Chapter Twenty: Alarm

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Chapter Twenty: Alarm

We sat in silence, I thinking about his sister’s unfortunate death and him, remembering his bitter past.

He looked angry, betrayed and I cursed myself for asking about her, for my curiosity.

That evening we all had dinner together, Mr. and Mrs. Greene, Nathaniel and me. Mrs. Greene made some potato mush and boiled chicken. I didn’t have the chicken since I wasn’t too keen on meat, but the mush was delicious. Nathaniel and I exchanged looks at the table. By that time he had forgotten all about his sister and was back to his usual self, charming and irresistible. His parents did, at some point, look between us, as if they didn’t already know.

After we ate, I was again impose on the duty of washing the dishes and Nathaniel came to join me.

“So what’s you favourite time of the year?” He asked.

“Why do you ask?”

He shrugged, looking at the dishes he was drying.

“Summer.” I answered.

“Why?”

“It’s bright, full of life, colourful… It’s warm and somehow makes me happy. It’s beautiful.”

He stopped drying to listen, taking it all in.

“What?” I said when he didn’t resume his job.

“No, just the way you talk. It’s… mesmerising.” He said thoughtfully.

I smiled. He made me feel special, unique. True, I had felt like this most of my life, but hearing him say such a thing, still had a huge impact on me. I just wanted to be close to him that moment. To feel his hands around me, held in utter security. I just wanted to tell him how much he meant to me, but as usual, I kept my mouth shut, trapping my feelings.

I snapped out of my momentary reverie and continued to wash the dishes. I passed the wet ones to Nathaniel, secretly watching him dry the dishes, his perfect face overshadowed by his onyx curls. A shiver went down my spine when, suddenly, his bright eyes snapped up to meet mine. I was lost in them yet again, and involuntarily drew towards him.

Just as his lips brushed against mine, we both heard a loud bang.

Mr. Greene stood in the doorway to the kitchen, staring at us.

“We were just… um… doing the dishes.” Nathaniel stumbled while I turned my head away to hide my blush.

I heard his thudding footsteps as he left, wondering how we missed that earlier. Nathaniel turned to me, but I couldn’t bring myself to look up. His hand touched my chin and he gently lifted it, so I could look at him. He chuckled when he saw my blush.

“Don’t hide.” He said.

He escorted me to my bedroom and left himself. Something in me wanted to run down the hallway and beg him to stay, but that ounce of lady-hood in me sparked and I stayed put in my own room. As I brushed my long hair, I thought about Nathaniel, about his gentle, kind nature and his generosity. I trusted him with all my heart and soul. He had rescued me like a damsel in distress, and I couldn’t help but notice that he was truly and really a knight in shining armour. He could be one for any girl in the world, but right now, he was mine, and I was not going to lose him.

My mother was now afloat on my mind. I had to send her some indication that I was safe. Even though she was materialistic, she still loved me in her own twisted way, and she deserved to know that I was alright. I would ask Nathaniel if I could send a letter to her tomorrow.

There was a slight knock on the door when I was just about to get in the bed. This time I opened the door myself.

Nathaniel stood there sleepily. He looked at me with uncertainty and then his hand revealed a book.

“Here, read this when you have time. It’s my favourite.” He said and gave me the book, “Good night.”

“Thank you, good night” I said and watched him leave.

I closed the door, and sat on the bed, examining the item. Shakespeare. I loved Shakespeare. It was the sonnets. A number of white pages stuck out as markers here and there and I opened on the first one.

It was Sonnet LXVI; I rested the book on my knees and read the words aloud, hadn’t read Shakespeare or any other book in fact for almost half a year.

“Tired with all these, for restful death I cry,

As, to behold desert a beggar born,” I scanned through the rest myself, seeing how much truth was revealed in just fourteen lines. Shakespeare was life-wise. He knew how to put every emotion into words.

I was simply enchanted by his sonnets.

I quickly flicked to another marked page. This time it was Sonnet LXXIII, another masterpiece. I sighed.

Wow, he read Shakespeare, was there anything not-charming he didn’t do?

With that I realised I was falling, badly falling, for him. But I didn’t know if it was good or bad. It did feel exciting and refreshing, something alien, new, in need of exploring, but I didn’t know what consequences would be there. I didn’t know what this could lead to…

I lay back on the bed and closed my eyes, contemplating weighing my options. It was obvious that he liked me, but love? I wasn’t sure he loved me, probably he didn’t. No, I decided surely, he didn’t.

Sleep came over me like a lazy wave on the sea and took me under, in the place of abstract shapes and luminous lights. I did not dream that night.

The next morning I woke up to urgent knocking on my door.

“Come in” I mumbled.

“Someone’s here!” Nathaniel burst in the room, clearly unaware of my sub-conscious state. That jerked me awake though.

“Hide, come on! You must hurry!” He practically dragged me out of the bed in my night-gown, opened the door of the wide wardrobe and shoved me in, all too roughly. I winced and he drew back.

“Sorry…” He muttered.

He picked all my clothes and belongings from the room and gave them to me in the wardrobe.

“What’s wrong? Who’s coming?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll know soon enough” and with that he slammed the wardrobe door in my face and I was left alone in the wooden box.

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