Avenge Me

Avenge Me - Chapter 11

- Avenge Me -

Chapter 11

As I walked towards the faded doors of the mansion, the moon shone down reflecting off the pools of water on the sidewalks. I stopped to look up and admire its beauty. It was one of the only things that had never changed in the world. But no matter how wonderful it was— it was nothing compared to the light cast down by the sun. I briefly wished for the days when I was a human girl and could feel the warmth of the rays on my skin. But after thinking about it for a while, I dismissed the thought. I wouldn’t trade this life for the feel of warmth. And it was pointless to even consider it.

            Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, I pushed open the doors. It was about 10 o’clock, so everyone would be up, or out hunting. When I stepped inside and secured the door behind me, I looked up to see Scarlet perched on the back of a couch waiting for me. What did she want?

            “Hmm… Celina. What were you doing out so early?” she asked, raising her eyebrow.

            “Just needed to get out of here for a while. To think,” I say, avoiding telling her about the cemetery.

            “I’m sure. Come on, I’ll show you my room.” I look at her skeptically. Is this her way of trying to evade the prying ears of the other vampires in the mansion? Or is she really trying to show me her room? Either way, I follow her up two flights of stairs and down the hall until we reached a simple white door. She pushed it open and led me inside. Just as I was about to ask her why she brought me up here, she held a finger to her lips, signally for me not to talk.

            “So, Celina, like my room?” She asks, while walking to a small stereo system on her desk. She turned it on and the music came blaring out.

            “Yeah, lovely,” I answer without glancing at my surroundings. Scarlet turned up the volume a bit more until it was loud enough to block out our conversation from any other vampire still in the building. She sent me a genuine smile, and gestured for me to sit down somewhere. I sat in one of the comfy looking been-bag chairs lying around Scarlet’s room.

            Once I sat down, I took the time to examine her room. It’s walls were bright white, and the accents around the room – the three been-bags and the comforters on her bed, and lampshades that provided warm light – were all bloody red. Gold designs littered the fabrics, swirling in intricate patterns. The French windows beside her bed were open and led out to a small balcony, like the ones in my own room. The stars twinkled from the dark sky in a way that was magical, providing enough light to cast small shadows. I glanced back to Scarlet, to see her watching me through squinted eyes, like she was trying to figure something out.

            “Celina. Talk to me,” she said, almost pleadingly. “I know about Emil, Celina. Best friends, remember?”

            I stared at her blankly for a moment, before the meaning of her words sunk in. She knew about Emil?

            “If you know about him, what do you want me to say?” I asked, my voice sounding hollow even to my own ears. If she knew, who else did? I was so stupid, here I was, thinking I had covered my mistakes, and someone had found out. I could be killed, because one person had learned this dark secret.

            Scarlet’s voice brought me out of the depressing thoughts buzzing through my mind.

            “I know that he was your lover. I know that you weren’t supposed to be with him. I know that he’s the reason you left. I know nothing else, and we’re best friends. Don’t best friends spill their guts to each other? Aren’t you supposed to gush the details to me and we spend hours deciphering the different meanings of every move and every word he said to you? Isn’t that how it works?”