Chapter 7

"Morning" Aunt Dottie's cheerful voice rings through my foggy mind. I slowly open my eyes then snap them shut at the bright sunlight. I let out a groan and pull the covers over my head. Aunt Dottie's daily routine of ripping the curtains apart to let the cheery sunlight in is getting painful. I felt Aunt Dottie's hands reach down to the comforter and ball it up in fists. Then aunt Dottie rips it away from my body. I let out a yelp and curl into a ball.

"Please go away..." I mumble into my pillow.

"Woah... Where's your usual give me five more minutes?" Aunt Dottie laughs. I roll over and look up at her platinum blonde hair.

"I'm to tired for just five minutes." I whisper. She stares down at me with a startled look... Or maybe disturb.

"Okay... I get that you're...tired but it's only the second day of school. So get your butt moving." Aunt Dottie says. I sigh then sit up. She winks at me with a grin.

"That's my girl." Aunt Dottie says leaving my room. I slowly drag myself out bed then walk out of my room, grabbing my towel on my way out. My bare feet slide against the small bristles of the hallway runner rug. After I walk into the bathroom I grab my tooth brush, lay some paste on it then start scrubbing my teeth. When I rinsed out my mouth I turned on the shower then hop in. I dunk my head under the warm water, letting my hair get wet. After a minute I felt something heavy and wet stick to my entire body. I rub my eyes and open them.

"Crud!" I partially scream. I stop the running water and step out in my now soaking wet pjs. I sigh looking at my souvenir pink t-shirt with big white letters of LA printed on it. Also my emerald green and white plaid shorts and my mismatch knee high orange and red socks. Knocking sounds at the door and I push back the wet hair out of my face.

"Lily? Is everything alright?" Aunt Dottie's voice sounds from the other side of the old door. I walk over to the door and unlock it. The click sounds and I pull the door open to a reveal a surprised aunt Dottie with her light blue eyes almost popping out of her head. She lets out a snort before breaking out laughing. I hear somebody else's laughter and lean out the doorway to see Tony pointing and laughing at me.

"Oh my gosh... Wha... What happened?!" Aunt Dottie gasps out in between laughs, leaning on the door frame for support. I let out a sigh and cross my arms over my chest.

"Oh my god, Lily this is the most awesome thing you ever did!" Tony yells falling backwards onto the hallway runner.

"O-oh! Li-ily... Ha! Ahahaha! C-clean yourself up and g-get ready!" Aunt Dottie laughs hysterically. I slam the door shut and take another shower. This time with my pjs off. When I come back out the hallway is empty and I trot to my room in my towel. As quickly as I can I slide on a pair of denim shorts with white lace sewn on the sides and a white long sleeve off the shoulder shirt. Lately all I have been wearing is white tops... I'll try to fix that tomorrow. I grab a thin white head band and some black toms. I run down the stairs, and of course I fell on my butt on the last step. I stand up and run into the kitchen, running past a ready aunt Dottie and Tony. I slide to an awkward halt before slamming into the table.

"Owie." I muter grabbing a piece of toast then jogging out the castle as fast as I can. I'm so grateful the driveway got redone. Those rocks would have cut my little feet. I jump into the car gasping and Tony's spiky head pops up next to mind. "Ready?" He asks cheekily. I turn around try to glare at him but my panting and well my lack of meanness wasn't helping.

"Please just go." I sigh putting on my Toms. Aunt Dottie and Tony exchanged a grin and at the exact same time they both say "Okay then." I roll my blue eyes and eat my toast as we drive to school.

So far this Wednesday sticks.

Tony and I wait patiently for Aunt Dottie to switch cars with Freda and drive them all over to school.

"So, did you and Anna make up?" I ask still looking out at the dirt road.

"Yeah. She promised to play with the girls from now on." Tony says looking at the worn out tires tracks in the road. I try not to grin at my handiwork. Looks like Anna took my advice and is going to play barbies with the girls today onward.

"Do you know why you got so upset that all the boys kept playing with Anna?" I ask trying to get some dirt. Tony's cheeks go pink at my words and his light blue eyes widen behind his glasses. His little head snaps to me and I bite down on what could have been a mischievous grin.

"I-I-I wasn't jealous or anything! It was just hard to make friends with Anna hogging all the boys's attention!" Tony rambles nervously. Sureeeee, completely not jealous of the boys hogging Anna from him.

"Okay, then." I say giggling and the ten year old just glares at me.

"Okay." Tony huffs.

"That's good to hear. So how's school been so far?" I ask changing the subject. I look down at Tony and he just shrugs.

"Those McAshton dweps are leaving me alone." Tony grins. "That's good but are you making any new friends?" I ask quietly trying to be gentle. Tony stiffens and looks back at the road with a pouting face.

"Didn't you hear me? It was hard with Anna taking all the boys for herself." Tony says as the black SUV starts rolling up to the us. I gingerly place my hand on his shoulder, trying to give him a side hug.

"Well, hopefully today will be different since Anna will be playing with the girls from on." I say as aunt Dottie maneuvers the SUV to a halt.

"Yeah, hopefully." Tony mutters under his breath as the doors open and the Sackville-Baggs climb out. Anna climbs out in a blue sundress with small white polka dots sprinkle all over it with a white Peter Pan collar. Her light blonde hair is braided around her head with a white ribbon braided between her tamed locks. I look down at Tony whose face is slightly pink. Anna runs up to us giggles.

"Fairest morn!" Anna chirps. Then Rudolph gets out of the car and he takes my breathe away. He is wearing blue jeans with a button up a sky blue strip shirt. It would have been overly formal but he has a navy blue cardigan with grey trimming with the shirt's collar pop over it. Also he rolls up the sleeves to his elbows then has the shirt's sleeves folded over the cardigan. His brown hair is combed neatly but flaps slightly in the small breeze. His brown eyes brighten when he looks at Tony and he starts to bee line towards him. Then Rudolph's eyes catch mine and my heart jumps. His face falls then eyes dart away from mine. My lips press together tightly and my eyes tear up. I blink back tears and look up in the direction of a low chuckle.

Gregory's smug smirk makes me want to throw something at his head. Gregory's long hair is tucked away under his blood red beanie, his spiky red ball piercing matching his red gauges earrings. Seriously... How does somebody get a piercing in the middle of their earlobe? Gregory walks over to me and leans down to my ear.

"Rudolph and I had a small chat. Forget even being friends, he won't ever go near you ever again. Especially since he wants us to work out." Gregory whispered. I glare up at him; about to chew him out but suddenly a small hand wraps itself around my hand. I look down at Anna's wide light green pleading eyes.

"Lily?" Anna asks sweetly. "Um... Yeah?" I ask. "Will you sleep over this Friday?" Anna asks. My mouth falls open in shock "L-like at your house?" I ask in horror. The little grins and looks up at aunt Dottie before pulling away.

"Oh! Mrs. Thompson! Can Lily join us for a slumber party?" Anna calls out. The SUV pulls itself to a sudden halt and aunt Dottie's shock face looks out the window. "Wha? You want Lily to sleep over?" Aunt Dottie asks.

"Oh and Tony as well!" Rudolph says. Freda claps her hands together in joy "Oh that's a splendid idea!" Freda cheers. Aunt Dottie gives her a terrified expression "It is? I-I mean, ugh, I mean Tony is fine, but Lily?" Aunt Dottie asks really in disbelief. Wait... What? Tony has slept over a house with vampires?

"Oh yes, that way Anna has a girl for once to experience the ritual of a slumber party with." Freda says. I look around and see Freda, Rudolph and Anna break out in their innocent puppy dog eyes at the extract same time. My eyes widen in alarm at the realization that they planned this.

"Ugh, well when you put it like that... I guess it wouldn't hurt." Aunt Dottie finally gives in and my mouth falls open with a pop. "I mean Tony has slept over and Rudolph and Anna have slept over." Aunt Dottie shrugs. They have?

"Oh spectacular!" Anna cheers jumping up and down next to me. "Thank you Mrs. Thompson." Rudolph says. Aunt Dottie hesitantly pulls away slowly and I feel Anna pull me along to school.

Wait... What just happened?

FRIDAY AFTER SCHOOL

I drag my duffle by my hand as I walk by myself towards the road so I can wait for Freda's black SUV to whisk me away to her castle by the market.

"Um, allow me to carry that?" Rudolph's voice asks next to me. I jump at the suddenness of his voice, I look up at him but then I keep on walking.

"No,I'm good." I say.

"But it looks heavy. Let me be help." Rudolph says. I stop and look at him "Are you sure? I mean Gregory might see us then chew you out for being chivalrous." I say then start walking forward again. He quickly catches up with me again "You were offended by that? I'm terribly sorry. I... I just wanted to give Gregory a fighting chance." Rudolph says. I stop and look at him, knowing that my eyes are one deep breath away from tearing. Rudolph's brown eyes lock with mine and his hand runs through his hair.

"I apologize, but I have to go." Rudolph says and quickly walks away. I fist my hair with my hand and resist the urge to throw my bag at Rudolph's retreating figure. I sigh and keep on walking. I trot over to the side of the road making sure that I stay clear from Rudolph who is further down staring hard at the dirt road. Later the others came and stand by us. Gregory walks up next to me, looking in Rudolph's direction before grinning down at me.

"God, he doesn't even want to stand near you." Gregory snarls with a happy note in his voice. I glare up at Gregory then walk away from him.

"Aye, where are you going?" Gregory asks walking up to me. I look up at him.

"Please just leave me alone ." I mutter. "To bad." He says. I'm suppose to stay with this guy for the next twelve hours? I think I'll pull all of my hair out before the sun comes up. Finally the car pulls up and I take the right hand window seat next to Anna.

"Hey kids. How was school today?" Aunt Dottie asks as Rudolph and Gregory climb into the very back seat.

"Splendid." Anna cheers.

"Okay." Rudolph says from the back.

"Less detestable than the last." Gregory says and I roll my eyes.

"Cool!" Tony shouts happily. We all look at Tony in shock. "That is great news, Tony." Freda says breaking the silence.

"Um. Oh yeah Tony. Really great news." Aunt Dottie says smiling a huge smile, joy melting away her surprise. The rest of the car ride is full of how Tony made four new friends and Anna's new gal pals. Rudolph's hands goes and cups Tony's small shoulder

"Hey don't go and forget about me." Rudolph chuckles. Tony turns around in his seat and stares at Rudolph with large light blue eyes.

"You? Never!" Tony says. "Trust me on this Rudolph, that'll never happen." Aunt Dottie says from the front of the car. Finally the car pulls to a stop and I climb out. The yellow beige and red brick castle stands tall and I look over at the SUV.

"You have such a nice home." I say to Freda as she jumps out of her SUV. "Oh, thank you Lily." Freda says smiling at me and walking inside. "Welcome to Sackville-bagg manor." Anna says curtsying. I giggle at Anna as Aunt Dottie hands Tony his light blue backpack with cartoon astronauts printed all over it. I pull my duffle bag onto my shoulder and stare at Aunt Dottie.

"Are you going to be okay?" Aunt Dottie asks me. I shrug and look at the castle. "I think so. If they haven't bite my neck before while I sleep then I highly doubt that they'll do this time. Although I might be a bit sleep deprived in the morning." I say.

"No, not that. I know they won't hurt you. I'm talking about you and Rudolph." She says. My face falls and I look down at my shoes. "O-oh. Him." I whisper.

"Yeah. Him. I just want to make sure that you'll be okay, sweetie" Aunt Dottie says placing her hands on my shoulders. I nod my head "Yeah, I've been dealing with it in the last few weeks. So for an entire night I think I'll be fine." I say. At least I hope I'll be alright. I mean, a lot can happen in one night. Aunt Dottie gives me a small grin.

"Okay, I'll just be one phone call away." Aunt Dottie says. I nod and give her a quick hug. "Bye Aunt Dottie." I say waving as I walk inside. I stop by the doors and gawk at the massiveness of the castle. No more like super castle. This place is huge!

Right when you walk in there is a grand stair case made of grey stone. The staircase rises up before splitting into different two different staircases in different directions. The walls are lined with portraits and oil paintings everywhere. The floor is made of light brown tiles and a gold colored runner is spread over the stairs. The walls are made of dark panel wood.

"Lily!" Anna's sing song voice chirps. I look at up at Anna bounding down the stairs excitedly. She runs over to me and grins, taking one of my hand. "Come on, let me show you my cuaters." Anna says leading me up the stairs and going up the left one. Anna leads me through hallways then comes to a halt in front of a door. We walk in my mouth drops open. The walls are an elegant red and the pink rug matches her pink bed set and pink curtains. But that wasn't the shocking part. No, it was all the hundreds of books on the what seems to be at least seven big book cases. All cases are different, different wood and sizes.

"Woah, cool library." I say dropping my bag by the bed. Anna giggles and I turn to look at her. "Didn't you hear me silly? It's my bedroom." Anna says. I turn to her and smile at her. "I was joking, Anna." I say. She nods then starts bouncing in place. She sure likes to bounce a lot.

"I have an idea." I say grinning. "Oh what?" She asks excitedly. I hover over my bag and pull out some nail polishes. "Lets paint our nails." I say. I purposely removed my fresh nails just so I can do Anna's with her. I hold up four glass bottles of nail polish and grin. Anna grins at me and tilts her head to the side.

"Paint our nails? I find that rather ridiculous. Although all the girls seem to follow this odd modern ritual." Anna states. I try not to laugh so I just nod in understanding.

"It's makes girls feel more vibrant and famine." I say wagging the glass vials of paint in the air. Anna crinkles her nose cutely at me before walking up to me and grabbing a bottle out of hand. She slowly twirls it, studying the lavender color inside.

"It indeed makes them vibrant. But famine? No. More like baboons with art supplies slather on their finger tips." Anna says. I can't hold it anymore... Anna's rant sends me falling back onto her bed laughing loudly. I roll side to side on her bed, crackling madly. I sit up still laughing softly to myself as I grin at the girl. I gently place my hand on head, giggling now.

"Anna, your one of a kind." I say standing up.

"Also, this very common for girls to do at slumber parties." I say. Her light green eyes brighten at my words and she grabs my hand leading me outside into the hall.

"Is that so? Then we must try it." She says. I smile at her but feel worry at her words. Will she always be this eager to do things that others are doing? I know she feels like she has to fit in since she wasn't able to before, but will she always crumble at the slightest bit of peer pressure? The feeling of needing to fitting in will only get worse as she gets older and the situations will to. Then I tense up with a horrible thought in my head. What if Rudolph and Gregory are doing what ever the other kids are telling them to do? I'll make sure to talk about with them when I can, or at least at Tony to talk to Rudolph since he is not talking to me. I gulp thickly at the remembrance of how Rudolph is sterling clear of me. It's even harder now to be without him than before when I had no clue where he was. Before I didn't have to see him everyday. But the worse is that he won't even talk to me or remember me. Before I make myself cry with further depressing thoughts Anna makes us come to a halt.

I look around the huge spacious kitchen. The cabinets are carved out of sandy wood giving off a vintage vibe. The fridge is a modern steel appliance which did impress to see that actually owned one. An old fashion oven is placed in the wall. The black door sticking out against the Marin red wall paper. Freda stands with her back to us, struggling with what seems to be the microwave.

"Mother." Anna calls and Freda turns to look at us. Freda smiles that sweet dazy smile at us and I can't help but smile back.

"Yes sweetie?" Freda asks. Anna holds up the nail polish she never returned to me up, showing off.

"Lily here says she'll paint our nails." Anna says. Freda tilts her head in confusion, a daze but dumbfounded expression on her lovely features.

"I know, I know. Ridiculous. But it is part of the culture of today for ladies to paint their nails. So we must do it." Anna says sitting down at the round wood table. Freda grins and sits down, both of them looking up at me. I line up the bottles on the table as if the were tiny little soldiers, side by side.

"Okay, pick a color." I say sitting down.

"Any color?" Freda asks and I nod. Their brown and light green eyes run up the row of colors, taking each one in. They both reach for reddish pink and I try not to wince. The color red has a strong symbolic hold on this family. Yet to discover this myself, Tony told me that most of rooms here are painted red. Despite the fact that Sackville-bagg family didn't indulge themselves with human blood didn't mean they didn't enjoy animal blood. Blood is something they must give up, but they still have it in small dosages to make them feel safe. For example the red rooms, the bloody uncook steaks. I say nothing and just grab the bottle.

I start on Freda, painting two coats on every nail. Then I move onto Anna's, doing the same thing to her nails. After that I teach them how to do their toe nails since that's easier. You know, starting off with the easy stuff. While they are doing that I paint my nails with a lavender that Anna had before. I gently shake my hands when I'm done. A deep smooth laughs sounds at the doorway and we all look from our work to see who it came from. Rudolph and Tony stand in the carved archway, Rudolph laughing. The happy glimmer in his brown eyes and the wide smile on his face makes my heart before cracking.

"What are you all doing?" Rudolph asks.

"Dude, what does it look like?" Tony asks walking in and looking for a snack.

"We're painting." Anna states proudly. Rudolph arches a brow at us.

"Yourselves?" He asks astonish.

"Indeed. It is customary for girls to paint their nails. Lily taught us." Anna informs. Rudolph's lips twitch into a tiny grin and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Really?" Rudolph asks looking over at me. My cheeks burn as they turn red. I nod then turn away, hey if he is going to ignore and avoid me then why shouldn't do it to? It'll get this whole moving on plan on the road. In the corner of my eye I see Rudolph tense up and bite the corner of his mouth in frustration.

"Yes, sweetie." Freda says. Rudolph's, Tony's and I's eyes widen at Freda's words. Rudolph's cheek turn to a rosy red and Tony and I look at each other. My cousin and I break out laughing.

"Mother please stop calling me sweetie." Rudolph grumbles. Freda's daze confuse faces makes me and Tony stop laughing.

"But why? You are my sweet little boy." She says. Another round of laughter rolls out of Tony and I. My body shakes as I laugh harder with every breath. Rudolph cheeks go even redder and I feel myself smile. As a vampire with no blood running through his body, Rudolph couldn't blush. It was always me who would, and I did enough for the both of us. But seeing it for the first time makes me laugh because he looks so cute doing it.

"That is why you should not call me sweetie, mother." Rudolph says. Our laugher finally dies down and Tony walks up to us eating strawberries. More red I note.

"We're about to watch a movie, want to come?" Tony asks. Anna's brighten and she nods. Then her face falls and she looks down at her hands and feet.

"At last, my paint is new and wet. However will make my way to the media room? Let alone cross the threshold?" Anna asks. Rudolph walks up to his sister.

"Allow me." Rudolph says scooping Anna up in his arms. The little girl giggles and I smile at the sincere caring move. As we walk out I turn to Freda and shake my hands. Referring to keep them dry. She smiles and flutters her hands with a gentleness and elegance. I smile at then walk into the media room as Anna called it. The entire room is made of red brick except the dark wood floor with a large gold roll out on it. I sit down on the antique couch next to Tony.

"So what are we watching?" I ask.

"Frankenstein." Tony says with a smile