7. NEW HOME

ONCE WE GOT BACK ON THE ROAD, I COULDN'T HELP BUT imagine what the home looked like. Would it be a nice house like the Cullens? A mansion? A tower? Or even a castle in Castlevania? I was thinking way too much about it. I thought about all those stereotypes I had heard about concerning vampires. Could all those things be a lie?

It was close to midnight when we arrived. I saw the building when the car drove forward. It was a large house, perhaps larger than the Cullens' house. It reminded me of the Croft Manor in the Tomb Raider games. The mansion sat in the middle of massive gardens sectioned off with high walls. A long, winding road led away from the mansion to the rest of the estate. It looked so fancy.

"This is where you guys live?" I was bewildered as I looked at the building.

"It sure is, luv," Joseph answered.

"How did you afford it?"

"It was Helena's family home," said Gabriel. "When her family died or became extinct, she got the rights to the mansion. It was my first time being a lawyer and I managed to help her out. Since then, we live there and brought home a few members."

Gabriel turned the engine off as he parked his car in the garage. We walked into the mansion and its beauty caught my eyes. The mansion contained the main hall with all of its rooms sprawling off of it. This gave me a Tomb Raider feel.

A young woman was standing outside the mansion. She doesn't seem concerned or angry when we arrived. She seemed to relax and she smiled warmly. She appeared a bit older than me, the possibly late twenties. She wore black lounge clothing of jumper and long trousers. Definitely relaxing. Her long brown hair was past her neck and her skin was a little pale. Her eyes, like the three vampires, were golden.

"Welcome home, husband," she greeted Gabriel and opened her arms.

"Hello, love," Gabriel replied and hugged her back. The hug lasted for a minute and he let go of her, kissing her forehead. He turned around and looked at me. "Violet, this is my wife, Helena."

"I- It's nice to meet you," I said and my right hand stretched out.

The woman, Helena, hugged me as her welcoming gesture. My eyes widened by her hug and my right arm wrapped around her slowly along with my left arm. I was only there for a minute and already I felt awkward.

"It's lovely to meet you, Violet," said Helena in a sweet tone. "I'm more of a hugger."

"I can tell," I responded.

"The rest of the coven are inside," she told us and turned around, facing the door. "They're excited about meeting you."

We walked to the door and Gabriel opened it. We entered the mansion and my eyes were focused on the main room of the mansion: the living area. It was large enough to fix tons of animals like Noah's Ark. There was an enormous fireplace embedded on the granite wall and two long couches were placed opposite close to it. A scarlet rug was on top of the stones floor, underneath the two couches and in the centre was a long glass table, decorated with a China pot with a variety of flowers. A staircase was on the left side of the mansion, headed upstairs in two different ways; it had the scarlet carpet to match the rug. On the right side was a series of crates on top of each other like building blocks. It kind of filled the area up.

Then, I spotted a red-haired woman coming downstairs. She looked a little annoyed as she looked at the crates. Her golden eyes blinked furiously. She had pale skin and wore a green crew top and white sweatpants. She marched over to us.

"Sorry about the crates," the woman spoke with a strong Scottish accent. "It makes the house messy."

"Where's Ethan?" asked Gabriel. "He's suppose to help."

"He was, but now, I cannae see him."

"That's a bit ironic," I softly said and my voice somehow caught her attention; her burgundy eyes staring at me.

"Who's this lass? She's bonnie," she exclaimed loudly to them.

That was some strong Scottish accent she had.

"This is Violet," answered Simon. "Violet, this is my wife, Alana."

"Hi," I said and Alana smiled at me.

The Scottish woman, Alana, walked to me and opened her arms. "Now, gimme a coorie."

"Give you what?" I was confused by what she meant. Then, she wrapped her arms around me. Oh, I got it. She was saying hug me. My arms were by my side as Alana hugged me. She let me go and placed her hands onto my shoulders. "Nae muckle o' a hugger, huh?"

I shook my head.

"That's what I thought," said Helena. I turned my head, looking at her. "You don't like hugging people?"

"I'm just not used to people hugging me," I admitted to them.

"Really?" Simon said, sounding sad about what I had said. "No one has ever hugged you?"

I shook my head.

"Not even from your mum or dad?" asked Joseph.

"My dad, definitely not," my voice sounded depressed. "My mum... I'll never know."

Joseph glanced at me with his burgundy eyes. He looked sadly at me. He rubbed his nose and the back of his neck with his right hand. Maybe he lost his mother at birth as well. Then, I heard footsteps from behind.

"Joseph and I know what it's like," a female considerate American voice announced in the room.

I spun around and I saw a pale brown skin toned woman walking to us. She had black hair down to her back. She looked about the same age as Helena: in her late twenties. Like the rest of the coven, she had golden eyes. She wore a black nightgown that covered her slim body. She looked beautiful in the nightgown. Her presence alone made Joseph's eyes beam happily. I don't blame him for it. He raced to her with open arms.

"Rhona!" He said and hugged her tightly. She wrapped her arms around Joseph, hugging him back. He moved his hands down her back slowly yet tenderly. His head was hidden to her neck. "I've missed this."

"You've only been gone for two hours," the woman, Rhona, replied.

"It felt like an eternity," he moved away from her yet his right arm was still around her waist. They faced me as Joseph introduced me to her. "Violet, this is my wife, Rhona. Rhona, Violet."

"Hi, Violet," she greeted me softly. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice meeting you too," I responded to her.

"And don't worry, I'm not going to hug you," she ended with a chuckle. "Yeah, I've overheard a few of your conversations."

"How about we shake hands instead?"

"Sure."

Rhona walked to me and she stretched her right hand out. I took her hand in my left hand. Her handshake was tight yet friendly as we shook hands. We shook hands for a few seconds and we let go.

"Have you met Ethan yet?" Rhona asked me.

I shook my head, silently answering no.

"Where is he?" Alana enquired with annoyance.

"I don't know," said Rhona and looked at a grey denim jacket that lay on the couch. "I think he left his jacket there." She pointed it out.

Alana raced to the jacket and picked it up. She gripped the jacket and glared at it intensely. Her thumb rubbed the denim fabric and her nose inhaled.

"He's at the swimmin' pool," growled Alana and threw it on the couch. "Simon, come with me."

She walked to the door at the right side of the fireplace and Simon followed her. I turned my head and looked at them. They didn't seem to be surprised by her actions. I pointed to the denim jacket.

"Wh-What was that about?" I asked. "She picked up the jacket and said he's in the swimming pool?"

"She has clairvoyance," replied Gabriel. "She can find people by touching their belongings."

"Do other coven members have powers?"

"Yeah," answered Joseph. "I can sense anything I wish. My power allows me to sense anything from anyone I meet."

"What about you, Rhona?"

"I can manipulate every memory someone has," she replied. "Able to remove, restore and erase them with ease."

"Gabriel?"

"I can move objects with my mind," said Gabriel. "Over many large distances."

"What about Helena? Simon?"

I was getting to know the coven. Yet, Helena looked disappointed. She was looking at the ground and twirling her fingers.

"Oh, umm..." Helena began to speak. "I don't have any special abilities, but Simon is incredibly strong. He has advanced strength."

As if on cue, Simon and Alana returned to the living area. Alana looked defeated.

"We couldn't find him," said Simon first.

"He was at the swimmin' pool," said Alana. "Now, I saw him enterin' this room when I touched a towel."

I looked on at them, confused.