Enlightenment

Part 12

Julia had joined Chris in the sitting room; she lounged in a chair flicking through a magazine she'd found on a side table, completely at ease. Chris was slightly more reserved.

"Most of the third floor is guest bedrooms, and some of the fourth, although the one at the end of the corridor is mine, and Jamie is locked in one of them, You can chose any one apart from that, all the beds should be cleanly made, most of the rooms are en-suite, so you should be able to find everything you need." Chris nodded gratefully and disappeared in the direction of the stairs, Julia paused for a second before following.

"Did you move any of my stuff?"

I smiled "Everything is exactly as you left it in your room, I haven't been in there."

she nodded "Excellent!" An instant after she ran from the room I heard her door slam. I remembered she had a large one; complete with king-size bed, luxury bathroom and balcony overlooking the lake on the third floor. She had expensive taste, strange considering she grew up as a servant girl, though I suppose she was probably compensating for that.

            I sighed, before going to carry out my hostess duties. On the fourth floor, I have an entire huge room, which is used as a giant closet adjoined onto my bedroom. I have accumulated a lot of clothes over the centuries, seeing as I never grow out of them. I keep most of them in this house where there is plenty of room.

            I looked around; most of them are modern, stretching along many rails around the walls. A few rails along the center of the room have older clothes, from the 80s, 70s, 60s, 50s, 40s and backwards. Black strongly stood out amongst the assorted fabrics. It has long been my favourite colour, so calm and peaceful; it can be worn for any occasion.

            In the back corner, I had a dress from my very early days, I had it made in the year 1610, or rather, I threatened a tailor into making it for me, as I didn't yet have much money. That was not one of my actions I am proud of; however I still loved the dress. Deep red, so dark parts of it are almost black, made from the finest silk and satin, with many elegant ruffles that flowed down to the ground. I even still had the delicate lacy umbrella to match; this was before sunglasses were invented. I had not worn it in many years, now it was delicate with age. The curtains in this room were always firmly closed, to prevent the sunlight fading the material.

            Julia would know where to find clothes and what she was allowed to wear. I had some clothes from previous visitors that Chris could wear; some would be around his size... once I had accumulated a small pile I followed his scent until I found in him in a room on the opposite end of the third floor to Julia, I knocked on his door and left the clothes on the floor before heading to my own room.

             My room was the largest bedroom in the house, although I didn't really care about such things. The bed was a king size, complete with deep purple canopy, and carved posts, which matched the wardrobe, chest of drawers, dressing table and bookshelf which stood around the room. The floor had dark wooden planks like the rest of the house, but most of it was covered with an elaborately patterned rug in the same shades as the canopy of the bed and the thick curtains.

            I did not have a great deal of personal clutter in the room, a few random pieces of jewelry were scattered across the dressing table, a dark scarf was draped from the corner of the mirror, hanging down the side in velvet folds. An older pair of boots lent against the bottom of the wardrobe. And a shirt was thrown on the chair in the corner.

             I went to bed, deciding to get a few hours of sleep while I could. I knew it would help my wounds finish healing; I checked them when I changed, and all three were now closed over, although angry red scabs marked their places vividly. It was a relief to finally peel my ripped, blood soaked clothes off and change into a soft, floor length black silk nightgown. I got to sleep easily; it was early morning after all - my natural bedtime.  I slept lightly, staying aware of my surroundings, although I let the greater part of my mind drift randomly. I didn't dream.