Skin of the Night
I brought the laundry basket into the kitchen with me and let it slip onto the floor. Jacques looked up at me and smiled, flipping something in a pan and walking away to the refrigerator. Mary was humming to herself, a stack of dishes on the counter next to the sink. She was dunking them and scrubbing them.
It surprised me to see how happy all of these people were. They were humans, working for a vampire. Surely they were in the same situation I was. So why did they seem to enjoy it?
"He's not as bad as he seems at first," Mary told me when I asked. I picked up a few dishes and began to dry them with a towel.
"That's hard to believe," I scoffed. "He seems pretty horrible."
"I can understand why you don't like him," she chuckled. "But he treats me, and all the others, with great respect."
"But he took you from your homes to work like dogs for him," I countered. "You've been here for how long now? You don't deserve this!"
"Audra," she sighed, "you have to understand. I didn't have a family."
I blinked, "What?"
"I was an orphan my whole life. Being here was better than being alone." She continued to look down at the dishes and I immediately felt bad for bringing the subject up. I didn't press it any further. We finished the dishes in silence, though I could tell she wasn't angry with me. I excused myself and walked out of the kitchen, bent on finding somewhere I could have a bit of privacy.
Eventually I came to a set of double glass doors. It was hard to see what was on the other side since the night sky was now jet black. I took a step forward and placed my hand on the handle, hesitating for a moment.
I turned the handle and pushed through, stepping out onto a brick paved patio. I closed the door behind me and when I took a step further, I was enveloped in light. The entire yard seemed to glow and I felt my breath escape from between my lips. I stepped off of the patio, kicking off my gym shoes and letting the grass cushion my feet. I took one step further and fell down to the ground.
As I stared up at the sky I felt at peace for the first time since I had been kidnapped. I had no idea where I was, what state or country even, but it was warm. The grass was slightly colder but felt nice against my skin. I ran my water wrinkled hands through it over and over until my eye lids grew heavy.
I wondered why Ethan couldn't bite me. Maybe my blood smelled so horrible that he feared what it would taste like. But I remembered to the night I'd stumbled upon him feeding from a human, and what he'd told me.
"Your blood," he explained, his voice sounding strained, "it's intoxicating."
I shivered in my half asleep state and, as much as I hated it, dreamt of Ethan.