His White Rabbit

Ch. 14 - Fear the house

"Welcome to paradise." William said to me quietly as we followed his father through the front door. I kind of couldn't bring myself to believe this was paradise. Not when I knew I would have to sleep with him for god knows how long. However, this place looked magical. It was true heaven on earth and it seemed like a place you would go to when you are in need of some kind of therapy. But this was not therapying for me and this place represented danger.

It was dinner time and I was grateful for not arriving sooner. Now I only have to go to dinner and then straight to bed. Tomorrow is a new day and I'll be ready to face the challenges that lie ahead but now I just want to go to sleep.

"I will see you in the dining area in 30 minutes. Show your girl around, will you?" Mr. Burton said to William and smiled at me as he did so. With a nod from his son, he left us and started speaking to the staff about our luggage. Even though he was getting further away from us, I could still hear his deep voice echoing.

"Come on." William snaps me out of my thoughts and pushes me by putting his hand low on my back. A little too low for my liking. We take the stairs from the main lobby and head upstairs at a slow pace. Everything was so nicely decorated in rich style but it didn't look too much. It was just perfect. There were roses in vases here and there and big paintings decorating the big walls of the hallways. It was truly magnificent but the deeper we walked into the house, the darker it got and the vibe changed with the lack of natural light. "This is our room, sweets. Make yourself at home." William opens one door and lets me in first. As I stepped in, chills ran down my spine. It was really cold in there.

"It's freezing." I hug myself and take another step to inspect the room. It was huge. That's the first thing I noticed. The bed was king-sized and truly astonishing, the windows were big and let in enough light and a nice sofa in the middle of the room.

"I'll start the fire." He walks over to a fireplace that I haven't noticed until just now. It was beautiful just like the rest of the place. I watch him look around for a bit before he turns around and sighs. "I'll go get some wood. Be right back." I sit on the sofa and lean back into it, feeling how soft it was and realizing how tired I was getting just from enjoying this piece of furniture.

I sit like that for a minute and then flinch as I remember I had my cigarettes with me. I take them out and head to the window to light one and clear my mind with the toxins. I felt like I was just making it easier for myself to deal with everything.

"Come on." I whisper as the lighter doesn't do its job properly. It seemed broken but eventually, I managed to light the cigarette. I exhale and open the window to let out all the smoke while the little thing between my fingers became shorter and shorter with each turn. After a few months of not smoking, this hit me a little and I could feel my head spinning for a few seconds.

Alone here in this cold room, far away from home and everyone I knew, I started feeling emotional to the point of tearing up. I don't want to be weak and break in front of William like this all the time... It seemed like I wasn't dealing with this the right way and was just catching up with me.

"What the hell are you doing?" A bang of the door startles me and the voice makes me flinch in shock. I turn around quickly, seeing William putting down the wood for the fire and angrily making his way towards me. "Where did you get that and who gave it to you?" He asks furiously and I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out. He caught me off guard and I was at a loss for words. "Rosie!" I flinch when he grabs my wrist and I accidentally drop the cigarette. The moment it hits the floor, William stomps on it without breaking any eye contact.

"I-I bought it..." I stutter and look away when I felt the tears swelling in my eyes. Why is he being so scary and mean...

"Give me the rest. Now." I shakily reach into my pocket and take out the box, giving it to him. "You don't smoke so explain this."

"Why do you care? Why is it such a big deal for you?" I sob a little, lowering my head and sticking my gaze to the ground. In the same moment, William grabs my chin harshly and makes me look up again as my own hand grabs his wrist instinctively, afraid he'd choke me.

"Because this thing is extremely unhealthy and I personally hate it, so yeah. No more of this bullshit." The fact that he took it didn't bother me as much as it would if I was a smoker of course. I was just angry because he took it like I was a child. I felt so small and unimportant. A few tears rolled down my cheek as I stared into his dark eyes full of danger. My jaw was starting to hurt from the pressure of his hand but I didn't care at this point. His breathing was deep and heavy like he was holding himself back from snapping my neck and killing me on the spot.

I silently watch his gaze travel down to the bruises on my neck. The ones he made today. His anger slowly faded away and his expression softened after realizing I was in pain because of him.

"Don't cry. I just don't want you to start with the bad habits... It's bad for you, yes it is." There we go with the persona change again. I feel like there is so much to learn about him yet it's so very simple. He wipes away the tears from my face and kisses my forehead, making me cringe inside. He is behaving like a boyfriend. And he is not that. "Next time, ask before you do something like this." He releases me finally and picks up the cigarette from the floor. "Close the window so you can warm up before dinner."

I do that slowly so I don't have to turn around for another few seconds. I hear him throwing some wood into the fireplace as I stare out the window into the setting sun. I'm alone and hurt. I want comfort and care from my parents... From my friends. I am being held here against my will and no one will listen if I say anything because William knows everyone. All the important people. They didn't even care to check our IDs at the airport because he must be so damn known everywhere. But it can't be only him. It's most probably his father. I still need to figure out what it is that he's doing for a living.

"I will show you around tomorrow. Dinner will be served soon so we don't have time but they say it's going to be sunny tomorrow so we can go explore the gardens and the forest if you'd like." I just nod and wipe away the last bit of tears that stained my cheek. I honestly didn't care about the gardens or anything but I could use that opportunity to look around and see if there's a way out of this. "Your bag will be brought here while we eat so don't worry about that." One thing I've realized is that he feels quite guilty after he makes me cry and I must use that as my defense.

...

"It's delicious." I say with a smile and put another piece of vegetable in my mouth. I was starving because William hasn't really fed me well for the past week. The food was really good and there was so much on the table I felt like I didn't know what to choose first. There was fish, soup, two kinds of salads, fresh bread, pasta, and vegetables... Something I couldn't recognize was also there but I couldn't be bothered when so many great things were displayed in front of me.

At the head of the table sat William's dad, William and me on the right side. There were two more plates across from us but the persons never came.

"What do you think of the house?" Mr. Burton asks after finishing his meal and having a glass of some drink.

"I love it," I smile and drink some water, thinking of what to say next. "It has... a strange vibe but I like that." He nods his head a bit like he understood what I was talking about. A silence fills the room so I am not sure if he is going to say something about my comment or is he waiting for me to say something else.

"It does have a vibe. This house is almost 100 years old. Many people died here, many things happened here and this house remembers all of it." I take another sip of water as he tells me those things. Is it really that old? "It would be nice if I said it was in the family from the start but that's not true. I bought it when my sons were little boys and the house just got redecorated. It doesn't look haunted, does it?" He chuckles and pours some wine for himself.

"Father, don't scare her with your tales." William says while looking at his plate and having a bite of the fish. I didn't know which fish it was honestly but it looked expensive the way it was served and the way William ate it. It was a delicacy for the rich so I never had anything even similar to this. "Rosie is a scaredy-cat so don't fill her head with such thoughts." He smiles at me and I return the smile even though we both knew how much I wanted to slap him and curse at him.

"Oh, dear. I apologize then."