Dinners and strangers.

CAMILA

*^*

"I'd like to make a point..." I started, few mintues after sitting for dinner.

After freshening up and sorting myself out, I came down for dinner. sitting opposite King who still haven't spared me an ounce of attention.

"Mr. king, I have a few things to lay off about this contract." I said again, this time grabbing his attention as he paused halfway into sticking a piece of beef into his mouth.

King raised his head to speak for this first time tonight. "I never thought of you as the type to not acknowledge table manners, Miss Frost." He finished and resumed eating.

I rolled my eyes innerly. "Thank you for whatever that means, I just want to clear some thick air here concerning the contract-"

"If you're so eager to begin working, I assure you I wouldn't mind. But I've had a tiring day, and I need rest." He paused, bringing his gaze into mine. "You need rest too, you have alot to do tomorrow, Camila."

I frowned, he wasn't helping at all. I needed to know what and how the contracts works. And since I've checked, I haven't seen any painting of any women, I thought he did this everytime?

"I just need you to explain more about the contract. The only thing I know right now is that you paint me and I get paid. Don't you think i deserve to know more?" I asked, already feeling agitated.

King dropped his fork immediately and brought his gaze to me. "I am a man of little words, but since you so want to hear from me badly, I'll gift you with what you want to hear." His words were filled with daggers, stabbing every confidence I had.

"Your job is to be at alert anytime I need to paint. Be it morning, day or night, always around. you can do whatsoever you want to do around the house, but you don't leave. you don't interact with anybody outside these walls."

Well, I could deal with that.

I nodded, bringing my gaze away from his face unto my half eaten plate. I heard movement from his end and a few moments later, he was gone.

I sighed, trying so hard not to ponder on how miserable my life was slowly becoming. First, I had my abusive boyfriend and boss to deal with. Now, I'm with a man I barely know contract-wise.

The door bell rang and my gaze went back to the door. Uncertainty of opening or calling King ran through me. Just when I stood to get the door, Claire dashed from a corner and rushed towards it.

"Oh, I got it beautiful!" Her voice almost came out as a scream as she dashed through the dining table towards the door.

My eyes stayed on her when the door opened to reveal a man and a girl. The guy looked about King’s age and the girl was like a teen from her appearance. She had sharp purple hair, a skimpy fit and she was chewing loudly that I found it annoying. As for the guy, he was scratching on his brown rough hair and he was on a business suit.

“Hello Mr. Beards, so good to see you and Miss Beards again!” Claire greeted with a smile which only The man returned.

Mr. Beard spoke right after he handed his suitcase to her. “Well, I told you I’d be back sooner than expected.”

“Where’s King?” The girl sharply asked, cutting the guy off.

“He just had dinner, he’s upstairs.” Claire replied shutting the door and moving towards the stairs with the suitcase with the girl swiftly behind her.

I almost seemed invisible at the moment, and I somehow liked it. I didn’t know this people and I didn’t want any attention on me. They were almost at the third step when the girl noticed my still frame and pierced her eyes on me In disgust.

“Uhm… Claire, who’s this?” She asked, her eyes not leaving mine.

“Miss Beards, that’s Camila, she’s with Master King.”

“Ugh, they never seem to stop coming!.” She sneered and began walking again.

My eyes went back to Mr. Beards and I caught him staring right at me with his hands on his pant. I gulped, not knowing if I should say anything or just stare too.

“The new girl?” He suddenly asked and I nodded. “I see.” He said and started moving towards me slowly. When he got to where to sat, he picked up a piece of meat from my plate, popped it in his mouth and moved his face towards my ear. “You know what people call me? The flesh eater. I eat flesh and I drink blood.” He finished and when he saw how still my face was, he began laughing.

I nodded, clearing my throat and grabbing a glass of water, knowing absolutely no reason why this strange man was laughing at this moment or if what he said was true.

“Well, you’re such a kill joy.” He pouted.

“Why do you say so?” I asked, dropping the glass of water.

“I didn’t get the reaction I wanted from you.”

“Oh, you want me to scream at the top of my voice and start pouring holy water on you for being a vampire?” I asked and gave a cranky laugh at the end.

“Well, the scream would have been enough though. I’m Leonard anyway.” He said and extended his right hand to me.

“Camila,”

“Camila? You look like no Camila.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Infact, you look like a Kate, Katie or anything of that sort.”

Funny thing was, nobody really cared about my name so I wouldn’t care less if my name was Shitty.

“Well, you can call me whatever you seem fit. I’ve never been a name person.” I gave another cranky laugh at the end. I was pretty sure my expression was that of an idiot at the moment.

“Very well then,” he said popping another of my meal in his mouth. “I’ll call you Kate.”

***

The rest of the night was spent in my room. For most of the time, I felt movements around my door but I wasn’t courageous enough to check.

For all I know, this man wants a contract with me. He wouldn’t share a tiny bit of information about himself and for a minute, I was regretting my quick decision. But I was all for the money and freedom, but that wouldn’t make me comfortable around these people.

From the look of things, there were other girls before me, God only knows if any negative things happened with them, I could only pray for safety till my contract ended.

I was already feeling too tensed from not being able to sleep that I decided to get some treats from the kitchen.

I moved from my bed and pierced my eyes on the table clock. 3: 55, it read. I stood from the bed, quietly making my way towards the door.

The door creaked a bit when I opened it. I tiptoed towards the kitchen downstairs, praying so hard nobody would be up by this time to catch me.

It was dark around, the only thing saving me was my sharp senses and memory. The light from the moon through the window directed me to the fridge. I opened it, searching for what to have. My eyes stopped on a box of cookies and I grabbed it.

I hadn’t even closed the fridge when the light flickered open and I felt movements behind me.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” A voice i so badly didn’t want to meet tonight spoke with a sinister smile on the face.

Fuck.

One thing I knew right now, was that I was really looking like a thief.

Fuck.