The Skinwalker Hunter

Chapter 11 - Mia

You would think starting a new life, in a new house, in a new town would warrant some form of excitement, but not for me. I guess it was the long drive and arriving in the wee hours of the morning that drained most of my enthusiasm. When Evan finally pulled the car up in front of the house, I was so tired all I wanted was a soft place to fall. Preferably without seatbelts and that is where I found myself now.

I rolled over and buried my head under the blankets. They were softer than I was used to. Come to think of it, so was the mattress. No harsh spring prodding at my side. No sagging middle making me feel like a turtle stuck on its back, rocking back and forth trying to escape. This wasn't my home, but this type of comfort gave the place some potential. I peeked out from underneath the blankets to find nothing but darkness. My eyebrows pinched together in confusion. Was it still night?

Sitting up, blankets clutched tightly to my chest, I looked around the room as shapes started to emerge from the darkness. On my left, a lamp started to take shape on top of a bedside table. Dark curtains fell from the ceiling to the floor, spanning the length of the wall. My eyes darted to the sudden movement across the other side of the room. Squinting my eyes I leaned forward to get a better look. The thing moved closer as well. I squealed and pulled the covers over my eyes. 

"Stop being such a baby," I chastised myself, audibly swallowing before peaking out from the blanket. The shape was bigger now like it was also hiding beneath the covers. "Idiot."

Slapping the palm of my hand to my forehead in realisation, I threw the covers back and swung my legs out over the side of the bed. I slid down until my feet touched the soft carpeted floor. Reaching my arms out in front of me, my fingers found the wall and I followed it trying to find a door or some way out of this dark room.

"Owww," I moaned popping on the W  as pain rocketed through my toes, my foot now throbbing. Some large piece of furniture in my way had just assaulted me and now was blocking my way. Shuffling my feet along the carpet to avoid feeling like I'm going to lose another toe, I felt my way along the long length of the dresser.  After that, there was more wall. I was starting to think that I would never find my way out when my fingers found a smooth raised section. Flicking on the switch, I grimaced at the brightness and surveyed the room.

Across from the bed was the wall length, mirrored wardrobe that had freaked me out earlier. It wasn't bad, I mean all the furniture looked modern and wasn't mismatched like my old room. It was the walls I wasn't sure I could live with. They were all painted a dark, smoky grey. Even the ceiling was the same dark grey. I needed colour. Colour was my friend. Colour brightened up my mood. This colour was depressing, and where was my glow in the dark stars. I missed them already.

Letting out a sigh I grabbed the handle and pulled. A loud creak shattered the silence making me cringe as I closed the door behind me.

"You've got to be kidding me, " I muttered as I looked up and down the hallway. The walls and ceiling were the same drab colour as the bedroom. "Was there a special on depression grey paint?"

I headed down the hallway glancing in an open doorway on the right. It looked like a lounge room with cream couches circling a glass coffee table. A flat-screen was fastened to the wall and the wall-length window was covered with floor to ceiling black curtains.

"Black, cream and clear do not pass for a colour scheme." I thought continuing down the hallway.

In the end, it opened up into a large room with a white tiled floor and a glass table in the middle set up for eight placings. Of course, the window was covered with thick black curtains. The light seemed to be banished from every window and door in this place.

I scrunched my brow thinking about meeting Rosa last night. She had fangs, I was sure of it. Maybe she also had an aversion to sunlight?

I rolled my eyes and shook the thought out of my head. I'd seen Evan during the daytime and yet I suspected him of being a vampire. All this stress was turning me into a looney bin. I needed to get a grip.

The kitchen opened up into a spacious entertainment room of some sorts with a sofa stretching across the length and extending along half of another depressing grey wall. A pool table was the centrepiece of the room and a cabinet at the end contained an assortment of pool cues, balls and other things I wasn't too sure about.

"Where is everyone," I thought, making my way through an arched doorway and into yet another grey room. "Grandma!.

No answer, I called again, this time somewhat louder. Still no answer. In the next, you guessed it, dark grey room there was a set of stairs leading down.

"A basement, cool," I'd never lived in a house with a basement or knew anyone who had one. They were rarely built into the majority of houses in Australia. I'd always assumed they were an American household feature, as most of the American shows I'd watched. I switched on the light and called out down the stairs "Hello!"

"Mia?" A trill voice echoed back at me. "Come down here and check this out, you'll love it."

Not needing any more encouragement than that, I skipped down the stairs, leaping off the third last step to land with a soft thud on the carpeted floor. At the other side of the room, sitting cross-legged on a luxurious looking, king-sized bed sat Rosa. She patted the spot next to her motioning me to join her. Smirking at her childlike behaviour, I dismissed the vampire theories still forming in my mind.

Crawling up next to her I noticed that Rosa's mattress was even softer than the one in my room. I sank into its glorious softness and looked at everything spread out over the rest of the bed. There were handbags of every colour and style you could think of. Shiny shoes, flat shoes, runners and heels. There were so many they took up the entire bed. Delicately laid out over the pink pillows, at the head of the bed, were numerous pieces I thought would belong in a high end, jewellery boutique somewhere in the city, not the basement of a house in the country.

"Pretty," I cooed, dazzled by the dancing gemstones. 

"Try them on," Rosa said, her hand blurring from her side to the pillow and back again. I blinked my eyes several times trying to focus as a thick platinum chain dangled between the long, thin fingers of the hand now in front of my face. "Go on."

Reaching out towards the necklace I flinched as the hand blurred again, turning over and revealing a large oval gemstone adorned with delicate, patterns and swirls holding it in place.

"It's beautiful," I whispered, lightly circling the stone with my finger. Twisting her hand around Rosa placed the necklace in my hand. Staring at it and marvelling at how heavy it was and getting lost in the depth of its colour. "This is amazing, how old would something like this be?"

"A couple of hundred years I believe," she replied, leaning down to stare at my face causing my forehead to crease. "Your eyes are the same colour as the amethyst and those of the original owner of this necklace. It was chosen and designed to match her eyes perfectly."

My cheeks filled with colour as she continued to stare at me.

"You have the same eyes," she chirped excitedly, lifting herself with her arms and bouncing back down several times. "I miss Emily terribly."

"Excuse me," my head shot up, glaring at the beautiful, ivory-skinned creature sitting next to me. "Who is Emily?"

"My brother's wife. He spent a pretty penny on the stone and designed the embellishments to hold the stone in himself." She beamed with pride at the memory, a wistful smile across her face.

"You said it was a couple of hundred years old," I accused, turning the pendant over in my hand to look for a jewellers mark. "Don't you mean a few years?"

The smile vanished and the edges of her face went fuzzy as she turned her head back to me. "Crapity, crap, crap, crap! Evan is going to be pissed at me, again."

I snorted out a laugh at her sudden outburst, unable to hold it in. "Why, what have you done?"

"Said too much," she whimpered, looking genuinely worried about Evans reaction.

My eyes widened as her words confirmed the conclusion my imagination had reached. "How old are you?"

"A little older than the necklace," she confessed, biting her lip. Her words were slow and precise.

"And that would be hundreds of year's, not a few?" My voice shook with fear, and excitement at the same time in want for her to confirm my suspicions.

"Yeeesss," she drew out the word, obviously fighting with the need to answer my question and not reveal too much as to piss off Evan. "You have to admit that I look good for my age."

The necklace dropped from my hand and sank into the soft covers in front of me. I tucked my arms in, falling to my side and pushing myself towards the edge of the bed. I landed with a thump on the floor facing Rosa's black eyes as she peered down at me.

"Mia?" My name was a question on her lips. "Should I go get your grandma?"

I crawled to the base of the stairs, not trusting my kegs to hold me up and started scurrying away from the immortal bloodsucker with the fabulous, fashion accessories collection. Each hard step was bruising my knees, I just knew it, but I didn't care right now. At the top of the stairs, I turned from the arched doorway into an unfamiliar room with darkened walls and windows. So a room like all the rest.

There were a few shelves built into the wall and a washing machine and dryer pushed up against the wall.

"Laundry," I stammered, wildly looking around for an escape. "Laundry's always had a door leading outside."

On the far wall, I spotted the telltale black curtains, blocking out the light. Rosa's voice echoed up the staircase but was too muffled to make out what she was saying. She was talking to someone else, must have been on the phone. I found the handle, unbolted the lock and pushed the door open.