Page 34 of Grotesque
What the fuck was wrong with me?
The buzz of my phone snapped me back into the sane part of reality.
Quint:Can we talk?
Another buzz came seconds later.
Mom:Call me as soon as you get this.
This was too much to deal with. I scooped my phone and laptop up and headed back upstairs. The crawling sensation of roving eyes didn’t bother me as much as it had the first couple of days.
I tossed my phone on the counter before running the shower. Once it was hot enough to melt my skin off, I hopped beneath the stream. I let the blistering water droplets paint my skin red. I scrubbed every inch of myself until I was sure I was rid of the stranger’s scent and then washed again for good measure.
The footage was useless when I appeared to be a willing accomplice.
I needed to read more of Rosaline’s diary and see how she managed to deal with him. But before that, I needed to look for anything Macky might have left behind. If she had left her rules out for me to find, then surely, she had documentation of the creature somewhere.
That’s it!
The sketchbook.
I dried off and padded down to the library, hunting through the shelves until I found it again. I didn’t remember there being a man in any of the images, but perhaps I would find his face among the monsters.
The first couple of pages were as I remembered, creatures bearing armored scales and curling horns. Headshots of snarling beasts with dagger-long teeth roared to life on the parchment. I flipped through one page at a time, until I came to a sketch of three tall silhouettes. Their limbs and forms were lithe, with long hair that covered what appeared to be naked bodies.
The next page was filled with sketches of eyes. Some were humanoid, while others had pupils in the shape of a diamond. Others had even smaller pupils that reminded me of reptiles, and horned eyebrows.
On a later page, Glamis Manor rose off the paper. I was about to flip past it, but paused when I noticed one of the tall spindly creatures standing in a window.
“Oh, please don’t be another creepy creature,” I whispered. Whatever this was, it didn’t look like a vampire. In fact, itreminded me of a horrible fairytale my mother told me once as a girl, of a tall willowy woman with a blank face, who would take children away and gobble them up if they were bad. I don’t think there was a day after that I ever disobeyed her. The story had stuck with me all the way to adulthood.
A twisted and deformed dragon hugged the frame of a mirror on another page. A gaping mouth full of fangs was on the backside of it. Strange plants and flying creatures were pieced together like a muddied collage.
In a swirl of darker charcoal was written:Things cannot gain power unless you believe in them.
My phone buzzed again.
Mom: Hello??
“Fuck’s sake,” I mumbled. I dialed her number and shoved the phone between my cheek and shoulder as I continued flipping through the book.
“Finally!” Mom practically shouted. “I’ve been trying to reach you all day.”
“It’s only two, Mom. I slept in a little late.”
I could practically hear the roll of her eyes. “Well anyways, I wanted to check in and see how you’re doing. How’s the place look? Anything worth selling?”
I raised my fingers from the sketchbook, clutching the phone before I dropped it. Vultures come in all forms, but sadly they most often wear the face of family members. “I don’t want to sell anything.”
Truthfully, it hadn’t even crossed my mind to sell any of the antiques that filled the manor. But if Mom wanted to use me to make some quick cash, then Idefinitelywasn’t going to sell anything.
“Oh, Sorcha, come on. If the furniture is anything like it was in Manchester then that’s a couple of thousand right there.”
“I said I don’t want to sell any of it. Grandma Macky gave me the house and, well,” I paused, looking around at all the books waiting to be read. If I didn’t think too much about the stranger, or Glamis’s history, it was actually quite charming. I liked the gothic décor and filtered, golden daylight all of the windows offered. Glamis Manor had fallen into my lap by chance. It was a lifeline I didn’t know I’d needed until I was finally far away, and out from under my mother’s judgment.
“Well, what? You’re just going to keep it all to yourself?”
“Yes actually,” I snapped. “You and Uncle Ken and Uncle Hank already got your share. Macky left this place to me, and I like it the way it is.”
