The Eyes Of 'Rah

Visiting The Pawn

Pondering over the strange dream she had few days ago, Seraphine couldn't help but keep going to the scene where it happened in reality. The last time she dreamt about someone being in danger was when she dreamt about her father, she had long forgotten about the strange dreams which usually come to reality until now.

Taking a fresh book to write down how it happened and important information, she recalled finding herself along the road not far from the town, where she saw a wolf being attacked, she didn't understand what happened afterwards, how the assailants dropped dead after writhing in pain for some minutes. Before she could go near the wounded wolf, another set of people had surrounded her, the last thing she remembered before jolting awake was a blinding pain she felt behind her back.

It was quite strange that unlike the dream she had years back where she would strangely find where it happened without any difficulty, she had to search for days before she could find the location of this one, with the help of Felicity, they had traced the place to the path which led to the Argonark Woods, using the trees she saw in her dream as a guide.

She had spotted the exact location along the road while Felicity was adamant about not going further into the woods, insisting she wasn't going to be the next play thing of the inhabitants of the woods. Seraphine was grateful she accompanied her after promising to tell her everything later, knowing her dear friend would never pass up the opportunity to hear an interesting story nor gossip.

The soft clink of the bell which announced the arrival of a customer brought her back to the present. Seraphine looked at the neatly dressed man who seemed out of place in the shop. He looked quite different from the type of people who usually come look for the old man among other creatures.

The face he made as his eyes roamed around the shop could either mean he had never stepped into their shop before or had never been in any at all.

Like all other creatures who always come empty handed to show they are not here for the service the shop renders, Seraphine cleared her throat to call the attention of the grinning man to her.

"Excuse me, are you looking for something or someone?" Seraphine asked politely when he faced her over the counter.

Stephen looked at the pretty human in a dark spectacle, "you must be the attendant" raising his right hand up , expecting her to kiss the back of his hand, "I'm Stephen Orsini, one of the owners of the new factory in town"

Obviously not impressed by his attitude and further irritated by mentioning his relationship between him and the factory, there's no way this man is expecting me to kiss his hand, is there? She had heard countless stories about how arrogant and snobbish the vampires are, most especially the pure blood but she had never had an encounter with any until now.

The old man was always just about on time to attend to the ones that visit him which made her had lesser interaction with them, if any. Seraphine glared behind her spectacle as she spoke, "I would advise you come back when the owner is around to pawn your ring, I have no idea of its worth"

Stephen was lost for words, "did you think I was here to pawn my ring?" He looked at the expensive ruby with the inscription of their family name designed around it on his pinky finger, one of the trends nowadays was wearing a family crested ring on the pinky finger.

"Pardon me, I thought you came to the Pawn to do that, since you specifically showed me your ring, I thought you wanted to pawn it." Sounding apologetic even though she wasn't because her voice pitch had gone lower, which happens whenever she wasn't being insincere.

"Do you think someone like me would ever come here to pawn something?" Stephen gestured at his attire, annoyed that a mere human assumed he could stoop so low as to come to a pawn shop to transact business.

"I'm sorry if I may have offended you" having the common sense not to offend a vampire who could make her his meal if she wasn't careful and seeing the unpleasant look growing on his face, he could pounce on her anytime with no one to intercede. Seraphine lowered her head as she bowed.

"I won't take it as an offence, not before I finished what I'm here for" dismissing her action with the wave of his hands, "I'm here to take a look around your shop, since I've never been in one before, isn't that amazing?"

Seraphine tried her best to mask her surprise, "look around?" She repeated. Does he think this place is a museum?

"Oh yes, I would like you to answer few questions and allow me see some things that have been pawned" grinning, he stopped midway to his exploration, not even waiting for her consent, "don't worry, you'll be highly compensated for your service. In fact, I'll make sure I finish on time so you can have the money for yourself without the owner's knowledge. You could use the money for a new cloth" he winked, looking down on her worn out pinafore.

Did he just insult her? She scoffed mentally.

The pencil she was holding snapped in two, knowing she had to hold in her frustration, she scowled at the arrogant vampire who grinned, he seemed to be enjoying her discomfort.

As Stephen looked around the shop, asking one question after another, ranging from how they knew the worth of things to pawn to asking what happened to unclaimed items, Seraphine dragged her feet on the ground, passing a message of being tired. She wondered why the old man was not yet back from his strolled. In between attending to customers under the watchful gaze of the annoying vampire and answering his questions, she was tired, coupled with the fact that she hadn't been able to complete the  analysis of her dreams nor close the account for the day, she felt cranky already.

"Sir, if you don't mind, I would suggest you come tomorrow for the rest of your exploration" which I hope not, " or I could recommend a book in the library that would answer the rest of your questions. We're closed for the day and it's late"

With a tone of finality, Stephen threw her a dirty look, "quiet girl, I'm still feasting my eyes. You're not closed just yet and I'll be the one to decide if it's late or not"

Taken aback by his words, Seraphine wished Mr. Pawn was around, he knew how to relate with other creatures than she did. Staring at the back of the vampire, how dare he come to their shop, insult her, look down on her and still get to be the one to decide when to close their business for the day?

Caring less about his social status, Seraphine squared her shoulder and stood her ground, "sir, I would repeat myself one more time, kindly take your leave and come back tomorrow" she calmly spoke.

The next thing she knew, she was being slammed against the wall, pain resonated at the back of her head which met the cold hard wall. "How dare you ask me to leave when I'm not ready?"

The fingers around her neck tightened even more as her legs dangled violently in the air, feeling out of breath with her eyes closed, she gripped his hand to let go of her neck which wasn't budging, continuously tapping his fingers to release her.

Seraphine heard a cold voice from the door which chilled her spine. She thought she was going to see her father soon when the wretched vampire gripped her neck even more.

"Let go of her, Stephen" Xavier spoke calmly.