The first time Cassie met Mircea it had been snowing. Unlike most children she was not put to bed when the sun went down. Antonio wanted her awake half the night and asleep half the day. Eugenie had given her a coat for Christmas trimmed with ermine and Rafe had put violets on her pillow while she had been sleeping. Despite this the tension in the house made her nervous.
Rafe had disappeared along with Eugenie and most of the senior vampires in the household. Only a few meals were wandering around the hallways in their purple tunics but Cassie arrogantly ignored them as she had been taught.
The entrance hall had an ornate mirror that Cassie had to stand on a hall table to look into. She never would have dared if there wasn't a family meeting on but she hauled herself onto the table to look at her new coat. As she straightened she saw her rather pale sickly looking face and her velvety blue coat. But she stared at the girl standing next to her in the mirror.
She had dark hair and dark skin and a cheap looking summer dress. The girl glanced at her distractedly and went back to studying something in her hand. Cassie waved and the girl looked up again and waved her hand once and sneered.
Cassie felt her face grow hot and her mirror face's mouth wobbled and turned down. She jumped recklessly off the table missing the girl in the mirror's shocked expression and in a fit of self-pity ran out the front door and into the snow.
"Come back!" calls a young voice. She falls over in surprise and the front of her coat is wet with snow. Most of the transparent people don't talk to her. She staggers up and the mirror girl runs right up to her and ineffectually tries to knock the snow off her coat.
"Stop!" Cassie protests as the ghostly arm goes through her shoulder for the third time. The girl sighs and stops, "I thought you were a vampire," she said. Cassie thinks of the sadistic Christina in the body of a child.
The mirror girl looks different from anyone she has ever seen. It isn't her tea coloured skin, many of Antonio's vampires have different skin colours. Cassie realises suddenly she is the only little girl she has met. She feels shy and hopeful suddenly and says, "What's your name? I'm Cassandra Palmer."
"Laura Ali Qutbar," said the little girl. Her eyes flicker to Cassie's saint medallion and Cassie beams and takes it off without having to undo the clasp. "Here you wear it." She says and holds it out. Laura hesitates and opens her mouth but then nods and stands still as Cassie drops it over her head. It drops straight through her body and into the snow.
"What are you doing?" says a voice and Cassie and Laura gasp and turn around. A man with dark hair and dark eyes and pale skin is looking at them both quizzically. No he's only looking at Cassie.
"Er," Cassie says and bends down and grasps the medallion which is now cold and wet and puts it back around her neck.
The gentleman is smiling. He tugs up his trousers and easily crouches down to look at it. "St Agatha" he says and his voice has a strange dark accent that Cassie can't place. He clicks in disapproval when he sees she is not wearing any shoes and lifts her up. Normally the vampires pick her up like a sack of potatoes to move her someplace else or pull her backwards by the scruff of her neck like a cat but the gentleman carries her like Rafe carries her so that she is seated on his hip. He smells of expensive tobacco and coffee and there is a rich whisky smell on his breath. Cassie's heart flutters and she turns to see what Laura makes of this but the mirror girl is gone.
Eugenie punishes her for getting her clothes dirty and Cassie can still taste the bitter soap an hour after while she is having a bath. Eugenie is scrubbing her arms with a washcloth and Cassie says "I saw another little girl today in the mirror."
Eugenie raises her eyebrows which are copper red like her hair and says drily "you're a little old for make-believe."
"No I really did," said Cassie petulantly. "I wanted her to wear my St Agatha but it fell right through her."
Eugenie's hands still and Cassie belatedly remembers Eugenie is a devout protestant and hates the fact Cassie is being brought up Catholic. She shows no emotion and matins of course of in front of Antonio (he makes her go because he thinks it's funny) but occasionally as she dresses Cassie for the day her lips thin as she puts the St Agatha on her. That for Eugenie is practically screaming in rage and hurling it on the floor.
But the Eugenie said "When did this happen? Really Cassie? Are you sure it wasn't a seeing?"
"No!" said Cassie. "She's here in this house. I saw her."
Eugenie mechanically began washing Cassie's arm again and said casually, "I don't think you should mention to anyone you can see another girl, Cassie."
Cassie turned around to look at her but Eugenie's face was impassive again. But Cassie thought she looked unhappy.
"I promise I won't tell anyone," she said.