Being Undead

Chapter 13*

Laura didn't know what Damian did to appease Frederick but his attitude towards her improved after their discussion. He resumed visiting her just like before, they talked, and this time, he listened when she gave him her answer.

"I love being an undead, Frederick," she said to him. "True, the circumstances of my being here wasn't the best, for either of us for that matter. But I'd rather here now than anywhere else."

"Good." He smiled. "Me too, my dear."

Anyway, a few days later, Frederick called together the undeads in the mansion. "Anton's active again," he announced, their expressions immediately turning sour at the news. "Now, he himself has not been located but a few days ago, ten of his men attacked Laura; and they would have killed her too if for mine and Damian's quick intervention."

"We can't allow that to happen again," Damian took over at this point. "So, gear up, we're going hunting for any of Anton's men that may be in the area."

In spite of their obvious hesitation to face Anton, the undeads still seemed game to carry out their orders, immediately dispersing to begin preparations.

"Oh, that doesn't include you, my dear," Frederick said when he saw Laura about to move too.

"Wait, what?" She looked offended. "I've faced Anton's men before."

"And you barely survived the encounter," he reminded her. "Trust me, the mansion's the safest place you can be."

As much as Laura would loved to argue the point, the truth was that Frederick was right. As undeads went, she was still a baby. She was untrained, ignorant, and really, really awful when it came to gang fights. The Undead Mansion really was the best place she could be for the other's safety.

"Fine," she finally conceded. "You just be careful, okay?"

"When am I not?" Frederick smiled as he ruffled her hair a little and zoomed off before she could hit him.

The undeads finally left; some in cars with Damian to lead them, the others on foot with Frederick as their leaders. Although it wasn't necessary to watch the mansion- no undead could gain entrance to a place unless they were specifically invited in by the owner- Frederick left some guys behind. "In case, Anton's men decided to be stupid enough to show up here," he had said, but Laura suspected it was in case she decided to be stupid enough to show up on the search.

Anyway, Laura was left home alone; and that was where she vowed to remain.

Thing is, even if Frederick hadn't left some guys to make sure, Laura would still have stayed put. She wanted to do better than before. Her bad habits- though not entirely her fault, she would argue- had already gotten her two strikes before the house; a third strike and they would all probably vote to have exiled somewhere so dark and remote that no one would remember her, and not even Frederick would be able to stop it.

The mansion very quiet, Laura decided to sit down in the sitting room to read, her mind instead dwelling on the ancient aura around it.

Like the other rooms in the Undead Mansion, the mansion only had one giant electric bulb. But this time, it was accompanied by numerous candelabra lit all around in a circle to give more light. A large crystal chandelier hung in the centre of the room, a glass torch bracket to imitate a gas lamp to amply the room's illumination even more.

A Persian rug was spread over the sitting portion and the seats were designed like thrones from different empires. There was a real fireplace in the room, completing the "way out of time" feeling the rest of the house had.

In summary, the sitting room had a feeling where the past and present converged in one place in the house; and that was why Laura never got tired of exploring it; of exploring the whole mansion for that matter.