“What can I get you? The barrister smiles?”
“Nothing.” I mumble as I charge out of the coffee house because what I wanted wasn’t here anymore.
Stalking down the cobbled streets, I search for her, but I don’t see her raven hair anywhere. The scent of her is nothing but a distant memory. The fallen leaves crunch beneath my boots as I walk aimlessly looking for my sweet dove.
The streets are littered with people strolling down the street, the side eyes and awkward looks burn a hole in my back, it was something I was familiar with, they were intimidated and curious about the newcomer who had come to town and usually I would give them a show but my mind was preoccupied on finding my little runaway.
All hope seems to be lost, I’m just about to give up and go home when I spot her raven hair in the local bookstore, at last I’d found her, a small smirk plays across my lips as I enter the quaint little bookstore.
She doesn’t even look up as the bell chimes. It’s like she’s oblivious to the world around her.
That’s what’s so appealing. She doesn’t careabout what everyone else is doing, she’s just in the zone doing her own thing.
She’s a whole vibe.
The scent of old books and leather swarms me as I walk around the bookshelves, finding a nice little spot to watch her. Gliding my fingers across the old leather, it brings me a sense of peace. Hidden behind a bookcase, I pick up a random book that I have no interest in reading and peek over the book to see her curled up in a chair reading a book.
She looks so at peace and fully enthralled in the book that she’s reading, I can’t see the title from here but whatever it is seems to bring her happiness, her eyes glaze across the pages and she smiles, a small dimple pierces her cheek.
She’s fucking perfect.
Right then, I just know it from watching her, completely engrossed in something so simple that makes her happy.
She’s mine.
4
DOVE
Iwas bored, I’d poured more than enough drinks down my throat to feel the buzz from the alcohol but still I couldn’t relax, it wouldn’t matter what I poured down my throat, I still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that had settled in my soul.
I wait for Christina to be distracted. Doesn’t take much. She starts playing a drinking game with the guys that don’t even know I exist, but it’s the cue I need to escape.
I’m going to go home, but curiosity gets the better of me. It isn’t often you get an invitation to a house with such an impressive history—even if some of it is horrifying.
I tip toe out of the room, but nobody notices. They are too busy having fun. The staircase calls to me. I wonder what’s up there. We had been restricted to one room, but this was a big house and I was curious about what lay ahead.
I take the stairs one at a time; the owner seems to have refurbished them because they don’t make a sound as I quietly walk up them; I was expecting them to creek, alerting everyoneto my exploring but I hear nothing but silence as I descend the stairs.
Double doors face me as soon as I get to the top, walking inside I’m curious what’s in this room, rows upon rows of bookshelves adorn the walls, crimson carpets and curtains enhance the dark gothic decor and there in the midst of this little treasure trove I’ve stumbled upon I find a table with one very large pumpkin sat on top of it.
Curiously, I go towards the pumpkin. It’s not like the rest. There are holes oddly placed, but no intricate designs carved into it, not even a face.
“How strange.” I mutter.
Looking around the table, there is a gold plated nameplate on the side of the table that reads:The Pumpkin Destroyer
I’m about to turn and leave because it’s just getting stranger the longer I look at it, but the lights go out and terror hits my body.
Somebody is just playing a prank, I try to tell myself, but the uneasy feeling I’d had all night suddenly turns into fear.
I hear footsteps, but I can’t figure out what area they are coming from. Someone is breathing hard near me.
“Hello?” I call out. “Is somebody there?” I roll my eyes. If this was a horror movie, I’d be screaming at the actors that you never call out to somebody in the dark, and here I was doing the same thing.
I throw my hands up in the air because I’m been silly and I’m about to feel my way out of this nightmare in the dark when something snaps across my wrists, pulling my body into the air and all I can do is scream.
I wait, but nobody comes rushing to my aid. Then it dawns on me: nobody can hear me up here.
