A/N: First of all, I cannot apologize enough for how long it took to publish this update. Once again, life happened, perhaps a little of blockage too. Thank you so much to the people still following this story, I hope they continue reading after such a long absence. I forgot to say in the previous chapter the looks of The O.C. gang. Ryan looks are definitely season 1, season 2 works too but I prefer season 1. Marissa looks too are season 1, her looks didn't change that much in seasons 2 and 3 but season 1 is the best. Seth looks are more season 2, nothing against season 1 but I think season 2 and maybe 3 work better for this time period. Summer looks are season 2 and 3, in season 1 her looks specially in the first episodes almost make her look kind of different for the girl we seen during seasons 2 and 3, and in season 4 her hair had highlights at the beginning I think (also don't take into account the bangs she had at the beginning of season 2).
I don't own GG, if I did the end would have been more detailed.
This meal was more difficult to procure than the night before because there were now too many vampires for one small town. The owners of the manor knew this beforehand and because of it they also knew that their guests and they couldn't feed on this town and nearby towns much more than one week. It was one thing to have in a town 2 or 3 deaths or occasional disappearances per day, and another one to have 4 or 5 persons dying or disappearing each day for a week or more. Only the deaths of this night, joined to the 3 disappearances of the night before, could be enough to alert the town's inhabitants that something odd was happening, and even if during the next few days they opted to go to other towns more or less close to home, suspicions could still be raised if they feed on this town several nights. For the moment, they would feed on this town because it was the closest to home, but they needed to be really careful about the victims they would choose, and for the next couple of nights they needed to go to the other towns in the area for the meals.
Like Ms. Rhodes had suggested the night before, the gentlemen in the group took care of the meal, since the women had done the work the night before:
"Maybe we should split up" Mr. Nichol said. "Rachel, Ezekiel, Moya and I could go with some of you to one place and other group could go to other part of town and…"
"I don't want us splitting up just yet" Mr. Bass replied, "at least not until everybody knows how to move in this town. Perhaps we could do the first hunt together and then split up" he added.
"Sounds reasonable" Mr. Nichol said. "Where will we go, then?"
"Fitzwilliam here" Mr. Bass replied, "has an area he wants to show us."
"That's correct" Mr. Archibald added. "Follow me and I will show you the way."
Through dark alleys and small streets, avoiding the main streets and even going over the roofs at some point, they finally stood nearby a building with music and laughter.
"This is the brothel" Mr. Archibald informed everybody. "Yes, I know, it's an obvious place to go" he added when he saw the faces Mrs. Roberts and the Countess put. Ms. Rhodes looked amused while Mrs. Nichol, Ms. Hudson and Vivian looked blasé about this information. "But we are too many and I know for a fact some of these girls are young, don't have children yet and I thought we could put them out of their misery from having to do this job" Mr. Archibald finished.
"How thoughtful of you" Vivian said.
"You were the ones that said we needed to take care of the meal today…" Mr. Archibald started saying addressing the women.
"Alright, Archibald is right" Mr. Bass said, "the question is, should we get the ones we choose out of there or should we feed inside the place?"
Everybody looked at each other and Ms. Rhodes finally answered: "If you feed inside, you might have to kill everybody, otherwise the livings might suspect what happened."
"Not necessarily" Mr. Rhodes said. "We could open the window and take the body out through it."
"Or," Ms. Hudson suddenly said, "you could break the neck…"
"Too risky" Mr. Bass said. "If we take one or more bodies out of the place, they will still know who were the last clients there, and if we go inside, feed and then break the neck of one of the girls, we would still be suspects whether we leave through a window or if we go to the madam and say the girl pass out while with us, worst if we feed on more than one girl."
"Wait," Vivian suddenly said, addressing the men "why don't you climb up the windows and start checking the rooms until one of the girls is alone in them after she finished with a client? Then before she goes out one of you could go inside the room and…"
"That couldn't possible work" the Countess replied, "they will have to break the window, and even if they don't what are they going to do if the girls are all busy, watch until they finish? Hide in the rooms when they are empty and wait for a couple to come in, finish and then the girl to be alone?"
"I'm not saying they have to look, I'm just saying they have to give a quick peak…" Vivian started arguing.
"This is taking too long and we are going nowhere" Ms. Hudson suddenly said. "I say some of us go through the back entrance when no one is around, we climb up to the upper floor where the rooms are, and either we hide in some of the rooms until couples arrive and we immediately feast on them, or we go into the rooms and we feast on whoever is occupying them. Just note that we need to drink from both the prostitute and the client in any scenario we choose."
"You are right, this is taking too long" Mr. Nichol said. "Ezekiel and I will go through the main entrance, we will ask for 2 girls for a small party and we will let you know where we end up by opening a window. We don't live here and nobody knows us, and we will be far gone by the time they realize we don't come downstairs."
Everybody agreed to this plan, and the rest decided that Mrs. Nichol and Mrs. Roberts would climb the windows first, since they were the most recently arrived visitors, and the rest would decide later who would climb and who would wait outside watching and waiting for the next plan to feed.
"You haven't really come to the brothel before, have you?" Mrs. Nichol asked amused to her hosts. "You didn't think through this plan that much."
"Not really" Mr. Archibald admitted. "We had fed in street prostitutes before. I was leaving this place as an option that could be used when in need."
"And I forgot that Archibald still has a lot to learn when it comes to making plans in general" Mr. Bass said while positioning to watch the area, to which Mr. Archibald playfully glared, Ms. Rhodes giggled a little and even the Countess couldn't help a smirk.
They all took their positions, Mr. Nichol and Mr. Roberts went inside the brothel, and everything went smoothly. When Mr. Nichol and Mr. Roberts opened the window of the room they ended up, their wives climbed first, and the rest decided that Mr. Rhodes and Ms. Hudson were the ones that should climb after them. Ms. Hudson normally hated the patronizing (in her eyes this is what it was because she knew Mr. Rhodes and her were selected because they were the younger-looking ones), but she was hungry so she decided not to argue this one. When they all finished, they climbed out of the window and joined the others, leaving the area outside the brothel quickly.
"Well, now what?" Mrs. Roberts said when they were safely away.
"I was thinking the hospital" Mr. Rhodes said.
"You always suggest the hospital" Ms. Rhodes whined.
"Well, I happen to know it" Mr. Rhodes argued, "and like Fitz said, if we can put people out of their misery…"
"I think it would be good to know that area" the Countess interrupted, "and hospitals are safe choices."
Once again, they all ended up agreeing to this suggestion and went to the hospital.
"Richard, you lead the way" Mr. Bass said. "One of us should stay here with the Nichols and the Roberts to watch the area while some of us go inside" he said, addressing Ms. Rhodes and Mr. Archibald. "Fitzwilliam, you think you could stay with them? And I will go with Richard…"
"Charles, I want to come in too…" Mr. Archibald started saying.
"I know, I know my friend, but at least one of us that knows the area should stay outside if someone comes, and you have more patience for surveillance duties than I do. We will have a third plan for a meal tonight, I promise. Do this favor for me, my friend, I promise you will eat."
Mr. Archibald thought about it for a moment, then smiled a little and nodded his head. Mr. Bass continued, addressing the rest. "Alright, I think Catherine and Constanze should enter with Richard and I," he started; the Countess rolled her eyes because by now she had anticipated something like this. "Archibald is going to stay outside with the Nichols and the Roberts to watch over the area" to this, the Nichols and the Roberts nodded their heads in agreement. "Who else wants to come in?"
"I think I will stay outside too. I will wait for the next place we go to" Vivian said.
"I will stay too" Ms. Hudson said. "Randolph, you should go inside. You haven't eaten and I already did" she added, addressing her brother.
"Fine, I will go with you" Mr. Hudson said addressing Mr. Bass, the Rhodes brothers and the Countess.
"Follow me then" Mr. Rhodes said.
Mr. Rhodes liked the hospital because he knew how to sneak into the place unnoticed and which areas they could safely go and feed. Once they reached the area he considered safer (where all the patients were also sleeping) he personally chose a person for each of the other four to feed in. He didn't choose one for himself, just stood by and watched over the entrance and the other patients while his friends feed.
"You should eat something too" Ms. Rhodes said to her brother once she finished her meal, while walking until she was standing slightly behind him and touching his right shoulder with her right hand. He was looking over one of patients.
"But I already fed…" Mr. Rhodes started saying while slightly turning around.
"But you could feed a bit more. I know it's not the same to share a person with others than being the only one feeding on that person" Ms. Rhodes said.
Mr. Rhodes seemed to think about it for a moment and then he selected one of the patients to feed.
Once they were all finished, they went out of the hospital quickly, with Mr. Rhodes leading the way. They joined the others outside and the entire group left the hospital premises quickly, managing to go through the town undetected until they reached the place where they have entered the town in the first place.
"Now, what will we do?" Mrs. Roberts asked when they were all together.
"Now, I'm going to engage someone into a fight" Mr. Bass said.
"A fight?" Mr. Archibald asked dumbfounded.
"There has to be a man in the tavern or nearby, drunk enough to be easily lured into a brawl in an alley" Mr. Bass said with determination.
"Are you serious?" Mr. Hudson said in disbelief.
"I am, and you are coming with me" he said, pointing to Mr. Archibald. "Once the man and I are outside, you and anyone else that needs to feed will be able to do so."
"Aren't you worried you could be recognized now or later?" Mrs. Nichol asked.
"We actually don't go inside the tavern that often" Mr. Bass said while getting ready to walk toward the tavern.
"You don't want me to come with you?" Mr. Nichol asked. "Moya has a point, you all live here and we don't. If I get into a fight with some fellow and later he and I both disappear, there isn't a place where people could go and ask questions."
"You already procured us a meal. Let us go now and find another as the host we are" Mr. Bass answered.
"And if one of your servants is inside and recognizes you?" Mr. Nichol asked.
"Touché, my friend" Mr. Bass said with a laugh at that, "touché. I guess either Fitzwilliam or I will have to bump into a man to engage him into fighting."
"Fine, I still want to come with you two, though. I want to know this town as much as possible" Mr. Nichol said.
"I have no problem with that. Shall we?" he asked Mr. Archibald and started walking with Mr. Nichol and with Mr. Archibald close behind, who was still slightly flummoxed about everything. When Mr. Bass passed nearby the place where the Countess stood, he glanced in her direction. The Countess pursed her lips, but said nothing.
"You don't want to go with them?" Mrs. Roberts asked teasingly to her husband.
"Who? Me?" Mr. Roberts said surprised and slightly alarmed. "No, leave the fighting to Rian. It's his specialty."
"Specialty" Mrs. Roberts scoffed. "I distinctly remember the first time you punched someone, when I was sitting in that…."
"Shhhh" Mr. Roberts said while putting a finger over his wife's lips. "Let's not talk about that now" he said, and then he pecked his wife's lips. Mrs. Nichol laughed a little watching them, because she knew that story, and soon Mrs. Roberts joined her in laughter.
Some of the others were too distracted to notice this interaction. Mr. Hudson took a place that allowed him to see the road that Mr. Bass, Mr. Archibald and Mr. Nichol had taken, and he did that to wait for the signal that would show the rest of them that they could go join the other three and feed. Vivian noticed this and stayed near him, waiting. Mr. Rhodes and Ms. Rhodes on the other hand, decided to watch over the area near their group to make sure no one was coming near them. When the Countess saw her friend move, she decided to go with her and do whatever Ms. Rhodes was going to do, to take her mind of thinking what was Mr. Bass doing at that moment.
Meanwhile Mr. Bass, Mr. Archibald and Mr. Nichol had reached a place where they could hide and watch the area in front of them, which was near the tavern but not in front of it, and study the people going and leaving the place.
"What about that man?" Mr. Archibald asked.
"No, not that one" Mr. Bass replied. "We need someone drunker than that."
"Maybe that one" Mr. Nichol said about another one.
"But he's not alone" Mr. Archibald replied.
That went on for a while, until they finally settled for a man walking alone in a moment when the street was empty. The plan worked: Mr. Bass walked to the man out of nowhere while looking a little upset already, bumped into the man, got him into an argument, started fighting with him and without the man noticing, they ended up in a back alley where Mr. Archibald grabbed the man and started feeding on him.
While Mr. Archibald was feeding and Mr. Nichol stood guard to make sure no one was around, Mr. Bass went to look for the others. He saw Mr. Hudson first and made signs to let him know the other group could come and feed. Mr. Hudson went first with Vivian, but Ms. Hudson decided to stay, and so did Mrs. Nichol, Mr. Rhodes, Ms. Rhodes, the Roberts and the Countess.
Once he was sure Mr. Hudson and Vivian were on the correct path and would know how to get back, Mr. Bass approached the group that had decided to stay behind.
"We have to get the horses ready" he said, addressing Mr. Rhodes, who nodded with his head and turned around to look for the horses, with the Roberts in tow.
"Is that blood on your shirt?" Ms. Rhodes suddenly asked, while coming closer to Mr. Bass and quickly examining a few droplets of blood over the neck of the shirt. "You let blood fall over your shirt? I can't believe you! Now we will have to wash it! Do you not remember how hard it is to get blood out of fabric?!" she managed to whisper/yell. Meanwhile she was fussing over him like a mother would with a child.
"He punched you" the Countess stated to Mr. Bass, effectively cutting off her friend's rant.
"No more than I punched him" Mr. Bass replied. "It was only one punch, really."
"Still, he had to come pretty close to you for some of his blood to spill on you" the Countess remarked.
Mr. Bass would have said more, but in that moment Mr. Hudson returned.
"Jane, you can come, there is still some left" he said to his sister.
"I'm fine…" Ms. Hudson started.
"Jane, come on, this is the last one for tonight" Mr. Hudson said, while gesturing to his sister to take his hand.
"I think I will also go with you" Mrs. Nichol said. "I want to know what Rian is doing."
"Fine, let's go" Ms. Hudson said, giving up all argument, and the three of them left to join the other group.
"We will have to bury the body" the Countess said to Mr. Bass.
"Yes" Mr. Bass agreed. "Don't worry, it won't take long, we will dig up fast" he said, guessing what the Countess was going to say next. "Sister, don't worry about that shirt. We will solve it once we reach our house" he said to Ms. Rhodes.
"Fine. Come on Constanze, let's go look for our horses" she said, while grabbing one of the Countess' hands and dragging her out of that alley, which didn't prevent the Countess from glancing one last time in Mr. Bass's direction, locking eyes with him for a moment until she turned around completely and went away with Ms. Rhodes. His gaze followed her until she and Ms. Rhodes were out of sight, and he remained there to wait for the other group to arrive with the body.
That other group managed to carry the body while pretending it could stand and they were all part of a big group that was partying. It wasn't really necessary because no one was around and no one saw them, nevertheless they moved the body that way. Once they reached the place where Mr. Bass was waiting for them, they all moved to look for the horses and the rest of their partners. They put the body over one of the horses (the Roberts decided to share a horse) and they rode until they found a place where they could bury the body. The men did all the digging, and being more than the night before and only one body, it was a fast procedure. After that, they all rode towards the manor.
By now the Countess worried that they have left Fritz alone for too long. Mr. Bass knew this, and that's why he had tried to tranquillize her before. As soon as they all reached the kitchens, the Countess called for Fritz. She didn't need to look further though, because she immediately spotted him sitting with a book.
"Did you eat lunch?" she asked the boy in English while walking towards him.
"Yes, Milady" Fritz replied; by then the Countess was standing next to him and leaning down to see what he was reading.
"Lunch?" Mrs. Roberts asked with surprise, almost sounding dismayed.
"Yes" the Countess answered while straightening up and looking towards Mrs. Roberts. "His midnight food is lunch" she said like it was the most normal thing in the world, while gesturing towards Fritz.
"Oh dear" Mrs. Roberts said dismayed, while looking towards her husband who looked equally puzzled.
"Don't worry, you will get used to it" Ms. Rhodes said with her chipper nature while grabbing one of Mrs. Roberts hands, like she had done with the Countess before, and dragging her out of the kitchens with Mr. Roberts behind. The rest of the group also walked out of the kitchens without further comment; mostly they wanted to change their clothes or relax. Mr. Bass was among them, once he make sure, by observing for a few moments, that the Countess and Fritz would be alright by their own. Effectively, the Countess had returned to fuss over Fritz.
"Milady, I'm not sure if I understand this word correctly" Fritz said, referring to his English book.
"Let me see…" the Countess said while sitting next to him.
As for the rest of the evening, after reviewing Fritz lessons, the Countess went to her room to leave her cloak in there and freshen up a bit. They also needed to do the laundry business. Just when she and Fritz finished that, they found Mr. Archibald and Ms. Rhodes who were giving a tour of the house to the Roberts and the Nichols, and the Countess decided she and Fritz should join them too. When the tour ended, they all joined the rest in the drawing-room. Vivian and Ms. Hudson were sitting talking and catching up, Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Hudson were each one reading a book, and Mr. Bass was taking care of paperwork related to the manor. The Nichols and the Roberts decided to sit down, relax and make small talk, Mr. Archibald went to join Mr. Bass, and the Countess and Ms. Rhodes sat down to talk also, the Countess sitting Fritz on her knees. She had decided that the boy could rest from his studies for a while.
"You know, I think I saw an Atlas in that library of yours" the Countess said to Ms. Rhodes after a long time talking.
"Yes, we do have an Atlas. Would you like to see it?" Ms. Rhodes said with her natural enthusiasm about everything.
"I believe so. Would you like to see it, Fritz?" she said to the boy, who nodded his head. She could tell Fritz was starting to get sleepy and that's when she remembered the Atlas and decided they could see a bit of Geography before he had to go to bed.
The Countess and Ms. Rhodes stood up and left the drawing-room quietly, with Fritz grabbing the Countess right hand with his left one. Everyone else were busy so they didn't bow or anything before leaving, only Mr. Bass briefly glanced in their direction but he figured they were going to one of their rooms.
When they reached the library, Ms. Rhodes showed the Countess and Fritz where the Atlas was. It was open over one small table in the center of the room.
"Look Fritz, this is the Atlas that we have here" Ms. Rhodes said, and because it was a little higher for Fritz to see, she lifted the boy and carried him in her arms, so he could see the Atlas from above.
"Do you like it?" the Countess asked Fritz with a smile, while passing over the pages slowly.
"Yes, Milady" the boy answered.
"We have other books here, you know" Ms. Rhodes said to Fritz smiling. "Would you like to see them?"
The boy nodded as reply.
"Let's go see them" the Countess said while rubbing Fritz's back with her left hand.
Ms. Rhodes brought them to the bookcases by the right wall of the library (the library had bookcases on its right and left walls, and windows on the side opposed to the doors, with curtains almost entirely closed and a desk with its chair in front of the windows), and they examined the book titles and their content for a while. That was until Fritz couldn't help yawning a little.
"I think is time for him to go to bed" the Countess said with a small laugh.
"Oh, Cornelia, let me put him into bed" Ms. Rhodes said. "It will be so much fun!"
"I don't think he's that familiar with you for that yet" the Countess said with a laugh, "but let's do this: you two go ahead and start and I will join you shortly after I find a Geography book that I like. I brought one from Germany but I want to see what you have here."
"As you wish" Ms. Rhodes said.
"Fritz, Ms. Rhodes is going to take you to your room and I will join you shortly. I want to see if this library has a book that we can use for tomorrow's lesson. I won't stay behind long" the Countess said to Fritz in German.
"Yes, Milady" the boy answered in that language.
The Countess and Ms. Rhodes exchange smiles and Ms. Rhodes left the library, still carrying Fritz in her arms.
The Countess stayed in the library examining the books in the right side of the room and then she went to see the books on the left side. She got more distracted than she had originally anticipated, because just when she had found a book that seemed interesting enough to her and was examining it after taking it out of its bookcase, she suddenly felt observed. She quickly turned towards the library's entrance and found Mr. Bass standing there, watching her.
"I was looking for a Geography book" was all she managed to say, while glancing towards the book in her hands.
"I just came to retrieve some papers that I need to show to Fitzwilliam" was Mr. Bass reply, and then he quickly walked towards the desk, put down some papers that he had brought with him and grabbed others, probably trying to distract himself while doing this.
"Right" the Countess said, feeling the awkwardness of the situation. She thought of leaving but hesitated, thinking she should say something more. And then suddenly it occurred to her what could that be.
"Actually… I wanted to thank you for your help before…" To this, Mr. Bass suddenly raised his head from the document on the desk he was examining. "When I was explaining to Rian and Moya and the others…, about Fritz" she finished.
"It was nothing" Mr. Bass managed to say, while internally struggling not to visibly swallow in the process. "I will gladly help with this as much as you need to."
"Still, I appreciate that you put an end to all their questions when you did" the Countess said while holding the book with both her hands, subconsciously trying to grab strength out of it. "I really don't want Fritz to relieve much of what happened with his family; either we speak in German, English or any other language. Not while he's still a child, at least."
"I understand. And again, I'm glad I could help" Mr. Bass said.
The Countess nodded her head, and was thinking of leaving, when again she remembered something else.
"Did you take care of that shirt?" she asked Mr. Bass.
"No, and thank you for mentioning it, I will have to do that before going to sleep." Mr. Bass answered.
The Countess nodded again, and was starting to turn around to really leave this time, when Mr. Bass asked:
"Would it have bothered you if I had entered the brothel and watched the girls entertain their clients while waiting for them to be left alone?"
"What?" the Countess suddenly asked with an entire different tone of voice, while turning around to face him.
"If I had entered one of the girls' rooms through the window, hid in the room and waited for the girl to entertain her client, watching until they finish to then feed on the girl and let the rest of you know that it was safe to come inside, would it had bothered you that I was watching her with her client all along?" Mr. Bass asked while smirking.
"You wish" the Countess said while trying to contain her outrage. Unconsciously she started walking towards him.
"Really? It wouldn't have bothered you that I was watching a girl engage in sensual and lustful acts of pleasure with a man who is not her husband?" Mr. Bass asked, while rounding up the desk, moving slowly towards the Countess.
"I don't care at all" the Countess said, while still walking towards him.
"And if I had decided to join them?" Mr. Bass said, taunting her.
"That is your business" the Countess said between teeth, while finally standing in front of him. She could feel fire inside of her by now, she knew she could quickly lost control, and she was desperately trying to hold it, because she knew that's what he wanted.
"It is also your business, my dear" Mr. Bass said huskily, "because I would rather engage in such acts with you" he finished, while enclosing the Countess's right wrist with his left hand. He wasn't forceful, but the Countess immediately tensed.
"Enough" she commanded, while stepping back a little and trying to take her wrist out of his hand, but that only made his grip become tighter.
"Why did you leave me the last time?" Mr. Bass asked, suddenly changing of tone of voice and tactic.
"For the same reason I left all the other times. For the same reason I will leave this time" the Countess answered, trying to keep her voice strong, but she was beginning to fail. He started looking at her pleadingly and that was making everything harder. "We can't be together, it is too dangerous" she said almost pleadingly.
"It is not…" Mr. Bass started, almost desperately.
"It is too dangerous for the humans" the Countess cut him off, raising her voice a little. Her voice almost broke but she managed to avoid it. "I could not bear it if something like what happened happens again. I could not live with that" she added, borderline getting upset by now.
"It won't! I promise that it won't! I have changed, it won't happen again…" Mr. Bass pleaded to her.
"How can you say that? How can you know it?" the Countess argued.
"It hasn't happened again after that time. How can you not believe that it won't happen again? How can you not believe in me?" Mr. Bass asked, looking heartbroken.
"I cannot risk it will happen again, I'm sorry" the Countess said, her eyes tearing up. "You have to let me be. You have to let me go."
"Why?" Mr. Bass asked desperately
"Because if you do, maybe someday I might find the strength to finally get over what happened" the Countess said, with her voice finally breaking. She managed to take her wrist out of his hand and she fled the room, leaving Mr. Bass as heartbroken as before.
What the Countess left unsaid in that last part of the conversation, is that if she managed to get over what happened, she might eventually come back to him. This would be something that Mr. Bass would have to learn on his own.
The Countess managed to compose herself before entering her room, where Ms. Rhodes and Fritz were waiting for her.
"What took you so long? Are you alright?" Ms. Rhodes asked her friend. Despite the Countess's best efforts, Ms. Rhodes could tell that her friend looked somewhat upset.
"I'm fine. Let's get Fritz to his bed" the Countess answered.
Between the two of them they took Fritz to his room and put him to sleep, not without the Countess showing him first the Geography book that she had brought from the library and promising they would take a better look into this book the next night. After closing the communication door between Fritz and the Countess rooms, Ms. Rhodes addressed her friend again.
"Are you sure you are alright? You seemed rather upset when you entered the room?"
"I'm fine, really" the Countess answered with a fake smile, trying to reassure her friend by taking Ms. Rhodes right hand with her left hand and squeezing reassuringly. "It just took me longer than expected to find a suitable book and I concerned that you would worry about me."
"Are you sure? I know tonight wasn't easy with Moya and the others asking so many questions about Fritz. I wanted to ask you about him myself and I had decided to do so tonight because I didn't have the opportunity yesterday, but they went ahead of me." Ms. Rhodes said, thinking that maybe that was what had upset her friend.
"Don't worry Celia, I admit it wasn't pleasant but I'm fine now. And you can ask me about Fritz as much as you like, I don't have a problem talking about his past, it was him reliving it that I worried about, I think he's too young for that yet" the Countess explained with another smile, more sincere this time.
Although feeling that there was still something the Countess wasn't saying to her, Ms. Rhodes accepted her friend's explanation, and eventually retired to her own room. Once alone, the Countess had to take another moment to compose herself, after which she prepared herself for bed and went to sleep. Mentally tired, she felt sleep faster than the night before.
Five more days passed. There wasn't another incident between the Countess and Mr. Bass like the one in the library. Both managed to artfully avoid each other during those days (even if Mr. Bass did have his chance to drive the carriage occupied by the women when they all did the show of returning home for the day so the servants wouldn't suspect anything), and the others didn't think any of it because it wasn't like the Countess and Mr. Bass weren't in the outs since before this adventure started.
During those days the preparations for the group impending journey took place. The agreed story of who the Nichols and the Roberts marriages were and their reason for their visit was relay to the manor administrator and the main servants the night after both couples arrived, and instructions to prepare for the masters journey were given to the household staff immediately after. The house would close during the masters' absence, only to open once or twice a week for cleaning and maintenance of the manor and the grounds around it. Each member of the staff got a generous compensation for not having to work full-time during the masters absence and for coming to work the days the manor would open for cleaning, with another generous portion promised to the servants after the masters return, if the household remained in the same conditions that it had now once the masters returned to it after their journey. Mr. Bass and Mr. Rhodes explained this to all the household servants, in a reunion in which they gathered all the servants to explain this before the servants left for the day. In private, the administrator was promise a third and extra compensation, if by the masters' return he had assured that all the household staff had complied with the instructions given and the household was up and running.
Also during those days, the group visited other nearby towns for their meals, and they didn't go to the nearest town to not raise suspicions. They majorly remained together during those times, although being so many they couldn't all eat at the same time, having to fetch several persons to feed in one night. They only split into groups a couple of times. In all these instances they were able to feed without further incident.
It was in the fifth night that Mr. Bass and Mr. Archibald gathered everyone and Mr. Bass announced:
"We have finished with the preparations for the journey. We can start traveling tomorrow night, if that suits you" Mr. Bass said, addressing Mr. Nichol.
"Sounds good to me. What do you think?" he said, addressing Mrs. Nichol and the Roberts. They all nodded their heads in agreement.
"As soon as we start traveling, the better" Mrs. Roberts said.
"Very well, we will start traveling tomorrow night" Mr. Bass said. "Like I mentioned before, the last reports came from the area near York, and that will be where we are heading first. Fitzwilliam and I have agreed to suggest that for this part of the journey all the men travel on horseback and that the women travel inside a carriage with Fritz like we did during this week."
"Again? What? Not again…" Mrs. Nichol and Mrs. Roberts started protesting.
"I know you are excellent riders and use to travel everywhere on horseback" Mr. Bass replied, "but we have the issue of the manners that this society expects from everyone in public. You are our guests, and you are also supposed to have the same social standing that we have, so it wouldn't sit well with people if they see you starting such a long journey riding in horseback along your husbands, instead of sitting in a carriage like women of your social standing usually do. I know you don't like the carriage, but please, do us this favor. We are the ones who have to continue living here after all this finishes."
"And also" Mr. Archibald added, "we came up with the idea that Brian and Sandford can tie your horses to the back of theirs with the excuse that the horses carry your luggage, and when possible you can go back to ride your horses again."
Mrs. Nichol and Mrs. Roberts exchanged looks between them, looked at their husbands who just shrugged their shoulders, and finally Mrs. Roberts said: "Fine, we agree with your suggestions."
"I also must tell you all that our messenger returned with a reply from our contacts near York" Mr. Bass said. "They are expecting us there. They also report that the incidents haven't gone further south, but they do ask we go ready with some money. Apparently they managed to find out that some of the town's public servants were sending reports to London detailing the incidents. They intercepted the letters, but they suggest try to bribe these persons, to which I agree and Fitzwilliam does as well. I offer to put part of the money needed, if Catherine and Richard agree. Our contacts can put the other part."
"I don't see any problem with it, but I will leave the last decision to you guys" Ms. Rhodes said.
"If there is no better option, I will accept this" Mr. Rhodes said. "I wish we didn't have to do this, but it is better than having to feed on this poor people to keep them quiet instead."
"Let's hope it doesn't get to that" Mr. Archibald said.
"I would have liked to help, but I didn't bring that much money with me" the Countess said with a sight, "most of my valuables stayed in the continent. If I had known, I would have…"
"Don't worry Countess, it isn't necessary" Mr. Bass replied with a serious expression. They locked eyes for a second, with the tension that existed between them, but luckily there were other persons in the room.
"As you know, we don't actually have any money" Mr. Nichol said. "The valuables that we grab at any given time are the ones from people we fed on. If we had money we would have contributed, though."
"We live decently enough, but we don't have money at this moment" Mr. Roberts started his nervous rambling. "We had money in the past, but we are not staying permanently in any place that allows us to…" His wife finally made him stay quiet when she put her right hand on his left forearm and gave him a gentle but firm squeeze.
"We don't have much money either" Mr. Hudson started, to which his sister and Vivian looked at him. "What? At least I don't…"
"I have money that allows me to live decently on my own" Ms. Hudson clarified. "But it is not wealth. And besides, it is also in the continent."
"After this, I will definitely start saving" Vivian said dryly.
"Alright" Mrs. Nichol said to keep the conversation going along. "What else?"
Mr. Bass and Mr. Archibald proceeded to explain more detail about the house arrangements in the manor once they all left, their travel arrangements and the route they would follow. Everything was ready to start the journey the next night, after sunset.
Meanwhile during that last night, Ms. Hudson proceeded to make the last adjustments to the new dresses she had made for Mrs. Nichol and Mrs. Roberts. After hearing in the meeting conducted the night of their arrival that Mrs. Nichol and Mrs. Roberts hadn't brought dresses that would look like the ones of women of certain wealth, Ms. Hudson had expressed her interest to help them solve this predicament, by making them dresses according to the rank that Mrs. Nichol and Mrs. Roberts were going to have. Most likely these dresses wouldn't be ready before they had to travel but they would still be useful in the towns they visited during their journey, and with that idea in mind, Mrs. Nichol and Mrs. Roberts accepted the offer. Ms. Hudson requested the fabrics she needed to Ms. Rhodes, who was able to get them after two nights. Based on the measurements she had taken and the designs she had in mind, Ms. Hudson was able to cut and sew two dresses for each woman, and she still kept fabric to make a third dress for each woman, which she decided would have to be done during their journey. This would also serve her to keep herself entertained in her free time during this adventure.
"Helvetia… I mean Jane, these dresses are truly beautiful" Mrs. Nichol said, admiring herself in the mirror while Ms. Hudson finished giving the last stitches and taking the last measurements of the dress she was wearing.
"So this is what you work in the continent? You are a dressmaker?" Mrs. Roberts asked while also looking herself in the mirror. They were all in Ms. Hudson's room for the last measurements of their dresses. Vivian was also present since she had helped Ms. Hudson finish the dresses. Sowing wasn't really her preferred task, but she had learned as much abilities as possible to survive, and she had accepted Ms. Hudson offer to help with the dresses to have something to do during those days.
"Yes, this is how I make a living" Ms. Hudson answered Mrs. Nichol while putting some needles in Mrs. Nichol dress to mark an area she wanted to adjust. "It is good money and it allows me to support myself without raising too many suspicions. It also helps to sew dresses for the higher classes of society, who don't seem to mind that I only visit their houses at nightfall, as long as my work is good."
"If I understood correctly the other night, you are not living with your brother at the moment, right?" Mrs. Nichol asked with a bit of shyness in her voice.
"No. Not for a while now" Ms. Hudson said with a small smile, her eyes fixed on something she was sewing in the hemlines. "He's my brother, and I'll always feel great affection for him, but we see life in different ways. It took several arguments and me spending time on my own to realize this. We are better off apart. My brother… He's very cautious" Ms. Hudson continued, "and while that doesn't sound so bad, it makes him unwilling to take any risks. I need to live life in a way that I feel it is worth living it, even if that means taking some risks from time to time."
"I think I understand what you mean in a way" Mrs. Nichol said, "but in my case, I had to learn not to go too far. I was reckless several times during all these years. It wasn't that Rian was too cautious or not cautious at all. You could say he's a balanced person in that regard. It was that I made things that could have lost me, or us, and I didn't think about the consequences beforehand. It took a couple of close brushes with harm's way to realize this and not do things in a way that could put us in danger. That doesn't mean we won't take a risk if we think it's worth it, but, we are careful too" Mrs. Nichol concluded.
"It's true" Mrs. Roberts added, "and she has been without an incident ever since, and for a while now" she said amused and clearly kind of proud of her friend.
"It is true" Ms. Hudson said, "that if one is to lead the kind of life we live, one has to ponder things carefully before making any decision. Don't worry, I have learned that lesson as well. The issue is that my brother worries and thinks it's safer to keep away from society as much as possible. I'm not saying we have to go and tell everybody what we are and how we live but, we have to interact with the humans to survive. In a discrete way, but we do have to live between them."
"Ugh, Ezekiel worries too" Mrs. Roberts said. "Luckily I'm able to soothe him, and he's gotten calmer with the years."
"He has" Mrs. Nichol agreed, and they all chuckled at that one.
After they finished measuring the dresses, Ms. Hudson told Mrs. Nichol and Mrs. Roberts that they could come back and pick them up before the end of the night, so they could pack them among the rest of their things. After they agreed and left Ms. Hudson's room to look for their husbands and the others, Vivian was going to leave the room too when Ms. Hudson stopped her:
"Vivian, wait a moment please" she said. "And close the door."
Vivian looked at Ms. Hudson for a moment and then closed the door without saying a word, standing near it while looking again at Ms. Hudson. Meanwhile Ms. Hudson went and opened a trunk by the foot of her bed:
"I have something for you too" and saying this, Ms. Hudson took out of the trunk and unfolded a beautiful dress.
"I realized you don't have too many dresses either" Ms. Hudson said with a smile.
"What? How were you able to do this? I was with you all these nights…" Vivian said astonished, while walking towards Ms. Hudson and starting fiddling with the dress.
"You weren't with me all the time, remember?" Ms. Hudson said with a smile. "You helped me with certain details that we both know you are good at, but I had already cut the dresses before we agreed you would help me."
"But the fabrics were for Moya and Rachel's dresses" Vivian said dumbfounded.
"I asked Catherine for an extra fabric without anyone noticing" Ms. Hudson explained. "She probably thinks the fabric is for my use. I thought that you might need a night dress in your wardrobe. I don't really know where we are going, besides knowing the name of the place, but if we are going to meet others of our kind you won't have to pretend you are my chaperone and you could find a lot of use for a dress like this"
"Jane, you didn't have to do this" Vivian said, unable for a moment to tear her eyes of the dress and look at Ms. Hudson, but after a moment she was able to raise her head and look directly at Ms. Hudson, "especially considering the disagreements we had in the past. Especially considering what happened with N…"
"It's in the past" Ms. Hudson interrupted her with a small, and perhaps forced, smile.
"Helvetia" Vivian said seriously, using Ms. Hudson real name, "for you, he's not in the past" she finished with a watery smile.
"It's in the past" Ms. Hudson said again, struggling to smile. "Aren't you going to try the dress?" she said to change the subject.
"Alright" Vivian agreed, deciding to let the subject go for the time being.
"Luckily I know your measures very well, so this won't need so many adjustments as the other dresses" and with that conversation, Ms. Hudson measured and adjusted Vivian's dress until it was finish.
Just as planned, the group started travelling the following night after sunset. The carriage occupied by the women wasn't one of manor's carriages but one specially hired by Mr. Bass and Mr. Archibald to take them to the north and then make the journey back without them. Even though it was a big carriage and only the women traveled inside, it was already full by accommodating Mrs. Nichol, Mrs. Roberts, Ms. Rhodes, the Countess, Ms. Hudson and Vivian. Fritz had to sit alternatively in the Countess and Ms. Rhodes laps, and even Ms. Hudson offered to help at some point. Since the carriage couldn't accommodate the group's entire luggage this was the excuse used by the masters of the manor to take extra horses with them, by putting luggage over the animals. The driver had the same instructions than the drivers in Mr. Bass and Mr. Rhodes previous travel to the continent and back had, to only travel at night, few stops and no questions.
Through the chosen route, they reached Yorkshire after several days traveling. Every day they traveled after sunset and arrived around midnight to the town in which they were going to rest during the day. Afterwards they sent the carriage driver to rest while they pretended to eat a light supper and later retire for the night, but it was in those few hours when they searched their meals and then retired to rest during the day, taking the necessary precautions. During one of those stops they sent word to their contact that they were nearing York and requested an answer by the next stop, chose beforehand, to which their contact complied. In that reply message their contact also disclosed the place where they could meet once they reached York.
They finally reached York a couple of hours after sunset and went straight to an inn chosen before leaving the manor. Mr. Bass and Mr. Archibald had already sent word to the inn that they needed several rooms for the group that was going to arrive there, and that a good pay was in order, so the inn' owners were eagerly awaiting their group. By the time they finished occupying their rooms the inn's patrons were having dinner, so the group decided to mingle with the diners for a while before meeting their contact.
They had not been there for too long before the innkeeper approached Mr. Archibald saying that a message arrived for him. Upon opening the message, Mr. Archibald informed the rest of the group that it was from their contact and that the message requested for them to come out of the inn so they could meet. The group left the dining room and after going for their coats, they also left the inn. There in the street, Mr. Archibald and Ms. Rhodes managed to distinguish the person they were looking for, who made signals for all of them to follow him from a distance. That they all did, and the man guided them through other streets and places until they managed to leave the city undetected and reached a nearby forest.
The man had been able to partially hide his identity to townspeople by wearing a hat and a scarf, also joined by a coat (he was wearing clothes that were in line with the current fashion). Upon reaching that wooded area, Mr. Bass couldn't help himself of saying:
"I didn't know you had a taste for the dramatics."
"It is not dramatics, it's just that this is matter is too serious to discuss it in a place full of humans" the man replied.
"Please know that we are very grateful for your help through all this" Ms. Rhodes said.
"Once we learned from you the true nature of what was behind these attacks, we knew we had to help you in every way we could" the man said.
"Excuse me, not that I don't appreciate your help or that you are trustworthy since my friends have reached to you to help us" Mr. Nichol said, "but I feel more comfortable when I know the people I associate myself with. Who are you, sir?"
"My apologies, your observation is pertinent" the man said. He took his scarf and hat off and making a bow, he said with a smile: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Mr. Colin Forrester."
A/N: It seems I'm not able to finish a chapter in the place where I want to finish it. Once again, it wasn't my intention to finish here, although I'm near of where I wanted to finish it. It is just that I didn't intend to describe the vampire meal of this chapter but I ended up doing it and I also wrote scenes that I hadn't planned originally and so on, and I really wanted to publish this chapter because of the long absence. As you can see, I included Colin Forrester, and he isn't alone, I could have saved that detail to myself but I figured you guys would guess it anyways. Hopefully the next chapter will come faster than this one, once again I apologize for the long wait.