Lady of the night

Chapter 6

As soon as Casandra entered the grounds to the mansion, her heartrate picked up and she felt ill. It was almost normal now, which worried her. What puzzled her was the fact that it pnly occured on the mansion grounds and not in town or elsewhere. She had just been to the airport with the crew, her flight back home to Sweden had been delayed, she was forced to stay a few days longer then the rest of the team.

They had booked a meeting with Lady Catalina on the matter despite Casandras complaints and offer to stay at a hotell in town. During this meeting, which was brief, Lady Catalina had said it was quite alright for her to stay another week if need be.

So as she now entered the grounds for the last time with the team she felt more uneasy than normal. She was supposed to stay all alone after all, the shadow of the mansion seemed to grow more threatening by the day since the box had been uncovered.

“Are you sure you will be okay on your own, Casandra?” Esmeralda said with a worried voice. Her pregnancy was now difficult to miss, she was due in two months time.

“I will be fine, Es. You go home and prepare for the little ones arrival. No need to worry about me, it will only be two days” Casandra replied and gave her a smile.

“Well if there is anything you need at all, you know you can call anyone of us.” With that Esmeralda left her room to go to sleep.

The teams flight was early the next morning, so everyone got an early night leaving Casandra in her room with an uneasy feeling. She looked out her window towards the woods. It was sunset and trees looked like they were on fire. It was beautiful but frightening at the same time.

She looked at her bed and decided to try and get some sleep as well. Though she doubted she would go to sleep so easily. When she woke up the next morning she was surprised to see she had slept all night, it was the first time in a month at least.

It was early morning and the team was getting ready to leave when Casandra joined them for breakfast. They chatted away about the dig, how it had been, what they were going to do now that it was over and so on. Casandra envied them a little since she longed to get away from the mansion. She was surprised when Nicolai met the team at the airport, he did look paler then normal but hardly sick. They waved the team off as they entered the airport.

“You aren't leaving?” Nicolai asked when they returned to the parking lot.

”My flight has been delayed, it leaves the day after tomorrow.” Casandra answered. She noticed he seemed worried.

“Where are you staying until then?” He suddenly asked.

“At the mansion, they said it was fine.” Casandra said and looked at him.

Nicolai frowned and looked away at her answer. He seemed to be thinking about something.

“You could stay with me or at a hotell. No need to stay out there in the middle of nowhere.” Nicolai finally said and looked at Casandra.

“It has already been arranged for me to stay two more nights out there. It would be rather rude to suddenly change that.” Casandra said slowly, she really didn't want to stay at the mansion, but the arrangements had been made. They did expect her to stay there for two more nights.

“So I can't change your mind at all?” Nicolai asked

“No I'm afraid not. Sorry.” Casandra reluctanlty admitted.

“If you ever need anything, and I mean anything, give me a call and I'll be right over. Okay?” Nicolai said and took his sunglasses off.

Casandra took a moment to look at him, they didn't break eyecontact for even a second.

“Okay. I'll call if I need anything.” Casandra finally said.

She got into the waiting taxi and watched Nicolai get on his motorcycle, it wad a different one then the one he had used previously. He took out a phone from his pocket and seemed to send a text to someone. The taxi rounded a corner and she lost sight of him.

She wondered why he had looked so serious, and worried. She pondered this as the taxi drove her back to the mansion grounds.

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Nicolai sent a textmessage to Nelia about the flight Casandra was supposed to take. As he waited for her answer he looked at the taxi as it rounded the corner. He was lost in thought for a moment and was brought back when his phone buzzed in his hand.

“The flight is leaving in half an hour and her name has been removed from the list. Should I tell Lord?” The message from Nelia said.

Nicolai growled under his breath and put his helmet on. He angrily sent a textmessage to Nelia saying she should tell him about it. He also intended to go back, it was no longer safe for Casandra to be there, and definately not on her own. They knew she had the key for sure, but what were they planning?

As he speeded his motorcycle through the thick morning traffic he went over all sorts of possible cenarios in his head. None of which were good.

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Nelia took a deep breath as she entered Lord's grounds. She hated having to bring him bad news, especially about Nicolai. She slowly moved forward and knocked on the door.

A deep voice from within called “Enter” and she took yet another deep breath.

“My Lord?” She carefully said as she peeked her head inside the now open door.

“In the study” Lord's voice said from somewhere to the right.

Nelia walked in and slowly made her way to the study. She shivered lightly as she came into view of Lord. His massive muscular figure had always intimidated her.

“M-my Lord. I have news from Nicolai.” She started.

Lord looked up from his papers on the desk and took a good look at her before opening his mouth.

“What has he done now?” He simply said, making Nelia start sweating ever so slightly.

“Uhm, well you see.” She cleared her throat before continuing ”He went to the airport as you know, and the girl said her flight had been delayed, which it hasnt as someone has removed her name from the passanger list and now she is staying at the mansion for two more days and Nicolai decided to keep an eye on her for...”

She spoke quickly but Lord picked up every single word.

”He what?” Lord interrupted her. “I have now lost count on how many times that man has dissobeyed my orders!” Lord shouted and got up from his chair.

As Lord started pacing the room Nelia started shivering even more, she was afraid. He didn't like dissobedience, and he hated it when it came from the same person multiple times. She ket herself close to the wall, trying to get as small as possible.

“Check in on him once an hour.” Lord finally said. “If he doesn't reply within ten minutes you come straight to me, clear?”

Nelia nodded and made her way out of the study and the house. She picked up her phone from her pocket and started creating a textmessage for Nicoali about Lord's new order. She silently prayed he would obey this time.