Nine
1124 Words
When Dorian had said he was going to take them somewhere better, Chiara and Mary weren’t sure what to expect—maybe a bat cave in the city, or a cottage in the forest—but they had left early in the evening for a seven-hour flight, an hour-drive, and then a two-hour boat ride. Right on the dot, they had arrived to their destination just as the dawn was breaking.
As soon as the boat touched touched sand, Mary was off running in excitement with her bags, Chiara helped Clarissa down, while Dorian carried the rest of the luggage.
“Sun's almost out. Are we nearby?” Chiara worriedly asked Dorian as she looked up at the sky.
“Just a few more minutes,” he replied, checking his phone while they trudged through the sand in their shoes. Right on cue as they reached the paved road, three tricycles turned up—the kind where the driver sits in front while room for two to three people were at the back. Dorian greeted the drivers in their local language then they began to help them with their bags—placing them at the back of one of the tricycles.
While Clarissa and Mary rode at the back of one of the vehicles, Chiara sat in the other. One of the locals asked if Dorian was ready, and he nodded—but right before he got in, he warily looked around to check if someone was following. He had been doing so for the entire time they were traveling—always on high alert for any one who seemed even the tiniest bit suspicious. It was a good thing that he didn’t need a good night's sleep.
Seeing nothing but a few tourists going out for an early swim or food, Dorian finally got into the back of the tricycles and told the drivers to go.
It took them around twenty minutes of travel time. They went through large roads full of tourists attractions at first, and then they turned a corner and suddenly, they were going up small uphill roads surrounded by only trees and abandoned cottages, and dangerous curbs that made Clarissa's heart almost give out.
When their tricycles finally stopped, they found themselves facing a house that seemed completely out of place to its surroundings. It was barely a quarter of the size of the mansion and only had two storeys, but its modernistic design—with the large, highly tinted glass walls, security system, and remote- controlled everything—it offered a lot of technological advances that the old-school Dupin Mansion didn't have.
“Mr. D, I know you’re rich and all that because you’re so old and you have a bunch of land,” Mary said in awe as she looked up at the house while unloading the back of the tricycle, “but why would a vampire like you have a house in a freaking island?”
“To get a tan?” Chiara suggested as a joke as she looked around. The house truly looked wonderful and well-maintained, but they seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. She wouldn’t put it past this place for a bear to come knocking or barging into those glass walls.
When all their bags were finally on the ground, Dorian thanked the men who helped them with a hefty amount of cash, and then they were off to go back to wherever they came from.
“I knew this would become useful at some point.” Dorian shook his head at Clarissa as he placed his thumbprint on the lock of the front door. “And you said it was a bad idea to buy this house and have it maintained, Clarissa.” He opened the double doors for everyone and they began to drag their luggage in.
“You haven’t used this house since you bought it thirty years ago, Master Dorian,” Clarissa rebutted while she began taking off the white cloths over the furniture.
“Thirty years?” Mary exclaimed in surprise as she haphazardly threw one of the duffel bags inside. “And no one ever thought to mention anything about this to me? How difficult is it to say ‘Hey, Mary, I have a house by the beach that I don’t use. Maybe you should take a vacation there,’ instead of keeping me locked in that huge-ass depressing mansion?”
“I… may have forgotten that this exists,” Dorian sheepishly answered, tinkering with the main security system pad.
With all of their luggage now inside, Chiara took it to herself to close the doors. “So, how long are we supposed to stay here, exactly?” she asked.
“At least until we figure out a plan to evade both the Order and the Council,” Dorian answered.
Mary chuckled as she began exploring the living room. “So, forever, then?” she asked, right before getting surprised when a mini fridge exposed itself from the supposed coffee table after she clicked a button.
“I do not know,” Dorian admitted, “but it would be best if everyone makes themselves at home here for the meantime.” He turned up the knob and suddenly, the air around them grew cooler.
“Sounds good to me,” Mary shrugged. She peeked into the mini fridge and was delighted to see that it was stocked. She quickly grabbed a beer and opened it. “I Googled this place and there’s a bar and a club just a couple of minutes away. There are jet skis, snorkeling, and diving as well,” she said, then she took a few gulps and let out a breath before turning to Chiara with a wide smile on her face. “What do you say, Chiara? Should we get our tan on?”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Clarissa cut in. “What if someone had followed us here?”
“We’re going out in the day. I think it’s pretty easy to spot a vampire—just watch out for a rando wearing long sleeves at the beach midday and then run the other way,” Mary replied, but the old lady didn’t seem to be contented with that answer.
“She is correct.” Everyone turned to Dorian in surprise.
“Master Dorian, are you really alright with this?” Clarissa asked in a worry.
“Mary's logic is sound. Our kind is weak to sunlight, especially on a glaring day. An attempt to attack will be easily seen,” Dorian stated.
Mary smirked as she pointed her beer at Chiara. “You hear that? My logic is sound.”
- Writer
