Lights flashed wildly below me as people screamed my name, their cameras out to catch the spectacular moment they've all been waiting for.

I step forward.

A soft gasp leaves their lips as my foot wobbles on the thin silver wire.

They knew that all it took was one small slip up and my life would be over.

Metal poles stabbed my hands, shoulders, and nose as the white plates balanced on top clanked and wobbled with my every movement. I scoot out further, wobbling again, this time making the white plates on my nose and shoulders rattle loudly. I pause again, my eyes looking below me at the wire.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

I was halfway across.

Success was so close it was if I could reach out and grasp it in my hands. I could already hear the cheers and screams of the fans below me, "Olivia! Olivia!" They cheered wildly as I inched my way closer.

But alas, my own foot hit my ankle.

The crowd gasps for they could do nothing to save me from the deathly plummet....

"Shoot!" I curse as I lose balance and fall off the yellow line of the aged carpet. Our dinner plates burned my hands slightly as I balanced them along two cups of wine.

I look around to make sure no one saw my mistake. Nothing but portrait covered walls looked back at me. A shiver runs down my spine as my eyes stop on the painting of a siren. Her smile was beautiful but her eyes were black and hollow looking. I frown and step closer.

A man lay dead at the bottom of her rock. His body bloody and bruised as one of her hands grasped his arm. I hesitantly set the plates down on a nearby table before leaning in closer to look at the man, his body covered in tattoos. I reach out and slowly trace the Rose, "Hmph.." I hum softy and look back to the mermaids eyes.

Even now they looked more hollow than before. My fingers slowly trace up the material until they land on her eyes. I gasp at the glass like feeling. "What the-" I press into them and feel the hard cool surface.

I step back and eye the painting, a sick feeling twisting in my gut as it's cold eyes bore into mine. I quickly grab the plates and make my way into the study, but this time ignoring the lines on the carpet.

____________

My knuckles tapped the thick wooden doors before a soft, "Come in." Sounded from the inside. I press my back against the door and push it open, "I brought dinner." I smiled widely, making him break out in a soft smile. "I could smell it down the hall." He gets up from his place behind the desk to take the plates from me, easily balancing them in his big hands.

I look down at my own, daintily wrapped around the wine glasses, "I also got us drinks." I raise them and watch his lips form a frown, "You know you're pregnant, right?" He places the plates on the desk before sitting back down in his seat. My lips form a pout as I make my way over to him, "Well I was hoping since it's half demon then it would be fine!" I swirl the wine in its pretty glass solemnly. Strong hands wrapped around my waist before pulling me into a warm chest.

Even sitting, James was taller than me. I turn in his grasp and place the drinks on the desk before sitting down in his lap. He grabs my plate and fork before scooping up some potatoes, "Sorry to tell you, love." He fake pouts before bringing the fork to my mouth, which I gladly accepted with a little smile. "No it's okay.. I kinda knew better." I lay my head on his shoulder and curl in his lap, letting my legs dangle off his side. He chuckles and presses a kiss to my forehead, making my tummy flutter with a billion butterflies.

I could never get tired of his kisses.

He moves to feed me again but I take the fork and move it to his mouth, which he accepts with a small chuckle. "So how far did you get on your research?" I pick at more potatoes and watch him lick his lips, his eyes greedily eyeing the meat on his plate, "Lemme get that too.. And it's been bad." He frowns deeply before opening his mouth, instantly making him smile as I fed him a forkful of ribs and potatoes. He sighed contently, his hand coming down to hold my thigh and pull me closer.

"The books have told me nothing about any dark forces here or whatever the hell that rat was crying about." He scratches his beard as he sighs loudly, the bags under his eyes exposing how tired he truly is. I pout and feed him another forkful, earning a satisfied moan from him. I ignore how my heart sped up as I cleared my throat, "I-I noticed something weird in the hallway.. In the siren painting.." I pause with the fork in the air, making James pout again. He leans forward and bites it off, "What?" He mumbles through his full mouth making me send him a look, "Not with your mouth full.." I scold gently and he chuckles before swallowing, "Just tell me." He grabs the fork before stabbing the whole rib and bringing it to his lips, taking a big bite.

I shake my head at him, "Absolutely no manners.. And the portrait had weird eyes!" I point to my own, "They were all black and when I touched them they were hard and cold.. Like a rock." He pauses his rib eating to frown, "A Rock? The hell.." He was careful as he sat up and moved my legs around his waist, "Protect the rib." I take the fork from him and squeal as he gets up with a groan.

"Um where are we going?" I press myself tighter against him as his hands came down to hold me up by my butt. He gives it a squeeze, "We are checking out the portrait." He says in a duh tone as he carries me out the room, "You said something was fucked up and I'm gonna fix it." I look down at the floor as he walked us out the room.

"I don't think we have to do it now.." I pout and take a bite of his rib, "I wanted to eat some more.." He tapped my butt lightly before opening his mouth for me to feed him, which I did more than happily. He chuckled, "It could be a lead, baby." His eyes scan the walls carefully as we turned corners and looked down the countless halls of the estate. Every now and then tearing into our shared rib.

"That one!" I point to the siren painting and instantly feel a shiver down my spine. James set me down carefully before approaching it, his eyes narrowing as he leaned in closer,"What the-" His finger pushed through the hollow eyes to tap against what sounded like glass.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

"I'm taking it down." He didn't wait for an answer before he yanked it off the wall. I gasp and look at the torn wallpaper, "James! The wall-..paper?" My eyes landed on a cut out hole in the wall, "What the heck is that?" A camera sat neatly tucked away in the pocket.

I reach up to touch it but James pushes my hand down, "Let me get it.. In case it's rigged or something crazy.." He looks into the hole, checking it out for a minute before hesitantly taking it out of its resting place.

Dust covered the top but the camera lense was still clean.

"I don't know who put this here but we need to look at the tapes."