Lady of the night

Chapter 3

  Unable to sleep Casandra decided to go for a walk around the grounds, hoping that the fresh air would help.

   She slipped her white silk robe on and walked out without any shoes. It was a rather warm night, hardly any breeze and a clear sky. The stars crowded the sky and the moon was full, shining down with a pale almost sad light. Before she knew it she was standing at the dig site, looking down into the shallow ruins that had now been exposed.

   A chill gripped her spine as a chilling thought entered her mind. The layout reminded her of a dungeon, normally found beneath a medieval castle. She could almost hear the chackles swaying in a long fogotten wind.

“Trouble sleeping, miss” A female voice said behind her.

   Casandra spun around and saw the secretary Maicha stadning with a ballgown on. It was deep red and her hair had a matching hairpin that almost looked like drops of blood.

“Ah, just a little restless I suppose.” Casandra replied with a weak smile.

“Yes, the nights are the ones hardest to adjust to.” Maicha said and started walking towards the mansion. She stopped a few steppes later and turned back to Casandra.

“These parties aren't keeping the rest of you sleepless are they?” She asked.

“Huh? Oh, no I don't think so, they haven't said anything.” Casandra said.

   Maicha walked away and only then did Casandra notice the party that was nearing it's end in the mansion. There were at least a hundred guests and all wore beautiful ballgowns and tuxedos. Yet she was sure there had been no cars at the front of the mansion. With so many guests, there would normally be an equal number of cars, but there were none.

“Rich people and their parties.” A voice said behind her. She turned to find Nicolai leaning against a treestump thrown on the ground after being ripped up with the roots.

“I didn't know they had a party.” I replied.

“They've had one each night since we got here. No matter though, the rich need their entertainment I guess.” He said and shrugged. “Trouble sleeping?”

“Yes, I can't seem to relax. It's no problem really.” Casandra replied and shrugged as well looking back at the party.

   Neither of them said anything and Casandra noticed he seemed rather weary of the mansion, and also that he didn't wear any sunglasses. He had brown eyes, though she was quite sure he had golden eyes when they first met. She looked away and blamed it on the fact it was night, it propably made his eyes seem brown. Or maybe the sun had made them seem golden before.

“I'll walk you back to our quarters. Wouldn't wan't the rich ones complaining about a night time stroll.” Nicolai said with a short laugh.

   During the walk back Casandra once again noticed how cold he seemed to be. It made her wonder about a lot of things, but she didn't have the courage to ask anything for the moment. She thought back to the ruins and decided to take another look at them in the morning. Someting was not right about them, they didn't seem like they were a villa at all. And she also had the feeling those ruins were hiding a secret.

   She feared what that secret might be, and what would happen if it was revealed. Neither of it seemed plausible as she thought about it and she decided to push those thoughts away for the time being.

   The next morning the team gathered in the kitchen to go over what they hoped to achieve during the day. These meetings were also known as coffee meetings since no one was without a coffee cup. It was 5 am and it looked to be a hot day.