The Bloodline

Unwanted Guest

East Dean 2014

“This is ridiculous, we’ve been sitting here for more than half an hour!”, Rhiannon sighed.
“Relax Rae, it’s just been ten minutes. They’ll be here in any minute now.”, Benjamin reassured her.

The two of them were sitting in the Manor’s library, waiting for the Masters of the House. They were received by James the housekeeper and were told that the Masters were absent at the moment. Neither of them wanted to drive the four hour long journey back to Leeds without meeting Rhiannon’s biological parents first, so they decided to wait.

Benjamin picked up a book the minute they stepped a foot in the library and was now reading a book called Guardians through the Ages. He was so concentrated in reading it that he did not see Rhiannon slipping out of the library.
She was restless, she could not wait patiently in a room like Benjamin, and so she went out to explore the Manor.

There were lots of halls and small corridors that she walked through, filled with old artefacts and paintings of people from a different time. She felt like she was in a museum.

Rhiannon had no idea where she was and where her feet were leading her, but she kept on opening doors after doors until she came out in a small room with a spiral staircase in the middle. It went up through the ceiling, but also down through the floor. Both had small wooden doors in the opening, and were made to fit perfectly so Rhiannon could not see what was behind those doors. A shiver went down her spine as curiousness took over and she decided to go ahead and see if the doors could be opened.

“Hello? What are you doing? You shouldn’t be here, that door was locked!”, a voice called behind her. She turned around and saw a boy half running towards her with an annoyed expression on his face. Rhiannon quickly closed the door behind her and started to walk away.

“Hey, I was talking to you, what were you doing in there?”, the boy grabbed her by the shoulder as she tried to leave. She brushed his hand off of her shoulder and took a step away from him, she did not like it when she was being touched by strange, shouting boys.

“I didn’t touch anything, I just got lost,”, she answered while shrugging her shoulders. The boy did not believe her for a second, but he thought that it was best to just get her away from this side of the Manor. “Well then, let’s just get you unlost as quickly as possible, shall we?”, he grabbed her roughly by her upper arm as if she was a misbehaving child and started to drag her away.

Rhiannon suddenly stopped and tried to free herself from the boy’s tight grip, but that only made his grip even tighter.
“Ouch, let me go, you’re hurting me,”, she cried out
“Don’t yell,”, was the boy’s answer.

He quickened his pace and was really annoyed by this whole event. He did not have the time to babysit a lost girl, there were lots of things that were needed to be done before the Masters would get home.

“I refuse to go any further if you won’t let go of my arm this instant,”, Rhiannon stopped for the second time and pulled her arm back. The boy halted and eyed her with a disdainful look. “Listen here, you brat, I don’t have time for this, I have better things to do. So why don’t you shut up and cooperate for a bit, okay? Okay, now move on.”, he started to walk away, but Rhiannon yanked her arm one more time.

“How dare you call me a brat? And what’s up with telling a guest to shut up? Don’t even let me start on how you’ve been hurting me this whole time. Some manners you have, mister.”, she snapped at him.

“I would treat you nicely if you were a guest. Guests don’t wander off and go inside locked rooms of their host’s house, so that makes you an intruder. I don’t have to be polite towards intruders like you.”, the boy started to walk again.

“Okay, firstly, I really am a guest and secondly, I was just lost, that’s all.”, she sighed. Rhiannon stumbled alongside the boy, she was tired of the yanking and she could already feel a bruise coming under his grip.

“Fine, I’ll buy it, why were you lost in the first place?”, he asked her exasperatedly. It took her a couple of seconds before she could give him an answer. “Um, I was… looking for the toilet?”, her answer came out weak. He turned his head to give her an incredulous look and she answered with her best innocent smile.

They turned around a corner and nearly bumped into a man dressed in a heavy coat.
“Master Kneath, excuse me,”, the boy quickly bowed his head to the man and gulped nervously. “That’s alright, Thomas,”, the man nodded. “I just arrived with Isobel, would you take care of the stuff in the car later on? I found another one in Berlin last night, we were just in time for the auction,”, Christopher said to Thomas as he watched Rhiannon at the same time. He furrowed his brows and slightly tilted his head as if he was trying to remember something. “Yes, sir, congratulations,”, Thomas said to his Master.

“Yes, thank you,”, Christopher absentmindedly answered. He took a step closer toward Rhiannon, scrunched his eyes and then something clicked in his head. His eyes were now wide open, staring at Rhiannon in disbelief. His heart sped up and he was breathing rather quickly. Rhiannon stared back and was confused by his reaction.

Christopher then stepped back and hastily walked away from her. His posture was rigid and tensed, his hands clenched in fists until his knuckles were white.

“Who was that?”, Rhiannon softly asked, her voice nearly a whisper. She already knew the answer, but she still needs a confirmation.
“That was my master as well as the Master of the House, Christopher Kneath,”, Thomas answered with a hint of pride in his voice.

“Kneath, huh?”, Rhiannon turned to Thomas and gave him a hand. “I guess my name is Rhiannon Kneath then. Nice to meet you.”