Who Said Vampires Don't Exist? Well, I Did, Until Now

Chapter 9: Small Gray Door

Chapter 9

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." -Jane Austen

Reading Jane Austen had always been a guilty pleasure of mine, particularly her most popular Pride and Prejudice. My father used to read it to me when I was little, but at that time none of it made any sense to me. I used to hate when my dad would read me Austen because the words just seemed like garbled gibberish. I despised all the descriptive phrases that seemed to have no end, as well as I loathed the constant metaphors that I was too young to comprehend. I loved my dad so much that I would always bite my tongue and allow him to read without complaining.

The day my father died was the day I first opened up Pride and Prejudice and began reading it for myself. Finally, the words were easier to grasp, and they all reminded me of my father.

On that day, I also fell in love with the hero of the story: Mr. Darcy. I wanted my future husband to be just like him: tall, brooding, and completely in love with a singular woman. I used Jane Austen as a sanctuary for a long time. After Sam died, however, I never picked up her books again. I felt as if I didn't deserve the comfort.

Sitting in this room that should be described as a prison cell, all I wanted was a Jane Austen novel. Maybe if I could get lost in one of her stories, I could forget my surroundings for at least an hour or two.

Little Ali left my room early in the morning, informing me he didn't want Reuban to be madder than he was already destined to be. My heart gave a little thump as I pictured Ali's face; he was nearly identical to my Samie. They had the same dark windswept hair and the same penetrating blue eyes. Although, Ali was a great deal larger than Sam ever was. Sam was always the runt of our family; he was much shorter than he should have been at that age. I was always an average height, but my mother and father were constantly described as towers for how incredibly tall they both were.

After sitting perched on the end of my bed for a few minutes, I could take it no longer.

All my life, I'd always been a rebel. I'd never done what I was told. So why should I be Miss Listen Obediently and Do What Your Told now? There was sure to be a library in this place somewhere. I swiftly jumped from my bed and threw my hair up in a messy bun. I slipped on  a clean black tank top and black skinny jeans before walking barefoot to my door. It seemed right that I should dress in full black to go sneaking around a dark castle. I decided against shoes since I could move much more quickly and quietly barefoot.

I hesitantly put my hand on the door and turned the knob.

I halfway expected Reuban to be standing there ready to beat me back into my room, but I was wrong. The hallway in either direction was completely barren. I grinned triumphantly as I silently took my first step outside the door.

No one came rushing to yell at me for disobeying, so I fully stepped out of my room and closed the door behind me. I noticed that there was a golden plate nailed onto my room door that said "Erikson." I briefly wondered when that had appeared, since I'd never seen it before. I brushed off that question for a later time as I turned right down the hallway.

In a short amount of time, I appeared at the grand staircase from when I first arrived. It looked the same as before. The red satin carpet stretched out beneath my bare feet and cascaded down the long staircase. Once again, I was immediately transfixed with the dark marble ceiling. It looked like a stormy night with the white marble walls giving off an appearance of light clouds.

I slowly descended the staircase as I allowed my fingertips to grace the solid wood handrail. I felt as if I was in one of those fairytales where the princess slowly descended the staircase in a beautiful dress, only in this case I was a cheap knock-off of a princess.