[The next chapter is up atlast! yay! I hope you enjoy the mystery. This is just the beginning there is still a lot more to come ^^]
Chapter 24
**
Aura couldn't sleep that night even though the human girl besides her continued to snore softly at regular intervals. Her mind refused to shut down the questions that kept popping up behind her eyes, causing her to toss from one side to the another.
She was sure Gisela had let slip that information in her sleep and not intentionally. It was definitely something that had bothered the girl over a period of time and now that Aura had entered her life, she must have thought the vampire had the solution to this problem. Maybe she did, but Aura couldn't think of anything at the moment that might help their situation.
As far as she knew about the Emerson's family history, there had been no links connecting them to the possible vampire sightings in this town. Was it long before that? Was Gisela's Great-grandma in her mid-twenties when the incident took place? If that was the case then there was no way of finding whether the tale was true or not. It was highly possible that the granny had fed her lies because of some unknown illness she had suffered. She needed more details on this particular case... maybe her mother would be able to shed some light on it.
Aura made a quick decision to meet up with Michelle Emerson the following morning before dropping Gisela off to school.
After another few minutes of thinking over the matter, Aura drifted off in to the dark world of dreams and past memories.
*
It was still dark when Aura woke up from the two hour sleep she had managed to catch before dawn. She opened her eyes to adjust to the semi-darkness that surrounded her and found that the curtains had been drawn, blocking the morning light from streaming in.
She shifted to her side and her hand immediately stretched out to touch the warm skin of Gisela, who was supposedly still sound asleep, but was surprised to find her side of the bed empty and cold. Withdrawing her hand from the space Aura got up and looked around once again hoping to see the beauty hiding in one of the corners of the room, but of course she wasn't.
'Gisela?' Aura whispered, lines of worry formed over her forehead as she tried to think of where the human had run off to, so early in the morning.
Her senses told her that Gisela was no longer present in the room nor was she in the bathroom adjacent to it. Aura let her ears travel downstairs, listening to the steady heartbeats of the other members residing in the mansion. Gisela's soft melody was something that she had grown used and would have picked up the sound even if she was a mile away. But now as she searched for that familiar tune she couldn't hear it, no matter where she looked.
The only uneven heartbeats she could hear were coming from the kitchen, presumably her mother and one other person.
Where was she? Had she left already?
Aura sighed as she thought of what had happened the previous night. Maybe the shock of the bite had been too much for Gisela, more than she could have imagined. The guilt of what she had done pierced he heart and Aura found it hard to breathe. Had she finally gone and done something unforgivable? Is that why Gisela has decided to stay away from her? To create as much space as possible so that she could decide on what to do next? Was that it?
The possibility that this could be the end of their relationship, scared Aura and tears pricked at her eyelids.
Some people believed that vampires cried tears of blood; it was another one of those baseless myths that had been born in the mid-eighties. Aura chuckled deeply at that thought, wondering if blood-red tears would fall from her eyes if she tried hard enough. She had never been this sad before, never been this broken and wishing to let out her emotions by crying. Aura had always considered crying as a sign of weakness, something that only humans were capable of showing. It was one of the reasons why most of the nocturnal creatures found them helpless and utterly vulnerable to their attacks.
And now as Aura sat in the cold, dark room with her face hanging low she got her very first taste of that weakness. It was that foreign feeling that made her think of the pain caused by her heart been broken into a million pieces. It was the physical ache in her mind and body as if she had been beaten up by a gang of thugs and thrown on to the ground to die. It was a gaping hole punched into her heart, into that place that was reserved for Gisela.
'Shit!' Aura swore out loud and pulled at her hair. She didn't want to keep feeling this pain, such pain that would push her off the edge. If this continued, Aura was sure she would slip into a red haze and go on a killing spree. Something she had kept under control for a very long time. She needed to find the girl, needed to find Gisela before things got out of hand.[1]
Jumping off the bed, Aura rushed into the bathroom hurrying along with her morning routine. She tried to push off the thoughts of Gisela that kept flashing through her mind as she stared into the mirror, the same mirror that Gisela had stood in front of just a few hours ago. Her eyes automatically moved towards the shower, the one where Gisela had washed her beautiful naked body with the vanilla scented soap that she loved so much and the used fluffy towel that still hung on one of the shelves. Even with the firm control that she had on her desires Aura couldn't help wrapping her fingers around the cloth, the smell of the human still lingering in its folds. She took a small whiff and then another, sighing as the intoxicating aroma entered her body calming her nerves.
The longing she felt for Gisela was unheard of and it frightened her to think that it all might be coming to an end. Aura couldn't imagine life without Gisela, it was next to impossible.
'No!' Aura whispered softly and shook her head, trying to get rid of that horrible thought. There was no time to think about it now; she had some work to finish before she could let herself be drowned in sorrow and self-pity.
She stepped out of the shower wrapping the same towel around her lean body, letting the scent cling to her skin like her personal perfume. Changing into a comfortable pair of sweats Aura walked out of the room and onto the landing.
She could hear the happy chattering of Michelle all the way up here on the first floor. Trying to keep the sadness off her face, Aura took a deep breath and began her descent down the grand staircase. The red velvet carpet, sunk under her bare feet and Aura took another cleansing breathe to calm her nerves.
She had no idea of how she was going to approach this forbidden topic, something that Gisela's mother would most likely refuse to answer. From everything that Aura had heard last night, Gisela's Great-grandma was no longer living under the same roof as them. The door to the kitchen was slightly ajar and the smell of pancake was present in the air.
Aura gave it a slight push and the heavy wooden door swung on its polished hinges without a sound. The occupants were still engrossed in their small talks and didn't notice that they had company.
Michelle stood alongside Gisela's grandma, a spatula held firmly in her hand. She was talking animatedly about stuff that sounded vaguely like business deals and estate plans to Aura, there was no way of knowing though because at that moment both of the elders stopped whatever it was they were doing and turned to face Aura.
'Ah! Aura! Good morning dear!' the grandma gave her a small smile and motioned for her to take a seat at the dinner table.
The vampire didn't think twice before obeying the lady, because there was no way she could refuse the dish of sizzling pancakes without rising suspicion. Usually Gisela was the one who covered up for her inability to eat, taking the help of stomach problems or some other unfortunate illness that Aura had seemingly contracted. But since she wasn't present at the table Aura saw no escape from the human food today.
'Eat all you want dear, I am sure you must be hungry after the recent bout of illness you have suffered.' Michelle's smiling face made it harder for Aura to refuse the offer and she slumped under the kindness.
'Yeah' Aura muttered and picked up the fork, feigning non-existent excitement upon seeing the pancakes.
'Umm...last night... Gisela...' Aura began but stopped when she saw the worry flash on Michelle's face.
'Go on dear.' the Grandma encouraged and Aura tried again.
'Last night, Gisela was mumbling something in her sleep...something about her Great-grandma.' Aura whispered and looked up just in time to see the two ladies exchange a look of fear.
'Do you know what it is about? What's been bothering her?'
Michelle sighed then, and put down the spatula. She turned off the gas and sat down on one of the chairs in front of Aura. Gisela's grandma followed and took a seat to Aura's right, her face adorning more lines of age then she could count. Whatever it was that they were about to tell her, it was something that both hurt them and was very difficult to talk. But as they cared more about the child, it seems they were willing to let Aura in on their secret.
'It’s a long story...' Michelle began.
**
[So...how was it? Did you like the chapter? Please do tell me your thoughts on it >-< ! I love interacting with you guys and also thanks a lot for supporting the story so far! *blows kisses*]