Blood Rose (Completed)

Chapter 4

'Adults are the real monsters,' Stephen King, IT

Katherine's POV

A hiss escaped her lips when she grabbed the hot pan without thinking. The soaring heat burned her skin on her hand, making her drop it on the ground. The scrambled eggs all over the kitchen floor, but Katherine ignored them while she ran to the sink. 

The cold water over the burn soothed it for a few minutes until the sharp sting of the open wound made her close her eyes. She bit her lip, tried not to let the tears,  that were pricking in the corner of her eyes, escape. 

'"Fuck, fuck," she cursed, getting the attention of the chef of the Pub. "Don't just stand there, idiot," she snarled, "get some Vaseline."

"We don't have any. Don't call me an idiot when you're the one stupid enough to grab a hot pan with your bare hands. And clean up the mess you made, will you?!"

The big man mumbled something about her being a cunt, but Katherine wasn't listening anymore. She was used to being called stupid all her life and it simply didn't hurt her anymore. She took one of the towels that were just washed to put on the burn, in the meantime searching for something that could ease the pain. 

"Go home," the voice came from behind her and Katherine shook her head without looking at Amy. The waitress was a sweet, little thing; blonde, small of frame and freckles decorated her beautiful and flawless face. Her personality was how she looked; sparkly, sweet and caring. Most of the time she annoyed Katherine with her 'always-miss-sunshine' - mood. Yet, Katherine Miller couldn't find the courage to tell her to bugger off. 

"I can't. Joe has a vacation day and the people need their food," she murmured, throwing open cabinets without any luck to find something she could use. 

By now, she was sure she could feel her heartbeat bouncing up and down through the wound. The nagging pain didn't subdue, no, it became harder and harder for her to stop spilling tears from the pain. 

"I'll take your shift," Amy soothed and this time, Katherine turned to face the young woman. 

Amy reached out to her left, grabbed something from one of the lower cabinets and handed her the Vaseline. "It isn't going to help; you'll need to go to the hospital. It's a third-degree burn."

Katherine raised a brow while she took the tiny pot and started smearing it on the wound. "What? Are you a nurse or something?"

"I am," the reply came, and Katherine opened her mouth to say something. Thought the better of it and glanced at the burn on her hand. The skin was gone. A red, angry wound stared back at her and she knew Amy was right. 

Yet, she didn't want to leave the Pub. Home here in Derry wasn't home. It was an old house that needed cleaning up and to be sold. A task that seemed never ending. It was depressing to live and sleep in a house that wasn't yours and would never will be. That, and this fucking city wasn't helping her mood either. It always seemed as if there hung something in the air that caused the people to go to bed early and dim their lights. Whatever it was, Katherine just wanted to get back to Portland when she got the chance. 

That, and maybe Robert would come today. The last time he left in a hurry, suddenly angry at her, or the world, who knew. And Katherine hadn't seen him again. She didn't have a phone number, an address or anything of him. It had been a week since he had left her sitting here.

It wasn't that she needed him. It was that she became to see him as the only friend here in this dusty old city. He was weird, no doubt about that. His humour was dark, he sometimes stared at her when he thought Katherine wasn't aware. But he was the only one who was friendly enough to a stranger and invited her at his table. 

Katherine had the feeling she had lost her only friend here in Derry, Maine. And this city was lonesome without anyone to talk to.  When asking around about him, nobody she talked too seemed to know something about him. Only that he was from Derry and that he was here for as long as they all could remember. 

"Katherine, visitor," someone called out to her and she couldn't help the small increase of her heartbeat. 

When she walked out the kitchen, she smiled when noticing Mike Hanlon, the librarian of Derry. Not who she hoped it would be, but Katherine was happy for the diversion. The man answered her smile, but he looked even older when he did that. Mike Hanlon was a friendly, but nervous man. And the lines on his face showed how tired he was. She wondered how a Liberian could have so much worries he wasn't sleeping well. A divorce maybe? 

Katherine went to the library earlier this week because of the number of old books that was in the house. She didn't want to sell them, too much work, and came up with the idea that the library might be a good place for them. That's when she met Mike who was more than happy to hear about some free books. His eyes lit up when she mentioned the history books about Derry. 

And now he was here, and Katherine had no idea why. The man who stood before her must have seen her confusion while she held her wounded hand into the other. 

"We had agreed to meet up here to go to your house today," he helped and Katherine mentally slapped herself. 

She completely forgot today he would go and check out the books in the house. 

"What happened," Mike pointed at her hand and she waved his worries away. 

"Stupid," she mumbled slowly, "look, Mike, I completely forgot about this. And I need to go to the hospital for this," raising her hand to show him. "So maybe, we can ...."

"Katherine," another voice called her name. A deep voice with a sharp undertone. One she was waiting to hear for the last week. Katherine turned her face slightly and was met with the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. It was as if she hadn't noticed his blue gaze until now. 

'How silly,' she thought when her breath got caught in her throat. 

Robert Gray stood before her; his black jeans and coat shielding him from the chill that the end of Summer seemed to bring. 

"Robert," Katherine muttered, but he wasn't looking at her anymore. 

He glared at Mike instead, and for just a second, Katherine had the feeling he wanted to punch the librarian in the face. There was a fire in his eyes that unsettled her.  Until, a wide smile broke out and graced Robert's features. 

"Mike," he mused and offered his hand. "The Librarian, right?"

Mike nodded slowly and doubted to take the offered hand. "And you are?"

"Robert," Gray stated, pulling his coat a bit straighter and Katherine her gaze flickered between the two men. 

Mike's stare towards Robert didn't go by without her noticing it, but Katherine her eyes were now glued on Gray. 

"Where have you been?" She asked. 

Robert finally looked at her again and his smile disappeared when he noticed the open wound on her hand. 

"What happened?"

Katherine shook her head. "I was clumsy, not a big deal it's just..."

"Let's take care of that first," Robert stated and looked at Mike again. "Pleasure to meet you, Mister Hanlon. We'll meet again, I'm sure."

'Mike didn't mention his last name,' the thought shot through her mind. 

"Yeah," the other mumbled, still staring at Gray while Robert pulled Katherine with him. 

When the fresh air hit her in the face, Katherine pulled her hand out of his which made Robert turn to face her. 

"Last time I saw you, you were...," she couldn't finish her sentence while he glared at her. 

"Drunk," he declared simply and started walking again. "We need to take care of your hand."

"I'll go to the hospital, it's no big...,"

"I'll do it. Come."

He wouldn't listen, just kept walking and Katherine took a deep breath in...and started walking. 

"Where are we going?"

"My house," he simply said.