Shadows

Exploration

 The day passed rather quickly, I even managed to read some book… which I was right, they were all about Vampirism, the rules about being/becoming a vampire and also the occasional book about the human anatomy… which I guessed was used to learn where to strike and where not to… there was one extract in a book that had caught my eye, it was about how Vampires were meant to be cold and callous, that they weren’t meant to feel any emotions at all as it was a sign of weakness… that was not what I had seen here, the children all showed great respect for Anna and I could see in her eyes that she truly loved them… but was that all a mask? Was it something designed to lure those such as I into a false sense of security before striking? The thoughts sent shivers up my spine.

  Gazing once more out of the window I could not help but let my mind wander to the fact that I was so far from home and yet… there didn’t seem to be any signs that my parents were even bothered that I had not returned home, I even made sure… I checked the news I don’t know how many times. I know my mother said that my father wanted to teach me a lesson… but that was a bit extreme, I could be dead right now and they wouldn’t care… I shouldn’t have dropped my phone in St James Park that was bloody stupid. As I looked down I noticed Dante walking alone in the grounds, he seemed to be in deep thought, probably thinking on what he was going to do next… bastard, he really didn’t understand what it was like to be me, he really had no idea… if he saw the scars along my body then he might either make them worse or take pity… either route was not a good choice… keeping them hidden seemed the best plan.

  I did not divert my gaze from him, I should despise him and his whole bloody family… they were hunters, stalkers, liars and worst of all Killers… yet I could not manage to even do that. Finally tearing myself away from the window I decided to explore the household, well if I was to remain here I might as well. I decided to explore upstairs first, taking in the vast amounts of paintings, some were of the Istrati family, which were mounted next to those of people I did not recognise but taking a wild stab I guessed that they were the much older family members, like the grandfather etc. I loved how a lot of the walls were violet in colour; it contrasted this place so nicely… it was also my favourite colour. Amongst the halls there were tables scattered on either side which harboured vast amounts of either pottery, plants or books. To the left me of was a grand white door, why not take a peek? I pulled the handle down and opened the door ever so slightly; craning my head around the corner I was relieved to find it vacant. The room was relatively the same size as mine yet it seemed to feel cold, like no one really stayed here… or not recently at least, the furniture was a selection of black’s and gold’s, old and new… the room smelled musty and sort of damp.

  Hearing voices echo across the hall, but were becoming increasingly close I ran to one of the cupboards and hopped in. I scolded myself for being so nosey… why couldn’t I just stay in my room? The voices were coming ever so close now and I picked up that it was two females in conversation, the one I recognised as Anna whereas the other was rather high pitched and squeaky

“Candice, are sure that you’ve left something here? It’s been weeks since we last saw you?” The name suited the voice really.

“I’m positive… I won’t trouble you to help, so if you could just leave me to do it I shall be out of here in a flash… “She was definitely up to something… that was for sure

“Don’t be long” was all I heard Anna reply, the next thing I heard was the creak of floorboards and the door moving, I knew I had to be quiet… for Anna to seem so used to this girl that had to mean that she was one of them… but taking Armand’s warning seriously I kept quiet and tried to control my breathing, much like I did in the tub.

“Oh Dante, have I got a surprise for you” she muttered to herself, almost menacingly as it were… but I was in his room? Shit… the last thing I needed was that arsehole having a go at me for invading his private space. There was a lot of movement about the room, not being able to contain my curiosity for much longer I decided to take a peek and arched the door forward ever so slightly… but making sure that not only did the door not creek, but also that I didn’t fall out. As I looked around I noticed that she was relatively short, she must have been about 5’4 or 5’5 I guessed, she had short blonde hair that shone in the semi- sunlit room, she wore a white top which was covered with a dark pink jumper that fell to her waist, I noted the long black polished nail on her nimble and tiny hands before averting my eyes to hers… they seemed almost golden in colour, the colour was probably heightened by the amount of liner and shadow she wore.