Unforgivable - 2

"If 13 people are seated for a meal together, one of them will die within the year."



Karen looked around the room as the world started spinning. The phrase echoed in her head over and over again. A month ago, on her birthday, there had been 13 people seated around a big round table including her but she never thought much of it. Now, she felt, was the moment to start believing.



"What was that crap you told us last week Karen?" Erica said maliciously.

"Wha-" Karen started as her world stopped spinning almost abruptly.

"If you say it's crap, why are you hounding her for an answer?" Rupert said nonchalantly.

Erica looked defeated but Serene took over.



"Why the hell did you even tell us that. Now he's dead, are you happy? Your prediction came true didn't it? You cursed him! You! You're a jinx!" Serene screamed as she stood up and walked towards Karen.



Her hand was raised, ready to slap Karen hard in the face with all her might but before she could do what she wished, Rupert stood in front of her and caught her arm. The look on his face was of murder.



"Don't touch her," he said firmly.

Serene tried to wrestle her arm free from his death grip while Erica came up to coax her back to her seat. Karen stood up and pushed Rupert lightly aside.



"Come and hit me then, if it makes you happy," she whispered.



Without a word, Rupert grabbed her left wrist and pulled her out of the house. She struggled to keep up with the injury in her ankle.



"Rupert..." she said softly.

"Oh right, I'm sorry. I forgot," he said simply and carried her bridal style into the rain.

"Where are we going?" Karen said over the rain.



Rupert didn't say anything as he walked through the path he had come by before for her. This, time though, he didn't think to bring an umbrella along and the both of them were drenched and soaked to the skin halfway through the path.

____


Erica patted Serene on the back as the latter seethed in fury.



"It's her fault Henry's dead," she said maliciously.

"Yes, maybe you think we should go after them?" a voice said calmly.

"You're just sore that Rupert went off with her, Fran, shut it," another voice snapped.

"I don't remember talking to you, Yvonne," Fran said as she shot the latter a look.

"Come on girls, we need to do something about this don't we? What if she says something else and another one of us dies?" Erica said pointedly to silence them.



Barry and Cindy looked up and shrugged. Queenie and Mindy simply looked at each other.



"But it's like you said isn't it, it's just 'something she said', basically, that it was just a coincidence, so why are you putting all the blame on her?" Mindy said.

"So you would like your body to be mangled just like Henry's? Go ahead then, leave," Erica said sternly.



Mindy looked defeated and did not try to utter another word.

_______



Rupert had brought her all the way to his mansion. The mansion looked like a old castle from the outside, with many dark windows, flickering lights and gently swaying curtains. The rooms, oddly enough, looked occupied even though Karen knew fairly well that Rupert lived by himself.

When he stepped into the mansion, Karen took in the breath-taking view that stood before her. The ceiling was three stories above and a grand spiraling staircase stood on either side of the entrance to the main hall where a fireplace stood where a small fire was fighting to stay alive. The staircase was lined with a velvet cloth and there were paintings along the walls leading up to the second and third stories. The outside of the mansion which was old and shabby couldn't do any justice to the interior, Karen thought. As a child, she had always dreamed of being a princess living in a castle with a lovely prince...



Her thoughts were cut short when Rupert settled her down roughly into a big wooden chair in the main hall.



"Wait here," he said simply and walked off.



Karen watched as he walked out of the hall and disappeared to the side where the staircases lie. She couldn't get the image of his back off her mind as she wondered dreamily if he was her prince charming. Also, she was fond of watching people's backs as it was always the last thing you remember of a person the moment they said goodbye. A sad memory clouded her mind when she felt something pop onto her head.

She reached out for the towel and pulled it off her head. Rupert was adding more wood to the fire and she watched as the fire licked the wood savagely and almost instantly, the hall felt warmer and looked a bit more welcoming. Karen noticed a huge painting above the fireplace where a family of 4 stood. There was a man who looked in his twenties, a lady who also looked in her twenties; carrying a small bundle, a small girl of maybe five, looking solemn as though someone had just died. Shouldn't they be feeling happy with the bundle of joy held in the mother's arms?



"That towel, was given to you for a reason," Rupert said.



Karen, having been caught daydreaming, blushed wildly and started drying her hair with the towel.



"A new set of clothes, beside you, change upstairs," he said, pointing to the right staircase.



Karen, not wanting to start any more daydreams, hurriedly change in the nearest bathroom she found and quickly returned back to the hall. She didn't even notice the pain in her leg anymore.



"Here, drink this, it'll make you warmer," Rupert said as he handed her a goblet of a transparent liquid.

"What's this?" she asked, after taking a sip and realising that it wasn't plain water because it had a sweet taste that lingered.

"Something to keep you warm," he said simply and sat down on a red couch that looked extremely comfortable, "Come, sit."



She took a seat in a couch that looked exactly the same, opposite of him and settled the goblet on the marble table in between them.



"Finish the drink. I think the rain's going to last a while."



She, nodded, took the goblet and gulped down the drink. As she settled the drink down, she felt a rush of warmth travel down her throat.



"You know..." Karen started.

"It's not your fault Henry died, Karen," Rupert cut her short.

"How did you-"

"Know what you were thinking? I can read your mind and if you feel like I'm intruding, I will stop."

"What?!"

"Is there a need for me to repeat myself?" he said.

"Why did y-"

"I brought you here because I don't know where you live and I just wanted to get you out of that situation," he said as he looked out of the window beside the painting.

"I have something to tell you, it's about..."

He looked directly into her eyes and responded, "Your past? I have something to say to you too."

Karen felt a chill run down her spine at his stare.

"I'm sorry for staring," he said as he looked towards the window again.

"No, it's, I just-"

"I know what you mean. Now tell me, what is it of your past that is bothering you?"

"I, well..."