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Chapter 3: Collinwood Corridors
Barnabas' black eyes secretly sneaked glances back at Eve, as he led the gothic female around the sombre, whimsical corridors of Collinwood.
He had an odd sense of déjà vu, as if he'd been and done this all before... It was like he was the young, human Master Collins again, showing one of his new employees around the manor, which... he kind of was. Only, obviously he wasn't actually human, unfortunately.
He held a single wax candle in one bony hand, the other hovering around it as an oxygen shield.
Eve cautiously followed him, unsure of whether she was doing the right thing, following a man as such as Mr Collins in a secluded, quiet corridor alone, when she knew next to nothing about him. She didn't what to make of him... he had an edge about him... whether it was a good edge, or an evil edge, she didn't know... yet.
The mysterious man had his back to her, his pale, greyish neck showing from under his shirt's opal collar; his head was lowered down, focusing on the shadowy surface of the floor.
The floorboards crudely creaked as the two of them stepped on each one, the small sound echoed off of the walls, filling the great hallway.
Feeling an intense sense of awkward, uncomforting silence (minus the creaking), Eve gradually took her sapphire eyes from the back of his clear skin neck, in order to observe the old fashioned panelled walls around her.
Looking round... she could spot thin strips of light poking into the room every few metres... Presumably that's where the windows were, since the light was trying to break through from under the thick curtains covering the glass pane.
Some windows were even boarded up... nailed shut... or had been blocked by large square antiques.
Why? Why was someone so condemned to the dark? She could understand if someone had some sort of sun zapping disease... or... No. No, what was the chance that vamps were running Collinsport too? Ha, a fat chance, that's what. And hey, why the hell would they set up in Collinwood?! And what about Barnabas... He doesn't seem to be a 'Vampy' type, does he?
Ignoring this disturbing note, she glanced at the pieces of wall in between. There were photos and expensive arty paintings hanging from the ebony panelled walls, that she couldn't quite study due to the lack of light.. But she could tell the painted images were worth a lot, she could smell the old, damp smell of the paints from a passing waft.
Barnabas halted abruptly, causing her to bump into him. She jumped and gasped, but he didn't seem to register her close proximity, and carried on regardless. He took one pace to a arched doorway to their left, turning himself back to her.
He glanced at her politely, coal eyes soft and comforting.
"This shall be your chamber Miss Rosser," the handsome, well defined man said, grabbing hold of the chrome doorknob and gently rotating the mechanism, golden candle light giving his features a tanned, yellowy glow; which caught Eve's attention fairly quickly. "Unless, of course, you have any queries about the living space provided."
He opened the door, slowly facing away from her, pitch black darkness the only visible thing from where they were standing.
Barnabas entered first, snuffing out the candle immediately on entrance. Eve gradually and reluctantly followed.
She swallowed when the heavy arched door slammed shut behind her, only a raven cawing blindfold of black greeted her, causing her to stand quiet, tense and still.
She heard the unusual, shadow of a man shuffling around, his nonchalant dense footsteps giving his movement away, along with the subdued, steady breathing.
In a flickering flash, a burst of light lighted the room, every electric light in the room revealing the contents to all those there to view.
Eve practically choked at the sight, not believing what she was seeing.
"Wha? I... Wow!" she exclaimed, laughing with disbelief. She squealed, not realising what she was doing.
Barnabas turned at the sound, giving her a warm, small smile. He chuckled hoarsely as she began to skip around the bedroom, glee filling her eyes luminous eyes.
"Is the chamber to your liking?" he asked with another chuckle.
Eve nodded several times enthusiastically, grinning inanely. She placed her laced striped glove hands over her mouth to stop herself from squealing again. The room was... magnificent!
It had to be at least three times the size of her old bedroom... maybe four! The walls were painted a thick, scarlet red, with a glistening silver coating on top. The four poster bed had a chunky, jet wooden frame with an old antique rug of some kind, snugly placed at its feet. The onyx velvet curtains were drawn over all four castle-like windows, each arch bordered with smoky grey stone. Everything was just... ideal.
Eve began to wander further away from Barnabas, gawping at the gothic-ness of everything, in every detail there was something she absolutely adored.
Barnabas watched as she studied everything. He observed, fascinated by how brilliant a creature Eve was. Happy emotions struck her at all angles, each one adding to her twisted, undeniable beauty.
He didn't know if she'd seen him staring intently at her, but even if she had noticed, he didn't find himself taking his eyes away in a hurry.
Eve Rosser had Barnabas Collins, quite literally, mesmerized.
Her hypnotic cyan eyes lit up as she resumed to giggle excitedly, skipping joyously about the place. She turned to face him, smiling ecstatically, oblivious to the fact he was fixated on her.
Their eyes met, blue versus black; finally Barnabas was able to study her with close curiosity, and memorize her dark, oddly enticing features in utter complete detail.
Her coal dyed hair had a silky shine as light bounced from it, fringe square and boxing around her face. The rest of her straight, healthy locks were tied up and pinned back into a high, cute pony tail. This allowed her fairly pale neck to be exposed to the open, attracting a lot of Barnabas senses...
Her tropical sea blotted eyes were framed with smoky black eye shadow and liner, her eyes piercing through the darkness like icy winter daggers. Her cherry red lips were sweet, yet modest, her happy sealed smile stopping the slowness of time, and for Barnabas the time he had was eternal, and gradual... but in those moments, it was almost an epiphany- sudden, a new dawn on something so great.
"This... it's amazing! I had no idea..."Eve cried, pausing and then letting her smile fall into a disappointed line. "...There's no way I can afford to rent this, Mr Collins."
Barnabas shook his head, her voice clicking him from his daze. He frowned as he repeated her words in his brain, feeling rather hurt.
"Miss Rosser," his low, sensitive voice hoarsely addressed. "I do not expect so much as a penny from you. You are to live here free of charge, your employment is all I desire."
'Liar,' Barnabas thought, swallowing but keeping his steady sane emotion.
A little smile crept up on Eve's lips again.
"Really? So I can like... receive this room as a kinda payment then?"
"I suppose."
"Whoa... That's freaking awesome!"
She sighed happily, taking another joyous look at the bedchamber, imagining herself writing, or drawing, at the spindly desk by one of the windows... or flinging herself down on the bed as she talked to Michael on her cell phone...
"Do I start work tonight, then?" she questioned dreamily, lost in her thoughts and imagination.
"Hm?" Barnabas replied, clearly snapping out of some sort of trance.
She turned around, facing him.
"Work Mr Collins. Do I start tonight?" Eve repeated, studying his mysterious, secret bearing orbs (which were now averted to the floor).
The eyes grew in surprise suddenly.
"Work? Engage in working this evening?! No, no Miss Rosser. Of course not! You must be awfully exhausted from your prolonged journey. You are to rest this evening..."
"Oh.. OK. Are y'sure? I mean... aren't you short staffed?"
"Yes, however business will manage another night without you, my dear. I assure you."
"OK then. So... I guess I've nothing to do besides unpacking now... and calling home obviously," she said, more to herself than to him.
Barnabas' body stiffened, and he swallowed, feeling apprehensive so his throat was dry. She noticed the change in his body language and frowned as he blushed a pink colour, his eyes darting around nervously.
"M-Miss Rosser?" he started, stuttering and looking everywhere but at her (Eve could tell by the way he was acting that his thoughts had accidentally poured out of his lively mouth). "If you do i-indeed have an hour or two to spare, w-would you..." - Eve glared at him, already feeling flattered-"... I will be dining a precisely eight, I would be..."
"Of course I'll join you, Mr Collins." Eve butted in, knowing he was so nervous that he would probably never get it out.
He nodded, smiling amusedly. "Thank you..."
"If you are need of an activity this afternoon, as suggestion I would recommend that you explore Collinsport, I believe it would be a great help." he continued, still blushing.
Before she could answer, he's swiftly turned toward the door-
"Th-Thank you, Mr Collins, I will! W-Where are you going?"
"The East wing," he replied, not facing her. "However prior to that event, I seem to recall that you had verbally expressed that you bare several pieces of luggage, did you not?"
Eve couldn't help but smile at that... He most certainly was old fashioned spoken, let alone English... She did find it very cute, how she actually to decipher his sentences to understand him.
"Uh... you mean you wanna bring them here for me?" she said in a shy voice.
"No," he replied with smirk as he rotated back to face her again. "I was merely suggesting that we are to carry one each... However, if this is a challenge you have set for me Miss Rosser, I shall greatly accept said challenge."
She laughed and watched as his smirk grew.
"Relax yourself, my dear. I shall fetch them for you," he said, smiling. She gasped as he was suddenly right in front of her, grabbing her wrist with impeccable speed... Since when had he been there- right in front of her? It was like he had been a blur and then was stood directly before her...
His hands felt like a sub-zero temperature compared to her own body heat; he raised the back of her hand to his pale, well defined lips. She fluttered her eyes as his soft, cool lips left a freezing cold peck on her heated skin. He allowed her arm to carefully drop back to her side and smiled again.
With that, Barnabas left, calmly and coolly, completely comfortable... and still smiling.
The door shut softly behind him.
Eve was in shock... what- what had just happened?
The last hour had gone so quick... So much had happened. Yet she still knew so little about the place she now lived in... so little about the family she worked for... so little about Barnabas Collins...
She frowned and brought her right hand to her eyes, looking at the part of skin where Barnabas' lips had planted a sweet, polite kiss. She touched it with her other hand's fingertips...
"Shit!" she cursed in a gasp, feeling as if her own skin had burnt her... Her fingertips were now freezing, as if they had been burnt with ice rather than fire.
She dropped her left hand, looking back at the one Barnabas had kissed.
She studied it in wonder, as if it was a firework, about to burst into dynamic flames any minute...
Obviously it didn't...
In fact, now she looked at her skin, and the remnants of the kiss had gone, all feeling of freezing burns left her... Just, vanished.
Eve swallowed, glaring at the door Barnabas had just recently walked out of.
Already she knew Barnabas had secret.
But the question was, what was it?
Sighing and shaking the weirdness away, she turned away and pulled out her cell phone from her trench coat pocket.
Maybe a call to the guys in Morganville would help wash away all feelings of doubt?
She smiled and dialled the number, even though she already had it on speed dial. As soon as Shane picked up, she started smiling, laughing as he started to joke around.
No matter how weird life was to be in Collinsport, she could always count on the gang in Morganville to be there, as another ear to talk to...
But weird was going to be an understatement.
And so was freaking disturbing.