Part 19. The Vampire's Maid

162K 2.4K 247
                                    

I pulled my nightdress on in a daze. The past few hours had passed in a timeless blur and images of Ashley drifted lazily through my brain. His lips on mine. His hands guiding my body close to him. And the fierce sense of protectiveness he felt over me, making me feel so untouchable.

"I cannot believe that Ashley kissed you." June gasped disbelievingly.

I hadn't been planning on informing anyone of our illicit romance in the entrance hall. However, my wide smile and blushed cheeks had sparked June's suspicions. The attack of questions that had followed from her and Abriella was enough to make anyone reveal their secrets.

"Wow. Thanks for telling me how far out of his league I am," I tutted, unable to force my features into anything but a smile.

"I didn't mean it like that! It's just that Ashley's so mysterious and unsociable."

"He's not unsociable." I frowned. "He's just never had the chance to socialise with anyone. Maybe I should introduce you two to him and you can see just how sociable he can be."

Their reaction was exactly as I'd expected. It was as though I'd announced that I was contemplating buying a man eating tiger as a pet; June mouthed wordlessly and Abriella's doe eyes widened in shock. Olive sighed loudly in her bed and turned over.

"I can introduce you too, Olive." I added as an afterthought.

"I don't think any of this is a good idea." She whispered. "Master Ashley has had a very troubled life. He lost his mother and if you get close to him Elizabeth, he's going to have the pain of losing you too."

Abriella shot Olive's back a puzzled look and June rolled her eyes. I had to laugh a little at their responses to Olive's sombre words. But I couldn't help but wonder how much truth those words held and how much Olive knew. She'd known about Elizabeth Sancruor's death. What else did she keep hidden behind her weary mask?

I closed my eyes and instantly I was back with Ashley in the deserted entrance hall.

Too soon my eyes were opening again. I sulked and closed my eyes again, wanting to be back in my dream for it had been so wonderful. Then, with a jump, I felt someone's hand shaking my shoulder gently. I spun around hastily, causing the sheets to wrap tightly around my torso, and looked straight into the face of Ashley.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in rather obvious surprise.

Seeing him in my dormitory was a weird but amazing experience. He brought a finger to his lips and nudged his head around the room at three huddles in the beds and a splash of ginger hair. Light snores were issuing from Abriella's pillow. A glance at the electric alarm clock showed me that it was still before five.

"Get changed and meet me in the entrance hall." He whispered.

And suddenly, before I could even mutter a response, he was ducking out of the room. I shook my head in bewilderment and fiddled expertly with the petticoat and dress then yanked my hair into a hasty ponytail. A part of me, the part that had been buried inside of me since this whole nightmarish situation began, wondered if I looked okay. However, I was already rushing down the stairs in my eagerness to discover what had caused Ashley's appearance in my dormitory.

"Where are we going?" I asked breathlessly when I reached him in the doorway.

The cool outside air ruffled our hair as we peered out into the dark morning light. The sun was not yet beginning to creep into the sky and a sense of solitude echoed in the air. The only sounds were the drops of water falling from the fountain onto the glassy pool below.

"I'll tell you in the car." Ashley replied.

He marched forward, his shoes crunching on the white gravel. I dashed after him to the shiny black car parked by the fountain. He held his finger against the black screen on the door and with a beeping sound, the door clicked open. Ashley opened the passenger door for me before hurrying round to the driver's side and climbing in.

"Why the hurry?" I asked as I slid onto the leather seat.

The inside of the car was immaculately clean and smelled as though it had been recently hovered.

"You seem to be asking a lot of questions." Ashley observed, not making any move to answer them.

He pressed his foot down gently on the accelerator and the engine purred to life automatically as we sped forward into the darkness. Ashley gripped the steering wheel firmly and the smile had gone from his face to be replaced with a grim frown.

"You need to know what I'm really like Elizabeth." He spoke with constrained emotion. "You can't get involved with me without knowing everything."

The silence stretched out and I had to stop myself from smiling at the word 'involved'. However, his serious manner made me feel something was wrong.

"What do I need to know Ashley? Where are we going?"

"You need to realise that I kill people. And we're going hunting." He said and I could see how much these two statements pained me.

Ashley accelerated and the trees parted ahead of us like curtains to reveal a narrow and winding road. His eyes were fixed unwaveringly ahead and his jaw refused to unclench.

"Okay." I managed to say.

The smallest trace of a smile tugged at his lips but then we were silent. The car moved further into a suburban town and I peered out of the window, lost in thought. There were no clues about our location. A few grocery stores and a coffee shop with the shutters closed were the only buildings that weren't houses in sight. There was nothing noteworthy about them.

The engine shut off suddenly and the realisation that we were here, in the place Ashley was about to kill someone, rushed through my body like ice water. Ashley was a murderer. It was a fact that I'd always known but never thought about because it was pleasanter not to. But now the fact was staring me in the face and I couldn't look past it or cover it up. Someone in this town would die this morning because of him.

A ruffle of papers brought me out of my own mind and Ashley began to rifle through some files with computerised letters printed on the front. Finally he came to stop on Jackson Placely - 104a Lanternville. His eyes scanned the file quickly before he opened the car door with a click and climbed out.

"I'm sorry." He whispered before the door closed again.

And I was left in the clean, quiet car with nothing but a file with a man's name on to keep me company. A brief thought crossed my mind. I could slide into the driver's seat, start the car and drive away from here. I could escape.

Surely I would never get an opportunity like this again. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. What would happen to June and Abriella if I left? Could I really leave Joe and the others behind? More pressingly though, I couldn't leave Ashley. Not right now.

The file still lay beside me on the seat. This, I was sure, held the details of Ashley's next victim. Victim. The word was so sinister. I opened it apprehensively. The yellow cardboard dropped onto the driver's seat with a quiet thud revealing a small photo and a page full of notes written in a neat but hurried scribble.

'Thirty four years of age. Lost contact with all relatives. Drug dealer. Trialled for murder twice but was announced not guilty."

I turned my attention to the photo that was paper clipped to these brief notes that held so much information. A balding man with pale skin and dark brown eyes stared out at me threateningly. And suddenly Jackson Placely had more than a name. He had an identity scrawled out on this piece of paper.

He had been trialled for murder. Twice. Had it really been some unlikely coincidence?

He was a drug dealer. How many lives had he ruined whilst he sat in his expensive suburban house with a swimming pool?

He had lost contact with all of his relatives. Would anyone really miss him if he was gone?

The door opened again and with no change in his appearance but a ruffling of his hair and a pained expression, Ashley slid back onto his seat and pressed his foot to the accelerator once again.

................................................................

Sorry for the late upload! I was swamped with homework so I couldn't update. In the first couple of chapters I've had a few comments on Ashley's name. In the UK it is defnitely a unisex name so I'm sorry if it's not the same in other countries. It's a bit late to change it now so sorry if it ruins the story for you but it ain't gonna change :) x

The Vampire's MaidWhere stories live. Discover now