Chapter 30: That night with her - 1

The wind of the late November night was rippling softly against his shirt. But suddenly, he felt an eerie chill. The doors and windows of the surrounding houses started getting buffeted by the wind in a weird rhythm. The lanes of trees that were once casting peaceful black shadows on the asphalt road started swinging.

"This can't be!"

Morpheous muttered and immediately turned to look at Caroline's house, and his breath hitched when he saw a familiar shadow crossing her porch.

Without losing a second, he dashed towards her house, praying to the heavens that he was not too late.

'Knock! Knock!'

"Dr. Caroline, open the door! Please open the door."

He pounded his fist hard on the wooden door, but he couldn't hear her approaching footstep.

"Are you opening the door? I am counting to three else I am breaking …"

'Click'

And she twisted open the doorknob, her body half drenched in water and wrapped in a robe.

"What happened, Morpheous? Why are you..."

But without even bothering to answer her, he barged in and looked all around the house. His worried eyes scanned every room, closing every possible window shutter.

"What is going on, Morpheous?" She asked, clutching onto her bathrobe, which she had not been able to tie up.

He finally turned towards her, pinching the space between his brows, and said, "I thought I saw an intruder. Just saw a shadow and thought… Anyways everything seems fine." And he shrugged his shoulders, his eyes, and ears, albeit still on alert.

An awkward silence prevailed in between, and he saw a pool of water collect around her feet.

"Erm… Sorry. You can just finish your bath. But… But aren't you supposed to wait a day or two before you can shower?"

"I just wanted to get rid of the rubbing alcohol smell. Thanks for worrying about me, though," She walked towards the door to close it after him, but he stood glued to where he was.

"Actually, I was thinking, since you are injured, it's better I stay here. I mean, you know, till your grandfather arrives. You might need help with something."

And walking towards her, he leaned ahead and locked the door. From her expression, he could tell that she was beyond surprised. Maybe it was way too forward, for her jaws almost reached the floor.

"I hope that is ok with you?"

He had not thought about her smell for hours, but the moment he caught a whiff of that familiar fragrance of hers, he knew what he had been missing. Towering in front of her, he looked into the blue of her eyes, which now seemed more round and shiny. But they were laced with a hint of red.

"Have you been crying? Does your hand hurt?" He moved his hand to touch her but was taken aback by her response.

"Don't."

"Just don't, Morpheous."

Holding onto her robe, she took a step back. "You are so weird sometimes. Do you know that?" She staggered back as she spoke, spewing a bit of anger from her flared nostrils. But he just lowered his eyes, for he had no answer.

"A moment before, you didn't even want to stand in this room with me, and now you want to give me company overnight? And why should I allow you to stay? I hardly know you, Morpheous. God knows what intentions you might be having!" And her fingers clutched onto her robe even tightly.

Rejection was something that she never handled well. Atleast that much Morpheous had realized by now.

She let out a gasp of air from her mouth as if she had been holding on to her breath till that moment. Avoiding his gaze, she looked at the door, her eyes telling him to leave.

"Caroline!" He almost hissed. Confusion was clearly visible in his eyes before he opened his mouth.

"Dr. Caroline!" She corrected him. "From now on, you shall call me Dr. Caroline. We are not friends for you to drop the formalities. I thought we could …"

"Can I stay here just one night? Dr. Caroline? I will be on my best behavior. I promise you that."

"Why do you want to babysit me? Don't you have anything else to do? Why this sudden interest in me? Or is it because you are seeing me like this?"

His face twists and loses the softness that it bore a second before. He lets out a shocked gasp from his lips. He couldn't believe that Caroline thought so low of him. Regretting his decision to return, he closed his eyes and took a step away from her.

And as if she could read his face and regret.

"Take the couch then. I am locking my door."

And she stormed inside without even waiting for an answer from him.

Calming his frayed nerves, he sat on the sofa, his mind still thinking about the shadow he saw.

'What the hell was that?' He trusted his instinct more than his eyes and could tell it was ominous. His eyes steered towards the large window by the dining table, and he saw that the wind had calmed down considerably.

A sign of relief!

But all of a sudden, he heard something break, followed by Caroline's scream.

"Morpheous!"

This time he didn't bother to knock. With a single push of his hand, the door fell down, and he found her crouched near the foot post of her bed.

"What happened?"

Before she could answer, he saw the glass window of her room broken as if it had been pelted with stones. But he could only see broken pieces of glasses around.

"Stay there. Don't get up!" He screamed and walked towards the window only to be stopped by her.

Holding his fingertips, she mumbled, "There are broken shards everywhere."

So he turned and switched on all the room lights, but when he did, he got the shock of his life instead. Her sheets had been splattered with blood. Blood that was still fresh and wasn't hers.

He rushed towards the window, despite her warnings but couldn't see anything or anybody outside. But when he turned towards her, he saw her standing, shocked to death.

"What's wrong?"

"Morpheous! Your ... your back! You are bleeding," she stuttered.