Tate Langdon: Moving On

I'm Sorry

-Tate's P.O.V-
Effy smiled at me and then gave me my answer.
"I do."
"But do you really?" I asked, looking her in the eyes. Her smile kinda faded slightly.
"What do you mean?" she asked me.
"Okay," I started. I turned Effy around so we were both looking the same way. "I don't want you to be afraid of anything, okay? Now, can you do something for me?" I asked, Effy turned her head back towards me.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Go over there, not too far and call Thaddeus for me." I spoke.
"Wait, what?" said Effy, sounding confused.
"I want you not be afraid anymore like with the incident with Beau in the attic. Now, go over there and call Thaddeus for me. If Thaddeus starts to scare you, all you have to say is 'go away' and he will." I explained. Effy turned back to face me.
"Are you a nut job?" she laughed.
"Effy, go on. You'll see what I mean." I smiled.
"Whatever you say." she laughed, not taking me seriously. I stepped back and watched Effy walk over towards a darker corner.
"That will do!" I called, stopping her. She turned back to look at me with a smirk on her mouth. "Go on, call him." I encouraged.
"Pfft." she whispered, turning back around. "Thaddeus! Come on out!" she called sarcasticly. We waited for a minute or so and nothing happened. Effy turned back to face me.
"Tate, what exactly is suppose to-" she started but then was interrupted when Thaddeus jumped straight out of the darkness and on top of Effy. Effy started screaming and squirming on the floor, trying to push Thaddeus off of her.
"Effy! Say it! You know what to say!" I called to her, worrying that Thaddeus would do something.
"Tate! Help me!" screamed Effy, squirming and crying.
"Effy, you need to say it! Say it now, please!" I cried at her, starting to panic. All of a sudden, Thaddeus striked Effy, clawing her collar bone and cutting her. She screamed in pain as three gashes started pouring out with blood. My eyes widened and my eyes began to water up. "Go away, Thaddeus! Go away!" I screamed at Thaddeus. Suddenly, the room fell quiet with only Effy lying on the floor and crying. I ran down to her side and fell to my knees, lifting her onto my lap. I cradled her in my arms for comfort.
"Why didn't you say it, Effy? Why didn't you just say it? I'm so sorry." I cried. Effy looked at me with tears running down her face and didn't say a word. She then jumped to her feet and ran out of the basement crying, leaving me on the floor. I lowered my head to my knees and cried even more.
"Don't blame yourself, honey." I heard a voice.
"It's my fault though." I replied straight away, recognising the voice. I looked up and saw Nora leaning down towards me.
"Thaddeus doesn't know his ways still. I doubt he meant to harm that young girl and neither did you." comforted Nora. I looked across the floor and saw the black rose I had put in Effy's hair had fallen out.
"I could of stopped it sooner. Effy asked for my help but I wanted her to be strong." I sniffed.
"I'm sure she will forgive you, dear. Everyone forgives in the end." she smiled. I looked into Nora's eyes.
"Except Violet." I blubbed. Nora gave me a sorried look and then I bowed my head back down into my knees and cried even more.

-Effy's P.O.V-
I ran straight up stairs to the bathroom, crying my eyes out. What the hell was that thing? It attacked me! Why did Tate do this to me? I flicked on the bathroom light and stood in front of the mirror. I threw my dressing down off my body so I was just in my underwear and examined the cuts on my collar bone. That thing scratched me. Three deep cuts, pouring out with blood were upon my skin. I went searching through the bathroom cabinets for the first aid kit.
"Effy." I heard a voice. I turned around and saw Tate standing in the bathroom doorway with tear marks down his cheeks.
"Don't come near me." I said quietly, backing away.
"I didn't want to hurt you. I can't explain how sorry I am for that." he spoke, sounding like he was about to cry. I shook my head and continued looking for the first aid kit. "Let me help." he said, walking into the bathroom. He closed the bathroom and door and went straight over to the loo roll and ripped off a massive chunk.
"What the hell was that, Tate?" I said with a shaky voice.
"Come here." he said, coming towards me with the loo roll. He reached an arm out towards me but I flinched away. "Effy, I'm not going to hurt you. Let me help." he begged with his eyes. I stood still as he came towards me again. He gently placed the loo roll over the cuts to help stop the bleeding. I winced as he added pressure. "I cannot explain to you how sorry I am." he started. I bit my lip and let another tear roll down my cheek. "I never planned on inflicting pain on you, I just...I just wanted you to not be afraid of what this house holds." he spoke, dabbing the wound. I swallowed hard and didn't say a word. I couldn't stay mad at him. Seeing his puppy dog eyes fill with tears had to mean that he really was sorry.
"It's okay." I finally spoke. "I forgive you." Tate looked me straight in the eyes. I had only just met this boy and I had a really big urge to kiss him.
"Sit down, let me dress your wound." he offered. I sat myself down on the edge of the bathtub and applied pressure to the wound with the loo roll whilst Tate searched the bathroom cabinets for the first aid kit. "Here we go." he said as he came over to me with a little red box. He pulled out a giant medical plaster, big enough to cover the three scratches. Tate moved my hand away from the wound and the bleeding had already slowed down a lot, almost completely in fact. He unwrapped the plaster and gently stuck it onto my collar bone. "There, that should help." he said, soothingly. He then leaned in towards me and kissed my collar bone on the plaster. When he looked back up at me, out faces were so close to each other. We stared at each other's eyes for a couple of seconds and the urge to kiss him became unbearable. Just as I was about to take my chance, Tate turned away from me and stood up. "You should get some rest, Effy. It'll help with the healing." he said as he walked away towards the bathroom door. He opened the door and just as he was about to leave, I spoke, stopping him in the doorway.
"Thank you. It means a lot." I said with a small smile. He turned back to face me and gave me a small smile back.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, maybe. That's if you want to see me?" he asked. I smiled again and nodded my head which brought and adorable smile to his face. "See you then, oh and Effy," he started. I sparked to attention. "Nice underwear." he smiled. I looked down and realised I was just in my underwear.
"Shit!" I exclaimed quietly, reaching for my dressing gown off the floor and pulling it towards myself. I looked back up at the doorframe and saw he was gone. I sat on the edge of the bath for a while, thinking. What was going on in this house? First Hayden, then this Beau thing and now Thaddeus? Who were these people? What were these things? Why are they in the house? I needed more detail about this house. I needed to know the full story. I threw my dressing down back on the flushed the bloody loo roll down the toilet, making sure everything was put back right so my parents wouldn't become suspicious. I forgave Tate so easily, I'm the type of person to hold grudges for ages, but I couldn't with Tate. There was something about him. I was already scared of loosing him and I barely knew him. I made my way back into my bedroom. The room was cold and dark, just how I left it. I threw my dressing off of my body and straight down onto the floor. Flinging myself into bed, I began to think about everything. Hayden, Beau and Thaddeus, this house and a lot about Tate. I wanted to get closer to him. The way he avoided some of my questions made me wonder about him. Made me wonder if he had a secret, a dark secret, and I was desperate to know it.