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

Chapter 13: Friends with Benefits

That's when I noticed the small glow under the door to Ron's mysterious bedroom. A loud groan came from the room: a groan of pain. Fear crept up my body as I hesitantly took a step closer. My mind raced as a million possibilities came to mind, none of which made any sense.

"Ron?" I called out as I lightly tapped my fist against his door. Suddenly, all noise from the room stopped, and I heard more shuffling.

"Jaime?" His voice sounded hoarse and drained.

"Ron, a-are you alright?" The door slowly opened, and I caught sight of Ron's disheveled state. His messy brown hair seemed excessively worse than usual and his eyes were bloodshot. That's not what drew my attention; there was a large gash on the side of his head, causing a fair amount of blood to pool down his face and soak his white t-shirt.

"Jaime?" He whispered as his eyes rolled back into his brain and his large body careened forward. I instinctively jumped to grab his limp form. Unfortunately, Ron happened to be much bigger than me and catching him was a foolish idea. All at once, I found myself pinned under his unconscious body on the cold tile floor.

"Ron... Ron... please wake up." I shook his body again and again as unspeakable panic rose inside me. I rolled him over, freeing myself, and studied his face. Breath fanned out of his opened lips, and his heart continued to pump through his veins at a normal pace, meaning he wasn't dead at least.

I did the only thing I could think of, which was to clean and bandage him. It didn't take long to remove the blood from his face and neck with a soaked dishcloth, but that left the issue of his shirt. His clean white collar was stained bright red, making it a lost cause. I found bandages in a cabinet and quickly did what I could with his head wound, hoping it didn't need stitches.

I couldn't for the life of me think of a way Ron could have gotten that wound. Self-infliction? Had someone in the house hit him with a... pole? It didn't make sense. I hadn't forgotten that Seth was upstairs, more than likely going insane with panic, but there was no way I could leave Ron like this. How could I leave my only friend unconscious on the cold ground? It wouldn't be morally sound.

"J-Jaime..." Ron's voices snapped me from my thoughts as his eyes opened slowly.

"Ron, how are you?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Just lying on the floor." I laughed more for his sake at his stupid attempt at being funny. He looked dizzy as he sat up.

"How did this happen?" He glanced down when I asked the question. It didn't seem as if he wanted to answer me.

"Would you be completely angry if I told you I couldn't tell you?" By the way he looked at me, I could tell he was worried about my emotions. It was obvious to everyone that I was beginning to go insane with all this mystery; Ron didn't want to cause me anymore trouble, but everyone has their secrets. I had many that I needed to hide from everyone.

"No, of course I won't be mad." I gave him a small smile.

"So, what do you want to eat today?" He rose up on slightly shaky feet.

"Actually, I came on Seth's behalf. He said he ordered something an hour or so ago..." Ron's eyes grew wide and he ran to the refrigerator. He swiftly pulled out a large container of liquid and poured it into a glass. I couldn't see the substance too well, but it looked dark red. He measured a certain amount, and then he handed the glass to me.

"Take it to Seth, and please hurry." I did my best to keep the liquid in the glass as I ran up the stairs, but it was a difficult task. When I reached the top of the stairs, Seth was there in an instant. I'd never seen him look so riled up before as he chugged the drink and smashed the glass against the wall. I flinched back in surprise, and we both glared at the pile of glass on the floor.

"Someone else will get that..." He muttered.

"Yeah..."

"So, Jaime, care to go for a walk?" I gave him a look of surprise and assessed his expression for any signs that he was joking. He was completely serious as he stood before me with a large foolish grin.

"I thought I wasn't allowed to go anywhere?" He looked surprised before realization dawned on his face.

"You hadn't heard? The Master deemed that it was fine for you to go anywhere you like, as long as you had one of us accompanying you." A grin spread across my face. Finally, a small shred of freedom. Something occurred to me at that moment, something I remembered Reuban saying.

"T-That day when Reuban broke me and you apart from each other, didn't he tell you to stay away from me?" The air around us became awkward as I mentioned what happened before, but it had to be done.

"The Master overrules Reuban easily." He gave me a reassuring smile as he held his arm out in a gentleman-like manner.

"So Seth, where exactly are we going?" I couldn't help but let the glee build up inside of my body. Finally, I would be able to explore without having to hide around every corner. I ignored the hunger gnawing at my stomach in favor of exploration.

"I was thinking we could take a stroll around the gardens?" I nodded my head vigorously at the thought. Now I would get to see the field up close, not just from my balcony.

"So... are Charlotte and Reuban really going out?" I whispered the question, feeling uneasy asking such a thing. The question had been nagging at me; what could Reuban see in her? Also, what could she see in him?

"Well, that depends on your definition of going out. If you mean, do they hold hands and stare into each other's eyes? Then no. Charlotte's family, however, would very much like for them to be an item. There is word around the castle too, that..."

"That what?" I asked, intensely intrigued.

"I've heard they enjoy... the more convenient parts of a relationship."

"So, are they... friends with benefits?"

"All the good with none of the attachments." Seth muttered under his breath, and I couldn't help but smirk.

"Charlotte fancys him more than a friend." I stated boldly. After the whole dinner preparation fiasco, that was one fact of which I was certain.

"Yes, but Reuban likes her as much as he does a toilet. It brings satisfaction, but afterwards... well it's just a toilet." I let out a snort of laughter, and Seth soon followed.

"Y-You really just s-snorted?" We continued to laugh as we made our way down the long staircase leading to the lobby. I was comfortable talking with Seth. He was so bubbly and heartwarming; I had a feeling we would get along really well.

That's when I noticed the small grey door. Why had Ron been so shocked when I mentioned that door? What was so important about such a small thing?

"Seth, what's that grey door over there for?" I pointed to the door, and his gaze followed my finger, landing on the insignificant ingress. I looked into his obviously confused eyes. He looked all around the room and then back at me. He seemed to assess me a moment before he spoke.

"What grey door?"