Chapter 2
1841 Words
2
The name of her friend burst from from Allie’s lips. “Bina!”
The woman wrinkled her nose. “Who in the world is Bina?”
The guard to Allie’s right scowled at her. “You shall address her as Lady Douglas.”
Allie blinked at them. “But-” Drifter clapped a hand on her shoulder and caught her eye in a warning from his own. She clapped her mouth shut, but a frown creased her lips.
Drifter inclined his head. “Our apologies, Lady Douglas. We had no intention of intruding on your property.”
“And yet here you are, and come in a most spectacular fashion,” she mused as she strode over to the stranded time machine. She tapped one corner with the tip of an elegant fingernail and furrowed her brow before she turned to us. “I witnessed with my own eyes the flight of this strange contraption. How is that possible?”
Drifter gave her a smile. “By the miracle of science, Lady Douglas, which I am unfortunately unable to divulge to you or anyone else.”
She lifted a brow, but a strange smile slipped onto her lips. “Anyone else? Is that rule absolute?”
He bowed his head to her. “It is.”
Lady Douglas studied him for a moment longer before she turned toward the doors that led into the manor. She beckoned at her guards with the fingers of one hand. “Bring them with me.”
She strode inside and the soldiers stepped up close to Allie and Drifter. They tightened their grips on their weapons and one of them jerked his head in the direction Lady Douglas had gone. “Get going.”
Allie looked up at Drifter who offered his arm and gave a slight nod to her. She took his arm and together they followed the Bina look-alike inside. The theme of the manor’s decor was dark. Dark paneled walls, thick dark furniture, and dark Turkish rugs. A sweeping staircase curved up to the higher floors of the grand mansion, and shadowed hallways led into the depths of the gloomy home.
Allie leaned closer to Drifter and lowered her voice to a ghost of a whisper. “What in the world is happening?”
His eyes were focused on their extravagant surroundings. “Time travel into the past.”
“No talking!” a soldier barked.
Allie snapped back to her place as they were marched into the west wing. That was the game then. They had traveled into the past before Bina’s chance meeting with the vampire and whatever had caused her loss of mobility.
Their group first meandered through a sitting room with a grand piano, and then they passed through a dining room with a table that stretched for twenty feet before they arrived at a private study set off the main hall. The tall, narrow windows looked out on the front lawn, or would have if the blinds hadn’t been closed. Darkness also shrouded this room, but Allie could make out a thick oak desk set in front of a few tall bookcases.
Lady Douglas strolled over to the high-backed chair behind the desk and took a seat. She used one hand to gesture to two chairs set in front of the desk. “If you would take a seat, and since I have already been introduced, I must ask the same of you.”
Allie and Drifter were pushed down into the chairs, and Lady Douglas waved away the soldiers. They marched from the room, closing the door behind them.
A signal from Drifter told Allie to remain silent. “We are but humble travelers, Your Ladyship, but you may call me Drifter.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “That is quite an unusual name. Does your companion also own a strange alias?”
Drifter gestured to Allie. “This is Miss Daniel.”
Lady Douglas inclined her head to the young woman. “A pleasure, Miss Daniel, though I must admit your attire is rather strange.”
Allie clasped her hands together in her lap and fidgeted in her chair. “It’s the fashion where I come from.”
“Indeed,” Douglas mused as she returned her attention to Drifter. “Might I ask what fate has brought you here at this hour?”
Drifter swept his eyes over the room. “Fate is indeed an appropriate term to use, Your Ladyship, as you have an oppressive atmosphere around you.”
She tilted her head to one side and frowned at him. “And what do you make of that?”
He settled his gaze back on her. “That something haunts you. Your guards are plentiful, but there is fear in their eyes, and you’re trying hard not to look over your shoulder at every step.”
Her sharp eyes studied them before she leaned back and clasped her fingers together. “I am loathe to divulge this information to strangers, but you have some sense of what’s been happening at our chateau.”
Drifter shook his head. “I merely sense something amiss in the air, Your Ladyship. The details are unknown to me. However, I’m curious why you have not taken note of our general appearance, nor our unusual mode of transportation.”
A bittersweet smile slipped onto Lady Douglas’ lips. “It is because you are not the first unusual occurrence to strike my home. I should not be surprised to awaken tomorrow to find fairies dancing about the yard.”
Allie lifted an eyebrow, and she couldn’t help but cast a quick glance at Drifter. “Are they real?”
Lady Douglas waved away Allie’s question with her hand. “Of course not, but there is… something amiss which modern science cannot explain, much less solve. The issue is with my ward. She is an orphan, the child of a servant with whom I grew into womanhood with. Her mother died a few years ago and I have taken it upon myself to educate her as a lady. However, something… dark appears to have attached itself to her, from where I know not. I only know that her health fails her and the shadows over my house lengthen with her decline.”
Drifter raised an eyebrow. “Have you not called for a doctor?”
She pursed her lips. “Of course, I have, but they have found nothing more than an animal bite which they assume is where the infection, if it is that, entered her body.”
Drifter shot up from his seat and a dark cloud crashed down on his brow. “Show me to her.”
Lady Douglas stood with all the grace and control of her genteel upbringing, but there was a look in her eyes that told Allie she was slightly panicked. “Why? Do you know what’s wrong with her?”
He shook his head. “I may, but I need to see her first to confirm my suspicions.”
Lady Douglas nodded. “Very well. Follow me.”
She led the pair out of the study and returned to the main hall. They walked up the winding flight of stairs to the second floor. A wide hall stretched down the width of the house, and a long row of doors stood before them. Lady Douglas moved westward and stopped them at the end of the hall.
She leaned toward the door and gave a soft rap. “Lucy?”
The door opened and they were presented with a young woman of about twenty with soft black curls about her pale face. She wore a white apron over her bosom and down the front of her plain blue dress. Soft slippers adorned her small feet, and a white bonnet covered her head.
Lucy stepped to one side, opening the door wider, and curtsied to her ladyship. “Good evening, ma’am.”
“How is she?” Lady Douglas inquired as she swept into the room with the others following.
The bedroom was as darkly ornate as the rest of the house. A dresser stood against the wall to their left between a pair of tall windows, and on the wall opposite them were more windows with a four-post bed situated between them. The wood boards that made up the floor were covered with thick rugs, and a chair with a thick, well-used cushion sat beside the bed.
There was a strange chill in the air that made Allie wrap her arms around herself and shiver.
Lucy’s gaze settled on the bed as she shut the door behind us, and she pursed her lips. “Not good, ma’am. I think she’s weaker than yesterday.”
The fine lady’s stiff demeanor softened as she approached the bed. A small form lay beneath a heavy load of covers. It was that of a girl of five with auburn hair and a complexion so pale that Allie couldn’t help but assume she was deathly ill. Her breathing, too, was slightly labored, with each breath being a struggle that forced her chest up and down with a painful appearance.
Lady Douglas took a seat in the chair and set her hand on the covers. “Camille? There’s someone here to see you.”
The young girl’s eyes fluttered open with some effort, and she turned her head slightly to stare at them with dull brown eyes. They lacked the luster of life and seemed unfocused as they studied the group. “Auntie?”
The lady smiled down at her and nodded. “Yes, I am here, and so are some friends of mine. They have come here to help you get better. How do you feel tonight?”
A shudder ran through the young girl, and she closed her eyes. “I feel worse, Auntie, and my throat scratches something horrible.”
Drifter furrowed his brow before he moved up to their hostess’ side, but he slipped a gentle smile onto his lips. “Hello, Cammy.”
The young girl shrank back a little at his greeting and tucked her nose beneath her blanket. “H-hello…”
He smiled at her. “I’m only here to help.”
Her wide eyes flickered to her ‘auntie.’ “Is he a doctor?”
Lady Douglas nodded. “Yes, dear, and I hope you will do your best to help him.”
She weakly nodded. “Of course, Auntie…”
Drifter used a hand to gesture to her throat. “Might I look at your throat?”
The young girl winced, and her terrified eyes flitted over to Douglas. “Must he?”
Lady Douglas nodded. “Yes, my dear.”
Drifter grasped the top of the sheet and drew the blanket down away from her throat. Camille shut her eyes and turned her head to one side as her face scrunched up as though in pain.
The lamplight revealed a pair of small red wounds on her throat.
- Writer
