Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Annalise the Rock Climber

This wasn’t in the original novel. I was doing my best not to panic as I started to pace about the room. Annalise wasn’t in a horror novel. In fact for the vast majority of the plot you never feel she’s in any real danger. Victor never collaborates with her either like this. He always seems aloof and one step ahead, ensuring her safety until he turns on her and doesn’t want to let her leave due to his sudden obsession with her body. At that point Frederick is there to save her and you don’t sense she’s in any real danger. But here I was, feeling like I was in very real danger.

There wasn’t anywhere to hide in the room really. The bed was fancy and lifted such that any human could see me if I were to crawl under it. I could tuck myself into the armoire but then what? I was one door away from being spotted. And given the current state of the room, it was very obvious I was here. Even more distressing, I wasn’t even sure what I was supposed to be hiding from.

I went to go brush my hair a couple hundred times with the little silver brush as I peeked out the window. Was it Bearon? He could certainly hear me shuffling about. But what was he about to do? Turn into a real bear? My mind was going wild. I debated crawling into bed as I went to turn off all the lights and went back to take my place at the window. I could hear someone shuffling about in the hallway as some residual typical thumps and creeks from the manor began to fill the air. I wasn’t even sure what I was waiting for but if there was one thing for sure, I was completely full of anxiety about all of this.

It had occurred to me we’d already passed the plot point where the crowd searches the manor but that it hadn’t gone down as it was supposed to. But never in my wildest dreams did I suspect that as I sat there milling about the window, that I’d see them come back.

The night air had started to feel eerily calm, as if some sort of tension or fracture in the world had been fixed. I noticed it immediately. The first change was the sky began to twinkle again. My eyes were directed upwards as to my surprise, the moon reappeared. I had been so lost in my own thoughts it hadn’t even occurred to me that the moon and some of the stars were ever missing. I could see a group of angry patrons heading up the road with torches. I felt the anxious feeling in my chest began to rise even more. Was the novel fixing itself after all of my accidental interference?

I left the curtains billowing as I cautiously looked over the ledge of the window. There was a small outcropping from some of the stones that made the manor walls that almost looked like I could stand on them. I didn’t see any other windows nearby but I did see a balcony a short distance away that looked as though it may lead to somewhere. I wasn’t going to be able to hide, but if I wasn’t about to be searched by an angry mob ready to string me up for political gain, I could certainly rock climb my way out of here.

I crouched down under the window sill first and tried to stay as quiet as possible as I was surprisingly able to listen to everything happening below. Bearon was still right outside my door, Victor had disappeared, and now the group was banging and yelling what I was pretty sure were the exact words from the original scene in the novel. “We need to speak to the lord of the manor,” rang out amongst some cheers and jests. For a moment I thought that just maybe Victor would take up his original role and direct them away with grace. But then I remembered that for that to happen he’d need to be dressed on the first floor and leaving dinner with a glass of wine. Book Victor managed to cheer up enough to direct them around the manor. My Victor was depressed and wandering the halls up near my room still. To my horror, Robin answered the door.

I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but it was very clear the mob had somehow either cajoled her into letting them in or just pushed past her to come inside. I wanted to sink into my feet, I was screwed.

I made sure there was no one else left outside as I decided the best course of action right now was to get out of the room. I slipped out the window and started to immediately regret the decision as I discovered my dainty ornate little medieval like shoes could barely grasp the edge of the wall. I kicked them off as I tried to grab the stone outcroppings with my toes. My brain was in overdrive mode, why did I do this to myself? Why did Victor do this to me? Where was Frederick when you needed him?

I tried to scoot along the wall towards the next balcony. Every step was agony and now my shoes were long gone in the garden bushes below. I felt my fingers slip from where they grasped the stone as I did my best to pull myself up. What happened if I died here anyways? Was I already dead?

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I had to grab the railing of the balcony twice to get myself over it. I was not surprised to find the door locked. The darkened room past it offered no respite. I sighed, ready to give up, when I noticed an open window not too far off. Every last bit of energy in my body was forced into scooting me along that wall as I climbed to the next outcropping and grabbed at it. I pulled myself over the ledge and awkwardly pushed myself to my elbows like some kind of ghost in a horror film. I flung myself over the edge and tried to rush to a stand, now ready to hide.

To my surprise I ran smack into the figure of a man who for some reason had been standing silently just behind the window. I looked up in horror to see Victor turn and stare at me. He was shirtless and appeared to have been trying to change into his night clothes. The room itself was much smaller than I expected from his bedroom. It had a tiny bed and dusty large armoire in the corner. But otherwise felt more like a cavern than a bedroom of the lord of a manor. His lock of shock turned to one of even more concern as we could hear the footsteps of what I could only assume was the mob down the hall. Victor audibly gulped as he shoved me into the armoire and flattened himself against me.

“You’re not going to tell them to go away?” I whispered as he slipped the doors shut behind us.

“I… panicked,” he replied softly as I felt his breath against my shoulder. He moved to place his forehead next to me as he mumbled, “damn.”

“How did you even get here?” he whispered.

“You told me to hide!” I replied.

“I thought maybe in your room. You could have died going out the window!” he hissed, “and then everything would be ruined.”

“You knew the mob would be back,” I replied, “why didn’t you stop them? And what do you mean everything would be ruined?”

“You can’t die,” he whispered, “or get captured. And when things get this messed up I can never stop them…”

“What are you even talking about?” I snapped. I gulped as I heard footsteps right outside the door. Victor moved his face inches from mine as we both heard the door creak open. Even in the dark I could tell that he was a bigger ball of anxiety than I was. I could hear footsteps coming closer as Victor’s heart raced against my chest. He swallowed as he moved his head in and smashed his mouth into mine.

I was too caught off guard to even make a noise as I felt his lips move quickly against mine. I could barely breathe as time seemed to past at an eternity every second. The footsteps retreated as someone yelled “there’s no way she was in there.”

Victor’s arms wrapped against my body as he pressed himself into me deeper. I could hear Bearon mumbling something down the hall. There was another door slamming sound as the crowd of footsteps continued down the hallway. I let my hands slip around Victor’s shirtless back as he took a second from the embrace to breathe.

We both stood there in awkward silence for a moment before he once again moved to press himself against me. I let myself enjoy this kiss this time. The hallway was silent and Victor’s heart seemed to have settled back down. I felt him pull back to put his head on my shoulder.

“We’re supposed to have kissed already and I’m supposed to be confused about my feelings for you”, I mumbled.

He stiffened before his shaggy head nodded against my shoulder. “Every time we deviate from the plot, the world starts to fall apart doesn’t it?” I asked. He nodded his shaggy head again.

“You’re not allowed to tell me any of this,” I surmised, “but you can nod your head. How do you know all of this anyways?”

“A nightmare, over and over again…” he said. He moved his hand to cup my cheek as he went in for another kiss. I let my arms around his neck in confusion as I felt him lift up my legs next. I could barely register what was happening as he pulled us out of the armoire and placed me on my back on the tiny bed. I felt him curl into me as he continued kissing me there. I don’t know why but I wanted to dig my nails into his back. He stiffened as I felt his hips lift off of me. My brain didn’t have enough time to process what was happening as we lay there pressed against each other for another moment. I was surprised to hear the front door shut and the sound of what seemed to be footsteps on stone and gravel.

Victor abruptly stopped as he went to stand with a hand rested against the windowsill. He sighed as he placed his head in his hands. “They’re gone,” he mumbled.

I pressed myself back to a stand from the bed as I saw him turn to stare at my bare feet. “I think they’re in the garden,” I shrugged.

He sighed and laughed at this as he went back to place his forehead on my shoulder. “We’ll deal with that later. You need to go back to your room, oh, and don’t trust Bearon,” he finished.

He stood up to guide me to the doorway as I wasn’t even sure what to say to him. “Ok,” I replied as I awkwardly waved and went to slip back down the hallway. My brain couldn’t process what had just happened. I also wasn’t even sure where we were supposed to go from here. This scene wasn’t in the book. But what did come next was the dead goats, and my first encounter with Frederick.

I tried to be as silent as I could as I took my now very confused self back down the hallway and towards my room. I was surprised to see Bearon standing at the end of the dark hallway holding a candle. He was staring at me with an unreadable expression in human form as he mumbled, “they’re gone and you’re safe.”

“Yes,” I replied. Somehow everyone here knew they were looking for me. That also wasn’t really a plot point.

I went to open the door to my room as I could feel Bearon’s eyes digging a hole in the back of my head. “Is something the matter?” I turned to ask.

“Don’t trust him,” Bearon replied.

“What?” I asked, now surprised.

He had an ominous look on his face as he turned to walk back down the hallway, “don’t trust Victor.”

And with that single statement, everything I’d just learned once again began to erode into questions in front of me.