A/N - I'm getting like 100 hits and I'm not getting any reviews. I have a booming total of 4 reviews. Please review. It keeps the characters living longer. If I don't get more reviews I'm just going to kill the whole story with a giant nuclear bomb (jk). R&R! Enjoy...
Chapter 3:
"We're here," Roland called softly. He hoped that Jae had fallen asleep while he ran aimlessly around the forest. He didn't want her awake when he walked through the front yard of the estate.
"Good. I'm getting really stiff in this position." Jae opened her eyes and squirmed in his arms. He put her down on the ground put held onto her with one hand.
Roland gave her a serious look and bent down to look her in the eye. "Just a few quick rules. One, stay as close to me as possible and never let go of my hand. Two, you know how I told you all vampires can do the shoulder thing," Jae nodded in acknowledgment, "well they can also do the name calling thing. So, I'm going to need you to not focus on anything that happens while we walk through the front yard. Okay?"
Jae nodded. Her eyes were droopy and she looked tired.
"Alright. Let's go then," Roland said and moved his hand from Jae's shoulder down to her hand and dragged her behind him.
Once they walked out of the few remaining trees, Jae was shocked by what she saw. There were hundreds of people, presumably vampires, sitting around. Kissing, hugging, talking, dancing, and so on. Nearly half of them turned to stare at her as she walked in, but the remainder stayed engrossed in whatever activity they were previously performing. Jae immediately looked down, remembering Roland's warning.
"Come here. Come here," A chorus of soothing and inviting voices repeated over and over. Jae focused on putting on one foot in front of the other, and Roland pulled her forward faster.
One voice stood out above the rest. It was smooth and familiar. Jae tried to look inconspicuously out of the corner of her eye to identify the speaker. Hundreds of pairs of eyes met her on each side. She was searching for one in particular, even though she didn't know what she was looking for.
A face to her left captured her gaze. Her pace slowed and Roland pulled on her hand hard trying to shake her out of her daze. The man nodded to her with a smile and dropped his head, releasing her from the power of his stare. Roland gave Jae another good yank and she ran to catch up with him.
They entered the building through a large door. The inside was decorated meticulously with classical and modern furniture that blended together seamlessly. Roland pulled Jae up an impressive flight of completely carpeted stairs. He led her down a dark hall, and into a dimly lit room. After her eyes adjusted, Jae noticed a large bed a bureau, a mirror, and a closed door which was either a closet or a bathroom.
"Thank you," Jae said quietly while she looked around for a light switch. Roland's hand left hers momentarily while he went to turn on a gorgeous over head light. "Thank you," she said again laughing a little at herself.
"Why are you laughing?" Roland asked, chuckling a little.
"No reason." Jae was laughing harder now.
"What?" Roland asked all out howling with amusement. The two of them laughed until Jae's sides hurt so much that she had to sit down on the floor and gasp for air. After Roland had composed himself, he asked, "What was so funny?"
"I can't ever remember, now," Jae said, giving way to another fit of giggles.
"I'm going to get you a tooth brush and some tooth paste. I'll be right back." Roland looked at Jae slightly shocked, slightly amused. He silently shut the door behind him and huffed down the hallway at a quick pace.
Jae sobered up quickly after Roland left. She crawled into the large bed and curled up into a tight ball. Roland didn't come back after a couple minutes so she flopped over onto her back, determined to fall asleep.
Roland came back several minutes later to find Jae staring absently at the ceiling. He shut the door with a slight click, announcing his presence. The alertness came back to Jae's eyes but she didn't move to look at him.
"I'll put your things in the bathroom." Roland opened the door and threw the plastic bag next to the sink with perfect accuracy. Jae was laughing quietly to herself. "What is so interesting about that light?" Roland asked, completely bewildered.
"What isn't so interesting about that light?" Jae responded, no longer laughing, but not moving her sight from the light either.
"Go wash up." Roland pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers and closed his eyes. He gestured towards the bathroom with his free hand. Jae walked into the bathroom without saying a word.
Jae couldn't get the picture of that man out of her mind. He looked familiar. And, she got butterflies in her stomach whenever she thought about him. Without really thinking about it Jae went through the motions of preparing for bed. She continued to think about him until the issue of a hairbrush came up. After a short bit of searching, she decided it was best just to yank her fingers through it briefly. The yanking lasted longer than she realized because, once again, her mind drifted back to the man in the yard. She walked over to the window and looked at the setting sun. She looked down to see if she could spot the man, if he was still outside. Unfortunately, it was too dark.
Just as Jae was about to turn around, a figure dropped down onto the window sill, opened the window, crawled inside, and put a soft hand on Jae's shoulder. This all happened before Jae could even gasp, the figure was so fast. But, right before the hand hit her shoulder, silencing all emotion, she realized it was the same man she had seen on her way into the building.
Roland sensed Jae's heartbeat accelerate quickly, very quickly, before calming down substantially. He knocked on the door softly, "Jae, are you okay in there?" There was no response. He waited. Then, her scent started to drift away. In a panic, Roland broke down the door and ran to the window, only to see an unidentifiable vampire carrying Jae's limp figure hit the ground and start running. Roland jumped out the window without hesitation. He ran after Jae and the unknown captor, following only by Jae's scent.
Jae relaxed into the man's arms. She let a wave of lethargy, sent from her carrier, spread over her. She closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.
Jae rolled over searching for more sleep. She groaned as something cold pulled her upright. She kept her eyes closed, and as soon as the grasp was released, fell back to the ground.
"Get up," someone, not so friendly, growled.
Jae rolled onto her stomach, pried her eyes open, and took in her surroundings. She was on a mattress that was on a wooden floor. She had two layers of blanket completely wrapped around her. She groaned and pushed herself up. Jae turned around so that she was sitting more conventionally. In a chair on the opposite side of the room sat the same man who had caught her eye yesterday. She tried to recall the details of last night, and how she had gotten hear, through the fog of sleep.
"How?" Jae mumbled, "Where am I?"
The man laughed and then appeared in front of her.
"Who are you?" Jae nearly shrieked, coming out of her fog like trance.
The man laughed again and then sat down next to her. He put a hand on her shoulder. She immediately felt all of the panic fall away. The questions that she had wanted to ask escaped her memory, so they sat in silence for a while.
"Hi," the man said breaking the silence. He slowly removed his hand and brought it down to his side.
"Hi," Jae said unfocused. "Um," she paused, "Who are you?"
"You can call me Thais," he said, glad that she wasn't panicking.
"Well, Thais," Jae said, gradually coming back to reality, "Where are we? Why are we here? And how are we here?"
"We are at my house. We are here because I want to be. We are also here because I brought you here."
Jae nodded. What else was there to do? "I'm hungry," she stated.
"Blunt. I like that about you," Thais laughed and got up, grabbing Jae's hand and pulling her out the door. They walked down a hallway and into a tiled kitchen with a table at the far end. Jae sat down in the seat closest to the doors that lead to a glassed in porch. She looked at Thais expectantly. "I have to make a phone call. Help yourself to whatever is in the fridge. There are pots and pans in this cabinet," he pointed toward the back corner of the kitchen, "if you want to make anything. I'll be right back." Thais left through the same door they had walked through and strolled away quickly, humming to himself.
Jae made her way over to the stainless steel refrigerator and gave the handle a hard tug. The door jerked open, rattling every thing inside of it. Jae looked around nervously, a blush growing on her cheeks. Thais chuckled from down the hall, although Jae could not hear it. She briefly looked through the refrigerator before giving up and going in search of cereal. She opened cabinet after cabinet, but they were either empty, or full of dishes and household decorations like useless vases. She decided to sit down and wait for Thais to return. Jae drummed her fingers against the table, listening for the sound of his return. Without realizing it Jae turned and saw Thais sitting at the far end of the table. She gasped and brought her hand up to her chest, but then quickly brought it down, the fear subsiding.
"Not hungry anymore?" Thais asked. His eyebrows went up playfully and he put on a devilish smile.
"I just couldn't find anything I was in the mood for." Jae shrugged and started to dive into her next round of questions, but she was quickly interrupted.
"What ARE you in the mood for, then?" he asked, immediately serious.
"I don't know. I guess I wasn't really that hungry in the first place," again she tried to start her questions, but was interrupted.
"You should eat something. It's been a while since you ate. I don't want you passing out on me," the spark of humor returned to his eyes with the last comment.
"I'm fine. Really," Jae said, trying to silence the doubt on Thais's face.
He stood up quickly and put a hand on Jae's shoulder. "You will eat," Thais stated. Jae nodded mechanically and Thais detached his hand. "What would you like?" Thais asked walking over to the middle of the kitchen.
Jae turned in her chair to look at him. She was too frightened to lie to him. "Cereal would be nice," she stated quietly.
"Then cereal it shall be." Thais disappeared into another room blindingly fast. He came back with a box, which he poured into a bowl with milk and placed in front of Jae all in an amount of seconds.
Stunned, Jae turned around and started to pick at her the still crunchy flakes that floated around in the icy milk.
"Eat," Thais commanded. Jae brought the spoon up to her mouth and quickly chewed the cereal. She remembered how hungry she was, and hurriedly downed the entire bowl. "Would you like anything else?" Thais asked. He was slightly amused at how much he had had to persuade her to eat when she was clearly very hungry.
"Do you have any fruit?" she asked timidly. Thais was surprised that she didn't lie to him, but proud that he had frightened her enough into telling the truth.
"Any kind you like," he stated.
"Could I have an orange, maybe?" This came out as a question.
Thais walked over to the cabinet by the light switch and grabbed an orange. He held it out for Jae to take. She reached out tentatively and took it from him. She began peeling it and Thais sat down at the head of the table and stared at Jae.
Thais looked young. He had long dirty blonde hair that reached his shoulders and brushed against his forehead. His eyes were a brown shade of gray and were set close together above his perfectly shaped nose. His mouth was full and light pink. Jae saw them move and tried to focus her attention on the words coming out of them but was unable.
"Jae? Jae?" Thais waved his hands wildly, trying to attract her attention.
"Sorry. What?" Jae said, coming out of her brief fixation with his face.
"Nothing. You just seemed out of it," Thais stated, studying her expression intensely. Jae looked away. She tried to ignore his stare, but failed and decided to leave the kitchen. She put her completely untouched orange on the place mat near Thais, and she left the kitchen.
She wandered through the hallways, acting like she knew exactly where she was going. She constantly looked behind her, checking for Thais. She didn't want him to sneak up on her again and do the shoulder thing.
She opened a door at the end of a hallway to find a cozy, well-lit, library. And, sitting in a cushioned red chair by the fire, was Thais. He smiled at her, "Sit. Let's talk."
With out realizing it, Jae found herself walking over to another chair opposite Thais. She sat on the edge of the chair and looked at Thais. She was tense and gripped the arms of the chair tightly.
"Relax," Thai said. And she did. She moved back and leaned into the chair. She loosened her death grip and moved her hands to her lap. He released his emotional hold on her so he could get an honest response to his next question, "Are you, honestly, not freaked out by the fact that I'm a vampire?"
"Not really," Jae said. She kept her face carefully emotionless, "I guess I always knew that things like this existed. I just never had any proof to hold on to. Until now," she added.
"Hmm." Thais nodded. He thought about how to respond, but decided to move onto a different topic. "Would you li-"
Jae cut him off. "Why am I here? Why aren't I back at that house with Roland?"
"Well this should be an interesting conversation," Thais muttered to himself. "I need someone to live with me. I need someone to take care of me and the house. To run errands and tidy up and such. I was wondering if you would like to be that person?"
"This how you ask somebody to be a maid? You kidnap them in the middle of the night, toy with their feelings, and then ask them if they want to be your maid?" Jae was nearing hysteria. Thais reached out to calm her, but she jerked away.
"Not a maid exactly," Thais tried soothing her with his voice. Her heart rate slowed noticeably, so he continued, "I need someone to take care of the house, yes, but mostly I need someone to drink."
Jae looked back at him shocked. Her jaw dropped and her eyes were wide. Then, she asked the most unexpected question, "How much does it pay?"
"Uh. Free room and board. Two hundred dollars a day. Does that sound fair?"
"Um. I'm not sure. What are the hours?"
"Twenty-four, seven," Thais laughed at this.
"Um."
"I'm kidding mostly. You won't have to work constantly, but this would be your life," Thais said, immediately serious.
"Sounds fair enough. Doesn't pay THAT well, but it'll do." Jae nodded her head, "Thanks!" Jae said smiling hugely.
"And," Thais paused, slightly shocked, "you're okay with the whole 'drinking' part of the job."
"Yeah, I guess. How bad could it be?" Jae shrugged.
"Not that bad." Thais was ecstatic. Finally! A girl that doesn't panic every three seconds even when she should. This should be great, he thought.
"I'll show you around the house and you can pick out your room." Thais stood up and offered his hand to Jae, who took it tentatively.