Onbekend(24)

“So have you,” Gabriel added, chuckling. “Our time is almost up. Hopefully we can set everything straight for her before she takes over.” Lord Randolph nodded, as they both stared into the star-filled sky in silence.





*****





Arianna returned to the room in which she had awoken that morning. Though everything was how she left it, it didn’t feel comforting since she had been kidnapped from the same room. After much reassurance from Devin that she was safe, Arianna tried to relax with a hot bath. As she soaked in the tub, she pondered everything that had happened since she had left home. It was all too unbelievable. Her Uncle Gabriel, her grandfather, dearg-duls, personal guards, drinking blood, kidnappings, murder, and a new, extravagant lifestyle swirled through her head as the last of the bubbles faded away. Her life had changed drastically in just a short twenty-four hours. Every fact she knew to be true was being shattered, one after another. Her life, as she knew it, was a lie. Her aunt and uncle were not related to her. Her family, which she thought was dead, was not. Her birthday wasn’t even on the day she thought.

After rinsing off the soap and putting on her pajamas, Arianna tried to go to sleep in the king–sized, four-post bed, but found it was too different from her normal, single bed at home. Home, Arianna thought. Where is that? Her life was now in disarray, and though she could still remember the small apartment above the diner, a part of her told her it was no longer home. But this isn’t home either. The strange room, decorated for a five year-old, wasn’t home. The pink fluffy comforter was not home. The six ruffled pillows now piled on the floor were not home.

Arianna lay still, listening to the room around her. Though she tried to only focus on the room, her ability to hear traveled down the corridors of the large estate to the ballroom. She could hear the laughing and talking of complete strangers as they enjoyed themselves. The click of high heels and formal shoes kept the beat to the faint music that continued to play. Doesn’t anyone sleep around here? she wondered, as she stared at the clock flashing 3:43AM. Arianna sighed as she realized, they were dearg-duls, night humans. Of course they don’t sleep at night, she told herself. Arianna began to ponder her new existence. She knew very little of dearg-duls. Would it be like the movies? Would they turn to ash at the slightest sunlight? Did they attack innocent people to feed? Would vampire hunters follow her, trying to put a wooden stake through her heart? What about garlic and holy water? Was she now immortal?

Arianna tossed and turned in her bed as she failed to fall asleep. The guests, enjoying the night, continued to talk and dance as time crawled on. Arianna tried to picture her bed at home: the soft, worn sheets, her favorite pillow she refused to give up, and the window that allowed her to see the moon as she fell asleep. It was no longer her home, but she longed to be there anyways. This isn’t going to work, she thought. There was no way she could fall asleep with all the noises to distract her.

Silently, Arianna opened her bedroom door to peer into the sitting room. The fire in the fireplace crackled and slightly flickered as the air from her bedroom pushed past it to the chimney. On the couch, sitting with his back to her, Devin was reading papers. Without looking up, he stopped, and placed the papers on the coffee table.

“Having trouble sleeping?” he asked, as he picked up a new set of papers.

“Mm hmm,” she replied, sitting next to him. “You know, it’s almost four in the morning.”

“Is it?” he asked.

“Don’t you sleep?” she asked.

“I normally only sleep two to four hours a night,” he responded.

“What are you doing so late?” she wondered.

“Going over the files from today,” he explained. Arianna nodded as she curled her feet beneath her to keep her toes warm. “It’s my job to keep you safe, so I need to make sure we didn’t miss anything.”

“Your job?” she asked. “But you’re only seventeen, right?”

Devin smiled as he set down the paper and picked up the next. “Correct, but I’m still employed by your grandfather.”

“But you’re just a high-school student,” she added.

“I graduated from high school three years ago,” he replied. Shocked, Arianna stared at the young man beside her. Was he really so smart that he could graduate high school at fourteen? Devin kept reading.

“It’s too noisy here, and the party is still going on,” she explained why she couldn’t sleep, though he hadn't asked.

“It could be a few more hours yet, before everyone leaves,” Devin replied. “Just ignore the noise.”