The Vampire's Maid

Part 30. The Vampire's Maid

 

Tomorrow. That was when Goliath had promised Dane would “sort out this mess”. What he meant by that wasn’t worth thinking about. But thoughts of my future were invading my thoughts, bombarding my brain with their unpleasantness. The slender minute hand swept around Ashley’s clock to the large X and the sun rose higher in the sky, visible from the slice of window not concealed by the heavy curtain. Would this be my last day in this house? Would this be my last day with Ashley?

“Ashley?” I questioned, pulling away from his chest.

He stared down at me, trying to force himself to smile. The darker pieces of his hair were brushing against his cheekbone and he was staring at me with an unnerving intensity. I blushed and focused my gaze on the greenness of his eyes. I was torn into two conflicting pieces. Half of me wanted to run away from him, take myself away from his penetrating gaze because what Goliath had said was true. We weren’t meant  to be together. He was half vampire. Our visit to Jackson Placely had proven that much. But the other half of me wanted to enjoy this day, this day that I was swiftly coming to realise would be our last together. I wanted to make him reveal his secrets, wipe off that mysterious mask.

“What’s going to happen to me?”

I sounded smaller than I had done in so long. The facade of bravery I’d put on months ago when my grandmother had died was slipping. Things were tumbling around me, the walls seemed to move as Goliath’s words struck home. He knew about me and Ashley, he knew about our relationship...if you could even call what we had a relationship. And his knowledge of this was fatal.

There were fourteen hours remaining until midnight. Somehow, in my mind, that was when Dane would do his work. Would he murder me? Or merely take me far away from here and leave me to starve. What would he do to Ashley?

Ashley shook his head, seeming not to hear my question. His hands still held my waist but his eyes were on the partially concealed window, staring at Joe with a calculated look in his eyes. 

“Do you think there’s any chance of us getting away from here by car?” Ashley asked.

I followed Ashley’s gaze out of the window. Joe was evidently finished with his work and occupied with wiping his hands on his shirt. Little puffs of condensation left his mouth and floated into the weak sunlit sky. The faint crunching of gravel sounded as Joe turned his back on the cars.

“I could try and persuade Joe to change the locks back. But...”

“But what?” he asked.

“Are you sure that you want to leave?” I looked at the ground. “Maybe, maybe it would be better for you if you didn’t.”

“What are you talking about?” Ashley asked, looking as though I’d physically hit him. “Of course I want to leave. If we don’t you’ll die! What do you think my father meant when he promised to ‘sort out this mess’?”

“I know what he meant. But if we’re caught trying to escape you’ll be in danger too. You’ll be a- what’s the word you used- a liability as well.”

Ashley shook his head, the corner of his mouth turning up into a sad smile.

“You don’t understand, Elizabeth. Do you really not see how I feel?”

“How do you feel?”

Was I finally going to see behind the mystery? There had always been that faint boundary between us, I just hadn’t noticed it this clearly before. He always seemed to have a secret, something caged up inside him that I wasn’t allowed to know. I’d always assumed that I’d have time to break past his barriers. But now that we were running out of time he was about to grant me entrance into his mind.