This Dark Salvation

XXXIII.

It was after dinner and there were strings of fat caught between my teeth. I kept gagging but I managed to swallow every bite. They were gracious enough to let me leave early, perhaps Gwen told her mother that I was being a good boy. I chewed my bottom lip as I slipped from my seat and crawled out the room while keeping my head low.

Instead of heading to my room as I reached the last step, I passed my door to sit in front of Thomas's. I pressed my ear to the floor peering through the crack. I saw nothing different.

I inched myself inside then closed the door on my heels. I stood up with the help of the desk and instantly began examining the room. The sun was dipping faster since winter was at its peak, so the room was almost completely black. I didn't dare turn a light on either.

My hand touched a box on the desk. I grabbed it and looked at the package: cigarettes and a lighter. There was four left. I slipped it into my pocket. I made my way to his closet. Jack's suits were neatly hung and pressed. His ties in perfect rows on the shelf. I went to the bathroom next, closing the door behind me then felt for the light switch. It clicked and buzzed to life. It illuminated the small room a light blue, washing my complexion an eerie white. I dug in the cabinet over the sink. There were a few bottles for medication. I read the labels; one was for depression, another was a liquid for eyes, one with a label that read: Barbiturates, and the last was smaller—it held white powder. I set the others back as I opened the powdered medication. Licking my finger, I stuck it in the substance then tasted it.

I paused, holding the bottle in hand. I scowled at the powder. I poured some on the corner of the sink and inhaled. Jack had more cocaine. I wiped my nose before capping the bottle and sliding it in my jacket.

It had only been an hour since dinner, and it was finally pitch-black outside. I flicked the lighter and left my room. The others had apparently gone to bed, so I had a chance to do some work. Instead of using the first set of stairs, I took the one down the hall that led into the library. I kept my hands on the railing as I rounded the stair bends. I left the library and started down the entrance hall. My foot banged against the leg of a table; a metal clock rattled as it hit the floor.

Damn it.

I stood frozen as I tired listening for any footsteps, but all I could hear was the ringing of silence. I sat the clock back on the table.

There was a closet near the servant's black door that I had gotten the broom from.

The front doors weren't locked, so I effortlessly snuck out. I started walking backwards through the snowfall and sweeping the broom over my footsteps. The lighter's flame was instantly put out, it wasn't doing any good anyway. Blocks of illuminated squares littered the ground. I stopped and looked at the towering mass of rock above me. Someone was still awake. I made sure to hug the side of the house, trying hard not to break the plants still fighting through the cold.

Looking over my shoulder I evaluated how much further I'd have to walk. The car garage was still quite far, and I could sense my thin body agonizing over the icy winds, I wasn't going to make it much longer. My head began to swim.

I made it to the doors. The snow around it was fluffy and high, but I could tell a servant had shoveled before that snowfall. The hinges creaked as the ice broke to pieces. The inside of the garage smelled of must and wet metal. I went to the first vehicle and popped open the hood. I was never one who was interested in cars since I wasn't allowed to drive, I let my chauffeur do the work, but as I looked at the engine and tubes, I wished I had studied them a bit. I ran a frustrated hand through my hair. There was a bucket in the corner of the garage by a pump. I propped the broom against the car door and grabbed the bucket. A hose was attached to the pump, I wiggled it free and sat the bucket under it. The water gurgled for a few minutes before slowly creeping out of the nozzle. I sighed. The pipes weren't frozen yet.