A New Estate - Crimson Peak

Chapter Twenty Three

The door clicked shut beneath the palm of my hand and I paused for a couple of breaths to make sure that no one had heard it.

I took a few steps back, keeping my eyes trained on the door with the bowl of water pressed to my stomach until I felt certain that no one had heard anything and was coming to investigate.

Once my paranoia was sated, I turned towards the rest of the room.

My eyes scanned the dreary dust laden room, the vast emptiness still feeling somehow cramping within the poor light.

Even in the dim light David stood out amongst the dust covered furniture as he was the only thing not grey with the stuff, his makeshift bed lay tucked into a corner towards the left side of the room being dwarfed by a cabinet that loomed over it.

A terrible pain fluttered in my heart as I cast my eyes over the still body on the bed, knowing that mere hours ago he had been up and about, barking orders at anyone under his supervision was devastating.

I slowly moved towards his bedside with tentative steps all the while finding it hard not to stare down at him, the way he looked so frail tugged at me and I found that my distaste for him lessened just that little bit.

The deathly pale and clammy look to his skin and the rattle to his shallow breathing were terrible to witness first hand and it truly hammered in precisely what Robert had mentioned about him possibly not making it.

This man did look on the brink of death and I felt awful about help being days away even if we managed to contact anyone in quick succession.

Each of his breaths sounded laboured and made me feel anxious with every rise and fall of his chest.

I set the small bowl of water I'd brought from the kitchen aside on a small cabinet top and carefully leaned down to him.

"David?" I breathed out, sounding quieter than I had intended.

The fact that he barely stirred proved that I hadn't gotten through to him and I felt a sudden rush of nerves as I realised that I'd have to try again.

I give my throat a quick clear and shuffle my feet as if to brace myself again, a small voice in my head pricking up that perhaps he was already dead despite his obvious breathing.

An awful sounding groan finally came from David and I let out an involuntary yelp, in an instant my hand flew to my mouth to muffle any further sounds.

I managed to push past the racing of my heart and try to focus on helping him now that he was semi responsive.

My hand splashed into the bowl of water and fished around for the cloth inside, once my fingers clasp it I lifted the rag and wait until the worst of the rinsing is over before moving back to David.

"Open your mouth," I ordered softly, not entirely comfortable with telling this man what to do.

The way his jaw slowly draped open made me feel uncomfortable, but I fought past my unease and continued on with wringing out the water from the cloth into his mouth before wiping it across his face and then finally resting it against his forehead.

It seemed that for a moment he was unable to swallow as the water caused him to splutter and cough most of it back out of his mouth, though afterwards he seemed to take it in just fine.

I left him for a brief moment to return back to the water, carefully dabbing my finger inside of it until the digit was sufficiently wet enough to moisten his lips.

As I leaned down to rub the moisture onto his mouth, David's hand gradually lifted from the bed and he wrapped his cold fingers around my wrist.

The feeling was strange and almost unnatural, making me feel oddly repulsed and leaving me wanting to shake off his grip.

A terrible rasping bubbled up from his throat and it took me a moment to realise that he was attempting to speak, but his voice was so frail and broken that it hardly escaped him.

With a minor bit of hesitation, I leaned down closer to him in hopes of hearing him a little better.

"Robert..." He rasped out, his sour breath wafting over my face.

"Robert?" I whisper back, a little alarmed at hearing his name, "what about Robert?"

David weakly shook his head, which obviously pained him by how his face scrunched up the second he moved.

"It...isn't...Robert," he repeated, clearer and at a faster pace this time.

"I don't understand, what do you mean?" I frowned whilst sparing a quick glance towards the door.

"There's something...off...with Robert."

"Like what?"

"I cannot say...but...something is different."

I gave him a brief break whilst I grabbed the rag from the bowl to give him another drink of water, after wiping his face off again I set the rag back down and turned back to him.

Question after question filled my mind and it took me a while to get them into a suitable order as I thought about the things I had noticed about Robert over the past week, he still seemed bubbly but he was also quieter and more reserved and yet he still went out of his way to check up on me.

I didn't want to push all of my questions onto a weak man and decided on the one that I needed more clarification on.

"I need you to be honest with me, was it Robert who pushed you?" I enquired shakily.

David let out a long breath and closed his eyes, giving me a brief moment of panic as I thought that he had given up for the time being right when I needed answers.

Thankfully, after about a couple seconds pause, he cleared his throat and opened his eyes once again.

"No," he replied in a much clearer voice.

"So you know who it was?"

"I think so...but I also...believe that I may have been going mad."

"Please tell me, was it a black spectre?"

"I believe that that is what I saw," he nodded slowly, his eyes drifting closed once again.

I let out a shaky breath and felt my hands clenching as my nails dug harshly into my palm.

So I hadn't been seeing things at all, she had indeed been there that night and Robert hadn't been the only witness aside from myself.

In a rush, I thanked David for his time and began gathering up my things whilst telling him to rest, as I moved a bit of water sloshed out from the bowl and doused my dress but I cared not in my haste to leave.

"One more thing...before you go," David croaked out.

I turned to him with a look of curiosity whilst holding the bowl to my stomach once again

"What is it?"

"Before our argument....before I stepped into the hallway, I heard him talking to someone...and when I investigated, I believe he was stood there with her."

"Do you know what they were talking about?"

"I'm afraid not...but I feel it can't have been anything good."