Another dim light switched on below. Cade was silhouetted within the shadows as he reappeared. He moved with unfailing silence back up the stairs to me. His hand was gentle upon my arm; he clicked the light off before guiding me down the steps. I was oddly aware of the fact that though he was silent, I was painfully not.
He led me through the basement, guiding me swiftly through the clutter of boxes. The basement was surprisingly clean; there was no dust, no cobwebs. Amongst the boxes were antiques that had already been unpacked, and set out in preparation of the move upstairs. Others had been stored away until their new owners could pick them up, something they would never do now. Cade led me to the back wall. I stood staring at it as he reached to the side and pushed on something that I couldnt see. I frowned at him, and then at the wall as it began to creek and groan. In my hypersensitive, over stimulated state, I was barely able to keep myself from screaming in surprise and terror.
He led me into the small, musty smelling room that had been revealed by the hidden door in the back wall. A crushing sense of panic settled over me, I could not see the walls surrounding me, but I could feel their nearness as it pressed against me. I wanted to turn and bolt from the room, wanted to run into the streets screaming the whole way. But I somehow managed to keep myself under control, mainly because Cades hand was strong and reassuring on my elbow and I could not humiliate myself in front of him.
He pulled the door most of the way shut before tugging on another string. Light
flooded into the room, which was about twelve by twelve feet wide. There were only a few boxes within it, one of which was taller than me and nearly twice as wide. I couldnt help but wonder what treasures were hidden within these boxes, and stashed away in this secret room.
Stay here.
I whirled as Cade released me. Wait! I gasped, lunging for him. I could maybe stay in this room if he was here, but by myself
By myself I would go crazy.
He grasped hold of my shoulders, surprisingly gentle as he held me back and shook his head at me. I have to get him.
I couldnt form words. I couldnt argue with him. He was right, that poor man couldnt be left up there to be drained dry by that awful, bloodthirsty thing. But I couldnt be left here either. I hated to be trapped within tight confines. It was a fear that had taken hold of me a long time ago, and it had never let me go. I didnt think it ever would.
He was already shaking his head as I spoke again. Ill help you.
No Bethany. Stay here.
Cade
It will be better if I go alone, quicker. Quieter.
I wanted to protest, wanted to cling to him, wanted to make him understand that I was just as terrified of this room as I was of that damn thing out there. I didnt do anything though. He was right, that man needed help; he could not die because of my fear. I couldnt bring myself to look like a sniveling coward in front of him. Never in front of Cade.
I didnt know what it was, but I had always found myself needing to appear less childlike, and more confident around him. But then again, I hadnt been childlike in a very long time. My childhood had been cruelly ripped away from me years ago.
We had lived in this town together almost our entire lives, but we barely knew each other, and yet he gave me a sense of strength I had never known before. Even when we passed in the hallways, not speaking, not touching, I had always felt a strange sense of comfort just from knowing that he was there. There had always been a connection to him that I had neither understood nor tried to develop. I considered my feelings for him a silly crush, one that was rearing painfully, and inappropriately, back to life right now. All hell was breaking lose above us, and yet I found myself strangely lost to the magnificent force of his onyx gaze.
He most certainly did not feel anything for me, a dull, clumsy, shy girl that was as far off his radar as Jupiter. Though he was intimidating, and aloof, girls had still flocked to him. They had been drawn in by his dark good looks and the air of mystery that enshrouded him. However, I had never seen him with any of those girls, and as far as I knew he wasnt dating anyone. I didnt even know if he ever had dated anyone, no matter what the rumors said.
But even with his distant attitude, and seeming disinterest in everything and everyone, I had still found him watching me within the halls, or on the street. Sometimes I would look up and he would be staring at me with an intensity that never failed to make me shake and quiver inside. Staring at me in a way that made me feel he knew me better than anyone else, maybe even knew me better than I knew myself.
I knew his attention didnt mean anything, that I just wanted it to, but whenever I found him watching me it always left me rattled and aching for something more. Something that I couldnt begin to understand, but knew that I wanted desperately. Those were the few times I actually did feel like a silly child again, because there was no way that Cade Marshall could ever see anything even remotely interesting, or special, in me.