The Creature Inside

First Day

After driving for what seemed like hours Clara can't keep her eyes open any more thanks to all the shifts she's been doing and her heavy eyelids finally give up and close.

She starts to have her usual nightmare of a dream, surrounded by water she almost feels like she's drowning her eyelids begging moving frantically drawing the attention of Ricky as her arms and legs start to twitch soon joined by her head, her delicate soft lips moving as if trying to soak but nothing comes out, he holds his hand out to her shoulder in an effort to calm her down when she jolts up with her eyes wide screaming so loud Mark almost crashes the car out of surprise.

Shes breathless and all flustered, Ricky reaches open the small fridge in the back of the car and gets a bottle of water, handing it to her with the tiniest of smiles, his eyes even seemed to have softened making her relax a little and she gratefully accepts the drink "thank you" before gulping down nearly the whole contents.

She looks out of the window and noticed the surroundings have changed, from the bustling town and row after row of shops and houses, all of which looked a slight boring brown because of the dust and dirt, to a beautiful flat green landscape.
She could trees and more trees, some of which she didn't recognise, they passed a large lake surrounded by forest and breath taking mountains as back drop to frame it all,
"Where are we?"

"Far from home" he gives a slight chuckle "it's a hide away not many know about and I like to keep it that way"

Driving towards some gates that open when the car gets near, she can't but admire the beautiful house before her. It looks far too big for one person surely, with that thought raises many questions at first she doesn't want to but drawing on her strength inside she opens her mouth
"Is it just you that lives here? You must get lost"

He gives a light smile at her comment and the look of bewilderment on her face "yes it's just me. there's the servants too, I'll introduce you properly when you've settled in your room"

"Where is my room, in the tallest tower complete with chains on the wall?!" She snorts back at him not expecting to see the slight hint of pain in his eyes at her harsh words, she goes to open her mouth to apologise but stops herself not wanting to appear weak or won over in any way. She quickly looks back to the car door as its then opened by Mark, stepping out she hears the loud clang of the metal gates behind her shutting startling her, as she doesn't like the feeling of being closed in.

"This way" Ricky gently holds on to her elbow leading her toward the house, desperate for that small amount of contact again. But despite her loving the feeling his touch creates deep inside her she yanks away from him "I can walk myself thanks" picking up the pace to get away from him and pushes open the large front doors.
She doesn't know what she was expecting but it was nothing like she saw, the big open entrance was light with neutral colours, a large curved staircase to the one side and quite a few doors all around, she's still taking it all in as Ricky walks past her toward double doors right at the far end, she's quick on her heels to keep up with him. Upon entering the room she realises it's the kitchen, and wow what a kitchen it was!! It was as big as her whole apartment, a huge stove dominated the hollow of what used to be a fireplace by the looks of it, cupboards and bases stretched all the way around, leaving enough space for large French doors that she could see opened onto a decked area before a big expanse of greenery, looking back to the room there was copper pots hanging from the ceiling and some delicious smells wafting up her nose, she takes a deep breath in and tries to distinguish what's cooking.

"This is Beth" pulling her attention to a small figure before her in a very smart maid uniform with her short blonde hair pinned back "if there's anything you need, and I'm not here I'm confident she can help. And this is Maggie" gesturing to a short older lady who now stood forward and nodded her headed slightly with the sweetest smile and sparkling blue eyes "she is the best cook I've ever known, a hard worker and general foster mom to pretty much everyone here"