The Vampires Pet

Chapter 11

I wasn't covered in water but my body trembled as if I was drenched. I wasn't sure what just happened, my mind was muddled and my body was in shock. Something from that dream or whatever it was had dug somewhere deep in my mind and set off a reaction. 

"Were you dreaming of drowning?" Nicholas asked, retrieving a towel from the bathroom and putting it on the puddle of water.

I pursued my lips, climbing off the floor and sitting back on the couch. Nicholas had already sat at the end of his bed facing me. 

"I dreamt of a lake." I said softly, still trying to grasp what just happened. 

"A lake you had seen before?" 

I went to shake my head but stopped myself mid shake, I don't recall ever seeing a lake but it felt like I had been there before. Nicholas watched my reaction to his question. 

"I'm not sure Master. It felt familiar." I thought Nicholas would be furious that I woke him up during his slumber, my eyes met his, possibly reflecting my thoughts.

"I was awake anyway." He said. "Have you ever had an accident swimming or almost drowned?" 

"No." Why did it feel so weird though? I was second guessing myself on every answer, feeling like I didn't know the right one but I should. 

Nicholas's face was scrunched up while he processed everything. How could a dream make me cough up water like I was drowning? It just wasn't normal, it wasn't possible. I wasn't sure how much I should tell Nicholas and how much I should keep to myself, something felt uncanny and I wanted to figure this out. How? I wasn't sure, I was stuck here with this vampire who was also digging into my past. 

"Are you feeling okay now?" Nicholas asked. "Any weird feeling, dizziness? Foggy mind?" 

"I have a lingering feeling of fear." I was afraid of that dream, of that lake and the fear wasn't going away. 

His eyes dropped to the towel that had now soaked up all the water, he knelt down and lifted the towel. His expression changed in a matter of seconds, something flashing through his eyes. He stood abruptly, leaving the towel in the same place. 

"Go back to sleep or don't, I don't really care. I'm going out." He walked into his closet and quickly put a coat on before disappearing from the room. 

I stared at the door wondering where he was going off to at this time of the night. I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep so I wrapped the blanket around me and stayed on the couch, staring out of the window at the pitch darkness.

For some reason, the scene of the rogue attack flashed through my mind. The eerie feeling was similar to what I felt that day. I looked to the bookshelf, because I had escaped, I had no idea what happened to that empty book I had taken from the house. Perhaps Nicholas returned it or maybe just threw it away, but I was silently hoping he brought it here. 

I climbed from the couch and walked to the bookshelf, the blanket wrapped tightly around my small body. My eyes skimmed over all of the spines of the books. I sighed in defeat when I couldn't find it. A small crash sounded behind me, making me jump and spin around. My eyes quickly scanned the dark room, my heart beating rapidly. 

My eyes landed on a book on the ground, I slowly walked forward. I gasped when I realised this wasn't just any book, it was the book I had been looking for. When it fell from wherever it was, it slid across the floor and landed beside the towel. I knelt down once I reached the book and the towel, my eyes became drawn to the area where the water I coughed up was once. 

I reached out and grabbed the towel, Nicholas had a strange reaction when he lifted the towel earlier. My heartbeat quickened, my breathing ragged as I stared hollowly at what lay beneath the towel. 

——–——————–———————————–——————–———————————–——————–———————————

Third Person POV.

Nicholas walked inside the building that made his very being want to shrivel into a ball and retreat into a corner. However he was much stronger than the others, and although the feeling was unpleasant he was able to withstand it. 

He walked down the aisle, spotting the silhouette of the man sitting on the bench at the front. The man didn't move as the sound of Nicholas's shoes echoed through the building. 

"What brings you here at this hour, Lord Nicholas?" The man's voice was calm and even. 

Nicholas sat on the bench parallel to the man, staring at the details on the stained windows that littered the building. 

"I need answers." Nicholas spoke gruffly. 

"As always." The man had his eyes closed as he took steady breaths. He wasn't too fazed by Nicholas's presence, Nicholas was brash and rude but he could see further into Nicholas than the others. "What is it this time?"

"Can a human be affected by a spell that had been casted already if they come into contact with what the spell was casted onto?" 

The man raised his grey eyebrow, he had heard the rumours of Nicholas bringing home a human girl to be his pet. He wondered if the human he was speaking about was her. 

"It depends on the nature of the spell."

Some spells are casted to not only affect the target, but those who come into contact with it but it was rare to see spells like that casted nowadays. He thought it was unlikely that was the case.

"My pet seems to have been affected by a spell or someones casted a spell on her." Nicholas said, his tone sharp enough to cut through metal. 

The man smiled, Nicholas was indeed talking about the girl he brought home. He felt a sense of hope wash over him. 

"You know the main signs a target shows after a spell has taken place." 

"She appeared fine, she was just frightened." Nicholas clenched his jaw. "She woke up, coughing viscously and shaking until she coughed up water. Anyone would've thought she just drowned, there's no way she could've physically drowned however she said she dreamt of a lake." 

"And you think this is because she came into contact with a casted spell?" 

"Over a week ago, I took Faye with me on a job. It turned out the simple rogue attack I went to investigate was actually a rogue attack aided by a witch. The four victims had their eyes wide open and expressed complete terror. When Faye locked eyes with the elder woman, she saw her deceased mother in the woman's place and went into a panic. It was like she got affected by the spell or magic somehow." 

"I see." 

The man could think of a few reasons why this was happening, he knew he had to guide Nicholas but he had no intention of telling him those reasons. Nicholas would just have to work things out on his own, but that was something he was good at. 

"One more thing." Nicholas turned to the man, he opened his green eyes meeting Nicholas's red ones for the first time tonight. "Under the towel where she had coughed up water, her name was stained into the wood." 

The man raised his left brow, he had far more wrinkles and line than Nicholas but for good reason. He had lived far longer than Nicholas had and experienced far more, that was why Nicholas came to him for answers. He took in the information Nicholas had given him. He understood Nicholas's distress, something had definitely latched onto Faye, whether that be a spell or something else. 

"Just her name?"

"Her true name that no one else should know about." This was beginning to become interesting the man thought. "Orphea." 

The name drifted through his mind, it sounded familiar. Orphea was a rather unique name, he thought the name definitely was chosen for someone with a special future. There was a possibility if Faye's mind was weak that magic had seeped in and the effects had caused her the dream but the writing on the floor makes things more complicated. 

"For now just keep watch for any more strange occurrences. There's not much else I can assist with at this stage, I know you hate witches and their spells but do not kill the girl if she has become infested by a spell."  

"I will do what's necessary." Nicholas replied gruffly but the man watched his expression with a sly smile.

"You could help her strengthen her mind, after all minds are your specialty."  

Nicholas furrowed his brows at the old man's words, he knew what he was referring to but it just brought up another mystery about Faye. 

"I can't." The man stared at Nicholas.

"Can't?"

"I can't, not with Faye." Nicholas said, watching the old man's expression turn to surprise.         

"Now that is interesting." The man chuckled to himself. "And you discovered this after you think the magic got to Faye?" 

Nicholas shook his head, his red locks falling around his eyes messily. "I haven't been able to since the day I first saw her. I thought it was interesting in itself but Faye just keeps getting more complex." 

"It seems you purchased a fascinating pet Lord Nicholas. It is likely that whatever is happening with Faye, has been there for a while and possibly triggered by the remnants of the magic from the rogue attack." 

Nicholas sighed, he still didn't have any answers when it came to her. She was like an endless book. She was by far the most peculiar human he had ever met, but that's why he brought her after all. He stared at the white cross that sat in the center of the front wall, in the middle of the two largest stained glass windows that were decorated with details of witches. 

"Is there anything else you need?" The man asked, he had thought about asking Nicholas to bring Faye in so he could study her himself but he knew what Nicholas would say. Nicholas wasn't exactly the biggest fan of this place but he came here when it benefited him. 

"No that is all Gerald." 

Nicholas rose from the bench, giving Gerald a sideway glance and small nod before he walked out of the building. His body instantly felt refreshed once he sat in the carriage, away from the affects of the church. He could've brought Faye here, but he'd rather not have others prodding around her, he could do that himself. Nicholas was trying to involve Faye as little as possible even if this was about her, it was easier for him if she didn't exactly know what was going on. 

Even if Nicholas wouldn't admit it, deep down there was something that could explain Faye and what has happened with the magic. He was unconsciously sealing that idea away but soon he would get all the facts and have to come face to face with the reality and that might come sooner than he thought. 

——–——————–———————————–——————–———————————–——————–———————————

I wasn't sure how long I had been sitting on the floor, minutes? Maybe hours? Absently staring at the letters that were stained on the wooden floor that had spelled out my name, Orphea. It felt like someone was calling out to me, someone was trying to reach me but who? And how did they know my name when only Nicholas should know it now. The name had no faded and I wondered if it was ever truly there or if I was just going insane. Maybe I actually drowned and was now dead. My eyes flicked to the book with the few blood stains on the top corner, I couldn't help but wonder if this book had caused this all? Afterall, all the weird things started happening after I accompanied Nicholas to his job that had been tainted by a witches magic. I opened the book, carefully skimming through every page just incase Nicholas had missed something last time. I was dispirited when I realised there really was nothing in the book, not even page numbers.

The door opened quietly, I turned to my side and stared up at the vampire who walked in. Nicholas glanced around the dark room until his red eyes found my small figure sitting on the ground. His eyes quickly travelled to the now exposed spot on the floor where my name had been stained into the wood. 

"You saw it" He said more as a statement than a question. 

"Why was it there Nicholas?" I asked softly, blue eyes peering up into his red ones. 

He hung his coat up in his closet before walking to the couch and taking a seat. I remained on the ground, too drained from the earlier phenomenons. 

"Do you remember when I told you about how the mind works?" I knew by the fact that Nicholas didn't answer meant he didn't know either. 

"I remember Master. The mind is made up of rooms with doors and some can open and close them." I decided to just play along. 

I knew the night was going to be long, Nicholas didn't seem interested in going back to sleep and I was too afraid to. I think he knew that I was afraid to close my eyes and be swept back into my dreams and I wondered if he was distracting me and keeping me awake. 

Surely not. Nicholas was too evil to be thoughtful like that.