The Becoming

Chapter Three

Chapter Three - Incubi

The only piece of clothing that Lorna found inside the room – that did not make her feel too stuffy and overdressed – was a thin cream-colored piece with small straps that she was almost certain was some kind of slip, but by modern standards, it seemed to make a nice summer dress.

Satisfied enough with how it covered her, she stepped out of the room where her escort was waiting on the other side of the door.  There was a man there, as promised, but it was not Aiden or Sebastian.  Here was yet another man she hadn't met, which meant that there were at least three people living in this house.

This man was as attractive as the other two, with long black hair and dark eyes, but he didn't smile when he looked at her.  In fact, he seemed completely impartial to her presence, even though he did acknowledge it by looking over to her as she stepped out the door.  Lorna, however, was smitten with him.  She wondered briefly what it was about him that made him special, but she was almost certain that she found him just a hair more attractive than the other two had been – but it was hard to say.  They were all so ridiculously handsome.

Is this luck or madness?

 "Come with me," he said flatly.  "I'll show you down."  Even with his intolerant tone, his voice sent chills through her.  It was deep and thick, seductive without trying.

He stepped away from the wall immediately without so much as introducing himself, and she had to pick up her pace to follow along with him. 

"So there are three of you," she said awkwardly, anxious to know more.  He looked over at her, but didn't reply.  "Or are there even more people who live here?"

"No," he answered shortly.  "It's just us."

"What's your name?"  He cut his eyes at her, watching her harshly, and his face certainly wasn't as warm as Aiden's had been.

"Devon," he said finally.

"I'm Lo–"

"I already know everything I need to know about you," he said, cutting her off.  He may have been attractive, but he certainly wasn't friendly.  She was shut down effectively, and remained in silence until he had taken her downstairs and toward a set of double doors.  Devon opened them up and motioned for her to go in first, where she was confronted by a long table. 

When she came into the dining room, she heard Aiden talking lowly to Sebastian, but she only heard the last bit of their conversation before they noticed her.

"Do you understand?"

"Yes, alright, fine..."

They raised their heads to look at her, and she saw that Sebastian was sitting at the table while Aiden was looming over him, but the only thing on the tabletop was a single glass of red wine in front of an unoccupied chair.

It looked like blood.

"This is for you," Aiden said.  "I'm sorry but we didn't have tea, and you seem like you need something a little stronger to put some of your color back."

Lorna moved cautiously around the table and sat down at the place they had prepared for her.  They watched her as she sat in front of the wine, smelled it, and once she decided that it was probably safe, she sipped it slowly.  It was musky and aged.

"Now that we're all here," Aiden began.  "Lorna, these are my brothers, Devon and Sebastian.  We want you to know that you're perfectly safe here and no one is going to hurt you.  Things might not make sense to you right now, but that's because we've kept it from you.  But we may as well be honest.  We're–"