Breathless

Chapter 7

Emily walked around for a bit, still admiring the garden. With the sun rising higher in the sky, the air began to get warmer. The frost that covered the plants began to melt, wetting the ground. She could smell the earth beneath her, cold yet sweet. She had made her way to the center of the garden, a tall stone fountain stood in front of her. The water in it had a thin layer of ice that was slowly melting. Statues of angles were imbedded into the fountain, they looked beautiful however most of them looked like they were weeping.

She looked out past the garden, towards the tall pine trees, casting enormous shadows that became smaller and smaller as the sun rose. Emily thought about running, getting out of this place, but she had the strangest feeling she was being watched. Even if she ran, how far would she get until Aaron sent someone after her. If she got away, where would she go? Emily had no idea where she was, what state she was in, hell she could even be in Canada or something. Running seemed like a very bad idea with little chance of success.

Emily began to walk back to the house, looking at it, she realized how large it was. Very tall, the back faced the east and the sun shined on its tan exterior.
Emily walked up to the door and went inside. There was a maid standing near the door, her hands behind her back.

"Good morning my lady, I hope you enjoyed the garden, shall I take your coat?" She said with a lovely British accent. She had gorgeous, long dark brown hair. Thick curls framed her face, and she had a very kind smile. She wore a black long sleeved dress, with an apron on the front.

"Yes, thank you" Emily said, taking off her coat and handing it to the young woman.

"If you need anything else, please let me know. Lord Aaron has asked me to keep you company." She said smiling again, her dark brown eyes filled with kindness.

"Alright, thank you, uh what's your name?" Emily said.

"My name is Sarah" she said in a small voice. Emily stepped closer to her.

"It's nice to meet you Sarah" Emily smiled, happy to see another girl.

"What would you like to do my lady?" Sarah asked, Emily put her hand up.
"You don't have to say 'my lady,' you can call me Emily" Sarah's eyes widened, as if in shock, she shook her head profusely.

"I cannot, I must abide by Lord Aaron's request" she said, her smile faded slightly. Emily thought to herself, 'is she afraid of him?'

"Well, I think I'll go to my room then, could you show me the way? I'm afraid I'll get lost" She said, Sarahs smile came back and she lead the way, Emily following close behind.

                        **********

When they came to Emily's bedroom door, Emily turned around, facing Sarah.

"Do you want to come in? We can have some girl talk or something, I could braid your hair?" Emily said smiling. Sarah's face lit up.

"Oh I'd love to my lady!" She said in a giddy tone. Emily opened the door and walked in, Sarah following behind.

Emily walked over to the bathroom and grabbed a few hair ties and the hair brush. She went over and sat on the bed, patting it for Sarah to come sit with her. Sarah practically skipped over and jumped onto the bed. Emily giggled and started to brush her wavy hair.

"So do you live here?" Emily asked.

"Yes, I have for quite awhile" she replied.

"Do you like it?" Emily said, Sarah went quite for a minute, as if thinking of her answer.

"I do" she said quietly. Emily felt as if she was lying, or rather, she was told to say it.

"Why do you call Aaron lord?" Emily asked

"Because he is, he's the lord of the house, well him and his brother"

"Brother? He has a brother?" Emily asked confused.

"Yes, you haven't met him? He's always in the library, I thought maybe you had" Sarah said.

"No I don't think I have, what's his name?"

"Devon, he's very quiet at times, not so charming like Lord Aaron but he's very kind, although not as approachable" Emily thought for a moment. 'Was he the man in the library? Was he the one who left me the note?'
"Sarah, can you tell me something? And be honest" Emily said. Sarah turned around, looking at Emily, she nodded her head.

"Is Aaron dangerous? Am I in danger?" Emily lowered her voice, almost to a whisper. Sarah reached into her pocket, pulling out a pen an a pad of sticky notes, she began to write something down.

"Of course not my lady, I promise you are perfectly safe. This place is like heaven, I'm sure you're stay here will be wonderful" Sarah said a bit loud as she handed Emily the sticky note.

'Aaron is a monster, you need to escape, trust only the humans, the walls have ears'

Emily looked up, she mouthed the word humans to Sarah.

"Would you mind giving me a French braid my lady? I do think they are so lovely" Sarah said as she wrote down something on another sticky note.

"Of course Sarah, I'd love too" Emily said while taking the note Sarah had written down.

'The other maids and butlers, we are slaves to Aaron and the other monsters, they will kill you'

Emily took the sticky notes and wrote her own question, then handed it back to Sarah.

'What are they?'

Sarah looked at, then thought for a moment before writing down a very long message, she handed the note to Emily.

'Vampires, blood sucking beasts, not like the ones in books, they are evil but look like normal people, they are strong and have abilities, you are in danger'

Emily looked up at Sarah with a worried look but before she could say anything, Sarah put her finger to her lips in a shush gesture. She picked up the hairbrush and gave it to Emily.

"So my lady, do you have any hobbies? Things you like to do to pass the time?" Sarah asked, changing the subject as if nothing happened.

"Well, I like to read, mostly anatomy, but I like fictional stuff too" Emily said while braiding Sarah's long dark brown hair. "What about you?"

"I enjoy music, classical mostly, I listen to it every night" Sarah said. Once Emily was finished with the braid she stood up, taking the used sticky notes.

"I have to use the bathroom, wait here" She said while turning around, taking the notes with her. In the bathroom, she ripped them up into little pieces then flushed them down the toilet. 'What am I going to do? How am I going to get out of here?' Emily thought to herself. She was scarred, she didn't know what was going to happen to her. She decided to just play along with Aaron's game, and the moment she got the chance, she would leave this terrible place and all the secrets it held.

Emily walked out of the bathroom and over to her bed. Sarah was standing next to it, Emily walked up to her.

"I'm sorry my lady but I must leave you, I have to start preparing for lunch" She said, Emily gave her a small smile.

"Oh that's fine, I understand, I enjoyed talking to you, maybe we can do it again sometime" Emily said, hinting a bit. Sarah nodded and smiled.

"That would be lovely my lady, I shall see you again soon" Sarah said with a small bow then walked to the door and left.

Emily sat on her bed, thinking to herself. She was worried what would happen to her, she didn't know who she could really trust besides Sarah. Emily stood up and walked over to her door. She thought maybe some reading would help ease her mind, then walked out the door to the library.