Blood In The Night

The Man

The sun was rising over the small town of Breldon, England. The town was quiet as a calm before a storm. It was going to be much busier today because today is the first day of the social season. The Season when the eligible woman of high social standing would try to snag an upper-class husband. Most of the eligible Noblewomen would do practically anything to grab the attention of any wealthy man. They wore their fanciest dresses and the most expensive jewels they own to show off their families' wealth. However, a few of the noblewomen were not interested in the season's events. There was one specific young noblewoman in town that absolutely despised this time of year and always had. For the past two years she had turned down proposal after proposal and due to this, the other ladies in the town envied her. She was not the most advantageous woman in town but she came from a family with powerful connections. Her name was Lady Scarlet d'Aramitz Evens.

Scarlet was the only daughter of Lord Fredrick Evens and his late wife Lady Arletta Evens. The Evens Family was a noble family with close ties to the Duke of Cambridge. Due to her family's connections, they were considered one of the town's most powerful families because of this, most of the proposals Scarlet had received were men who wanted to raise their station and men who believed in a silent obedient wife. Scarlet was not exactly the type of woman any man was looking for. She had light brown hair, fair skin, and green eyes, and most days she wore a scarlet or red dress. The thing that would steer men away wasn't her looks, it was her intelligence and independence. Since Lord Evens' wife had died when Scarlet was a young girl he had raised his daughter to know things only men would usually be taught, but the etiquette of a well-mannered young lady. There was one thing he couldn't teach her no matter how hard he tried. How to listen to a man. Not even his second wife was able to tame the iron-willed woman Scarlet had become.

Two years ago when Scarlet was eight-teen she and her father had made a deal that if she hadn't chosen a husband by the time she turned twenty then he would give her two options then she would pick one. This was the year that the deal had run out. Scarlet had turned twenty-three months prior and was still turning down proposals. If anyone asked why her reasoning would be because she knew she could never grow to love the man but the truth was the man she loved was in Germany, he had been sent there abruptly she had a feeling it wasn't of his own will, he had been gone for the past three years but they were consistent with their letters to one another.

Scarlet was on a bench outside the library reading. Her Lady's Maid had brought her to town upon her father's request. The only reason Scarlet had willingly gone was that she needed a new book and due to the early hour, none of the conceited sexist men she knew would be in town yet.

Scarlet set down the book as the librarian, Henry Smith, came out to sweep the front steps. He looked at the bench and smiled seeing Scarlet, "Good morning Miss Evens, you're out rather early today. Is there anything I can help you with?" he asked and Scarlet stood up smiling at him.

"Good Morning Henry," She handed him the book, " I came to return your book. I've known you for ten years yet you still only ever give me romance books."

"If I gave you anything dark, your father would have my head," he said, taking the book and setting it inside. He glanced at the bookshelves then looked back to Scarlet, "Out of curiosity out of all the books in existence, what would you choose to read if you could, my lady?" He asked as he came back out to finish sweeping the steps. Scarlet stepped back so she was out of the way.

"Hm? I don't know. Perhaps the book that Dr. Polidori wrote some time ago; I can't remember the name of it."

"The Vampyre? That book is considerably dark for a lady, especially of your standing. What would your father-"

"Henry, my father wouldn't know if I read it. He doesn't care much about my reading habits," she crossed her arms as Henry went inside to get the book. Scarlet was looking at the library sign the paint had been redone and the name always made her grimace: The Thomas-d'Aramitz Library. The library had been named in honor of the war hero Arthur Thomas and for her mother who had been a close friend of the former owners.