A Vampire's Life Book 4

Chapter 9 - Josie

The whole day had been a haze, from the harrowing doctor's appointment right through to the lunch with strange people. I felt different, not sick like I had been feeling but somehow different. There were no explanations for anything that I had been feeling and I didn't know what to think. It was the cancer, I knew it. Just another great side effect. Though feeling different wasn't on the list that the doctor had given me. All I could hear was a clock ticking in my mind, it was the clock that was counting down the days, the minutes, the seconds. My life was slowly slipping away. I could only hope that what laid in the beyond was something good, I didn't like the thought of living in a fiery pit for eternity. But that's where I was headed, it was a guarantee. I lived with Andy, having sex with him before marriage. Being a stripper would not have helped any either. There were many more things that I knew was going to buy me a one-way ticket into a flaming pit of despair. I just wish I knew how long it was before my appointment with the dark prince was due. But my mind was thinking negatively again, I had to remain positive, focusing on the good things in my life. Well, what did I have? I had the clothes in my bag. If I apologised to my parents for doing what I wanted with my life I suppose they might take me back. I didn't have any siblings, my father was an only child and my mother had one sister. Her sister and her family were as pious as anyone could get, so there was no winning them back. No, there was no family to count as positive in my life. There was only one thing that was positive in my life. Just one man that had been by my side since the diagnosis. Sure he was a little odd, but Andy was odd as well. Ethan is just a different type of odd.

I find myself agreeing to his suggestions. How strange. He didn't like the thought of me alone in the big nasty hotel, so my choice was that he would stay with me there, or I could return to his family estate. I was curious about this so called 'family estate'. He told me that the place that he lives in is a rather old castle on the outskirts of town. It had been in his family for generations, his forefathers had been given it by a king who was pleased with something they had done for him. He didn't elaborate as to what they had done for this king, but whatever it was, it was enough to get them a small castle, an entire estate and a butt load of money. I of course accepted his offer to stay at his residence, I have no clue why. My inner workings were already haywire with what the doctor had told me this morning, so I guess this is my mind giving up, no longer caring if I live or die. My internal voice was somewhat subdued, no longer snippy, no sass. I wondered what had happened to the girl that I knew, did I leave her in the doctor's office? No, she came to lunch with me. I remember she said something about that woman's eyes. Did I leave her at the restaurant?

Ethan held my hand as we walked out of the hotel room and through the streets. In his other hand was all of my worldly goods, everything that I cared to take with me after leaving Andy was in that one bag. It wasn't exactly light yet he seemed to carry it like it was nothing. We were slowly making our way back to his car. I liked his car, it was hot rod heaven.

'Hello?'

I snap out of my daze and see him staring at me with a goofy grin, head cocked to one side, trying to reach me with those gorgeous green eyes.

'Hi.'

'Glad you're back on planet Earth.'

Ethan opens the door to his gorgeous car, powder blue with two big silver stripes over the bonnet and roof. I slide into the leather seat, the smell of it is somewhat intoxicating. I watch the people passing on the footpath jump, a little startled as he turns over the engine, roaring into life. This thing rumbles loudly, the throaty sound that emanates from below the bonnet, rough and husky.

He glides the car around the corners, the wheels hugging the road as he drives so fast the trees are almost a blur. As we turn a hairpin corner, I can see the sun setting in the distance, casting a glorious orange tint across the deep green pine trees. The evening has cooled the land, a frost begins to settle quickly over the trees and the land, the last remnants of the sunset making them glisten. Slowing the car down, he turns sharply into a gravel driveway, passing through two brick gatehouses, a big wrought iron gates open for him. It takes another five minutes to get to the castle, passing through more of the pine trees. A quiet gravel track is all that this is, if it weren't for the gatehouse I would have thought that he had taken a wrong turn. The pine trees drop away, leaving a vast open area of long grass and wild flowers that look like they have come out of a freezer. The gravel track gets a slight incline and as we reach the top, I see his residence. I know he said small, but there is no way this thing is small. It is ominous and something inside of me says run, run away fast. This thing in front of me is what nightmares are made of. It looks creepy. Turrets, spires and gargoyles, tiny windows dotted around the façade. A grand arched double door surrounded by dark grey stone work, dead vines running around the edges of the lower half of the building. Right on cue, a storm begins to brew behind it, the sky darkens as the clouds roll in. I think I've walked into Dracula's bachelor pad.