I waved the ebony duvet until it ballooned with air. Tucking the corners of the duvet tightly over the mattress I stepped back to admire my work before dashing forward to plump a pillow. I'd vowed when I'd woken up that morning that I'd do nothing to aggravate my already bumpy relationship with Ashley which meant completing each of my jobs to perfection.
"Morning, Elizabeth." Ashley nodded.
He brought the scent of shampoo out of the bathroom with him as he rubbed a towel through his wet hair.
"Good morning Sir." I was flushed from making his large bed.
The sunlight streamed through his window and hit Ashley's face making his blond hair look white in the bright light. He squinted and flinched away from it, plunging himself back into the cool shadows of his wardrobe. Were vampires actually afraid of the sunlight?
"I can close the window?" I told him, phrasing it as a question.
Following his brief nod I pulled the velvety curtains over the arched window reducing the room to dim darkness. The only light came from the elegant red candles that I'd lit earlier. When I faced Ashley again he was stretched out on his bed with the sketch book open on his lap. His hand was poised above the paper but he seemed to have forgotten what he was going to draw. He was staring at me, or more like through me, as if he was daydreaming. I moved out of his vision and his eyes regained focus as he began to move his hand over the paper.
I was intrigued to see what he was sketching but busied myself with collecting his towel and mopping up the water in the bathroom. I couldn't help but glance at him every now and again. His pencil was tickling the paper and for once the harsh look had faded from his face to be replaced by a serene look of contentedness.
I stood looking at him for a few seconds, unable to help myself. His ivory skin had taken on a glow in the candle light. His alarmingly green eyes glanced up at me. Embarrassed that he's seen me looking at him I hastily gathered up the sodden towels and hurried to take them down to the laundry room.
"Will you get me some breakfast?" Ashley asked as I was closing the door.
I smiled slightly when I realised that this was the first time he's ever asked me to do something rather than instructing me to.
Ashley closed his book as I pushed open the door awkwardly with my hands full with a plate of pancakes and a cup of orange juice. Luckily Abriella had been in the kitchen so I hadn't had to improvise with my poor cooking skills. She'd also let me eat the brownies left over from yesterday ("You is hungry? No?")Before the holly green cover shut completely I managed to catch a glimpse of a lightly drawn picture but from the doorway I couldn't tell what it was.
I handed Ashley his food and without thinking lowered myself onto the edge of his bed, crossing my legs. It was only when he shot me a shocked look that I realised maids didn't generally make themselves at home on the bed of their Master. I jumped off the bed as if I'd been electrocuted but the trace of a smile played on his lips.
"It's okay, you can sit down."
His voice, low and musical caused me to shiver but it had little to do with fear. I sunk cross-legged into the firm mattress as Ashley ate his food. As he chewed his hard jaw line moved entrancingly.
"Can I ask you something?" I asked timidly.
Ashley swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing in his neck, and nodded hesitantly.
"Why are you so much more... merciful than your father?" I struggled to find the word.
"Merciful?" He asked with evident confusion.
"Your father hit me when I glared at him. Yesterday I gave you much more reason to hit me but you didn't. You just told me to go away."
"He hit you?" Ashley asked- his eyes hardening, "I can't say I'm surprised. It's not in my father's nature to act mercifully."
"And it's in yours?"
"More so than his." He told me gravely.
The conversation ended with him taking another mouthful of food. It was true that Ashley seemed much more forgiving than Goliath but I didn't know if I could trust him yet. He was, after all, a vampire. Although I'd had misconceptions of him before and maybe, just maybe, he was more human like than he cared to reveal. He certainly looked much more human than his father, although he was absurdly perfect looking.
June and Abriella seemed astonished when I let slip that I'd managed to have a conversation, admittedly short, with Ashley.
"He let you sit on the bed?" June asked, her hand slipping so that water slipped from the saucepan she was holding.
"He talked to you?" Abriella still didn't seem to be able to get over this fact.
"So what? Vampire boy likes to play with his food before he eats it. Big deal," Joe scowled from the corner of the kitchen, chewing on an apple.
He'd been in a grumpy mood since I'd mentioned casually that Ashley and I had talked. I'd been particularly careful not to reveal any of the details of our conversation, not wanting to let June and Abriella know that Goliath had hit me. Seeming defenceless in a place like this didn't seem too wise.
"Ashley's not going to eat me," I snapped at him.
"Oh, on first name terms now are we? When's the wedding?" Joe taunted.
"What's up with you?" I asked.
"Nothing. I'm sorry Lizzy. I just don't want to see you getting too close with a vampire. It's not safe." He sighed, his voice returning to normal.
"Why isn't it safe? You think he's going to lose control and snap her neck off?" June said sceptically.
"Thanks guys. When you've finished discussing my untimely demise..." I said weakly.
"Sorry Lizzy but this needs to be said. June, Abriella...What do you think happens when we're too old to work here any longer?"
I bit my lip. Joe was voicing the thoughts that I'd had myself. What did happen?
"You mean when we're sixty five and we're forced to retire?" June questioned.
"Sixty five? June, how many old aged pensioners do you see walking around here?"
A look of dread found its way to both June and Abriella's faces.
"The oldest people here are Olive and Mark. Both are nineteen." Joe's voice turned steely and dramatic.
Olive, I assumed, must be my quiet roommate. I hadn't yet spoken to or even seen her; she was always gone before I woke up and never in the room before I fell asleep. Mark was probably one of the boys I'd seen on my first night here.
"So what happens, you think?" Abriella gasped in realisation.
There was a silence that pierced the air around us, broken only by the bubbling of boiling water on the stove and Joe munching his apple.
"I think," I declared to nobody in particular. "That they kill us."
Two audible gasps of shock came from June and Abriella but Joe just continued to eat his apple sombrely.
"Why are you so shocked? They killed my whole village, they killed Joe's school and they probably killed people you know as well."
The looks on June and Abriella's faces told me that I was correct.
"You don't seem shocked by this." Joe stated.
"I came to this conclusion yesterday and assuming by your composed face, you thought of it a long time ago as well."
Joe nodded slowly, his light brown hair flopping around his ears.
"Well, this sucks." June managed to say through her disbelief.
...................................................................................
I started writing this story with no clue as to where it was going to go but I've finally worked out what;s going to happened so stay tuned guys :)
Vote/comment fan PLEASE <3x