Chapter 16: Chapter 16: The Secret in the Study

My brain wasn’t really sure what to do next. So my hand was on fire but it didn’t seem to be burning me. That was cool. What was less cool was that I had seemingly no control over it. I tried to think about a smaller flame, I tried to close my hand, I even chanted “small flame small flame…” but it was to no avail. This stupid thing was here to stay.

I tried to shake it to put it out and quickly realized the more I messed with it, the bigger the flame grew. The bigger flame also didn’t seem to hurt and it wasn’t causing any damage to my skin, but everything it came in contact with in the room looked like it was slowly melting. I heard a knock at the door as Bearon called, “everything all right my lady?”

“Everything’s fine!” I yelled back.

“Please open the door, I have something to give you,” he responded.

I sighed as I shook my hand again and went to figure out how to work the door handle. I was not surprised to see my other hand was now not only on fire, but shooting flames. I did my best to not knock anything over as I spun around and tried to avoid lighting my bed on fire. I walked slowly towards the door as I tried to come up with a game plan. Could I try turning the flames off with my mind again? Could I somehow open the door handle with my foot? Was I just doomed to reveal to Bearon that I had turned myself into a giant fireball when I didn’t follow the plot exactly? Maybe I could pretend like I didn’t notice the flames myself.

I managed to turn the door handle and immediately tucked my hands behind my back. “Yes?” I asked preemptively.

Bearon stood in front of me with a knowing smirk. “Do you need assistance with anything my lady?” he asked.

“I was hoping to be left alone to my thoughts, I learned some big news yesterday,” I replied. Not a line from the book but I was hoping it’d decrease the flames.

I also noticed he was obviously empty handed. “Did you have something to give me?” I asked.

“Fresh linens. It’s time to turn your bed sheets,” he replied, “would you care to be alone with your thoughts in a different room?”

I sighed. There was clearly only one way to get rid of these. And it wasn’t making me happy.

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“Do you think lord Victor would mind if I were to go do so in his study?” I replied.

“Yes,” Bearon answered. His grin was even bigger.

“I’ll just be on my way then,” I replied as I side stepped around Bearon with my hands still behind my back.

“Is there something wrong with your…” I heard him start to ask. But I wasn’t about to have it.

“Bye!” I cut him off as I spun as quickly as I could and trotted away. For a brief moment I swore I could hear him mutter, “fire?”

I walked as fast as I could to the study. Surprisingly, something stopped me at the door from entering. I knew I was supposed to, but for some reason it felt wrong. My biggest concern was not finding out that Victor was a vampire, I knew that already. But I still had a dark sense of foreboding about entering. And I really didn’t want to delay his return or have more fire hands.

“Did you need something my lady?” I heard from behind me as I nearly jumped in response.

I turned to see Robin staring at me as if I were crazy. “I need help, I need a lot of help,” I replied as I stepped back from the study and quickly walked away.

“Did you know you have burn marks on your dress?” she yelled after me. This one stopped me in my tracks. I’d seen Robin become a bird, but this was the first time I’d experienced her otherwise break character.

“Yes I had a bit of a mishap with my hands upstairs,” I replied. What was I even saying?

Robin nodded as if this made sense. I watched her walk away as I debated asking her more. But I immediately decided against it when I felt my hands burn once more. I went to reach for the door handle as I cautiously broke into the one place I knew I was supposed to go that everyone had made very clear that Victor supposedly didn’t want me to go. I was happy to see that my annoying new super power quickly vanished as I crept inside and went towards the desk I knew was supposed to contain the damning document.

Annalise does everything in her power to learn more about Victor after reading it and quickly discovers he’s been around a lot longer than she expected. By doing everything in her power I mean she also searches through some of the manor and at some point sneaks back to town. So I was supposed to start sneaking around the study, which honestly felt a bit weird given the night we’d had before and my weird sense of currently unexplainable foreboding feeling. I was not surprised to see I was no longer on fire as I stood in the middle of the room Bearon had been so clear I was not to enter. I was surprised to see my hands once again lit up as I stepped away from the desk. I was temporarily distracted by my new annoying superpower and was now debating how I could use this to my advantage if it was going to keep happening.

A loud thump behind me nearly made me jump as I stood there literally playing with fire. I was happy I hadn’t accidentally lit Victor’s bookshelf on fire as I turned to investigate. There was a book that had somehow fallen on to his desk and flopped open. I sighed as I walked over to it. So I was about to learn what, that Victor was an ancient vampire? That he killed people? I went intending to casually flip through the pages and leave. But as I saw the sketched drawing and name at the top of the first page my heart nearly skipped a beat. It was an incredibly detailed list about me. But not me as Annalise which might have actually fit the story. Instead it was insane details I may not even have noticed about myself from the real world. I quickly went to turn the pages as I felt the sense of dread once again begin to creep up on me. How did Victor know all of this? And why did he have this? Before I could even process what I’d seen the book slammed shut on my hand and Bearon had reappeared in the doorway.

“I thought I told you not to enter the study my lady,” he said.

“I… need to talk to Victor,” I replied as I tried to scramble out of the room as fast as I could.

“I’d be careful, you don’t know what he’ll do when he hears,” Bearon replied.

I wanted to throw up. “I’d be more worried about what I may do,” I whispered as quietly as I could.

I could have sworn Bearon was yelling something akin to “what was that?” after me but I didn’t even care. I had to know, had I been stuck in here this entire time with my own personal stalker?