Chris and I ended up discussing going to the graveyard the day after tomorrow, seeing that we ended up staying up until well past midnight. I made sure to text Mackenzie letting her know I was okay every now and then. We ended up having to sit in the hotel lobby since the bar closed at one in the morning, at that point we weren't even talking about our plans.
He was telling me about stories of his times on tour and I told him about my hockey games. We had a hard time keeping quiet at certain points, as our laughter got a bit too loud every now and then. It was clear that the tired hotel receptionist wasn't amused by us at all, but that only made it funnier somehow. I knew that I shouldn't have felt safe with Chris in that moment, but I just did.
I received a series of texts back to back from Mackenzie and Lea at three, desperately asking me where I was and if I was okay.
My eyebrows scrunched together as I responded, 'Yeah, I'm alright. Just sitting here with Chris in the hotel lobby. Is something wrong?'
Lea texts back the fastest saying, 'Check the news.'
I quickly search the room for a television, spotting one over by the receptionist's desk. I rose from the couch I had been lounging on and turned on the TV to flip the channels until I found a news station.
I caught a glimpse of the headline: BREAKING NEWS, before my attention was grabbed by the reporter's words.
"A body was discovered here just an hour ago in the White Chapel district of an unidentified young woman. The authorities are still investigating the scene." The man tells the camera as he glances around nervously as if he might be at risk.
"Oh my god." Chris gasped from beside me, causing me to jump slightly from his sudden presence.
My cellphone dinged with another text message from Lea, 'I guess it isn't Chris after all. The person was found nearby the graveyard we saw that cop visit.'
I felt a wave of relief crash over me and without thinking it through I threw my arms around Chris, hugging him tightly.
He hesitantly wound his arms around me, but he quickly caught on as he asked in a quiet voice, "Does this mean I'm off the hook?"
I let out a weak laugh as I nodded against his shoulder, "Yeah, I think it does."
I release Chris and checked the time on my cellphone again and sighed, "I should be heading back."
He sent me a look of disbelief as he questioned, "At this hour? Are you nuts?"
"What do you suggest I do? Wait until the sun comes out?"
Chris rolled his eyes and suggested, "You can just stay in my room and sleep in the bed, I'll take the chair."
"You plan on sleeping in a chair?"
He shrugged, "I've slept in worse places honestly."
I mulled it over for a minute before finally nodding, "Alright, I wasn't looking forward to trying to stay up on that hour-long train ride anyway."
The receptionist looked relieved as we exited the lobby and stepped onto one of the elevators. I was glad to have the negative tension finally removed from my mind, it was nice to not be afraid of wondering if Chris was going to hurt me or not. We remained quiet as we entered his room, still the same as the last time I had been here, outside of the bedding being turned down and ruffled. I put my heels off by the door as Chris went over to his suitcase and began rummaging through it. He pulled out a black shirt with a band logo I didn't recognize and some black and white basketball shorts.
He held the clothing out to me saying, "You won't be able to sleep in that latex, you'll sweat to death."
"Right." I chuckle and begin to make my way to the bathroom.
"Hang on a second." He calls after me and part of me worries that he's going to ask if I need help getting out of my outfit, but I turn to find him holding out a pack of makeup remover wipes. "You might want these too."
I smile softly as a thank you before murmuring, "I forgot that you wear makeup too sometimes."
"It's more for concerts nowadays than anything else." He says with a shrug before moving to sit in the chair by the window and pulls out his phone. "I'll be out here if you need anything."
While I was in the bathroom I decided to take care of getting rid of my makeup first, since it would be the easiest. Once that was done, I turned my focus to the red stockings on my feet, surprised that I had only managed to dirty them and not tear a hole into the material somehow. My main issue was getting this dress off without dislocating my shoulder in the process. I grabbed the collar of the black dress and began attempting to stretch it out. I began to wonder if I should just break down and ask Chris to come give me a hand.
Thankfully, for the sake of not dying of embarrassment, my shoulder slowly slipped out and the rest was a lot less difficult to work off of my body after that. I swiftly changed into the clothes Chris had let me borrow and let out a relieved little sigh at the coolness of the fabrics.
When I stepped out of the bathroom I saw that Chris had dozed off. I smiled softly and shook my head at the sight as I watched his chest rise and fall steadily in his sleep, strangely fascinated by the calmness on his features. I pulled the comforter off the top of the bed and draped it over his sleeping form. I slipped into the king-sized bed as quietly as I could and settled underneath the covers, sleep quickly taking me away.
By the time I woke up the sun was streaming through the curtains, blinding me slightly as I sat up in bed. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, while memories of the nightmare I had at some point resurfaced. As I lowered my hands, I spotted Chris standing at the foot of the mattress, causing me to jump slightly.
"Shit, sorry about that. I didn't mean to scare you." He says as he moved closer with a plate in his hands. "I bought some biscuits and jam if you want any. Well, I guess they are called scones here."
I quietly thank him as I take the plate from his hands and begin pulling apart a biscuit.
"So, you don't have to answer this if you don't feel comfortable, but can you tell me who Matt is?" He asks taking a seat on the edge of the bed, giving me some space. I must have an odd look on my face as he adds, "You said his name a lot in your sleep and it didn't sound like you liked him all that much."
I sighed, "He's my ex and I was having a nightmare of the last time I saw him."
Chris appeared puzzled by that, so I continued, "Let's just say we didn't end on a good and nonviolent note."
Chris's lips parted in shock and I couldn't help staring at them for a second as he spoke, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."
I gave a light shrug, figuring that I had nothing to lose from my confession, "I guess I kind of brought it on myself."
"How can you say that?" Chris questioned looking sort of shocked.
I cast my eyes down to my hands murmuring, "By asking for things that I clearly shouldn't have."
"What the hell could you have asked for that would warrant him hurting you?"
I peeked up at Chris for a second. What would happen if I owned up to wanting something that I've been denying to have any interest in? Would he see me as a liar? I knew that I would never find out unless I told him.
I shook my head and tried to explain it as best as I could, "That's sort of what I asked. I wanted him to try being rougher with me."
"In what sense?"
"In the bedroom." I say hesitantly. "He somehow took it as I must have been cheating on him to even think to consider us doing something like that. He said that people don't come up with that sort of thing on their own, that it's only ever shown to them."
Chris rolled his eyes as he sighed before muttering, "He sounds like a fucking prick. Also, for the record, you don't have to have someone else pull that desire out of you. Sometimes it just exists in a person and it slowly dawns on them after a while. That's what happened for me."
"I wish he could have understood at least that much." I mutter before taking a bite out of my breakfast.
I was grateful that Chris found a way to change the subject as we ate. It was such a freeing feeling to not have that nagging worry in the back of my head as we made our way back to the train station. It made me realize that I actually enjoyed Chris's company more than I had originally thought, but somehow that managed to bother me as well. The last thing I need to do in the middle of this mess we were dealing with was to develop romantic feelings towards him.
The moment I stepped into the dorm room, my two clearly tired friends began asking me a series of questions all at once.
"Where have you been?" Lea demands.
"Did you stay with Chris?" Mackenzie questioned with a grin.
"Yeah, I slept in his room." I reply, answering both of their questions at once and added, "Nothing happened though. Have you guys been awake all night?"
"Who could sleep after that news segment? That girl they found could have been any of us." Lea points out as she motions amongst the three of us.
I nodded, "I'm glad you both are okay."
"Same here with you." Mackenzie murmurs before asking, "Did you ever find out what was going on with Chris?"
As soon as I explained everything to Lea and Kenzie, they both decided they were going to lay down for a nap. I, on the other hand, chose to head to the library to do some studying. After the night I had, I was happy to do something routine for a bit. I scooped up a few notebooks and a text book from my end table before leaving them to rest.
I found a table near the back of the library where the windows allowed the sun in whenever it peeked out from behind the clouds. As I went to reach for one of my notebooks, I realized that I had accidentally brought the Ripper cult book along with me. I inspected the area around me to make sure that I didn't risk someone reading over my shoulder before opening it. The writing inside was a bit hard to decipher since it was a type of small slanted cursive and I half expected it to look like Jack's letters, but it didn't.
It spoke of the coming rise of Jack the Ripper, about how he was to be like a new god amongst men. It mentioned about him restoring a natural balance in London and then it would spread to the rest of the world like a virus that no one could stop. The world would bow to what he would make, that this wasn't simply about killing innocent women. Those that he had slain were merely pawns in a grander game.
Even though I didn't buy into what the book was saying, it still brought a sick feeling to my stomach that people could think this way. This book foretold the rise of a new Satan.