Dance With The Devil

CHAPTER THREE - GOODBYE

A week had passed since Grace arrived at the Heelshire manor. Mrs. Heelshire spent the entire week training Grace how to take care of Brahms and now that she was sure that the girl could make it on her own she decided that it was time for them to leave. Mr. Heelshire was more in a hurry to leave than his wife it seemed, she had accidentally overheard their conversation a couple of days ago as she passed by the library.

You can't be serious now Margaret... Mr. Heelshire told his wife struggling to keep his voice low.

Please Thomas give me a few more days, she needs to adapt to his ways before we leave. I need to know that my son will be in good hands, Mrs. Heelshire almost begged her husband.

What about her? Will she be in good hands when you leave her alone with him? Or it doesn't matter because she's just another girl? I swear Margaret you're so selfish sometimes, he said as he slammed his hand on the desk. He turned towards the door to leave before his wife had the chance to answer and Grace had to hide in a corner to avoid being discovered.

His words were still haunting her, she had come to know by now that Mr. Heelshire was more sensible out of the two and to hear him say something like that troubled her. At some point it made her wonder why did the other babysitters left, surely it wasn't exactly the most normal thing in the world to ask for someone to babysit a doll but they did pay good for it and it wasn't that horrible to make someone leave. Or maybe Grace was simply so desperate to get away that it didn't seem so bad to her.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning, Grace had just got out of bed and she was enjoying the sun coming from the window next to her bed. The peaceful moment was destroyed by a loud bang and then glass breaking. Afraid that someone might have gotten hurt Grace jumped off the bed and ran into the hallway looking for the source of the noise. Then she heard Mrs. Heelshire yelling,

Stop this now, you're being a very bad boy right now! She was in Brahms room and even from there she could hear the fear in her voice. Grace run without a second thought and opened the door to find a terrified Mrs. Heelshire and a broken mirror.

What happened? Grace asked her beyond confused.

Oh dear I'm so sorry, all that noise must have disturbed your sleep, she said coming closer and reaching for her hand, she put on a brave face but the fear was still there.

Are you alright? Who did this? Grace ignored her apology trying to understand what was going on.

All is good don't worry dear, Mrs. Heelshire literally dragged her out of the room and closed the door quickly.

You see Brahms is not used to us not being home so I told him the news that we will be leaving today and he got a little upset but he will be fine don't worry, she said nervously. Grace wasn't sure if she wasn't trying to reassure her or herself, she still held her hand and she could feel it shaking.

Grace led her downstairs to the kitchen and gave her some water to calm her nerves. Mrs. Heelshire took a seat on the big table and closed her eyes taking deep breaths.

Are you feeling better? She asked the older woman worried. It was at that moment that Mrs. Heelshire dropped the facade of the happy mother and cried hiding her face in her hands. Grace wasn't sure what to do to comfort her so she did the only thing she could think of, she hugged her. Mrs. Heelshire cried and cried until she was out of tears. Grace removed her arms and looked at the distressed woman.

I'm sorry, I'm just so tired, she admitted.

Grace didn't even know what had happened in the first place to cause her a breakdown like this. If Brahms wasn't real then who did all the mess in his room? Could she have done it herself and believed that it was Brahms? Had she really gone that far into madness that she was capable of hurting herself? Grace was truly worried but she wasn't sure what to do to help.