A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.
It was a little over two hours before (f/n) started to stir in her sleep. She rolled onto her left side and blinked open her eyes, looking for the time. The watch read that it was thirty minutes after noon. (F/n) could still feel her head hurting somewhat, but it was getting better. By tomorrow the pain should be gone completely.
Reassuring herself that this would be the case, she went to get off her bed to get some lunch. Granted, this plan seemed to evaporate into nothingness when her eyes landed on what was beside the bed. On the right side of the bed and on her left, the dancing man statue stared back at her. Its beady eyes and upturned nose seemed to mock her condition, while its snapping fingers seemed to dictate that she would die soon.
Her entire body felt glued to the spot, as her mind pulled at pieces to tell her that what she was seeing wasn't real. She was just dreaming, especially since her mother had confirmed that there was nothing suspicious in the house. Then again, her mother had pointed out that the antiques could be the cause for the unnerving atmosphere in the house. Or perhaps, this one antique in particular was haunted, and it purposely fell onto the head of its previous owner.
Whatever the case she wanted to get away from it and lock it away somewhere. Backing away from it, she essentially crab-walked to the left side of the bed. As she did so, though, the statue slowly crept forward across the table. Her limbs began to tremble, while her eyes darted around for an escape. Well, the only escape she could think of was to run.
With no more hesitation, she bolted off the bed and ran for her room door. She dashed into the hallway and slammed the door behind her. Looking back towards the closed door, she waited for something to happen. Instead of the door opening and revealing the statue, everything remained quiet. At least that was the case until the sound of something being dragged filled the nearby area.
She could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest, as she took step after step away from her room door. The noise continued, and soon enough the door blew back open. Steadily, the table and statue progressed out of the room. Concerning the table, however, it came to a stop. As for the statue, it turned itself, at the pace of a snail, towards her.
At that point it felt like a staring contest. The statue made no movements, and neither did she. (F/n) knew what would probably happen if she bolted for the front door, and she had no wish to be out cold again. She could always open a window and jump out through there, but the same thing might happen. If the statue was the cause of this, though, all she had to do was remove it from the house, right? That might anger whatever possessed the object, but at least it would be out of the house.
These thoughts were broken, however, when the statue suddenly raced forward. Not wanting to know what would happen if it broke; (f/n) rushed towards it and yelled out several curse words along the way. She caught the statue and quickly made it for the backdoor. Speedily, she unlocked it and ran outside into the garden. Despite thinking in her head that she was moving fast, her limbs could only carry her so quickly with the burden of the forty-pound statue.
Behind the houses, on this side of Gasper Drive, was a park. Nathan's house happened to fall in front of the duck pond. So, she walked as fast as she could through the large garden and lifted the statue over the fence, which was taller than her. (F/n) proceeded to throw the statue as best she could from the awkward angle, but it ended up just falling into the close by pond. A loud splash followed, and she sighed in relief.
Of course, when Nathan returned, she was going to have to explain the reason for the missing antique. In all honesty, though, it was his fault for purchasing such a thing. Still, she only hoped that he wouldn't deduct the antique's cost from her pay. Regardless, there was some peace in knowing that the statue was no longer in the house. Perhaps, she had finally rid the building of that anxious vibe.
Since she was out in the garden, though, she did debate on staying out there. There was a fresh supply of Anna apples after all on the trees. Additionally, the fresh air felt wonderful after being cooped up in that house, which had so far been quite unsettling. She looked back into the house and still saw the table in the middle of the hallway, while the hallway itself still appeared darker than it should be. Hopefully, that strange atmosphere would be gone when she went back in.
Deciding that she might as well stay outside for a bit, she went over to one of the apple trees and took an apple off. Since they were homegrown, she didn't worry about washing it off and just bit into the crisp fruit. An overwhelming sense of refreshment burst into her mouth, as her stomach eagerly awaited the nourishment. A small smile covered her lips, and she took another bite of the delicious treat. She soon took a seat on the grass and leaned against the base of the fountain. Technically, she could've sat upon one of the stone benches, but the grass seemed much more comfortable.
While she sat outside and soaked up the sun's rays, Drem stood in the backdoor entrance. He was still recovering from his laughing fit, as an occasional chuckle left his lips here and there. His doe's reaction had been priceless. Of course, he was hoping that she would scream, but he never expected her to throw the statue away.
That small statue wasn't worth as much as some of Nathan's other antiques, but it still cost quite a bit of money. It would be entertaining to see Nathan's reaction once he found out where his statue was. Wiping a tear from his right eye, since he had been laughing so hard, he turned his gaze onto the sitting doe.
From his perspective he could see the back of her head and her upper back. His brown eyes landing on her covered back, he wondered how long it would be before she saw the little note that he had left there. She would probably get curious when she entered the kitchen, though. He had left quite a mess in there, since he always had trouble putting things back. It was easy enough to send a rush of force into something or use a bit of force to open something, but to put it back, like the contents of her wallet, was next to impossible. Drem couldn't focus his abilities that much and put the items methodically back into their original place. This made some things a hassle, but as long as he terrified his little doe, it was worth it.
Considering where she was at the moment, though, he was just glad that he could walk out into the garden. Thanks to Nathan, he could only move within a given area. So, if the doe ever made it past the front lawn or beyond the back fence, he couldn't do anything to get her back. Hopefully, she wouldn't attempt to climb the back fence. If he had to continually knock her out, he might end up killing her. Frankly, he couldn't have too much entertainment with a corpse.
Stepping closer to her sitting form, however, he sat next to her on her left side and peered over at her. She didn't react at all to his close presence, but that was probably the effects of the warm sun beating down on them. Drem couldn't feel the warmth, but his doe very easily did. He could push her over, but that didn't exactly seem like it would produce an amusing enough effect. Besides, there was the mark on her back, which would hopefully be found out sooner than later.
Right now, he would just let her finish her apple. Starving her wouldn't produce any benefits to him. Sure, it might make her weaker, but if she was too drained of energy, there wouldn't be much of a struggle. If she didn't fight back, the thrill of messing with her would be decreased substantially. In addition to this, he didn't want her appearance to be ruined. Nathan had picked out an attractive house sitter, and he didn't want to compromise her stunning traits.
In the sunlight, her features were only highlighted more. Her (h/c) locks shined under the summer sun and framed her skin, which glowed with a sense of youth, ideally. There was a problem, however. Her (e/c) eyes radiated with a sense of peace, and the look didn't suit her. Pure terror was the best expression for her. It made her eyes wide and her breath uneven; it sent her into a wave of helplessness. That was truly the best thing to see upon her face.
His thoughts of scaring her out of her wits faded away, however, when he caught site of the apple juice running down the left corner of her mouth. The substance, natural sugar rich, trailed down slowly until she made an "o" shape with her mouth and stopped it with her right index finger. She wiped it off her mouth and dipped her hand in the fountain to get rid of the juice on her finger.
Lips frowning at her action, Drem huffed out in frustration. Why hadn't she licked it off her finger? It would've been a much more satisfying action to watch. The situation would've been even better if he could've licked it off her face. He could've proceeded to crash his lips upon hers, where some of the juice gleamed in the afternoon light. All he could do, though, was watch.
Letting a string of curse words exit his mouth, he stood up and marched away from her. He headed back into the house and towards the kitchen. Drem moved himself to sit on the counter and wait for her to come back in. If he had stayed out there another moment, he probably would've slapped the apple out of her hand. Should that have happened, she might've decided to stay outside, and he needed her back inside. Of course, he could always force her back in, but it would be better for the moment if she came back in willingly. As he waited for her, he grumbled something out before he looked over at the front door.