Disclaimer: Crimson Peak belongs to Guillermo del Toro and The Lodgers belongs to Brian O'Malley.
Summary: Sean Nally was supposed to die that fateful night when he tried to help Rachel escape her fate. He was supposed to be the price of her freedom. So why and how did he find himself in Allerdale Hall, far from home, serving the Sharpes?
Author's note: Please note that my first language is not English, it's French. If you find any mistakes or weird sentence, let me know, so I can better myself. While I know I am almost fluent and while I do read after myself and use Grammarly to help, sometimes, a mistake can pass by.
Entwined Souls
Chapter 3
The first three days Sean spent at Allerdale Hall, he spent them in his room. Thomas insisted that he rested as much as he could.
"Besides, I haven't finished your leg yet, so use that time to recover. You almost drowned."
The young veteran hadn't tried to fight back. While he disliked laying in bed for too long because he felt lazy, he admitted easily that he felt drained of his energy. And while his first night there had been eventless, the two others were plagued by nightmares that left him waking up, sweat rolling down his forehead, gasping for air. Every time he closed his eyes, he was back in Loftus Hall's cellar, he was held back by the ghosts, they were killing Rachel under his eyes, causing him to scream and let water invade his lungs. They were drowning him again. They were tearing his good leg, his two arms, apart from his body. Rachel became one of them, pale, naked, her veins turning black and she ended up ripping his heart from his chest. And every time he woke up, the voice he had heard before that vortex saved him echoed in his head. He still couldn't understand what it had said. And for some strange reason, it was familiar. The second night, when he woke up from his dream, still in the middle of darkness, he had also seen a strange form, floating above his bed, seemingly covered in clay, its long and skeletal fingers trying to reach his cheek. He had closed his eyes, reopened them, the figure was gone. He assumed it was due to his fatigue and had managed to go back to sleep.
Lucille was very considerate towards him and he felt bad she had to bring him all of his meals to his bed. She was a lady, he was a lowborn, a nobody, and she was ready to spoonfeed him if it was needed.
"I'm so sorry I hit your head with a shovel." She had apologized
"I was an intruder in your house, covered in clay. You did the right thing."
The mistress of the house had offered to bring him books to pass the time, whenever he didn't feel tired enough to sleep.
"Poetry, perhaps?"
He remembered when he had told Rachel he would never be able to read poetry when she had asked if he knew a poem she was reciting. Rachel... Just thinking of her made his heart ache. He didn't even know where she was and if she was okay. One of them below had told him, before he was allowed to live, that Rachel had been saved.
But what did saved mean to them?
Alive?
Most certainly, after all, they had set him free too. But was she injured? Was she sick? Not knowing killed him but at the same time, he wasn't sure he could face her again. He didn't blame her for what had happened. When he thought back on it, she had been nothing but honest with him and he hadn't believed her. Him being dragged down by them wasn't her fault either. But seeing her, it would mean that what happened was real. Most definitely real. He wanted to forget about it. All he wanted was to bury this deep, lock it away in his heart and in his brain, and just try to live honestly. Seeing Rachel, it would mean remembering what happened. But at the same time, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Because he cared about her, he actually liked her. There was that connection, that spark! He wasn't sure if it was love because he didn't really believe in love at first sight, he was too old for that anyway, and war had taught him fairytales were just that. But as soon as she had spoken to him, despite her words, covered in harshness because it was an armour to protect herself, he had felt himself wrapped around her finger. He had been hooked on her charm. And now, he needed to gain his freedom. He'd be able to forget about her, with time, or so he hoped. Besides, even if he couldn't, there was no way they'd be able to be together. She was saved yes. But she had saved herself. And in the end, she was completely right:
He was just a cripple who couldn't save anybody.
She would forget about him quickly.
He needed to do the same, to bury her image, her voice, the softness of her lips, the warmth of her skin, in a corner of his brain.
He had been the price to pay for her survival.
His price to pay was to forget about her.
"You have nightmares? Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Lucille gently scolded him on the third evening when she learnt he had sleep issues. "I'll brew you some tea for the night. Tea always makes people feel better."
She seemed rather surprised when he didn't have any particular expression when he drank it.
"It isn't too bitter?"
"I'm used to bitterness."
She had a mysterious smile on her lips, almost as if she enjoyed the double meaning he unwillingly gave to his sentence, one he had let slip through the cracks against his will. Sean didn't know what kind of leaves she had used, or what drug she had put in the beverage to make it work so well. All that mattered to him at that moment was that, whenever he closed his eyes, when he dreamt, he dreamt of his mother's shop, he dreamt of his sister Kay, he dreamt of his first crush.
Loftus Hall and Rachel were locked far, far away.
XXXXX
Sean couldn't believe that Thomas had produced such a thing, in his spare time, as an amateur, in just five days. The leg he presented him was just splendid!
"You should see my first tries, that isn't a pretty sight!" The Englishman joked
Not only was the leg and the foot the right size so he could walk properly and even wear shoes, but the wood used for it also had an amazing quality. The articulations were stunning. The straps to attach the leg to his stump were made of a robust leather. The whole thing was lighter than his old one.
"How do you feel?" Thomas asked when Sean installed it and rose to walk a few steps to try it out.
"This must be how Lazarus felt when Jesus told him to rise."
The baronet grinned proudly.
"Are you sure you don't want any money for this?"
Having this leg for free felt wrong on so many levels! Thomas had made it out of kindness, for a stranger, and he had provided such an amazing product!
"I told you, just help me with the machine and Lucille around the estate and we're even. And talking about the estate, it's time you get to visit! I'll go fetch Lucille."
The Sharpes came back a few minutes after and Lucille had beamed when she saw Sean up.
"It is a heartwarming sight!" She declared "Now, let's go."
"However, I insist on that, if you feel tired or if your leg gets painful, we stop and we visit the rest later on." Thomas added "Besides, Allerdale Hall is very huge, even I don't know how many rooms we have."
Sean listened as Thomas explained the story of the house, of the family. The corridors were all long, wide and dark. The walls needed a fresh coat of paint, there was mold on the ceilings too. The estate seemed to be built in some kind of gothic style. While he hid it, Sean felt uneasy. This English touch, how decrepit the house was, a brother and a sister living alone in it, away from the village, it painfully reminded him of Loftus Hall.
"They're English, of course, their house has this style!" He lectured himself "Besides, unlike Rachel and Edward, they go out, people aren't afraid of them."
However, all of his fears vanished when they arrived at the main entrance. It was a wide room going from the main door to the great hall, where the Sharpes had installed their sofas, bookshelves and piano. When you arrived through the main door, there was a large stair made of mahogany wood, with ramps carved with arcs and braces. Once arrived on the first floor, there was some kind of gothic balcony, similar to the ones in churches, where Lady Sharpe could stand to watch her guests arriving. Behind her, there was a corridor to go to the rooms on the first floor. If she wanted, she could withdraw to the second floor, leaving the balcony. Another balcony, in the same fashion as the first one, was just above it, but not as advanced. There was also a more discrete one on the left of the stairs when people went up. The ceiling was very high, so high in fact that Sean almost felt his neck cracking as he tried to bend his head to see it. There was a hole in the middle, dust and wood fell right in the middle of the room, like a shower of petals. The walls were covered with family paintings, tapestries! The whole thing felt majestic and warm at the same time.
"I think Allerdale can count a new suitor." Thomas said when he saw Sean's eyes mesmerized
The great hall had the same vibe about it: old, medieval, regal, yet warm. There was a portrait of the Sharpes' mother Beatrice. She looked stern and strict. The siblings made him visit the kitchen, the laundry room, the several bathrooms.
"Don't be afraid when you use the water." Lucille warned him "Because of the clay, it starts as red before turning clear."
He nodded.
"I'm sure we don't need to make you visit the tanks." Lucille said "You can access those with an elevator, but I'm sure you don't want to relive how you arrived here."
Sean nodded again.
"I'll draw you a map." Thomas offered "And I'll make you visit my workshop later."
"How do you find Allerdale?" His sister asked
"This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen and I haven't seen even a third of it."
XXXXX
Lucille was rather surprised to find Sean up so early, already cleaned up, as she was cooking breakfast.
"I'm ready to help you in any way I can." He said
"All right."
She had started with little tasks. She knew that, if she exhausted Sean right away, Thomas wouldn't forgive her. Besides, it would look suspicious, even for their own staff, the men that came to help Thomas. They all took a liking on Sean and having him here added up to their good reputation. The good samaritans who rescued a war-crippled veteran, offering him a chance to turn a new leaf. Shortly after lunch, she came to him.
"Thomas told me your family used to do laundry for another family?" She asked
"Yes, my lady."
"We received a letter from a cousin a few days ago, she arrives today. She will sleep in the room next to yours. Would you be kind enough to prepare her room?"
"Of course." Sean said, bowing his head
If Lucille had to add yet another thing on the list of her reasons to enjoy Sean, apart from the obvious respect he had for their status and his gratefulness, was that he didn't invade as much as she believed he would have. In reality, he was so discrete she often forgot he was there and he rarely asked questions. The ones he asked were always practical. And direct. He worked quickly, efficiently. She liked that.
"Any particular attention?" He inquired before leaving "Flowers?"
"As sad as it sounds, we don't know her, she's extended family. I don't know her likings. But flowers would be a nice gesture. I trust you on this."
"Yes, Ma'am."
XXXXX
"And here we are! Allerdale Hall! Welcome home!" Sean heard Thomas tell his cousin from the first floor
"I hope you had a safe journey." Lucille said
Sean started to go downstairs as quietly as possible. He didn't want to break this family reunion. All he had to do was take the girl's luggage and set it in her room.
"Ah! Last but not least! Come down, let me introduce you!" Thomas called him
"Damn." Sean cursed himself
"Dear cousin, allow me to introduce you to..." Thomas started
"Sean!" The woman cried out as she ran to him and threw herself in his arms, under the astonished gazes of her hosts.
Frozen in shock, the young man hesitated for a mere second before returning her embrace, thinking that Life definitely wanted him to be reminded of Loftus Hall and of the ones below.
The woman in his arms, weeping, the Sharpes' long lost cousin, was no other than Rachel.
To Be Continued