Hey everyone!! I’m so sorry for my really late update! I had summer classes for the first half of summer (until June 20th) then I came home from school and caught up on my reading (seriously, brought home a box full of books (at least twenty books) that I’ve bought during the last couple of months during Spring and Summer semester and didn’t have time to read). I’ve read about twenty books in the span of a little over a month. Then, I had writer’s block and then I just got lazy, since I wanted to enjoy the rest of my summer. Thank you to all my reviewers: RoseLife, neverliveindoubt, Amers03, Blazing Midnight, Morgan Davis, K.J. Dalton, Mae Liz, midnightdream-5, The Jasmine Deity, LittleEmoKid, Summer Leah, Ghosts Love Me and BlueFiary61. You guys mean so much to me! Thanks for putting up with my lack of regular updates, I love you all for being so patient. Also, a lot of you were asking about Alexandra and wondering who she is, you’ll find out about her when Casey does, which won’t be for several more chapters.

Here’s chapter 7, Enjoy:

Well, that was weird I thought as I stood right outside the door in the empty foyer. I was very confused about what had gone on in there. Several questions were running through my head, none of which had answers, and I had a feeling I wouldn’t be getting answers any time soon. Obviously, Damien didn’t want me to know what was going on since he kicked me out of the room rather quickly. Though, that was a bad decision on his part since he had peaked my curiosity. Who was this Alexandra? And why did the simple mentioning of her name cause him to get so angry? Did I really look so much like her? If so, why? And why did it bother him so much?

I had no answers to any of those questions, but I had every intention of finding out. My curiosity wouldn’t let me ignore this.

Now that I had that settled, I just had to figure out what to do now. It wasn’t like he told me where I could go or what I could do before he told me to leave. It’s not like he was courteous enough to give me instructions. But, I decided to play it safe and go see Anna in the kitchen and keep her company until Damien decided that he wanted me back in the living room with him.

Those plans were ruined when I found the kitchen to be just as deserted as the foyer. Which, I found kind of odd, wasn’t it Anna’s job to cook? So, shouldn’t she be in here? Well, apparently not, she must have finished cleaning up after breakfast and went somewhere. Guess I was going to spend my time exploring, trying to find her or at least keep myself busy until Damien decided he wanted to see me again. Not that I really wanted that, so I was hoping that he took awhile.

I left the kitchen and headed back into the foyer, I winced as I past the closed living room door since I heard loud yelling through the thick mahogany. It was too muffled to distinguish it, but it still startled me and made me jump slightly.

I avoided that door and wandered across the hall, towards a door that I had seen before, but one that I hadn’t seen what was behind it.

The gold door handle was cool as I gripped it and twisted and then pulled it open. It made an odd squeaky noise, as if it hadn’t been opened for awhile and the hinges needed some serious oiling. I winced at the noise and glanced behind me to make sure that no one had heard me. Although, there were three vampires with amazing hearing right across the hall, the house was still quiet, and if I listened close enough, I could hear raised voices coming from across the hall. It sounded like they were still arguing.

I stepped into the darkened room and quietly closed the door behind me. I turned and stared into complete darkness before turning around and attempting to find a light switch. After some groping, I managed to find it and was momentarily blinded as the room was flooded with light from the large intricate chandelier in the center of ceiling.

The room was large ballroom with hardwood floors and beautiful mirrors that reflected the light on two of the four walls. The wall directly across from the door had nothing but floor to ceiling windows, along side double French doors in the center. The windows were covered with the same type of blinds that were in Damien’s office.

There was what looked to be a loan grand piano sitting in the far right corner of the room. I couldn’t really tell since it was covered up with a white sheet so it was really nothing more than a white lump. There were a few tables and chairs strewn about, even though they weren’t covered, it was obvious that they hadn’t been used in awhile. I could see the thick layer of dust on some of the closer pieces of furniture. But, other than those few things, the room was completely empty. I went over to the far corner, my shoes made small “clicky” noises as I walked across the hardwood floor and my suspicions were confirmed, there was a piano under that white sheet, a big black grand piano that had not been tuned for a long while.

I hadn’t seen a piano in awhile and to see the instrument now just made me think of my father, who had spent hours each week teaching me how to play. I wiped the tears from my eyes as my feet moved towards the instrument. Before I knew what was happening, I was sitting on the piano bench and removing the cover from over the keys. I ran my fingers lightly over them. Not enough to create a sound, but enough so that I could feel the smoothness of the keys under my fingers.

Before I even knew what I was doing, my hands were flowing over the keys faster as I played a somewhat familiar tune, but one that, at the moment, I couldn’t remember. I did remember that it was a favorite piece of my father’s and it was the piece that he had used most often when teaching me to play a couple of years ago.

Playing the instrument – something I hadn’t done in awhile – brought back memories. I had a sudden flashback to my first piano recital when I was only nine years old.

I had just finished playing this familiar, but currently unknown piece and as I looked out into the packed auditorium, I saw my parents; both of them were beaming at me, their huge smiles, made nine year old me return the smile as I stood up to give a slight curtsy before I left the stage.

Afterwards, my parents had met me backstage, where they laid constant kisses and hugs onto me, praising me for my piano playing.

“Oh, sweetheart,” my mom started, “that was so beautiful.” She praised before she pulled me into a tight embrace.

I smiled at the compliment, “Thank you mommy.” I said with my face smushed against her chest.

“You were very good honey, and you nailed that note you were struggling with last week. Which, I think calls for a celebration!” my dad asked, “I remember seeing an ice cream shop earlier…” he trailed off, his blue eyes twinkling.

I squealed in excitement before launching myself at him, he laughed, “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’” he noted, squeezing me tightly before letting go and grabbing hold of my right hand, while my mom took hold of the left one.

I was smiling and giddy, happy that my parents were so proud of me. We made our way towards the exit, when I got this odd sensation that someone was watching me, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Thinking it was Charlie, who had a crush on me and who I had already caught staring at me several times, I turned to see who it was.

It wasn’t Charlie.

It was a man standing in one of the darkened corners of the large auditorium. I didn’t recognize him, though that might have had something to do with the fact that I couldn’t really see him enough to decide that or not, since he was mostly in the darkness.

Although I did notice that he was smirking evilly and his blue eyes had a strange glint to them as they held my gaze. They transfixed me; they were a beautiful shade of blue. In fact, they were the most beautiful shade I had ever seen.

He did nothing but stare intently at me for a few seconds before smirking slightly.

“Casey? Sweetheart, what are you staring at?” my mother asked softly, making me look up at her.

“Nothing,” I said quickly,

“Well, come on then… we have to hurry if we want to get to the ice scream shop before it closes, it’s almost eight o’clock.”

“Okay,” I said, allowing her to pull me away.

I risked another glance back, but the strange blue- eyed man was gone.

_____

My eyes opened as I let out a shocked gasp. I jerked my hands away from the keys so fast that my entire body jerked with the movement.

That had been very weird.

I remembered that day, but thought nothing of that strange man after the incident… until now, that is.

My mind raced, trying to figure out who it was, but only one person came to mind…and right now, I wasn’t quite ready to admit that the sick pervert had liked watching me at the naïve, young age of nine. Though, since he had done things to me when I was ten that people in polite society would consider wrong, I was partial to believe my suspicions anyway.

“Well, don’t stop on my behalf.”

The words were spoken so suddenly that I jumped a little.

I glanced towards the source of the voice, half expecting to see Damien angry with me for being in here since he hadn’t said that I could go exploring. So, I was surprised when my eyes fell upon Adrian, standing only a few feet away from me in the middle of the room.

I just stared at him, not really knowing what to say to that, which was all right since he spoke a few seconds later, “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s alright,” I said, not really willing to tell him that it wasn’t him that had startled me so much as it was my sudden flashback that playing the piano brought.

“I was just looking for Melody. Damien scared her and she excused herself to the bathroom. It’s been a few minutes and she hasn’t come back. She didn’t come in here by any chance, did she?” he asked.

I shook my head, “No, it’s just me.”

I expected him to leave at that point, but was surprised when instead of heading towards the door; he made his way away from it, closer to me. I watched him warily, not trusting him. While he didn’t appear to be as mean as Damien that didn’t mean that he was not dangerous.

“You’re quite a good pianist, Casey” he praised, stopping only inches away from where I sat on the piano bench.

“Oh… thank you,” I said, I was not expecting the compliment, glancing down at the white piano keys.

I felt a cool hand suddenly land on my own. The sudden sensation made me jump and rip my hand out of his loose grasp. I scooted a few inches away from him and watched him warily as .he took his offending hand and placed it on the edge of the piano, several inches away from my own hands, which still sat lightly on the keys.

“There’s no need to be so skittish, Casey, I’m not going to hurt you.” His smile was pleasant, almost friendly. Reassuring.

However, his words were anything but comforting. He was a vampire, and therefore, he couldn’t be trusted. He didn’t appear to have the short temper that Damien had, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t extremely dangerous. Or downright evil when he wanted to be either.

“I’m not going to tell Damien that you’re in here… even though, you really shouldn’t be. There’s a reason the piano was covered and why the room looks liked it hasn’t been used in years, it hasn’t.”

“Why?” I asked before I could really stop myself.

He shrugged, “You must understand that Damien has had a very tragic past. A past that he has yet come to terms with, even after all of these years. That’s part of the reason he comes off as such a hard ass and that this room has not seen much use as long as he’s been living in this house, which has been a very long time. Although, the exact reasons for his actions is a rather lengthy story, one that we do not have time for right now, not that I would tell it anyway, since it’s not mine to tell, it’s his.”

I stared at him wondering why he was even telling me this.

“Because you asked, silly!” Adrian answered my unspoken question, which freaked me out, but he ignored my look of shock as he continued, “That, and you need to know.”

“Need to know? For what?” I asked, by now, I was completely confused. This was making absolutely no sense.

It took me a few seconds to realize that he had no intention of answering my question. Which, did nothing more than make me more suspicious than I already was and I had the distinct impression that this mysterious Alexandra had something to do with all of this. Though, I knew asking about it would get me nowhere, Adrian was already being secretive. So, I decided right then and there that I was going to find out about this Alexandra and what she had done to Damien that made him turn into such a jerk. Speaking of Damien, if Adrian was in here with me that obviously meant they were done arguing…

“Where is –”

“Damien?” he asked, when I nodded he continued, shrugging, “Don’t know, he’s probably off sulking somewhere.”

I was about to ask what he had been sulking over (though, I don’t know why since I was probably not going to get an answer anyway) when the ballroom door suddenly banged open, making me wince and glance towards the door, “What are you doing to my slave, Adrian?” Damien growled, his large frame taking up most of the doorframe as he glared at us.

“Nothing that she did not want me to do,” he replied, “we’ve been talking, Damien, that is all.” he added when Damien’s glared only intensified.

“About what?” he asked suspiciously, glaring at me.

“You.”

That one word got Damien to look at Adrian for the first time since he entered the room, “Me?” he asked, his eyebrows knitted in confusion for a split second before a knowing look passed across his face, “you told her about Alexandra, didn’t you?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

Adrian shrugged, “Not really. It’s not my story to tell, it’s yours.”

Damien snorted, “It’s a story that I will never tell anyone, especially not to a human female,” he said.

“You’ll have to tell it eventually, Damien. Otherwise, you’ll never be able to move on and forget it.”

“What if I don’t want to forget it?”

Adrian “I’ve known you for nearly your entire immortal life, Damien, and with that knowledge, I know that you want to forget it, you just don’t want to let go.”

Damien ignored that last comment and finally turned to me, still sitting on the bench, his look was cold as he spoke to me, “What are you doing in here, Casey?” he asked, though he didn’t even give me a chance to answer before he spoke again, “Never mind, I’ll deal with you later. Anna is in the need of your help in the kitchen and I have more guests arriving, and this time you will answer the door for me. You will not get out of the job like last time,” his glare only intensified as I just sat there staring at him, “are you going to do what I say, or not?” he growled.

I jumped as I stood up and headed for the door, Damien grabbed me by my hair before I could rush past him, “You are not to come into this room again, understand?” his lips so close that I could feel them touching my hair as he spoke.

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Yes, what?” he asked, yanking hard on my hair so that my eyes became focused on his. I immediately realized my mistake, “Yes, sir.”

His lip twitched, “That’s better.”

He released me and I stumbled forward out into the hallway. The door slammed shut behind me.

“What were you doing in there?”

The sudden question made me jump. I turned to see Lauren standing in the foyer, her arms crossed and what I could only call a sneer gracing her face. Though, that was only a guess. Her lips were protruding out too far and her nose was to scrunched up for it to be a very successful sneer since I wanted to laugh at how odd she looked. She looked more like she smelled something really bad. Or she stepped in something really bad. Like dog crap or something.

I shrugged, “I had nothing else to do. He kicked me out of the living room.”

She just stared at me, an eyebrow arched questionably, “So, you just decided to go wandering around where you don’t belong?”

She sounded angry. As if she couldn’t believe that I dared to do something as simple as walk into a room.

“Well, it’s not like I knew it was off limits. Usually when someone doesn’t want you go somewhere they either tell you or lock the door.”

“The fact that the door is closed and the lights are off should be clue enough to that,” she said knowingly, glaring at me.

I opened my mouth to respond when I realized that we pretty much were arguing over something very trivial. It was kind of sad. Especially since I barely known this girl and already she was getting on my case over something that I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to do.

The sound of the door opening startled me and made me jump, “What are you still doing standing around, Casey?” Damien growled. I noticed with disgust that Lauren’s glare had turned into a look that only could described as affectionate. It was quite nauseating really.

I took my eyes off her and muttered a quick, “Sorry, sir” before I took off for the kitchen as quickly as I could before I got a physical reprimand.

“There you are!” were the first words out of Anna’s mouth as the kitchen door shut quietly behind me, “where have you been?” she asked.

“Well, once I was kicked out of the living room, I came in here to keep you company but you weren’t here and so I wandered around to keep myself occupied while Damien talked to Adrian. I found the ballroom and –”

“You what?” she asked, staring very intently at me

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” I shrugged

“That’s his secret room. No one’s allowed in there, not even to dust, that’s why it’s so dirty. He never lets us in there.” Anna explained.

“Why?” I asked.

I’m not really sure, it’s not like he tells us anything,” she shrugged.

“Oh,” was all I could say to that. Now, this was a very interesting development. I found myself wondering why it was off limits for a few seconds before I realized that I was not there to ponder Damien’s odd behavior, “I’m supposed to help you, but I wasn’t told with what exactly.” I said, “Or told why for that matter.” I added.

“He’s hosting a little party tomorrow night and I need your help preparing for it.”

“With what? Cooking? They’re vampires, they don’t eat.”

“Yea… but the their humans do,” she answered, but once she saw my look of disgust, she added, “it’s not like that, Casey… the humans are not brought for that purpose. Damien likes to have these little “contests”, I guess would be a good term for them. They like to have these little competitions to see who has the best “pet”. It’s similar to a dog show except of course, it’s for humans.”

I stared at her, “Seriously? That’s disgusting,” I said, “aren’t you disgusted by it?”

“Well, yea… but there’s nothing we can do about it, Casey.” Anna said as she turned around and began rummaging in the cabinets for what appeared to me the proper ingredients to make what appeared to be finger sandwiches and fruit salad, “Besides, it’s not that bad. I mean, it’s kind of fun actually”

“Fun?” I repeated, “So, you like being forced go up against someone else to see who’s better at something just to entertain them?”

She shrugged, “I guess I do then. It’s not like anything bad happens if we lose. And the contests are never life threatening. It’s totally safe.”

“Anna… that’s not the point. I don’t –”

Though, I never got to finished that sentence because Damien entered the kitchen and the stare he sent me made me instantly stop talking and hug myself since I could have sworn I felt the temperature fall about ten degrees.

He continued to stare at me, his brown eyes boring into my own for a few minutes before he finally spoke, “My office. Now.” he said, pointing at me. Not that I needed the hint I was pretty sure he was talking to me anyway, since he still hadn’t taken his eyes off of me.

“But –”

“No ‘buts’,” he snapped, before turning on his heel and leaving the room.

I glanced nervously at Anna as I left the room, she smiled at me, a gesture that was obviously supposed comforting. And while it was, I was still apprehensive as I followed Damien to his office a few seconds later.

“Sit.”

I obeyed without question.

I was expecting him to go sit behind his desk and at least give me some personal space. I was surprised when he instead leaned against the desk, merely inches from where I sat and I had to crane my neck in order to look at him properly. When I looked up and saw him staring down at me, I realized that he was in that position on purpose since it forced me to look up at him which, in turn, made me feel inferior since him staring almost completely straight down at me made me feel extremely small.

I tried to move the chair back a few inches, but the carpet was thick and it wouldn’t even budge half an inch.

“I have a few more guests arriving soon and I want you to stay in here so I can keep an eye on you and make sure you don’t do anything to get out of it this time.” he explained, glaring at me, “I’ve changed my mind, I don’t want you helping Anna. Instead, I want you to play the piano for me until they arrive,” he nodded towards my left, I glanced over to see a dark brown stand up piano sitting by the couch. I didn’t remember seeing it earlier, so I figured that he had just wheeled it in, “I want you play what you were playing before in the ballroom before Adrian interrupted you.”

“Y-yes sir” I complied, deciding that asking questions or refusing to do something so simple wouldn’t do anything, but cause trouble. Or make things worse.

He smiled slightly at my compliance, but didn’t move from his position as I stood up from the chair. I found that my chest and arms brushed his body as I attempted to move around him, while he did nothing to aid me accept stand there and smile at my obvious discomfort. After some maneuvering I was able to move the chair back far enough to where I could pass by him without touching him at all; which was good since touching him had made goose bumps appear on my skin and being so close had made my cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

As I made my way over to the piano, I wrapped my arms around myself, not only to comfort myself or to wipe the goose bumps from my skin, but to distract myself enough so that I wouldn’t turn around and see him staring at me. Since I could feel his eyes boring into the back of my head as I walked away and the feeling wasn’t entirely creepy. Though, I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to like it at, so I ignored it completely.

Well, there it is! Hope you liked it, it was a bit shorter than I had planned, but I think it turned out pretty good! So, school starts back on August 17th and my mom and I are going to St. Simons next Saturday for a week. I will try so very hard to get at least one more chapter out, but I really want to enjoy St. Simons and be lazy for the week since I just recently found out that I have twenty five books assigned for all my classes this semester (I’m only taking five). Yes, you read that right… TWENTY FIVE BOOKS. I’m starting to regret majoring in history… seriously, I’m taking three history classes and the book for each classes accounts for nineteen out of the total twenty five. I’ve already decided that I will not have much of a life this semester. Which, also means updates will be scarce again since I will probably have hardly any time to write. But, I will try my hardest to update at least once during the semester. So, until then (whenever that is), see ya and review!