Part 2. The Vampire’s Maid

Here is the text with meaningless numbers and the recommendation section removed, preserving all the original novel’s text:

The car journey stretched out in uncomfortable silence. It went against my natural instincts to tear my eyes away from Goliath but I couldn’t continue to stare into his milky, grey irises instead I allowed my eyes to flit around the car’s luxurious interior. I did not take time to admire the black leather seats or retractable roof. I was searching desperately for an escape route. The door was simply too far away to reach and Goliath was staring at me too intently for me to attempt to edge towards it.

There was only one other man in the car. He sat in the driver’s seat and his capped head remained still. The only parts of his body that moved were his hands. He frequently turned the steering wheel left and right and although the windows were blacked out I assumed that we were travelling along a winding road.

“There’s no point trying to escape,” Goliath’s slimy voice whispered in my ear.

I jumped in alarm at his close proximity. He’d moved at a seemingly impossible speed to sit beside me rather than opposite.

“Who are you?” I blurted out incredulously, unable to hold the question in.

“I have already told you that Elizabeth. Perhaps your memory has been affected by the shock.”

He placed his rough hand on my shoulder as if he was playing the role of a concerned father. I tense at his touch and glared at the seat which he had previously occupied, imagining that he was still sitting in it.

“I meant what are you?” I corrected myself, putting emphasis on the ‘what’.

Since the moment eleven of them had so carelessly slaughtered my village I’d been arriving at the conclusion that they couldn’t be human. It was a ridiculous, verging on impossible, idea but there was simply no other explanation.

Goliath chortled. His laugh was cold and hard like his skin.

“She wishes to know what we are, Dane.” He sounded amused at the idea.

I turned quickly to the person – or non human- that Goliath had addressed. The figure at the steering wheel turned his head to face me and I stifled a gasp. I thought that Goliath’s skin was as pale as it was possible to be but Dane’s flesh was so translucent that blue and red veins were visible beneath it. These veins were clustered more densely around his deep haunted eye sockets. His skin was plastered so closely to his skull that he looked barely alive. How could he still be living? As I stared at him his mouth spread into a wide grin and his face contorted until it resembled a Halloween mask. I realised that the wheezing sound coming from his throat was laughter.

“You will find out what we are in good time, I assure you.” Goliath spoke once more and the grin had faded swiftly from his face.

He had virtually admitted that they weren’t human and I didn’t need any more proof than Dane’s face. My thoughts were chasing each other around in terrifying loops.

Eventually the sound of gravel beneath the car’s tyres roused me from my disturbing day dreams. Dread sunk in my stomach as I thought of what lay ahead. Dane cut the engine and the sudden quiet was broken by the doors opening from the outside.

“Out.” Goliath ordered.

Reluctantly, I clambered clumsily from the car and was greeted by a chill that hung heavily in the winter air. The man who had opened the door for us was clearly human as was obvious from the light tan on his face. However, even he looked pale in the dark night. He was dressed in a white shirt and black waistcoat and the stern look on his face matched his smart attire. His blue eyes widened when he saw me and he let a flicker of emotion cross his face. Very quickly he brought his right hand to his mouth and touched the tip of his incisor tooth. I blinked as Goliath’s presence appeared behind me and the young man’s face was once again a blank, serious mask. The man tipped his head respectfully at Goliath.

My gaze swept past the man and fell on the grand house which the white, gravelled driveway led to. I couldn’t compare it to anything but a castle. The shadow of ivy crept up the stone walls and the doorway was large and wooden, only lacking a drawbridge. There were twenty four windows and a wild, untamed forest stretched in every direction. I noted everything that could help me to escape. I wasn’t planning on remaining in the imposing building as a maid to a… non human.

“Move.” Goliath directed me.

I walked ahead of him towards the arched doorway and stood there apprehensively. The purring of an engine told me that Dane had started the engine once more. Its headlights were the only pinpricks of light in the dark night. He proceeded to drive it around the right-hand side of the building and its engine hummed long after it was out of sight. Goliath pushed open the door and I swivelled my head from the spot where the car had disappeared.

The hallway was darkly decorated and instead of electricity it was lit by candles and lanterns hanging on the walls. Mahogany was everywhere; the grandly curving staircase, the furniture and even the panelled walls were all constructed of the dark wood. The floor was carpeted in a deep red and the musty, unlived smell of a library hung in the air. My eyes were drawn to the portraits hanging neatly on the walks in dark, polished frames. Each showed a pale face with a plaque of writing beneath. I didn’t have to examine them closely to know that they showed Goliath’s relatives. I wondered vaguely if one of the paintings showed Ashley, the boy whom I was to serve.

“Come. It is late tonight and I will take you to your sleeping quarters. Tomorrow you will begin work- Dane will give you instructions.” Goliath told me without glancing in my direction.

The prospect of Dane briefing me on my work was not appealing. I glared sourly at Goliath’s back as he strolled up the wide staircase. Although he hadn’t said anything nasty, the tone he used when speaking to me made me cautious as I half expected him to turn around and push me down the stairs.

“Cease staring at my back in that manner!” He snapped suddenly.

“I’m not staring at your back in any manner!” I exclaimed innocently, wondering how on earth he could have seen the look I’d been giving him.

It happened so quickly that I was defenceless. Goliath pivoted on the stair above me and slapped me hard on my cheek. The sharp sound of contact hung between us in the air and too stunned to react I merely stood there.

“How dare you lie to me, you ungrateful girl!” He snarled, his face contorted with rage.

His jaw was clenched and he looked less human than ever. I was unable to respond because I was paralysed with fear.

“You will sleep in the attic with the other workers. Now go!” His voice had not lost any of its harshness.

I nodded once and scurried up the stairs, knowing the fear was obvious on my face. The house was even larger on the inside. I ran up two staircases, pausing on each floor to examine my surroundings for any means of escape. The house was al decorated in the same moody colours. The windows appeared to be locked but the security was otherwise fairly lax. I fingered the metal in my pocket and withdrew it. Tears stung in my eyes as I realised what it was. The brooch I was holding had been my Grandma’s favourite piece of jewellery- an intricate white lily was on the front. Forcing myself to think logically, I wondered if it was strong enough to force a lock.

On the third floor a wooden ladder stretched up to a trapdoor. I pushed it open tentatively and seeing that the small room was empty I clambered through the hole. The quiet noises of everyday life were buzzing up here and it was only then that I realised how unnaturally still and quiet the rest of the house had been. The floor wasn’t carpeted and the walls were devoid of decoration but it was more homely than the other rooms I’d seen. A multicoloured rug fell over the trapdoor as I closed it again. Three doors led off from the small room and I pushed the one on the right open at a guess.

Four men – humans- were lounging on the plain beds in various forms of undress. The walls were a stark white so the only spots of colour in the room were the men whom all seemed to be in their late teens. The man who had opened the car door for me was on the bed nearest to me. He wore the smart, black trousers he’d been wearing earlier and no top. He smiled at me, the first comforting face I’d seen since leaving my Grandma.

“Hi there new girl. The girls sleep in the room on the left.”

His voice was kind and unexpected. The grin did not fade from his face and I wondered how he could seem carefree working in a place like this.

“I’m not leaving until I get some answers.” I told him stubbornly.

“Wow- a girl who knows what she wants.” He grinned and I almost smiled. Almost. “What do you want to know?”

“Well firstly how the hell are you so happy? This place, the people, are monstrous! Goliath ordered his friends to ‘dispose of’ my village!”

“Would you rather be in a crap situation and smile or, as you are demonstrating so admirably, be in a crap situation and pout. I figure that if you are forced to work for a family of blood-sucking, merciless monsters you should make the most of it.” He said in an offhand manner.

“Blood-sucking merciless monsters?” I repeated in a weak voice.

“Okay, perhaps I was a bit harsh. The Sancruours aren’t that bad as far as vampires go.”

“Vampires?” I squeaked in a voice I didn’t recognise as my own.

The man looked confused, then guilty. Finally he muttered “Oh.”

“Oh? All you can say is ‘Oh’?” My voice heightened further in pitch.

“You… you didn’t know? I thought you’d get my ‘these people are vampires’ clue.” He continued as though he hadn’t told me something impossible and shocking.

“WHAT clue?” I asked, incredulous, hoping it was a bizarre joke.

“I touched my incisor tooth! Ah, you probably thought I’d forgotten to floss or something, right?”

“Bu- But this is impossible! Vampires don’t exist. How can they exist?” I said in a panicked voice.

“Evolution, my dear friend. We will explain everything tomorrow but I really need my beauty sleep,” He said, flickering his eyelashes in an impression of a girl.

I stared at him agape. I’d figured that he wasn’t human but never had I expected this.

“My name’s Joe, by the way.” He told me. “Are you going to bed?”

“You can’t expect me to go to sleep! This house is full of vampires!”

I was furious that he was trying to shepherd me to bed like a child.

“They’re not going to attack you in your sleep,” Joe said as one of the other men laughed at my panic. “What did you say your name was?”

“Elizabeth.”

“Well, Elizabeth. The best thing you can do is sleep.” Joe said, extinguishing the candles so I was plunged into darkness.

“Hmph,” I muttered at his rudeness.

“Goodnight to you too,” Joe’s voice came and although I couldn’t see his face I’d bet anything he was grinning.

I felt my way blindly to the door and into the small room. Finally I felt my hand close around a door knob and pushed the door open. Three sleeping figures were illuminated by the dim light of one candle which had obviously been kept alight for my benefit. The empty bed near the door was already made up with a white night gown that didn’t belong in the twenty first century folded on top. I pulled off my clothes which were sticky with nervous sweat and dropped them on the floor, knowing Dane or Goliath would probably confiscate them in the morning. I pulled on the nightdress and fumbled about in my jacket pocket. When I found the lily brooch I put it securely under my pillow and settled in the uncomfortable, springy bed. I blew the candle out and lay back in the darkness. Only then did I let the tears come until I cried so hard that the bed shook in my grief. Gasping, I tried to calm myself numerous times only to be overcome with another hysterical set of tears. Sometime later I must have fallen asleep.