Page 67 of Obsession

His brows push together. “I don’t think that I know you.”

The words hurt in a way that I didn’t expect. I feel the sudden, absurd need to scream at the top of my lungs: YOU DO KNOW ME. YOU KNOW ME. WE HAVE MET BEFORE.

YOU WILL NOT DENY ME THAT.

But I stop myself.

Slow down. Think it through.

It looks like he’s actually lost his memory. But for how long? Is it temporary, the way it was with his absentmindedness? Will I have time to escape the castle before he remembers?

The possibility of survival spurs me to action. I jump out of bed, briefly cringing at my state of undress. In the heat of the moment, I hadn’t noticed how close the two of us had gotten to…

I shove the uncouth thoughts aside, face hot as I hurry to the wardrobe. Inside, I find some history-piece gowns and night dresses—probably on display from before, when this was a museum and there were tourists—and I replace my ruined clothes with a white night dress. It’s too long and too big in the bust, but it’ll do. I tug on my shoes, then glance at Aris nervously, checking in.

He’s been watching everything from the bed, sitting with his legs crossed like a school boy. “You are acting rather… frantic,” he remarks.

I make an acknowledging noise in the back of my throat, then start towards the window to look outside. The lawn is dark, no followers in sight, and the rain has miraculously abated. Unfortunately, we’re on the second floor, and I’m still recovering from my last jump.

I’ll have to chance walking through the castle, but I hardly remember the route Aris took to get here. What’s more, a follower may catch me trying to leave and alert someone.

“What are you doing?”

I jump at Aris’ appearance beside me. The room is entirely dark, all of the candles now extinguished, with only the moon to illuminate his interested expression.

“I need to leave,” I explain as I brush past him.

Aris is right on my heels. “Why?”

“You ask a lot of questions,” I say distractedly.

“You don’t answer any.”

“I told you my name, didn’t I? Now hush.”

Surprisingly, Aris obeys, quieting as I open the door and stick my head out to peek around the hall. Abandoned. I let out a quick breath before venturing out, the wall sconces provide enough flickering light to show the curves of the hall and the path to take.

“Where are we going?” Aris whispers from behind me.

Reaching a juncture of hallways, I peek out again. No one’s to the right, and I’m about to look left when Aris just steps out in the open.

“Are we hiding?” he asks.

“I’m hiding,” I whisper-hiss, head whipping around to see if we’ve been spotted. “And you’re not going anywhere.”

“Why not? I want to come along.”

“I don’t care. Stop talking,” I say and cover his mouth with my hand. He pushes it off with a frown.

I walk away in a huff and don’t need to look back to know that he’s following along; like carrying a backpack, his presence has a distinct weight. There’s no time to convince him to stay back, not with this sudden, child-like curiosity of his. I just have to hope he’ll see something shiny and lose interest.

We continue through the castle hallway by hallway until our luck runs out by the entry room, where Silva is reading by the fireplace. Unfortunately, the main exit is just through here. Though there are certainly other ways out of a place like this, I don’t want to risk getting lost or Aris remembering himself while searching.

Aris pauses beside me as I try to work out a plan. “Who is that?” he asks, nodding toward Silva.

I raise a finger to my lips to request silence, and Aris rolls his eyes, leaning against the wall as he continues to stare at me. A few seconds tick past before an idea forms.

With my fingers, I indicate that he should lean down, Aris complies, letting me whisper in his ear, “Go talk to that man.”

---