Shadows Of The Night (Wattys2016)

Meeting Her

Hello my lovely readers!!

So, i was in a great mood today and had some free time as well so i thought i'll upload the next chapter early!! yay!

Standard Disclaimer: The following is a work of fanfiction using characters from the Twilight world, which is trademarked by Stephenie Meyer. I do not claim ownership of said characters. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Preiously- At least I didn’t have to worry about finding the house dirty and without any furniture and food. Food, thank God, I would not go hungry here as the housekeeper had informed me that it would be cooked and provided in a timely manner. I had been surprised when I had received the details by e-mail. Mom had probably let her know I was coming to live there.

 I also needed to find a job in this glum town if I was going to pay for the housekeeping.

Suddenly the road opened up into a huge clearing of dead grass and dried leaves. The trees looked barren and dead and do did the house in sight a few yards away. No wonder the people thought this place was haunted, I thought, shaking my head.

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                                                         Meeting Her

It was three storeys tall not including the basement and attic. It looked like it could fall down any time now. But I knew the build was pretty sturdy. A few of the glasses in the huge window panes seemed to be broken– more work for me– I sighed internally. It looked sort of creepy with the moonlight shining on it, making it glow like silver.

The living room light seemed to be on; I could see a reflection of someone standing near the window. That must be the housekeeper. There were about two dozen wooden stairs leading towards the front door. They started to creak as soon as I put my foot on them.

As soon as I reached the top stair the huge door swung open, and there stood a beautiful petite woman with mahogany hair flowing down her shoulders, which were covered in a black silk wrap dress that reached just above her knees. She was wearing high heels, also in black, which made her shapely legs look miles long. When I could finally pull my eyes away from her sexy body and towards her- just as beautiful face I was met with big brown mesmerizing eyes that looked like they were holding a lot of secrets. She had put on some Smoky-eyed makeup making her eyes pop-up and look bigger. She had some kind of black rings in her ears and when my eyes reached her lips, expecting them to be black as well–which seemed to be a theme for her–I was surprised to find they were blood red.

I watched those bows turn into a smirk, and then they moved. “You must be Edward Cullen. I am Isabella Swan. Pleasure to meet you.” She stuck her hand out towards me.

I looked at her, stunned, for a few seconds. “You...You are the housekeeper?”

“Why, yes, Mr. Cullen, I am.”

“Edward.” I Put my hand into hers and shook it.

Wow, and here I was expecting some old, fifty-something grandma type person. What was she doing here? She was beautiful, young, with an obsession with the color black it seemed. Couldn’t she find a decent job that pays? Or do these Swans take the caretaking job that seriously?

“Well, Edward,” she said with a smile. “Come on in. I have been waiting for you all evening.” She motioned me towards the living room. “I hope you didn’t have any problem getting here.”

“No. It was fine. Well, except for the travelling agency canceling on me at the last moment and not finding a decent cab wanting to give me a lift towards this part of town.”

“Oh, yes... I am really sorry about that, Mr. Cullen; I should have come to get you myself. I should have thought about the rumors. I am really sorry; I hope you didn’t find any trouble getting here–” She would have kept on blabbering if I had not stopped her, her cheeks turning scarlet, it was kind of endearing.

“Isabella...Bella, stop. It’s absolutely fine. I reached here just fine. I persuaded a cabbie to give me a lift here by giving him some extra cash. You don’t have to berate yourself; it’s not your fault so please don’t apologize. And please, it’s Edward and not Mr. Cullen, okay.”

“Okay.” She replied with a beautiful smile. God, it was making me want to kiss her. Shit, I should not be thinking like this. She is my housekeeper; she’ll probably think I’m some kind of pervert, I thought.

Shaking that thought away and looking around the house I asked her, “This looks a lot better from the inside than the out. How long has the house been in your care?”

The hall was pretty big and spacious with age old furniture decorated in style that screamed old. There was a huge fireplace in the middle with an intricate mantle and old pictures hanging above, probably my great-great-great-grandparents and their children and their children–there seemed to be about twenty black and white photos here. The huge rug placed below seemed thick and well used. There were a few tapestries hung on the walls as well, the design on them seemed pretty intricate. Must have been imported here back then, I thought. These kinds of designs were not made in the US, I was sure of it.

“Just over a year,” she replied. “My mother was in charge for about forty years before that.”

“Where is she? And how exactly does this work, because, Bella… can I call you that? Isabella seems a bit too formal.” When she nodded I continued, “I don’t want you to be working for me for free. It might have been okay back then but now I am in charge and I don’t encourage slave labor.”

She looked at me like I was crazy. “But that’s how it’s been working for ages Edward, and it’s never been forced, trust me. My ancestors have always been close to your family and we feel grateful to them for providing us this place to stay.”

“Oh my god, Bella, that was like...Um…I don’t know… what, three? Four centuries ago?”

“Three.”

“Right, three centuries ago. That’s three hundred years! Your people might have been obligated to my family back then, but now it’s the twenty-first century and it’s been too goddamn long since then. You have nothing to be grateful to me; I have not done anything for you, and even if I had, I would never ask you to work for me in exchange. My mother didn’t raise me up like that.”  

“I understand, Edward, but you need to understand this: when my family came to this land, they were in grave danger and your family let us stay here. You see, there was a huge war happening at that time and we were from the enemy land, but your family didn’t turn us to the authorities but instead helped us and gave us shelter. If not for your family, none of us would have survived, Edward. I would not be standing in front of you right now.”

I just stood, stunned. She, her family, all of them took this very seriously. But I was not going to let her work for me like I owned her!

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(So, just curious- what's your favorite Horror movie/Book?)

~stz