"Open your eyes and look at me."
Melrose slowly lifted her head and opened her eyes. Warm tears touched her cold cheeks as her gaze met a pair of sea-green orbs.
Reed stared at her topaz eyes beaming with tears. Earlier when he heard her shout, he thought someone broke into her room, but when he went in and saw she was all alone sitting at the corner crying as if the world crushed her soul, he stopped on his track and stared at her for a moment.
He was always decisive, someone who always had an immediate action when something was on his way, but for that instance he didn't know what to do.
His mind was telling him that he should not involve himself with the lady's matters, that he should stand by his decision of avoiding troubles like her, that he could deal her problems herself because after all she wasn't like any woman, but despite all those thoughts, he took the liberty to take a step closer to her.
Just this once.
She was on her white nightdress, hugging her knees while her trembling shoulders were covered by her messy blonde hair.
He bent in front of her, allowing her scent to corrupt his senses once again. He wanted to stop breathing, but it was like being offered something so good for the first time that it was so hard to resist.
She was forbidden, he knew that. Every woman was. But those women he met in the past were not hard to resist at all. This one in front of him was the only exception. The way she looked at him with her bright topaz eyes was enough to provoke the desires of a dead man's soul.
Desires he never wanted nor needed.
His jaw clenched at the thought of touching her to calm her down. He wasn't in the place to do that. He shouldn't be in her room with them alone in the first place. But thinking how she had to get through her demons alone in that cold room, he couldn't bring himself to leave.
"Breathe," he said, staring straight to her eyes.
A spark of lighting went through the windows, and for a brief second, the entire room was filled with white light. It was so clear in Melrose's eyes how Lord Knight was in front of her with his inky hair disheveled as if he was in a rush when he came here, and how his cold eyes had a glint of something else for the first time. She wasn't sure but she knew it was not hostility. It was… something like warmth.
"Does the thunder scare you?" he asked, his gentle voice surprised her.
"No," and it was the truth.
"Then why are you here crying in the corner? I even heard you shout like you were hurting. Did someone come?" His tone turned hard at the last part.
"No," her answer was like a whisper. "It's just… the sound of thunder and lightning reminds me of…" she trailed off, not wanting to tell him how scared she was just because of a nightmare that wasn't even real.
"Of what? A memory?"
She shook her head.
He stopped there. He felt that whatever it was, she didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want to force her.
"I'm sorry if you were disturbed by my shout," she said in a small voice, trying to divert her gaze somewhere that could disrupt her dark thoughts. She could still hear the faint voices from her nightmare in between the thunders.
Although it was controlled as of the moment because of Lord Knight's presence, she knew he would leave soon and she shouldn't stop him. At the end of the day, she would be all by herself and she had to face whatever it was haunting her alone.
"The floor is cold. Sit on the sofa or go to bed."
"I will. Thank you for checking on me by the way," she said softly.
He should leave now as it wasn't appropriate for him to stay in her room any longer, but the sight of her teary eyes, her shuddering breaths and quivering pale lips made her look so fragile like she would break anytime soon if she had no one to hold on.
She sought refuge. But how could an angel find refuge from a devil like himself who lived all his life in terrifying darkness?
"Will you be alright alone?"
She nodded and he knew it was a lie. Still, he stood. He needed to do what was right, and that was to leave the room. He wasn't her family or lover or a friend. He could do nothing, nor did he had anything to give.
"I'll leave now," he said and Melrose expected it.
When she nodded, he turned towards the door without a delay. Melrose watched Reed's back until the door was shut behind him.
"Everyone will leave you…" one of the voices in her nightmares echoed in her mind again.
But instead of closing her eyes, she picked up the book with her trembling hand and tried to stand even with her wobbly knees. Nothing would happen to her if she kept on letting those voices and images rule her. She should at least try to withstand it without breaking down.
She planned to read the book in bed to divert her thoughts, but halfway to the bed, the window opened along with a strong breeze that blew out some candles. The sharp light of lightning and a series of roaring thunders made her freeze. She dropped the book and couldn't help but close her eyes.
"You killed your mother!" the man's horrifying voice.
Her knees weakened more when she heard the sound of chains. But just before she would slump to the floor, an arm held her waist.
She opened her eyes the same time another streak of light came across the room, creating a stark contrast between the light and the darkness in Reed's eyes as he stared down at her.
"If you can't escape something, don't run and hide," he said.
The disc in the phonograph started rotating, and soon a mellow music resounded throughout the room.
Melrose released a shuddering breath when Reed held her cold hands and put one on his shoulder while he remained holding the other.
"Forget about the damn storm and what is haunting you. Dance with me."