my moonflower. - damie.

seven.

as the sun set at bly, an eeriness gloomed over the manor. dani wasn't sure if it was just her being paranoid or if it was actually there. she'd felt like she was being watched, but then again when didn't she feel like she'd been being watched? i'm just going crazy, she'd tell herself, convince herself it was nothing other then her imagination. but, in reality, it wasn't just her imagination. the spirits of the manor were growing restless, trying to break through the brick walls of the manor and get to the outside.

the night had almost fully set in as the children and dani made their way inside. dani shook the feeling off, tried to hide her paranoia as she prepared the children for bed.

living in an ancient home, you're bound to have a few spirits trapped in there. you pray that their harmless, just innocent ghouls and ghosts walking the halls and corridors. only so many spirits can fit within one house, and with this house, there had been so much death. there were too many spirits to contain within the walls, so they had to find new homes.

dani wasn't completely aware that a spirit had tucked away inside of her. sure, she'd felt it, but she'd pushed that feeling aside and blamed it on her past troubles. but, without her realization, viola was making her new home inside of dani's consciousness. 

the night was growing restless, and with it, so was viola. 

as dani walked about the manor after she'd put the children to bed, she leaned against the kitchen counter and let out a shaky breath. she felt so tired, so exhausted. i need some air, some cold air. dani thought, making her way to the door.

she hadn't even noticed she'd arrived to the lake, she found herself sitting on the side of it and trailing her fingers through the calm waters. snapping back into reality, she glanced around at her surroundings. she was alone, in the dark and cold, sitting by the quiet lake. it was odd, but she'd felt at home. a part of her wanted to go into the quiet waters, wanted to submerge herself within the calmness. but, dani denied that feeling, she wouldn't let herself get into the smelly old lake. instead, she'd watch her own reflection. watch the mirrored image of her face ripple and move with the current, stare at it.

dani hadn't heard jamie pull up, let alone walk up behind her.

she jumped when she felt the gardener place a hand on her shoulder, she jolted and looked up at her with wide eyes.

"dani, what are you doin'? it's freezing!" jamie said, a look of genuine concern on her face.

"i-i don't know.. i just wanted to go for a walk." dani said, stuttering and trying to remember why she'd come out here in the first place. she glanced back down at the water, she didn't even recall why she'd been so mesmerized by her own reflection. 

"lets get you inside, you're ice cold." jamie took dani's freezing hands, pulling her up from the cold, wet ground. "are you okay? you seem shaken." jamie asked, looking into her eyes.

"yeah, just wanted a little peace and quiet i guess," dani responded, her voice trailing off as she walked towards the manor with her. dani wouldn't tell her that she'd seen the faceless woman in her own reflection, how could she?

jamie lead dani to their bedroom. "wait, why are you back? i thought you'd be back tomorrow morning." dani said, sitting down on the corner of the bed and looking up to jamie.

"i thought you'd like it better if i came back, so here i am. i'm glad i'm here though, you'd have frozen out there if i hadn't came to save the day." jamie said, looking the au pair up and down, "you seem tired, get some sleep. we can talk more in the morning."

dani nodded, sighing and leaning back onto her pillow. "thanks for coming back, i'm glad you decided to." she said, her voice barely above a whisper. 

jamie kissed her cheek, positioning herself next to her and reaching over to turn off the lamp.

the two fell asleep, intertwined in one another as the sound of their paced breaths acted as a lullaby.