Page 47 of Once Upon a Midnight Dreary
And as she read the surname, Allward, once again, her blood ran cold.She stood, unsteady, her skirt damp.Was this why the house clung to him?Why he had not aged?Why he mourned as though their deaths were yesterday?
And now she was part of it.Bound by knowledge, by memory, by the manor’s will.
Overhead, the raven squawked and flapped away.A portent.
Behind her, wind stirred the branches.The scent of lilacs wafted by.A whisper on the air.
Now you know.
Victoria ran back the way she’d come, the branches flapping against her as she shoved them out of the way.One smacked her in the face, scratching her cheek.She’d had enough.Enough of this house.This mystery.Thishaunting.Her gut clenched with acid dread as she ran, hot tears burning her eyes.
The front door banged closed behind her and for a breath, she worried Gabriel would hear and follow her.But she didn’t stop as she headed to the study where she closed the door behind her with a snap.
She needed to be alone.She needed to find a way out.
At the desk, she dipped the quill into the ink and started to scrawl the letter in her shaking hand.A letter to her uncle.To tell him she’d made a mistake coming here, hoping for independence.A life of her own.Bitterness rose in her throat.Wouldn’t her aunt feel victorious at her failure.
When she finished writing the letter, telling him she would be making her way back, she folded it, sealed it with wax and stood.She slid it into her pocket.
When she pulled open the door, Gabriel stood on the other side, his hand ready to knock.She emitted a yelp of surprise.
His eyes were wide, full of concern, as he looked over her disheveled appearance.Then his brows drew together.
“What’s wrong?”he asked.
“Nothing.”She shoved passed him and stumbled into the hallway, her feet thumping on the floor.“I’m going out.”
To the post.To send off her letter.To see the young worker there once again.Perhaps he would ground her in reality, for she was not living in reality in this house.She was living a nightmare.
Gabriel followed.“Victoria, wait—”
“No,” she snapped, not turning.“I will not wait.I’m going.”
“Where?”His voice shook, as though he was terrified of her leaving.
Let him be.She flung open the front door and turned to face him one last time.“To post a letter.And then I’m returning to the city, where I belong.”
The moment she delivered the news, the front door slammed shut so hard, it rattled the frame.Victoria gasped and stepped back, her heart suddenly in her throat.She reached for the knob, but it wouldn’t open.As though the door was stuck.
Tears blinded her.“Let me out!”
Never.
Lenore’s frigid presence surrounded her.Determined, she pulled on the door again.Still, it would not budge.
“Please, let me out.”A sob hitched through her.
You can never leave.You are bound here.Just as he is.
In the parlor, the piano played a mournful tune.The notes rising to a crescendo.Finally, she crumpled to the floor, her head in her hands as she sobbed.
“Lenore, enough!”His sharp tone cut through the music.
It stopped abruptly.
He crouched next to her, sitting on the floor and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.They sat like that for a long moment as she cried into her hands.Though she didn’t want him near her, she admitted his presence soothed and calmed her.He waited, silent, until she finally lifted her head, brushing away the tears in a fit of fury.
She preferred he not see her like that.
