Gothick

Chapter Four

Emma lay in bed, watching specks of dust float within the morning light. Screams of horses and splintering wood had plagued her dreams. Her eyes felt heavy, despite how soundly she had slept. Remember, she told herself. Yet, those memories lingered just on the edge of her mind.

She grunted in frustration and turned over.

Without warning, another thought came forward—that man...and the knights. It felt as though a rock dropped into her stomach. She could still see it all as though it were right in front of her. Those mens' faces and the horror frozen on their features.

All of that blood.

Knock knock!

"What is it?" Emma asked, nearly jumping out of bed.

"Come down for lunch, dear," Nan said. "You've been in bed all morning! Are you ill?"

"Yes, but I will be fine," Emma replied quickly. There was a moment of silence, before she heard Nan's footsteps fade away.

Very little sleep came to Emma throughout the day. What slumber she did get was filled with swirling colors and the stench of blood. Then her dreams would return to last night in that dark alley where the killer towered over her, staring at her with those gold eyes.

Each time Emma woke, her limbs shook so violently her muscles ached. So, she threw off her satin sheets, and paced the room. Orange light passed through her window, casting long shadows off her vanity mirror. Emma snatched the tiny, velvet-bound book from her bedside table and shifted through the pages.

A sudden shiver ran through Emma, as though someone were staring at her. She spun around, yet she was alone. Perhaps these thoughts were finally taking their toll. Emma sighed, and returned to her book. Her eyes flitted across the page without even reading the words.

She wished Anthony were here.

Emma scoffed at the idea. How could she yearn for someone she couldn't rightly remember? Still, the ache in her chest, and the unshakable feeling that something was missing remained.

Snap.

Emma turned back to the window. No one was there.

"Hello?" she said.

The room was quiet, except for the rustling of the tree outside. In the sliver between curtains, a strand of gold stuck up and shined in the sunlight. Emma rushed over and thrust the drapes apart.

A young woman clung to the side of the house. Emma leaped back, nearly falling onto her bed. The young woman on the window gasped. Her grip slipped. Emma rushed to the window just as her slender body hit the ground with a thud. Emma gripped the windowsill, but relaxed once she heard the woman give a muffled "ow."

"Nan!" Emma cried over her shoulder.

"Annabelle Ritter, what were you doing?"

Dominick smirked, an eyebrow arched. Dominick, Nan, and Emma stood in the entrance hall while Annabelle set on the stairs, her legs spread out before her.

"I'm fine," Annabelle said, though her ankle was already twice its size. Annabelle's blue eyes met Emma's for a moment. They widened, and then she looked away.

"Silly girl!" Nan said, shaking her head. "I told you Emma was ill today!"

"I only wanted to see her!" Annabelle said. "I just...find her fascinating..."

"As you should, liebchen," Dominick said, tugging at the bottom of his velvet waistcoat. "However, Emma is extremely delicate at this stage of her development."

"I'm fine," Emma replied, her cheeks flushing. Everyone's attention fell on her. The weight of their gazes made her look down. "I'm quite alright now."

"Yes," Dominick said, but drew the word out while his eyes scrutinized her. Emma folded her arms and walked toward the window. "Nevertheless, I wish for there to be no mishaps."

Everyone looked up as a heavy knock came from the front doors.

"Nan, would you get that?" Dominick asked.

"Who is that?" Annabelle said.

"Your brother," Dominick muttered, though his eyes glazed over as though thinking of something else. Annabelle rolled her eyes.

"Isthis necessary?" she said. "I am nineteen, I'll have you know! Siegfried does not need to be called every time there's an incident!"

"You think falling from a second story window was merely an incident?"

"Oh, spare me, Dominick. I remember you quite well during your younger days. You had quite a few 'incidents' at our house if I remember correctly!"

Dominick shook his head, and his face flushed. He opened and closed his mouth several times, before finally shutting it for good. Emma snickered.

The doors opened. Siegfried strode in, not wearing his usual armor, but a roughly made, white shirt and brown slacks. Emma noticed that even without his armor, his frame didn't lose any of its broadness.

"I invited you over for tea," Dominick said, "but I was hoping under different circumstances."

"Anna," Siegfried said, ignoring Dominick. As always, his voice and expression remained calm and even.

"Hello, Sieg," Annabelle said, slumping.

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see Emma."

"Why," he said, glaring at Emma.

Annabelle didn't say anything, but only glanced down at her feet.

"I wanted to know if the rumors were true," she said. "If she really had been created from the dead."

Emma's cheeks flushed, and she returned her attention back to the window. She felt as though she should say something, but her vocal cords seemed tied.

"Oh, I'm sorry, miss!" Annabelle said. Emma turned back. "I didn't mean it—"

"This sick obsession of yours needs to stop," Siegfried said. His voice didn't rise, but Emma noticed a tenseness to it. "I can't keep dragging you out of morgues and graveyards. People will start thinking that you're..."

"Don't even say it!" Annabelle said. Her soft face hardened and, perhaps for the first time since Emma met her, she saw that Annabelle was truly Siegfried's sister. She stood, and though she was at least a metre shorter than her brother, she still stared at him with a cold gaze—one not unlike Siegfried's own. Then, with a flick of her brown skirt, Annabelle limped out of the foyer.

"Well!" Dominick said, taking a step toward Siegfried. "That was quite the display!"

Siegfried followed Annabelle, slamming the door on his exit. Dominick's gaze lingered there. His eyes were heavy, as though he were longing for something in the distance. Emma almost felt sorry for him.

"Are you alright?" Emma asked.

"Yes," he said with a cough. "I have work to do."

He hurried out the hall, leaving Emma alone with Nan. Sometimes, she wished she could take a glance into Dominick's head.