Chapter 4

As a result of Kol's domestic game hunting, dinner that evening included a spit-roasted chicken. There were also boiled potatoes, carrots and green beans. No one had made bread or churned butter, but there were decent coffee, milk and cream. They ate by the light of two candles on the table and conversation was reasonably companionable.

Afterward, the two women assumed the task of washing dishes and pots in water they had heated. They had agreed that most of the kitchen duties were going to fall on them. Still, the men had to chop and bring in wood and help retrieve vegetables from the garden and buckets of water from the well. They had to help with care of the animals. If the four of them ended up spending much time on the small farm, they would fall into a regular routine.

Freya was more weary than the others and after one game of cards, she excused herself and went up the stairs, her way lighted by the candle she carried.

At one point Kol said, "I didn't expect to find myself, in this day and age, going back to the days of yore. No electricity. No television, cell phones, computers, video games or even air conditioning. No coffee maker."

"No refrigeration," Rebekah added. She knew she would miss being able to preserve foods. She knew she would miss being able to keep foods fresh for more than a couple of days.

"I miss electric lighting the most," Elijah admitted. He loved to read, but not particularly by candlelight. He had noted that there was a good supply of candles in the pantry, but that didn't mean they should use them up too quickly.

Eventually they all went up the stairs, each carrying a candle in a holder. As vampires, they still had their excellent eyesight, but already they were relying on candles. It seemed the civilized thing to do. Of the four bedrooms, the ones the men were to use faced south to the back yard, while the ones the two women had chosen faced north to the flower garden.

Kol set his candle on the bedside stand and looked around. There were sheets and a pretty quilt on the bed. There were two pillows, since the bed could hold two adults who slept close together. He was reminded that in times long past, it was not unusual for two men or two women to share a bed, not because they were gay, but because it made more sense than one sleeping on the floor. Of course, in times past, to share a bed meant risking picking up fleas or lice, especially if a person didn't know his bedmate.

"Why am I even thinking that," Kol fussed at himself. "No one is in this room but me." And yet, he again felt he was not alone. The candle flickered in some small air movement and cast wavering shadows. "You better not be in here," he growled aloud, looking around for some sign of more movement. He gave a start and cursed as something small fell off the dresser. "Who are you? What are you?" He was fearful and felt a rush of adrenaline, but showed it with anger.

Elijah, in the adjacent room, heard Kol talking to someone. His first thought was that it was to one of their sisters, but he changed his mind when he heard Kol's last two questions. Leaving his own room, the older brother went to Kol's door and knocked softly.

"Kol? May I come in?"

"Sure. Come on in," Kol said, relieved to have a real person in his room.

Elijah opened the door and stepped inside. No one was there except the younger brother. "With whom were you speaking?"

"No one. Just myself."

"That is unlike you. It is warm in here. Why not open the window?" Elijah was sure Kol was nervous about something. He watched his brother go to one of the windows and raise the lower half. The air outside was still and the curtains did not sway in any breeze, and yet, the candle flickered and went out.

"Damn! Did you see what happened, Elijah? That was no breeze from the window."

"What are you saying?"

"We damn well are not alone in this room!"

They could see with their vampire eyesight as well as from moonlight shining into the windows. Elijah looked around, but saw nothing. He tried to sense another being, but did not detect anything he could call a spirit or ghost or invisible person. If Kol could sense it, then that explained why he had seemed tense earlier.

By this time, their voices had aroused Rebekah's curiosity and she arrived at the door.

"What are you two talking about in the dark?"

"There's a ghost or something here," Kol told her. "I keep feeling its presence or seeing something it's doing."

"Really?" She looked around the moonlit room, but neither saw nor felt anything.

"I'm telling you the truth!"

"I'm not doubting you, Kol. I've been wondering what happened to the woman who was supposed to live here. Her animals are all here, but where is she? She wouldn't abandon her animals."

"Perhaps something happened to her," Elijah suggested. "Assuming that she could go to a nearby town for supplies, perhaps she was gone from here when Freya imagined this place."

"Or she died here and now is a ghost," Kol added.

"That is always a possibility, although we have found no body," Elijah agreed.

"She could be buried under a rose bush," Kol suggested half-jokingly. Finally someone was believing him!

"One of the bushes did look unhealthy," Rebekah agreed.

"Let us not jump to conclusions. Tomorrow we can search the place more carefully," Elijah said. "For now, let us retire."

"Easy for you to say! You don't have something haunting your room."

"Alright, Kol. Do you want me to stay in here with you or do you want to come to my room?"

"I'm not a small child afraid of the dark!"

"Then what do you want to do? Tell me." Elijah sometimes was impatient with his youngest brother.

Kol shook his head. He was embarrassed and knew he was indeed acting like a child afraid of the dark. But it was not the dark he was afraid of. He hesitated to answer because what he wanted was for the spirit to be gone.

"Look, your bed accommodates two people," the older brother said. "I'll share the bed with you. Maybe I will see this poltergeist that you see."

"I don't see it. I feel it. And I'd feel like a fool having you sleep with me."

"Say yes or I am off to my own bed."

Something brushed Kol's pants leg and he gasped, jerking his leg away. Neither Rebekah nor Elijah saw or felt anything.

"Alright. Alright. Stay with me," Kol said nervously. "Stay awake and watch for this damned thing." He knew he could go downstairs to the parlor or the kitchen, anywhere, but he suspected that the spirit would go with him. "Why me? What does it want with me?"

"I don't know," Rebekah said, concerned, but she added, "Better you than me." She turned and left the room, ignoring a profanity Kol muttered after her.

"I shall get the candle from my room," Elijah said and he did this. He didn't bother to light the other candle and after he and his brother had undressed except for their underwear, he put out the flame. The bed was what would be called a "double" in modern times, so it was not as roomy as a queen- or king-sized bed. In addition, it sagged in the middle. Kol turned on his side with his brother behind him, but Elijah stayed on his back, his eyes open. He hoped to get some sign of the thing that was haunting Kol.

As time passed and nothing happened, he fell asleep too. Then Kol suddenly woke with a yelp, and jumped out of bed. His foot tangled in the sheet and he fell to the floor with a loud thump.

"What?" Elijah asked, waking instantly as he saw only his brother's foot still on the bed. He leaned across the bed and stared down at Kol. "What happened? Were you dreaming?"

"No! Something touched my foot! Did you?"

"No, I did not. The window is still open and there is a slight breeze now. Perhaps it ruffled the sheet."

"I don't know. Maybe." The younger brother kicked his foot free and got up, crossing the room to close the window. There was a rag rug on the floor, lying flat, but somehow the edge of it lifted to trip him up. He fell flat on the floor with a louder thump and swore loudly.

This time both Rebekah and Freya appeared at the open bedroom door. "What is going on in here?" the younger sister asked.

"Why are both of you in here?" Freya asked, having slept through the earlier conversation. Except for the moonlight, she would not have been able to see anything in the dark room.

Elijah remained in bed, the sheet covering him from the hips down.

Kol managed rather ungracefully to regain his feet. "Freya, you are a witch," he raged. "Tell me what the hell is in this room besides us."

There was a long moment of silence as she concentrated while the other three stared at her. "I'm sorry, but I don't sense anything. Is that what is going on? You think there really is a ghost or something in the house?"

"There is! There is!" He was really angry and wanted to tear apart whatever was haunting him.

"It may have gone out the window," Freya said. "Close it, so 'whatever' can't come back in." She was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and she watched as he slammed the window down. "Close this bedroom door after we leave so it can't come back in." She didn't mention that spirits could often pass through walls.

In a moment the two girl left, the door was closed and a nervous Kol got back on the bed.

"You slept for a while," Elijah said. "In fact, so did I."

"You were supposed to be watching over me, big brother." He pulled the sheet up after looking under it.

"I was, but nothing was happening. I was so bored, I fell asleep. Chances are I would not have noticed something tickling your feet anyway. Assuming we are now alone, go back to sleep."

"Easier said than done."

"Try. It will be dawn soon." He could see that the moon had moved over to the western sky. Since it was a nearly-full moon, that meant the sun was not far from rising in the east. In a few minutes, he could tell his brother had dropped off to sleep. Closing his eyes, he too decided to get a little more sleep himself. He hoped the 'whatever' had gone out the window.

A/N Is the spirit the missing woman or something else? We shall see. Hope you all liked this chapter. Thanks for reading.