The vampire and the assassin

Chapter 25

I wandered around the house, watching out for holes in the floorboards, while checking that I really was on my own and that there was nothing useful in the house. When I found nothing useful, I found what looked to be the cleanest room in the house and curled up behind the door.

I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep at all. I was on edge the whole time that I was inside the house. It wasn't my home, and it certainly wasn't comfortable, nor did I feel safe. At this point, I wished deeply beyond anything that I was back in Lucian's torture house.

As I sat trying to sleep, all I could hear were the howls of wolves and the rain that was falling hard. I had a feeling it was going to cause trouble with my idea of trying to find my tracks and head back in that direction.

Eventually, I felt my eyes beginning to get heavy. I decided to nap for a few hours—anything to take the edge off what I was feeling. I just had to pray that I didn't enter a deep sleep as I could sometimes when I was exhausted. I could sleep later, deeper, after I'd explained to Glenda and probably Helena why I hadn't been home at all that night. I curled up more in the corner and fell asleep.

------------------------------------------------------------ A few hours later --------------------------------------------

I woke to my stomach grumbling in protest at the hunger from not eating the night before. I had no clue how long I'd been asleep in the filthy room upstairs. I didn't even want to think about the sleep, how much of a mess I'd probably looked, or how disgusting I probably smelled as well.

I forced myself to stand up as my body hurt from the cold. I told myself it could have been worse. I could have got caught in the downpour that happened last night. A cold shiver ran through me as I thought about how lucky I was that I hadn't, as I would have been freezing and would have probably got sick from it. I was probably still going to end up sick from being out in the cold of autumn nearly winter, but I'd deal with it when I got back. I turned to the window to see the dim autumn light of the sun coming through the window.

I carefully walked myself downstairs and then headed out of the house, looking around as I began to search for signs of where I'd been. I looked around for a moment and then found my shoe prints in the mud. An excitement washed over me that I might have been able to find my way back on my own. I bit my lip, a little scared, as I wondered what punishment I'd face by Helena's standards. I shook my head, not wanting to worry about that just yet, and took off, following my tracks and making my new tracks in reverse.

As I wadded through the mud, I found the place I'd slipped and let out a sigh as I allowed myself to stop for a moment until I heard rustling in the trees. I turned around and found Dorian standing there, exhausted.

"Finally found you." He muttered as if he were displeased with me. "Where the hell have you been?"

I didn't answer; I just threw my arms around him and held on to him tightly.

"Ok, ok, ok, enough stinky. You need to get a shower when you get back; you smell like a toilet or something, and you're covered in mud. Now, where have you been?"

"I found an abandoned hut in the dark and ended up staying there because I was scared," I told him quietly, as I honestly felt terrified. "I thought vampires couldn't be out during the day."

"We're not supposed to be; that's why I've been stuck in this heavy tree area most of the time I've been out looking for you." He scolded me, and he seemed a little ratty and short with me. I guessed this was also why vampires didn't come out in the sunlight, as it made them ratty and drained. "The very little bit of light that comes through now and again makes my skin itch." He complained. "Since we can't do anything until the sun goes down, care to tell me what happened? We have all day to get this out of you." He grinned as if he were hoping I wouldn't tell him.

I found a low tree branch and climbed up and sat on it as Dorian seemed to shift a little until it looked like he'd found a spot he was comfortable in. I told Dorian what had happened after I'd left him and what Dan had done and said. I looked down at my dirty nails as I began to pick the dirt out from under them.

"Am I in trouble?"

"Are you in trouble?" Dorian laughed, shaking his head. "You are with me for making me come out in the sunlight to find you. I doubt you're in trouble with Xander after hearing the story. You'll be in a pit of hell with Helena for hurting her favorite male human, and Glenda will be more than happy to send you to hell for what you've done as well."

I let out a slow sigh. "I'm sorry," I murmured quietly.

"Why didn't you come back to the house and find me?" I looked up to see him hurt by my actions. I hadn't really thought about it.

"I didn't think..." I retorted. "It just... it just..." I didn't know how to explain it to Dorian. It had brought back memories of Liam, and I didn't want to be that same person again. I didn't want to just accept it. At that moment, I wanted to be the fighter that Xander had said he'd seen. I quickly wiped away the tears.

"It brought back bad memories," Dorian said, climbing up the tree quickly and gracefully, which annoyed me a little for some unknown reason.

"Yeah." I retorted. "From my ex and all the crap, I went through and then..." My hands began to tremble. Why was I scared of admitting that Xander's words had also had an effect on me? Because you know his time is up soon, a darker part of me chimed in. I quickly turned my head away.

"And then what?" Dorian asked, nudging me gently with his shoulder.

"A part of me just reacted." I finished.

"Because you're a tough nut." Dorian finished. "Hell, I don't blame you for what you did. I'm proud of you for doing it. It's about time someone put that arse in his place. I think I'm more upset that you ran in the opposite direction from where you should have ran. You should have run back to the main house, and I would have let you stay and sleep in my room for the night. Helena will not come into my room; even if she smelled you, she wouldn't dare upset me." He grinned.

"Then I would have caused even more trouble for you and Lord Xander."

"Babe, we're both in your corner," Dorian confessed. "I'm your vampire best friend, and Xander..." He broke off quickly before he could say anything else.

"Is my boss." I decided to finish.

"Exactly. On that note, I better call the boss and tell him I haven't turned to ash and I have you with me." He shrugged as he jumped down and landed as if he were a cat. He took out his phone, hit a couple of buttons, and then began to pace around a little. I thought I could hear him mumbling, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure as my hearing was poor compared to vampires, and my whispers were like shouts when a vampire decided it wanted to whisper.

"Oh, about time; did I disturb you from your beauty slumber?" Dorian began, which made me feel even more guilty. "No, I haven't turned to ash; thanks for caring and asking." A small laugh seemed to come from Dorian. "Well, I won't tell you my news then. Sleep well." Dorian hung up and looked at me as a grin spread across his face. "Treat Xander mean keeps him keen." He told me as he came back up the tree and sat next to me. "Give him a minute or so, and his curiosity will make him call back, and you can talk to him."

Just as Dorian had said, Xander would call back; he did, and Xander passed the phone to me to answer it.

"Hello?" I asked a little hesitantly. It felt wrong to answer someone else's phone, even with permission.

"Rosa!" I could hear relief flood through his voice. "Are you ok?" I could only imagine what he was like when he had found out I wasn't home. Yet more guilt seemed to fill me at the thought of him being worried again.

"I'm... I'm with Dorian." I stuttered. I hadn't meant to stutter, but hearing Xander's voice seemed to allow the knot of doubt to unravel and comfort to wash over me.

"I guess that counts as being ok. Are you hurt?"

"No," I answered. I didn't want to admit that my pride was hurt by the fact that I'd yet again caused Dorian and Xander trouble and by the fact that I hadn't found my own way back after running into Dorian.

"Is Dorian ok?"

"Just grumpy." I retorted, not sure if that was the right word to use. My comment sparked something as Xander began to laugh, and from the side of me I heard Dorian say, So he does care after all, which made me smile a little. I could only think of these two as a pair of old people who had been married for years, always taking any moment that they had to make a dig at the other one.

"Stay with Dorian until sunset, and he'll bring you home. You're not to go back to the servant's house; I want you in the main house with me, where I can make sure you're ok." His voice was stern, but there was something else underlining his words. Was Xander actually worried about me?

"Ok," I answered, trying to keep my tears in.

"Rosa... please don't scare me again like this." He told me softly.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled and quickly passed the phone to Dorian, as my tears had begun to spill down my face. I carefully climbed down the tree and turned my back to Dorian as I took a couple of deep breaths to calm my spinning head and the chaos that seemed to be filling my head. This isn't him trying to be caring, and he isn't worried; he feels responsible for what happened to you. You've been here once before; that was how Liam trapped you, but this time you don't have to be trapped; use this to learn about his weakness, and then you can kill him and be free.

"Rosa?" I turned my head towards Dorian to look at him as I wiped my tears away again. I didn't want to let that voice in; it was wrong. It would see...

"Sorry... I'm just... feeling overwhelmed." I told him as I walked back to Dorian and decided to sit in the mud with my back against the tree.

Don't, you'll get dirty." Dorian protested.

"I'm already dirty, as I slipped last night, and to top it off, like you said, I smell like a toilet." I couldn't help but laugh.

"True." He muttered and let out a sigh. "For a human, you're not half bad, I guess."

"I'll take it as a compliment." I laughed quietly. "For saying you've terrified me since you introduced yourself and made me play the piano. I think you're growing on me." I couldn't help but add.

"Babe, I grow on everyone, even the ones who don't like me. Well except Helena..." We both looked at each other, burst into laughter at the comment, and shook our heads. "While you're in Xander's house, you don't need to be scared of us vampires." He told me. "I'd love to say that you don't need to be scared of any of us, but..." He shrugged, not wanting to go that direction with the conversation, but I knew what he'd meant. Xander and Lucian were brothers, but they were totally different in their style and the air about them, which made me understand that not all vampires were nice like Xander, but I was slowly changing my mind about vampires and seeing them as normal human beings.

"So how long until we can leave here?" I asked.

"Oh, we have a long time." Dorian took off his jacket and put it over my shoulders as a small shiver ran through me. "We're going to have plenty of time to get to know each other much better than we already do." He laughed.

Oh boy, I got the feeling this was going to be the longest day of my life. Note to self: Never run off and be stuck with Dorian during the day ever again.