My Personal Beast

Chapter 13

Aria! There’s a delivery for you,” Malika called out. I was in our kitchen, helping mother prepare dinner for tonight.

“I wonder what it is,” I said absentmindedly rubbing my hands over my apron.

“Here,” Malika said handing me the most beautiful bouquet of roses I had ever seen. They were a deep red.

“There’s a card too,” She said with a smirk. I took the card from her, reading her expression very carefully. She nodded towards the card. I looked down and inthe most beautiful, elegant handwriting, it said:

Dear Aria,

I know I’ve only known you for a day, but out hunting I saw these flowers and they reminded me of you. I do hope you like them.

Yours truly, Klaus

“Who’s it from?” My mother asked.

“Klaus,” I said smiling.

“Well, looks like you’ve won over his heart.” She said in a blank tone. I looked at her in frustration. Her expression gave away nothing, and she went back to the kitchen.

“Aria, don’t break the poor man’s heart.” Malika smiled at me. I stuck my tongue out at her.

“Stop acting so childish.” Luke laughed, walking over to us and ruffling my hair.

“Hey,” I complained.

“Mother wants us to go pick some flowers for the dining hall.” Melody said.

“Alright,” I said. I ran up to my room, found a pretty vase, and placed the flowers on my window pane.

The past couple of days passed, pretty much the same. I would constantly receive flowers from Klaus, each always a different color. Blues, whites, purples and yellow. But never pink. I hated pink.

“Let’s go.” Malika called out. It was Saturday, the day of our lake side picnic with the Grigoris.

“In a minute,” I said checking myself in the mirror.

“I had never thought I’d see the day you would care about what you looked like,” Luke said walking into the room.

“Shut up,” I muttered. My hair flowed freely today, just below my back.

“I never know how you ended up with such dark hair,” Luke said running his hands through my hair. He was right. Malika and Melody both had sandy blonde hair, the same as my father. My mother had a golden brown tint in her hair, the same as Luke. My hair was so dark it almost looked black.

“Let’s go,” I said tugging on his arm.

When we arrived at the lake, a huge, wooden boat stood on the water. It was elegant and unique, probably one of the best boat’s in Europe.

‘Hello,” Klaus greeted us all.

“Hey,” I smiled.

“Good morning Mrs. Montgomery, Mr. Montgomery,” He greeted my parents.

“Morning,” My mother said blankly. This entire week she had been acting like this. Showing an intense dislike to Klaus that I never understood.

“Wow.” I sighed, “It’s so pretty out here.” We had sailed for about two hours now, late into the afternoon. We were nearing the south side forest, but I didn’t think he would take us that far.

“I love coming out here and painting the lake. It’s so peaceful.” Klaus smiled.

“You paint?” I asked curiously.

“Yes, would you like to see some of it?” He asked.

“Please,” I said with a smile. He took my hand and guided me into the ships cabin. When we walked into the room I could see various paintings cover the walls. Beautiful landscapes, flowers, waterfalls.

“Here it is,” Klaus said guiding me to a rather big painting. The lake was the main focus, but you could see the castles and hills behind.

“Wow,” I breathed.

“This is my latest painting,” Klaus said. He guided me to an aisle. I gasped. On the painting there was a woman with dark hair and deep eyes. She wore a black dress that hugged her curves.

“You’ve been painting me?” I asked softly.

“From the night we met.” He smiled. I should have been a little creeped out, and a little scared. But I wasn’t. I was flattered.

“You’re a really good painter.” I mumbled.

“Thank you.” He smiled. “But this painting doesn’t do you justice. You’re much more beautiful in person,” He muttered. His voice was husky and he was moving closer to me.

“I think it’s really pretty,” I muttered, trying not to pay attention to the limited amount of space between us.

“You’re so much more magnificent in person,” Klaus said cupping my face in his hand. He lifted my chin up and tilted his head down. I closed the distance between us, letting my lips gently touch his. He kissed me gently but passionately.

“Hey, Aria moth-” Malika stopped dead when she saw us kissing. I pulled back abruptly, my face turning red.

“Sorry, I, uh, I’ll leave-” Malika stammered. She shut the door with a loud bang.

“That was awkward.” I chuckled.

“I wish she hadn’t interrupted us though,” Klaus said wrapping his hands around my waist.

“Maybe we should take this slow,” I muttered pulling away from him.

“alright then.” He muttered. His face looked a little down cast and I instantly regretted pulling away from him.

“It’s just, I don’t want this to be short lived. I’ve had enough of that for one lifetime.” I muttered.

“I agree.” Klaus said taking my hand again. We strolled out the cabin hand in hand. My mother shot me many angry glares but the rest of my family all had smiles plastered onto their faces. Even my father looked ecstatic. I rolled my eyes at them all, knowing they were eavesdropping. Stupid witch powers.

“Let’s eat.” Klaus said guiding me to a chair. I sat down beside him and for the rest of that day we all talked and laughed like normal people. But I could feel the intense gaze coming from my mother.