The House in the Woods

Chapter 3

I found myself out in the lawn of all places, sitting cross legged on the soft, spectacularly green grass like I owned it. Jannosh was setting up an umbrella beside as I stared morosely at the thick wall of trees that surrounded the property in an almost perfect circle.

It turned out Jannosh was a man. He was a tall, burly individual with ashy blonde hair and a bristly beard. He literally looked like a lumberjack, down to the red plaid shirt and wide, calloused hands. The remarkable thing about him though, was his light violet eyes.

It was obvious he was like Myrnah, whatever her condition was. They were both so normal looking except for those crazy eyes of theirs. Admittedly, Jannosh looked far less alarming than Myrnah did – he hadn’t spoken a word to me yet, but I already liked him. There was a quiet certainty in everything he did, as if he knew exactly what he was doing and liked doing it.

I looked up at him as he opened the umbrella up, and I was swallowed in its shade from the hot sun. He caught my eye and smiled at me.

“My name’s Lilah.” I told him matter-of-factly. It wasn’t the best opener, but I already felt so comfortable with him.

“I’m called Jannosh.” He replied. His voice was rumbly, like a storm, and heavily accented like Myrnah’s. I smiled up at him from my seat on the ground. He was standing with his hands behind his back, his feet shoulder width apart. I had a nagging feeling that he was some kind of servant, like Myrnah was. It was really confusing, because the two of them obviously weren’t related to Apollo.

“Are you Myrnah’s brother?” I asked.

His responding laugh was as deep and rumbly as his voice, and I found that I liked it. “Myrnah is my wife.” His eyes looked amused.

“Oh.” I replied lamely.

Jannosh lowered himself so he was crouched down beside me. His actions were hesitant, and his eyes met mine uncertainly. In response, I moved over under the umbrella so he could sit next to me. He smiled again and settled beside me comfortably. He obviously liked me too.

“How do you know Apollo?” I asked casually.

Jannosh shrugged easily. “He helped me and Myrnah when we needed it. We are both very grateful for his hospitality.”

“Are you like… his servants, or something?” I asked curiously. I knew I was being extremely rude, but it was so easy being around Jannosh.

His eyes were amused again as he glanced at me. “I suppose that would be the correct term for what we do here. We work around the house, and we like it. We refuse any payment Sir Ambrosia suggests to us.”

“Ambrosia…?

“His last name.” Jannosh told me. “His full name is Apollo Ambrosia.”

I mused this in silence. Even his damn name was beautiful. He sounded like a movie star, or some hero in history.

“You know that he is a vampire, am I correct?” His tone matched mine in casualness, but his shoulders were tense for the first time in the time I’d spent with him.

“Yeah.” I looked away from him to the forest again. The trees stared back at me, their boughs waving in the wind as if to tell me to elaborate.

“And?” Jannosh asked for them. I could feel his eyes on my face.

“And what?” I squinted back at him.

He tilted his head as if it was obvious. “And are you afraid?”

I was silent for a long minute. “No, I’m not.” I sighed.

After Apollo had told me, he’d breezed out of the room as if he had suddenly remembered something and had to attend to it, leaving me and Myrnah to avoid eye contact with each other. She finally offered to get me some tea, but I politely turned her down before wandering out of the room and out the front door.