Lydia

•Part: 1•

November 1862, London:
Lydia's POV:
I woke up with the same dream. In my dream I was walking in the woods, at the middle of night with my white nightgown on. I was having this dream frequently for the past few days.
It all started after the Halloween night. I went to the old Winston's house alone, to win a bet.
"Do not go there Lydia!" My best friend Tanya had warned me. I did not pay attention to her, obviously. "I shall not yield!" I told myself.
According to legends, the Winston's house was haunted. But when I had set my foot inside the enormous door, it was nothing more than an abandoned house. It was dusty of course. Some spider nets were dangling from walls. The air inside the house was heavy with the presence of the so-called ghosts. Though I did not see any.
After a long walk inside the house, I rejoined my friends.
"You are so brave Lydia!"  They praised! I would have been happier hearing this only if I was not feeling so dizzy at that moment. I was not even feeling proud of myself. I wanted to go home and sleep on my cozy bed. So I bid them goodbye and came back home as soon as I could. When all the excitements had left me and I was alone in my room, I realised that my neck was paining.
I tied my hair up in a bun and stood in front of the mirror to have a look at my neck. There were two small holes in my neck and a bit of blood was coming out from each one of those. "My goodness! Did a snake bite me?" I thought to myself. Then I waved the thought away. "Just a mosquito bite" I was convinced.
Later that night, I woke up in the woods behind my house. I did not remember how I went there. I was shivering, out of shock or cold I could not tell.
The blackouts were happening since then. Two days ago, I found myself in the garden with rooster's feathers all over me. But the thing that bothered me was there were blood stains on my nightgown and even on my lips. I could taste the blood. Luckily it was dawn and everyone was asleep. I came back to my room hurriedly, went straight to the bathroom and cried in the shower. "What was happening to me?" I wondered.
On the breakfast table, Barbara, our maid told my mother about the dead roosters. I wanted to poke her in the eye with the knife I was cutting the omelette with. I wanted to bite her and drink every single drop of blood from her veins. Yes. I thought so. It was not the first time I felt the urge to kill someone. I even wanted to kill my mother once, when I was alone with her.
These were not the only changes I was having. I stopped going out. The sunlight became intolerable to me. I kept my curtains close and stayed in the dark all day. And I was feeling unusually thirsty these days. Water did not seem to quench my thirst at all. And my gums started to hurt most often. Was my wisdom tooth growing? Why so early? I did not know what was going on.
Soon my mother became suspicious and concerned about my health. Dr. Amos, our family doctor, visited me. Examining my blood-red eyes and cold pale skin, he suggested I should change my place and go to vacation at somewhere I like.
The word vacation reminded me of my cousin Lily. We used to live together in this house before my uncle Bilius decided to move out to his own new house, thankfully in London.
"Mother, can I go to uncle Bilius's place to spend some days with Lily?" I asked my mother.
Mother sighed. "I shall ask your father and let you know." She assured me.
My father, Andrew Avery was a merchant and used to spend very little time with us. Mother decided to write him a letter but luckily, father himself came back home the next day.
He was smoking tabacco in a pipe when I entered his reading room.
"Your mother informed me about your wish." He said, folding the newspaper he was reading.
"And what do you think about it, father?" I asked politely.
"You may go and stay with Lily for some days. I talked to your uncle Bilius about it." He replied.
"Oh thank you so much father." I was delighted.
"The carriage will arrive tomorrow afternoon." said father.
Afternoon! I was afraid. I can not go out in the sunlight.
"Father, can I depart in the evening?" I asked immediately.
"Why?" He looked at me.
"Tanya said she will pay me a visit tomorrow afternoon." I lied.
"Hmm." Said father after a moment. "I shall tell Barney to pick you up in the evening."
I showed father my gratitude and walked towards my room. Barbara was wiping the floor. My gums started to hurt again. I was feeling thirsty and a sudden urge of killing started to grab me.
"Miss Lydia!" I was pulled back to reality by Barbara. "Do you need something?" She asked.
"No." I walked away from her.
That night, something horrible happened. I woke up to find myself lying on the kitchen floor. "What am I doing here?" I thought. The answer gave me a sudden jolt. Barbara's lifeless body was visible in moonlight, coming through the window.
I gasped. There was no time to think. I rushed towards the hall and opened the main door. Then I dragged Barbara's dead body holding her hands. It took me several minutes to finally take the body in the woods. I came back to the house, running. Luckily I found a matchbox in the kitchen's cabinet and grabbed a wine bottle from my father's bar before leaving the house again. Barbara's body was still there in the woods, motionless. Without a second thought I poured some wine on it and threw a lit matchstick. The dead body caught fire. It was a chilly night but I was sweating. And Barbara's blood was still there on my lips.