Chapters (29)
“As I was saying. This is my house. You are now a guest.” Her lips were warm under my palm, her flesh pressing against my skin. “Second, you can’t break a window. Or a door, or pick a lock. Because you can’t leave. You, my darling girl, are now a fixture of this house.” Some long-forgotten emotion pricked at my heart, reminding me of who I used to be. Who I was, once upon a time.
I watched those beautiful eyes as they processed what I was saying. Her lips opened and closed against my hand. I saw the moment when she realized I wasn’t a ghost, but that there wasn’t something quite right about me either. Something about this whole interaction broke the rules of logic she had lived by for so long. The confusion sank in, a million questions lingered beneath her skin, but none of them transferred into words. And they wouldn’t, as long as I had my hand over her lips.
“I’m going to take my hand away from your mouth now, okay? No screaming, please. I hate it when women scream.” She nodded, wide-eyed, and I dropped my hand.
The pieces were still fitting together in her mind, and I knew as much as she wouldn’t want to believe what I was saying, a bigger part of her already felt the connection to the house. As surreal as it was, she knew. She knew what I was saying was true. The fight dropped out of her body, and I released her other wrist. Still, I expected the question. “What the hell do you mean I can’t leave?”
I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I took a few steps back, sinking into the armchair in the corner of the dining room. She didn’t move, and for that I was grateful. I didn’t need a repeat of Theo’s escape attempts. This was my third time giving this speech, and it never got any easier. But for some reason, I couldn’t look into her eyes as I told her the truth. I looked at my hands, the wall, anywhere except for her. I stared at the beautiful prison of my own construction. Each wall and floor I had once loved so dearly, I now loathed with a passion. The furniture made me sick, and given enough time, she would make me sick too. “What I mean is, this house is jinxed. Cursed. You became a part of the curse the second you walked over the threshold. Once you step foot inside, you can never leave.”
I looked up at her, seeing a true understanding of what I said reflected back at me. “Welcome to the last home you’ll ever know.”