Page 97 of The Curse of Redwood
“If you have enjoyed this tour, please consider rating us and following us on all our social media sites,” the woman said, before the bus drove away.
Once the coast was clear, we stood back up and went to the patio to grab my backpack from outside. However, Zeke didn’t want to go inside the house right away. He took my hand and led me to the stone bench in the garden he so often stared at.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” I whispered, dropping my backpack between my legs as we sat down. “I didn’t tell you before because I wasn’t sure what it meant… but I’ve been having visions about you and Philip for a while now. Callum told me it’s actually his memories I’m seeing.”
“Is that how you saw his death earlier?”
“Yeah.” I pulled a bottled water from my bag and took a drink. My throat was so dry, probably made worse from breathing in all the dust inside the mansion. “But I’ve seen other things too. Like you and him going on horse rides together. You reading to him right here on this bench.Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hydeunsettled him. He didn’t like the idea of people having two sides. But you loved the book and read it to him so many times.”
“Philip was a beautiful soul, but he was simple. Not as in daft. He was intelligent, although he couldn’t read well. What I mean is he wore his heart on his sleeve, and he valued honesty above all. He hated the idea of a dual nature because he feared what it could mean.” Zeke put a hand on my thigh, moving his thumb in a slow circle. “And perhaps he even sensed darkness inside himself too. Each time he saw me dancing with a young woman. Each time my father spoke of me getting married. It drove Philip mad one night, and he snuck into my bedroom and initiated sex. He made me say I belonged to him, only him.”
“So, he was possessive.”
“In a way, yes. I wonder if a part of him always knew I’d betray him in the end, thatmydual nature would turn me into a monster. But then I must ask myself, which is the real me, the man or the monster? Was the monster only pretending to be a man?”
“No,” I answered, placing my hand over his. I loved the feel of his big hand under mine. “You were just human. And humans make mistakes. No one’s perfect. That would be boring.”
“Humans can be so wicked. Self-serving.”
“But we can also be beautiful,” I said.
“There’s beauty in monstrous things,” Zeke said, staring up at the moon. “Like a rose before you get pricked by the thorn. Or the delicious, poisoned red apple that beckons you to take a bite. Perhaps the real curse at Redwood is me. I was one of those beautifully monstrous things that damned Philip in the end.”
The crinkle of a wrapper tore through the otherwise quiet night.
Zeke looked over at me in surprise.
“Sorry,” I said, as I pulled away the wrapping on a candy bar and bit off a huge chunk. “I’m hungry.”
Humor danced in his eyes. “Silly little dove. What am I going to do with you?”
“Read to me?” I asked, swallowing the bite before taking another. He had said reading was an escape for him, and I wanted to get rid of that haunted look in his gaze.
His expression softened. “I’d love to. Any particular story you wish to hear?”
“Your favorite,” I answered, standing from the bench and lifting my backpack to one shoulder.
“Very well.”
He grabbed my hand and led me back into the mansion, taking me down the corridor to his favorite room in the house. The library. Once inside, he grabbed a book from the shelf and guided me back out into the hall.
Ghosts appeared in doorways as we passed, and some even trailed behind us a ways, but I never once felt uneasy. They meant me no harm; they were only curious, much like I had been about them in the beginning. Much had definitely changed since then.
When we got to his room, I snuggled into bed and he sat beside me before opening the book.
I knew all along which one he would choose.
“Chapter One: Story of the Door,” he said, slipping one arm behind me. “Mr. Utterson, the lawyer…”
I closed my eyes and placed a light kiss to his shoulder as his words drifted throughout the room. The cadence of his voice, soft and soothing, relaxed me after an exhausting day. But as I lay in bed with Zeke, listening to him read a story he probably knew by heart, I found myself smiling.
“Are you listening?” he asked, smoothing his thumb over my brow.
“Mhm,” I mumbled.
The last thing I remembered before falling asleep was the feel of his lips on my cheek, like a winters kiss.
Chapter Eighteen
