Chapter Seventeen.

“Dedrick.” The words escaped my lips, breaking me from my frozen slumber. I shivered as I remembered the cold, but I found that I was now warm. For a few moments, I laid there with my eyes shut. Had Dedrick found me and brought me back to the mansion? That had to be what happened.1

I opened my eyes and sighed. The room was almost completely dark, but a fire crackled somewhere in the room. There were high ceilings in the room I was in, but when I turned my head to the left, I saw that there was no door leading out to a balcony. Thinking that my eyes were just being groggy, I reached up to rub them, but I nearly poked myself in the eye with the damned black stem of the rose.2

“You haven’t let go of that since he found you.” Said a soft voice. “I tried to take it out of your hand, but you had a death grip on it.”3

“Oh,” I said, and shielded my eyes as I was suddenly bathed in light. A stout, older woman looked at me and smiled.4

“There are some clothes laid out for you on the edge of your bed,” She nodded towards them and opened the door to the room. “Come straight down the stairs when you’re done – they’re right outside the door.”5

“Okay…” She closed the door behind her and I looked at the clothes on the bed. I pulled my blankets off me and blushed as I saw that I was wearing nothing other than my skin. Quickly, I pulled on the clothes; a white skirt and a white blouse. “Well this is different than the usual black drab they give me.”6

With a sigh, I put my hand on the door handle. Dedrick was going to be very mad at me, and I knew he was waiting at the bottom of those stairs. When I pushed open the door, I halted immediately. The walls weren’t the same white color as I remembered them. They were predominately white, yes, but they had intricate black swirls in them… they looked a lot like the walls that lead to Gregory’s office. As I walked along the hallway and down the stairs, I saw that each of the walls were the same.7

This house wasn’t quiet, and so I knew I wasn’t in the Rochesters’ mansion. I could hear laughter far off, and talking down the hallway. My skirt brushed against my legs as I ran down the hallway to where Gregory’s office used to be. A few people passed by me, and they all looked at me with odd looks; well who were they to judge? At least they knew where they were!8

I slowed down as I entered the long hallway. The temperature dropped as I reached the end, and I looked at the large black doors in front of me. I pushed my full weight on one of them and it opened easily. The sight of the room was like a strange wave of déjà vu – it was exactly like Gregory’s, only painted a different color, and the large window held a different scenic view.9

My eyes fell to the man that was sitting at the desk. He looked like he was reading something before I walked in. His ice blue eyes rose to meet mine and a few of his white bangs framed his warm expression.10

“Hello, Amelia.”11

“Adamus?” I walked towards the desk, putting my hands on my hips and looking at him accusingly. “What the hell am I doing here?”12

“Well, I saved you.” He stated simply.13

“Look, you don’t know what you’re doing – I don’t want to go back to Dedrick, so if you’re planning on taking me back to him you can just forget it!”14

“Why would I take you back to the place you were running away from? I did save you from them, as I just said.” Adamus leaned back in his chair and I opened my mouth a few times before I could say anything.15

“How did you know I was running away?”16

“My rose told me,” He gestured towards a vase on his desk, which held a dozen white and black roses.17

“It was your rose…” I raised my eyebrows and looked at him with shock, but he only chuckled.18

“Forgive me,” He stood up from his desk, “But I assumed that you knew that it was my rose, since I was the last one to have been with you that night.”19

“Why did you give me your rose? Dedrick’s already chose me,” I backed away from his desk as he moved around it.20

“Did it? How do you know that it did?”21

“It pricked me! Look!” I stopped backing up and held up my hand, showing him the bruise on my finger. Adamus glided over to me and took my hand in his. I shuddered, his hands weren’t cold like Dedrick’s were… their cold seemed to warm my skin.22

“He laced it with his venom,” He said, looking over my finger. “So that he always knows where you are. I sensed it when I first saw you.”23

“But… why would he do that?” I asked, my eyes lingering on his hand, which still held my wrist.24

“I’d love to tell you over dinner,” Adamus said, letting me go. “If you would allow me to do so.”25