A Story About a Vampire

Chapter 9: Daybreak

Sophia woke up bright and early, excited to spend the day with her new friend. She rushed through her monring routine faster than ever before, then began stuffing her backpack full of books. She'd planned exactly what to bring during her walk home the previous night, Vallentin had a whole lot of books but they all looked ancient; he must be running out of things to read by now. By the time she was done, the weight of her bag threatened to make her overbalance. She managed to avoid falling on her journey back to the castle, despite her brisk pace. This time she decided to knock politely on the brass knocker instead of just kinda walking in like she foolishly did before. In only a few seconds the double doors swung wide, revealing Vallentin standing all the way at the back of the hall. It took Sophia a moment of confusion to remember that being much closer would get him burned by the sun, so she hurried inside and closed the doors behind her. Vallentin raced dwn the stairs to meet her now that the sun was out of the way,"Sophia! You're back so soon!" he beamed. Sophia replied excitedly, "Well it's not like I have other friends to spend my Saturday with. Anyway, not important! I have some things with me today!""Let's get comfy in the roost then, I've already got a pot of tea up there." Vallentin clicked his fingers the two were transported to the plush room of the tallest tower in an instant.The two flopped onto a pair of enormous, soft armchairs opposite eachother. Sophia immediately hauled her heavy bag onto her lap and began rooting through the contents. Vallentin raised a curious eyebrow but simply let the girl do whatever it was she was up to. She triumphantly lifted a stack of 3 thick books toward Vallentin, who squinted to make out the title, "The Lord of the Rings..." he read aloud. Sophia was practically bouncing in her seat at this point, "Yep! I figured you'd probably gotten through at least most of your books by now, so I brought some new ones for you to borrow." Vallentin almost shed a tear as he gently took the books from Sophia's tiny hands "I'd actually finished them all quite a while ago now... you have no idea how much this means to me.""Aww no problem! Once you finish those I've got plenty more you can borrow, but i figured you should read some classics first." She hauled the remaining books out of her bag and placed them on the nearby coffee table with a loud thud. Vallentin had been debating for several seconds whether to hug the young girl, he decided that he absolutely must and squeezed her tightly, "Thank you so much. Now, what shall we do today." Sophia returned his embrace gently, "I was thinking we could just... read and talk or something..." She'd been totally taken aback by just how thankful Vallentin was for this small gesture, but also exceedingly proud of herself. "Well I have some nice new books to read, so that sounds like an incredible idea my friend."And so the two of them talked and read, for so long that they didn't even notice the setting sun. Sophia read a couple of books from Vallentin's collection that he'd recommended, and Vallentin made it just over halfway through the Lord of the Rings trilogy before the two couldn't keep up with a book and a converstion at once."...but how did Bilbo even end up with that ring in the first place?" Vallentin mused. Sophia tapped the book on top of Vallentin's unread stack, "read this one after and you'll find out." Sophia replied, restraining herself from explaining."Then shouldn't I have read that one first?""...Nah it's fine! Just read that one next and you'll get it.""I'm beginning to think you made a mistake, Miss Redgrave.""Trust me! I totally know what I'm talking about!""Fine, if you insi-" Vallentin's expression dropped in an instant as he felt something he hadn't in a very long time. He vaguely heard Sophia's voice through his shock, but not what she said. A presence had appeared, just on the periphery of his sense for the supernatural, the presence of a vampire. A powerful one. Not just that but they were broadcasting their power, as though they wanted to be sensed. When Vallentin once again became aware of the material, Sophia had walked up to him and was looking at him with concern, she seemed to notice his return to lucidity, "Valletin? Are you ok?." Vallntin found himself continually impressed by how calm and comforting she always was when he was distressed. He took a deep breath, "Yes, quite alright. I just felt the presence of a vampire, several miles away, nothing to worry about. They just took me by surprise is all." Sophia smiled softly, and returned to her seat, "Good. If anythings wrong you better tell me!""I'm sure we'll work our way through all the trauma eventually," Vallentin laughed."Only if we can get through mine too!" Sophia teased.The pair chuckled before settling into comfortable silence with their fresh cups of tea. The presence was still sitting uncomfortably at the back of Vallentin's head. There was no way whoever it was would bother with a random castle, Vallentin thought, but he decided to focus back on the presence to put his paranoia at ease. He achieved the opposite. The presence was approaching.