Okay so after the Halloween weekend I REALLY had to think of where the hell this story was going. Since the Comet goes before the moon on a Saturday, I needed to fill in one more week and I basically did it. Woo me for having intense writer's block! :D Well here yar. Leave me mucho comments and make meh happaayyyy! :DD

Chapter 36

The next morning my room welcomed a beam of sunlight across the walls. The sliver of light fell upon my face, blinding my closed eyes. Aunt Dottie had opened a curtain slightly.

"You can't sleep in on a Sunday, get up sleepyhead!"

I swear, I do not know where that woman gets her energy from. She must spike her coffee or something. I mumbled in my wad of sheets when she tapped me.

"C'mon! You have to help me with some cleaning today. I'll give you an hour to get ready."

She left my room and I was at peace again. I was a little jealous of Gregory because he could sleep in the early morning if he wanted to. I'd do much better if I was awake at night and dead asleep in the morning. The clock read eight thirty when turning and grabbing around to find it on the night stand. I stretched myself out of bed and into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Upon leaving the bathroom, I checked on Gregory. Slightly lifting the cloth, I found him hanging still, his wings wrapped completely around himself. I folded the cloth back into its original position and met Aunt Dottie and Tony in the kitchen.

"You'll need these," she said handing us two white rags, polish, and a duster. "The only thing that I want you two to polish is the furniture. I don't want you to go out of your mind doing the moldings. But before you polish though, dust it first. I'll take care of the bathrooms, the kitchen, the dining room, my room, and your room, Tony. All you guys have to do is the living room, sitting room, entry, the staircase, the hallway upstairs, and your room, Brittany."

She ended with a smile. I wish I had what she ate for breakfast to be that jittery about cleaning this castle. It was ridiculous, but then again, it would take days to clean this place if it was up to me. We took our equipment and started at the living room and made our way through the sitting room, dusting and polishing one thing at a time. I never realized how much stuff we had until we went through each and every piece of furniture, frame, vase, and lamp.

Neither the entry nor the stairwell took long to clean. Tony would dust between the large wooden railing while I sprayed polish in the rag and wiped them down. Our teamwork fractioned our time in half; it was quarter to eleven. We were making great time. We ended at the top of the steps and started the sweep through of the hall. There wasn't much to clean there except for a lounge chair, an armchair at the end of the hallway, an end table, and a lamp that rested on it. I passed Tony's door and the floor let out a long creak. I halted for a moment and stepped back, making the board creak again. I rested my foot on the spot where I thought it was producing the noise and stepped down. Once again the floor let out a loud and annoying irk. Kneeling near the area, I lifted the mile long rug over and felt the wood. I pressed against each of the floorboards.

"What are you doing?" Tony knelt beside me.

"Why does this make noise every time you step on it?"

"Um, because the nails might be coming loose?" He guessed.

"Exactly."

He looked at me in uncertainty for a moment. I laid my palms on the boards and moved back and forth. Ah, one of the boards moved in unison to my hands. I tried fitting a fingernail in the cracks, but they were too short. I have to stop biting my nails. Tony left my side to enter his room and returned with a metal ruler.

"That'll work," I remarked as I fit the ruler through the crack and lifted.

The loose board rose and I took it to set it next to me. There wasn't anything interesting down below, just hay everywhere. The only logical explanation I could think of was old medieval insulation. I moved the yellow, dead grass around, hoping not to find a hairy spider. Instead, I came across an old folded up paper. It looked severely aged with burn marks and stains; as if it were centuries old. Both of our eyes grew twice their size as I carefully opened the paper to reveal delicate handwriting written in black sloppy ink.

"How old do you think it is?" Tony asked, grabbing my arm to pull it closer to him.

"I, have no idea. It must be pretty old, considering the looks of it."

"Read what it says."

I studied the curvatures,

"It's a poem.

A vampire's eyes remain crimson and bright,

In hope to meet the comet this very night.

The hunters are not as clever as they seem,

Because I have hidden this under a beam.

Now, three hundred more years left to go,

And if they get me, be it so.

The treasure will forever lie a secret in my heart.

And it will remain there until you realize the hidden part.

It's signed E.S. at the bottom."

"What does any of that even mean?" Tony asked just as confused as I was.

Footsteps were heard coming up the stairs. I rapidly folded the paper to put it in my pocket and we both fidgeted to piece together the board into its original place. I moved the rug back over to where it was, and Tony grabbed the ruler to throw it in his room before he sat next to me and took out the duster.

"How's everything going up here?" Aunt Dottie turned the corner.

"Just fine," I managed to say.

"Good job guys. You're almost done. I'm going to start my bedroom now. Leave the rags in the kitchen when you finish."

Once she disappeared through her doors, Tony and I brainstormed.

"Well, what does that poem mean?" he repeated.

"I don't know. Maybe it was put there for someone like us to find years later."

"No. It talks about vampires and the comet," he fluttered the duster around the legs of the lounge chair. "Even the hunters. It has to mean something."

"What though? There's no information here." I polished the same spot he dusted.

"'Because I have hidden this under a beam,'" he quoted. "Hid what?"

"Obviously the note." I finished the chair and met Tony at the end table. "That's the only thing that was buried under the floorboards."

"Yeah, you're right, but who is E.S.?"

"I was thinking Elisabeth for E, but her last name was McAshton."

"True. Maybe it doesn't mean anything. It's just a poem, like you said," he sighed, disappointed.

"I was hoping it would give us clues as to where the amulet is."

"Me too."

After cleaning, I waited impatiently for Gregory to rise from his deep slumber in the antique cage that sat upon my desk. I wanted to know more about this poem. Something didn't sit right with me. I felt as if it had a hidden meaning behind it, but I couldn't figure out what it was. I paced back and forth in my room eyeing the clock every minute or so. It was past five. He should be waking any minute now. The orange sun began to fade past the orchard miles away from the balcony. The air fell cold. November was here and the breezes were turning more chilled every night. I made myself comfortable and laid on my bed. My eyes became heavy and it was impossible to keep them open any longer.

I awoke when I felt arms hold me close. I looked at my clock and I was sleeping for four hours. I turned around and Gregory was staring at me.

"You sleep like an angel," he smiled.

"Really? Snoring and drooling is angelic?"

We both laughed.

"No you do neither of those things."

I shuffled around in my pockets and fished out the folded paper.

"Here read this." I gave it to him. "Do you know what it means?"

He studied the paper and looked at me. "Where did you find this?"

"Under a board in front of Tony's room." I yawned. "The one that makes noise every time you step on it."

"Wow. It's interesting. There was nothing else with it?"

"No." I shook my head. "I thought Elizabeth might have signed it, but her last name was McAshton. It's not it."

"It could have been."

"How?"

"My Uncle Von?"

"They got married before they died?"

"It's possible. 'Will forever lie in my heart,'" he repeated as he glanced back down at the tattered paper. "The amulet has to be buried with her. It's hanging around her neck over her heart. And that's the hidden part."

"I guess we solved it."

"You're brilliant." He kissed me on the forehead.

I got up and dug out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt for bed. I slowly undressed and redressed myself.

"Must you tease me like that?" he said coming closer to me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

He turned me around and kissed me genuinely. "I love you. I must go and hunt."

"No, stay with me a while."

"I can't. I feel weaker than usual. Just leave the window open for me."

"I will."

I turned from picking up my clothes and he was gone.

So Gregory and Brittany think they solved the puzzle? Yeah right... xD