When I finally woke up; the rooms were as dark as the nightmare I had just escaped from. I was back in my dream; cold and emotionally alone. But physically I couldn’t get a moment peace. People everywhere - demanding and demeaning… cold, then a body… blue.
A knock on the door knocked me out of my emotional paralysis. It took all my willpower and energy to tear my eyes away from the white washed ceiling.
"Hello?" I called out weakly. Hazel swept into the room, reassuring me with just her presence.
"Morning Callie! Beautiful day isn’t it?" She said, opening the heavy dark curtains and allowing the light to flood my senses and the large bedroom, directly causing me to roll onto my stomach and bury my head into mountains of pillows. "Callie. You’ve got to wait up. Everyone is waiting on you." She said sensibly. I peeked at her from underneath a maroon pillow.
"Don’t wanna!" I mumbled in reply, then shrieking as she yanked off the duvet, making me -recoil in shock from the cold. I glared at her through half-closed lids, but she stared right back, confident that I wouldn’t leave everyone downstairs waiting for too long. "Fine!" I groaned as I heaved myself up off the huge king size bed and padded over to my wardrobe, feeling the plush carpet between my toes.
I stood at the doors, selecting outfits and offering them as contenders for the day to Hazel, who either nodded or shook her head as an answer. Hazel herself was wearing a simple white shirt, blue jeans and as usual she was barefoot. I narrowed my eyes as I looked at her. Somehow she always managed to look so perfectly effortless. Nearing the end of her seemingly limitless pool of patience she firmly moved me away from the wardrobe and selected an outfit for me of which we both approved of. A simple red checked with navy shirt, black skinny jeans and black ankle boots. My curly black hair was tied up out of my face.
Walking down the large smooth white marble suitcase, my breath caught in my throat. Being the eldest out of the girls I go the duty- or burden- of having to address the staff who worked for us. A little background - my name is Callie O’Hara. I was born in 1840 and I’m a vampire. Then there is Leah, who is also 156 and then Hazel; the baby of the group. Turned by yours truly on the 14th of April 1912 - a date engraved on the consciousness of the entire world. Hazel grabbed my hand and held it close as we negotiated the staircase - she knows how much I hate talking in front of crowds, though I would hardly call out staff a crowd. We were made very comfortable with a staff of our own, as well as a house, cars and anything else we could ever want.
Out staff is made up of different entities who may not be welcome in the mundane world. Werewolves, witches, goblins and gnomes. We made it to the balcony which overlooks the main foyer where the staff had all assembled; waiting.
"Morning all - sorry to keep you waiting! Ok well it’s the start of another week - everyone keep up the fantastic work, you’re all doing great! There are a few things we need to discuss," Hazel passed me a notepad with a few agendas written on. "We do have a few guests coming to stay with us who will be arriving over the next few days. Miss Ophelia and Mr. Dunn. For those of you who are new…" I looked pointedly at the gnomes who were not listening but squabbling among themselves over who had passed gas, "For those of you who are new, you might not know that Miss Ophelia requires the White Room and Mr. Dunn will have whatever guestroom is prepared for him. That’s everything, thank you."
The crowd began to disperse and attend to their chores, when only a few remained to mop up a mess a young werewolf made I turned to Hazel and hissed "Where is Leah?" To which she raised her eyebrows and shrugged. I sighed in exasperation as we walked up the stairs to start investigating as to the whereabouts of the missing Leah. First stop - her bedroom. Just down the hallway from mine - we girls don’t like to be too far from each other. I rapped sharply on the heavy wood door but heard no answer or reply. Hazel made to move away to investigate another part of the house, however I barged in, only to be assaulted with a foul scent. Hazel ran to open the heavy curtains and we heard a loud groan mixed with a large range of expletives.
"Lead, don’t have such a potty mouth," Hazel scolded as she maneuvered through an impressive array of discarded items which were all over the floor.
"Leah. Get up." I demanded. She woke up much the same way I did- casting a moody eye over both of us, until she looked down at what was in bed with her. She sighed and looked imploringly at me.
"Hazel, please go get some clean sheets and ensure there aren’t any staff around. We’ve got another one." Another body to take care of. Hazel left and I crossed my arms, glaring at Leah. "Leah…! Another one? Don’t you have any self-control?" I berated her, starting to pace before I realized there was too much rubbish to be able to move. "I swear, right after we dispose of this we are getting a maid in here, and it is not going to be as bad as this again!" I stopped in my tracks, growing increasingly aware that I was beginning to sound exactly like my mother.
Leah hung her head in shame, her red hair cascading across her shoulders, and I picked my way over to her bed. "Leah, you know that this has got to stop! Don’t you have any self-control?" I glanced at the body of the young man next to her. "This isn’t healthy! Picking up guys at bars, then draining them dry? Not to mention illegal. If the council found out about this…" I trailed off, the threat implied enough to scare her.
"You won’t tell them will you? Callie I can’t go… not there!" She begged me, her eyes starting to well up with blood - our version of tears.
"Of course I won’t Leah… but what if Ophelia found out? She’d turn on you in a heartbeat, you wouldn’t be the first she’s betrayed, you know that!" we sat in silence for a few seconds, until the stench became too much to bear. "How long has he been here for?" I grimaced.
"A few days." She said carelessly, as if human life was nothing to her. I stood up as Hazel re-entered the room with fresh blankets to wrap him in.
"Right, let’s do this!" I started to wrap along with Leah, however realized that Hazel was doing nothing to help. "Hazel, come on. I’ve got stuff to do today you know!" She was staring at us blankly, nibbling on the inside of her cheek, something she did when she was extremely anxious. "Hey, what’s up?"
"Ophelia has arrived."
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