A/N: This chapter has a bit of "sexual innuendo" in it, but barely any at all. So just a warning.
"Alec!" came Elly's sing-song voice. Alec seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in, and turned to see his girlfriend. I let out a sigh of relief and sat down shakily on my bed. Elly appeared in my door way. "Come on! You and I are racing next!"
Alec nodded and then glared over at me. I returned it. "Good night." He said coldly, and then left with Elly. My door swung shut and I stared at it for a long, few moments.
With an irritated grunt, I walked to the desk in my room, grabbed the chair, and set it up against the door. I needed to be reminded to tell Claude to get a lock on my door and the bathroom door. Then I changed into pajamas and collapsed onto my bed, without bothering to pull the covers up.
"Need I remind you who I am?" the man demanded harshly. The woman at the end of the table glared at him. Their faces were blurry, unable to be seen completely.
"You are nobody to me, anymore!" the woman cried out angrily, standing up and slamming her hand onto the table. The table split down the middle. A vampire's power.
The man watched her coolly. "Sit down, Cassy. Let us talk this out."
"How can we?! You are angered by a mere secret! And then you begin to speak of your place in this house! You are rude and inconsiderate!"
Said man stood abruptly, startling the woman. He strode around the table and grabbed her roughly by the scruff of her lacy dress. "You are a monster now! Both you and him!" he roared, pushing her back. She stumbled, but reached out lightning-fast to his arm to steady herself. The room went quiet.
"So I am a monster?" she asked, her voice lowering and wavering. The man stood rigid, not saying a word. She shook him. "I'm your wife! How could you?!"
There was more silence from the man, He continued to watch her, eyes fiery and alert.
The woman, Cassy, stepped back and heaved a heartbroken sigh. "Then kill me, my dearest."
The man let out a sob, and grabbed her to him. "I could never kill you, my love. Please… let me become one of you."
"Then I shall change you, father." a new voice stated; a boy walked into the dining room. He eyed the table with a blurry face, and then moved his eyes to the man.
Cassy smiled at the boy, and then to her love. "Oh, thank you. We can be together forever, Claude."
Beep, beep, beeeeeep. I shot up in bed with a shocked gasp. My alarm clock was going off and hurting my ears. In a hurry, I slipped out of bed and turned it off. What the hell kind of dream was that? Why was Claude in it?
There was a knock on my door, much to my relief. I brushed back my hair and removed the chair from blocking it. Opening, my door, I saw Claude. He was ready for the day. He smiled at me.
"Hey, it's Saturday. Time for you to do all your big chores. I have got some running around to do, and the boys are coming with. Elly and Rylan are staying, though."
I froze. "Elly?" I choked. Had she stayed the damn night?! Claude nodded. He checked his watch, and then suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, and the girls' brother called. He's heading over. I guess he wants to help you with chores. So I will see you later, okay?"
I nodded, and he began walking away. I stared after him for a moment, and then remembered something. "Wait, Claude?" I called. He paused and turned halfway to peer at me with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes?"
"I…ah…" Who is Cassy? I blushed. "Never mind."
He smiled and waved goodbye. I sighed and glanced back at my clock. It was nine AM. First thing first, shower.
After my shower -which went peacefully uninterrupted- I threw on a pair of my old denim shorts, a plain black tank-top, and a pair of gray socks. I threw my hair into a messy bun and trotted down the stairs. Max and Elly were arguing in the living room.
"I can't believe you get angry at me for spending the night but when you do -oh, hey Ava!" Max brightened up and smiled at me. I waved and walked straight to the kitchen. Rylan was sitting on the kitchen counter stool, reading a book and drinking something from a covered bottle.
"Good morning." I greeted him as I walked by and opened the cupboard under the sink for cleaning utensils.
"Morning." he returned it, taking a sip of whatever was in the bottle. I glanced wearily at it.
"Lemme guess…" I raised my eyebrows, trailing off. Rylan nodded. Yup, blood. Thought so. Good thing to keep the bottle covered. Drinking dark red liquid would look…awkward to Elly.
I sighed and took out a bucket and some bleach. I filled up the bucket with hot water and went to pour the bleach in, when suddenly someone plucked it out of my hands.
"No bleach." Rylan stated, and began digging under the sink again. I looked down at him.
"Why?"
"It burns our senses." he told me, pulling out some pine sol instead. He grimaced slightly at it. "This isn't much better, but it shall do."
I smiled thankfully toward him and poured some in the steamy water. "So do you read everyday?" I asked casually, throwing in a rag.
"Most of the time. It drowns out Lukas and Alec." Rylan said, a faint smile on his pretty face. I laughed.
"I wish I could stick to a book like that. I don't think I've read for ages."
Rylan sat back down on the stool. "We have a private library behind Claude's study. It is packed full of books all the way back to the late 1700's and 1800's."
I almost dropped the bucket when I pulled it over the sink. "Really?" I asked, amazed. Rylan gave a curt nod. I mused a moment. If Claude and them had lived in the 1700's -I grimaced; that's pretty old- then there were probably books on them, right? News? Info? Anything? "Do you think I could take a look in there sometime soon?"
Rylan shrugged one shoulder. "You'd have to ask Claude."
I nodded. Max chose that moment to enter the room. "Ready to clean?" he asked me. I held out the bucket to him. He frowned. I smiled innocently.
"You have the bathrooms."
Nearly six hours later, Max and I had accomplished the four bathrooms, four floors, my bedroom, and the dishes. I wanted to do everyone else's bedrooms, but I hadn't asked permission. Max and I entered a den room that I hadn't been to before on the first floor, and I collapse onto the couch with a relieved groan.
"I am so going to take a hot bath and sleep well tonight." I sighed, as Max sat next to me.
"Yeah. I wonder where Claude and the others went. They've been gone this whole time…" he trailed off, peering at me. I shrugged.
"I could really care less. It's been peaceful."
Max was about to reply, when a shrill, happy voice screeched from the doorway. "Maaaaaxxx!" His face dropped and he looked over as Elly danced into the den, followed by Alec. She was carrying a large bag full of…clothes? "Look what Alec bought me!"
She jumped onto the couch between us and dumped her bag out on the coffee table. My jaw dropped. Alec sat across from us in the armchair and smirked. He had bought her a new pair of stiletto boots, a fur coat, and a beautiful necklace with a red garnet on it. "Isn't this amazing?!" she gushed, holding up the gothic-like garnet necklace. I rolled my eyes at her.
"He's trying to buy your love." I stated, standing up. This was getting ridiculous. Elly was going to retort, but I strode past her and out of the den room. I clenched my fists as I walked down the halls, angrily cursing Alec. He was being stupid. Elly was my friend -my best friend, and he was taking her away from me. We couldn't even have a decent conversation without him in the room!
I walked up a staircase since it led to the second floor where my room was, even though it was unfamiliar. I walked around a corner and realized I was lost. Did this side of the house have this many hallways? I couldn't remember. With a defeated sigh, I turned one more corner and was about to turn around, when a single door at the end of the hallway caught my attention.
It was large and brown, with a black design embedded into it. Out of curiosity, I silently stepped up to the door and traced a finger along the swirly, moon-shaped design. My hand rested by the doorknob.
Was it everybody's question on what laid behind this beautiful door? Curiosity kill the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. Right? With a sharp intake of breath, I turned the doorknob. The door squeaked, causing me to pause and listen carefully for anybody. A part of me was yelling at me to stop and turn back from whence I came, but another part of me -the rebelling, chaotic side of me- was screaming at me to open it and walk in.
And so, I opened it all the way. On the other side, I was met with an astonishing sight. In awe, I stared open-mouthed and wide-eyed at the colossal, black bed and the dark, soft floors. The walls were painted a deep red, and there was only one window, with a seat.
Along the walls were large, painted pictures of random scenes and landscapes. They were…breathtaking. I stepped into the room and approached the first painting on the wall. Scribbled neatly on the bottom of the picture was,
London, England, 1799.
Rylan Darquecaster.
Once more, my awe intensified. Rylan drew this?! No, he drew all of these. I looked carefully at the picture. There was a cobblestone road beginning at the bottom of the portrait and leading upwards towards a horizon. A horse and carriage was strolling along the road, past walking citizens wearing lovely Victorian dresses.
I hesitantly put my hand up and traced the road softly. It was an old painting. I smiled serenely and moved to the next one, and the next. Each was better than the last. I moved to the other side of the bed and almost tripped over a face down picture. "Oops…" I muttered, stepping over it. I leaned down and pulled it up. Setting it carefully on the bed, I turned it over and…
My jaw dropped once more. I immediately let go of it and stared at it in shock. Rylan had drawn picture of me. It was perfect. He had caught every single feature of me, including the slight dimple in my smile. My own hazel eyes stared back at me, caught with the perfect mixture of color of green, brown and blue.
My naturally flyaway, frizzy red-brown hair and been turned wavy and toppled over my shoulders in the picture. He had made me beautiful. My hand was bent barely at the wrist, nearly covering my mouth as I laughed.
How and when had he drawn this of me? I never smiled or laughed so freely like this before. I touched Rylan's signature at the bottom of the portrait with a smile on my face. That was when the familiar creaking of the door being pushed open again made me gasp and jump in shock.
Rylan was staring at me from the doorframe. I blushed scarlet and moved quickly toward the door to leave past him. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to enter -I mean, I thought it was just another room… I-I'll be leaving now!" As I nearly ran past Rylan, his hand caught me by the forearm and I was pulled back.
"Stay." he said melodiously. "Allow me to draw you once more."
I turned to look at him in surprise. "W-what?" I asked, bewildered. He should be angry with me for entering his room without consent! Rylan merely ignored me and pulled me after him into the room. My heart sunk to dread when he shut the door behind us.
Nope, he was angry. And now he was going to kill me. Possibly rape my dead body too. Who knew?!
Instead, he sat me on the bed and moved away from me. I sat there, rigid, watching him with deer-in-the-headlights eyes. He grabbed a blank portrait board and three paintbrushes. He sat down in the window seat and turned towards me.
"Lay down." he said. I stared at him for a moment, and then nervously laid on my side, facing him. He peered at me for a long minute, and then shook his head. Standing up, he set his items on the seat and strode to me. Without even warning me, he grabbed my tank top and pulled it up so that it showed my stomach.
"Hey!" I gasped, putting up my hands. Rylan eyed me for a moment with his piercing green eyes. I nervously bit my lip. His eyes caught that movement.
"Stay just like that. Keep that blush on your face too." he ordered. I didn't know what to think. Whether to punch him in the face or do as he said. In one more movement, he pulled down my tank top and bra strap so it hung loosely against my arm. "Perfect." he murmured, stepping back to the seat.
I tried to do as he said instead of twitching and angrily shouting at him. He must have heard my thoughts, because as he began sketching, a light smirk graced his features.
"If you don't continue blushing, I will put thoughts into your head to make you."
My eyes widened. He could do that?! Quickly, I thought of something that'd make me blush. My mind went straight to Lukas's kiss the day before. Rylan looked at me for a long moment, musing, probably reading my thoughtful images of Lukas's cool lips, and then went back to sketching.
After what seemed like an hour, he moved onto paints. I continued thinking of Lukas's kiss over and over again until it became unreal. My blush faded and I sighed heavily in boredom. "Can we put this on pause?" I asked. Rylan ignored me. After another few minutes, I asked again.
Finally, he looked up at me and frowned. Within seconds, new images fled into my mind, causing my body to heat up instantly. Somebody with a cool body was kissing me along the throat to my collarbone, causing me to close my eyes tightly. I couldn't make out the face of the person because it was blurry, like in my dreams.
I was naked, laying on this same bed. The body above me continued to lavish me with kisses and sucking, and it was if I could feel it in real life. Oh my God, Rylan needed to stop now.
"Open your eyes, Avanni." he murmured, and his voice sent shivers down my spine. Why was he doing this to me? Timidly, I opened them, but they remained half-lidded because of the mental pleasure Rylan was forcefully shoving into my mind. This was torture.
Before my eyes in my mind, the stranger's hand moved lower, touching me in a place that no other had touched me. On impulse, I moaned, throwing my head back, and I caved in and rolled onto my back on the bed.
And so suddenly, the images stopped. I panted heavily, closing my eyes tightly to will the heat in my body to dissipate. "I think that's enough for today, Rylan." A cold voice spoke from the doorway. I bit the inside of my cheek in a nervous gesture. Oh man… it was Alec! Had he seen that?!
A freezing hand in comparison with my hot skin grabbed my wrist and pulled me off of the bed. I stumbled against their chest and breathed in the fresh scent. I glanced up wearily at Alec, who was holding me tightly, as he lead us out of the room. I stepped in sync with him, trying to keep up with his pace.
"That…was embarrassing…" I choked, hiding my face. Alec didn't reply. Ugh! I was going to kick Rylan's ass for this someday! Alec lead me to my bedroom and let me go. I immediately went to my bed and fell onto it face first. My door closed, and I knew I was alone. With a heavy sigh, I closed my eyes and buried my embarrassed face into my pillow.
Enough was enough for one day.