Shire Bottom Chronicles

Chapter Sixteen

Walking out of her bedroom, Rose wandered sleepily down the hall toward the laundry room to get out some clean clothes. It was Cat's turn to fold laundry, but apparently, she was far too busy to do menial chores. Rose knew if she folded it herself, she would permanently lose the laundry battle and be stuck with it forever. Cat wanted to hire a maid, but Rose was almost embarrassed by the idea. It was bad enough Cat paid two-thirds of the bills to live in the fanciest apartment complex in town, but having a maid was far too snooty for Rose's taste.

Rose picked out a pair of blue skinny jeans and an old band t-shirt. She walked past the living room but froze, hearing a groan from inside. She breathed a sigh of relief, spotting Bane sprawled out on the couch, completely unconscious in only his boxers. Rose couldn't help but blush slightly, realizing how fit he was.
Cat was nowhere to be seen, so Rose grabbed a light throw blanket and tossed it over the older man. He shifted slightly before curling up into the blanket. It certainly wasn't unusual for Bane to sleep over, but he normally stayed in Cat's room or they were both snuggled on the couch. She shrugged it off, figuring if Cat wanted her to know what was going on, she would bring it up herself.

Rose entered the bathroom and started warming up the shower. Looking in the mirror, she could see the bags starting to form under her eyes. Nightmares had taken over her dreams, and she could not seem to get a full night's rest without waking up in a cold sweat. She had brought it up to Cat, who suggested it might be time to see the town psychologist about the dreams.

Every dream started the same, with her at the Kaliwse mansion before the fire. Bloodcurdling screams were coming from the basement, but the family sat at the table eating dinner as if nothing was wrong. The only family member missing was the daughter, Catherine.

Bo Gibbs would show up, insist that he didn't feel right about something, and get into a fight with the father. Then Bo would try to go into the basement, where a trail of blood led to a cage hanging from the ceiling.

Whenever Rose walked downstairs to see what was inside the cage, she would wake up. But before she was fully awake, she would hear the voice of a young boy telling her she had to leave before she got caught.

Rose let the warm water from her shower wash over her, breathing deeply. She would kill to finally get a good night's sleep. She had taken every sleeping aid she could find, with no luck. It had been almost a month since the dreams started. She must have been completely lost in thought because out of nowhere, she heard footsteps in the bathroom. She slid the curtains open to reveal a shocked Maltipoo who had gotten stuck under Rose's shirt. She began wagging her tail happily when she saw Rose.
Rose shut off the water and grabbed a clean towel from the rack, wrapping it around herself before she stepped out of the shower. She knelt down and freed Chelsea from the confines of her shirt. "I guess you'll be going home today, huh?" She scratched behind Chelsea's ear, and the puppy licked her hand.

Truth be told, Rose had grown a little attached to the Maltipoo. It was actually pretty fun having two dogs in the house; Cat had talked about getting another border collie puppy a while back. Rose quickly got dressed and towel-dried her hair, then worked a comb through the tangled strands. Chelsea followed her into the hall and joyfully attacked a squeaky toy.

Rose flipped on the kitchen lights, poured both dogs a bowl of food, and started her coffee. She was supposed to work the day shift this week, but Parker had called yesterday and told her he was sick. She didn't buy it, because Parker was never sick. He was most likely hungover. While she was fucking annoyed that he'd dumped this on her at the last minute, it gave her plenty of time to get some errands done in town.

Late Friday night, Komazzi had shown up at her door and asked her to keep an eye on Legolas, Parker, and Danny while they moved Matt and Rory's stuff into the penthouse across the hall. The apartment had sat vacant ever since she and Cat moved into the building years ago. Rose agreed, and throughout the weekend, she supervised as they brought furniture and boxes upstairs in the elevator. It wasn't long before she wanted to strangle them.