I didn't want this to feel too short, so I'm adding more conversations between Adrian and Lindy just to fill the gap. I know everybody wants that. Also, if you see any of the references I put in from the book, the 2011 movie, and the 1991 Disney movie, I implore you to let me know and tell me what you think.

And, without any further delay, here is Chapter 9.

Lindy sat on her bay window, watching the people go by. It was around 5:00 when everyone was coming home from work. Lindy took a glance at the wall adjacent her window. Her makeshift rope was gone. She had to pull it back up and disassemble it to avoid suspicion. She wondered what would have happened if she'd escaped that first night. It probably would have had the same outcome, except she would be dead in an alley.

She absentmindedly ran her hand over her forearm, the bandage and stitches finally removed. It would leave a scar, but nothing too significant. She didn't want to blame Adrian. She wanted to believe it was an accident, thinking if she believed it hard enough she'd be convinced. She couldn't blame Adrian. He was such a good friend to her now that they'd become acquainted. But, she had missed Halloween. The brownstone houses were still decorated with pumpkins and paper bats and rubber spiders. She'd watched Magda put up decorative skulls about the house for Dias de los Muertas. It settled for Halloween enough for the goblins and ghouls on the streets to pick up candy from the bowl on the doorstep.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. She yelled that the door was open, and Adrian poked his head in. Lindy put on her most convincing smile.

"Hey, Lindy. C-Can I come in?" he stammered. Lindy nodded and waved him towards her. He stepped inside, leaving the door open. She yanked the curtain back halfway so he could sit beside her while still being hidden. "Thanks."

"Hey, don't mention it." Lindy didn't take her eyes off the street even though Adrian was clearly staring at her.

"I know you miss going outside," he said, shattering the silence.

"What?! No! No, no. I - "

"You don't have to lie," he assured her. "I get the same feeling. It must be nice being able to walk around and not have people stare at you."

Lindy sighed. "Yeah, that would be nice."

"N-No, I was talking about you."

"I know," she said. She chuckled at Adrian's confused face. "You don't have to look different to get some stares. All it takes is a book next to a weird contraption and you're the talk of the neighborhood." Another confused look. "Well, you see, when you live in a place where everything is breaking, it helps if you know how to fix things. But I make one innovative way to dry laundry and I get my ass kicked."

"What?!"

"Verbally," she finished.

"I didn't know you could invent stuff."

She shrugged. "My dad used to have a woodshop, back when he was still... I used to help him with my sisters."

"So, those girls he mentioned; Sara and Angela. They're your sisters?" Lindy was surprised that he was even listening to their conversation that day, but nonetheless her sisters were never an easy topic to talk about.

"They...were my older sisters. We don't talk to each other anymore. They used to pick on me for skipping a grade and going straight to high school at 13 years old."

"How old are you?" he asked.

"Sixteen. I was about to start my senior year. How old are you?"

"Sixteen, same as you." She shouldn't have been surprised, but he sounded and looked older than that. She guessed at least 18 years old, but no. She remembered Magda's comment on his parents. How could his father just leave him here? The room went stilly silent. "Why do you care about him so much?"

Lindy snapped her head up, Adrian's face in the curtain. "W-What?"

"Your dad. Why do you stay with him?"

Lindy sighed sadly. "He's sick. He's really a great dad and he loves me. He just doesn't know how to cope in a healthy way. He lost it when my mom died. I was only six, so I didn't understand. I didn't understand where my mom had gone or why he and my sisters were freaking out. Then, we packed what we could and moved. I don't even remember why. He started using. Prescription stuff, then illegal junk. He used all his money to pay off his debts. My sisters...they never forgave him. They left as soon as they graduated high school. I was left alone with him and I dove into my education. I was able to skip a grade, get a scholarship. That's when I started going to this prep school in Manhattan."

He stared at her intently, pressing her to continue. She didn't want to. She wanted to stop. She pulled a pillow from behind her and hugged it to her chest. She silently pleaded for him to let her stop. He leaned back against the wall, letting Lindy get some air.

"I worry about him," Lindy said finally. "He may have disappointed me a thousand times over, but he's still the only family I have."

Weeks went by. Lindy had amused herself with books and roses and Pilot, but her main focus was Adrian. Something changed after he'd saved her life. Maybe it was the cliché falling for the guy who saves the girl, but she did notice quite a change in both of them. She could see the kindness in his eyes when he looked at her, hear the intelligence in his voice whenever they debated about books, and feel the pride he had in his home.

She'd brought up the courage to persuade him into cleaning the house with everyone else. He took to his room while Lindy accompanied Lucena to the attic. She hadn't been up there since she took her father's place. Now she was starting to look at it and it wasn't as creepy as she remembered. In fact, it was more of a forgotten living area than an attic. She passed the broken door she'd stayed in and journeyed to the end of the hall, shorter than she remembered. She opened the double doors and gasped in awe. It was a huge open room, clearly meant as another suite or a master bedroom. It was dusty beyond belief, but was otherwise in good condition. Lucena was already inside, sweeping and mopping the dusty floors.

Lindy turned back into the hallway and took to the next room. It was much more cluttered, a closet perhaps. She groped around for a light before she eventually found a cord to a lightbulb. It was still dark, but it was enough to look around. Boxes and newspapers were shoved into every corner, blocking what seemed to be a window. Curiosity overtook her and she began rummaging through what she could.

Old records, knickknacks, furniture, and books were all packed away and out of sight. Did Adrian put them up here or someone else who lived there before? She closed the seventh box and moved on to another. It was smaller and wider. She opened the lid. Yellow packing paper that crumbled when she peeled it back revealed a beautiful green vintage dress. It seemed like something out of a movie, silk garment with a thin, silver bodice and beads at the hem. A few beads were hanging, but she knew Mrs. Ruan would patch it up.

Lindy really wasn't one to wear fancy dresses, but this one was gorgeous.

Adrian yanked another weed from a rose bed, throwing it into the pile. Now that Lindy was in the house with him, he took considerate measures on making sure the garden and library were nice and neat. Funny, how much he was beginning to care about her. She wasn't like any other girl he'd ever met. Not so strikingly beautiful but she couldn't be bought with shiny toys or money or a big house. She wanted the things that he'd obviously taken for granted; books and roses and snowball fights. She brought out something in him that he couldn't find for himself.

"Lindy..." He smiled as her name escaped him. It sounded so good, saying it out loud. She looked at him and didn't cringe. She touched him and didn't flinch. There was either something very wrong with her or something incredibly virtuous inside her. Maybe...

He shook his head. This chance wasn't hopeful enough. Yes, he'd earned her trust. Yes, he'd earned her friendship. There was no way he could earn her love. He dropped what he had and marched to his room. He'd done as she asked and tidied it up as much as he could. He moved slowly towards the two roses. The living one was quickly wilting, its white petals drooping and turning brown on the ends. It was dying, just like him.

He looked up from the image, hearing the sounds of laughing and fun from the staff. He held up the mirror.

"Show me Lindy."

He barely noticed how he looked before Lindy finally appeared. She was sitting at a piano with Felix, supposedly teaching him. She was decent, him less. They were both smiling despite the awkward notes that sort of had meaning. The sight spread a small smile across his own face. She was amazing, more powerful than any witch to curse him. If he could think that, then maybe this curse would be broken. Lindy could learn to love him somehow. Adrian was already starting to feel something. He didn't know what it was, but it was something.

"I'll take care of you, Lindy. I promise."