Page 10 of Castle

I was taken aback.

Castle talked!

And he asked me to stay. It proved that he could comprehend what I said to him.

It was the first time I heard him talk; his voice was soft and hauntingly addictive, and he sounded like he didn’t have too much practice with speaking.

I wanted more.

I craved to hear another word from his mouth.

I stayed until he’d dressed up completely in a t-shirt and jeans. I watched him as he took a dry towel and settled down on his bed. The water dripped from his hair.

“May I?” I asked with my hands raised towards him for the towel.

He didn’t say a word, so I took that as a yes.

I dried his hair with a towel, feeling completely aware of his body heat being so close to mine, the scent of his shampoo made my knees weak, it was a mix of something spicy and blackberries, and maybe you could also throw a little vanilla into the mix.

“Now you’re all nice and dry,” I said, carrying the wet towel to his bathroom to hang there for drying. I walked out of the bathroom to find him sitting on the floor, cross-legged. “Would you like me to read you a book?”

He shook his head vigorously. “Go…go out.”

He was asking me to get out of his room?

I stared back at him, trying to understand what that meant.

“Go out.” He repeated, his large golden-brown eyes watching me with interest.“I…I want to go out.”

“You wanna go outside?”

He nodded, slowly looking up at me from the floor, small stealing glances.

“Okay, let’s go.”

We walked outside the mansion towards the garden, the huge German shepherd named Trixie leading us ahead. It was strange how Castle couldn’t communicate much with me, but with Trixie; he had an entirely different language going. The dog knew exactly what her master wanted and she would follow his commands.

Fetch. Down. Wait. Stay.

I bet she was used to following him around even before he lost his memories. Sometimes I wished dogs could talk so they could tell stories.

Real. Happy. Ugly. The truth that they’d witnessed.

I settled down on one of the patio chairs while I watched Castle play with the dog. He tossed the frisbee, and Trixie would catch it mid-air, sometimes missing it.

It was a good thing I’d brought a book with me so I wouldn’t get bored.

It wasPride & Prejudice by Jane Austen.

I’d read the book before, but since it was so entertaining, I was going to read it again. I’d found it lying around at my breakfast table, so I’d grabbed it.

Trixie barked at something at a distance, barring her teeth out. It had to be a squirrel or birds. Castle watched her from the sidelines, not attempting to stop her.

I’d finished reading the first chapter and flipped to the next page when an origami peacock fell to the ground.

I picked it up, and it seemed like there was something written inside it. I quickly opened it.

The words scribbled inside shocked me.

---