Chapter THREE

Unsurprisingly Kate didn't get a hint of sleep, not as long as the moon hung high on the sky. What she did get was a beautiful room, with dark wooden furniture, perhaps the largest bed she had ever seen, and view people would kill for. Additionally she got unbreakable 'vampire friendly' UV glass, a locked door, and a bathroom with every luxury known to man, except a toilet. In short, she was in a vampire house, in a vampire room, with vampires next door, and she had no means of escape. Maybe she was too quick to think she had a chance of surviving this. Still as she saw the sun rise, and added the locks the door had on the inside she allowed herself to fall into the dreaming.

When she next opened her eyes and looked outside she wished she had learned to tell time by the setting of the sun, but it was not a talent she had. Hence she could only guess it was afternoon, whether late or early she had no idea. She tended to sleep between six and eight hours per night, but at the moment she had no clue how long she had slept. It could have been twelve or two. She was exhausted. But she supposed fearing for ones life tended to have such an affect.

Not knowing what else to do she went over to the door, unlashed it, and pulled on the handles. Godric had locked it when he left her, and she had no reason to suspect it to be open now, but there was nothing else to do. And to her surprise it opened, allowing her entrance to a long abandoned corridor.

The door next to hers was locked, as was the door next to that one. But the door after that clicked open easily as she pushed down the handle. What awaited her on the other side was something straight out of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. The library was enormous, on the shelves were thick leather bound volumes of books in all possible languages and genre. If her old university had had anything even remotely like it she would have taken that phd her parents had lobbied for. Hell, she would never have left the country. She could spend years in this room, visiting every place in the world, and in others, from within these very walls. No, the thought had barely passed though her thoughts before she dismissed it. Curiosity would have gotten the better of her, she would want to see if the places really were anything like in the books. If they weren't she needed to know, and if they were she wanted to see it. She still remembered the first time her parents had taken her to Oxford, she had just seen the first Harry Potter movie and the city had made her speechless. She had walked up a Hogwarts staircase! Likewise she remembered reading Jane Austen and then revisiting the places she wrote about in her hometown. It had been amazing. No, she needed both worlds, both the real and the imagined literary ones.

Technically she knew she should be trying to find her way out of the manor and run as fast as her feet could carry her, but she didn't seem able to force her feet to move in the direction of the door. Instead she picked up a first edition copy of the Huxley's Brave New World. The book that had made her choose to study political science in the first place. And before she knew it she was back in the fascinating and frightening world of Lenina, Bernard, and John. She didn't leave it until she was more than halfway though the book and found Godric studying her from the doorway.

"I see you found my library, thank you for not attempting to run." She didn't like his word choice, attempting, but decided not to question it.

"What sort of example would that set. Besides this will all be solved in a few minutes anyway, if it hasn't already. Have you called Jack?"

"I spoke with his maker."

"And?"

"Jack is currently out of reach."

"Unless he is in a cave somewhere, or visiting the south or northpole, nothing is out of range now days." She said, pointing out the unlikelihood of that being the case.

"It seems he is being punished. He does not have a tongue at the moment. This makes communication difficult. It will grow back in a fortnight."

"They took his tongue, why? How?" She asked genuinely horrified.

"It was not my place to ask, I would assume he spoke when he should not have." Godric reasoned calmly as if it was an every day occurrence.

"They tore out his tongue because he spoke without permission?" She asked disbelievingly, then shook her head. "I don't want to know. Can't he write?"

"He is chained up. I am afraid I cannot demand his release, however temporary, without explaining the circumstances. And such revelations would not be in your best interest."

"Why would it not be in my best interest if you tell Jack's maker why you need to talk with him? I don't understand, I don't understand any of this!" She all but yelled, before gathering her wits about he. "My flight to Mexico leaves next Saturday, from San Francisco. The Monday after I fly to Cuba. I can't stay here two weeks. I am going to be on those flights. I didn't work all though uni for this trip just to get stuck in Texas. Let me go."

"I will reimburse you for any financial losses. And while you are here you will have every luxury made available to you."

"Except a toilet." She muttered, not really thinking at all. She really should watch that mouth of hers, her father always said she was a smart mouth.

"Forgive me, I did not think." Godric apologized, realizing his mistake. "That room is the only one with a lock on both sides. I thought you would like to have room reinforced so it was strong enough to withstand even vampires."

"Is that why you locked me in, for my safety?" She asked bitterly.

"I," He seemed stumped for a second before collecting himself. "I needed to insure you would not leave during the day. But I forgot to inform the maid not to clean the room during the day, hence it was unlocked when you awoke. But I will have a toilet installed immediately."

"Or you could just let me go?" She tried, he only shook his head sadly.

"I am sorry. I try to treat humans with respect; I want our races to live in harmony. But some times desperate measures must be taken to ensure such a future." He seemed genuine and that made her silent for a few seconds.

"What are my circumstances?" She suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

"Circumstances?" He echoed questioningly.

"You said explaining my circumstances was not in my best interest. What circumstances?"

"Usually we have ways of dealing with humans such as yourself, that see things they should not. These methods do not work with you."

"How do you know? Have you tried?" She asked.

"Yes." He smiled, seeming amused.

"When? How?"

"That is not for you to know. Now, are you hungry?" He asked, changing the subject, and as if magic she suddenly felt starving.

"Yes."

"Then, would you allow me to take you out for dinner? We do not have much in ways of human food here, I am afraid. Do you have any preferences?"

"Don't you have more important things to do? Cowboy made it seem like you were his…" She fished for the right word. "superior?"

"Not tonight. I hear sushi is popular among urban youth?" He suggested in such a round about way she had to smile.

"I like sushi." She said, making him smile in return as if he had gotten a particularly hard question right.

"I will call Thomas for a recommendation." He told her, and she let him although she had no idea who Thomas was. Perhaps his human? James had told her Jack had a 'human' who lived with him. But he had never really explained what it meant. In her more morbid moments she had imagined Jack's human as a convenient meal that was always at hand. But James had assured it that wasn't it at all. She had only half believed him.

"Kathryn?" Godric's questioning voice brought her out from her reverie.

"You can call me Kate." She told him. "Only my flatmate calls me Kathryn, and that is only because he sister has the same name, and they call her Kate. She gave me a choice between my name or Kat. I am not a feline, hence Kathryn."

"Kate." He echoed, making her smile. He was kind of cute. He could have been someone's slightly dorky but extremely cute younger brother.

"So, where are we going?"

"Itadakimas" He said. "Thomas said it was the best in the city, he is arranging a table for as we speak. Please." He gestured towards the door.

"It's not posh or anything right? You are aware that I am wearing my PJ top and jeans. I am barely dressed for Burger King."

"I will have your belongings brought here tonight. Perhaps you would be more comfortable if we stop and buy a new shirt on the way to the restaurant?"

She thought about her wallet in her bag back in her motel room and shook her head. "You know what, I am not that hungry." She told him, and as if to prove her wrong her stomach chose that moment to give a loud roar. "Okay, so that is not true." She amended. "But the cowboy didn't feel the need to let me grab my bag, meaning no money for food or cloths."

"Is it not customary for the man to pay? I have not spent much time in the company of humans in the last few years. If you prefer we could stop by your motel instead?"

"Please." She agreed quickly.

As they reached the car Godric slid into the driver's seat, only for them to switch within a few minutes as it became clear that Kate's directions were more than lacking, and she still didn't remember the actual name of the street her motel was located on. Not that she had ever been more uncomfortable driving a car before, seeing how Godric seemed to take great interest in watching her drive.

"What?" She finally asked. "Do I have something on my face?"

"No, I rarely sit in this seat. I have not watched anyone drive in quite some time. I am either driven or drive. This is… new."

"Okay…" She said uncomfortably, deciding to go for a subject change. "So, when you are not babysitting humans or ordering vampires about. What do you do? Do you have a job?"

"I am afraid I do not have the time. Not many in my position do. Though my son-"

"You have son?" She almost yelled in surprise. Maybe she had been to quick to judge his age. "How old were you when you had him? You don't look more then 17 at most."

"He is my vampire son, I made him." He explained, seeming confounded by her reaction.

"Sorry."

"He has the same position I do in our community, though he runs a human-vampire club in Louisiana."

"Fangtasia?" She asked, hoping she was wrong.

"Is it famous?" He inquired politely. "He told me it is fairly successful.

"I went with some friends when I passed though Shreveport. It was… interesting."

"You did not like it?" He guessed.

"It's very… cliché. I don't see the point of a place like that… I mean Jack comes with us to normal pubs sometimes. I don't know him too well, but I can't imagine him going to a place like that by his own free will." She explained, feeling slightly awkward. It felt like naming Jack was the same thing as name-dropping, which was ridiculous. She had never bragged about knowing him in any way. In fact she tended to avoid mentioning him out of fear that someone would ask her to bring him along. He was fine in a group but she had no intention of starting hanging out with him without James to buffer.

"It is more for the humans than the vampires." Godric confessed. "Tourism, like your ghost tour."

TBC…