The Vampire's Maid

Part 13. The Vampire's Maid

Days merged into each other and the emotionless and cold demeanour that Ashley had adopted didn't crack in the slightest. Each time I walked into the room he suddenly became absorbed in the simplest and most boring of objects. He tore his attention away from the curtains or chest of drawers only to give me brief instructions.

"I don't understand why he's being so unfriendly!" I said when I finally expressed my concerns to Abriella and June.

They exchanged a patronising look over the oven.

"He's a vamp! What did you expect?" June said eventually.

I watched the tomato sauce bubbling on the stove. I didn't tell them that he was half human because although he was acting like it had never happened, Ashley had confided in me. Even with him being indifferent to my presence, I still felt that I had to honour his secret.

"That wasn't a rhetorical question, you know." June knocked me out of my daydream. "Seriously, why do you keep thinking he's going to be decent towards you?"

"He's a decent person!" I sighed before correcting myself. "A decent vampire."

"There's no such thing." Abriella said stubbornly. "Yes, I know he's better looking than other vampires but..."

"He's blooming gorgeous!" June exclaimed before coughing and turning red. "But that doesn't change anything. Just because he has amazing eyes and the best bone structure I've ever seen on a guy doesn't mean that he's not as cold hearted as Goliath or Dane."

"He has got good bone structure." Abriella stated absentmindedly.

Before the two of them could advance much further with their discussions of Ashley's looks, Joe entered the room. June stopped admiring Ashley's hair and started to ramble incoherently about the chicken soup I was eating. It was clear that the subject change had very little to do with a sudden interest in my meal and more to do with Joe's appearance. I raised my eyebrows at June suspiciously and she blushed as red as her hair.

"Yes, amazing how interesting soup can be!" Joe told June.

She nodded, agreeing whole heartedly before catching on to the fact that Joe was humouring her. I focused on eating, not partaking in the conversation that Joe had struck up with the two girls.

June and Abriella hadn't succeeded in comforting me in the slightest. If anything, my mind was more firmly fixed on Ashley than before and I still had no explanation for his sudden unfriendliness. Without bothering to say goodbye I left the room and dashed up to Ashley's room.

The sound of water lapping against the side of the bath tub came from his bathroom. I sighed and waited for him irritably. To pass the time I leaned against the window sill and watched the trees rippling in the summer breeze. A low purring of an engine flew across the treetops and finally one of the sleek black cars rounded the corner.

The sun was beating down on the white driveway to an almost blinding level and Daniel rushed out of the house, a black parasol in hand. His blond hair reflected the light and from the window I could see his animated face dropping slightly as Goliath stepped out of the back of the car. He flinched away from the sun and threw his hands over his head to protect himself from its hot rays. I stifled a laugh at his discomfort. Soon though, Daniel had come to his aid with the parasol. Goliath's pale, long- fingered hands snatched it irritably and he strolled swiftly into the house without looking back.

Goliath and Dane, who was undoubtedly driving the car, had just arrived back from another hunting trip. Had a week really past since Ashley had surprised me with his seemingly new, cold character?

The car started to move again and I jumped, surprised by this small action. The glossy black vehicle pulled around the right side of the building until it was completely out of sight. Puzzled, I watched the corner it had disappeared behind until Dane, paler and more ill looking than usual, shuffled back into sight without the car. His skin was visibly blistering from the sunlight and I remembered how Ashley had flinched away from the single beam that had once entered his room. Dane ducked his head low and began to sprint towards the house. It wasn't an attractive sight to see the old vampire, obviously not athletically gifted, running towards the cool lobby.

I turned away from the sight of him and my eyes fell upon another, wholly more attractive sight. Ashley had just left the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and water dripping down his neck, his chest and his smooth stomach muscles. I averted my eyes from him, blushed and felt furious with myself for admiring his body.

Ashley looked towards me and in the second that his green eyes found my face, I felt the defiance trickle from my body. I'd been intending to question him about why he was ignoring me. Now though, he'd distracted me with his half naked body and I felt angrier with him than I had done with myself.

With a sharp motion I yanked the curtains open so that sunlight streamed into the room. I'd started to do this quite a lot, purely because it annoyed Ashley. He stepped quickly into the shadows but his skin didn't blister like Dane's. The worst thing about him being half human was that the only weakness a vampire had, sunlight, didn't affect him as much. This made annoying him a whole lot harder.

"Here," I said hardly, throwing randomly chosen clothes at him.

I turned away from him as he pulled them on, remembering how he'd asked me to button up his shirt on my first day working for him. The memory made me want to laugh and hit him at the same time. Ashley didn't ask me to button up his shirt this time though and for some reason this created a hollow feeling in my stomach. My gaze fell upon the covered sketch book on the desk by the window.

Ashley seemed to be looking at the same thing because a harsh voice came from behind me.

"Did you look in it?"

I turned around to see that, thankfully, Ashley was fully dressed. Still, it didn't stop blood rushing to my cheeks at the mere sight of him.

"I asked," He said menacingly, "Did you look in it."

There was no question about what he was talking about. His hand was gesturing wildly at the sketch book. Suddenly his body was inches from mine and he was staring down at me with a look of anger and desperation on his face.

"No." I said honestly.

Ashley evaluated my features, his breathing slowly returning to normal. Why would he get so worked up about a sketch book? His eyes glinted and he stepped past me and tugged the curtains back into place before opening a draw and inserting the sketch book.

Then Ashley focused his attention upon the carpet once more. Angrily I pushed past him and out of the room. If he wasn't my 'master' and he didn't have vampire blood then I would have slapped him around his handsome face.

My fury faded when I was back in the cooler entrance hall. I paused at the bottom of the stairs and breathed slowly, trying to think of something other than Ashley. A distraction arrived soon enough in the form of Dane. His face was slightly red and it took all of my will power not to laugh at the sight of his blistered skin.

He shot me a dirty look which made his face even more grotesque. We both stood staring at each other in the entrance hall. Dane seemed to want me to leave so I walked quickly outside, knowing that he wouldn't follow me into the sunlight. I felt his eyes on my back but as I turned around he wasn't looking at me but examining the portrait of Dezabel. E Sancruor with a mild interest.

A clanging sound was issuing from underneath one of the many cars that Goliath and Ashley seemed to own. A pair of dirty boots were protruding from beneath it.

"Hey Joe." I said.

"Oh, hi Lizzy." He breathed when he'd pushed himself from under it. "I wanted to ask you something."

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PLEASE tell me what you think!! Any comments at all would be very much appreciated :) I won't be uploading until Monday at the earlies- I'm going away for a few days but I'll try and do it ASAP x