In a flash of Fangs

Trandafir rosu singur

It was a few days after meeting Vlad in the forest and I was still in shock over everything that had happened. He took us to his home where he slept the day away in a room so enclosed in the dark you had to really look to find the door. He wasn't kidding about being a stranger to the sun and I admit it was weird knowing another person was in the house but not fully human. He was kind and never did anything vampire-like in front of us which made it even weirder when he would disappear into the cave of his room in the mornings. We had all made a routine of it though and soon enough the three of us would stay up all night just talking and going over life plans and then retire to our rooms once the sun had risen. Today was just one of those days though and I couldn't get to sleep so I decided to have a look around. The house was old and I couldn't place what era it might have been from, it certainly wasn't new like my house had been. I moved from room to room and started to notice just how big the place was and wondered if it really was a house and not a castle or something. It had stone everywhere but it wasn't cold like one would expect, the darkness of the halls wasn't scary either until you got closer to where Vlad slept. I placed my hand on one wall and ran it over the smooth stone as I walked towards the entryway of the large residence.

The light was dappled as it came through the trees onto the sconces on the wall nearest the solid oak door causing the shadows to dance on the solid stone below. There was nothing special about the sconces just an iron torch attached to a wall no designs adorned it but I was still staring at them as if they held some secret I should know. I shook my head and opened the oak door and gasped at the sight before me the stone facade went around the whole building. This wasn't a small home by any means, it was then that I realized it was a castle, old and no longer holding the patrons it once had. Still standing it was a splendid sight with its towering stone walls that seemed to keep watch over its domain with a piercing stare. I stepped out onto a cobblestone walkway that went through an arch in front of me, probably leading into town. I turned around to look at the rest of the dwelling and followed the walkway into a large but comfortable courtyard, after years of no owners it needed work to restore the castle to what it once was. Rows after rows of untended flowers lead me to a fountain long since dried out and a bench that was placed a few steps away was starting to crumble, I decided to not sit down and kept walking, taking everything in. I smiled and couldn't help but feel like a child that found a secret she wasn't supposed to find, I was overwhelmed with feelings and I began to giggle and twirl around seeing the world spin around me faster and faster till I fell in a heap on the cobblestone path. I had looked up to the sky moving my hair out of my face to let the sun kiss my skin. Lowering my head, I saw curtains move closing the day from the person inside and wondered if it was Vlad watching me. I immediately got embarrassed and picked myself up the stone path and made my way back into the castle, with one more glance over my shoulder I saw one red rose standing out from the rest of the dead bushes. 

Once inside I finally felt tired and made my way slowly towards the room I had claimed, but with a nagging feeling I stopped and turned heading towards the darkness of where Vlad took refuge. I was following my feet and not really looking at the space around me as I stopped at the door to his room. I had no idea why I was here and started turning around when I saw that the door was slightly ajar, curious about what lay inside I took a step forward. Pushing the door as quietly as I could I entered the room and was rooted to the spot, the room was large, much larger than the one I had picked and the walls were stone, one wall had at least four floor to ceiling windows that were currently being blocked by thick black curtains and the other walls were barren minus the lit sconces that gave off a warm glow to the room. I leaned around the door pausing, hoping I didn't see a coffin and was astonished when I saw a huge four poster bed with curtains partially drawn, the curtains were also thick and were striped with blue and silver reminding me of the jewelry and cloak he had given me. The rest of the room had a few pieces of furniture all were made from mahogany and gave a richness to the room, it helped that a fire was going in the hearth across from the huge bed. There was a small chair near the hearth with a red cloak draped over the back of the chair, I could only assume it was Vlad's but I'd never seen him wear it. A table in a corner and a long table on the other side of the hearth with a mirror and a bowl underneath with a towel neatly folded next to the bowl, and then a chest laying at the foot of the bed. The stunning view I got from only peeking inside made me enter completely no longer afraid of what might happen if he caught me in here. I tiptoed towards the bed eager to see what lay beyond the curtains, the bed was huge and the curtains blocked a lot of my vision. I could tell the sheets had been laid in but I wasn't sure on how recently or if he was even in there still, but they looked so soft and comfortable I couldn't help but lightly touch the fabric. It was silk, so cool to the touch and soft it made me want to jump in and just let the fabric envelop me in its fineness, a movement in front of me stopped me dead in my tracks, I froze and looked to see Vlad sitting up in the bed with a raised eyebrow. Blushing I lowered my eyes and tried to retract my hand from the fine fabric but Vlad stopped me with a chuckle and patted the fabric himself with a look I'd never seen before.

"Like what you see?" he asked looking me directly in the eyes as I stood to my full height suddenly aware that we were alone in his room. Cemented to my spot I stared back, I could feel my cheeks getting red and all I could do was nod in response. My fight or flight instincts left me as he slid out from under the sheets showing me his bare chiseled chest and the black satin pants he wore. The fabric hugged his hips and then cascaded down to the ground like a waterfall, they were long enough to hide his feet as he stepped lightly towards me with a tug of his lips he smiled and his eyes had those smile creases that just made one melt. My heart fluttered like a million butterflies wanting to escape into the sky above but it wasn't a feeling I was used to, not to say I haven't been looked at many times by other men but this, this was very different. His eyes focused on me and I couldn't turn away, they had so many different colors mixing together, hues of greens, and browns to almost a blue the depth of color was intoxicating to me, you could swim in them forever and never find your way out. Most would call them hazel and honestly, there are no words that can describe them in detail because they always changed depending on the colors and lighting around him. I had noticed that the night we met in my room, at that time they were dark almost like grey and then in the forest they had changed to a sage green and I swore they were red at one point but that could have just been his affliction causing that change, and then right now they were a soft green with specks of amber and blues. I hadn't noticed that he was now right in front of me until he moved my hair away from my face his fingertips brushing lightly against my cheek. I barely reached his shoulder in height so I had stopped looking into his eyes and was now face to chest and I couldn't help but take it in. He was toned and looked like he was pulled out of a Greek story, I reached up to touch but pulled back, timid and unsure of how to respond. His skin was tanned and I didn't know how it was possible since I only saw him at night. I didn't dwell on that thought for much longer as I got the courage to rest my hand against his chest feeling his heart beat steadily under my hand, he was warm to the touch and I could feel his breath as his chest rose and fell. His breathing heavy as it moved through his body and into an exhale that blew softly onto my neck since we were so close, mere centimeters away at this point. He snaked his arm around me and pulled me to him, with my head resting against his exposed skin I closed my eyes and we stood just feeling the warmth of our intimate touch embrace us. He leaned his head back to kiss the top of my head before pulling away, our hands laced together as he led me to the edge of his bed and sat down watching me intently as I sank down onto the mattress. I didn't know what was going on or what would happen but I felt or rather knew that I had nothing to worry about I was safe here, nothing could harm me with him around.