The Terrible Twelve

Chapter 10: The Dancing Dolphin

"It smells like cookies." Viridian had been inspecting the castle for a couple of seconds before this occurred to her.

"You bet you're ass it does."

Viridian whipped her head around at the new voice. Coming down a long hallway was a tall girl with bright orange hair. She stood out from the darkness of the walls. Viridian watched her jump lightly over a sunbeam and then turn to fix the curtain over the window that was letting it in.

"Good morning everyone. I've been baking all night." Sophia Duffy winked at the newcomer. "You must be the new girl. I'm Sophia."

"Whenever I come home, Soph makes sure there's a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies waiting for me." Ian stepped around Rivka and Luca to hug Sophia. "How are you dear?"

"I'm just fine. Introduce me to your new friend." She stepped forward and held out her hand for Viridian to shake.

"I'm Viridian Tyler. It's nice to meet you." Viridian shook Sophia's hand and then stepped back. There was an energy coming from Sophia that she wasn't used to and it was a little bit overwhelming to be around. "They smell delicious, thank you for making them."

"Oh I do it all the time, don't thank me. You must be dead tired." Sophie laughed before continuing, "Let's get you settled and then you can sleep. Ian she'll see you later." Sophia leaped up and before Viridian knew Sophia had her hand in hers and was walking back down the hall.

"Phoenix," Viridian whistled and Phoenix galloped along behind both of them.

The minute that Sophia had seen Viridian she knew that she was going to need a friend. Ian was one thing and would protect her of course but Ian didn't know anything about women's politics and Rivka was going to be one hell of a task to conquer. Sophia knew that Viridian had too much to handle without adding Rivka and Ian wasn't going to be much help. Girls fought much dirtier than boys.

"So," Viridian was at a loss for words. She'd never been much for making friends and this one she hadn't even tried to make. Sophia had just taken her hand without even asking and she was strong too.

"I figured you needed a friend so I volunteered. Besides you're going to need me soon enough and I'm happy to help."

Viridian wasn't sure how but she knew that sooner or later she was going to need Sophia just like she said. "Well thank you very much. Ian said that his coven was kind but I didn't know you'd be this kind."

Sophia laughed, "You mean you didn't think that other vampires would be this kind. It's true there are some of us that aren't the nicest. Don't worry though, everyone here will look out for you without question."

"Really? Everyone would just do that for me without really knowing me?"

"Of course. We're all extremely loyal to Ian. Anything that he protects we also protect. That's how loyalty works." Sophia smiled as she continued to drag her along the hallway.

"So where are you taking me?" Viridian was still unsure about what was going to happen.

"To choose you're new room of course. Obviously Ian's intentions are real but you're not going to be sleeping with him anytime soon because you're a smart girl and therefore you need your own room until that time comes."

"How did you . . .?" Viridian hadn't said anything and while she assumed that they would assume the relationship between her and Ian she didn't think it would happen so quickly.