Chapter 25: Suitors- Part 1

Willing her hammering heart Katherine was about to reply when the carriage suddenly jolted forward and stopped with a thud sound, resulting in her falling on the Valerian Lord.

“Are you alright?” Alexander asked helping her sit up and she nodded.

He opened the carriage door and stepped out of it, “What’s wrong Brooke?”

“Apologies my Lord but the wheel has broken down due to the uneven road. I will need to put a new one to replace it,” Katie heard the coachman speak worriedly in a hushed tone.

“How long is it going to take to be back on the road?”

“Half an hour, Sir.”

“Katherine, what do you think about a stroll in the woods?” Alexander offered his hand standing in front of the carriage door for her to take. Though he had asked her the question as a choice his actions spoke otherwise.

It was midnight and the forest surrounding them looked dark except for the moonlight that peeked through the dense trees.

Meekly she placed her cold hand in his warm ones and the contact made her skin tingle like she was sitting in front of the crackling fire in the cold night. Once she had stepped on the ground he let her hand go and she was quick to retrace it to her side.

They walked side by side enjoying the quiet solitary night. Katie crossed her arms, rubbing the sides of her arm softly as the cold whiff of air that blew across.

Alexander noticed the goosebumps that had formed over Katie’s skin and took out his coat, “Wear this, it should protect you from wind,” he said draping it over her.

“Thank you, My lord.”

“So did you enjoy the play displayed today in the theater?” Alexander asked her casually.

“It was wonderful thank you for inviting me along,” she thanked him bowing her head, “How about you Lord Alexander?” she asked him curious about his interests.

“I normally don’t like the theaters because of the melodramatic, loud voices but this one was…interesting,” he replied.

“I see,” she looked at the lush green leaves that rustled in the midair above them.

She wondered where they were, maybe not far away from the Valerian Empire as they had traveled some distance. She heard an owl hoot and instinctively she turned to find the source but there was no sight of it.

“How is your work in the mansion? I hope Martin hasn’t been giving you a hard time,” he said bending down to pick the stick that was on the ground.

“Of course not,” Katie smiled thinking about the good old man, “He’s been generous with me when compared to the other maids.”

Martin was the mansions butler come caretaker and he supervised the servants around to make sure the work was done without anyone slacking around. He was as old as Daisy and had served Alexander’s family for decades.

“I often receive complaints that he’s too strict though I’m glad to hear you’ve adjusted to the work environment,” he said picking two more sticks from the ground.

“Do you collect sticks, My lord?” Katie asked looking at his hands.

“Why? Do you find it odd a vampire collecting sticks Ms. Welcher?” He asked looking at her. A small smile tugged his lips and turned to a grin in the dark.

“No no,” She panicked feeling she had offended his interest, “It’s just that I haven’t come across anyone who liked to collect sticks.”

“Sticks like these are handy,” he murmured and then spoke.

“I have news from Mr Tanner, had some insights on the massacre that took place weeks ago in your town. It seems young girls and boys have gone missing in other nearby towns and they suspect it to be a dark witches doing. Did you ever find anything or anyone strange in your town before?”

“I don’t think so,” she replied trying to remember people she knew.

“The council has sent a search party to see if they could find the whereabouts of the dark witches,” he said furrowing his brows as he turned in the direction they had come from, “They are trying their best to find the missing people but I don’t want to put your hopes because we don’t know if they are still alive.”

“I understand,” she replied holding the coat tightly around her. She could only hope to see her cousin Ralph alive again.

“So what do you do with your free time,” he asked changing the topic.

“I, well, I read books to pass my time,” she responded, “Ralph had begun to teach me how to fight but those were basics. Just in case I fell into trouble,” she shrugged her shoulders.

Before she could speak more they heard a wolf howl from a far distance. And then there was a second howl but this sounded less of a wolf. Like something sinister in the air.

“We need to leave. Now,” Alexander said taking hold of the young girl’s hand and walking back with quick and fast steps.

“What was that?”

Katie hadn’t noticed it in the beginning but it looked like the air was foggier than when they had entered the woods.

“I think we have unwanted company,” he said scanning his eyes for anything with movement.

Before they could walk any further a half vampire came to attack them and Alexander effortlessly jagged the creature’s neck with the sticks he had previously picked. The half vampire paralyzed fell with a dull thump on the ground.

Unlike the pure, completely turned vampires the half vampires were corpse like when it came to appearance. They were the dead vampires who had no control over their own mind.

Katie stood there shocked to see a half vampire lying on the ground. The wolf howled again, this time scaring her to death.

“Come.”

Alexander had been dubious when their carriage had stopped due to their wheel on the uneven road. Even though this was the very route they had used which was previously smooth.

He pulled Katie along with him towards the road to see the coachman turning the bolts around the wheel as he hummed a country song, “Twinkly night with stars aha and down we go ahaaha,” seeing his Lord and the lady, the coachman spoke, “My Lord, the carriage will be ready in ten mi-“.

“We don’t have time to fix the carriage Brooke. We have half vampires here,” the Valerian Lord said pulling the carriage door and bending forward to pull out the gun he usually carried with him.

“What do we do Sir?” the coachman asked him with a bewildered look on his face.

“We don’t know how many are there so it’s better to leave the place quickly now,” the Valerian Lord pointed the gun in a direction and pulled the trigger. The gunshot resonated around them and Katie heard something fall on the ground, “Please free both the horses and use one for yourself,” he ordered, the coachman and Katie began untying the horses as Alexander secured their location.

Once the horses were free, both Alexander and the coachman mounted on their horses. Alexander gave his hand to Katie and she held it to sit behind him, “Hold on tight,” he said.

The mist turned thinner and Katie saw two of the half-vampires standing behind the tree looking at them as they sped past them.

The next day Katie was exhausted. She hardly got any sleep and she had woken up early.

She was cleaning the attic when she found a board covered with cloth. When she went to dust it, behind the cloth was a beautiful painting of a cobbler surrounded by shoes. She was about to run her fingers over it when someone interrupted her.

“Curious thing, aren’t you. What are you doing here?” she heard someone from behind.

“Martin asked me to clean the attic,” she said stepping away from the painting.

“Did he now,” he said and sat down on the cube like stone. Katie continued her work wondering what he was doing here.

“Lord Alexander,” she called out his name when she found another painting, “Why are these paintings in the attic?” she asked him. It was a shame that they weren’t out in the limelight.

When she turned around he wasn’t in the room anymore.

She noticed how he didn’t heed to any maids or spoke to them directly unless it was important but as she wasn’t a maid she didn’t receive the cold shoulder. One minute he would be there and then he would be gone. As Elliot invited Katie during their leisure time, Katie had become accustomed with the Lord of Valeria and even more fond of him. They spoke about their interests and disinterests like friends.

On one particular night, Katie laid down on her bed in her night gown. She pulled the blanket close to her.

She could still hear the gunshot resonate in her head loud and clear. Even though she couldn’t see the half-vampires, the Lord of Valerian had shot them without missing, just on the mark. He truly was a pure blooded vampire to have such reflex and precision.

She closed her eyes to sleep but the images kept haunting her thoughts and the howling wind that came through the window did nothing to calm her. She was awoken by the eerie whistle of the wind that came from the open window. Closing the windows, she locked it firmly.

In the shadows, every object in the room scared her now, like the presence of demonic monsters. Frightened she took her pillow with her and stepped out of the room, wanting to go Sylvia’s room. She was too scared to sleep alone.

As she turned towards the stairs she saw a creature with four legs stand in the dark and it let out a growl. Quickly taking a turn she headed back inside her room. After some time she came out again and peeked slowly to see the creature move. Without thinking she passed her room and opened the next door that was carved.