Chapter 5
I take a hesitant step through the threshold, suddenly very aware that I am barefoot. The beautiful rug under my feet tickles my toes and for a desperate second I fear I may be tracking mud on to what must be a hundred year old rug. A quick look down relieves my panic, but seriously though, I would be the person to ruin a priceless antique. The butler gives me a look that somehow manages to be mildly amused and utterly uninterested at the same time.
"Follow me madam" says the jaded butler. He takes off down the hall at a surprising rate for an old man and I scramble to keep up. As we fast walk through the house, I take in the impressive décor. Gorgeous stain glass windows cast colorful shapes on the floor and breathtaking mahogany panels cover the walls, interrupted only by red damask wallpaper and portraits of dour looking families.
We reach a set of gigantic doors and the butler opens them to reveal an impressive parlor filled with people. Everyone goes quiet as they take me in, and based on my appearance in the mirror across the room, I can't blame them. I still wear my hospital gown and the paper wristband around my wrist; my feet are bare and dirty and my ratty tangled hair hangs around my sallow face. Honestly, can I be more of stereotypical mental patient?
"Master Elias," The butler says, breaking the silence. "Miss Juliette Rivers has arrived." And with that he leaves the room, shutting the doors behind him and leaving me to face the curious, if not frightened, eyes alone. As soon as the doors shut, the whispering begins; and I don't mean the psychotic whispers of the voices in my head, I would gladly take that over the judgment I am most definitely receiving.
Having spent any and all time a normal girl would have had to learn what to do in this situation in a mental hospital; I resort to the tactic I use when I like to freak out the nurses. Ever so slowly, I sway back and forth with the slightest grin on my face. The whispering begins to die down as they stare at me with fascinated horror, but when I begin to hum "Ring Around the Rosie" the quiet is instantaneous. Just as I am getting to the end, someone walks behind and whispers in my ear.
"And we all fall down," he says it just loud enough for everyone to hear; a few people laugh nervously, but most are unsure how to respond so the silence remains. I turn around to face a young man with lightly tanned skin and slightly messy chestnut hair. I can't help but notice how his t-shirt stretches against his broad shoulders and shows off the Celtic tattoo on his massive bicep.
"You stole the ending." I say with innocent eyes.
He smirks, amusement twinkling in his green eyes. "I couldn't help it; the ending is the best part." I struggle not to laugh and he winks at me which of course causes my cheeks to automatically turn pink. "So you must be Juliette. I'm Elias; you met my grandfather Professor Arrington this afternoon. My cousin Ryder and I will be helping out the prospective interns."
I give Elias a big smile and shake his hand, "It's nice to meet you Elias." Once everyone realizes I was not actually a psycho killer, the tension in the room evaporates quite quickly.
"Hey Juliette, where's Romeo?" asks a smug girl sitting about five feet away. Everyone starts laughing and she tosses her bleach blond over her shoulder.
"I don't know why don't you find him yourself Blondie?" I respond, incredibly confused and annoyed by the laughter. How the hell am I supposed to know where Romeo is, much less who this Romeo person even is. I just got here for crap's sake.
Blondie gives me a withering look before turning back to the small screen in her hand that I am pretty sure is a phone, although it looks nothing like the phones I remember.
I roll my eyes and look back at Elias, who gives me an amused smile.
"Why don't we get you up to your room? Where is your stuff, I can help you bring it up." He says.
"I don't have any stuff," I say with a shrug. "My last home didn't let me have many luxuries."
"Or shoes apparently," Blondie retorts, her snide comment resulting in more laughs. Oh we are going to get along swimmingly, I think.
I whirl around to face the bitchy girl. "They were afraid I would use the shoelaces to choke the life out of people I don't like," I say with a wicked gleam in my eyes. Blondie pales and the tension immediately returns. "But I would never do that, of course," I laugh.
I feel warmth on my arm and look down to see Elias's large hand wrapping completely around my tiny wrist.
"Come on, I'll show you to your room." He says with a smile. Elias gently pulls me through the giant house telling me about various paintings and pieces of furniture as we pass them by. As we pass by a painting of a beautiful though haughty looking woman, someone steps out of the shadows and we collide with an incredibly tall man, which of course results in me landing on my butt.
"Watch where you're going," he growls. When I look up, I am astonished to find how beautiful he is; although it is a cold, detached beauty. His perfect porcelain features are twisted into a sneer as he looks down at me, not even bothering to help me up. Instead he dusts off his black leather jacket and runs a hand through his messy dark brown hair. He steps over me and continues walking down the hall, not looking back once. Elias offers me a hand and helps me to my feet.
"Sorry about that," he sighs. "Ryder has never really been a people person."
"So that's your cousin, huh? I figured he wouldn't be so...abrasive."
"When we were kids we were best friends, but I don't know something changed. Now he prefers to stay by himself." Elias shakes his head, his green eyes filled with a loneliness I know all too well. I surprise us both by reaching out and giving him a big hug; he stiffens in surprise at first but is quick to wrap his arms around me and rest his chin on my head. When we pull away, he tucks a strand of my ratty hair behind my ear and smiles, "Why don't we go find your room?"
After a flight of stairs and about five million left and right turns we arrive at my room.
"Here we are! Since you were the last to arrive, we have to stick you in the nursery unfortunately. We actually ran out of bedrooms. There is a bed so don't worry, you won't have to sleep in the crib."
We both laugh at his joke and Elias opens the door to my room. The nursery is rather large and filled with ancient toys. Porcelain dolls in perfect dresses and clowns in colorful costumes line the shelves on the walls. On one side of the fire place is a gigantic doll house and on the other is beautiful wooden rocking horse. In the corner next to the bed is a rocking chair with a baby doll resting on it. The open window lets the moonlight shine through and causes the curtains flap like crazy.
"Sorry if it's a little small." Elias says sheepishly, looking embarrassed.
"Are you kidding? This room is like twice the size of my cell back at the institute." I snort.
"Well, it's a shame you couldn't be in one of the other rooms then. Anyways the bathroom is connected to the nursery, so if you open a door and it takes you to the hall then use the other door. There should be towels and everything else you might need stocked in the cabinets and stuff. As for clothes and stuff, we always stock extra night clothes just in case our guests forget them so you should be fine for tonight. You can borrow some clothes from one of the other girls in the morning, we will figure out what to do for the rest of your clothes then."
"Thank you so much Elias, for everything. Your family saved my life." I say a little breathlessly.
Elias gives my hand a squeeze, and offers me a sweet smile. "I think you may be the one who ends up saving us Juliette."
He squeezes my hand one last time and then goes back down the hall. I immediately go to the window and close it, stopping the annoying flapping curtains. Next I go to the bathroom and draw myself a bath. As soon as the tub is full of water, I strip off my grimy nightgown and slip into the hot steamy water. I let my muscles relax as I rest my head against the back of the tub. The warmth is heavenly and for the first time since I can remember, I begin to forget about my life in the institute.
About ten minutes into my bath, the whispering starts. It is so soft at first that I barely register the noise. It slowly gets louder until I could swear someone is whispering incomprehensible nonsense into my ear and I feel a glacial cold breath on my neck; each word punctuated by an icy air, but when I look around I am all alone. As the whispering continues, my limbs grow heavier and my eyelids droop down farther and farther.
A small part of me screams to fight it, but it is squashed by an overwhelming sleepiness. My head begins sinking into the warm water; first my chin touches the surface, then my nose and quickly after, my eyebrows. In no time at all, my head is completely submerged under the water.
My lungs scream, burning with the need for oxygen, but I am so sleepy I ignore the natural instinct. My brain gets more and more muddled as time goes on, making it all the more difficult to think. As I slip away, I feel as though I am still sinking deeper into an abyss of darkness. Just as my lungs are giving up, I feel a pull. Up, up, up, until there is light and coldness. My lungs fill greedily, stealing every breath they can and expelling the water.
The sensation of being lifted up and carried startles me and when I open my eyes, I am met by hazel eyes filled with worry. When I am put down on my bed, I am suddenly very aware of my nakedness. I grab a blanket off the bed and scramble to the other side of the room.
"What the hell are you doing you sick pervert?" I scream.
Ryder blinks a few times astonishment, but quickly recovers the cruel smirk back in place. "I was saving your sorry ass from drowning!" he retorts.
"How did you even know that?" I yell. Ryder says nothing in response. "See? You obviously were sneaking into my bathroom to get a look at me and got lucky."
"I got lucky? You're the one who's lucky! I saved you from drowning for shit's sake! You should be thanking me right now!"
"Oh bullshit, just do me a favor and leave. I can take care of myself!" I shout, pointing to the door. Ryder stares at me for a few seconds then walks out of my room, shaking his head and muttering to himself the entire time. As I get ready for bed, I mutter angrily to myself about the disgustingness of boys. I slip under the covers and drift off to the sound of flapping curtains. That's funny, I think drowsily as I fall asleep. I could have sworn I closed the window.
I'm not going to lie, I defintely kept checking over my shoulder for ghosts that might have suddenly appeared while I was writing this. I was home alone okay? And it was dark. Anyways, off to the side you will find the interior of Arrington Manor, so make sure you check that out! Also, we have met two very attractive men in this chapter, is there any shipping going on yet? Tell me in the comments! ;D