Lullaby | Brahms Heelshire |

Chapter 10

You are my delight.
I shot up in my bed and gasped for air like I was drowning. My head was spinning too fast for someone who just woke up. I looked around my room like I had never seen it before in my life. I didn't fall asleep in here. But I did. It's my room. Where else would I sleep? I ran my hands through my hair as I vaguely remembered standing in the living room last night. I could faintly see the dim yellow lights in my head. I searched for a memory that would clue me in to what was going on. Okay, I probably had insomnia and went down stairs for some reason. My heart dropped when it hit me. Brahms... The man in my house.
Wait. I had to stop myself. Why was I being so stupid? It must have been all a dream. Nervous laughter escaped my mouth and filled the quiet room. It was a dream. It had to be. What happened was too unreal to be.... Well real. No. Brahms was dead, and my subconscious must have created some crazy story about him. I turned over and looked at the time on my clock. It was 8:30. "Crap." I said under my breath. I forgot to wake Brahms. I threw my blankets off and jumped down onto the wood floor.
At the door way I froze. I gazed down the eerie hallway that led to Brahms room. Hazy light streamed in through the window almost making everything look foggy. An unpleasant feeling itched at the back of my mind. What if it wasn't a dream. I shivered at the thought of a man living in my house with me. I had to figure out if it was true, or if I had been dreaming all along. I slowly walked to the room. My steps made the floor croak and groan just like I was in some sort of horror movie. The anticipation was killing me, but I didn't dare go faster. When I finally arrived at his door, I had to inhale deeply before opening it. The door opened so slow I thought I was going to collapse. The room was silent. I stepped in stupidly. I was going to die in here. I found the Brahms doll in his bed, exactly how he was last night. My muscles relaxed. Maybe it was just a dream. I closed my eyes and breathed out a little sigh/laugh of relief.
I was about to turn around and head back to my room when the sound of deep breathing made me almost scream. I turned around to find him. It was Brahms. The real Brahms. He was dressed in the same clothes he wore last night.
His hazel eyes were fixed on me. I didn't realized that I had gasped so hard until I almost choked on my air. I just stared at him. He just stared at me. How did I handle this situation. Did I have to say something or did he have to say something? I didn't know what to do, so we stared at each other.
His head slowly cocked to the side and his eyes flickered between me and the Brahms doll. I turned my head to find Brahms... Er.... The doll looking at me with his dead eyes. It was strange. Brahms was alive? So why was there this huge doll?
I turned and faced Brahms again. "So that's you." I said like the biggest idiot on the planet. Brahms took a step closer to me, muttering something that was muffled by the mask. "What?" I asked furrowing my brows. He muttered again, something about not following the rules. "Rules?" I repeated to clarify.
He suddenly raised his voice and sent chills down my spine. It sounded sharp and vibrated around in my skull. It sounded so alien. It was a complete contrast to how he spoke last night. I couldn't tell if my heart had stopped or if it had accelerated in speed. "Wake up the doll!" His eyes looked murderously angry, like the way a predators looks before they rip their prey to shreds. The doll? Why? He moved in closer. "You didn't wake me up. You know that you are supposed to wake me up." He growled. The way he looked at me made my heart freeze. Was he going to hurt me?
I was about to speak, but I choked on my own words. I could feel the heat from his body radiate onto mine. My nose stung from dumb tears welling up in my eyes. I clenched my fists so tightly I engraved moons into my palms. Brahms leaned down until we were eye level. I was able to see his eyes more clearly. His right eye was so blood shot. It looked so irritated and red. "Wake me up." The sudden calmness in his voice frightened me.
Before I let things go any further I quickly turned around and woke the doll like I always had. I continued to get the doll ready like nothing had changed. Like the real Brahms wasn't standing over my shoulder. He pressed his chest up to my back, I could hear his heavy breathing through the mask. Every once in a while I would quickly glance up at him to find that his eyes were locked on me. Like a sniper locked on a target.
~*~
He watched me all day, standing right over my shoulder and never said another word. When I finally kissed the doll goodnight, Brahms left me alone and disappeared somewhere in the house. I closed the door to the dolls room and walked down the long hallway, not feeling like myself. I kind of felt like a prisoner.
I quickly entered my room and closed the door. I felt gross. Brahms had watched me all day. He was right beside me. What was wrong with him? I turned and took a look at the clock. My eyes went wide. Andy! I had totally forgotten about my date. I got ready as fast as humanly possible. Even though I was going out with Andy, I need to get out of the house to think. I needed to be anywhere but here for a few hours. I pulled on a plum and pink dress. Andy would be here any minute, and I didn't want Brahms to know that I was leaving.
   I snuck down the stairs, careful not to let my heels click on the steps. I needed to call Andy and let him know that I would be meeting him at my gate. If he came to the house... Well I don't think Brahms would like it.
   My senses were heightened when I stepped into the dark living room. I just needed to call him and then I would be out the door. I felt along the wall for the light switch, my heart was beating like I was doing something illegal.
  "Danny." I froze. The way Brahms could make his voice sound like a child sent chills down my spine. I quickly spun around to find him standing behind me, the hall light shined duly on his mask. Brahms cocked his head to the side. "Where are you going pretty Danny?"
   I gulped and forced myself to have a pleasant face. "Brahms, you're suppose to be in bed." I spoke to him the same way I spoke to the doll. He just stared at me and repeated his question. "Where are you going pretty Danny?" I let out a shaky breath, trying to find the courage to speak. "Um... Andy from the office is taking me out tonight. I shouldn't be long." I told him, and quickly spun toward the living room before he could respond.
   His hand suddenly snapped around my wrist. I froze. His grip burned my skin. "No Danny." His voice dropped. "Brahms." My voice shook. "Please. I told him that I would go with him. I can't break my word." His voice became dangerous. "Danny." The way he said my name struck fear into my heart. He was going to hurt me. He was going to hurt me. My mind raced through all my possibilities to escape. My basic instincts kicked in. I needed to get out of here. With more strength than I thought I had, I jerked my arm out of his grasp. It burned like he had ripped my skin off.
   I ran into the dark room, not sure where I was going. "Danny." Brahms growled my name and chased me into the darkness. I crashed and tripped over objects that I could not see, but it didn't matter. I just had to get away from him. I quickly turned the corner into the kitchen and screamed when I saw him there. I didn't have time to breathe when he suddenly threw his arms around me and lifted me over his shoulder. I grunted as his shoulder dug into my gut. "Brahms!" I screamed. What was he going to do to me? I thrashed around, trying to fall out of his grip. Tears spilled from my eyes. "Let me go!" I shouted, trying to puns on his chest.
    He walked over to the drawer and grabbed a rope. I screamed, hoping that Andy was near by to hear me. I needed to stop him. I quickly leaned down and sank my teeth into his chest. He screamed and released me. I rolled off of his shoulder and my body slammed into the wood floor. I laid there for a second, waiting for the wind to come back to me.
   My skin burned as I peeled myself off of the floor. Before I could get to my feet, Brahms grabbed me by the shoulders and threw me into a chair. I cried out as I slammed to the back. Brahms began tying me up. His hands were quick as he looped and twisted the rope, enabling my freedom. I sobbed freely as I squirmed in the chair. My skin screamed when I tried to defy the rope, it dug so tightly into my skin I thought that I would lose my limbs. "Brahms." I managed to choke out between sobs. I stopped my useless struggling. All I was doing was exhausting myself.
   It took me a second to realize that he had stopped moving. I looked up through watery eyes and found him in front of me, still as a stone. I heard a whimper come from behind the mask. I blinked the tears out of my eyes to clear my vision. Was Brahms.... Crying? His eyes looked glossy. The tense feeling in the room shifted, casting a blue mood into the room. I gazed at the man in front of me no longer feeling fear. He was just Brahms. The Brahms I played with, the Brahms I sang to, the Brahms who fixed the chandelier.
   "Don't leave me Danny." His voice was soft. He dropped to his knees. "Please don't leave me." I barely heard him whisper. "Everybody leaves me." He said before dropping his head. My heart suddenly hurt. I wanted to break out of these ropes and hug him. Instead I just sat and stared sadly at him. "Brahms", my voice shook, " I won't leave you."
   As soon as I spoke, there was a knock at the door. It was Andy. Brahms turned to me, waiting for me to cry for help. Instead I smiled at Brahms, and waited for Andy to leave.