Hi everyone. I promised I would finish this story and I will!! Here is one new chapter. I'm really sorry it took so long to update, but good news, the next chapter is already ready for you and I'll write the epilogue in the week if I don't feel too tired. Again, I'm really sorry for this long long time...
Please, let me know if you liked it! :)
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Chapter 5 : The piece before the storm
Freia slowly opened her eyes. She distinguished the blue painted sky from her bedroom. She looked around and found herself back in her room. She sat up and tried to remember her last night. Shivers ran along her skin with the memory of his touch on her body. Then she slightly remembered falling asleep in his arms and feeling him lifting her. She remembered the soft touch of the fresh air on her skin as he walked with her in his arms through the park.
She stood up and walked to the window. The sun was shining and the green of the park was bright and fresh. She slowly pulled a hand on her neck and felt the two punctures of the night before. A smile appeared on her face. Josef was back and he'd given himself to her in a way she'd never experienced before. Her heart was now beating fast in her chest and felt butterflies in her stomach. She took a deep breath and went to her bathroom.
For the first time since she arrived in the manor, she was in peace. She arrived in the dining-room and saw Vanessa eating her breakfast.
"Here you are! I have a good news for you, Josef's back."
Freia smiled and nodded as she filled her cup with hot tea. She sat in front of Vanessa who was looking at her with suspiscion.
"You slept longer this morning."
Freia nodded and drank her tea.
"So, I was saying that Josef is back. He came to me early this morning and I was surprised that he didn't drink as much as he used to."
Freia lifted her eyes from her plate and met Vanessa's who was staring at her with a frowned brow.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm not a freshie, I'm a photographer."
"Yes, sure. That explains the mark on your neck."
Freia put her hand on her wounds and rubbed them.
"Oh that's okay for me Freia. But just be careful."
"I'm a careful girl."
Freia smiled to Vanessa but suddenly realized that she was unsure of how to behave with him after what happened the night before. He might have opened himself to her, but he was so instable that she almost feared to meet him.
As she went back to her room, she found a note on her table.
Meet me at the lake
She couldn't help but smile and her body warmed as she saw the words on the paper. Then she came back to reality and noticed that the note was short and without marks of kindness. Her heart beat with fear that the monster could be back. She saw her camera next to the table and remembered why she was there. She took it and caught her sight in the miror. She was wearing her bluejeans and a long white linen tunic.
She thought:
"Freia, you're a photographer. Last night was great, you never had something like that before, but remember who he is and why you're here. Come on, you can do it!"
As she walked in the park, she felt how the sun had awaken the nature. The smell of the grass and the trees made a bewitching perfume which surrounded Freia. The warmth of the sun calmed her down and as a sign of what happened last night, she felt hope. She slowly arrived to the lake and saw two swans sleeping on the water. She turned around and saw the manor shine under the sunlight. This place was wonderful and she was surprised to see how that beautiful day could hide all the sadness hidden behind those windows.
She heard a small sound behind her and couldn't repress her heart jump. She slowly turned and saw a proud figure standing in the shadow of a blue cedar. She approached and distinguished a smile on his face. He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a grey cachemire sweater. He had sunglasses on but took them of as she approached. The man standing in front of her was like a stranger. His face was rested, serene and Freia could see something shining in his eyes. Her first reflex was to grab her camera and she took pictures of him.
" You shoot quickly, I'm glad it's not a gun." And smiled.
Freia slightly lifted her face from the back of her camera and answered with a smile
"You can't die, remember?"
He said nothing, only looked at her concentred face as she moved in front of him taking pictures. A shadow passed on his face and Freia realized she'd said something wrong.
She pulled her camera down and stared at him. Suddenly an awkward silence went between them and Freia didn't know what to do. Josef felt her feelings and walked towards her. He slowly rubbed her cheek and smiled. He could hear her heart calm down. She searched something in his eyes and finally asked.
"Where were you last night?"
Her voice was a soft murmur.
"As you reminded me of, I can't die, and my body has to stay in a cold environment. So I went to my own bed."
"Do you sleep in a coffin?" Her face made a funny grimace that made him smile.
"Yes of course and I share it with Dracula."
Freia laughed and took another picture of him as he smiled proudly of his own remark.
They walked down the park, in the shadows of the trees as the sun shone behind them. Freia asked him questions about vampires and was surprised to hear him answer all her questions with ease. She remembered that Vanessa had told her that before Sarah's death, Josef was a proud vampire, and realized that this vampire was actually walking and talking with her. She felt attracted by his ease and comfort. She took pictures of him as he answered her. Sometimes, when the sun found a way through the branches of the trees, Josef put a hand in front of his face and Freia could distinguish the true color of his green eyes.
They approached a trunk and Josef paused. Freia could see that he suffured from the sunlight, but he didn't complain. He was there for her and let her take pictures. She pulled her camera down and approached him under the shadow. The air was fresh and the soft scent of the cedar envelopped them.
He looked at her with the soft smile that she began to cherish.
"So, are you proud of you model?"
"Well, it's not that bad. The expensive cachemire helps, I guess."
His mischievious smirk appeared on the corner of his mouth. He lifted his hand and slowly rubbed her lower lips. She closed her eyes under his touch and quickly felt his cold lips on hers. His kiss was tender, soft at first and became ardent. His hand pulled her closer to him. She slowly opened her mouth and felt his tongue catching hers in a sensual dance. She moaned and let herself taken by his desire. He slowly broke the kiss and slid down to her neck as his hand caressed her scalp. She sighed as she felt his tongue on the two thin marks of the last night, her legs about to give away. At this moment fangs pierced the soft flesh and she felt her blood pumped by his soft lips and tongue. She moaned under the strong pleasure which ran along her body. She was about to drop her camera on the floor, until it was caught by his strong hand.
He kissed the two wounds and murmured in her ears.
"We don't want to break the precious instrument of the artist, don't we?"
She nodded still bewitched by the sensations of his lips on her. He slowly caressed her cheek and smiled as he saw her open the eyes.
The sun was slowly seeking behind the house and the sky became a divine painting. They walked towards the manor. Freia held her camera in her hand, close to her thigh as she told him her trip in Paris and London before she came to New York. Josef listened to her and watched her as she spoke, looking at the gress in front of her feet, her eyes lost in the pictures of her memories.
They arrived in front of the door, he let her step inside first. As they passed in front of the black door, Josef caught a change of rhythm in her heartbeat. He looked at her and she answered him with a shy smile.
Freia was back in her room and Josef went to his own, tired of this long day in the sunlight. She was happy of her afternoon. She'd been with a man completely different from the one who brought her here.
She heard a knock on the door and saw the curious face of the freshie.
"Hello there?"
"Come in."
"I just left Josef, the poor guy was completely tired, but he smiled! Do you realize I haven't seen him smile since… well you know…"
Freia felt butterflies in her stomach.
"What you guys have done today?"
"Only my job. I took pictures of him and we talked."
"Talked? Really?"
"Yeah." Freia couldn't suppress a smile on her face.
"That smile! That was the same one. Something's happening here!"
"Don't start acting like Eva, please! One is enough…"
They burst into laugh.
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Freia went down the corridor to the staircase to eat dinner. She walked in front of the library and saw some light. She thought of Josef and smiled. Then she caught some voices as she slowly approached the door. She stood silently and recognized Eva's voice.
"You have to stop this Josef. She's young and naïve, you'll destroy her."
Silence.
"You can't stop pretend you don't see it. I can smell her feelings all over the manor and her heart is beating so strong that it echoes in the park."
Silence.
"Let her go, she doesn't deserve that and you know that!"
Freia's heart was beating in her throat. She went fast downstairs, not even caring if they'd heard her. Next to the dining-room's door, she tried to regain some calm. She could hear that Vanessa was already there and came in the room.
"Hey! Look at all that food! That's just delicious."
Freia tried to smile, but the mood wasn't there. All she could think of was what Eva had said.
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She laid in her bed, but couldn't sleep. She hadn't seen Josef since what she'd heard in the library. She was so afraid that the man she'd seen in the afternoon would be gone again. She finally stood up and went outside her room. The corridor was plunged into darkness and silence. She slowly walked down the other side of the corridor, where she'd not been before. She knew that Eva's room was there and guessed that Josef's was there too.
She distinguished some light under a doorframe and went closer. She stood inches from the door and heard some noise. Her heart was pounding in her chest, a bad premonition catching her.
She slowly opened the door and the light from the room envelopped her with a strong smell. Before she realized it, she could see two naked forms in the middle of the room, on a chair. The back of a woman, head thrown back, her long red hair dancing in rhythm with her hips, her bottocks moving up and down, firmly held by two strong hands that she quiclky recognized. Blond hair were moving to the side of the woman's neck and finally let appeared two silver eyes looking straight in Freia's, the smile of the monster.
