Fangs | mlm

Chapter 4 - The abandoned mansion

      A hope for escape had been almost lost, when William stopped the van on the roadside instead of doing so at a petrol station. Trevor had had it all figured out. There was a considerable chance that William wouldn't remember or care to lock the vehicle door. The keys from his pocket might have been enough to loosen the thin rope around his legs, or he would slide the shoes to make more space. Either way, once freed, he could try sneaking out of the van and running towards the station. William was quick, he could catch him in the blink of an eye, but even that might not be enough to prevent Trevor from appearing on the security cameras, whose range should cover at least most of the station.

      Later police officers would examine the footage and have Trevor's actual trace to continue the search, if there was someone ever looking for him in the first place. The plan was great, of course not without a few shortcomings, but it could've worked in the end.

      Yet then, in the middle of nowhere, William had to stop, take out the fuel canister from the back of the van, and pour the liquid into the vehicle. Trevor could simply watch his plan fall apart.

      The constant tied position started to bother Trevor, since he hadn't sat in a different position for two days. On the other hand, William appeared to be rather fresh as if driving had become his new source of pleasure. Despite their contrast, they both seemed to agree that they'd like the journey to finally end.

      'We're almost there,' William said at last.

      'Can you at least tell me where?' He rolled his eyes in annoyance. He'd surely cross his arms, if he could.

      'It wouldn't be a surprise, if I told you,' he gave him a smile before looking back at the road. Immediately, there was the music to fill the silence.

      Trevor thought in reaction, Of course, why wouldn't he?

When the two arrived at the expected place, the sun had already risen in company of the orange glow. The building that could be seen from a distance was nowhere near being called spectacular. If William had to be honest, he'd say it was more of a ruin, which did not resemble its impressive character from the past in the slightest. With the tufts of ivy climbing up the external walls and the numerous broken windows, it looked like an abandoned mansion.

      Trevor couldn't help wondering what was the man's reason that he had brought them here. After parking the van on the enormous, round driveway, William got out of it and jumped straight into the mud, his boots sinking into it on the instant. It must have been raining lately, since water was dripping from most surfaces—Trevor just hoped that the ceiling wouldn't collapse on their heads because of the moisture.

      The brunet laughed at William, who tried to circle the vehicle without getting his shoe stuck in the mud—the vampire's face was painted with disgust. After succeeding, William opened the door on the opposite side and used just his hand to get rid of the rope around Trevor's feet as if it was nothing more than a wrapping on a Christmas present. Then, to Trevor's relief, his hands were also freed.

      'Is that this surprise you wanted to show me?' Trevor said while getting out of the car. It was the first time he was standing on his feet in a while. He, therefore, felt tingling in his legs, so a pair of swaying steps were needed to get back in shape.

      'Well, it gets worse each decade. I have to admit that,' William said, looking at the cracked facade. 'I wish you knew the place in its glorious times.' He took on a sad expression.

      'It had ever had its glorious times?' he teased.

      It made William chuckle. 'It had.'

      There was no luggage to be transported into the building, so after closing the van, the two went inside. Firstly, they found themselves in an antechamber, grand, with two staircases on either side. Then in the living room, which had an open-plan design—however, it probably wasn't the original intention, since it was due to the fact that the most walls simply collapsed. There was an old-fashioned sofa in the middle. As various books lay around the floor, the bookshelves stayed empty.

      'How do you know the place anyway?' Trevor asked, while looking around the interior with preoccupied expression.

      'I grew up here,' he said, causing Trevor's face to grimace in surprise. 'It once belonged to my parents, now it's mine.'

      'You didn't care about it much, did you?'

      'Well, I couldn't really just stay here and take care of the mansion for more than two centuries. After all, I outlived children of my initial staff,' he said, wandering around the room. 'I wouldn't have gone for long without being noticed, don't you think?'

      'How old are you then?' Trevor asked at last.

      William turned around to face the man at once. While the pair of blue eyes were gazing at Trevor, the rest of William's face smiled in glee as if this question was long awaited. He stood in the sunlight, sunbeams making his unblemished skin sparkle. A chilly breeze was blowing in off the door that led to the gardens; it, on the other hand, made the locks of his hair swing back and forth.

      'I was born around the time Jane Austen started working on Pride and Prejudice, if it clears things up for you,' he said after a while.

      Trevor was fortunate he had learned about the author in school. He frowned and said, 'It's impossible. You'd be—'

      'About two centuries old?' William cut in. 'Yes, that's right.'

      Trevor's jaw almost dropped as his heart started beating faster. He was ready to accept the fact that his fellow escaper was a vampire, but the realisation that he was also extremely old was a bit too much to handle. He supposed William must have been older than at least three generations of his family combined. The man had seen more than a limited time of a human life let you.

      'Hope it's not haunted,' Trevor said after he eventually accepted the truth.

      The two of them had already moved to the first floor—one of the stairs had almost collapsed under Trevor's mass during the way there. While Trevor was examining the ceiling, William made his way towards the old-fashioned cradle in the same room.

      'Don't be a fool, ghosts don't exist.'

      'Said the two-hundred-years-old vampire,' he pointed out.

      'Can you stop telling me that I'm old?' he asked, turning around to Trevor, his hand on a white plank of the cradle.

      'And where's please?' he teased further.

      'It's weird you'd like to get one so deeply.'

—

i'm so excited for this since one of my favourite parts of the story is about to began. and I hope you're enjoying it so far