Her eyelids parted that morning - much to her disdain - and Arabella met, beside her, an empty bed which from the look of the rumpled sheets, would have once contained her master. The smile she had woken up with dissolved from her face as she slowly brought herself to sit up straight. She stretched her hand to feel the warmth of the empty space, and she could tell from how warm it was that he had only just rose up. She heaved a sigh and plastered her back against the headboard, her shoulders collapsed as turned her eyes towards the bathroom door. The sound of running water that came from the door gave his presence in the bathroom away. Arabella knew that she had no right to be mad at him for waking up and stepping interested the shower without her, there was no reason for her to be sad about the fact that he would step out and want her nowhere near his bed - as was their normal routine - yet she was. She did not want him to come out of the bathroom and ask her to leave. No. To h
While in his room, she continued to pace about. The sound of the small heels of her shoe against his marble tiles were beginning to irritate her, so she threw them off her feet and allowed the sole of her feet kiss the cold tiles. She could not stay put, not with the way he had looked at her. There was something going on downstairs, and the fact that he had asked her to come up and hide proved it. But what? What was happening? He had sent her up here, it could only mean that she was not supposed to witness whatever was going on. But her heart was racing at a million miles per hour while pounding against her chest with force, her whole body was shaking so badly, she could barely find time to breathe. Hell! She would be dead if she didn't see for herself and satisfy her curiosity. It did not help that she was aware, for a fact, that her master would only lie to her or keep vital parts of the reason he had asked her to hide away from her. She had to see everything for herself. To
Arabella's heart continued to pound in her chest as she ran up the stairs. She cursed herself for her stupidity and her foolishness. There had been a lot of signs, a lot of warning signs and red flags. Yet, somehow she had managed to blind herself to them all. And even when she was warned by her uncle, she thought him foolish! Whereas, all this while, SHE was the foolish one! Still, a part of her did not want to believe it. She needed to desperately tell herself it was a dream she would soon wake up from, a dream she could ignore. But it wasn't. It was as real as could get. The thing she had sworn did not exist in real life was right in front of her, and she had been screwing it for a long time. It felt weird to address her master as a thing, but he definitely wasn't human! She ran into the first room she found and flung herself inside, banging the door behind her. She did not realize it was her master's office until her eyes kissed the ever familiar draperies. It infuriated he
She worked through the plates with thorough concentration. Arabella refused to think. There was nothing to think about besides the horrible truth she had discovered very recently. She could not bring herself to look at him.How could she bring herself to reconcile all she had heard with the man she used to know. And to think that he might have been responsible for her desire for him. To think that he might have manipulated her emotions and turned her into his personal sex puppet.She shook her head to keep the foul thoughts away. It was safer that way, as she was driving closer to the edge of insanity. So, she thought it best to pour her heart into the meal she was making. She flipped the chicken in the pan and allowed herself to savor the aroma. Food had always been powerful enough to distract her thoughts. Arabella smiled to herself as she thought about all the times all the times she had cooked as a child whenever she was unhappy.It was funny to think that cooking had come to
Arabella did not speak to anyone until evening. She was overly fixed on minding her business, which was a very good idea now that she had almost no one to talk to anymore. Her master was no longer speaking to her - not that she was interested in speaking to him either. And Markus Dane did not return to the kitchen after he had left. Her confession and confrontation must have done a number on her.She did not want to think about it, but the betrayal still stung like fresh wound - terrible and pale fresh wound. Being lied to in the face was not exactly Arabella's hobby, but her master had kept away something very important. She did not know if she could ever trust him again. Arabella was not sure if she would ever allow herself trust him again.She went about her chores in silence and ended with cleaning the living room. She was bent over one of the sofas in a bid to push dust off the throw pillows, when she heard footsteps slowly approach the door of the of the living room.Arabella d
Fire. Brimstone. And noise. A whole lot of noise. They were gathered in the dark room, all heads hidden underneath dark hoods of their equally dark cloaks. The room reeked of the smell of burnt meat from the sacrifice they had offered, as was the custom before every general meeting began. The room was built in the middle of circular walls that threatened to scrape the night sky. The hundreds of dimly lit candles stationed all over the walls did almost nothing to illuminate the room, but demons were not beings of light. They were the very epitome of darkness. Somewhere on the table of the high twelve sat Klaus. He folded his hands on his thighs and stayed silent, even as the elders around him continued to speak their minds concerning whatever matter they believed was urgent enough to lure him out of his house. Klaus Lavon did not want to be there, not at all. He wished he could be anywhere else, perhaps at home, nursing the wounds of his broken heart with alcohol and more dreams o
The next morning, after struggling to get her much needed sleep, she continued with her regular chores - thanking the heavens she did not need to clean his room - and took her bath, before she settled to have breakfast.She set the table for two, since the meal was as simple as tea and sandwiches. Though a part of her knew and believed that her master would not show up that morning. He had not come to the dining since they had their argument, and it was better for her. She did not need to see him, not when she was not yet over all that had happened. Arabella raised her cup of tea to her lips and sipped the tea, the slurping sound gave her comfort, and she was loving every bit of the comfort it provided. She leaned back into her chair and closed her eyes, but was immediately distracted by the sound of footsteps approaching the dining. Her eyes flew open, but she kept her gaze on the table. She would hate to see him at the time she was least prepared to do so, she thought to herself.
Arabella did not see or speak with her master again after that morning. He seemed to have headed to her pleas, and given her the space she needed, which was good. But a part of her wished he had been a tad bit stubborn. Of a truth, she was confused. She wished they could return back to normal, but everything was still a shock to her. Arabella was not sure she could fully trust him, and she had never been a fan of lying to herself. Or at least, that was what she thought. For the rest of that day, she went about her activities in silence and solitude, allowing nothing but the sound of the ticking clock accompany her. Her solitude continued the next morning.Mrs George had not been around in a while, so she had to take up both the cleaning and cooking chores. She was busy dusting the books on the sturdy shelves in the grand library, and humming her favorite childhood rhyme when she heard a knock on the door. Arabella turned her head slowly to find her master stationed at the door