The Vampire Playboy - Blood and Lust

Chapter 4

Olivia's POV

My sleep that night had not in fact been restful, it was fitful and filled with dreams, weird dreams filled with those intense blue eyes and the curious chestnut brown eyes I'd seen earlier in the day. I could see the smirk at my embarrassment and had woken up a number of times with the horrible feeling like I was being watched. I'd turned on the bedside lamp and looked around the unfamiliar bedroom at every shadow that was being cast. On the third time, I'd even gotten out of bed to check that the window was locked. It was. Each dream had left me rattled with a feeling that I couldn't describe, and I was confused as to why they hadn't been nightmares, they hadn't exactly been the kind of dream that would leave a smile on your face either. They had been broken and distorted almost like the pictures had been fuzzy, but I could always make out the eyes and the faces, replaying the same lunchtime scene over and over in my head.

By the time the sun came up, the feeling of being watched had gone but I'd given up on sleep and decided to finally properly unpack my clothes whilst waiting for David or Sophie to wake up. I organised my drawers and then my wardrobe. Waves of sadness washed over me with every item I unpacked, it felt so final, there was no going back, and I was pretty much alone. Around 8 am, I heard someone get up and popped my head out of the door to find David trying to creep downstairs.

"Hey kiddo, sorry if I woke you," he said to me and my heart immediately felt warm. My parents had never spoken to me with such kindness.

"I've been awake for a while, I couldn't sleep so I've just been unpacking and sorting out my things."

David smiled, "Come on, I'll make us a cup of tea and some breakfast. I make great poached eggs and toast"

"That sounds delicious" I replied as I followed him downstairs and took a seat at the kitchen table. Soon after, a hot cup of tea was placed in front of me, whilst David busied himself on the stove.

"Thank you for this and thank you again for taking me in."

David sat down and put two plates of poached eggs and toast on the table. I was starving and picked up my knife and fork to dig in.

"You don't need to thank me, you're a good kid and, well, frankly, your parents should be ashamed of themselves, you've turned out well despite them, and I want you to treat this place like home, in fact, I think we should go get that paint for you today, and anything else you want for the room to make it yours."

"Thank you, I don't mind the colour, it's like a blank canvas, but, would you mind if maybe I put some pictures or posters on the walls? I've never been allowed to put anything on the walls before."

A look of shock and then sympathy spread across his face.

"Anything you want, it's your room, you can paint the whole thing black if you want" he laughed.

I scrunched my nose up at the thought of a black bedroom.

"Posters and pictures are fine, I'm not sure what I'll be able to get in town."

"It doesn't have a big selection but the hardware shop in town has posters and other things to decorate the room with. I'll give Tom a call and tell him to open a tab for you. You get whatever you want and don't worry about the cost. I've got to go into the city today for work. I'll be staying there overnight too, and I had better get Sophie up or she'll be late for work. Will you be OK yourself today?"

"I'm up!" Sophie shouted from the stairs.

"I'll be fine, I'll walk into town, and google maps will keep me right. Thank you for breakfast and everything."

"Honey, you need to stop saying thank you, consider yourself part of this family now."

Once again, I wished my dad was like David, even half like him would be an improvement. I quickly washed our dishes and then made my way upstairs. It was another nice day outside, I thought as I absentmindedly flipped through the clothes I'd put in the wardrobe. My hand hovered over another dress. This time it was an off-white linen summer dress with pale pink flowers dotted around it which came to my knees. I don't think I'd ever been brave enough to wear it before, but this was a fresh start, a time for me to worry less about what others might think about me and to try not to be that shy outcast anymore that blended into the background. Although I didn't mind blending into the background so much, I didn't like being the centre of attention. I looked at myself in the mirror after I put the dress on. It was definitely not my usual style, but I didn't think I looked too bad in it. I hadn't been blessed with height. In fact, I was what I always described as vertically challenged and my figure wasn't awful, but it wasn't like those tall slim girls who turned heads. I had hips with a smaller waist and fuller bust that filled the dress out nicely. My stomach wasn't completely flat and I was always conscious of it, but thankfully the material skimmed that area. I went for the minimal makeup look again and then set about using my curling iron to tame the frizzy hair that was the result of putting it up wet yesterday.

"Olivia?" Sophie called from outside my door.

"Yeah? Come in"

Sophie strolled in wearing her work uniform and sat on the bed.

"It's not fair I need to go to work and stack shelves and serve customers while you get to go out looking like that" she pouted and I laughed.

"At least you have a job, I'll be walking around a town alone where I don't know anyone." Oh god why did I say that? Now I'd made myself nervous.

"Dad said you were up early this morning, is everything OK?"

"Yeah. I had some weird dreams. I think it's just being in a different place, you know? Yesterday was probably a bit more overwhelming than I realised"

"What were the dreams about?"

I snorted and then felt my cheeks flush.

Sophie laughed "One of those kinds of dreams, eh?"

"Noooo!" I squealed "I mean it was about those guys in the bar, but it was weird. I can't really describe them". I shivered when I thought about the feeling of being watched again.

"You had a dream about Charlie and Noah! Interesting! They'll probably like you, they seem to like out-of-town people, actually, they seem to like most things that move. Not that I'm saying you're not gorgeous, crap this is coming out all wrong. Erugh look, not to put you off but they don't really date, and they don't do relationships, any of the local girls I know who they've been with has been a one-time deal or like a friends-with-benefits type thing, some of the people from out of town they've kept around for a few weeks but I've never known them to actually have girlfriends. They're typical playboys."

I laughed, the idea they would be interested in me was absurd.

"I don't think you need to worry about me. I'm not exactly the type of most boys, or any boys for that matter. I'm sure I'll be just as invisible to them as the boys back home."

"Anyway, if you're ready I'll walk into town with you. Dad said you're going to get some bits for your room?"

"Yeah, I'm actually really excited about it. I've never had a room that's mine to make it my own. That's pathetic, isn't it?"

"I hate your parents," Sophie said scornfully.

The walk to the grocery store when Sophie worked was pleasant, the sun was out and the temperature was warmer than I'd expected, we hugged goodbye before she went in and I was left alone to wander around town until she finished at 8 pm that evening.

Sophie had given me a brief description of the hardware store which I tried to follow but naturally got lost. I wandered around for 15 minutes until I finally stumbled upon it. A bell went off when I entered the door and an older man looked at me from the checkout with a broad, friendly smile.

"You must be Olivia?" He said with an accent that I couldn't place.

"Yes, I am, you must be Tom, right?"

"Indeed, David told me to expect you, it's nice to meet you, take your time and just shout if you need any help."

"I will thank you." Was the whole town this friendly, I wondered?

I slowly moved around the store, aisle by aisle, surveying the various hardware items until finally, toward the back of the store there was a door which led to another room that had all of the homeware items. The soft furnishings caught my eye and I ran my hand over the various different fabrics on the blankets and covers, resting my hand on a soft and fluffy pink throw. I'd just found my first item. I had to admit I loved the colour pink and I loved being cosy under a blanket. To the left of that was a duvet cover that was grey with pale pink flowers. I ran my hand over it and imagined how it would look on the bed with the blanket. I reached to pick it up and tuck it under my arm when I was stopped in my tracks by the same feeling I'd had of being watched. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I had goosebumps down my arm, filled with the strong urge to turn around. This time I didn't try to resist it and quickly turned around towards the door. There was no one there, I was alone in the room.

Weird, I thought, and then continued to look at the items. Alongside the blanket and cover, I picked up some grey and pink pillar candles, a pink and grey floral canvas for the wall and a vase of decorative flowers and two photo frames. My arms were full and it made walking difficult as I tried to juggle the various items. I hadn't expected to like so many things, so I didn't grab a basket. Midway, I was overcome again by the sensation of being watched. Once more, I looked around to find I was alone.

I began to move towards the checkout once more when I stumbled and lost my balance. I desperately tried to clamp everything in my arms to my chest but it was too late and the vase slipped out of my grasp.

"No!" I cried out as I squeezed my eyes closed and waited for the inevitable sound of smashed glass.