Her Vampire Master

Chapter Seventeen

Pareidolia is a psychological response that causes some people to see familiar patterns, such as faces. When she woke up that first morning with Charles that's what she thought was happening to her, she had seen his face before and she figured her mind was finally fracturing the trauma of last night being too much for her already damaged mind.

She had seen him before, but he was Ciaran's friend, Mary's lover. He hadn't paid her any attention and she preferred it that away, the night she had met him in her time they were passing through and Mary had come to see her sire.

It added to the unrealness of the situation for her, she figured that in any other life-threatening situation she would have recognized the handsome vampire. It wasn't like they were close in her time, but she knew who he was, what he was. She had been afraid of him and Mary, neither seeming quite sane to her at the time.

In her world, Charles and Mary were probably in London now. In this not real world she liked to think of Charles as a completely different person, she was so very much in the habit of thinking of them as two different people that she didn't know what to think sometimes.

***

Charles sat in his room holding her journal, he had found it in her room and decided to read it. He often did this and she knew it, she wrote things about Prague almost like a guide book. Considering she knew he would read it she probably did it on purpose for him, she drew little maps of shops Mary might want to check out or interesting places she had seen.

The way that she wrote wasn't anything like she spoke to him, she used words he was unfamiliar with like 'ooky' and 'grrrr' he supposed this was how she thought. It had a cadence to it that didn't feel forced and it was similar to how she would talk with Mary as they did their little crafts filling up the quiet with stories for his sire. Stories that didn't make sense to him, but to Mary they were perfectly clear.

Her first few journals were filled with stories of her and Helena, she painted the pox-ridden w***e as a kind of savior, not the criminal he knew her to be using his girl as a quick meal ticket. The b***h had been past her prime and knew that she could use the younger girl working her as she had for the short time from the workhouse on until he had found her.

He remembered getting angry at her during the early days, he told her that Helena was dead and how he had killed her. She propped her head up looking at him with tears and the words she had spit at him had been full of hatred and contempt "Well duh!" She had shouted. This was before he had beaten that willfulness out of her.

He had broken two of ribs and her pinky without much thought, he knew that her words should have made him madder than he was. But he had seen something in her eyes a kind of recognition, that look was almost better than drinking from her and he saw in her something he wanted to keep.

He looked at the wall, she had been alone for two months. Had that caused the change he was seeing in her? Charles wasn't sure, but he knew that his feelings for her had changed. Turning to something tender, loving he wasn't sure how to go about his courtship of her. Did he buy flowers or chocolates for her, she had been his consort for four years. What would help him best win his girl's heart? He brought the journal up to his face, it smelled of her the soft smell of her soaking into the pages, mixing with the leather cover.

He closed the book tucking it into his arm as he made his way to her room to put the book back in her room, he found her dressing for the day. She turned shocked eyes to him, "You're up early." She said as she pulled on the bottle green wool skirt, it hugged her hips in a way he liked.

"You going out today?" He said as he moved closer helping her button up the white shirt she was wearing. She stiffened a little under his fingers, he looked at her through lower lids.

"If it's alright with you, I forgot to order a welcoming gift for Fiona and Ciaran." She said nervously, looking up at the vampire in front of her.

He nodded as he looked at her, "Be careful, maybe get him a book of some sort and her a necklace or bracelet." He watched her slip on the short heeled boots, he crouched on one knee doing the buttons for her. He looked up at her and smiled, "I know you're almost done with your book, would you like to get another one now or maybe we could go out for dinner later and get you one?"

"I'd like that." She said quietly to him, wondering if maybe this time he was trying to stay true to what he said and be nicer to her. She stood and the two made their way to the closet holding the household's outerwear, he helped her put on the new cloak he had gotten for her while he was away, the deep forest green suiting her skin tone and the dark fur trim framing her sweet face. He buttoned the silver clasp and pulled her in kissing her gently but firmly, he turned her around and gave her a gentle push towards the door watching from a safe distance as she slipped into the morning sunlight.

He turned walking past Milos as he made his way up the stairs towards Mary's room, she was laying naked asleep. He smiled as he closed the door ready to make the most of his morning.