Six and a half hours later I woke up, filling my lungs with air. The sun was just rising up from behind the horizon, which was broken by rough hilly countryside. We would be fine in the car, the top was still up and the windows were very heavily tinted. Jamie was scowling darkly in the direction of the window, although I doubted he would be able to see anything through the dark glass with his human eyes. Rummaging in my pocket I found my sunglasses, which I slipped on. Julia and Chris were already wearing their own pairs.
Chris stirred, despite his best efforts he had been dozing against the side of his seat; abruptly he sat back up straight, looking angry with himself for letting his guard down.
I glanced sideways at him. "Nothing wrong with sleeping, not much else to do."
He ignored my comment, "Where are we?"
I shrugged. "That's a good question, Julia? Where are we?"
"Well, you said go somewhere safe, and it made me think of that time when those soldiers were chasing us."
I grinned "Which time?"
"The Russians."
"Ahh good choice." I offered no explanation for Chris, Jamie was paying close attention and I didn't really want him knowing where we were, which was Scotland, the north to be more precise. I own a house there, and if I knew Julia, that was where we were going.
I remembered the Russians well; we had a little disagreement in an inn where they were staying, caused by William of course. He had always had a bad habit of offending people. He was using the name Charles at the time, it was quite popular then. Of course if he was in a fight, I had to join in. The two of us were like that, inseparable... but no I would not think about him, far too many painful memories that I had tried to bury deep. I deliberately didn't think about him most of the time, as even after all this time, I still loved him so much. I felt a familiar ache in my heart that had nothing to do with my injuries. But he's dead and gone. I thought to myself viciously, nothing can bring him back so stop thinking about it. Julia's voice interrupted my mental shouting.
"We're here."
We had come to a tall metal fence; spikes ran around the top, along with live wires. I knew they were currently turned off, the lack of quiet buzzing gave it away. The fence ran around the entire grounds that surrounded the house. I remembered it clearly. It has always been one of my favourite houses; it is also one of my oldest.
House really isn't the correct way to describe it; mansion would be closer. Four story's high and then a large converted attic, where the servants used to live. It stretched around in a long U shape, with graceful dark wooden beams covering the frame. It even had shutters on each window. I had converted one of the huge out buildings into a garage; I currently had quite a few different cars stored there, of many different types. Even one of the very old ones from when they were first invented, I never could bear to throw it away. The house had all the modern inventions installed, although I had made sure it was done tastefully, so I didn't ruin the original feel of the building. It had the best security systems installed, I knew this would not stop other vampires, but it would hopefully keep unwanted humans out.
The building was not in view from our current position. The grounds were large, and many trees filled most of the space. The trunks were thicker than several men, although I remembered when they were tiny saplings. There was deep a lake along one side, with a tiny island in the middle.
I got out the car and placed my hand on a small panel at the side, I waited as it read my fingerprints and emitted a small beep; the gate swung open almost silently; it was well oiled. Julia started the car again when I jumped back in and we went along the thin road that wound between the trees. When we came into view of the house Chris swore softly to himself, half laughing, Julia sighed contentedly.
I grinned; "I have missed this place". Jamie remained silent, but he wouldn't be able to see much through the dark windows.
There was a wide space clear of trees around the actual building. The road cut through the tall grass that waved in the cold December wind. The sun still cast rays over the house since the sky was clear and cloudless, the worst way for a vampire.
Julia stopped the car right outside the heavy brown door and I got out again. There was a spare key stashed on top of the tall frame of the door, it was easily twice as tall as me, so not a very obvious place to keep a key. I jumped up and retrieved it, unlocking the door before slipping it in a pocket. Nevertheless Chris raised an eyebrow at me,
"You have all these high security measures, like fingerprint recognition, but you leave keys lying about?"
"I'm not worried about anybody who needs the keys to get in."
"True."
I grabbed the big hold-all from the boot of the car, and then used my spare hand to pull Jamie out. I held his arm loosely as I lead him into the house, I wasn't worried about him escaping, any of us could easily outrun him. His eyes were wide as he took in the building.
Julia grabbed my bag from me and disappeared in the direction of the kitchen where I could hear her unloading blood into the fridge. Apparently I was taking too long for her. I used my free hand to reset the alarm, and quickly reprogrammed the security around the house with the small keyboard next to it. The electric fencing was now all turned on; motion detector cameras would alert me to anything that I didn't hear.
I took a moment to sniff the air, I was positive nobody had been in the house since my last visit. I walked through the long dining room, still containing the original long, shiny dark wooden table with elegantly carved legs and matching chairs, before I went into the main sitting room. The walls were white in-between the dark beams and large fireplace. The sofa and chairs were deep red leather, the floor polished wood, with a thick patterned rug. The room had a warm comfortable feel, which I had always liked.
I drew the heavy curtains over the window, blocking out the still early rays that were filtering in, instantly improving the ache that had been slowly building between my temples. Chris followed us in and sunk into the nearest armchair, I knew the sun affected him much more than me; I gave him a sympathetic smile. He returned it wearily.
Now there was the issue of what to do with Jamie. It wasn't a huge problem, there were many rooms in the house where he could be kept for the moment. I chose one of the larger, en-suite bedrooms on the fourth floor. I lead him up the stairs and along the corridor, it was only a few doors along from my own room, so I should be able to supervise him easily and prevent any escape attempts. Once I pulled him through the door he shook my hand off roughly, and then winced unintentionally.
I frowned. "Are you hurt?" I said the question cautiously, for some reason I felt strangely worried at his pain. I frowned to myself, I was not used to being overly concerned for other people, but then again I was not used to spending so much time with humans... they were so breakable, it unnerved me slightly.
He was surprised, then defensive. "Fine." he snapped.
I looked at him carefully, fully taking in his appearance. His dark eyes, brown with greener flecks that I hadn't noticed before, were angry, but slightly wider than was normal... so he was scared underneath the anger, I could hear his heart beating wildly, his body tense, ready to run or fight at any moment. It was strange that I had to tilt my head up slightly to look into those eyes, he was very tall; not many people are taller than me.
I continued to examine him, trying to find the source of his discomfort. He had winced when he moved his arm... I thought he was holding it slightly more carefully than the other one. Without thinking I stepped forward, reaching for it gently; he recoiled, stepping away from me quickly. I paused, dropping my arm; of course he wouldn't want me touching him. To him I was a monster, something dangerous and repulsive; it terrified him just being in the same room as me. For some reason that made me bitter. He would be fine; it wasn't life threatening, besides, why should it bother me if it was? He would happily see me dead! He already thought he had once.
Without offering an explanation I turned on my heel and left the room, carefully making sure the door was locked before I left. Even though the wood was old, it was thick and strong, the doorframe was very sturdy, and the windows all had bullet proof glass that could probably withstand a hurricane. He would not be able to break out.
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