When Playing with Fire

Prologue - Unexpected Company

Running, Dominic decided, was much harder when you had a hole in your chest. He had been able to stop the bleeding but if he didn't find shelter from the sun soon he wouldn't have to worry about his chest. He looked up at the sky as it steadily grew lighter. He guessed he only had about twenty minutes before the sun would be upon him. He raced through the trees trying to find an abandoned house with a cellar or some old barn but nothing came into view. 

He finally found salvation with a large mansion that was sequestered in a small forest of oak trees. He just prayed no one was home. If they weren't he wouldn't need to ask permission to go inside, if someone was home, however, he was doomed. He could already feel the day warming as the sun prepared to break across the horizon. The front door was locked, a promising sign. With a simple snap of his fingers the door unlocked a swung open. He took a step forward and was grateful when he wasn't rejected from the home. 

Hopefully by the time the time the family returned he would be healed and far away from this place. With a last burst of energy he shut and locked the front door before running with inhuman speed to one of the tower rooms. He opened the bedroom door and had never been so relieved to see a bed. His last thought before collapsing on the bed was wondering where the owners would be at five in the morning. 

Dominic awoke and sat up straight in bed. He looked at the clock and found it was just passed eight in the evening. His chest had healed nicely and there were no longer any signs to indicate he had had a sword thrust through him, barely missing his heart. He swore he would kill the little rat who had betrayed him, then and only then would he leave this town for good. It had always brought him misfortune the longer he stayed and he had decided it was time to move on and find another home. It wouldn't be hard, after three hundred years he was good at moving in a moment's notice. 

He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts when he smelled something sweet. A slight smile curved his lips. Only one thing could ever smell this sweet. Blood. Silently, he made his way to the door and slowly opened it. He heard the front door being unlocked and slowly opened. It was slammed shut and something heavy was set down on the marble floor. Dominic cloaked himself in the shadows of the mansion and slowly moved through the dark hallways towards the lobby. A young woman, she couldn't have seen more than twenty winters, stood in the middle of the floor looking around in the darkness. Was she the resident of this mansion? No. She was carrying suitcases and looked as if she had no idea where to find a single light switch. 

Dominic didn't like the thought of someone being in the same house with him while he was trying to stay hidden until he could take revenge. But another smile curled his lips as he breathed in her scent. Maybe this wouldn't bode ill for either of them, or at least him and if nothing else he would have something to entertain him while he was here.