I slid my key through the lock, unlocking it. I entered and slumped against the cold surface of the door, the events of the day weighing on my shoulders. I sighed and stood straight, turning around to lock the door back up. I was pretty sure tonight was one of those nights Abby would spend outside. At least I had the room to myself.
I tossed the key and my phone on my bed, peeling my clothes off. I was mid way in tugging my jeans off when my phone begun to ring, I huffed as I walked towards my bed to pick up the call when my foot caught against the edge of the fur rug that lay in the center of the room. I fell with a squeal , my body hitting the hardwood floor with a loud thud. I groaned as I twisted, trying to lift myself from the ground, pain resonating through my already sore muscles.
My heart skipped when my vision snagged against something beneath Abby's bed. Something with a hilt. She never had anything under her bed. I swallowed against the gnawing feeling in my gut as I tugged my jeans fully off my legs. I stretched my hand under the bed, gripping the cold hilt in my palm. Whatever it was, it was heavy as fuck, causing me to add my other hand in trying to pull it out.
I gasped and jerked back, not realizing I had moved that far back until my back hit the edge of my bed making me flinch even harder. My heart beat against my ribcage, threatening to burst out as I stared at what I just pulled from beneath my roommate's bed.
It was a silver sword, wrapped in tendrils of obsidian indents throughout the blade. The hilt was also obsidian, intricate designs taking your mind off it's destructive nature for a second. It was beautiful as it was frightening , and it seemed to seep a certain energy that made my skin crawl. The energy was catastrophic and hungry, looking for it's next victim, the person that would die under it's blade. The energy that pulsed around it wasn't the only thing that had my heart stuttering to a halt, the sword's luster was dulled by a thick dried coat of what could only be blood. Red, dark blood.
My breath came out in short fast pants as I watched the blood coated sword that laid in front of me. Did Abby kill someone with this?. The thoughts and possibilities that raided my mind came to a screeching halt when I heard footsteps echo from beyond the door, followed by a key sliding into the lock. No one had to tell me that I would be in grave danger if she found out that I knew about this sword. My body kicked into action, high on adrenaline as I pushed the sword back under her bed and scrambled into mine, my eyes locked on the door.
"Oh hey you're back" Abby beamed, sliding into the room with me. My skin prickled with every step she took into the room, instincts threatening to take over. If I run she would know.
"Are you okay Ellie?" She called to me , snapping me out of my calculations. "You look like you've seen a ghost"
Maybe I have.
"Yes" I swallowed , "I'm fine"
My eyes darted to the door involuntarily. Her obsidian orbs followed. All of a sudden I realized just how much Abby didn't look normal. I realized the way her eyes managed to track every detail, every little breath, every flinch. Her gaze was cool and calculating almost every time, I thought that was just her nature but I guess now I know it's because she was a fucking serial killer.
She was tall for a girl, just a bit taller than me. Her form was lithe and strong, always looking ready for anything. She never slouched or slumped her shoulders, her face, framed by short midnight black waves, was beautiful too, in an otherworldly way. My heart beat faster.
"Ellie, what's wrong?" She took a step forward suddenly, causing me to flinch. I suddenly realized how weirdly fast she was sometimes. Like now, her foot had taken a step way too fast for me not to see it coming, not to see her leg raising or something. I was going fucking insane.
I sucked a breath into my burning chest, forcing myself to breathe. "I'm okay, I'm just tired. I should go shower then sleep. It's been a long day"
Indeed it has.
She stared at me a beat too long causing apprehension to twist in my gut. Was she going to kill me now?
"Alright then" She sighed. "If there's anything wrong you know you can always talk to me right?"
I almost snorted. Like hell I can.
I nodded, lacking the energy to say anything else at the moment.
"Anyways, Castiel got us groceries for some weird reason" She raised the bags she had in her hands that I failed to notice when she walked in.
"Groceries?" I repeated.
She shrugged and stalked off into the kitchen to set them down. My head felt like it would burst from everything happening. Why had Castiel gotten groceries?, it was everything opposite what I knew him to be . But then that seemed to be his favorite habit. Acting nice for a second, then acting like a total demon the rest of the 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds. He was nothing but raging confusion and I hated every single part of it.
I marched into the bathroom, locking the door after me and drowning out today's events in a scalding hot shower as my mind raced with my next move. I didn't know much about anything right now but I knew I had to get to the fucking bottom of whoever this family were.
********
I don't know when I slipped into sleep but soon enough the rays of the sun were caressing my face softly. I groaned as I forced my eyes open, squinting against the harsh light and the headache brewing behind them. I barely had enough sleep, I stayed up the whole night , my eyes flying open when I heard any sound, half expecting the tip of the sword to be sticking out of me. And when I finally got to have those little five minutes of rest, I was haunted by my captor in another realm.
I sighed. What was I going to do? I didn't have anywhere else to sleep and sleeping in the same room with a damn serial killer got my nerves in an overdrive. Things got a lot more real after seeing that blood yesterday, Castiel wasn't joking when he warned me. Maybe I should play innocent and forget about what I saw. I snorted at that thought , forgetting would be a task that I knew was impossible , and that energy I felt from it, I could never forget it. I was jolted from my thoughts as a ding from my phone pulled in my attention.
I picked it up, my heart stuttering when I read the notification on my home screen. It was a text from Castiel.
I unlocked it, going straight to the message app.
" Eat breakfast
-Castiel"
I read his message again and again, stuck in our chat. He got the groceries because he knew I hadn't been eating in the mornings and he wanted me to make food for myself. That was.....thoughtful.
I knew the two words he had texted was a step out of his comfort zone, he didn't seem like one who would go out of his way to make sure I had eaten. But then again ,everything about him confused me.
I sighed and texted him back a quick okay. I tossed my phone aside and sat up, watching Abby's sleeping form in her bed. From this angle she didn't really look like much of a serial killer. She looked like the roommate I had grown attached to over the weeks, the roommate that got me food randomly because I had forgotten to eat and watched sappy romcoms with me on her laptop. But the again I couldn't just ignore what I saw. I just couldn't.
I quietly walked to the kitchen, in an attempt to not wake her up, wearily glancing at the bottom of her bed as I passed by. The fridge light illuminated my face as I peered into it , my eyes scanning over everything Castiel had gotten. Shocked was an understatement to what I was feeling at the moment, the fridge was practically bursting with food, almost everything in bulk.
I hummed a little tune as I cracked two eggs over the skillet, adding three bacons on the indented side. Breakfast went by fast and I hurriedly dressed up so I wouldn't be late for my class - which I happened to have with Castiel.
I begrudgingly agreed with Cassy on the breakfast thing. I've never felt so energized or...not hungry. It was truly a good feeling. So good that I practically skipped down the pavement on my way to class.
"Ellie"
I spun around, trying to pin point where my name had come from. A smile lit my features as I watched Tyler jog towards me , a bright grin on his face.
"Hey" He breathed out once he got to my side. "Walk you to class?"
"Sure" I nodded as we both spun around, heading for my lecture.
"So...am I just a pain in your ass or you don't respond to anyone's text"
"Oh my God I'm so sorry" I facepalmed, going red at his accusation. The truth is I had ignored his texts on several occasions because something was always coming up.
"You didn't pick my call yesterday either" He playfully shoved my shoulder, making me flinch a little at how icy cold his touch was.
Oh so that was him.
"I was caught up in a little something honestly and I forgot to check my call log. I'm sorry , I've been a horrible friend" I shivered as I recalled my discovery yesterday.
"Don't worry about it, you'll have to make it up to me though"
"How?"
"A date" He glanced at me, waiting for my answer.
"A date huh" I pretended to think as we climbed the stairs leading to the hallways.
"Yes, my lady"
"Alright, I shall grant you that wish of yours I suppose" I snickered.
We shared inside jokes and giggled quietly among ourselves as we weaved through the usual crowd in the main halls, my palm secured in his weirdly cold one so I wouldn't be bumped into. I liked how he made me feel safe, his hulky size shielding my relatively smaller one. The number of people finally begun decreasing as we went down the narrower halls , heading to my lecture hall. My brows furrowed, a gnawing pit in my stomach forming as I started to wonder how he knew the class I was supposed to be in. I had never mentioned my courses to him and neither did I mention my schedule.
I discretely slipped my hand from his , wrapping my arms around my torso. It was beginning to be very hard to trust someone to not be dangerous of late.
"Hey, are you okay?" He gently nudged me when he realized I had gone quiet all of a sudden.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit tired" I smiled up at him as we halted in front of the door of my class.
"Okay then. So...you wouldn't mind having dinner at my house right?"
"Your house?" I furrowed my brows.
"As embarrassing as it may sound, I live with my mom. And I think she'll love it if you came to have dinner with us, we get lonely at times"
"Tyler you want me to have dinner with the dean?!"
"My mom" He corrected, his ever present grin growing even more.
"You're kidding" I groaned playfully. "I'm a shy thing"
"You'll be just fine, we don't get such pretty girls over often. I'm sure she'd love you" He reached over, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear making my stomach flutter slightly.
"Could you take your flirting elsewhere, instead of standing in front of the door?" The voice that came wasn't from Tyler.
I turned my head, meeting crisp fiery orbs. His eyes left mine, trailing over Tyler's form and settling over his face. Tyler's demeanor switched in a second, from the funny laughter filled guy I was just talking to , to a cold version that I never even imagined him to become. Castiel's jaw clenched and unclenched as his eyes held Tyler's.
Tyler was tall but Castiel's towering form gave him no chance as he stared down at him.
"Now if you'll excuse us, we're a minute away from being late. You can leave now" Castiel stare was in inferno at this point and Tyler would be dumb to ignore his increasing rage.
"I'm very sure she can escort herself into the class" Tyler spat in disdain. Did these two know each other or something?
Castiel parted his lips to say something as he moved a tad bit closer to Tyler, getting into his space.
I shot my hand between them to stop anything from happening, judging from the increasing tension between them "Hey hey, Castiel what's your deal?...and Tyler, I'll talk to you later, don't worry about me"
I gave Tyler a silent pleading look. "Okay?"
"Fine" He finally said through gritted teeth. "I'll text you about our date, be safe" His eyes softened as he said the last part, making me feel more important that I actually was. He cast one last look at Castiel before turning away, leaving me alone with this overreactive dimwit.
"What the fuck was that? I hissed, turning to him.
His gaze was unwavering as he kept mute, his jaw clenching and unclenching like it took every cell in his body not to do or say something.
"Oh so now you want to be quiet" I glared at him.
His sucked in a deep breath, his long lashes lowering as his eyes drifted close. I didn't realize my hand was on him until he breathed in, pressing his body into my palm. All of a sudden I was aware of the feel of hard muscle underneath my fingertips, his warmth radiating through the black shirt he wore and travelling up my arm. He was almost too warm to touch, like he was running a fever. But he didn't look sick either. The warmth begun to heat up entirely different places causing my breath to hitch. His eyes snapped open when the sound of the breath I had taken danced in the small space between us.
His molten gaze fell to my palm on his torso.
"Get your hand off me" He snapped, his voice rough at the edges.
"Don't worry, I don't particularly enjoy touching something that repulses me so much" I grit my teeth , snatching my hand away from his body. I didn't stick around for even a second longer to hear his reply to what I said. I hated being mean, I put that life behind me years ago but if that's the side he wanted then so be fucking it.
I made my way to my usual seat at the back, hating the fact that Castiel's seat was always next to mine. Maybe I could move-
I was about moving into an empty seat in the middle when he strode in. I sat back , annoyed at the fact that I had been too slow and now I couldn't move since he was here now. I would hate for him to know how much his sour moods affected me. I half expected him to move to a different seat but turns out he was as shameless as he was egoistic.
"Turn your textbooks to Chapter 38" The Professor boomed from the front of the hall, dragging down the board.
I tuned out my surroundings, including the annoying jerk beside me as I focused on what really mattered.