Teardrops of Roses [Completed]

Chapter 33 Chains

C h a p t e r   T h i r t y   T h r e e 

Stepping onto the cool marble steps, I was greeted by the silent and imposing tall oak door that always made me nervous. It reminded me of it's owner, located somewhere behind in the large house. What was he doing now? Was he resting?

I  knock the door a few times however nobody answered. It was really late I know, but there was no where else to go. Holding my breath, I reach out for the handle expectantly... and it turns. Of course it does. The day I arrive to find the door locked, is the day I would know something was amiss. At least for now his forgetful or careless nature was a blessing in disguise. 

I entered through the familiar the landing and called his name out into the dim house. I come to the living room but it was empty.
Perhaps the piano study, he was always in there right? It was his favorite room and the reason he bought the house in the first place. Conversely it was also my favorite. 

 "Mr Green?

Jasper?"

I call out again in the study to nobody in particular, only the grand piano which stood stoically in it's usual residence over the red rug, offered back some companionship. Tonight, the way that the moonlight shimmered over it's sleek and smooth surface was unnerving and I shivered. I blinked twice, testing if my eyes were deceiving me, did something move? I shook my head at the absurdness of my thoughts.

I scanned the study again. His desk at the back where I expected him to be, remained still. Lit by the blue fuzz from his laptop screen-saver, it casted a ghostly hue. The room, which I had come to love, suddenly felt oddly strange and deserted without him... Like I shouldn't be here at all, which was a feeling I'd never felt in here before. 

After all this time, it hits me that it was him that made me love the place, rather than just the room itself. I could feel warmth with Jasper in ways I'd never imagined. 
And with the downstairs feeling so uninhabited, it offered me a peek into what my life would be like now without him. I couldn't imagine it anymore. Regardless of how little of life I'd explored with him in it, he'd already made more than an impact, and it left me hungry.
Hungry for more. Hungry for him. 

At that moment, I heard a noise upstairs, startling me out of my own skin.
I yelped, but regained composure and headed towards it. 

At the bottom of the landing, I looked up beyond the white staircase into the ascending darkness above. Still, I felt the pull. It was drawing me to the one place I hated the most in the house; the vast and expansive upper level.

Floating down the long grand hall, I pass all the rooms who's secrets remained locked tightly behind closed doors like pursed lips, silently judging me. And like their master, they withheld whatever stories they knew, refusing to they let on what they knew to outsiders. 

Regardless of the chills I got, there was only one door that mattered at the moment – the master suite at the very end of the corridor. In fact the closer I got, the warmer I'd experienced in hours. How strange. 

With my heart beating out of my lungs, I open the door slowly. It creaks softly against the carpet and through the light provided by the single bedside lamp, I see his open bare open back protruding from the sheets. It was strong and cut, tapering down to his narrow waist stopping moments before the waistband of his pants. 

I wasn't intimidated by the slightest at his bare back. I only felt a mixture of concern and relief. 

He was safe.

I close the door behind me, effectively shutting us off from the rest of the outside world. 

"You shouldn't be here."

I think I almost imagined his voice. It was back, his regular voice. Not the wolf from before. 
The vibe that composed in the air was grim and heavy, nonetheless, but I didn't care.

Earlier at the school carpark, I had been caught off guard, unable to come to his aid. However now having witnessed his reality, I felt more prepared. I was willing to adapt, he can't scare me off anymore. I won't be scared.