Breathe Under Water - Shadows of the Night 1

Chapter 24

Hi!

It's late late late... and I'm still writing. But there has to be an end to the editing process. So here it is: chapter 24. Read, vote, comment. Let me know what you think about this one. Thank you all for reading and commenting guys! It's amazing to get direct feedback. I really appreciate it!

Lara

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Chapter 24

 

I closed the door to our room noiselessly, turning around, and... had a déjà vu. One of a kind. Alexander was standing by the window, obviously staring out, while his back was to me.

“Where have you been?” His voice was calm, but cold, the sound of it bouncing off the walls in a dull noise. There was almost no inflection, not even a trace of human emotion.

“Outside,” I answered coolly and moved towards my door, when he turned around.

I forced my eyes to stay on the bathroom door, focus on where I had been headed to. The resurging memories of Maria and my past had reminded me of what he truly was. It made me act more hostile, maybe even behave more aggressively towards him. He’d messed with my mind once. I wasn’t going to let it happen again.

I moved on and went into the bathroom to get some water. Trying to ignore the white peril in the outer room, I busied myself with splashing my face and drinking. My stomach wound was a lot better and I could move around freely. Small comfort, that.

I kept wondering how much time I’d have to kill before being able to get the Cellinis’ tea party over with. Well, at least I could already prepare for our departure.

“Although the meeting with the Cellinis is not of a formal nature, I do believe that etiquette demands proper clothing.”

I whirled around.

Alexander was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed underneath his chest, watching me. His blue eyes wandered down my body without showing the slightest reaction, then up again. “Am I right in assuming that you are intending to wear this to the meeting with the Cellinis?”

I shrugged. “Yeah. You got a problem with that?”

He smiled. It was slow, merely a shadow of a human expression. It didn’t fail to alarm me thought.

“More than one, little witch.” He stepped into the room as if he had a right to be here, walk in on anything that was and should be my own. “Has your injury made you oblivious to all that is of importance? You accepted your part in Gustav’s and my bargain, which includes acting the part of my human servant. I will not remind you of this again. You will behave and carry yourself with the grace and subservience of an ideal servant. In fact, you will do more than that.”

I felt my fingers spasm, heard the angry beat of my heart thundering in my head. There was nothing I could say against it – he was right, and oh, how it chafed. And what the hell did he mean with more than that?

“I already know that. Why are you here? I said I’d fulfill the task ahead, and I’ll do it.”

“You will wear something of my own choosing, and you will do it with a smile,” he said it as if he hadn’t heard my statement.

I could see it in that moment with a new clarity, all cards on the table. He resembled all I hated, radiated the uncanny glow of the undead I despised. Secrecy, slyness; skillful in manipulation and deception of the mind. He was a monster in disguise. I would never allow myself to forget that.