Bambi and the Duke

In the early wake of hours, the girl sat at the table with a boy not far next to her. The front of her beige dress had turned crimson, traces of blood on her mouth and chin due to coughing out the blood that had been served to her. A woman stood far from the table who looked utterly embarrassed looking down at her young daughter dread, and shame filling up her mind as the realization of what was going on hit her.

”Emmanuel!” the woman’s voice screeched in angst, ”Emmanuel! Come here quickly!” a man came hurriedly into the room.

”What happened? Why are you shouting this early in the morning?” he asked her to see the woman nod her head towards the table. The man’s thin eyebrows furrowed deeply when he looked at the blood that was spilled everywhere in front of the girl.

”Do you know what this means? It is as we feared. The girl isn’t a vampire anymore, she’s unable to digest it!” the woman spoke hurriedly looking behind her to make sure the maid who worked for them wasn’t nearby.

”It might just be an allergy reaction. Make her drink again,” the man spoke seriously to see the woman nod with a heavy sigh as she made her way to the table and picked the glass which was now half filled with the blood.

The little girl shook her head, her once dark red eyes which slowly had come to turn lighter in color, ”Please mama,” the little girl pleaded to her mother. She didn’t like the taste of what the glass contained it made her throw up every time she tried swallowed it.

”You need to drink the blood to grow strong,” the woman said to see the girl shake her head and lean away from the glass but the woman was having none of it. She pulled the girl roughly by her arm and pushed the glass to the little girl’s lips. The love, once she had for her firstborn, had come to shrivel and disappear with the fact that their daughter might not be of their kind. They were the night creatures that took pride in being part of the pureblooded vampires. To know that their own child was turning to a lowly being that they despised was something they couldn’t digest.

The girl tried drinking the blood, her tear filled eyes looking up at her mother to stop as the warm liquid tried making through her throat. Feeling the repulsive metallic taste the girl threw up for the second time in the morning.

The man came to stand next to his wife, his expression grave, his lips set in a thin line. He said to his wife, ”Make sure she drinks it and if she fails to drink, bring another glass until she stops vomiting. Let’s make sure she doesn’t turn to that low thing.”

Vivian woke up at the sound of the bird hitting its beak at the window pane of her room. Stretching her arms as she laid in her bed, she sat up to look outside her window where the bird had flown from there. Staring at the cloudy sky, she remembered seeing a girl in her dream who looked really sad. She tried recollecting what her dream about but as seconds passed by, the dream turned to a blur of nothingness until she couldn’t remember what had made the little girl in her dream so sad.

Shivering in the morning cold, she pulled the sheet closer to her with both the hands to her chest, enveloping herself with the little heat the thin sheet could provide.

When the time of work called, Vivian was up and running in the shed to water the animals. The maids usually took turns to switch between their role of assigned job and thankfully the housekeeper hadn’t spoken anything about it. After all, at the end of the day, it was about getting the job done.

Speaking about the housekeeper, thought Vivian in her mind as she cleaned the dung away from the horses, the vampire had continued to behave with her as usual. Giving her work and enquiring if things were done. Looking down at her finger which was almost healed as more than a week had passed since she had cut herself with the knife out of curiosity.

Though Jan spoke to her as he did to the rest, it didn’t mean she didn’t sense the hostility that came from him when it was only him and her in the room. In the beginning, she had come to believe it as a part of her imagination but after he had blamed her for soiling Leonard’s meal she couldn’t help but notice the subtle action of difference that came when it was her. There was a sharpness in the tone of his voice which made Vivian only that more meticulous when it came to what she did in the mansion.

It wasn’t just the housekeeper. It was a plain obvious matter that was known in and around by people who worked for the Carmichael mansion that Vivian was special to the Duke. It wasn’t easy being special to someone, not when it was the master of the house while one was still nothing but a servant by status. With being special came the unfriendliness of other maids and if it weren’t for the rule of not gossiping in the mansion, God forbid there would be a heap of rumours flying across the land they lived about the Duke and the maid’s relationship.

Not that there weren’t whispers about it which weren’t spoken out loud.

Thanks to Vivian’s oblivious nature as she grew up, her life had mostly revolved around other people in the mansion than the talks of the servants. People like Martha, Paul, Leonard and his family was something that had taken her time without the need for unnecessary and unrequired subjects. But then people didn’t have an opportunity to talk about her and Leonard’s relationship as the Duke had been away from the Carmichael’s mansion until a few months ago.

Refilling the drum of water, Vivian stepped back from it to look up at the vast sky that stretched from one end to another, a few crows sat not far from the mansion, cawing to themselves. The clouds didn’t look heavy, not yet at least to notify the people of Bonelake of the oncoming rain.

Today was the day she had been anticipating for a week now. It was the day Leonard had told he would take her out, out to the town to watch a play in the theatre and her excitement bubbled up as time passed. She had already picked the dress to wore, it wasn’t much but a presentable one which was given by the late Mrs Carmichael to her during the last Christmas.

Though Vivian would never say it out to Leonard she had been looking forward to spending time with him. In the ocean of pain that both lived, they were each other’s anchor of hope.

Just as she was getting around the garden she caught sight of Leonard who was dressed in a suit, walking out of the mansion and into the carriage that was stationed in front of the mansion. The carriage started and left the mansion, disappearing from her vision.

Wondering where he left to, Vivian wondered when he would return back before they would head out. The day moved as hours passed by and evening fell with Vivian waiting for Leonard to return without asking a word to the housekeeper of when their master would return back home.

It was when the sky began turning inky hue did Vivian come to realize that they wouldn’t be going anywhere out, yet a little hope resided in her heart until she heard Jan speak to one of the maids,

”Master Leonard won’t be returning for the night. He’s attending a soiree that’s being held in the Rufus’ mansion and might return a little later tomorrow morning,” her heart sank hearing this information. There was a possibility that Leonard had forgotten what he had said a week ago and maybe reminding him was what she had to do but was it? She was aware that he had been busy with the council’s work and she reasoned with herself that Mr Rufus was a much important person in his life. She couldn’t deny the slight disappointment that came to settle down in her chest before sighing and telling herself that there was always tomorrow to look forward too.

”What do we do with the wine that was brought in today?” asked the maid.

”Put it away in the cabinet, there’s a...” their conversation fazed while she turned away from the wall where they didn’t notice her. Slowly going back to her room, she picked up the dress that had been laid down on the bed since that morning and folded it before putting it back inside.