Vampire Residence

VIII

Later, hours later, the house was now mostly quiet.

Sybil, Dorothea, and Jarosława were all upstairs, all presumably in their rooms. Their doors were shut, the only sound coming from the walls of the house were the dull thumps of footsteps and faint voices.

Eleanor sat in the living room alone, a book in her hands. She was only half-reading it, though- she was distracted, waiting for Daci to come back from her "secret mission".

Soon, she heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. Soft, quick footsteps echoed against the walls until they stopped at the bottom.

A few moments later, the door to the living room creaked open, and Daci appeared, standing at the entrance of the room.

Upon seeing her, Eleanor's head perked up, and she turned around in her seat. "Are you done?"

Her tone was skeptical, but there was excitement in the way her expression lifted at the sight of her.

"Yes, yes, I am done."

Daci's smile was almost sly as Garrett came in behind her with a closed garment bag.

"You are ready to see, yes?"

Eleanor closed her book, setting it down on the arm of the sofa.

In response, she simply nodded, her expression expectant.

Daci's small smile remained as she walked further into the room, walking around the sofa to stand directly in front of her.

"Close your eyes," she instructed, her voice soft.

Eleanor raised an eyebrow in slight questioning.

But, she obediently did as told, closing her eyes with only a slight bit of hesitation.

"No peeking," Daci warned, though there was a hint of amusement in her voice.

Garrett handed over the hanging garment bag, standing back with an amused smile growing on his lips.

"I'm not peeking," Eleanor replied. Her eyes were still shut, and her hands were placed firmly in her lap. "Are you going to tell me what this is, yet?"

Instead of an answer, she felt Daci gently tug on her hands, pulling her up from the sofa.

"Stand up, stand up. You will see it in a minute. Just do not open your eyes yet."

"It is a surprise," Daci repeated, gently placing the garment bag into her lap. "You are not to open your eyes until I say so, yes?"

"Right, right. Surprise. How could I forget?"

She sat with a little bit of impatience, though she did her best to keep still in her spot. "Okay, I'm holding still. What next?"

"Next? You keep your eyes closed."

Carefully, and oh-so-gently, Daci unzipped the garment bag and reached inside. The movement of cloth was silent, the fabric brushing together with a few soft rustles.

The motion of fabric was the only sound in the room until Garrett let out a scoff.

"I swear, Daci, you would be the world's best assassin with how you can move silently like that-"

"Do not say that I am an assassin-"

"Ah, come on, you'd have no problems taking people out! You're like a cat, the way you can move without sound."

"My skills lie in other places, thank you."

Daci was growing somewhat annoyed, and she gave a frustrated huff as she carefully pulled the dress out from the closet.