Page 44 of Grotesque
“If someone is harassing you, you need to call the cops.”
“Because that worked out so well last time.” I cut him a sharp look. “And presently the only person harassing me is you.”
His brows furrowed and a mean scowl tore across his face. “Note taken,” he said, though he didn’t sound as bitter as he looked. “I have to be on this side of town again tomorrow. Can I stop by?”
Now it was my turn to be exasperated. I chuckled as I walked past him, making my way back to the front porch. The dark, simmering rage fanning the back of my neck had lessened, but was still very present as its owner and myself tracked Quint to the bottom of the steps.
“You want to get into my pants that bad?”
“I’d settle for another night on your couch.” There was a playful lilt in his voice. Men like Quint were hard to stay mad at, and that’s what made them dangerous. Or rather, what made my current situation dangerous.
At the end of the day, it didn’t matter how Quint really felt about me or that I’d maybe had a little crush on him. It all boiled down to Corban and I, and whatever twisted thing he had in store for me. For us. I thought about the jealousy he’d exhibited with Rosaline…. I doubted his nature had changed, especially given the threats he’d already dished out so easily.
I couldn’t put Quint in harm’s way, no matter how pissed off at him I was.
I forced myself to give him a closed-lipped smile. “I’ll text you if anything changes.”
The corner of Quint’s mouth quirked. “Sure. If you change your mind, there’s another party at the end of the week. It’d be cool if you came.”
This time, I did smile.Persistent this one.“It’d be cool, huh?”
“Yeah,” he said, his smile fluttering wider. “Just think about it. Oh!” He stepped forward and passed me the flowers. “Here, um, yeah.” He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck as he made for his car. “I hope to hear from you.”
I held the flowers close to my chest and nodded.
It wasn’t until I was inside the house with the sound of his car retreating that I lifted them to my face to smell them. I really did love flowers, and it would be a shame to let them go to waste just because I was angry at Quint.
I pulled a vase down from the top shelf in the kitchen, playing with the stems until the arrangement was to my liking. The pinks and reds were a welcome burst of color in the otherwise neutral-colored kitchen. Pleased, I returned to the library and cracked open Rosaline’s diary again.
January 3, 1812
Gerald knows. He does not know of Corban exactly, but he suspects something is amiss. Ever since my outburst the other night he has kept a close eye on me and comments repeatedly on how I have withdrawn from him. The nerve! As if he was not locking himself away for months on end with his work.
January 4, 1812
Gerald has become suffocating while Corban becomes ever distant. I cannot take this much longer.
January 9, 1812
Last night I demanded that Corban take me to his kingdom. He said he could not, because I had failed to commit myself to him, body and soul, by still accepting Gerald’s affections. I screamed at him that Ihad! Had I not allowed him to touch me, kiss me in the most intimate ways? Was my unfaithfulness to Gerald not enough? But Corban only grew more angry with each protest that fell from my lips. A fire leapt in his eyes that I had not seen before, and he dragged me to the door that would take us to his kingdom. He told me to try and open it, but it would not budge.
“See?” His voice was like poison, and the way he looked at me, it was as if he were disgusted with me. “My world rejects you becauseyourejectme. You have to give upeverything!”
I think I know what I have to do. May God forgive me, but surely this is God’s will if the instruction comes from an angel.
January 10, 1812
Tonight will be my last entry. I have prepared a nice meal for Gerald and I. A last supper where I will tell him the truth before leaving him forever. I can’t go on like this a moment longer. I have tasted the divine and know now I cannot bear to live without it.
Afirm knock echoed down the hallway. I glanced up, the sun was just starting to make its way behind the tree line. Muddied colors washed across the clouded sky.
I opened the front door. “I’m surprised you didn’t let yourself in.”
Corban touched his fingers to the throat of his black collared shirt and let out a soft hum. “I wanted to give you the opportunity to invite me in.”
This was all an illusion. I was not really in control as I stepped back, waving my hand to the side to allow him entry. The flash of darkness in his eyes as he took me in, the slow winding assessment he made of my body, brought heat to my cheeks immediately. The door shut behind him without so much as a flick of his wrist.
He stepped toward me with a predatory smile, but I held up my hand, catching him in the chest. “Wait! We’re going to talk first.” I looked back at the door, my nerves already shot. What sort of creature could do that? Move objects without touching them, disappear into thin air? My terrible fascination with finding out the answer would be the death of me.
