** Author's Note: Hello!
Thanks so much for reading! And... I'm so so sorry for waiting this long to update! D: Please don't kill me! A sort of small plot twist is coming up on so maybe you can forget about my horrible updating hiatus! Maybe...
Anyway! Thanks to these people for commenting: S-Lioness, sticy17, Arsynal16, Demoness-Kitteness, Andrea, Streaking Shadows, Guest, chinianimefan26, , Sakura Tsuki206, isemansh, hisangel18, aandm20, Razzeeberry, and Yukio lover!
Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me what you think! Most of you are pretty close in your guessing! Haha I'm furthering the setting from just Undertaker's building... to another place also... Scary things will be happening soon! I hope you enjoy! Please comment and let me know what you think! **
...
Haven took the quickest bath she could manage, which wasn't difficult since she found that sitting in cold water was quite uncomfortable.
Hoping her quick ice bath had brought her fever down some, she redressed and walked back out into the main room, her long hair still damp against her shoulder.
As she exited the washroom, she noticed that the main room was empty. Shadows caressed the corners, making the coffins scattered out on the floor look like lurking monsters somehow.
The beat of her own heart felt like the life of the creatures as they waited to attack her within the darkness.
The room suddenly seemed to shrink to the size of an alley or hallway, and the darkness of the smaller space felt intimidating to Haven for some reason...
What was she seeing...?
Shaking off her strange vision, Haven blinked quickly and glanced around the room, which popped back to normal in her head as if nothing had ever changed.
Before she could even wonder where Undertaker had gone or why she'd just seen something odd inside her head, a thick blanket was suddenly wrapped around her, and someone was pulling her into a room by her arm.
She didn't even have time to question the weight on her shoulders before she heard the familiar chuckling.
"This way, dearie!" Undertaker said, as Haven glanced up at him.
"What?" Haven questioned, but he didn't answer.
His long cold fingers grasped her upper arm, making Haven's skin prickle for some reason, and he pulled her into the room that she usually slept in.
With another chuckle, he gently pushed her onto the wooden floor, so she was sitting.
With a confused look around, she realised that several blankets had all been scattered about, making what appeared to be almost a nest of sorts.
There was an old oil lamp sitting on the faded wooden floor, and Undertaker reached over to it.
With a click, he lit the old lamp to give them light and moved it over next to Haven with an enthusiastic grin.
He then plopped down next to her.
"What... is this?" Haven finally asked, her confusion apparent on her pale face.
Undertaker laughed again, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, drawing her close against him.
"Ya need to be as warm as possible, dearie," Undertaker replied. "Comin' out of the ice bath without heat could put ya on your death bed, it could!"
"Oh," Haven whispered. "That makes sense."
"Are ya warm, now?" Undertaker inquired, pulling her closer against him and keeping the blankets wrapped around the both of them, apparently to share body heat.
Haven hesitated, then realised that she was indeed warm now.
Warmer than she'd ever been since appearing at his house.
The lamp was casting off a nice heat that warmed her face, and the glow from the lamp made the room flicker around her as if she was sitting in the midst of a dream.
Along with the heat from the oil lamp, Undertaker himself was warm and the thick blankets conserved that heat as well for them to share.
Haven nodded, suddenly unable to speak, and Undertaker removed his tall black hat and plopped it onto her head.
"Then try to get some rest, lady," Undertaker replied.
Haven turned her face in his direction to look at him quizzically, but he'd already been looking down at her and their faces were suddenly very close together. The tips of their noses brushed slightly, and Haven felt her breathing all but stop.
She felt her face burn red all the way to the tips of her ears, but she ignored it as she concentrated on the warmth spreading to her body from the blankets.
Suddenly, before she even knew it, Haven felt herself tilting her head, feeling Undertaker's breath hitting her lips.
She saw him hesitantly lean down towards her as well, and the space between them started to disappear.
Haven wondered what she was doing-
And then, Undertaker suddenly stopped and leaned back slightly, turning his head and keeping his hidden gaze away from hers and trained intensely on where the blankets lay against the scarred floor.
Haven didn't know exactly why he'd changed his mind at the last moment, but something about her mind couldn't quite find an explanation. It seemed as if her thoughts were rushed all together but meaningless at the same time. All she could do was feel slightly upset that he changed his mind... But she didn't exactly understand why she was upset.
"Ya must be more fevered than I thought," Undertaker muttered, a muscle in his jaw working visibly.
Haven's mind was struck surprised, so strongly that she couldn't speak. "Go to sleep, Haven, dear," Undertaker continued, his voice sounding normal except for a slightly softer undertone. "A good night to ya."
He suddenly lay down on his side on the blankets and quickly fell asleep, leaving Haven sitting up alone.
Her chaotic mind still in a stunned standstill, unable to think because of a combination of surprise and fever, she finally shook her head and lay down next to him, making sure to wrap the blankets around them both, as the night was still as cold as death.
...
When Haven awoke the next morning, she knew that she'd had terrifying nightmares all night long but was unable to recall a single one.
As the sleepy fog lifted from her mind, she realised with a start that she was pressed against Undertaker's body, her cheek resting on his chest, his heartbeat pounding softly against her ear.
He was laying on his side, both of his arms wrapped around her, holding her to his chest as if he'd expected her to disappear during the night.
The blankets were still covering them, and Haven was still very warm.
A tingle running down her spine, she realised that she didn't know now what to do. Did she try to get up, or should she stay like this where she could share body heat with Undertaker?
Haven came to the hesitant conclusion that she didn't need anymore body heat and lightly arced her back, where his hands rested.
Surprisingly, Undertaker's fingers fell away easily, and Haven scooted a bit over so they were no longer pressed against each other as before.
She watched for a moment as Undertaker lay there, silently, but then he rolled over onto his back, his head still turned in her direction.
Was he asleep?
Haven couldn't tell. His long silver hair still hid his eyes from her view.
And this was another secret that Haven was curious about... What did Undertaker's eyes look like?
The more she wondered about it, the more curious she became...
Maybe, she decided, she could move his hair and take a quick look, secretly, while he slept...
Haven waited another couple of moments, studying his even breathing to make sure he was actually asleep, then slowly leaned over, her trembling fingers reaching to part his hair.
A million gruesome images made their way into her mind... What if he was deformed in some way? What if he didn't have any eyes? What if...
She hesitated, her fingers just beside his face.
But now was her only chance-
Suddenly, Undertaker's hand came up and gripped her wrist, and he quickly sat up with a grin.
"Morning to ya, dearie!" he greeted, releasing her hand as if he hadn't realised what she'd been trying to do. "Tell me- how do ya feel, how do ya feel?"
"I-" Haven started, but then he reached over and felt her forehead before she even answered.
"Fever's broke now, it has," Undertaker told her, grinning. He stood up and took both of her hands, helping her stand up as well. Just as she stood, he leaned over and ran his lips across her cheek, and cocked his head at her. "You're as cool as a cadaver, once again!"
He released her hands and made to pick up all the blankets, but Haven couldn't even move.
That... That had been the memory she'd had... Undertaker taking her hands and kissing her cheek... It had just happened, but he'd been checking her temperature by doing so...
That meant that it hadn't been a memory after all... She'd seen something that hadn't yet happened!
She felt all colour drain from her face, and Undertaker turned to see why she hadn't moved.
"Ya seem a bit pale today, dearie," Undertaker said. "Not takin' a relapse, are ya?"
"Oh, no! I'm fine," Haven hurriedly answered.
The undertaker bent over and picked his hat up off the floor and placed it back on his silvery hair with graceful movements.
For some reason, Haven't wasn't sure whether she wanted Undertaker to know about her strange visions.
She'd keep it her own secret, for now.