Chapter 14: Memories
It had been about a week since Hope and Max had begun their relationship. The other slaves were definitely beginning to notice, though no one had said anything aloud as of yet. They knew; they just didn't say anything. Even the Vampires were beginning to notice something different, though they didn't put the pieces together, like the Lycans, and figure it out (except for Exondria, that is—as always).
They, honestly, barely thought anything of it. Most were simply not interested in the lives of their slaves—unless it was their own slave, naturally. Of course, it helped that Hope and Max didn't exactly make their affections toward each other noticeable around the Vampires. The slaves' love lives were private matters. Vampires need not be concerned. As far as Hope and Max were concerned, no one needed to know amongst them.
Plus, the fact that if the Vampires knew about it, it could be dangerous for the couple was quite another incentive to hide their true feelings toward each other from the overlords. Especially with Hope being the slave of Quintessence Acanthus, it was dangerous.
If Quintz even so much as suspected her slave of having a love, it could mean death for one or the both of them (most likely one—Max—and then Hope would be left to grieve and suffer even more at the hands of her Vampire mistress, alone, and Quintz would no doubt take even more pride in "teaching her slave a long, torturous lesson". Hope would never see the end of it). Hope's mistress was short-tempered and took great joy in destroying any happiness her slave possessed. She would never stand for Hope having a boyfriend and both Max and Hope knew this all too well.
And so, their love was hidden from the Vampires—at least as much as it could be. The most any of them ever suspected was that maybe Max and Hope had become closer friends as of recent. They spent some of their time in the mansion together over that week, although sparingly.
Hope spent most of her time in the mansion, as usual, with Anora, only meeting up with Max every once in a while when they just happened to end up in the same room—sometimes after one of them hinting to the other of where they were going to be. And when this happened, Anora gladly bowed out of the room with a quiet smile and worked on some other task in another room. (Anora and Exondria were the only two that Hope had actually told about her new boyfriend.)
Everything was going well. Hope, for once in her life, felt truly happy, knowing that someone loved her as more than a friend or acquaintance. True, she was happy before, what with having great friends such as Anora and the rest of them, but now her life felt at least a bit more complete, though, in truth, she knew that it pretty much wasn't.
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"Hey, I'll be back in a bit, okay? Lady Exondria's calling me," Anora said, turning a nice smile to Hope as she put down the dusting rag she had been using and began to head for the hallway, heading for Exondria's bedroom, where she'd heard the bell ring for her.
Hope smiled back and nodded. "Okay." As Annie disappeared from sight, Hope turned back to her chore contently, humming to herself as she did so. She smiled to herself at thinking of the night before. She had been hanging out with Max, Anora, and her other friends in the parlor of the slaves' quarters and just having a good time.
She could still feel Max's arms around her waist, holding her gently against him as she sat next to her new boyfriend on the couch. They had chatted by the fireplace for a bit, though the fireplace wasn't lit due to how warm it had been last night. That didn't matter so much; the lamps provided enough light for everyone.
The conversation led to a lot of laughs and jokes, and quickly led to a fun game of Impressions. It was always fun for them to do the best hysterically impressions of the Vampires that they could manage. Some of the impressions were actually right on the dot—and all of them were hilarious.
Hope giggled to herself quietly as she thought of Max's impression of Lord Kurati, Coven Mistress Servina Karavalis's secret lover, ending with Max at Hope's feet, begging her on his knees for her to "leave that idiotic Draven and to come away with him forever, where they could make beautiful chaos together". Hope had laughed so hard at this that she nearly fell off the couch. The impression got pretty good.
Then it was Hope's turn. Of course, she did her near-flawless impression of her own mistress, Quintz Acanthus, all of a sudden bursting into a fake rampage about the most random crap imaginable and threatening to shoot the first thing that moved.
Everyone always loved that one, especially in moments like this one, when she all of a sudden started interacting with everyone else, picking fake fights and such, and then pretending to have an…um…interesting "friendship" going on with Sythera Damonico—Artemis, of course, taking on the role of Sythera. It was dead on and Hope always added a new twist to it every time she was asked to do it.
Yes, that night had been a lot of fun. And now, looking back on it, Hope had something pleasant to dwell on for the time being. Hope giggled to herself again at the thought of what went on last night.
"Ya know, I think that you and Artemis make a pretty good team for our game," came a cheerful, charming—and, not to mention, mesmerizing (for Hope, anyway)—voice from behind her then, almost seeming to read her thoughts and know exactly what she was thinking about. Hope gasped, her smile widening a bit, as she turned to face the owner of the voice, though she tried her best not to make her actions look at all suspicious.
"Hey, Max!" she greeted Max, finding the boy leaning against the doorframe of the library entrance. She stayed where she was, not wanting to seem too eager to be near him.
"Hey, Hope," was Max's reply. Hope sighed inwardly a bit. Man, his voice and smile were just gorgeous! He pushed himself off the wall a bit and walked over to her. Spying the rag on the table, he picked it up. "Mind if I assist you?" he asked. Hope shook her head and nodded with a smile (as well as a small blush). Max smiled back and proceeded to help Hope with the chores to be done within the room.
They talked as they worked. The conversation was nothing special. They couldn't afford it to be anything special while they were in the mansion, so they kept their talk strictly non-personal—life, innocent goings on about the slaves' quarters, how each other's friends were doing; that sort of thing.
"So… Hope? I've noticed lately that you haven't been getting along so well with your new roomy. She giving you trouble or something?"
Hope looked up from her work, brushing a few strands of hair out of her face and behind her ear—it was hard to control that frizzy mess, but somehow she managed. She really didn't wanna talk about it yet with anyone. "Oh, you mean with Eve?"
Max nodded.
"We just had a disagreement is all. It wasn't anything major. I'd just rather not talk about it right now, if that's okay with you."
Max could tell that the other woman was a really touchy subject at the moment, though she didn't know why. "Alright," he agreed. "I won't pry." He put a gentle hand on her shoulder to comfort her a bit, though, sensing that the question had upset her a bit.
Hope smiled at him. "Thanks, Max," she said, secretly getting a bit lost in those gorgeous eyes of his again. She just couldn't seem to help doing so, it seemed.
Max returned the smile. "Of course, Hope."
They both turned back to their chores for a bit in silence, neither one knowing what else to say to the other. Then, Max happened to look up and the other necklace besides the locket around Hope's neck caught his eye—the horse charm with her name above it and such. He had always wondered about it, in truth, but was unsure of whether or not to inquire about it. Taking in a quiet, deep breath, he decided to ask, hoping that the girl would not be angry with him for doing so.
"…Hope? Can I ask you something?" he began in a bit of an unsure manner.
Hope paused in her work again and looked up at him, giving him a reassuring smile to try and make him less afraid to ask what he needed to ask. "Sure. Go on, Max."
"May I inquire about that necklace I've always seen you where?" came the question, him nodding to the charm around her neck.
Hope looked at it briefly and then back up at her secret boyfriend, the smile not fading a bit. "Of course. I don't know much about it, though, so I'm afraid that there's not much about it I can tell you. I've had it ever since I can remember. I'm guessing my parents gave it to me when I was just an infant."
The Lycan boy in front of her nodded in understanding. "It's beautiful. Any idea what the 'A' in the middle stands for?"
Hope shook her head. "Well, I'm thinking it stands for my last name…whatever that may be. I was never told my last name. I doubt if anyone amongst us knows it."
"I see…" Max fell silent after that, not sure of what to say in response to that.
"It's okay, Max," Hope said softly, trying to reassure him with smile again. Max looked at her for a second, and then returned the smile, though his seemed a bit sad. Wanting to change the subject after having gotten tired of all these memories coming to her of her past, however recent they were, she turned back to her chore as she asked, "So…how goes life without your own personal slave driver to hound you non-stop?"
This was her usual joke amongst her friends that hadn't been claimed by a specific Vampire yet, and Max knew this. He'd heard it numerous times already. She'd asked him this a few times, and he always replied in the same way: "A hell of a lot better than yours, Hope." Max laughed a bit. Hope looked at him briefly and then did the same after sticking out her tongue at him. Well, it was true, technically!
Just then, a commotion could be heard from upstairs. Voices yelling, people shuffling around, a scream followed by the crisp clang of something metal hitting flesh…or bone, depending on how one chooses to interpret the sound. Hope's eyes went wide as she listened to this, having instantly recognized all three voices. After the clang, she gasped and immediately took off for the hallway that would take her to the entrance foyer, where she could ascend the stairs to get to the problem.
"Hope!" Max called as she ran off, concerned as well as confused. "What is it?!"
"Anora! Lady Exondria!" was all he had time to hear before the girl disappeared around the corner and was gone.
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Author: Dun dun dun! Cliffhanger! Sorry if you think the chapter's a bit short. I couldn't think of much to put before ending it.
Random Excited Fan: What happened?! What happened?!
Author: You'll have to wait for the next chapter and find out.
Random Excited Fan: Is that why none of them are here right now?
Author: (Nods) Pretty much. Yep!
Max: (With a look of shock on his face) I am still so confused…
Author: Not to worry, my dear little friend. All shall be revealed…next time!
Both: Awwwwwwwwww!
Author: Ah, quit whining! …Well, see ya next time, everyone!