The Vampire's Maid

Part 4. The Vampire's Maid

The bathroom was as beautiful and large as I'd expected. There was no shower but a large, Jacuzzi style bath tub. I started to run the bath until steam was billowing around and condensing on the mirror. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror. My face was smudged with dirt and my brown hair was falling messily over my shoulders. The hot bath water was tempting me and Ashley seemed preoccupied, sketching something in a book.

I wandered over to the door and closed it under the pretence of collecting a towel from the rack. As quietly as I could I bolted the door and ran across the room to the bathtub. My feet made no sound on the thickly carpeted floor. I knew that I would have to be quick if I didn't want Ashley to discover me. It was foolish, I knew, but the feeling of dirtiness hung around me and I wasn't going to be robbed of personal rights by a vampire.

I yanked off my old fashioned clothes as quickly as I could and then lowered myself slowly into the hot water, trying not to make any noise. I'd never appreciated how good a hot bath could feel on my aching bones. I tried not to make any noise or get my hair wet as I rubbed my body beneath the hot water trying to remove all traces of dirtiness. When I felt my eyes closing I jerked myself out of the relaxed state and pulled myself out of the bathtub. I felt so much cleaner that I felt I could face any of Ashley's disdainful looks.

"Elizabeth?" Ashley's voice, accompanied by a twisting of the door handle interrupted my moment.

I panicked, snatching up my clothes and pulling my underwear on as quickly as possible. I tried unsuccessfully to tie up all of the strings on my white dress but I kept fumbling with them.

"Why is the door locked?" He asked, angrily.

I pulled the black dress on over my hastily done up petticoat, aware that I was dripping water on the floor. I didn't stop to clean it up but dashed to open the door, out of breath.

Ashley took in my appearance with one sweeping gaze. I bit my lip, knowing that the ends of my hair were wet and there was a puddle of water on the floor beneath me. My chest was rising and falling rapidly, waiting for him to speak.

"Elizabeth," Ashley said in a quiet, menacing voice, "What do you think you're doing?"

I avoided his eyes and fixed my gaze on the blondest piece of hair hanging in his fringe. I felt like an idiot. There was no excuse I could think of to explain why I was wet. Why had I even taken a bath in the first place?

"I'm sorry." I said in a meek voice.

"You're sorry? You've been here for less than an hour and you have already abused your position!"

Ashley's jaw was clenched in obvious anger. Somehow, his good looks made him even more intimidating than his father. I found myself getting angry at the way he was speaking to me.

"Abused my position? Do you think that I want to be here?" I asked in a raised voice.

He probably wasn't used to people talking to him like an equal because his eyes turned steely and I saw his hand clench into a fist. Was he going to hit me like Goliath had? He breathed slowly as if trying to calm himself before speaking.

"Just don't do it again, okay?" He said in a strained voice.

I obviously wasn't meant to answer this question so I nodded and started to walk out of the room. His arm shot out in front of me to stop me from leaving and my momentary relief was crushed. He was going to hurt me in some way to punish me, I just knew it. Then he dropped his arms and in an almost casual voice ordered me to get some towels. I exhaled, relieved and then scurried over to the towel rack and collected two white, fluffy towels.

By the time I closed the bathroom door behind me I was sweating with nervousness. That was so close. Unpredictably, he'd had some pity so I'd escaped without harm. I didn't like Ashley but he was marginally nicer than Goliath and Dane. Something in his tone though was arrogant and the way he ordered me about made me feel like nothing.