06: Inhaled Too Much

Roaming around the castle after feeling bored inside her bedroom, the silence around might be deafening but not to Natasha. It somewhat calms her but something she felt missing around the walls of the castle.

"Colors...maybe..." she muttered to herself as she looked over a certain space where a grand piano was located. It made her smile.

"Shall we give it a try? Well, nobody is stopping me...let's play some." Natasha went to the grand piano at the center of the space.

Letting her fingertips touch them, Natasha started recalling faint memories of her childhood when she used to play instruments at their old house. She plays and sings the song called I Will Be Here which was sung by Steven Curtis Chapman.

"Tomorrow morning if you wake up,

And the sun does not appear

I, I will be here..." She started singing the song while playing the piano which also started to spread out through the entire castle without her realizing it. The space was entertainment gatherings that would echo throughout the entire castle if the door was not closed.

"If in the dark we lose sight of love,

Hold my hand, and have no fear

Cause I, I will be here..." she continued performing to her heart's content since it's been a while. She misses it a lot.

"I will be here when you feel like being quiet

When you need to speak your mind,

I will listen and

I will be here when the laughter turns to cryin'

Through the winning, losing and tryin'

We'll be together 'cause I will be here..." she sang but halted as she placed her hand over her chest, trying to control the contraction that she was feeling there - more on controlling the emotions that she was feeling.

"I didn't know that you can play piano." A sudden voice from Sandy caught her off guard and almost jumped from her spot.

"JESUS!" Natasha exclaimed since she didn't manage to sense Sandy behind her already.

"Sorry, but I'm not Him." Sandy chuckled.

"I know, Sandy. But sorry that I've roamed around out of boredom and I found this room. That's why I played a little."

"Don't worry about it. The master was the only one who played the piano and it was a very long time ago since he touched it. Can you play some more or do you want me to accompany you to look around the castle?" Sandy shrugged her shoulders as she sat beside her.

"No need. I just need a library or where's Dr. Ross's office or maybe the kitchen?" Natasha politely declined and asked for something that she was really looking for around the castle. Sandy chuckled.

"Obviously, you're bored. But about the library and kitchen, you have to talk with the master. So can you still play or meet the Master since he also requested for you?" Sandy sadly informed her about two spots in the castle that needed Morbius's permission.

"Well, I need books and some time to cook so, I better meet him now than later." Natasha thought for a moment and decided. Sandy shakes her head while smiling.

"Okay, let's head to his chamber...but Nat, let me tell you that once Master said no, it definitely means no. so, please, obey that." She responded and warned as they started leaving the room and went on walking.

"But not to me." She coldly said when she began smelling something. It was a faint scent but it was a refreshing scent like an aftershave but bloody.

"Smelled familiar." Natasha thought.

"Nat, please, don't put yourself in danger." Natasha snapped from her thoughts when she heard a pleading tone from Sandy.

"Why is that?" she curiously asked.

"Well, something bad happened before I came here. I am not sure what it was exactly, but it lost the colors of the castle when a lady died. It affected everyone and nobody dared to utter any word about it." Sandy sadly informed Natasha about what she only knew about.

"Was it about the master of this castle?" she wondered and Sandy confirmed it by nodding at her.

"I see...can you tell me about what you can say about your master? base on how you know him." Natasha was slowly trying to mend the pieces of about their master. 

"Well, Master Morbius Draven was really a cold vampire. He doesn't speak much unless he's having a discussion with someone. He rarely comes out from his chamber and from what I've heard around, his kindness fades, and becomes a ruthless vampire whenever his temper gets the best out of him." Natasha took note of it inside her mind as she listened to how Sandy described him.

"Did he hurt anyone?" she wondered. Sandy thinks for a moment before answering what she only knew about.

"Well, aside from torturing or killing invaders or traitors around the land, he never hurt anyone who was innocent." Natasha nodded as she heard Sandy's answer.

"So he had temperament issues like me." She secretly smirked to herself but Sandy heard it.

"Curious about our Master?" Sandy sounded amused when she asked Natasha.

"Indeed I am. But I won't force it." Natasha nodded but her smirk quickly turned cold.

"Oh, speaking of it, you have to go to his chamber before he does bad things." But Sandy recalled something and started to get worried for Natasha's well-being.

"Ohh...now I am excited to meet it." She might not have had a very accurate expression when she mentioned being excited - she was totally cold and expressionless.

"Nat," Sandy warned her since Natasha was the only night creature that she felt that she could be honest with. She doesn't want her to be put in danger.

"Don't worry...I won't provoke him unless he does it to me." Natasha grinned causing Sandy to shiver before shaking her head in disbelief.

"Why I've got the feeling you two will be like a cat and dog around each other?" Sandy sighed in disbelief at what she could see between her master and Natasha soon when they got comfortable with each other.

"Don't expect too much, it might disappoint you later." Natasha winked at her causing Sandy to roll her eyes.

"I am not." Sandy defended as she spoke easily with Natasha as if they were old friends.

"HAHAHAHA! Lead the way, my lady." She laughed a little before politely letting Sandy lead the way where Morbius's chamber was.

But as they were heading back to the west wing where most of the bedrooms were located, Natasha recalled something that she wanted to ask ever since she met Sandy.

"Sandy, tell me. You're a vampire but why do you care about me?" she might be sounding cold but there was a hint of care and curiosity in them.

"Well, I stopped aging at age 25. My mate is the driver bodyguard of the Master." Sandy smiled as she answered.

"I see...our age was not far...but when did he turn you?" Natasha nodded in understanding and wondered when she exactly stopped aging.

"Last year, that's why some of the vampires here still baby me." Sandy sighed in annoyance causing Natasha's guard to lower down a bit around her. She sensed something familiar vibe around Sandy's presence and it was the presence of a long gone best friend.

"Well, they were all aged ahead of you that's why. You better suck it up." She teasingly told her causing Sandy to elbow her side lightly.

"I know. How about you, any lovers in the human dwellings?" Sandy chuckled before changing the topic.

"I went on a couple of dates here and there but you know nothing beats the mate bond of supernatural creatures. It's a curse and a blessing as well." Natasha just shrugged her shoulders as if she didn't care much about it before.

"But did you find it?" Sandy curiously asked.

"No...not until recently." She sadly sighed but she kept hoping that she won't be rejected by her own mate.

"Is it a human or?" Natasha slightly chuckled over the curious tone as Sandy asked her.

"Vampire...but I am not sure if he feels the same thing." She sadly responded making Sandy wonder.

"Why?" she asked her.

"I don't know but maybe something happened in the past that really left an unhealed heart." She sighed sadly as she didn't want to lose hope that she and her mate would be one soon.

"Ohh...I hope whoever was it will choose to heal for you." Sandy positively encouraged Natasha while patting her shoulder in a friendly manner.

Natasha liked what she was hearing from Sandy. She was indeed genuine in her words and the way she spoke to her was something reminding her about her deceased wolf best friend.

"Don't ask why I said that. You are something, Natasha...I feel like you'll bring the sun to this house soon. I just hope you won't leave before it even happens." Sandy continued making Natasha curious about being compared to a sun. Sandy chuckled when she saw the confused reaction from Natasha's face.

"I mean, you bright things up around here like putting colors or happiness...well, that's my gut feeling when they brought you here last night." Sandy smiled genuinely making Natasha slightly blush over the compliment that she received from a vampire lady.

She nodded when passed a glass room where the two kids she had seen earlier played on their own. She stopped in her tracks and watched the kids have their world causing Sandy to check on her.

"The twins." Sandy saw what she was looking at.

"I can tell they weren't vampires." Natasha sternly watches the kids behind the closed glass room - the playpen of the kids.

"Well, I can't share their story with you for now but if ever you encounter them, be prepared to be pranked." Sandy gave her some heads-up that she might encounter.

"Oh, they were naughty kids?" Natasha smiled causing Sandy to gasp because her smile was very gentle.

"T-they are but we understand them. Anyway, their playpen is just right beside your bedroom and that end corner was the master's chamber...and you know that I can't go any near it." Sandy stuttered a little before she changed the topic and pointed to Natasha in the right direction of their master's chamber.

"Seems like it." Natasha teasingly chuckled. Sandy glared.

"Good luck. I'll be in your room since I have to change your bedsheets." Sandy wished her luck in dealing with their master.

"I can do that myself." She said but Sandy shook her head disapprovingly.

"Let me do my job and maybe went you meet the master, he'll appoint you in some castle work or maybe watch over the twins." She smiled and winked as she gave a joking idea that Natasha liked.

"Right, I kinda like that idea." she agreed to her suggestion.

"Whatever, just walk straight through the hall and knock twice before you enter his chamber." Sandy waved it off and ushered her in the direction which Natasha needed to head to.

Upon entering Morbius's chamber after two knocks, Natasha was very welcomed warmly by the annoyance of a chaotic room. 

“What a mess…” Natasha commented that she was not that messy in her own apartment back at the human dwellings.

She moved around carefully so as not to add more mess around the area. But the more she got further into the room, a scent started invading her nose. At first, it was a pleasing scent since the scent was her mate’s scent and lured her to inhale more. But later, she started pinching the bridge of her nose as it annoyed her, and it was getting harder for her to breathe.

"Dammit...his scent…I inhaled...too much..." Natasha groaned as she started feeling weak and went to any nearest window within her reach since she really needed air she’d collapse.

She was about to open it but she can’t. She was losing her strength as the scent was overwhelming her already. It was endearing her life that caused her annoyance to grow more. Natasha growled and sent her fist to punch the window. But instead of glass crashing, a painful groan echoed to Natasha’s hearing.

“Seriously, how many times you can punch my face in one day so, I can prepare myself for it?” Morbius sighed as he was easing the side of his face that Natasha had accidentally punched.