constant threat of attack looming over me.

I'm pacing around my room when I should really be sleeping. The boys have promised to watch over me, but ever since that horrible nightmare, I'm just not serene anymore. Several times they showed me that things could quickly get out of hand... So the question lingers in my mind: are they truly who they claim to be? It's now become obvious that they're hiding things from me. I have to know more if I don't want to go totally insane! Drogo advised me to go to his brother for answers. I might as well listen and promote transparency, for once!

I leave my room and make my way downstairs, in search of Nicolae. The house at this hour seems so gloomy that I hurry along the hall. In the living room, by the faint glow of the fire crackling in the fire place, I find him sitting on the couch, apparently, lost in thought.

"Good evening..."

"Red...? Everything okay?"

"I... I'd like to talk to you about something..."

He gestures for me to go and sit beside him. Something inside me compels me to be suspicious and I hate myself for it at once. It was only a dream Red!

"Is something bothering you...?"

I don't know which ways best to broach the subject. I don't want to get his back up not for him to lie to me.

Nicolae frowns.

"You can tell me everything... Is there a problem with Drogo?"

"No. It's... something else..."

I know I'm treading on thin ice, but I can't keep on pretending nothing has happened.

"You're hiding things from me, Nicolae, and it's unbearable."

Nicolae suddenly looks at me with disarming benevolence.

"Red... You know more about us than anyone..."

"Lorie tried to lure me down to the basement..." I feel like I just dropped a bombshell.

"I know, Peter informed me about it this morning."

I'm not really surprised by his tense reaction but it does tend to annoy me. There's something in that basement, a secret so dangerous that it gets Peter in a terrible rage and makes Drogo dumb. And he stays calm!

"Your dream isn't warning you against us, Red..."

His words are blood-curdling. What is he trying to say? He sinks into the couch, looking at me with somber eyes, not even bothering to answer me. Suddenly, I realize...

"You know who the man in my dream was... Right?"

"Red..."

"No, I have the right to know!"

"Believe me, nothing bad will happen to you."

"How would you know?" He comes closer to me again. I try to step back but he looks so calm that I feel disconcerted.

"You're right. I'll explain, but it's a long story..."

I stay silent a moment, surprised. I had lost all hope of discovering the truth. Is Nicolae going to hand it to me on a plate? Or he will beat around the bush again?
I stare at Nicolae, he seems to be thinking about how to put things.