My eyes opened to a dark room. I could feel his arms under my head and around my waist. Every inch of me wanted to run out of here, but instead I took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. There was a reason I went in here as only half myself. Harding was correct in his assumptions, but there was no way to prove it because at the time I was who I said. Now, those will all be lies.

Even so, I felt what she felt. When Sarah had called me before, it was easy to set those feelings aside because I would only be me for a few minutes. Now, I was me, and I had every emotion she had developed for this vampire inside me. This wasn’t part of the plan. I was supposed to get close to them, but she fell in love with him. I could feel how strongly she, now I, cared for him. That only made me more nervous. How would he see me now that I was fully intact? Worse what would Harding do with me if he found out?

I could feel him waking up. My twitching to run away must have registered. It was still day out. Vampires may be able to go out in the daylight if they had to, but most of them hated it. It was a fight just to stay awake for many, and those that did were severely limited in what they could accomplish.

His lips brushed my neck. “Can’t sleep?” he breathed onto my skin. The chills that remained were both from lust and fear. Not a combination I ever expected to feel.

“No,” I answered. “There’s too much happening for even pharmaceuticals to fully turn my brain off, but you go back to sleep. It’s still early.”

“I’ll have to ask Harding about a stronger prescription. That one did knock you out for a few hours though. It’ll have to do for right now I guess.” He pulled me closer to him, and I could feel his breathing growing deeper again. “Maybe,” he yawned, “when this is all over we can do this without any of the surrounding turmoil.”

“Yeah maybe.” And after a few more breaths, he was out. I took the opportunity to roll out of his grip. Now would be the perfect time to find out what Harding had planned.

For the most part, the house was a tomb. Nearly everyone was asleep. The Renfields adjusted their schedule to sleep during the day, so they could be at their masters beck and call during the night. Of course, some were awake. Vampires wouldn’t get far without their loyal guard dogs. These Renfields protected the property, and when there wasn’t a ring of fire around the property, ran errands that helped the vampires to live without interference or issue.

From my memory, Harding only had two daytime Renfields that were on full-time duty. Others volunteered their services from time to time. I believe there were at least five humans roaming the property. It wouldn’t be odd for them to see me, but the ones I had become acquainted with knew I was up predominantly at night also. Fortunately, the half me has been having a bad case of insomnia, so my presence shouldn’t stir up any questions.

I had almost made it to the kitchen when I ran into my first Renfield.

“Miss Trembley,” he addressed me with a bow, “is there anything I can do for you?”

“No, Ian, I’m just popping by the kitchen for a snack.” Please shoo.

“Oh, I can whip you up something. I was a line cook in my other life you know.” Did I? Maybe. There were a lot of conversations I needed to go back over.

“Thank you, but I think I just need something to keep my mind busy right now.”

“I get it,” he said with a pained and scared look that acknowledged he really did, “but don’t worry. Master Harding will keep us safe. He cares a lot about the well-being of his household, and that now includes you.”

With that he continued on his way away, and left me to continue to the kitchen. I was hungry, but my real goal for visiting the kitchen was its immediate access to Harding’s office. Not many in the house knew of this secret panel, which opened to a tunnel that fed right into the room. Norman had showed me on our first night in the house. It wasn’t really a surprise considering how many secret rooms Harding had at his other home I’d “visited.” The man wants to be in a mystery novel.

The trick was sneaking through the tight hallway without being discovered. Norman assured me that only a handful of people knew the passageway existed, but that didn’t mean one of them wouldn’t be coming through at any moment. It was a rule that you had to be invited into Harding’s office. Even Norman didn’t go without an invitation or, more realistically, a summons.

I also had to hope Harding was also sound asleep right now. He was an odd one when it came to the sun. It did not seem to affect him like it did the others. Norman could stay awake, but he whenever he did, he was kind of listless and almost seemed drunk. Harding was just Harding in the daytime.

When I came to the end of the tunnel, I placed my ear against the wall. The corridor was probably designed to be soundproof to ensure it stayed a secret, but that doesn’t mean sound couldn’t travel into it. I didn’t hear anything, so I figured now was the only time I was going to get. I pressed the door in the spot Norman had showed me, and it slid over eerily quiet. I crept out of the hall and took in the room. Even with all of my senses, I could appreciate Harding’s taste. It was over-the-top just like him, but imposed a sense of regalness and importance. Also, infuriatingly, just like him.

His massive desk was covered in papers as well as his computer. I sat in the chair and attempted to sign on the PC, but it was password protected. It was times like this I wish I had a pocket clone of Eden. His technical prowess had no limits. Mental note to email him for instructions when I returned to the room.

Harding had left a blueprint of this house and the grounds spread across the desk. He had made a few circles, and I realized a couple of these were the spots we had tested for an exit. I didn’t recognize the others, but I assumed they were also areas where he thought we could make an escape. There was also a printout with an address and the name Verity scribbled underneath it. I tried to memorize it quickly, but my snooping was interrupted by loud footsteps moving in the direction of the office door. The room had little hiding space, and I couldn’t hide from a vampire in this tight of a space anyway. Their sense of smell was ridiculous, which also made me realize I hadn’t showered in the last couple of days. It was also dawning on me that the hall door was still open.

Since hiding and fleeing were not options, my mind decided to go with the dumbest and only plan left. Own the situation.

When Harding opened his office door, I was sitting calmly on the sofa holding his blueprints. His face upon seeing me wasn’t entirely shock or anger. If I wasn’t mistaken, it might have been been mild respect.

“I’ll admit I did expect you to make a move much sooner. You’ve been here nearly a week, and not a hint of subterfuge. I’m impressed at your patience.” He came to sit on the sofa across from me. “So, did you find anything interesting?”

“There’s no subterfuge. I just wanted to know how we’re getting out of this. I can’t sleep, and I can’t stop wondering what’s happening to Aaron. This can’t go on.” He’s always seen right though me, but hopefully, I could continue my innocence as well as altered me.

Harding reached across, took the blueprints from my hands, and slowly began rolling them up. “I don’t really know what you’re up to you sly little minx, but I know it’s something. If I’ve learned anything over my very long life it’s to listen to my gut, and do you want to know what my gut is saying about you?”

“What?” I asked with a sly smile hoping it would seem like another one of our conversations where we attempt to outwit one another.

“Danger. Beware. You’re one giant warning sign flashing in my face.”

“Harding, come on. I know we don’t really like each other, but what do I have to do for you to at least believe me. You don’t even have to trust me. Hell, I don’t trust you, but I don’t think you’re going to kill me anymore.”

“See, you’re wrong on numerous points, pet. I do like you. I find you downright entertaining in fact and would love to keep you around longer. I will also kill you. If I have one inkling of truth that you are out to hurt my family, I will have no apprehension about ending you on the spot.”

~

I spent most of the day watching the flames rage on outside from a reading nook in the library. After Harding’s threat, I thought I should steer clear of him unless I was with Norman. He wasn’t kidding. The murderous look in his eyes was absolutely clear that he was not bluffing.

Unfortunately, this was probably the only modern library that didn’t also house at least one computer. The collection was impressive, but right now, I needed access to help. Reaching out from here probably wasn’t wise, but I needed the spell from Sarah, and I needed to see if Eden could help to access Harding’s personal files.

When darkness settled over the house, orange flickers danced across the room creating a prison ballet on the walls. I was going nowhere. Harding was my jailer here, but Sarah was my warden. She wouldn’t let me escape until the deed was done.

I was so wrapped up in my inner turmoil that I didn’t hear him walk in. Sloppy. I should be on high alert and ready for anything. Norman was able to sneak up right behind me, and I had no idea.

“You look worried,” he said sitting down beside me on the pillowy bench.

“Aren’t you?” I asked indicating the neverending fire going on outside.

“We won’t be here much longer. Harding has sent for reinforcements. The moment the flames start to die we’ll be gone.”

“I thought they were magic and there was no ending them.”

“Even Sarah has to recharge her batteries as it were. She thinks we don’t know anything about magic. For a time, I’ll admit she was right, at least about me, but vampires live long lives. We adapt. That seems to be a failing on her part.”

“What do you mean?” Maybe if I just keep asking questions, we won’t have to turn the conversation back to me.

“Sarah’s been alive as long as me. She could have moved on. Let her grudge go. I would have made amends a thousand fold. She could have taken her revenge out on me, but she chose to hurt those who had nothing to do with it. She’s chosen to have her life revolve around her pain. She’s powerful; you’ve seen that. Could you imagine what she could have accomplished in her 400 plus years? All the good she could have done? But she chose to do this instead.”

He had no idea. That wasn’t Sarah’s story. But I guess what they say about everyone having their own side of the truth was factual. We don’t live each other’s experiences, so we don’t know how it affected them. Even so, it felt like Norman only had the knowledge from their shared experience. He didn’t know what she’d been through since that initial strike. He didn’t know Sarah had actually done just that for a long time. She’d tried to let go. Tried to foget. Some wounds run too deep to stay hidden forever.

Still knowing what I knew, I couldn’t help but to wrap my arms around him and show him some sort of comfort. It was clear his pain and hurt were real as well. I could see his remorse was real. There was even some self hatred, which really explains his subservient nature to Harding. Norman doesn’t believe he deserves forgiveness, and this was how he sought out punishment.

As always, thank you for reading. I hope you are having a magnificent summer.

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