Gabrielle woke with a start and looked around. She wasn’t in a familiar place. The king-sized bed she was laying in was covered in satin sheets. The room had a fireplace but no windows. The walls were stone and nothing hung on them; not even so much as a mirror. Although it seemed like a dark place she somehow felt at home. Then she recalled the events of last night and gave a start. Her wound in her arm! The monster! Her fingers ran up her right arm to her shoulder were the wound was. It was finely dressed as if a professional had done it. Where the monster was, she had no clue.

Looking around the room again she suddenly felt the urge to explore. When she went to climb out of the bed she gasped. She was totally naked, except for her cross of course. Gazing around the room for her clothes she spotted a wardrobe. After wrapping a sheet around her body she walked to the wardrobe and locked inside. She caught her breath. Inside were beautiful gowns of all sorts. They had matching slippers underneath them, but she didn’t want to wear these. They were too nice for her. Besides, she wanted to be comfortable in breeches and tunic. There was a drawer off to the side. She opened it revealing a neat stack of breeches on the left and folded tunics on the right. Whoever owns these has really good taste. She struggled to get the clothes on because of her wound. Although she tried several times she always was defeated.

“Would you like some help?”

Gabrielle turned around swiftly, trying to cover herself the best she could with the enemy clothes. A very small woman-like figure stood in her doorway. Gentle gray eyes were set under thin curved eyebrows. Thin lips were set in a humorous smile. Though the woman seemed old, the working dress that she wore revealed strong arms.

“Would you like some help?” she asked again.

“Yes please.”

The small woman came toward her and reached for the tunic. Gabrielle kneeled so the woman could put the shirt over her head. The arms were not as easy but they managed. Then came the breeches. Gabrielle braced herself on one of the bed poles for more balance while lifting her legs into the legs of the pants.

“Now we just need to do your hair.” Said the woman.

“Um, thanks, I guess. Who are you?”

“I’m Rosalyn Rockford. Wife to Herpen Rockford and a servant here.”

“Pleasure to meet you Rosalyn. May I call you Rosalyn?”

“Of course. Everyone around here does. May I ask your name?”

“Gabrielle. Who’s everyone and where am I?”

“The master, the cooks, other servants, and guests. As for where you are I’ll leave that for the master to tell you.”

“Who is the master?”

“Ah, so many questions. You’ll find out soon enough. He wants to talk with you after we get you presentable.”

“OK.”

Rosalyn gestured for Gabrielle to sit in a chair. Then she went to the wardrobe and looked in another drawer. She pulled out a hairbrush and pins.

“That was a nasty bullet wound you have.” She said. “If my husband, Herpen, hadn’t dressed it immediately then you’d be dead by now.”

“I was wondering who did that. Please tell him for me that he did a very good job.” Rosalyn beamed with pride. “But who undressed me?” Gabrielle said in a weary voice.

The old woman chuckled. “I did.” Gabrielle sighed with relief.

“Now no more questions until you meet the master.”

“I can’t even know his name?”

“Nope.”

For the next thirty minutes Rosalyn did up Gabrielle’s hair into a fancy ponytail. Then she escorted Gabrielle down a few halls. Gabrielle couldn’t keep up with all the turns that they had walked past. All the walls looked the same to her. They finally came to an end of a hall that had finely carved double doors. Rosalyn knocked on the door.

“Come in.” came a male voice.

“This is wear I leave you.” Said the woman. “The master is in his study. Don’t be afraid he’s a very kind gentleman.” Then she left leaving Gabrielle to herself. Facing the door she took a deep breath. She put her hands on it preparing to open it. The door felt oddly cold. A nervous feeling came over her. With another breath she opened the door.

He was sitting on the windowsill looking out into the night when he heard the door open. He looked around to see who it was, although he really didn’t need to since he heard a heart beat. Breath escaped his lips at the sight he saw. Gabrielle stood in his study doorway. She was beautiful. The clothes she wore revealed a stunning figure and her hair was most magnificent. Rosalyn really outdid herself this time. Shock overtook her when she saw him and she tried to back up, only to find the door at her back. He chuckled, for he was in his bat form. He gracefully jumped down from the sill and turned into his human shape. More shock came over her as she witnessed his transformation.

“Darien?” she whispered.

“Aye lass.”

“You’re…you’re a vampire?”

“Aye.”

“You saved me?”

“Aye.”

“I don’t understand.”

“What’s hard to understand? You were in danger, I rescued you, and now you’re here.”

“What about the man and where am I!”

“The man, I’m afraid, died out of shock. As to where you are, you are in my castle.”

“Oh.” Suddenly Gabrielle felt small like she was a little kid again. Then she realized something. If he’s a vampire why didn’t he bite me?

“Because you are different.”

She looked at him. How did he know what I was thinking?

“I have my ways.”

Now Gabrielle looked at him in awe. He could read minds! I didn’t know vampires could do that. Darien chuckled and motioned for her to sit in a chair by his desk. She stayed where she was.

“How am I different? Are you going to bite me?”

“We will get to that if you’ll sit down. How is your wound by the way?”

“The only time I notice it is when I’m getting dressed.”

“That’s good.”

She slowly sat down in the chair, watching him all the while. His looks distracted her. He was dressed for comfort, like her. His shirt had a V-opening at the top, revealing bare chest and muscle. His lips and eyes captivated her. Suddenly she imagined those beautiful lips on hers and whispering gentle love words. She blinked to clear the images He’s a vampire for heaven’s sake!

Darien walked over to his chair behind his desk. When he sat he looked at her with intent eyes. “Gabrielle do you know you your parents?”

“No, why?”

He shook his head. “Do you know what your cross means?”

Gabrielle reached for her cross and pulled it out of her shirt. She absent-mindedly ran her fingers over it. “How do you know about it?”

“When I was bringing you here, flying of course, it happened to be out of your shirt. So naturally I looked at it.”

“Oh.” She said in a small voice. She wished that she’d been awake when he was flying.

“So do you know what it means?”

“No.”

He settled back in his chair and closed his eyes. “It means you are a Hunter.”

“A Hunter?”

“Someone who hunt’s down bad people and things and puts a stop to the stuff that they do.”

“That seems fun.” She said thinking about her uncle.

“The only thing is,” he paused, “is that it is a society of vampires.”

“Hold on a sec. I though vampires were evil. You know the children of the devil.”

He pulled something out of his shirt. It was a cross that looked exactly like hers. “If I was the son of the devil I wouldn’t be able to wear this.”

“So you are a Hunter too.”

“Yes.”

“I take it that Kathleen is not so friendly.”

“Correct. She is a daughter of the devil. Her master is one of the evilest vampires alive, or should I say dead.” Gabrielle chuckled at this. “But we will get to him some other time. We Hunters made an agreement with God that we would never bite or abuse an innocent, or someone who is good.”

“If I’m not a vampire then why do I have a cross?”

“That’s what I want to know. There has only been one human to have been a Hunter.”

“I see. What makes me so different?”

“Because the only way he knew about the society was that one of the female vampires kidnapped him.”

All the color drained from Gabrielle’s face. Rumors and her Uncle’s words popped into her head. Was this vampiress her mother? “What happened?” said her shaky voice.

“They got married.”

“What?” She sprang from her chair. “I thought that she forced him to bed her.”

Astonishment came into his eyes. “Agitha forcing John to bed her? No way. They loved each other very much. She kidnapped him because he was badly hurt and brought him here to nurse him back to health.”

“Oh.”

“Clearly rumors are still about.”

Gabrielle nodded her head. She knew that her uncle was a cruel man but why would he say those things about his own brother?

“Anyway,” he said, “that is what brings us back to you.”

Gabrielle looked at him. “I’m there child aren’t I?”

“It seems to be since you look exactly like your mother.”

“You met her?”

“Yep. I’ve lived a while.” He looked sad.

“Did you love her?”

“No. It’s… well never mind.”

“Tell me.”

He sighed. “I would guess you know the feeling of loneliness.”

“Aye.” Her feeling went out to him, but she kept them in check not knowing if she should trust him yet.

“When you live for three hundred years it gets lonely.”

“Aren’t there other females in the society?”

“Yes.”

“What’s wrong with them?”

“Just not my type.”

Gabrielle was surprised how the conversation jumped from her to his love life. What on earth was she doing talking about his love life?

“Anyway,” he said, “the point is that your parents wanted you to become a hunter for some reason. If you let me then I will teach you the things you need to know like the sword, dagger, maneuvers and such.”

Great, she thought to herself. She would like to learn new stuff but her mom being a vampire was shocking. Suddenly dizziness came over her, making her slump in her chair. She put a hand on her forehead and moaned.

“Are you OK?” Darien asked.

“I don’t know.” The dizziness then went away just as quickly as it had come. What was that about?

“Do you want to rest more?” Concern was in his voice.

Gabrielle straitened in her chair. “I’m fine.” She needed proof to what he was saying. If it was true then she would gladly be apart of this society and then kill her uncle, but if it was not then she was in a bad position. “Can you prove this all to me?”

He sighed. “I guess it’s only natural that you don’t trust me.” He leaned forward onto his desk, his elbows on the desk and fingers interlacing so he could prop his head up. “Your mother and father are in a book as well as any other society members. Midwinter Fest is coming in a week and I am host. You can meet all the society members then if you stay here.”

Spend a night in a room with vampires? This just gets better and better, she thought. What if they bite me?

“They won’t bite you, unless you did something terribly wrong.” Darien said.

Gabrielle looked at him closely before speaking. “You can read minds can’t you.”

“Some.”

“I guess that is nice if you are in a hunting party.”

“I can’t read other vampire’s minds, only humans.”

“Can you give me time to think about this, please?”

“Yes, but don’t take forever.” With that, he stood from his chair and walked to her. He extended his hand toward her. She laid her hand in his and he helped her to her feet. Then he opened the study door for her. “I advise if you want to explore the castle you do it with Rosalyn or Herpen. It can be…confusing.”

She nodded her head and started to walk off when he stopped her.

“Food can be served to you when you enter the dinning hall. It’s down this hall, down the stairs and to the left.”

“Thank you.” When she reached her destination there were several plates of food on a long table.

“Good day, miss. Help yourself to food and drink.”

She looked to her right to see a short man cleaning silver. “Are you Herpen?”

He bowed to her. “At your service miss.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Same to you miss.” He bowed again before going back to cleaning.

Gabrielle walked to a chair and sat down. The few plates in front of her looked so delicious. This is very nice, she though.

Thank you all for your reviews. Hope you liked this chapter. I’ll posted the next one asap. R&R

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