The question stuck in Charlotte's mind for the next two weeks. So did the look in his eyes as he decided to give into her wants. One personal question each history lesson was a little lackluster, but if she asked the right questions, she might be able to get more out of him. The idea of being able to talk with him about it had her anxiously awaiting the day that he would inform his servants it was her turn to supply blood.When at last the day came, she found herself anticipating his visit all afternoon. Charlotte could hardly keep herself still long enough to concentrate on doing anything. Every hour that ticked by seemed to last longer than she remembered them ever being. Different scenarios ran through her mind as to which way this could go and how Lord Hunt might respond to the question she had for him. As the hour slowly rolled around to ten o'clock, her anxiousness turned into excitement. She wanted to see him. So much so that when the knock finally came on her bedroom door,
Charlotte could hardly believe the words that came out of her mouth. She pleaded with Lord Hunt not to leave as he indicated that he should. The want to have him stay left her with a mix of feelings. It was true that she wanted to know about him and thus get to know him better. Already, he had indicated he found her to be interesting and although he had not elaborated on what he meant by that too much, it was enough that he treated her differently than the others. That much she had figured out. Up until this point, she had figured the cause of that was because he wanted to see how far he could push her. While Charlotte still believed that on some level, there was something different in the words he spoke to her just before he chose to take a bite out of her shoulder. She now began to wonder if he wasn't intrigued by her in the same way she was by him. The desire to get to know her better being there, there was still something stopping him from doing it. His bites leaving her with t
After shutting the door and dismissing Shayla's concern, Charlotte quietly crossed the room back over to the bed. She had no idea what the best way to wake a resting vampire might be. They were creatures of the night and to her understanding, Lord Hunt only ever came out in the afternoon to assign tasks and then he disappeared for the rest of the day. Waking at such an hour could only be difficult, she imagined, for someone who lived during the night hours. She wasn't sure what the others might do if he didn't show up as he usually did. Would they go looking for him? As far as she knew, it sounded like there hadn't been a time where he didn't show up. So, that left it up to her to ensure that he was awakened and made it to their usual meeting place. While she approached the bedside, it occurred to her that she didn't really know how hard of a sleeper he was. He hadn't stirred when she got up nor did he wake when the knock had come to the door. Again, she reminded herself how import
Lord Hunt's gardens were much larger than she had originally imagined. The only section of them she had seen was the pathway from the castle and the center fountain. Beyond that, there was so much more. Just past the fountain were rows of rose bushes that were all kept perfectly pruned and healthy. Every bloom, carefully taken care of. Then, there were a handful of other pathways that branched out from the fountain which led to different sections of the gardens. As it turned out, the castle gardens sat at the center of the castle grounds, in an enclosed courtyard of its own. Every section housed a different type of flower variation and each section was separated off by a wall of rose bushes. It was incredible that someone had gone to such great and careful detail to construct such a place. Any flower lover would be in absolute paradise to take a long walk through arrays of different vibrant colors and aromas. All of which supported a combination of creeping plants which trailed down
Luckily, Charlotte made it to the kitchen with time to spare before it was time to serve everyone. She found Shayla busy with making the final preparations for the night's dinner. The savory smells of the food she had readied for everyone were heavy in the warm, stone kitchen as Charlotte entered. It almost had her forgetting why she had come there as the smells suddenly reminded her how much of an appetite her hard work really caused. A glance from Shayla while she worked quickly had her snapping out of her daydreaming and moving over to stand closer to the counter that Shayla was working at. She didn't want to get in her way, knowing that she was busy moving around the kitchen and checking on everything. But she couldn't just ignore what had been on her mind all day. That was exactly what it was that Shayla caught sight of when Charlotte answered the door to her earlier that afternoon. "Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes," Shayla said automatically, as though she had b
The next afternoon, Charlotte arrived late to the meeting in the entrance hall. She could hardly sleep in the new room that Lord Hunt gave her. It was on the opposite side of the castle and a little closer to his own personal room. It was identical to the last one that she had, except that the color variation of the room was a little different than the last. Not that she minded, she just felt bad that he had to do away with an entire room of decor and furniture for her sake. Even worse, he had promised to replace her entire wardrobe since most of her clothes had been ruined.The other servants were unusually quiet while they waited for Lord Hunt to appear for their daily assignments. The only one who didn't seem uncertain about what had happened the night before was Samuel. He stood a little in front of where Charlotte was huddled near the back of the group, looking smug as ever. She wished there was a way she could prove he had been the one to target her. But she wasn't sure what goo
Charlotte stayed in her room for the remainder of the day after her outburst. She didn't even emerge for dinner time. She was incredibly frustrated with Lord Hunt and had no idea what to think of the whole ordeal. Everything had taken a turn that she hadn't expected. While she was grateful to have more of an opportunity to get to know Lord Hunt this way, she also wasn't sure about his motives. There was some interest on both ends, but no clear stance on how deep it went or if it would go any further than it already had. It only added to the confusion she felt that he would go and abruptly dismiss all the other servants. That just didn't make sense to Charlotte. She understood finding out who had been behind destroying her room and ruining her things, but to cut all twelve of the others seemed a bit drastic. There must be something serious going on in Lord Hunt's mind. Something that she hadn't been able to understand. Thinking it over, part of her wanted to believe that he had done
The knock on Charlotte's bedroom door the next morning came as a surprise. She knew that Lord Hunt did not wake in the early hours.. It didn't make much sense then for someone to be knocking at her door. Charlotte knew that they were the only ones present in the castle now since he had dismissed everyone else. She almost rolled over to go back to sleep until the knock persisted. Unable to ignore it, she finally got herself out of bed and moved to open the door. Pulling it open, she was surprised to find a middle-aged woman standing on the other side. She was dressed in a plain gray dress, her graying hair tied back into a low ponytail. The woman didn't seem at all bothered by Charlotte's shock to see her, she merely smiled at her and gave her a short bow. "Good morning, I will be your maid. Breakfast will be ready soon My Lady," she said, and then after the short introduction, moved past her to begin her work. Speechless, Charlotte watched as the woman went around the room, tidyi
The next afternoon, around noon, all of the castle staff was asked to wait in the entrance hall. The request had been made by Rodrick early that morning, after speaking briefly with a maid that stopped by the room to check on him. Just like it started, Rodrick approached the staircase right around the time he requested to find the hall packed. At the moment, he stood alone on the staircase, figuring it would be more impactful this way. Especially since the staff wasn't the only company he requested that afternoon. Vincent was pulled from the room he chose to occupy for the night and asked to stand in on the announcement as well. The other vampire stood near the bottom of the left staircase and looked less than amused to be there. At least, he could say that Vincent didn't give him any trouble when he was the last to arrive among the staff that afternoon. It really did seem like he was trying to bury the hatchet so to speak. Rodrick wasn't going to ask what Serina's ghost said to hi
Those spoken words were all she needed to pick right back up where she left off. After flashing him a quick smile in return, Charlotte found herself locked back into his embrace. Their lips meeting more passionately and tenderly than they had ever done before. She imagined that if it were still possible, it might have been enough to take her breath away. It wasn't a feeling she was missing out on though because she had become so aware of everything else around her. The touch of his skin under her palms while she smoothed her hands up his chest no longer seemed chilling to her. It felt just like her own and now she was able to fully enjoy every curve of the muscles he hid beneath his clothes. His alabaster skin was so perfectly flawless and carefully chiseled. It didn't stop with the touch of her fingertips. Charlotte eventually moved her eager kisses down to explore his body. Every touch sent her senses wild. It went beyond the tingling she used to feel from his touch. She was so a
Charlotte woke up confused. The last thing she remembered was having a knife pressed to her throat. Shortly after that, everything got foggy, both literally and figuratively. Her memory faded once Rimidal's fog settled in. There were glimpses that she saw in her mind where she thought she saw Lord Hunt there beside her and holding her in his arms. Everything after that went completely black. She had no idea when they arrived back to Willow Creek or for how long she was out. That wasn't the strangest part for her though. It was when she came to her senses in Lord Hunt's bed. Her clothes were different and the way they felt on her body was different. Now dressed in a deep red satin nightgown that only came to her thighs, the smooth material felt cool against her skin. That was not the only thing she noticed that felt odd, it was the sounds. From somewhere nearby, she could have sworn she heard her name being said even though Lord Hunt was the only other person in the room. Then the
When they arrived back in Willow Creek, dawn was just on the horizon. There was no life in Charlotte's body anymore. It was just shortly after they started their long drive, that Rodrick felt the last of her faint breath. If she didn't come back from this as a vampire, then he would have lost her. For the time being, Rodrick was remaining composed while he clung to the glimmer of hope that he had done enough to complete the change. While he was certain he gave her enough of his blood and venom to start the change, he wasn't at all sure if he was too late in giving it to her. All there was left to do now was wait to see if she would rise again in twenty four hours. A painful wait to know if he had lost someone he only just accepted his love for. Rodrick wasn't sure if he could go through another loss like that again. Vincent trailed into his castle behind him while Rodrick moved as swiftly as he could to carry Charlotte up to his room. The castle staff that caught sight of him ascen
The sounds of Charlotte's shallow breathing and the scent of blood were near. Rodrick was certain that he was getting closer to her. He just needed her to hang on long enough for him to reach her. Before he could get to her, however, another shadow appeared in the fog. This one was of Rimidal himself. His glowing eyes cut through the dense cover. Rodrick could barely make out his features, his form appeared so dark as though he were merely a shadow of himself. "This is your last chance, Rodrick," Rimidal's voice echoed through the fog. "I will not allow another, if you wish for closure with your lost love." Rodrick stared at the shadowy form of his master. He knew that this was a test of life or death. In this case, the life that would be lost would be Charlotte's instead of his own. Why Rimidal chose to take her life and not his, he wasn't sure. Rodrick knew that if he allowed himself to get lost in the fog with the ghost of his past, Charlotte would die. Time was running out for
Rodrick's eyes moved from where Charlotte was standing with Beatrice, over to Rimidal. "What do you want me to do?" he asked. "No, don't! He'll kill you!" Charlotte choked out, tears streaming down her face. "Quiet now, I don't want to hurt you," Beatrice said to her. Despite her words, she didn't move the blade away from her throat at all. Rimidal smiled at him, his eyes only seemed to take on a glow. The lights in the chandelier above flickered then, as though a breeze had somehow touched the flames inside the lamps. Then, without explanation, they started to go out one by one until the room was completely black. There was a collective reaction from everyone else in the room. A clamor of confusion at the sudden darkness, unsure of what had caused it. Just as quickly as the lights snuffed out, they all lit up at once again, this time their flames were a low, flickering blue. It gave the entire room an eerie glow. To make matters worse, once the flames relit, Rimidal had vanish
It took them a little over an hour to walk up the steep, winding path through the cliff until they reached the large front doors to the castle. Once they arrived, they stopped together to take it in. For Rodrick, being back at this place was a strike of nostalgia to before things had taken a dark turn. In a time before he had even set foot into Willow Creek, he spent a lot of his life at this castle. It had even served as an inspiration when he designed his own in Willow Creek. Ever since Serina passed away, the relationship he had with Rimidal deteriorated. Rodrick effectively cut everyone out of his life and isolated himself inside his own castle. He knew that everyone that was in touch with Rimidal likely knew what happened to him and why he had suddenly stopped coming around. It felt a little bittersweet on that note, to be here like this. With the possibility that his once close friend and master might be attempting to end his life tonight. There was no going back now. Rodrick
By sunset the next night, Rodrick was already out of his bed and carefully pulling a shirt over his shoulders. His stab wounds were still present and they had his body sore with too much movement. The hit he took to the head when he went through the wall had left a visible gash just at the top of his hairline. These were minor things, he told himself. He could not afford to wait around to heal at this point. There was no telling what Rimidal might subject Charlotte to if she was left in that castle for too long. Just as he was finishing readying himself for the night, the doors to his bedroom suddenly flew open. At no surprise, the culprit behind the jarring interruption was Vincent. Of course he looked like he was already prepared. Unlike Rodrick, all signs of their fight the last time he was there had healed. Another fact that came to no surprise for Rodrick, he hadn't been the one that pulled a knife. "For someone so determined to get his lover back, you're moving awfully slow,"
"Lord Hunt, I have heard of him," the redhead said. "My Lord mentioned him a few times. About how shameful it was to watch great Lords fall stagnant." Charlotte's smile faltered to her words. Another truth that Beatrice told. Everyone who belonged to Rimidal knew about Lord Hunt and how time stopped for him. She wondered if Lord Hunt realized how well known his story was. At least that chunk of it without the details. Maybe he didn't care if they knew or not. It sounded like all that mattered to him was staying in his continuous time loop. Until Charlotte stepped into his life to disrupt it. "Yes, he's only just started to recover," Charlotte answered quietly. Before their conversation could carry on anymore, the wooden doors to the room were suddenly thrown open. The echoing sound had Charlotte jump and turn towards the door. The other six just gathered together and watched as Rimidal led two people into the room with him. He brought them over to one of the lounge areas and invi