Chapter Six #2
I start with the library where I last saw him, but no luck. Moving on to the garden, I manage to walk the whole perimeter and cannot find him there either. I continue to aimlessly walk the halls in hopes of running into him, not knowing where else he could be.
If I was a prince, where would I be?
I stop my wandering and sit on a nearby staircase. A thought comes over me. If I were a prince and I was not out and about around the castle, I think I would be in my wing of the castle.
I sit up straight with the thought, wondering how I can come up with an excuse that I just accidentally wandered into his wing of the castle. It is not like I know exactly where it is located because I looked on the map and studied it.
But unfortunately, I did do that.
I mean, he does not have to know that of course. I can just say I got lost on a walk and ended up there. A flawless plan.
I stand up and start walking toward his wing while simultaneously building up the courage to actually enter his wing. I take the next right turn and walk up the giant spiral staircase.
Approximately one million steps later, I finally see the turn for his hall. I stop and lean up and against the wall for a second to catch my breath. Wow, I am really out of shape and should probably work on that.
My feet move once more, but then I stop. I think I have actually lost my mind. What am I doing here?
I cannot just walk into his wing uninvited. What if he is not decent, and he might not even be here.
My thinking is interrupted by a faint yell from down the hall. I move toward the noise, hearing more yelling and cursing. The voice is Draven’s.
I jump when I hear a shatter, then a crash. My feet move before I can stop myself. There are many doors in front of me, but I follow the noise.
What if he is hurt or something is terribly wrong?
I find the door the noise is behind and snatch it open. Standing there in what looks to be a study is Draven, throwing a chair across the room.
I look around the room wide eyed, seeing that there are papers scattered everywhere. In the corner is a cork board covered in photos of people. Lines of string stretch from each picture, connecting to other pieces of paper that are too far away to read.
There is a shattered vase on the floor and chairs strown everywhere. Which I am guessing is the culprit for the earlier noise.
I stand in the doorway and immediately put my hands up. “Please do not throw a chair at me. I was on a walk and heard you yelling so I thought something was wrong.”
He stares back at me, chest heaving. His once honey eyes are now blood red. I step back because I am getting the notion that he is not in the mood for a chat.
He starts to speak before I can turn to leave.
“Well, you have seen it now. Just come in. Close the door behind you, please.”
I step back into the room and awkwardly close the door behind me, deciding to stay near it, just in case.
Draven stands there for a second with his chest heaving. He turns and walks into the connecting room, shutting the door behind him and leaving me by myself.
I can’t help but to start to look around the study again. I squint my eyes, still not able to read the words on the paper that the photos are connected to. I slowly inch forward.
I almost get to the wall when I hear the doorknob turn. I quickly turn my body along with it and stand stick straight with my hands clasped in front of me. Not sneaky looking at all.
Draven steps back into the room.
I look up at him, his eyes are gold again and his cheeks are flushed.
“I am sorry,” he says.
I am taken back by his apology but quickly recover. “Actually, no, I am sorry. I should not have just busted in here with no invitation. I just thought something was wrong.”
“No, nothing is wrong. I just lost my temper when I should not have. I did not mean to scare you.”
“Oh, you did not scare me,” I lie.
“I could hear your heart rate quicken from across the room. I think I may have.”
“Oh. Well, don’t worry about it at all.” I laugh nervously. “I am just going to go now. I hope you have a good night and feel better…I guess.”
I turn and start walking toward the door.
“Wait.”
I stop and turn back around, wringing my hands in front of me.
“You do not have to go,” he says.
He clears his throat and looks at the ground. “I could use the company.”
He looks boyish in this disheveled state. I look around at the chairs strewn across the room.
He moves forward. “Let me just pick these back up so we can sit.”
“Okay, I can help,” I say.
I watch him as he starts to pick up the chairs easily with one arm. I go to pick one up and heave upwards. It does not move an inch off the ground.
These things must be solid wood or something. I try again but it does not budge.
Draven walks toward me, looking at me with concern. “You cannot pick it up?”
“I mean I could if I tried again. I think.”
I try again, but I cannot pick it up. Embarrassment quickly takes over.
“It is heavy, okay? You are obviously a lot stronger than me so don’t judge.”
He looks at me then the chair. “No, I am not meaning to judge you, but you should be able to lift that chair. I know you just turned, but we do have increased strength.”
“Oh.”
He walks over and picks up the chair for me, setting it down. “Do you feel like you are still weak?”
I stand there for a moment, tempted to deny it, but I confess the truth instead.
“Honestly, yes. I do not have much energy. We walked around town earlier and I fell asleep on the way back because I was so tired. My legs are also sore from that stupid staircase.”
“Hmmm,” he says in a contemplative tone. “That concerns me because everything should be settled by now. Your strength should be present. Have you tried to run?”
I scoff. “Do I look like an avid runner to you?”
The side of his mouth moves up into a smirk. “I guess not.” He walks over to the table and pulls out a chair. “Please sit.”
We sit in silence for a few moments before I break it.
“I was not stalking you or anything. I was on a walk and got lost. When I heard the noise, I walked over here.”
That was not as convincing as I thought it would sound.
“You are allowed to come up here,” he says.
I sit with his words for a moment. “Well, I just didn’t want to look like I was trying to pry or anything.”
“That is not what I think.”
“Okay good. It is hard to tell. You do not really show much emotion on your face.”
He turns his head to the side in question.
I think about how to describe what I am trying to say.
“Like, you know.” I wave my hands in air trying to find the right words. “You are hard to read.”
He shakes his head. “I do not understand.”
“Okay, never mind.”
He smirks again and my heart races a bit. I start looking around the room, the cork board drawing my attention to it once more.
He leans back in his chair, crossing his hands behind his head. “Well go ahead and ask then.”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice.
“So, what are you working on here?”
He laughs in response. “If I tell you this, you have to promise me you will not tell a soul. What I tell you stays within these walls.”
“Yeah, of course. I don’t even know anybody here so that works.”
I lift my pinky up to him.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“A pinky promise.”
He stares down at my pinky, his black brows drawn inward. “What is a pinky promise?”
I slam my hands down on the table and he jumps. “You do not know what a pinky promise is?”
“Never heard of it. What is it.”
“Only the most sacred binding of promises. Once our pinkies link and stamp, it is set that it can never be broken.”
Draven looks at me and lifts his pinky up to meet mine. Our pinkies hook together and I push my thumb forward.
“Now we touch our thumbs together as the stamp.”
He moves his thumb forward as I move mine and they press together.
“Perfect, good job!” I exclaim.
He looks at our thumbs then up at me with a full smile, showing all of his teeth along with his two-pointed canines.
I stare at his mouth for a few seconds then tear my attention from his smile. “Okay, now that it is settled, what is all of this?”
He sits back in his chair and releases a long sigh. “I have been assigned to basically investigate an ongoing mystery within Vryko.”
I nod my head in a cue for him to keep going.
“The other day you asked about what I meant when I said that I found another lead. Well… for the past fifteen years, there have been vampires going missing from Vryko. I am trying to figure out why. Most importantly, who has taken them.”
“Like missing how?” I ask.
“Missing as in taken from their own bed in the middle of the night, completely vanishing and never returning.”
This is what Ivorie meant earlier today when she said they were keeping someone out. This could also possibly be what was going on the other day.
“Did someone go missing the other day?” I ask.
“How do you know that?”
“I saw people running down the hall and it looked like an emergency. I asked my lady’s maid, and she told me it was probably a kitchen accident, but I could tell that she was lying to me.”
“Clever girl. Yes, someone went missing that day.”
“Wait, did you say you have been working on this case for fifteen years?”
He frowns again. “Indeed. Now you can probably see where my frustration has come from. This has been quite an obsession of mine. Recently, I am backed in a corner with no new leads.”
“I thought you said you had one the night we met?”
Draven’s brow furrows. “I was just saying that to brush off my father about the um…situation.”
“Oh.”
I suddenly feel embarrassed again as I think about the first time we met.
“Anyways, I have no new leads and they keep taking people. Nothing I do has stopped it.”
I can faintly see remorse in his eyes.
He continues, “They have taken my own guards, staff, and many others from all over the castle right under my nose. I have grown frustrated.”
“It is only vampires?”
“Yes, so far.”
“It seems like someone is out to get you guys.”