© Sandra Corton 2013
Chapter 7
She awoke in a room that was strange and unusual to her. It looked nothing like her bedroom at home that was soft and feminine. This looked like a man’s room. Everything came back to her then. Aiden, the nightmare, the red eyes and how he had been sweet enough to tuck her in.
She pushed herself up in the bed and rubbed her eyes. Disappointment engulfed her when he wasn’t lying next to her or even in the room. Dear God she was lying in her boss’s bed on the first night that she was living in his house! She groaned in mortification before quickly removing herself from his room and running to her own. She stopped at the door to find a note taped to it.
“Honey, if you want you can go and visit the gatehouse today. I have left directions on the bottom of this note for how to get there. You are quite welcome to take any car in the garage; the keys are on the wall. I would like your opinion on what you think needs to be improved. That building has been unused for many years now. I shall be back this afternoon, Aiden.”
She felt that discontent feeling again that he wouldn’t be here. She was glad though that with the day dawning, she felt safer. The red eyes would certainly haunt her at night she knew that much. Tonight though she would stay in her own room, she was determined about that much.
Later she followed his directions and found the gatehouse with ease. It was really a small, quaint cottage that she could easily see herself living in. She approached the building only to find workers already inside the building toiling away.
“Well hello there! You must be Miss Combes. Aiden told us you might come for a visit today.” A jovial middle aged man said to her. He was of a solid and rather intimidating build. His smile welcomed her though so she took his offered hand.
“Please call me Honey.” She said as his rough, callused hand grasped her firmly.
“Well I must tell you I’ve not been allowed to call anyone honey except for the missus.” He chortled a bit.
”That’s my first name, so I think your wife will be okay with calling me that.” Honey forced a smile, having had this conversation too many times before. She once again cursed about being given such a stupid name.
“I see well then I’m Drake Waterford. Aiden has put me and my men in charge of fixing up your nice new home.” He gestured to the building behind them. ”C’mon in and I’ll show you around.”
Honey was surprised by the size of the building once she was inside. It was quite open planned with the kitchen, dining and lounge rooms all rolling smoothly into each other. There was a spectacular view of surrounding bush land from huge glass doors at the back of the property which she instantly loved. It had one good sized bedroom with a smaller room that she could use as a study.
Overall she knew that she had fallen completely in love with the little old cottage. She could see its potential in everything Drake pointed out to her. She was ultra-excited when she drove back to Aiden’s house. She couldn’t wait to tell him all the ideas she had for her little cottage.
She got home to find he hadn’t returned. Her exuberance drained out of her straight away when she noticed only a huge wad of cash on the kitchen counter. The note with it said simply ‘for groceries’. With a sigh she decided that was what she would tackle next.
With arm loads of heavy groceries she staggered to the front door. She cursed as she searched for the keys that Aiden had given her the day before. She sensed his presence once she was in the house. He was here and yet he hadn’t bothered to offer her any assistance! She was a bit miffed at that.
She glanced quickly into the formal dining room and she knew he was back to hiding away again. It hurt her after he had been so kind to her last night; she had thought they were past all this subterfuge. She grumbled under her breath, pushing the hurt away as she packed away the groceries.
She felt out of sorts for the rest of the day. She filled in her time with cleaning and dusting, just about anything to take her mind off him. She found herself glancing to his hidden room more than once as she tried to understand why he was being so aloof.
She reminded herself that she had awoken in his bed this morning and that was probably what was keeping him away. She groaned and stabbed her hair back with a pin, wishing she knew how to make this situation better. They hadn’t once discussed their new living arrangements. It had just happened and now she felt nothing but awkward about everything.
She sighed and dragged out the two steaks she had put in a marinade earlier. She wondered whether she should even bother cooking him anything. As the oil began sizzling she quickly threw the steaks in the pan. She returned to her reading hoping the words would distract her from this crazy situation she had found herself in.
He smelt the meat as it began to cook in the pan but only frowned. He concentrated harder on the text in front of him. Her yelp and the scent of flowing blood had him out of his chair and over to the kitchen in an instant. She was cursing as she glared at the offending finger.
Hunger enveloped him at the overpowering and delicious scent wafting from her. He had clasped her hand in his without much notice. All he knew then was the intoxicating smell that made him need to taste her quite desperately. Her finger was in his mouth before either of them realised.
When he gently put suction on the wound, she jerked back. The most intense feeling of lust overtook her in that moment. She had wanted nothing more than to throw herself at him, to let him take whatever he wanted from her. Their eyes met as he licked her finger and her body swirled with pleasure.
He went still then and sent her a horrified look. He came to his senses, forcing the blood lust away even as he hungered for more. Now that he had tasted her, he knew quite simply that he was doomed. Yet the throbbing in his throat had eased just by a single drop of her blood. Now though he wanted more, he knew he would crave her more, until he consumed her whole.
“I have to go.” He said quickly before rushing from the kitchen.
Honey almost collapsed where she stood. That had been the most erotic experience of her life and all he had done was to lick her finger. She had to admit, if only to herself that she wanted her mystery man.
She looked down at her hand surprised to see the wound was clean and pretty much healed. It may have only been a paper cut from her book but there seemed to be hardly any wound at all.
She heard the steak sizzle a bit more fiercely so she turned back to cooking. She put all her focus into preparing that meal to try and distract her mind from what had just happened. She stopped stirring the vegetables when she realised he had just fit the category of vampire that she had been laughing off.
Hadn't the man just sucked her blood? She shivered just recalling the brief moment he had hold of her hand. He hadn't sunk any fangs into her though; he had simply taken the drop of blood that had oozed out of the cut. She laughed at herself for such crazy thoughts.
She was being an idiot and seeing spooky things where there were none. She stared of the window noticing that the afternoon was drawing to a close. Suddenly her thoughts were a lot more threatening and harder to laugh off. She pushed them away quickly, trying not to recall those vivid red eyes.
She had called out to him when dinner was cooked but he never appeared. She felt rather lonely as she sat at that huge dining table by herself. She cleaned up the mess she had made afterwards and decided that she didn't want to be all alone in this house.
Not for the first time she missed her sisters constant chatter. It was too quiet here, far too removed from her warm, comfortable family home. She missed them all, her parents and her sisters. She knew then that she wanted to go home.
She had promised Aiden that she wouldn't leave after dark. She argued with herself that it wasn't dark yet; it was still the world between the light and the dark. With that thought in mind she went up to the room she was staying in and grabbed her handbag along with her keys.
She stopped for a moment as last night’s terror engulfed her. No she had to do this. She needed to separate herself from the strange occurrences within this house. She hadn't even walked out the door when she felt his hand clasp her upper arm.
"Where are you going Honey?" His voice rumbled angrily into her ear.
"It's not dark." She argued feeling rather breathless at his closeness.
"You are a foolish young woman." He snarled in her ear. "They stir now even as the sun goes down."
"Oh well I didn't know." She whispered feeling just as foolish as he had suggested but then she felt her anger flare. "You never told me that either!"
"I told you not to leave this house when it gets dark." He said sternly. "This is considered the beginning of the darkness."
"Well that's so good to know now." She said sarcastically as she stormed back inside.
She went into her room and threw her handbag back on her bed. She still missed her family which only made her feel trapped and even more furious. She pulled her phone out of her bag and decided to ring them instead.
The sound of her sister’s voice almost made her want to weep. It had only been a day that she hadn't seen them and yet she missed them terribly. Everything here in Aiden's world seemed too unreal to be believable. Were these people that stir at dusk even real? She realised she had been too quiet on the phone as Ali's voice sounds concerned. She pushed Aiden from her mind and focused on her family.
When she hung up the phone an hour or so later, she felt much better about things. Her anger had dissolved and she let go of everything concerning Aiden. She flopped back on her bed and relaxed against the rich, plush bedding. A knock at the door took away her tranquility; the last thing she wanted was to talk to the mystery man about his stupid rules.
"Go away Aiden." She said sternly.
"Honey it is for your safety that I ask you to remain here." He replied and she rolled her eyes.
"That's great, thanks now go away." She shouted as she went through her drawers for some cosy pyjamas. If she was to be stuck here every night then she might as well enjoy it. She turned her iPod on and bopped around to the music while trying to push Aiden from her mind.
She decided a long, luxurious bath would do wonders for her nerves. She was thankful that her room had such an expansive bathroom as to include a tub. It wasn't anything too big or fancy but it was plenty for a relaxing soak.
She ran the water, dropped in one of her sweet smelling bath bombs and melted happily into the heat. Surrounded by the soothing weight of water she relaxed once again. She could hear her music playing and tapped her feet to the beat. She closed her eyes and let go of everything bothering her.
Everything seemed blurry but a red haze seemed to enhance her surroundings. She tried to blink, to force her eyes open further but nothing seemed to be working. An edge of panic crept in. Where was she? What was going on?
"Honey you need to focus. It's just a dream, nothing but a dream. You need to breathe." She heard a soothing voice say and she managed to gulp in some air. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw Aiden's worried face above her.
"What? What is going on?" She asked croakily.
"They are trying to get to you however they can." He said on a sigh.
"Huh?"
"Come you need to get dressed." He said as he gestured to her.
She managed to look down at herself then to find a towel wrapped around her with her hair dripping crazily. She tried to flash back through her memories but all she could remember was being in the bath tub.
Every little detail came back to her then and she jerked away from him with a gasp. She quickly tugged the towel tighter to her body and tried to focus on the room around her. She was on the bed that she considered hers. Aiden sat on the edge of it staring at her. She blushed bright red and ran back into the bathroom.
"Oh God!" She put a hand over her mouth.
The bathroom was splattered with blood. The bathtub was filled, not with water but bright red blood. She felt a sickly horror fill her. Her stomach protested as she staggered back against the cabinet.
"Honey you are seeing an illusion. This isn't real." She heard Aiden say from behind her.
"No...this is....wrong." She stuttered out the words through her revulsion.
Aiden's fingers wrapped around her shoulders as he forced her to face him. He tilted her chin up so their eyes could meet. On a scattered breath, she was able to see the concerned silvery depths of his eyes. She forced the panic down as his eyes soothed her, helping things to become clearer.
"Look around the room and tell me what you see." He said seriously.
"My shampoo, the bath filled with water and my toothpaste." She muttered and he let out a breath.
"That's good." He said simply as he pulled her in for a hug.
"What was that?" She asked with a shiver.
"They are trying to corrupt your mind." He answered gruffly. "Get dressed and come into my room. I have something that will hopefully prevent this from occurring again."
He let her go then and she rocked side to side, not sure how she should be feeling. Everything in this world of Aiden's seemed set to terrify her. She knew she couldn't leave though, at least here he stopped whoever these people were from getting to her.
She couldn't stop the shaking as she got dressed in the comfortable pyjamas that she had left out. Images kept flashing through her mind. It always seemed to be centred on blood, she noticed with a shudder. She brushed her hair over, gave it a quick zap with the blow dryer but still couldn't stop from shivering.
Feeling as though she had done this all before, she went to stand outside Aiden's door. She lifted her hand to knock only to have him bid her to enter. She opened the door more cautiously than she had the night before.
This time he sat on a sofa that she hadn't even seen when she was in here last night. She was trying to figure out whether it was new when he said something that she missed.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" She asked quietly.
"I am giving you this for your protection, please wear it." He said as he held out a dainty silver chain.
"This is truly stunning. I can't wear this; it must have cost you a fortune." She said as she held her hands behind her back, not daring to touch the necklace.
"Honey it is an amulet to protect you from them. Wear it, most especially at night where they seem able to control your thoughts and dreams." He talked down to her making her feel insignificant which made her frown.
"I'm not a child." She spoke her thoughts.
"Then stop acting like one. Here." Instead of handing her the necklace he unhooked it and placed it around her neck.
"Why doesn't it affect you?" She asked as his fingers skimmed over her skin.
"I am not a full blood. Also I am not trying to influence your thoughts and dreams." He replied as he closed the clasp and let her go.
"What do you mean? Are you half of what they are?" She asked curiously.
"Yes I can become what they call pure blood but it requires and ritual and a sacrifice."
His face closed off then as though he wasn't going to tell her anymore. In her mind though things that he had previously said began being pieced together. She could barely breathe at the conclusions she had come to but she had to ask him if her assumptions were right.
"That's what makes your eyes go red." She said on a harsh breath and he looked surprised.
"I won't lie to you but yes that is." He replied truthfully and her face wet deathly pale as she realised something far more important that was implied with his words.
"And I'm the sacrifice! Innocent is just a polite word for sacrifice." She stuttered out the words before backing out of his room with terror etched in her features.
She ran to her room, slammed the door behind her and sat against it with her limbs trembling. He was going to kill her! She was going to be the reason his eyes turned red. She tried to breathe through the encroaching horror she felt but it was incredibly hard.
"Honey I think it's time that you learnt the truth." Aiden's soft words from the other side of the door had her whimpering as she huddled herself into a tight ball.
"You're going to kill me." She whispered frantically into her knees as the truth overwhelmed her. It made her feel intensely sick and filled with dread all at once.
"I was and I will admit that to you. The first day that you arrived here I told Rosie to send you away. I told her you were my innocent, my sacrifice if you like." He told her honestly.
"Do you still intend to kill me?" She asked her voice edged with extreme fear.
"No there is a good reason why you should only meet an innocent once." His said his voice filled with a dry humour that Honey couldn't understand.
"What do you mean?"
"Come out here so I can see you and explain." He coaxed but she refused to budge.
"No!" She shouted emphatically.
"Honey please come out. I am now perhaps the last of my kind that you need to worry about. I may crave your blood every single moment but harming you would only in turn harm me." He told her earnestly and she sighed as she wavered between what to do.
"Answer me this, why are reading texts on vampires?" She asked in a shaky, barely there voice.
"You know the answer to that; you are not ready to accept it yet. You ignored a very big part of what I just said which shows how much you do not want to accept what I am." He answered in a soft but chiding voice.
"You crave my blood?" She muttered the words forcing herself to see what he was saying. She felt both equal horror and desire rush through her when she thought about it.
"Every single second. Tasting you earlier will perhaps torture me until the end of my days." He said on a ragged breath.
"Why did you do that?" She forced the words past her lips and he looked abashed.
"I never intended too. I smelt your blood and was drawn to it. I didn't even realise what I was doing. I apologise for that.” He answered calmly while she only felt overwhelmed at everything he had said.
Her thoughts paused as the information roiled around in her mind. She had to accept what she had been trying to shrug off for so long now. He was a creature of the night. An imaginary being of a nightmare world that should not exist.
As horrified as she wanted to be there was still that sliver of trust that she had for him. He had protected her more than once now. He had kept her safe from his terrifying world. She reminded herself that perhaps he had only done that to later kill her, but she couldn't see him do that.
He may have been this being of myth but she found it hard to believe that he wanted to kill her. He had ample opportunity in the last few days, yet he hadn't harmed a hair on her head. Well there was the finger sucking thing from earlier but he had just apologised for that.
She came to the dreadful conclusion that she had never wanted to really know. She felt her heart thunder harder in her chest as she prepared to tell him what she thought he was. Every hair on her arms stood on end at even the thought of it, let alone saying it aloud.
"You're a vampire." She whispered the words but they seemed as loud as a thunder clap.
"Yes Honey, I'm a half blood vampire." He replied his voce composed but quiet.
She felt the world crumble around her then. Hearing him agree so calmly, so assuredly had shocked her beyond belief. She had no words to express the intense feelings overtaking her body. She was sure of one thing though, she had discovered a layer of her mystery man that she had never once expected.