Predator

Part Eighteen✔️

{just a little bit of spice. ;) }

Grey's slumber ended before the sun even rose due to the uneasy feeling in her stomach that was shortly after emptied into the toilet. She reemerged from the bathroom after having showered and brushed her teeth three times over, her hair wet and clad in tight leggings and a large T-shirt that had been stuffed deep in the dresser when she first arrived, her thick glasses perched atop her nose.

She looked out the window to see the dark sky slowly turning to a purple, the first signs of the sun peeking over the horizon. Quickly she laced up her boots and tugged on the dark coat she'd woken up beside - even though the scent on it was less, it still smelled of him - before hurrying quietly down the stairs and out towards that willow tree she spent most of last night under. Grey leaned against it and watched the sunshine paint the sky shades of lilac and pink, splashes of orange splattered here and there. She sighed and felt at peace for the first time since arriving in this frozen wonderland.

From one of the higher rooms Grey had yet to explore, he simply watched her, admiring her as she was. After having spent another sleepless night alone, he drowned himself in vodka trying to rid of the emotions growing inside of him towards the girl. He sat outside Grey's door, drinking in her scent like it was his alcohol all night, letting the smell of her tame the beast; and for once in his life, the beast was silent. How he craved to be on the other side of that door, holding her as she slept and maybe, if fate was kind, he'd fall asleep too.

The girl had enchanted him; mind and body. She was a constant thought in his head, a moment to breath in the chaos that was his mind. As much as he didn't want to have the girl around, there was something about her that made everything seem less dark. He knew she felt something for him, she wouldn't have kissed him back or drank last night trying to forget it, and he reveled in that fact. She felt something and with a little push from him the curse could be easily broken but he wasn't sure if he was entirely ready to let someone else see the nightmares in his mind, if he was ready to taint that beauty, to kill the life she held in her eyes.

His past was too dark, too destructive he was afraid as to what would come of the girl once she got a glimpse into who he really was. For even when the curse is broken, the beast inside will vanish but the beast that is him will stay and tear apart her innocence until she is just as hollow and broken as him.

With another large swig of vodka, the bottle is emptied and tossed to the ground where it cracked and rolled against the wall. He glanced at Grey again as her eyes fluttered shut behind those glasses of hers before he turned away from the window and into the room he hadn't inhabited since his mother roamed these halls.

Sitting at the dark stool, he simply stared at the object in front of him before he let his fingers glide over the ivory keys, occasionally touching a black key, ghosting the notes to a song he knew like the back of his hand. As his eyes closed he sucked in a deep breath, releasing it as his fingers played the first notes. Maybe it was the alcohol in his blood, maybe it was just the music, but his body swayed with each note. He'd gotten lost in the music and there was no turning back.

• • •

When Grey returned inside, her ears were lulled by the sounds of a piano coning front upstairs and her nose was assaulted by the sweet swell of syrup. Pushing aside the soft melodies for now, she turned to the kitchen where Maksim was grilling strips of bacon until they were crispy and brown.

"So you're the chef." She said as she sat in one of the island stools, nose wiggling in order to keep her glasses from falling down.

Maksim glanced at her and she noticed his red-rimmed eyes. They were cold, lifeless like they were when they first met. "I may not be great but it's better than raw meat; and it's not often I get to actually make meals."