Why Lorie? Part II

Chapter 30: Three Vampires in Mystery Spell

Sarah Osborne was tired. She had to remain a couple of extra hours at work that day. Viktor Bartholy, the owner and her official boss, had unexpectedly returned to Mystery Spell. To her dismay, his son, Nicolae, looked as surprised to see him as Sarah felt. When Viktor first entered the bank, Nicolae almost dropped the pile of folders he was carrying back to his office.

Viktor grinned in a rather unpleasant way at the sight. He and Nicolae disappeared in the office and closed the door. But before doing so, Nicolae asked Sarah to stay at her desk until he was finished talking to his father. That had taken quite a bit of time —much longer than Sarah had expected.

She usually closed up at five o'clock sharp. That day, it was already a little past seven before the manager's door reopened. Viktor stepped out, followed by a rather dazed-looking Nicolae. Viktor casually strolled toward Sarah.

"Miss Osborne," he smiled. "It's a pleasure to see you again. I hope my son has been treating you well. If not... I shall have to have a talk with him," his eyes sparkled mischievously.

Sarah felt intimidated and a little overwhelmed by Viktor's confident tone. She replied: "Nice to see you too, Sir. And, yes... Count Bartholy has been very kind to all of us here at the bank."

"Count Bartholy?" Viktor mockingly arched an eyebrow as he looked at Nicolae. "Well... I suppose in my absence you would be next in line, wouldn't you?"

"Sarah," Nicolae nervously addressed the young woman. "My father is the official Count... the head of the Bartholy family."

"Oh... I'm sorry, Sir," Sarah stammered, but Viktor put up a hand to stop her.

"It's quite alright, my child," he said benevolently. "You had no way of knowing."

Sarah found it odd that he called her 'his child'. It seemed rather demeaning, and definitely too familiar — especially since she had only met Viktor a couple of times before, and both of those occasions were quite brief. Viktor seemed to have read her thoughts, because he fixed her with his cold emerald green eyes and continued:

"I am well acquainted with your family, Sarah. How is your grandmother, Zara, these days?"

Sarah blinked a few times, trying to grasp what he was saying. Viktor knew her grandmother? She shook her head to clear her mind before answering:

"Grandma is doing quite well, thank you for asking. I wasn't aware that you knew her, Count Bartholy."

Viktor smirked. "I'm sure there are a lot of things you may not be aware of... where your grandmother is concerned." He then scrutinized Sarah to the point of making her blush. "You don't look much like her.... Perhaps your sister, Sabrina, has inherited more of her... traits."

Sarah was completely taken aback. "You know my sister too?"

"Oh, yes," Viktor chuckled. "Sabrina is quite... remarkable."

Sarah gulped. She had no idea how to respond. Viktor Bartholy made her feel very uncomfortable and she was tongue-tied around him. He noticed her demeanor and smirked before leaning in closer to her and whispering:

"Please give your grandmother and sister my deepest regards. I hope I shall have the chance to pay them a visit while I am here."

And with that, Viktor took his leave of the bank. Nicolae remained behind... still looking rather dazed. When the front door finally closed behind his father, Nicolae snapped out of his reverie. He approached Sarah and said apologetically:

"I'm sorry if my father's visit was a bit... disconcerting. He took us both by surprise."

"I gather he didn't write ahead of time?" Sarah asked.