Breathe Under Water - Shadows of the Night 1

Chapter 11

Hi!

Turns out a week passed in a blink and I haven't posted... Sorry. But the truth is that I feel like a zombie already. No matter how much I write and edit, it never seems to be enough. Maybe that's some sort of writer's disease (Hah! Don't I wish...). Anyway, I'm back again with the next chapter. It's rather on the short side, but I promise to post soon again. Deal? Hope you like it :D

Lara

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Chapter 11

Something in the air around me changed, static released, peacefulness thrown into chaos. I whirled around.

Alexander had showered and changed into a pair of black pants. The crimson-red silk shirt he was wearing gaped open in the front, just enough so you could see part of his white, sculptured torso.

I felt the instant urge to raise a brow, but ignored it. On somebody else the silk would have looked ridiculous, but for reasons that went beyond my understanding it looked good on the head vampire.

Wet and heavy, the black color of his hair contrasted with the blueness in his eyes. Not that I was looking too closely. I remembered the heatless emotion in them, the way they could turn into pools of darkness that could hurt me worse than a headshot. No, I wasn't going to be fooled. All the beauty could never hide the fact that the master vampire was an enemy in disguise.

"Hurry up. Go shower and put on some of the clothes you were given for the occasions. We are going to attend a meeting tonight. It is only an informal introduction among some of the vampires that are present at the conference. However, I need you to match the other servants," the vampire said without looking at me.

I stared at him for the lifetime of a few seconds. He was ordering me around like he'd been doing it for months. And there was nothing I could do about it.

I decided to go for ignorance, walked past him into my bedroom, and closed the door firmly, locking it. Then I opened the suitcase on my bed, searching for the box with the clothes I had been given.

I went from staring at the black leather pants to gaping at the pair of black leather boots – and other things that looked like they once belonged to an animal (or a dominatrix). I moved through the pieces hastily, discovering an undefined number of what an old friend of mine would have called 'bitch tops.' And just like the rest of this menagerie of horrors they were all black. Don't get me wrong, I was fine with the color, it was just the leather and bitch thing that freaked me out. When I received the package, I didn't bother to take a closer look. I simply added it to the things I packed myself. Big mistake.

Finally I went for the black leather pants, black boots and a black tank top of mine – that would have to do. The clothes fit perfectly, which, on second thought, was disturbing. How had Alexander known which size I had? Did he measure me up at our first encounter?

When I stepped out of my bedroom in my outfit, hair pulled back in a low ponytail, eye liner and black shade on my eyelids, Alexander was talking to George. I hadn't noticed when he and Zack had left us, but it must have been at the entrance. I wondered where they were lodged? The thought of them having to share a crimson colored blanket seemed too unwelcome to be entertained.

* * *

The sound of our footsteps reminded me of the ricochet of a machine gun – a lonely sound in the otherwise silent corridor. My eyes wandered along the walls, then settled back on the human servant in front of us, only to veer off to the side again. Someone had taken a truckload of empty space and thrown it into this hellhole of a mansion. It was huge. It was a fact. On our way down to the gathering, I'd counted at least three stairways, winding their way up and down the stories in silence.