Amidst Crimson Kisses

Chapter Fifteen: The Wiles of Stardust

Asher's POV

If I could capture this hour amidst failing hearts and fermenting souls that stormed the fifth, sixth and seventh floor in a rave of darkness, would anyone follow us down the rabbit hole? Even if I didn't know what the whispers of tomorrow might bring as Goulding Manor illuminates in a shroud of perplexity. The coliseum harbors Andre as he smolders above the heights of the natatorium. Then below the balcony lies an entire level submerged in water, engulfing Charlie in hypnotic waves as he floats on white wings situated amidst the sixth floor. Meanwhile, I'm the closest to hell as I intercept among the ungodly walls of the fifth floor.

The stairway inflames in darkness as a long, burgundy carpet extends on the ground and runs down the length of the foyer. I tread down the pristine floor, tracing the medieval architect. Maybe it's the walnut columns as the orbs in the chandelier glisten above David's quarters while the chamber broods in a nostalgic atrocity, one where I indulged in the wages of lawlessness. My attention falters to a marbled statue of a woman standing perpetually still, holding a wrought iron chandelier while her lover poses at her hip with a pendant candle holder. Her dress washes over her sculpted figure as his strapping features mimic a young man in his prime.

The chamber suffocates in a gothic era as it kindles in silence, and evokes lost memories of cheerful laughs all erased by David's hatred of me. I remember when I first darted this hallway as curiosity laid before me in extravagance and I merely a boy of fourteen. My youth grew to recognize the blunder that decimated my mother while lurking in the shadows of David's home, but it never mattered. I often discovered myself barreling through the chambers of Goulding Manor, seeking a justification to settle on the second floor where Juliet animated within the halls. Then I wanted freedom from my past, but I always found myself surrounded by the ashes of the fifth floor where death even laid to rest.

"Asher?" Andre calls out from the speaker of my cell phone as I monitor the fifth floor. "Listen, Sherlock; this only works if you answer."

"I deduce in the next five minutes you will shut the hell up, or I'll personally throw you off that balcony myself." I retort, walking past a gray vase perched on a mahogany drawer cabinet as Andre continues.

"Anyway, why does guardian angel over here get to relax in a pool while the rest of us work?" Andre complains as Charlie yells something incoherent. "Be quiet, Charlie, nobody asked you nothing!"

I stroll through the length and breadth of the south wing, annoyed with my perception as my younger self materializes with stardust in his eyes. He traces in front of me with dysphoria lingering in his smile. It's not long before my subconscious plunges into my fourteen-year-old soul, and I'm left drifting back in time. He storms the floor, forging his path as an unfamiliar gas permeates the atmosphere. My lungs deteriorate as intoxication ravages my body.

"Asher, come to David's study," a gravelly voice whispers over the intercom system. "come prepared to surrender and prepared. . .to die."

I try to hold on to my thoughts as my shoulders straighten and my legs march forward. If I can control a single thought then maybe I could break the spell. Maybe I can wiggle my fingers and gain feeling of one limb at a time. Then I could resist the urge to fall deeper into myself. My mind churns with all sort of possibilities involving my resistance, but my body refuses to respond to my silent cries.

"Asher, are you okay?" Andre bellows over the speaker. "Who the hell was that? Answer me! Did he do something to you? Bro, you have to snap out of this. Charlie thinks Elijah's using something to cut the power, but I think it's deeper than a few flickering lights. Look, I don't know how but he's using something to spy on us. That's why you have to. . .go to David's study and d-die." Andre spits the last word out with bile in his voice as he hangs up.