ＰＡＳＴ

𝔖𝔞𝔣𝔢

A house is built, but a home is formed.

Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882 - 1927)

The wood under our feet creaked from the additional unaccustomed weight.

"Your room is on the left, Melina," my aunt said behind me as we slowly climbed the narrow staircase with the two heavy suitcases in our hands.

Grey-brown parquet flooring soon replaced the light-coloured carpet of the hallway as soon as I opened the white wooden door of my bedroom and complemented the greyish colours of the surrounding walls. I carefully pulled the suitcase over the threshold and pushed it close to the large closet on the right-hand side of the room. The other suitcase immediately followed, and I placed the travel bag on the white bed bench.

"Your bathroom is directly opposite," my aunt explained, opening the door on the right-hand side of the stairs. A small white-tiled bathroom with a built-in shower, washbasin, and toilet appeared, offering plenty of storage space for towels, washing utensils, and other necessities.

I nodded understandingly and turned back to my bedroom.

Next to the wide double bed was a long bench filled with cushions, which, together with the built-in windows above it, took up a large section of the remaining wall. Curious, I stepped closer and dared to take a quick look at the green forest landscape that stretched out before my eyes in the distance.

"Do you like it?" my aunt snapped me out of my thoughtful silence, and I nodded with a smile before walking towards the balcony door opposite my bed. The platform detached itself narrowly from the wall of the house and allowed a view of the neighbouring property and part of the traffic road passing by.

"It's more than generous. Thank you," I replied and stepped back into the room, my gaze catching the three acrylic screens scattered around it. Their bold, colourful hues stood out against the greyish tones of the walls and the monochromatic furniture, accentuating them with additional colour.

The most striking of these was the image of the Palazzo dei Priori on Saint Marcus' Day, which hung large and imposing above my new desk. Blood-red flags and bunting fluttered on the stone walls and hung from the windows or between the individual battlements. Small groups of people in various red cloaks stood together in the square in front of the building, their faces hidden mainly by their hoods.

"A wonderful job." my aunt snapped me out of the picture's focus, the contents of which still seemed to hover menacingly above me despite its distance of several thousand kilometres.

I slightly tightened my mouth and shook my head.

"I should unpack," I dodged the question and returned to the picture. My grey-blue eyes immediately saw the two suitcases.

"All right. I'll try to reach your grandparents in the meantime," she said approvingly. She glanced at her wristwatch before stepping back into the hallway and her study with one last smile in my direction.

🙨

I carefully hung two bath towels I had brought near the shower when I heard loud voices from my aunt's adjoining study.

"Mamma...Mamma...please calm down." I heard her say anxiously, her voice uneasy and restless.

"I still think a wild animal is very unlikely...".

My hand slipped off the edge of the sink at the words "wild animal" while my heartbeats seemed to double. The images of my recently arrived vision flashed before my inner eye, so I crept out of the bathroom and along the wall into the hallway with tense, stiff steps. The open gap in the study door revealed a tall bookshelf reaching the ceiling. Health books, medical encyclopaedias and books on human anatomy and physiology filled the shelves en masse.

My aunt sat with her back to the door. A wide desk covered the entire front of the window, lavishly covered with files and papers piled on either side of the computer.

"In the end...the most important thing is that no one was hurt...especially Melina," she said, the back of the chair shaking and creaking under her movements as she began to turn in my direction. I quickly retreated into the hallway when the first footsteps sounded, and the office door slammed shut before my eyes.

My back leaned against the corridor wall as I touched my forehead.

A small sigh escaped me.

If my vision were accurate, Volterra would be a hot cauldron of rumours and speculation about the unusual break-in in my room for the next few hours and days.

Rumours that the vampires would not ignore or tolerate.

Although the dialogue between Demetri and his "master" was still very present and worrisome, I couldn't stop a slight surge of happiness from spreading through my body.

An imminent reunion with the vampires and, above all, Demetri was therefore ruled out for the time being and moved into the distant future, as did my visionary transformation into an immortal.

A small wave of calm suddenly poured over my body and washed through it and my mind, allowing the mental and physical stresses of the last few weeks to partially and slowly fall away from me. A small smile flitted across my lips as I slipped back into the bathroom and began to put the rest of my toiletries away in the cupboards and drawers.

The twitch around my lips continued.

"Is there a special reason for your smile, love?".

I looked up and met my aunt's warm eyes.

Her shoulder leaned against the bathroom frame, and her posture and voice radiated no stress or unease, as evident earlier in her conversation with my grandmother.

Smiling, I shook my head.

"I'm just happy to be here," I said honestly. My answer was partly directed at the vampires living in Volterra but also linked to the extended reunion with my aunt. My aunt's brown eyes sparkled before she walked towards me and embraced me. The floral scent of her perfume immediately enveloped me as her hands ran gently over my back.

"I'm happy you're here too, little one," she whispered close to my ear, and her embrace tightened lovingly.