One Big Happy Family

Chapter 21: Sabrina Prepares

Sabrina spent the next few days studying the list Drogo had given her. She wanted to know Lorie before physically meeting her, and the list was proving to be a very useful tool. Sabrina learned that Lorie loved music and was quite the pianist, especially for one so young. She also learned that the little girl liked to play pretend games, such as tea parties and school mistress — with her stuffed animals and dolls, and often invited adults to participate in her make-believe scenarios.

Thanks to Drogo, Sabrina found out that Lorie's late mother, Josette, had been a fashion connoisseur and had instilled the love of expensive, fashionable clothing in her young daughter from an early age. Sabrina already knew that Lorie favored the color pink above all others, since Drogo chose Rose to be her nanny alias.

"So far, so good," Sabrina thought to herself once she got through the first part of the list.

Sabrina also enjoyed music and the occasional shopping spree. It therefore seemed to her that being a nanny for the Bartholys would be fairly easy. After all, when Sarah was young, Sabrina had spent a lot of time teaching her younger sister her ABC's and 1,2,3's in addition to playing with her.

However, as she kept on reading, Sabrina soon came across the less desirable aspects of her prospective job. The main issues were Lorie's contradicting personality and her unpredictable mood swings. Apparently, Lorie could change from sugar sweet to bitter as bile within seconds. Drogo strongly believed that Lorie's transformation into a vampire worsened her already volatile, capricious character. Sabrina realized she would have to be compliant and patient... unfortunately, those were not her best traits. She tended to have a rather short temper herself. It was something she would definitely need to work on in order to deal with Lorie.

Drogo also described his sister as a spoiled and snooty child. Her parents had never denied Lorie anything her heart desired. This was especially true of Viktor who spent an extravagant amount of money on keeping his little princess happy.

"Wonderful," Sabrina sighed.

She, herself, had grown up in the complete opposite environment. Zara Osborne had been strict with her granddaughters, and taught them to work hard in order to be rewarded. Nothing was given for free within the Osborne household. Things had to be earned... and were therefore highly treasured. From what Drogo had indicated, Lorie changed her outfits several times a day and got easily bored doing one activity for too long. Sabrina would have to come up with a variety of things to keep Lorie busy on a daily basis.

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea," Sabrina muttered under her breath.

Could she handle a moody, spoiled brat with an extremely short attention span? Sabrina wasn't sure. But Drogo had sworn that moving into the Bartholy household would be the best long-term solution to Sabrina's ongoing problem — that of being safe in Mystery Spell. After all, who would ever suspect that an Osborne would dare live right under Viktor's nose? It seemed utterly ludicrous... therefore, it might just work...

Sabrina knew enough magic to cast a protective spell around herself. When Drogo had initially captured her, she had been caught completely by surprise and didn't have time to use it. Things were different this time around. Since Nicolae, Lorie and Peter were unfamiliar with her, they had no reason to suspect her of being a witch. Her magic would ensure that even further. Sabrina planned on allowing Nicolae to read her mind through the veil of her protective spell, which would only give him access to her most innocent thoughts. She hoped Nicolae would think her naive and inexperienced... thus, not a potential threat to him or to his family.

If Nicolae could be fooled, Peter wouldn't present much of an obstacle, according to Drogo. Peter was melancholy, laid back and a bit of a loner. He spent much of his time isolated in his room, either composing or playing music. Of the Bartholy siblings, Peter had had the hardest time letting go of his humanity when he became a vampire. Therefore, even if he did find Sabrina's secret out, he would probably be more understanding of her situation... and hopefully not as angry and vengeful as the other Bartholys. At least that's what Drogo had told her...