Broken Hearted Girl
I slumped in a chair, letting my arms hang limp over the sides. I dropped the bags I was holding and looked up at Hanna, who was grinning down at me.
"I can't do this anymore," I panted. I pushed the hair from my face and let out a long breath.
"It's only been two hours," Hanna giggled, rolling her eyes. "I've never met a girl who didn't like to shop."
"Well now you have," I replied, my eyes brows rising pointedly. "Does Ethan bring home human girls often?"
She immediately shook her head, "Oh, no. You're the first, actually. Well, besides Mary and myself."
"How long have you been at the mansion?" I watched her expression drop a little, her smile looking forced.
"Since I was 7. I'm 16 now so…" she pondered for a moment, "9 years?"
I nodded and she sat down in a chair beside me. Luckily, the coffee shop we'd found had a few open seats. The atmosphere was relaxing, and despite the other people there having conversations, it was relatively tranquil.
"How did you end up there, at the mansion I mean?" I turned to face her, letting her know I was willing to listen.
"It's not a very interesting story," she grimaced. She tucked a strand of dirty blond hair behind her ears and looked down, seeming to be thinking for a moment. "My parents weren't the kindest of people," she explained slowly, as if she were choosing her words carefully. "I ran away from home, thinking it would solve my problems. In a way, I suppose, it did. But I was foolish to think I could survive on my own." Her face grew dark, and when she finally looked up at me, her eyes were glistening. "I almost died of starvation in the forest. The hallucinations alone were enough to scare me to death, and I still have nightmares to this day."
"Ethan found you," I assumed in a whisper.
She nodded, "He saved me." She smiled and wiped a tear from her eye before it even had the chance to fall. "Mary helped nurse me back to health and within a week I was well enough to go home."
My eyebrows shot up, "He was going to let you leave?"
"Mhm," she confirmed. "Obviously he didn't tell me that he would have to bite me and erase my memory. I was only seven years old at the time; I probably would have gone insane."
"Then what happened?"
"I told him I wanted to stay. It was the first time anyone had ever shown me kindness, not to mention I had nowhere else to go. He agreed and explained that I would have to work for him, but it was nothing like what my parents had put me through."
It was a lot to take in. This was the second time someone had told me Ethan saved them, yet the Ethan I knew was cold and empty, not to mention he drank a woman into oblivion the first night I'd met him.
"It's hard for me to think that Ethan is capable of being compassionate," I admitted.
Her smile widened and the sparkle in her eyes returned, "You'd be surprised."
I scoffed, "I would probably die of shock." Hanna laughed and shook her head.
"I've never seen anyone behave toward Ethan like you do, and I've never seen him react the way he does toward you toward anyone else."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, in all of the years I've been living amongst vampires, none of them are as stubborn, as rebellious, as you. Especially when it comes to Ethan." She looked at me with a crazy expression, like I was insane, "Vampires are afraid of him, Audra. Vampires. You're just a human!"
I shrugged, "I'm not afraid of him."
"That's what worries me," she chuckled. "You should be."
"I thought he was a 'good guy'?" I challenged. "So why should I let him scare me?"
"I'm not necessarily only talking about Ethan," she clarified. "Eventually, you'll be introduced to other vampires, and if you behave the same way you do around Ethan," she shook her head and her brown eyes bent in concern, "I don't know."
"What?"
"They won't be as forgiving as Ethan. Something could happen to you."
"I'll be fine," I waved the worry away. "I can take care of myself." She didn't reply but instead pursed her lips, watching me amusedly. "But what do you mean 'I'll be introduced to other vampires'?"
"Well Ethan does get visitors. Sometimes family, sometimes friends or girlfriends. Not to mention, there is always a ball on the Eve of St. George's Day in May."
"The Eve of what?" I decided against the question about his girlfriend.
"St. George's Day, May 6th. Supposedly, the day before holds some significance to vampires, though I'm not entirely sure why."
"But we're servants," I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why would we get to go?"
She shrugged and stood up, but I noticed a wide smile she was trying to hide. "I don't know. C'mon, we should get back if you're finished."
I groaned and pulled myself up, grabbing my bags into my tired hands. I followed Hanna out the door and onto the street where our chauffeur was waiting patiently in the sleek black car Ethan had insisted we take. Ignoring the looks from people passing by on the street, I tossed the bags in and sat down quickly. I shut the door, thankful for the tinted windows.