What Lies Beneath

Chapter Thirty-Four: Those Who Linger

Karen checked what seemed to be the billionth bedroom in a row in their endless search for their missing comrade.

"How far do you think she could have gone?" Wyatt asked the question as he shut yet another one of the doors behind him.

"It's a pretty large house. She could quite literally be anywhere." Karen sighed. How could they have been so stupid in coming to this wretched place. Sophie had been right; they should have just left when they had the chance.

"I hate to say it, but she could be gone." Paul, who had been quiet since they had first started the search, shuffled his feet on the floor. He didn't want to say it, let alone think it, but he knew that there was another possibility as to why they hadn't found her yet.

"She's not dead." Wyatt had to stop himself from screaming the words. There was no way that she was dead. He hadn't known her for long, but he knew that there was no way that could have been her fate. She was too good for that ending, and yet, deep down he also knew that death didn't discriminate. He had learned that lesson when his second guardian had died.

"Enough chit chat. We won't know if she is okay or not until we find her, and we aren't going to find her if we keep standing around here talking ifs." Karen didn't like this conversation. She hated the thought of death. She had had enough of it in her short life, so she definitely wasn't going to stand around in a hallway and contemplate whether her friend was alive or dead instead of looking for her.

"You're right. We need to keep looking." Having had enough, Wyatt walked over to the next door and opened it. He scanned the dark room before closing moving on to the next one.

With a new and stronger resolve, Karen and Paul went back to checking the rooms along with Wyatt. They weren't going to give up until they had found her.

"Hey, wait up!" Greyson bent over out of breath. Every time he seemed to almost catch up with her, she would disappear again.

He had been following her for at least twenty minutes now. He would have given up and gone back to the main room, but the house was like a giant maze and he couldn't remember how to get back. With a fresh gulp of air, he started to chase after her again.

When he had first decided to come here to this place it was because he didn't have anywhere else to go. Not to mention the fact that he had burned his school to the ground while in the hospital over one hundred kilometers away. There may not have been any physical evidence of this, but he knew what he had done. Coming to this house was his way of escaping, never had he imagined that he would be running to a place like this.

After rounding the next corner, Greyson found that in stopping to take a breath, he had lost sight of the girl completely. With a loud sigh, he fell against the wall. What was he going to do now?

"Boo!" Greyson jumped at the sudden loud noise. Whipping his head back and forth in search of its source, he found that the person who said it was the girl who he had thought he'd lost. Her head was peeking out from around the corner.

She stared at him with her big almond brown eyes and a huge smile plastered on her face. For the first time since he saw her, he finally got a good look. Her hair was wavy and the color of autumn leaves, vibrant and red. Her skin seemed to glow, but it still looked olive in color. She wasn't very tall, maybe five feet five at most, but there was something about her that made her seem, bigger than life itself.

"W-Where?" Greyson found that he was at a loss for words. How did someone like her exist, especially in a place like this?

"Are you alright? I didn't scare you too much, did I?" The girl slowly walked out from behind the corner, her hands tightly intertwined in front of her.

"Scare me? No. You didn't scare me. I was just- I was just surprised." He didn't know why he was trying to play it cool. Perhaps it was because she was the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen. That would probably also explain why his hands were sweating profusely.

"No, you're right. I definitely did not scare you. You probably jump whenever somebody starts to talk to you." The girl placed one of her hands in front of her mouth to conceal her smile.

"What's your name?" He hadn't meant to blurt out the question, but he couldn't stand not knowing what to call her. Someone as beautiful as her probably had an amazing name.

"Why should I tell you?" Greyson studied the girl for a moment to see if she was joking or being serious. He had never really had much luck in knowing the difference between the two.

"Because, you like me?" Feeling self-conscious, Greyson shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and rocked back on his feet.

"How do you know I like you? I could just be bored and messing with you." Judging from the wry smile still on her face, Greyson figured that she was probably joking, or at least he hoped that she was.

"No, you definitely like me." Feeling more confident, Greyson took a step toward her.

"Okay then. I will tell you my name if you tell me yours. Deal?" The girl extended her hand towards him, palm open.

"Deal." Greyson reached out at grabbed her hand to complete the strange pact. When his hand touched hers', it sent a chill down his arm and throughout his entire body. The sensation reminded him of the time when his former bullies had shoved him in the kitchen freezer for an entire weekend.

Greyson found himself unable to look away from the hand that was held by his. It was small and was like ice to the touch. He had met people with cold hands before, but this was different. It didn't feel like normal cold, it felt almost unnatural.

"Are you going to tell me your name, or are you planning on holding my hand for the rest of your life?" Once again, Greyson found himself startled by the sudden sound of her voice.

"Sorry. I'm Greyson." Feeling embarrassed, he dropped her hand and shoved his back into his pocket.

"Well Greyson, since you honored our deal, I am obligated to tell you that my name is Delphine." When the girl was done speaking, she gave what looked like an off-center curtsy.

"Delphine." Greyson whispered her name to himself. He knew that someone that beautiful had to have a name just as amazing, but Delphine was better than he ever could have imagined.