Phantoms of Fourteenth Avenue

Chapter 2

I couldn't see anything.

I peered through the arch into the dark living room. It was decorated with African statues and masks. What a weird combination with the antique furniture but also quite interesting. I looked at the wooden shelf against the north wall. It had wooden bushman statues staring at me indifferently. Guess I must have imagined it, I thought, brushing off the shiver that went down my spine. I picked up the suitcase and sped up my pace to get back to my room. This house is creepy and eerily quiet.

I plopped down on my bed after forcing out a sigh and closed my eyes.

-

A noise from somewhere in my room startled me awake and I sat up, looking around the room with my blue eyes droopy after I had taken an unexpected nap. I turned and faced my pillow, revealing dark spots. Oh Great. Drool.

Did I really fall asleep? It had been a very long bus ride from New York. I wasn't really able to rest due to the fact that a middle aged man had fallen asleep on my shoulder huffing out breaths that smelled like he was two bottles of vodka ahead of the rest of the bus.

I stood up lazily and stretched my rested muscles. While exhaling all the tension in my body, someone knocked on my door and completely took me by surprise.

I gave a small shriek and approached the door. As I reached for the handle, I was scared shitless by another knock on the door. I clasped my hand over my mouth and jumped.

Why the hell was I so easily startled in this place? I'm a nurse for Pete's sake! I've seen the worst of people and even the death of people but here I am, jumping like a 10 year old who thinks the boogeyman is hiding underneath the bed? I shook my head in a silly mind laughter at the thought of how embarrassing it would have been if someone had seen me.

“Are you okay in there? I heard screaming.” the Grandson said from behind the door, grabbing me out of my train of thought.

I opened the door and looked into his gorgeous eyes with what seemed to be a hint of worry. “uhm… Yes. I guess I must have dozed off and was caught by surprise when you knocked” I said, clearly embarrassed. I could feel blood rushing to my pale cheeks but tried to look more confident than I'd felt.

He looked at me surprised. “I wasn't the one that knoc…” , cutting off his sentence and continued. “never mind. I have to introduce you to my grandmother. ”

“Of course.” I said sheepishly and walked out of the room. “Come on, Grandson. Let's go.”

“Mason. My name is… Mason.” he informed shyly.

This was the first time he had spoken to me in a voice that didn't sound intimidating or annoyed.

“Mason… “ I repeated, confirming his name that suited his outer appearance perfectly. A good name for a good body, I thought.

I shook off my thoughts.

Focus girl. You are here for Grace. Not this hunky, smoldering, mostly rude grandson.

“And you are?” he asked, pulling his big hands through his thick hair.

“I'm um… Alina!” I said cheerily as I walked behind him. He looked back and stared at me like he was searching for something within me. Like he was trying to peer straight through my soul. It made me super uncomfortable and I tried not to stumble over my own feet by the intense gaze that this man, Mason, had.

Before I knew it, we reached the end of the hall and looked at a closed door. He gave me one last look and opened it.

I entered the large bedroom, just as dark as the rest of the house. Beeping noises from all the machines filled the air along with the smell of medicine combined with mold. I peered across the room to a bed.

Within the bed layed an old, frail lady. What was left of her hair, shining silver from the small crack of sunlight that peered through the poorly closed curtains. She seemed peaceful, even with all the machines that were covering her arms and face.

“She's beautiful.” I said under my breath but loud enough for Mason to hear.

“She's very important to me, so I expect you to care for her as you would your own mother. “ he muttered as he looked at her with sadness in his eyes.

Of course I understood. This was his family. His blood.

I would expect the same if I had been in his situation.

I had been in his situation.

I nodded agreeingly.

“Don't worry. It's my job. I was trained for this.” I said confidently, trying to reassure the worry I saw in his face.

He turned his head to look at me and nodded as he turned away and walked out of the room, taking the sound of old floorboards cracking and creaking with him.

I stared at Grace who seemed to be peacefully in her vegetable state. My job was basically just to turn her over every 2 hours, make sure that her oxygen tank didn't run out, change her diapers and feed her through her tube. Anything else? Probably something I have to confirm in my file and with Mason later.

I turned on my heel and was about to walk away when I suddenly felt a hand grab my arm.

I looked down and stared at my arm with shock. An old hand was gripping my arm. All the wrinkles and liver spots on the hand, made my arm look even younger.

The old lady had grabbed my arm and her eyes busted open. What the f**k? I thought to myself as I stared at her with my eyes as wide as it could possibly get.

“Get out of here while you still can.” she said in a shaky voice while looking around the room like someone was chasing her.

“W-what?” my voice cracked under the pressure of fear.

Suddenly, her fear stricken eyes closed again as quickly as it had busted open and her hand slipped off my arm.

Am I dreaming? She was just talking to me, wasn't she? What the hell is up with this lady?

I stumbled out of the door as quickly as I could and closed it behind me.

I closed my eyes and blew a deep breath out of my nose, trying to gather myself.

I'm a lady of science. I've probably just had a very long trip. That makes you feel funny and sometimes hallucinate. Right? It's unheard of for a cancer patient, especially in her vegetable state to wake up. No, It's impossible! I should just go rest and I'm sure I'll feel a lot better after, I convinced myself.

I fixed my shirt and stood up straight not to show how shaken up I was and walked down the hall, back to my room so that I can take a few deep breaths and probably over analyze why the hell that scared me so much.

While walking toward my room, my nose caught a whiff of deliciousness that filled the air, coming from the kitchen and I almost completely forgot about my hallucinations. My tummy was growling and had taken priority at this point.

I walked past my bedroom and stood in the kitchen doorway.

Mason was standing in front of the stove, stirring an iron pot with a wooden spoon. He looked up at me and broke eye contact immediately again.

“I'm making dinner, since you are probably still getting settled. You can sit.” he gestured to the chair that was open in the middle of the kitchen at a large wooden table.

I entered the kitchen and sat down. The whole house seemed unkept and messy. The walls of the kitchen were an unusual leafy green colour, that I haven't seen in a kitchen before.

The only window was covered by a closed curtain that was white, with an orange seam around the edges. What a strange combination of colors, I thought to myself. I looked down at the linoleum floor that had already lifted, revealing the wooden floor beneath it. No wonder this house seems so damn creepy. If it had been modernized and kept in great shape, maybe I wouldn't feel so unsettled.

I looked up at Mason. His back was turned on me as he was busy preparing what smelled like Spaghetti and Meatballs.

“It smells delicious.” I tried, as the eerily silence in this kitchen was getting to me.

He turned to face me and muttered that the food was done and started to dish up.

I looked at him preparing our plates and was just in awe of how gorgeous this man was. How you could see every muscle while he held the spoon. How he frowned in concentration. And obviously, the fact that he could cook was just breathtaking.

Suddenly he looked up at me and I immediately looked away, clearing my throat and trying to hide my face that obviously was tomato red at this point.

He just caught me checking him out. I felt like I wanted to slide down and hide under the table so that the world could swallow me whole.

“Don't worry. I know how to cook.” he answered, clearly trying to diffuse this embarrassing situation that I had caused. I could see the corner of his mouth twitching to what almost looked like a smile. Was he enjoying this?

He placed the plate in front of me and gestured to dig in.

I took in the smell of this delicious meal and noticed another smell entering. It was Mason.

He smelled amazing. Like he had bathed in cologne.

My mouth started to dry and I tried my hardest not to show how much this man was affecting me. I've always been so picky. No man has ever caught my attention the way Mason had. I tried to figure out what it was about him while eating quietly on my side of the table.

After my meal was done, I looked up and saw Mason on the other end of the table still eating what was left on his plate. Just when he was about to finish, some of the pasta and sauce slipped off his fork and landed on his tightly fitted white shirt.

“s**t!” he exclaimed angrily.

I quickly got up and took a napkin from the sink and brought it over so that he could wipe himself.

He looked down at his shirt, “no, don't worry. A napkin is not going to clean this off.”

He stood up and took off his shirt.