Chapter 1

With dawn came more snow.

Ella turned the radio to the weather station and listened with a dispassionate ear to the monotone drone that told her the obvious that fell from the sky she viewed from her windows. She turned it off, shed the ever so warm blanket and stood up. She fell against the chair when her right leg gave out. 

“Agh,” sighed Ella standing up slowly and grabbed her cane. Mornings were particularly bad because she had been stationary for so long. She, slowly, made her way down to the first level and took the long task of turning on each scone. It was good for it accustomed her body to moving and warming up as it was freezing inside now that all the fires were out. She could hear the small noises above her, telling her that her guests were still enjoying the comforts of their warm beds. 

As a gracious host, she slipped into each of their rooms and their fires awake so that when they awoke, they were not greeted with the coldness of the house. She made her way down to the kitchen, leaning less on her cane. She ate a little before disappearing into her sanctuary- the Greenhouse. Her plants needed tending to, per usual.

“Ella! Help me!” shouted a voice nearby, but up two levels. Ella crawled out from between plants, wiping her hands clean as she did. The Greenhouse was quite extensive with a big central fountain with paths leading away from it. A walk circled the entire room above with a circular stairs reaching the second level. Ella walked out without the cane, feeling stronger having moved about more. She walked to a wall, pushed a rosette and entered the labyrinth of secret passages that ran throughout the house. 

She reached the person that called out for her- and the only one awake. He was standing in the middle of the hallway, looking around in rather obvious confusion.

“Where do you want to go?” asked Ella, coming out from behind a panel and staying to the shadows. She was smiling, but he couldn’t see it at all.

“Whoa!”

“Sorry…Kim Junsu, right?”

“Just Junsu. And Yes.”

“I’m horrible with names, so I am glad I remembered yours. Where are you headed?”

“The kitchen, but I got lost,” he said, blushing a bit. Ella giggled.

“Come. You’re a little ways off. Follow me,” she said letting her hand show and leading him in a different direction. “You knew of this place, didn’t you? Before you and your friends arrived.”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“You were scared, yet you were the most…comfortable. Someone told you.”

“Yeah. All of the horror stories to the actual truth. I spoke with the Cartwrights. They were the main source of my information of on this house. They said to stop if we got in to trouble on our way to and from Toronto. And to keep the legends alive in the house..”

“Ah, the Cartwrights. Wonderful couple. Married for about twenty seven years now if my math is correct. A large thunderstorm brought them to my front steps. Creator of a few of my legends. Here we are. Eat what you wish,” said Ella as they came to the kitchen door. “If you have any more questions or problems, just say my name.”

“Thank you,” said Junsu, trying to get a glimpse of her but she deftly ducked into shadows, leaving him to his breakfast. Ella loved company as it made the quick large house seem more filled, but she loved her privacy and her being alone. 

On the way back to the Greenhouse, she ran into Jaejoong on the first level looking at the various artwork on the walls that she had collected and had been given displayed for people’s perusal. She made a move to slip away as it seemed he was preoccupied with the art. Jaejoong knew he wasn’t alone the moment she came upon him. Due to his line of work and Ella’s strong presence in his mind, made him acutely aware of what was around him.  “Hi,” he said, effectively stopping her.

“Hello.”

“These are amazing.”

“Most are replicas actually; some are original though. Have you found what you are looking for?”

“Yes. This painting,” said Jaejoong stopping at one in particular. “Who is it?”

“The great Van Eyk’s wife. It’s merely a good copy of the original painting.”

“She’s so…ugly.” Ella laughed, but quickly stopped when pain rippled through her body.  Jaejoong, concerned when she laughed for a moment before she stopped. He heard her in a deep breath and in response by stepping forward.

“Van Eyk loved his wife so much he painted her exactly as she was because that who she was.”

“You like this painting?”

“Very much. Van Eyk loved his wife so much he immortalized her in her real and true form. He didn’t care for what she looked like on the outside, but rather what she looked like on the inside. Look around her- the objects. Each object represents what he loved inside of her. Her eyes must have been his favorite. They’re so…prefect and detailed.”

“It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul.”

“And I believe that is true. Very true…I’ll leave you to your exploring. Enjoy. There are many treasures hidden within the house,” said Ella. Jaejoong could tell that they had touched onto a subject that was quite sensitive to her so he didn’t press it. 

“When is the storm going to pass,” he asked, wanting to continue to talk to her. Her strange mysteriousness intrigued him. 

“Not until tomorrow afternoon, they’re predicting. The snow plow wasn’t come by until tomorrow afternoon anyway.”

“Ah…Tell me about the house.”

“It’s seventy nine years old or so. I can’t find any record on the exact year it was built. I did find that it was built by an oil tycoon from Texas as him and his rather large family’s getaway home. Not long after it was built- I’m not sure how long though- he sold it to the McDonald’s. They lived here several years. They sold it to the Francis’ and they lived her for seventeen years. Mrs. Francis died and Mr. Francis moved out not long after that. The house sat empty and on the market until I bought it six years ago,” said Ella as they walked down the hallway. She kept a few steps ahead of him.

“So why this house? It seems rather large for a single woman.”

“It is. I was originally looking for something much smaller and actually closer to Toronto. I happened upon this place and fell in love with it. It seemed to call out to me. I called up my agent and I said I found my house. Within hours, it was mine. I got it for pennies as they just wanted to get rid of it.  Taxes are cheap as this place was marked on the other side of the Canadian border even though we’re on this side  of US. The majority of my money goes to fixing and maintaining this place,” said Ella fixing a crooked painting as they passed by it.

“Amazing. I’m not going to pry and you can tell me to off if you don’t want to tell me, but what happened to you to make you hide in the shadows and live in a huge house by yourself no where close to anything?”

“Toronto is an hour away and it is not your business to know,” said Ella, glancing at him, her voice taking a hard edge to it.

“Forgive me; I didn’t mean to pry,” said Jaejoong. They climbed the stairs to the third, then another to the fourth level. Ella turned down a hall with Jaejoong almost on her heels. “What do you do to support yourself?”

“I write and have a little business in Toronto,” she replied confusing Jaejoong as she led him down the mazes of within the house. 

“What type of business?”

“It’s called Sanctuary. I sell herbs, spices, candles and the like. Everything is made here, then I pack it up and bring it to the shop. They tell me what I need to make and bring. I have a pretty good system.”

“Where do you grow to herbs and such?”

“Here at the house. I go to Toronto every other week, and weather permitting, to check the shop and drop off my load. My employee’s keep me well informed. The store is pretty popular, especially with the locals…Ah, here we are,” she said stopping at a door at the end of a hallway. “Go in. This is one of my favorite rooms.”

Jaejoong walked past her and into the room. What he saw took his breath away. The room wasn’t very big and was situated in the corner of the West Wing on the second ‘box’. The two outside walls and ceiling/roof were solid panes of glass. The two walls were of single panes that reaches from the floor to the ceiling. The ceiling/roof was two panes brought to a point so that snow and water could slide off easily and not accumulate on the glass. Jaejoong spun around, feeling as if he was standing in the middle of the snow storm, yet completely safe and warm. Ella watching him from the shadow of the door. She wanted to say ‘hell with what I look like’ and cross the room and kiss him senseless.

“This is amazing,” he whispered.

“When there’s a dry thunderstorm that crosses the lake, I can take out the walls- they slid into the wall and into the next rooms- and it really feels as if you are in the middle of the storm. It’s an amazing feeling,” said Ella, smiling softly. The only furniture in the room was the twin Captain’s chair from her room and a small table next to it. A closed red notebook sat on the small table. Jaejoong ran a hand over the carvings on the chair. “You have poet hands.”

“Huh?” he said looking up at her in surprise. He wasn’t quite sure he heard her correctly.

“You have poet hands. Or as other’s would put it- the hands of an experienced lover…Come on. There’s more to this house than just this room,” said Ella waving for him to follow her. Jaejoong left the room, but left the door opened. He took special notice of how they got to the room for he wanted to return.

“You said you write?”

“Yes,” said Ella, mentally slapping herself. Why did I have to mention his hands? That was so stupid, she thought, even though from the moment he walked in she fell in love with his hands. They weren’t too big or too small. The palm was elegantly shaped with long, tapered fingers. They weren’t adorned except with a ring on his fourth finger on his right hand. His hair was the second thing she noticed. It was dark brown, almost black and cut in a style now referred to as a Justin Bieber haircut, but on him it looked even incredibly better and was just a tad longer so it hung into his brown eyes. His hair emphasized the strong line of his jaw, his cheekbones and his kissable red lips with the lower one just a bit fuller than the upper. Ella liked how he towered over her by a good head and a half.

“I’ve noticed there’s not many mirror on the walls,” he asked. His voice washed over her like a soothing, healing rain. Ella wanted to turn and bury herself in the comfort and security he rose up within her. He made her want to stop hiding in the shadows.

“I’m not fond of them,” she replied leading him down to the end of the main hallway on the fourth floor and opened the double doors. She entered the extensive library with him on her heels again. It wasn’t tall, just a large square room filled with bookshelves stuffed full of books. 

“What do you write?” he asked, digging more into her life than anyone really had- on their own. He wanted to know more. He was surprised when she entered the room and walked around, but wasn’t surprised when she kept to the many shadows of the room.

“I write cookbooks and books on the paranormal,” she replied slipping across a window to another bookcase. Jaejoong caught a glimpse of her mahogany hair, her pale skin and her black ensemble of the clothes. The light of the outside, as meager as it was, made her hair turn a fiery red. Jaejoong wanted to take her pale hands in his and head her into the light, but he already respected her too much to do something that bold. Ella left out that she had also tried her hand in writing romance, horror and science fiction. She felt that would be too much information he didn’t really want to hear about. “What do you do for a living?”

“I sing and act…occasionally model. Really…whatever I get told to do by the company label I and my friends are under.”

“You do have a very photogenic face. Come. I’ll show you a secret of the house,” she said crossing the room, leaving. Jaejoong followed her, excited to find out a secret. He hoped it was one that revealed more about her. She led him down a flight of stairs to the third level and into the walls of the house. She opened a door and stepped out onto a small platform. 

“Oh, good lord,” said Jaejoong joining her on the platform and looking down. The floor was nearly three level levels down.

“See. There’s wires that crisscross the entire place and this one goes straight to the circular window. I sit there to watch the road and to thing,” said Ella pulling her socks off and throwing them back inside the door before grabbing two strings about shoulder high and walking out to the window with ease. Waiting until she was already across before starting out, Jaejoong followed her exact path out to the window.

“This is why it looked like you were floating in mid air,” he commented as he sat down on a small seat across from her. There was almost no shadows at the window, but she seemed to find them and hide in them. He saw her nod. He could seem more than just an outside of her how, but the only skin he saw were her hands, feet and a section of her forehead as her hair obscured the rest of her face and her black clothes covered the rest of her. “Why are they up?”

“So I can reach this place and it makes it easier to the clean the woodwork,” she said waving a hand gracefully towards the ornate ceiling. “The wires are so small and placed in such a way that no one really notices them unless they know that they are there and know where to look.”

Jaejoong nodded, looking at the ornate detail of the wood work around the window alone. The curve of the window he leaned against fitted the curve of his back perfectly and the wood felt silky smooth. Suddenly an odd noise had them both looking outside. A heavy bundled up person riding a snowmobile was speeding through the snow towards the house. 

“Ah, it’s Parker…Excuse me,” said Ella standing up. Jaejoong caught her hand to steady her. Her hair parted to reveal the entire right side of her face. Shock and surprise mirrored in her eyes, parted just slightly as she let out a gasped. She pulled away rather quickly and slipped across the wires quickly, telling of much practice. At the platform, she pulled out a rope that blended well into the wall and slid down smooth to the top of the stairs. Ella ran down the stairs and pulled opne the door just as Parker lifted his fist to knock.

“You know the door is always open, Parker.”

“And good afternoon to you too, Ella,” he said, his French Canadian accent thick, though muffled by the thick scarf wrapped around his neck.

“Come in.”

“I’m only here for a moment. I wanted to check up on you.”

“I’m fine. I have three guests. They’ll be leaving when the storm stops and the roads clear again.”

“Good, good,” said Parker, pushing back Ella’s hair to reveal the pink puckered scar that ran from the corner of her left eye straight down to her jaw line. “It looks good.”

“Proper care. The only one that gives me problems is my leg and only in the morning,” said Ella.

“Good. Well, I just want to check on you. Holler if you need anything.”

“I will. Tell Helena I said hello for me,” called out Ella as Parker stepped out into the blowing snow and got back on his snowmobile. Jaejoong stood up from the seat, wishing he could hear what they said, but he could only hear the rise and fall  of their voices. Parker looked up to see a man standing in the circular window. He looked back at Ella, surprised. She never brought people to her place up there. 

“Ella,” he shouted. “Be careful.”

“I will,” she yelled back, a bit confused at what Parker meant. 

As she closed the door and made her way across the room, Jaejoong want across the wires, down the rope she did, to meet her at the door underneath the stairs. 

“Are you hungry?” she asked when he reached her. Jaejoong’s stomach growled in response. Ella smiled and chuckled. “Come. I’ll show you where the food is.”

“Can I ask you about…Parker?”

“Yes. Park is my friend…well, my only friend. The people that come through here, much like you, are people whom I help. Parker is different. I’ve known him the six years I’ve been here. Parker is like a father to me and he is also my teacher. He taught me the finer points of defense and such,” said  Ella as they approached the kitchen. “Eat, then continue to explore. You may never know what you might find.”

“Are you going to eat?”

“Maybe later,” said Ella waving the question away. “I have work to do.” Ella left to return to her work in her greenhouse. 

No one disturbed her until she had to leave to make dinner for her and her guests. She found Yoochun going around in circles. She pointed him in the right direction before continuing on to the kitchen. She made a stop in the dining room and stared the huge fireplace to dispel the chillness of the room. Ella found that this particular fireplace heated the whole house as the fireplace was connected to the ductwork of the house.

Ella prepared a simple meal of meat, mixed rice, vegetables and a jello dish and set the table as she had the first night. Tomorrow evening they would be gone and she would go back to being alone. She had the insane urge to set them next to her, but that would risk exposure. 

At exactly eight thiry, they were all in the dining room eating the dishes she prepared.

“Do you professionally cook,” asked Junsu, inhaling the food in front of him. 

“No, I just write recipes for other people,” said Ella, with a smile. 

“Well, Jaejoong does,” announced Yoochun. Ella laughed briefly, but it hurt too much to laugh so she stopped. 

“Really?” said Ella, her eyes moving to Jaejoong, her interest piqued. She knew some about him from their conversations earlier, but she wanted more. She wanted to know how his mind worked, what made him tick, what he loved, what he hated. She wanted to know everything about him. Ella, in that very moment, knew she was in love with Jaejoong Kim. Her spoon dropped from her limp hand and clattered loudly against her plate. 

“Are you alright,” asked Jaejoong.

“Yes,” she replied, sounding as if she was choking. She cleared and stood up. “Junsu, there’s more food in the kitchen if you want some. Please excuse me.”

Ella took her plate and left quickly. Jaejoong watched her leave, a bit confused on what had just happened.

“That was interesting,” said Yoochun. Junsu left to get more food from the kitchen, voicing his agreement with Yoochun as he did. “Something’s wrong, I think.”

“Or something’s up with her. Just don’t bother her tonight. We need to be out of here by tomorrow afternoon, by the latest. We over spent our stay, I think,” said Jaejoong finishing the rather tasty meal. He got up from the table, put his dish in the kitchen, and walked up to the glass room. He had started the novel in the notebook that was on the small table that was in the room. Well into the night, he read every single word. 

Ella sat in her tower, sitting in the chair as the snow tapered off into nothing and the stars cam out to show their brilliant glory. Morticia sat in her lap, purring contently. A solemn tear rolled down her cheek, rolling down the path of her scared. She cursed the situation. The situation that took away all her opportunity for a full and happy future. The magic of love. Ella watched and waited for dawn.