Chapter 3

We made our way to my old apartment, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, almost like flying. We finally stopped at my mothers home; I could smell her clearly. What used to be a faint scent of chocolate chip cookies was now adelicious odor I couldn't ignore.

Through the kitchen window I could see her black hair and small frame, much like mine, hunched over her kitchen table with posters of many size's and shapes. With my new eyesight I could see they had my picture on them, and in large, black lettering:

Have you seen this girl?

Name: Bree

Age: 15, almost 16

If you see her please contact me at 555-3127

After seeing these poster, I realized how bad an idea this was, coming to see my mother again. As I watched her, I noticed things I had never seen in her before I had been bitten; her eyes had huge bags under them, I could see graying hairs start to grow.

As I watched her I realized Riley was watching me with a curious look on his face, much like I was a math problem he couldn't figure out.

"Riley," I said turning to him, "How do we get home?" I wanted, no needed, to get out of her before my mother's scent became too much for me to handle.

"Follow me, my lady," he said giving me a brilliant smile and holding his arm out for me to take. Gently taking it, he lead me back to the slums of Seattle, but then, instead of taking me back to the hell hole I had been in, he kept leading me until we were out of the city and headed towards one of the many state parks surronding the area.

Suddenly, we came upon a huge brick mansion that seemed to be falling apart at the seams; mold and ivy were growing everywhere and half the windows were missing or broken. Riley lead me around to the back cellar door and, with a little flourish, opened the door.

Cautiously entering, I went down the stairs and began to hear the sounds of many other vampires fighting and yelling at each other from below. At the doorway I stopped and peaked my head in only to see sheer madness and destruction.

There were about thirty other vampires, some trying to tear each other apart, while others seemed to be hiding in corners or talking almost civilly, and yet others seemed to just be trying to hide behind furniture reading or listening to music or playing games.

Behind me Riley coughed loudly, gathering everyone's attention, "Everyone, this is Bree. She's new. Don't rip off her limbs, she doesn't know how to reattach them yet."

They all stared at me, and seemed to be sizing me up almost, a big black haired man looked at me as if I was new prey and he was the hunter. Riley put his hand on my shoulder and whispered in my ear, "Don't worry, they can't hurt you, I'll make sure. esides, we've still got time. Would you like me to show you the rest of the house?"

I turned,nodding my head vigiorsly, and followed him through the room to another set of stairs that lead to the rest of the house.

Upstairs seemed to be in better condition despite what the outside seemed to show. We came into a dining to see a large table covered in a white table cloth and dishes scattered on it. Above, I saw a large crystal chandelier that had definitely taken some abuse of some sort.

"This was built about fifty-years earlier by someone who made their living by cutting down trees and producing huge amounts of lumber. He wanted to move his entire family out of the city to try and get away from the city because he thought it was going downhill fast." Riley explained taking my hand and leading me upstairs and showing me the different bedrooms. One was undoubtedly a little girls room, apparent from the miniature kitchen and dolls scattered on the floor. I leaned down to get a better look at the kitchen and realized that the stove was actually real, I then remembered wanting something along the lines of it when I was four and smiled to myself. I turned to see Riley grinning at me, he then took my hand and showed the remaining rooms, including a master bedroom with a goose feather mattress and a bathroom with a bathtub big enough for me to take a nap in.

"So let me get this straight, the guy built this huge mansion right? Well then why is it deserted like this?" I asked as Riley lead me back to the first floor and began showing me rooms down there.

"Well from what I've heard his lumber business took a bad turn and he lost his most of his money, so, to pay off his debts, he sold this place and the land around it to the state park owners. No one knows where he and his family went after that but most of the rumors that I've heard are that they all packed up and moved east to be with their family."

He then looked at his watch and up at me, " Almost sunrise, we better head down to the basement. I'll finish the tour tomorrow, you'll love the ballroom," he said with a wink and a smile. He then took my hand and lead me down to the basement just as the sun came up.