Seeking Eternity Ch. 04

"I truly hope that you will not repeat your aggravating comments about my decision to keep her," Ashford drawled.

"Of course not," Amélie said quickly. "When are you planning to enlighten her about her situation?"

"Her questions will be answered," Ashford promised.

"When?" Amélie snapped. "Your whole day is fully booked, and it seems that you do nothing but fuck her when the two of you are alone."

Ashford ignored the last comment – thankfully. Amélie remembered a time when her brother would have snapped her neck for saying such a thing.

"I will take care of it."

Amélie sighed. "You should not have left the maids alone in the house with her. What if something upsets her?" She liked the servants in her brother's house, and she would dislike it if anything terrible befalls them. "They will not know what to do."

"Ross will be with Raine soon," Ashford said. "He will keep her entertained."

*****

An hour after Ashford and Amélie had gone, Raine found herself outside Ashford's room again, staring at the life-size portrait of the blue-eyed man whose face looked familiar yet oddly foreign at the same time. However much she tried to rack her brains, she could not figure out where she had seen the man before.

"Who are you?" she whispered, narrowing her eyes as she leaned against the door frame.

She had just finished a hot bath and was now dressed in the cozy white bathrobe that belonged to the master of the house. The servants assured her that her belongings were being kept inside the room beside Ashford's, but, as of yet, Raine had not verified their statement. She was too busy trying to find out who the man in the portrait was.

Somewhere in the house, a phone started to ring.

Raine frowned. The moment that the phone stopped ringing, she could almost swear that she heard one of the maids answer the call. In fact, the murmurs sounded so close that she was surprised not to see anyone up the second floor.

Yet, the sounds vanished as soon as she looked around.

Intrigued, Raine walked toward the staircase, hoping to see one of the maids nearby. Interestingly, there were no signs of them.

What's wrong with me? she mused, now confused.

Before Raine had the time to ponder this, the doorbell sounded, making her jump. On alert, she realized that there was another being – vampire – outside the door.

From her spot on the second floor, Raine watched as Lori, the youngest maid, hurried toward the front door. Lori said something in a whisper, although the visitor did not lower her voice when she gave a curt reply. Raine stepped away from the staircase. She recognized that voice: Melisande's.

"Miss Mel, please!" came Lori's panicked statement seconds later. "Master Ashford has expressly forbidden – "

"Where is she?" Melisande cut the maid off.

Even then, Raine could hear the vampire's footsteps coming up the staircase, followed by Lori's. Raine just hoped that the maid would be wise enough not to do anything drastic to Melisande that would force the vampire to attack. Without any of her slaying tools, Raine would not be able to help her.

Soon enough, Melisande emerged on the second floor, stopping abruptly when she saw Raine. Raine stared at the vampire defiantly, refusing to make the other woman see the misgivings running in her head. She did not even flinch when Melisande looked at her from head to toe, even after noticing the hunger in their visitor's eyes.

"Leave us, Lori," Raine ordered the young maid who was looking at her so desperately. With a hungry vampire around, Raine would first make sure that Lori was safe.

"But Mistress – " Lori began.

"I will deal with Ashford later," Raine reassured her. If I get a chance to see him again, that is, she thought. "Please give us a moment."

Melisande waited for Lori to leave before opening her mouth. "Look at you. You have been here for only a few days, and the servants already call you 'Mistress.' I was a resident of this house at one point, but I am still 'Miss Mel.'"

"What do you want?" Raine asked. She could not forget her last encounter with this vampire. Melisande had attacked her on the road, and only her slaying tools saved Raine then – tools that she did not have at the moment.

"I wanted to see you," Melisande answered, slowly walking toward Raine.

Raine refused to step back when the vampire came toe-to-toe with her, their faces inches away from one another. Melisande's brown eyes were dancing with delight, her lips curved in a sweet smile. Raine's hands itched to find a silver blade, but in a vampire's house, that would probably be the last thing she could get her hands on. She felt completely naked without her weapons.

"You seem fine now," the vampire continued. "You were not so the last time I saw you."

"I am fine," Raine said. "Ashford takes care of me very well."

Melisande's smile widened. "Yes, you are." She raised a gentle hand to lightly touch Raine's cheek. "And, yes, he does." The vampire closed her eyes and took a deep breath before whispering on Raine's ear: "I can still smell him on you."

Before Raine could react, the vampire's lips captured hers in a soft, sensual kiss. Surprised and confused by the woman's actions, Raine stepped back, gently pushing Melisande away. The eyes that met hers were dilated.

Was the vampire hungry? Aroused? Raine could not tell.

"Why are you here?" she asked the vampire instead.

Melisande stepped away with a sigh. "I wanted to know if you are satisfied with what I've gotten you."

Raine frowned. "What do you mean?"

One of the vampire's eyebrows shot up. "You haven't seen it yet, have you?"

"Seen what?"

The woman gestured toward the room where Raine was told her stuff were kept. "After you."

"No," Raine said, not trusting the vampire; "after you."

Melisande chuckled. "I have no intention of sinking my fangs into your neck, slayer." In any case, she walked ahead of Raine. "I merely want to make sure that my efforts are not wasted."

Despite the warnings in her head, Raine followed Melisande into the room. As the maids assured her earlier, her luggage was leaning against the wall near the bed. Melisande gently grabbed her wrist to steer Raine toward the closet. As soon as Melisande opened the door, Raine's jaw dropped.

The "closet" was so big it could be a room in itself. A luxurious beige carpet was spread from the door to the back wall, where a beautiful vanity mirror stood. On either side of the carpeted walkway were racks filled with clothes, from casual jeans and tees to the most elegant evening gowns. The entire left wall contained sandals and shoes, while the right wall was filled with handbags and purses. A third of the back wall was made of drawers, while the rest was left for all sorts of accessories.

"I hope that these clothes are to your liking," Melisande said, gently pulling Raine deeper into the room. "You can stay in this house for a year and not wear one outfit twice. Lingerie could be found in the drawers on the back wall – "

Raine interrupted her. "Why are you doing this?"

Melisande's eyebrow arched up. "Because my sire asked me to."

"Then, why is he doing this?" Raine snapped.

"Because he wants to," Melisande answered with a noncommittal shrug. "Because you are his lover."

"I think he must have misunderstood," Raine said, shaking her head and taking her hand out of Melisande's grip. "I don't plan to stay here and – "

This time, Melisande was the one who cut her off. "He does not expect you to." She smiled at Raine again. "But Ash does not like getting caught unprepared, so he wanted everything ready just in case you decide to stay."

Raine looked around once again. Overwhelmed by what she was seeing, she walked out of the closet and back into the bedroom. Behind her, she heard Melisande close the door. When she turned around to face the vampire, she only had time to inhale before Melisande shoved her hard.

Shocked, Raine could not even formulate a thought. She landed on the bed, but Melisande was on top of her before she could even react. The vampire caught her wrists and pinned her to the bed, planting a knee between Raine's thighs. All the while, the woman was looking at Raine as if the latter were one delectable meal.

"Don't even try," Melisande said in a singsong voice when Raine struggled against her hold. "You will not stand a chance against me."

"What the hell!" Raine cried.

Melisande chuckled, moving her knee higher to push against Raine's private part. A gasp escaped from Raine's throat. That soft sound seemed to delight Melisande, as the vampire closed her eyes and moaned, burying her face against Raine's neck.

Time seemed to stop. When she felt Melisande's mouth open, Raine prepared herself mentally for the impending bite. Instead, she was surprised to feel the vampire's tongue on her skin, wet and hot and sensual.

Raine released the breath that she did not even realize she was holding. Only then did she note the way Melisande's body was pressed against hers. The vampire did not mean to maul her; her intention was to devour – and not in a bloody feeding frenzy that vampires sometimes indulge themselves in. The scent of arousal that reached Raine's nose was proof of it.

"I don't want to harm you," Melisande whispered in Raine's ear. "Not even on that day I saw you at the gas station."

Despite what her brain was telling her, Raine stopped struggling, closing her eyes as she felt Melisande kissing the side of her neck. As she did so, Melisande loosened her grip – at least on Raine's left hand. The vampire placed her head on Raine's shoulder and then began stroking Raine's arm.

"I have wanted you the first time I laid eyes on you," Melisande whispered on Raine's ear. "Standing beside your car, so completely unaware of my stares... You were a wonder."

Raine felt Melisande's hand on her thigh, stroking it gently, teasingly. Up, up the hand went, pushing aside the robe that covered Raine's body, getting closer to that intimate place between her thighs. When it came too close, Melisande would bring it back down again, teasing Raine with the promise of a touch but never quite letting her have it. Raine hissed.

"I had to see you up close," the vampire was saying. "I had to know who you are. I became so desperate that I ignored the warnings, throwing caution to the wind. I realized too late that you already belong to someone else."

Despite her reservations, Raine shifted under Melisande, trying to quench the rising excitement that the woman's touch was evoking in her. As if reading her thoughts, Melisande spread Raine's legs farther apart, easing her body in between Raine's thighs. Her other hand sought its way under Raine's robe to stroke the side of the latter's breast.

"I wanted you then." There was huskiness in Melisande's voice now. "I still want you now."

Melisande's mouth closed over an exposed nipple, eliciting a gasp from Raine. At the same time, her hand found its way between Raine's legs, intimately touching that part where no other woman's hand had ever been before.

As if under the vampire's spell, Raine's body arched toward the source of unexpected pleasure. On her breast, Melisande's mouth was working wonders. The gentle sucking and biting were bringing forth a whole set of sensations that made her core ache. Between her legs, the other woman's fingers were adeptly exploring her moist depths – in and out, in and out, getting wetter and wetter with each stroke.

A part of Raine was telling her to stop Melisande – to stop the sweet madness that was starting to muddle her thoughts. But her body wanted another thing. Closing her eyes tightly, she bit her lower lip to prevent any sound from coming out.

All of a sudden, a memory – a reminder – invaded her thought.

"You are mine, Raine. Now and for eternity."

As if cold water was poured over her, Raine shoved Melisande as hard as she could. The force Raine applied sent the vampire flying to the wall. The sound of the impact sent a sharp ache to Raine's head –a pain that was gone as soon as it had come.

Raine could only imagine her face mirroring the shocked expression that she was seeing on Melisande's, but she was quicker to recover than the vampire. She wrapped Ashford's robe tightly around her body, hugging herself as she started to tremble. Across from her, against the wall, Melisande's eyes started to go red, and Raine noticed that the woman was trying her hardest not to bare her fangs.

"You have to go," Raine said in a voice that was now beginning to shake – not due to fear, but due to the relentless trembling of her body.

The vampire looked at her for a long minute, glaring. Raine returned the glare. There was something going on with her – something so wrong – and she did not want Melisande close. Whatever it was that was giving her goosebumps right now felt so off that Raine just wanted to be left alone.

"You have to go now," she said with more emphasis, hoping that those simple words would convey the urgency she felt.

For a moment, Melisande hesitated. There was anger in the vampire's eyes, but there was also fear – so much fear that Raine could smell it. By this time, Raine's shudders were starting to subside, but the feeling that something was not right grew more intense with every passing moment.

Finally, Melisande rushed out of the room, and Raine was left alone to gape at the wall across the bed. There were cracks on the surface, concentrated on the spot where Melisande must have hit the wall.

The impossibility of what just happened slowly dawned on Raine.

"What the..." she whispered. Unable to believe what she was seeing, Raine approached the wall and traced the cracks with her fingers. All hopes that this was not real vanished when she felt the rough edges of the gaps created by the impact of Melisande's body.

"Oh my god."

Raine put a hand over her mouth, slowly backing away from that fractured spot. Her mind was reeling, filled with questions that had no answers. Yet, before she could organize her thoughts, she felt the approach of a vampire. Not Melisande, that's for sure, but not Ashford either. Nor was it Amélie. The scent of the approaching entity was unlike the other three's.

Cold water seemed to drench Raine for the second time. When had she ever distinguished one person from another through scent alone? But there was no point in denying the fact that she could smell the vampire.

Her head began pounding, and she felt nauseatingly cold. Tremors rocked her body now, and Raine quickly sat on the bed in an effort to steady herself. Just as she managed to do so, stabs of pain assaulted her stomach, causing her to double over. As the pain radiated all over her body, Raine let out a blood-curdling scream.

*****

Ross cursed vehemently, slamming the door behind him. He arrived at Ashford's house just in time to hear Rained's distressed cry. The servants of the house were gathered at the foot of the staircase, every single one of them pale on the face. Martha, the oldest, was about to start climbing the stairs, and Ross rushed to her side to stop her.

"Leave her to me," he said, pressing Martha to one of the younger maids. "Get out of the house quickly, and don't return until your master calls for you."

He did not wait to see if his orders were followed. Taking two steps at a time, Ross ascended the stairs, bracing himself for the battle up ahead.

Curiously, however, things seemed to have calmed down when he reached the second floor. Raine had fallen silent, and there was an air of stillness in the house that did not feel right to Ross. He could still hear the woman's breathing, and he followed it cautiously towards the room beside Ashford's.

The door of the room was open, and from outside, Ross could see Raine sitting on the edge of the bed. He could have strolled in, but he was not stupid enough to walk right into another's territory without permission. Besides, the tension with which Raine was holding her body upright was enough of a sign that she knew he was there and she was waiting warily for his next move.

Being the civilized vampire that his sire raised him to be, Ross knocked on the open door. Only Raine's eyes moved to acknowledge his presence.

"Hello Raine," he said quietly, not knowing exactly how to approach the woman whose eyes were trained on him. "My name is Ross. I am one of Ashford's children." When she did not respond, he asked, "May I come in?"

Raine moved her head to stare straight at him. Ross managed to flash a weak smile, even though the sharp look in her eyes was ample warning of the girl's distrust. Not that Ross could blame her; he was a vampire, after all.

"My sire asked me to come," he explained, holding his position by the door. She had not granted him leave to enter the room, and Ross would not risk life and limb by giving her a reason to attack.

Ever so slightly, Raine nodded her head before staring at the wall in front of her. Only then did Ross enter, although he could not take his eyes off Raine. He noticed that her body was shaking, and beads of perspiration peppered her forehead.

Stopping just an arm's length away from her, Ross studied the woman's features. Her deep blue eyes had already turned golden, and he had no doubt that she was hiding sharp fangs behind pursed lips. This last suspicion was confirmed when Raine spoke.

"What is wrong with me?" she asked.

Nothing, Ross thought; this is your inheritance. But it was not something he could tell the woman. Ashford could enlighten her, perhaps, but he himself would not. Ross knew where the line was drawn, and it was not in his personality to cross it.

Ross turned to look at the wall that had her so transfixed. He hissed a curse at what he saw, taking in the web of harsh cracks that had marred the structure. He could tell by the arrangement of the fractures that something was slammed on it.

Or someone. Ross traced the section where the cracks seemed to have originated. The circular pattern was reminiscent of a head, but no ordinary human could get slammed on a wall and cause such fractures without cracking the head open. Whoever was unfortunate enough to get his or her skull—

Ross frowned. A golden strand of hair was caught in the crack, and Ross did not need the accompanying scent to know that it belonged to Melisande. Of course. Unfortunately, the woman had never mastered self-control, but he had thought that she would at least have the decency to obey their sire. If things carried on the way that they currently were going, there would definitely be blood.

Balling his fists, Ross nonetheless spoke to Raine in calm tone to confirm what he already knew. "Was Melisande here?" A curt nod was Raine's only answer. "Did she hurt you?"

Raine let out a hollow laugh, giving Ross another glimpse of short, sharp fangs. "I'm afraid that it was I who hurt her."

But she upset you enough to cause this, Ross thought, once again looking over the woman. Had she seen herself in the mirror? Ross did not think so. If she had, Raine might panic too much, and things would considerably be worse.

When Melisande brought her to Ashford several days ago, it was because Raine had been delirious with pain. Understandably, Melisande had not known what to do. At the first sign of Raine's transformation, Mel had run to the only person she knew would be in a position to help: their sire. Ashford had been livid after knowing about Melisande's attack, but seeing to Raine's care was first and foremost on Ash's mind; he had let it go without much fuss, choosing to be with Raine instead of after Melisande.

Their sire was generous to a fault, but seeing Raine now, Ross wondered how Ashford would react when he found out. And he was bound to find out, one way or another. If not through Ross, then through Raine, and if not through Raine, then through the servants. There was no hiding something like this from Ashford, and Melisande could very well pay the price of disobedience.