It was obvious that nobody was going to sleep that night. There was no end in sight for the raging storm and the power was flickering on and off. Nobody could even hear the roaring of the generator over the wind.
Tom couldn’t see the new bruises on Lilith and she had picked up the bits of her phone and left before he had noticed his room had been disturbed. Andy, unbothered by the events, was back in the kitchen preparing dinner.
He looked over his shoulder and watched them both sitting at the dining table. Tom was looking over a thick black notebook with his handwriting scribbled on every available space of the pages. There were even tightly written notes in the margins. Some were different colors and written in print or cursive.
Lilith was sat against the end with the chair pushed up to the edge. Her elbows were on the top and her face was in her hands. The bruises around her neck were a dark blue surrounded by yellows and purples. It was like prints of Andy’s hands. You could see where his fingers had dug into her flesh. There were even tiny dots over the top of her shoulders.
Andy smirked and turned back to the stove. He stared into the back pot waiting for the water to boil. Tea time.
He opened the lid of a fat flower covered teapot, poured the water in, tossed the pot in the sink, dropped a couple of tea bags inside, and set it between Tom and Lilith. They both looked up as he sat a set of teacups down in their saucers and joined them. Tom took the teapot and poured him, Lilith’s, and waited for Andy to sit back down before pouring his.
Andy placed a tray down that had a set of honey, sugar, and milk then put the teapot in the center. Lilith didn’t move. She only looked down at the cup and stared at her reflection. Tom took the sugar, stirred it in, added milk then brought it to his lips.
“Do you drink tea?” Tom looked towards her, not seeing her or how she was emotionally and took the cup. He traded it with hers and held it up to her mouth. “Try it.”
She parted her lips and let it brush against her mouth but took no initiative to sip. He held it up higher and she pulled away, disgusted. She shook her head and looked out the window. She didn’t want the tea. She didn’t care about the honey or even the violent scene in Tom’s room.
There was no hope to get a text home now. She was stuck in a house in the middle of nowhere. She hadn’t been outside in weeks. The only thing to do was to take care of her cat. She could forget about her plans.
“Don’t be wasteful,” Tom says slurping before shutting his notebook and sliding it right.
Andy sighs slamming down his drink and opens the notebook furiously following his finger down the lines. He checks the margins, huffs, and uncaps the pen to scribble out something at the bottom. Tom refills his cup and slides the honey in front of her.
“Drink the damn tea, Lilith. You can have your crying fit in your room after dinner.” Tom snatches the notebook out of Andy’s hands and takes it to his room.
After Tom leaves, Lilith gets up and goes back down the hallway towards her room. She shuts the door behind her and forgets about Andy sitting at the table alone. She pulls back the covers and climbs in. The sheets on the bed, which she hadn’t been able to see in the darkness, were covered in tiny yellow flowers. They were the size of dimes and covered the white cotton sheets.
There were a few layers under the quilt and they laid warmly over her. She snuggled up and pulled them around her head. She reached over to turn off the lamp and felt a set of tiny feet prodding her legs. They stopped and curled up and she could hear the purring in the darkness.
Tears started to sting her eyes even though they were closed. Her body started to shake and quiver as the sobs started up her throat. Lilith turned her head into her pillow and cried until she fell asleep. The room slowly got quieter and quieter until the only sound was the soft purring of Nora and Lilith’s short sleepy breaths.
The storm had finally given up. The winds that had been screaming through the trees were now nothing more than gentle whispers. The sky had almost cleared and the full moon was peeking out from behind the gray clouds. Everything was turning peaceful.
Andy, who had been laying in bed dreaming about family and his childhood, woke up to the sound of his own heart drumming in his chest. Sweat covered his forehead and he shot up in bed. He threw his covers off of him and slid off the bed. His feet brushed over the rug on the floor and he stood up.
The moonlight shined through the window, stopped mostly by the curtain, and threw a line around the room. He opened his bedroom door and walked into the kitchen. The light from the windows barely lit anything so he stumbled through to the living room. The fireplace was still crackling. The embers were red and the whole room still smells like pine. He walked over to the couch, picked the blanket off the ground, and threw it over the back.
Andy wandered down the hall and paused to look at the collage of photos and paintings hanging on the wall. There were pictures of his sister and grandmother and some where he had cut out his mother. He patted his pants hoping he had snuck his cigarettes into them but they were empty.
He put a hand to Lilith’s door and shoved it open. He walked inside flicking on the lamp and looked down over her. She was curled up with Nora stuck between her legs. Her hair was sticking to her face and her arms were thrown out towards the wall.
Andy moved over the bed, putting a leg over both sides of her, and put his hands on her shoulder. He gently shook her with a smile and leaned down towards her ear.
“Wake up. Do you wanna go outside?” She didn’t move.
Andy sat up and looked down at her, slowly gliding his hand down her arm and over her back. Her skin was patterned with bruises in every stage. Yellow, blue, brown, and purple marks dotted around her neck, shoulders, and face. Just like a painting. Slowly, he pushed her strap down over her shoulder.
“Lilith,” he muttered, still trying to wake her up. “Wake up!” He shouted as quietly as possible.
Lilith leaped up, nearly knocking Andy back. She jumped back against the headboard making it slam into the wall. Andy grabbed her and quickly slapped his hand over her mouth.
“Hey, hey, hush. Do you want to go outside?” He whispered into her ear letting his lips brush against her cheek as he pulled away from her.
She was right in front of his face. His cold stormy eyes darted all over her face. Suddenly, he broke out in a smile. It made her heart jump. He moved the hair out of her face. Lilith stared back, uncomfortable. Andy was grinning like a boy. There were no signs of anger or hate in his eyes. He took her hand and pulled her from the bed when she nodded.
Andy walked over to the dresser and pulled a wool cardigan from a drawer and draped it around her shoulders. He dragged her down the hall as she slipped her arms in. They snuck back past Tom’s room and through the kitchen to where the washer and dryer were. At the end was a small wooden door with a little curtained window.
They walked up and Andy quickly unlocked the back door, putting the padlock on the dryer, and shoved the door open. The freezing air whooshed in and Lilith pulled the cardigan tighter around her. The silver light flooded the little porch that they walked out on. It was covered and screened in. Off the right, there was an open set of stairs that led into a small yard. Of course, the yard had a six foot tall, wooden, privacy fence.
On the left side of the yard was a swing set. It looked red and white, but the moonlight made it hard to tell. Andy grabbed her hand and pulled her towards a porch swing. It was also wood but had large square floral cushions.
Lilith looked out at the grass and the full moon weaving through the clouds. Everything was twinkling. The trees, now full of broken limbs and dripping leaves, looked pathetic and sad in the night. She stepped closer to the stairs and Andy made a noise of disapproval. It was cold on her bare feet. The wood was a damp and deep brown. She wanted to leap off, run through the wet grass, and scale the fence. However, something felt too easy about it, and instead, she turned around.
“I wouldn’t go down there. The grass is soaked and the fence is electric.” He laid both of his arms back over the swing. “Come sit down. It’s too cold to go play right now.”
She glanced back at the grass and sat down next to him. There was a soft jingle of wind chimes but she couldn’t see any hanging anywhere. She leaned back and snuck a look over at Andy. He had propped a foot up on the table and he was watching the cloud roll across the sky. It was rare to see him without a cigarette in his mouth.
There was a softness about his face. His skin was soft and almost flawless. She held her legs against him to hide from the cold and eventually she fell over against the arm, fast asleep.
When an hour had almost passed and Andy had his fill of the sky, he stood up and picked Lilith up from the swing. She laid limp in his arms as he laid her softly over his shoulder. He walked back through the house in silence and tucked the blanket around her. He slid her on her side, laid her arms out towards the wall, and quickly shoved Nora off the end of the bed.
He walked out of her room shutting the door behind him.
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