Hey guys, I actually updated faster than usual. Given this chapter is a bit shorter than the rest but still, I'm glad I was able to write it. I wish I had written this at the end of the last chapter but I didn't feel like it fit well with what I was trying to get at.
Anyways, Thank you to everyone who's been really supportive of this story and helping me continue it.
It was dark, darker than it was on the outside. If he hadn't been running around in a panic, Arthur would have thought the entire area had been taken out a cliché horror movie.
"Amelia!" His voice bounced off the walls, desperately searching for the person in question. Since entering, he had yet to hear another scream or even any sort of indication that there was anybody else within the house. With each silent second he could feel his heart racing faster. Part of him believed that it might as well burst if she didn't call back soon.
The flashlight in his left hand did a poor job of illuminating his path. To him, it all seemed to be a blur. More than once he had almost come to believe that picture frames and loose wallpaper had been her. Arthur truly wanted to be calm about the whole situation, given the atmosphere and her lack of experience it seemed logical that she had screamed at something as insignificant as a mouse. But even knowing this, there was still the slimmest chance that she had found something a little bit more . . . troubling.
"Amelia!" He stopped in place after circling around back to the main foyer. "It's me, Arthur, where are you!?" His frantic impatience only grew as the flashlight flickered in front of him, threatening to make this even worse than it was.
The wind outside picked up more as a few leaves tumbled across the floor and in front of the small light source.
"Arthur!"
He almost dropped the incompetent object as it flickered once more at the sound of her voice, Amelia's voice. He exhaled in relief after processing everything, for a moment he had feared that there was more than two humans in the area. It wasn't uncommon for unscrupulous characters to seek refuge in abandoned houses and buildings. Although, there were plenty of other things that were worth being worried about.
"Where are you?!" He repeated once more.
"Upstairs, damn it!" Flinching at her harshness, he bounded towards the rickety staircase. Every other time he had come upstairs to help work on the house, he had taken lots of care going up. He more than anybody knew how fragile and worn the steps were. Despite this he still found himself running at top speed, his fear of what awaited him being more concerning then his fear of breaking something.
He didn't think it was possible, but it seemed as if the upstairs was even darker then downstairs. How that was true was beyond him. The second thing he noticed was the way the wallpaper up here was peeling almost halfway down the walls. They puffed out and touched him as he ran in no particular direction.
He cursed as the flashlight began to switch off and on for more than a few seconds, tricking him every time into believing it was gone for good. However, the seventh time it did stay off, letting the darkness surround him completely. Stopping in his tracks, afraid to crash into one of the walls and cause even more damage to it, he called out to her again.
"Amelia, I can't see yo—!" Arthur's statement cut off as sharp jab to his ribs sent him crashing into the adjacent wall behind him. His hands gripped at the wallpaper around him on instinct but they did nothing to stop his slump to the ground.
Catching his breath, he heard the faintest sound of two clicks before the area around him became visible. The first thing he saw was not the dust encrusted ground or the somber picture frames hanging to close to the floor but rather a pair of dirtied converse sneakers.
"Oh, there you are." His gaze traveled upwards fast, instantly catching sight of the blonde haired woman holding the flickering lighter.
"What are you doing here?" Despite the lack of anger in her voice, Arthur still felt annoyed by her first choice of words. No mention of 'sorry Arthur, didn't mean to bump into you' or 'thank goodness you came' was made.
"Oh," he paused, rubbing the back of his head. "I heard you screaming." Not wishing to spend any more time on the floor, he stood up to look the curious American in the eye. "Is everything all right?" Arthur briefly scanned the hall around them, looking to see if there was something amiss.
Amelia hesitated, her cheeks getting a bit red. "N-no of course not," She laughed awkwardly, "you must be hearing things."
"I'm pretty sure I heard a young lady screaming and last time I checked," he crossed his arms as the fake look of confidence grew on her face "you were the only young lady around."
Biting the inside of her mouth, Amelia's bemused expression fell within an instant and became replaced with an insulted one. "How the hell would you have been able to have hear someone scream from my house all the way over to yours, hm?"
Her foot tapped impatiently against the floor as his serious and confident expression faltered. "W-well, you see I—" A smirk grew on her face as he stumbled over his words, "I wasn't necessarily in my house when I heard you scream."
"And where exactly where you?" She dragged out the 'and' for effect.
He took a deep breath, "I was outside your door."
". . . Why?"
". . . I wanted to give you a cake I made."
She blinked, "That's all."
"Of course," he coughed slightly "you'll find that I'm not that type of person who easily gives surprise visits to their neighbors."
The irritation in Amelia's eyes faded away as she easily forgot the topic of their previous discussion. "You came over at this time of night just to give me a welcome gift?" She giggled, much to Arthur's displeasure.
"It seemed like a nice gesture," he looked away from her "at least at the time it did."
She flashed him a wide smile. "Thank you, Arthur." Amelia steadied her hand as the lighters flame waved too much for both of their liking. "That was really sweet of you."
Uncrossing his hands, Arthur's light frown twisted easily back into a straight line. Looking at her cheery grin, he soon found himself doing the same. "Well, I am a gentleman after all."
"I just have one question."
"Mhm?"
"What happened to the cake?"
. . .
Holding the front door open for her, Arthur watched Amelia walk back outside. The lighter in her hand quickly blew out after a gust of wind blew over the area, making them shiver. Despite the fact that her back was turned, it was obvious that she was more than happy to be back outside. Even if it was a bit chilly.
Closing the door behind him, Arthur watched Amelia stared at the pan resting neatly against the mat before picking it up with both hands. "I think this might be safer in my car." She motioned over towards said vehicle with her chin before walking off the porch.
Rather than leave and spend a nice quiet night at his own house, Arthur followed her out. "Amelia?"
She stopped for a moment, caught off guard by his voice. "Yes," She glanced once towards him before opening the passenger door and placing the pan on top of the worn seat cushion.
"Are you going to back there?"
"Um," Amelia didn't have to look back to know the answer. "You see, the drafts pretty bad in there so I think I'm just going to sleep in my car for the night." He could tell she was trying to keep positive about the whole affair, even though sleeping alone in her car in the middle of the dark woods wasn't exactly a step up.
"Well," Arthur's gaze met the ground. Something inside of him wanted to simply wish her a goodnight and turn back. To him there wasn't much else left to do for someone he had only just met.
"It's getting late, you might want to head home." She spoke softly.
Sighing, he looked back up to her. "I know we just met and all but . . ." he studied the confused way she turned her head at him, wanting very much to back out of the situation he was getting himself in. "It would be wrong not to offer you the guest bedroom when it's so cold and dark out here."
Blinking, Amelia thought over his words for a moment. "Are you offering me a place to stay for the night?"
Arthur hesitated, "It would seem that way."