Love Bites

LOVE BITES Chapter 7 : Culprits

The child in that photo had black hair, as black as midnight.

The type of black hair that matched her parent's and Alastair's hair.

I, myself, did not remember ever having such dark hair and honestly it didn't make sense that I ever could. The blond hair I had now was the complete opposite of what had as a child. I'd never heard of hair loosing pigment like in this instance but that's what seemed to have happened. I mean, according to Alastair and the photographs, I once had black hair.

I don't know though, for all I knew the photos could have been photoshopped... somehow.

"You look so much like Lady Marisa." Alastair's words brought me out of my thoughts.

I picked up a photo of my mother, tilting my head as I tried to understand what he was saying. "No way," I chuckled, giving up. "Mom was beautiful."

"Exactly."

That one word from him made my chest constrict. I hid my face behind the photo, knowing full well my cheeks were tinged pink, and fought to stop the smile growing on my face.

Stupid Alastair.

"Hey. Why don't you call Mom and Dad, you know, Mom and Dad?" I suddenly asked, genuinely curious. "It's always Lady Marisa and Lord Emrik with you. Why is that?"

He sighed, placing the photo of me back on the table. He sat on the arm of the sofa. "Just respect."

I frowned at his words, a little offended. "Are you saying I'm being disrespectful by calling our parents Mom and Dad?"

"No," he chuckled, "that isn't what I mean't." He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words. "It's just different for you," he settled with.

That frown didn't leave my face. "Is it because I'm a girl or something?" I half joked.

"No, that isn't what I meant either," he said slowly. He ran a hand through his hair almost tiredly, flicking it up in mess. It fell back to its original place, over his brow and shielding his beautiful eyes. Just when it looked like he was about to say something, the sound of a bell echoed through the house, originating from the front door.

Something told me that whatever Alastair was about to say was important, but with the bell continuously ringing he seemed to change his mind about the whole ordeal, pushing himself off the arm of the sofa instead.

Irritated, I got off the cushions and made a beeline for the door. Whoever was behind it had changed their tactics, ringing and knocking feverishly.

"Bri," I greeted with a smile upon retching it open. The idea that Alastair was hiding something shrank away to nothing in my mind. "What's up?"

She looked a little frazzled. Besides the neat braid over her shoulder, Brianna's cheeks were flushed and her brown eyes were heavy with worry.

She grabbed my hands. "What are you doing right now?"

"Uh..." I looked over my shoulder at Alastair. He was leaning against the wall, silently watching the both of us. We shared a look.