Elizabeth and the Vampire's Cabin(3)

“That was quite a monologue,” the man named Jack commented. “She could be an actress. What a drama queen.”

“Women are the biggest gossips on the planet. What was that Chris Rock joke? '"Women could rule the world if they didn’t hate each other so much?”' I remember when Elizabeth was in middle school. She’s always been…well…interesting. That old woman is hateful. She could find a way to backbite anybody,” replied Arthur.

“Elizabeth is a healthy adult at eighteen and barely a female at that. She’s like a teenage boy in a dress—a very beautiful teenage boy in a dress. And she’s just as aggressive as they are, too. I saw her ripping a new one into one of her brother’s friends this morning.”

With a laugh, Arthur responded, “He was probably hitting on her. She hates that kind of thing. She’s cold and doesn’t need anyone. All she thinks about is camping and travelling. But she’s a smart girl and full of energy. She’s not like her brother. She’s a hard worker. And she isn’t afraid of anything.”

“The whole family is bizarre aren’t they? They have a bad gene somewhere. Both their parents died in a murder/suicide.”

Arthur hesitated before responding. “I wouldn’t say a bad word about their father. I've lived in this area my whole life, and from what I've been told, he was a good man who loved his wife very much. All I know is that his wife had a history of mild depression. But, after the birth of Elizabeth, she became psychotic from postpartum depression. Over the next couple of years, her depression waxed and waned. Medications either stopped working within months or were barely effective. Eventually, she completely lost it. For reasons that we may never know, she went to bed one night with her husband, waited until he was asleep, got out of bed, grabbed the gun out of the safe in their bedroom, and shot him in the head. Then she shot herself. Austin heard the gunshots and called 911. He was eleven years old and Elizabeth was only two. I can’t imagine what that did to their psyches. They were then raised by their rich grandfather for years until he died. Then Elizabeth became the ward of Austin, because he was nineteen by that time, and he was exactly as Kitty described him: a lazy narcissist. He didn’t want to be saddled with parenting a kid sister a nineteen, so he treated her like a little brother. The result of that is a cold, eighteen year old woman who dresses and behaves like an angry man. At least, that's the typical gossip you can hear about their family. Though, as you can see, she does make an occasional exception about her dress code. She's got some great curves filling out that little black dress she has on.”

Elizabeth listened to all of this with some dismay. Yes, she was cold and masculine. Yes, she was the kid sister to a narcissist. Yes, she was the product of an insane mother and murdered father. But she wasn’t about to let that get her down. She never had before, she thought defiantly. She stepped away from the window and surveyed her surroundings. Her living room was brilliantly lit and had a ballroom feel to it. People danced, joked, and laughed as a band played party music. An electric chandelier hung down from the ceiling and underneath stood her brother Austin.

Austin and Elizabeth looked completely dissimilar from one another. Austin was almost sickly looking. But there was a hunger in his eyes that added some vitality to his lean figure. This was the only thing that allowed him to look youthful. When he was depressed, and the vitality withdrawn from his gaze, he could easily pass as Elizabeth's father. His appearance was anemic: tall, thin, and deathly pale. This look was only exacerbated by his jet black hair. He lazily gestured to his guests with weak movements, and appeared too worn out to even keep his medium length hair from falling into his eyes. On the other hand, Elizabeth was vivacious. She was a breath of fresh air. She was average height for a woman and curvy. Her physique noticeably differed from Austin’s because of how muscular she was. Where Austin had slightly curved shoulders and a naturally slim build, Elizabeth was built like an Amazon. She always stood erect and firm. Everything about her build and stance screamed Olympian. Her penetrating brown eyes and shock of short black hair with red highlights made her appear even more vibrant.

She noticed that the two men who had been speaking outside had entered. She also noticed that they were now admiring her. It didn't surprise her, because she knew how she looked to men when they really took the time to notice her. She was so much more than an angry man. But one might not even notice just how striking she was unless peering at her undistracted. She really was a very beautiful young woman. And she knew it.