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 5

Laying on her bed, wide awake, staring at the ceiling, Rachel couldn't fall asleep despite being tired. If her body yearned rest, her mind was still racing, trying to answer questions, to ease itself from doubts. Most of them concerned Sean. The first mystery she was facing was why he had survived. Oh, she was thrilled beyond belief that he did! He was an innocent she had dragged in her nightmare and during the days she had spent after that horrible night, the guilt of knowing she had caused his death was eating her alive. Why did the others below spared him in the end? Why did they send her his leg, if it hadn't been to tell her "be free but alone"? What had happened down there to make them change their mind, them who never changed it in the first place?

"Sean is alive." She reasoned herself "The reasons do not matter for now. We'll find them soon enough, and if we don't, it won't change anything. Sean lives. That is the most important."

Yes, Sean lived. And they were reunited. Geographically only. Sean seemed so distant! So cold! Of course, there was the shock of seeing her again, she could perfectly understand that. And he had experienced something she didn't even want to imagine. She had shattered his world, what he had believed in. He had almost died. All of that because of her. Even if she hadn't meant it. And while it was true Sean wasn't very talkative in the first place, he had never been so disconnected. Almost as if he was trying to block her from his mind.

"I may have the wrong idea though." She thought "Maybe he doesn't know what to say."

After dinner, he had been tasked in showing her the way to the bathroom, so she could have a nice warm bath before she went to bed.

"Don't be alarmed when you start running the water." He had flatly said "Due to the clay under the house, the water starts red before turning clear."

When she had finished, he was still at the entrance of the room, in the corridor, waiting for her.

"There was no need." She told him, ill-at-ease that he had waited for a long moment

"You don't know the way to your room."

They had walked in awkward silence but what eased Rachel's mind was that, when she had wanted to take his hand, he didn't fight back and even entwined his fingers around hers.

"Something has changed. Of course, it did. Before, he just thought I was lonely, desperate and in danger. He didn't believe in ghosts. Now, he knows they're real, but at what cost?"

Yes, she had destroyed his life. Before he had helped her, he was Sean Nally, a young war veteran coming home after losing a leg, helping his mother and his sister with the family shop he certainly would have inherited when Maura would have retired. Now, he was Sean Nally, a young war veteran far from home, exiled by the ghosts of Loftus Hall, serving an English family, with even more horrible memories to plague his nights, but with no one to share them so he could forget them. She sighed before leaving her bed.

"I need some air."

She exited her room and walked to the balcony. The great hall was illuminated through the ceiling's hole, filling the area with the light of the moon. Under its rays, the small pieces of wood, of stones, of dust, looked like thin snowflakes. It was almost magical. A weird sound broke the enchantment of the contemplation. Turning her head on her left, Rachel spotted a figure in the dark.

"Who's here?" She called

She didn't get any reply. She walked a few steps before she heard the sound again, it was shrieking. Suddenly, something appeared before her eyes. Floating in the air, a figure covered in red clay was making its way to her. Its skull was opened. It extended its arm to her, to her neck. Rachel hadn't moved at first, too shocked by what she was seeing, but when she felt the skeletal fingers of that being on her flesh, she snapped out of it and ran as fast as she could, hoping her room would protect her. She opened the door, got inside as fast as she could and slammed it behind her, only to find herself nose to nose with Sean.

"Dammit..." She cursed herself

If he seemed surprised, he didn't press the matter further. He looked as if he had just woken up, startled. Sweat was rolling down his temples. He had just escaped a nightmare.

"Rachel?" He asked "Do you need anything?"

"I thought I saw something." She started "It must have been my imagination."

She didn't want to tell him she had seen a ghost. The last thing he deserved was his new safe haven to turn out to be like Loftus Hall. The irony though, leaving one haunted castle to end up in another one.

"Why are you here?"

"I mistook your door for mine." She answered sheepishly

The young man had a small, gentle smile.

"It's true it's huge here. Thank God Lord Thomas gave me a map. Can't sleep?"

"It looks I'm not the only one."

"I can. I just don't do it well."

Sean sat on his bed. He moved to the side and patted the mattress with his hand. Unsure about what to do, Rachel didn't move.

"I'm not going to eat you." He said

She joined him and sat by his side. They remained there in silence, not knowing what to do, what to say. Anything they had in mind seemed too awkward, too stupid.

"How did you survive before coming here?" Sean ended up asking

Rachel was grateful he tried to do small talk.

"I was given shelter in churches. I sold a few trinkets to be able to send a letter and then pay for the travel."

"You don't have your silver pendant anymore. The one your mother gave you."

"I left it on her grave before I left. This pendant... It was bound to the curse. It was the gift of pure engagement."

Sean didn't reply. He had seen the family portraits in Loftus Hall. And while it was clear Rachel wasn't the woman painted, the women all looked exactly like her. He had quickly understood what the curse consisted of. Isolating two siblings, forcing them into a relationship, the image of the ancestors, their physical appearance at least, getting immortal through the sin repeated generation upon generation. It was no wonder Rachel wanted to escape this fate, those rules.

"Your brother died, didn't he?" He inquired

"He did." She admitted "He told me he was sorry they took you."

"He had been possessed, it wasn't his fault. I'm sorry you lost him."

"I kept it, you know?"

"Kept what?"

"Your leg."

He looked at her, puzzled.

"I came back to the house the following morning, as soon as I had reached the lake's surface. The others had sent your leg back. I took it and kept it. I thought they had sent it back to me to tell me you were..."

"Dead."

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you, I tried, I..."

"Rachel." His voice cut her. "There was nothing you could have done. Besides, I know you tried. I've seen it."

"Then why are you so distant with me?"

Her question seemed to have hit a sensitive spot as he looked at her, completely shocked. He sighed.

"I'm sorry I gave you the impression I was angry with you." He apologized "Because I'm not. I never was. There was nothing no one could have done."

"Do you still love me?"

Did they even love each other in the first place? They shared a bond, true. They had a spark, a connection, true. But they had known each other for a few days before all of this happened. Was it just a common infatuation because they were lonely?

"I could never stop loving you, even if I tried to."

His voice was shaking.

"Before you arrived here, I was worried about you, your safety. I missed you but at the same time, I wasn't sure I wanted to see you again because... Because it would have meant everything was real. When all I want is to put this behind me. The nightmares were painful enough. I'm such a coward."

She took him in her arms, he let her. He even cuddled against her, allowing her to caress his hair.

"I'm sorry. I'll try and be better, I..." He repeated

"Don't. It's okay. I should have known."

After a few moments, he asked her why she kept his leg.

"I would have loved to see the priest's face when he saw it." He added

"I kept it to remind me that I was free because you sacrificed yourself for me. That I had to live, not only for myself, but also for you, because you couldn't anymore, or so I thought. To remind myself of my vow to never marry or have children."

"Why would you vow about that?"

"Because the other men aren't you. And the children wouldn't have been yours. It didn't feel right."

"How does it feel like now?"

"I am just happy that I can be with you again. And this time, I want to be the one helping you. You saved me. I hope I can "save" you too."

His small smile on his lips warmed her heart. The fact that he fell asleep in her arms, trusting her, meant the world to her. Sean still loved her, despite everything, but what he had been through had scarred him. For some reason, they were granted a second chance. She wanted to take it. And deep down, she knew Sean wanted it too. Whatever problem they'd encounter, they'd face it.

They'd face it together.

To Be Continued