I'm glad you are here

"I need to . . . . . talk to someone." Sharp replied, finishing his sentence by pulling Stella to his other side as a maid scurried past. The maid stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at them, particularly at Stella, with hunger filled eyes. She had enough presence of mind to control herself and run away upon hearing the growl that escaped Sharp's lips.

"Maybe I shouldn't be here." Stella whispered again as they reached the first floor and started walking. Sharp shook his head and whispered back, not stopping for even a second, "It's my fault. I completely forgot about the servants." Then he stopped so suddenly and whirled around that Stella almost bumped right into him. "But now that you are here, I am glad for it. I feel in control for the first time in this house." he said, leaning down close to Stella's ears.

Stella's heart stopped functioning for a second before it started working overtime. Sharp was so close to her that she only needed to lean forward a little, and she would have been able to touch his cheek with her lips. Stella pushed these thoughts away before she looked deep into the maroon eyes and nodded softly. "Anytime you want." she mouthed and let out a re-assuring smile.

Sharp looked positively taken aback by Stella's response and it took him a few tries to get his voice back out. "Let me show you to my room." he said, blinking a lot more times than necessary and began to lead Stella towards the bedrooms. Stella nodded and was following him before his words completely registered. My room? Did Sharp just say, my room?!?!?

"Umm..... What did you mean by your room?" Stella blurted out, not wanting to aggravate Sharp, and neither knowing what else to say. He didn't even turn around and continued to lead her forward as he said, "Of course, you'll be sleeping in my room tonight. You are my guest after all."

Stella's heart was doing all sorts of things possible only for an olympic athelete in her chest as Sharp stooped to say in a whisper, "I don't trust anyone in this house." Stella let out a breath. Of course, that was why Sharp was asking her to stay in his room. Her safety. It was obvious that all the people in this house drank human blood, and it would be very unsafe to leave her in a room by herself. That was so obvious.

Both of them had only gone a few steps when Penelope, who had disappeared somewhere, appeared out of nowhere. "Hey." she said in the most casual manner, as though they weren't in the castle of death. Though it was not the castle of death for her, Stella supposed.

"Is he here?" Sharp asked, not even flinching at the sudden reappearance of the girl. "He's not," Penelope replied, "But I have talked to him and asked him to. He's on his way. Says you should've just come to our house." Sharp shrugged and didn't reply. And no one bothered to explain this mysterious conversation to Stella.

"You're not thinking of making her sleep in your room, are you?" Penelope said after a few minutes, just as Sharp stopped and began to pull on a door handle. "Why not?" he turned around with a puzzled expression.