NIGHTS OF HALLOW

Perdita felt the beating of her heart continue to shudder in her chest.

What was that all about? She questioned herself as she recalled all that happened in her dream.

Her eyes darted around the room as if in search of Sthena or trying to find any trace of him being in the room last night, but found none. Everything was as she remembered them to be.

It was all a dream. She whispered again and puffed a large breath out of her mouth. But the dream had been so real that she felt it actually happened.

Unconsciously, Perdita’s hand touched her arm, her collarbone, her cheek, and then her lips where the pressure of Sthena’s had traveled across. She remembered his tongue peeking out of his mouth. A...and his lips almost touched hers!

Perdita felt her body shiver from the thoughts invading her brain. She immediately sat up on the bed.

Good gracious, Perdita! Did drinking the blood of Sthena turn you this way to even have such a dream about him? Perdita internally questioned herself and stretched her legs to get down from the bed.

’You’re a very lovable woman, Perdita.’

’Did you also know I don’t offer anything for free?’

’I offer my help that in turn, I expect something bigger from the person.’

’The reward I want from you will both be enjoyable for me and you.’

The words of Sthena from the dream replayed in Perdita’s head one after the other, as if to make her remember what she was trying to forget.

”Ahhh!” Perdita let out a frustrated sigh. How was she going to face the man today with naughty thoughts of him invading her mind?

A knock on the door distracted the mind of Perdita who was miles from her dreamland.

She immediately put her feet down and strengthened her clothes to be proper while at the back of her mind, she was expecting the person at the door to be Sthena.

”Come in,” She called out to the person.

The door slowly opened with a small creaking sound, and Perdita felt as if it was her heart that was doing the sound as she wetted her lips.

”My Lady,” The person poked the head in first before the body followed, and it turned out to be Emily the maid.

”Good morning, My Lady,” Emily walked in and bowed her head.

”Good morning, Emily,” Perdita responded. A little disappointment could be detected in her voice she found weird.

”Uhm...” Emily started with a stutter. The piercing gaze of Perdita made her unable to speak.

Perdita averted her gaze and stood up. She called the maid, ”Emily,”

”Yes, My Lady?”

”Do I look scary this morning?” Perdita questioned and wore the robe of her night dress.

”No, My Lady,” Emily answered unsure of why the Lady was suddenly questioning her. In fact, she found the Lady to be very stunning this morning.

”Okay,” Perdita said and stood in front of Emily and raised her face while tucking a strand of Emily’s hair that was not held by the ribbon she tied on her hair.

”But—” Perdita continued, ”If you are scared of me, you can stop attending to me and let another person take over. It is better having one less Theresa in my midst.”

Emily vigorously nodded her head and whispered an okay. She spoke, ”My Lady, the weather is cold, let me prepare a warm bath for you.”

”Hmm,” Perdita nodded. ”But I would like the fireplace better.”

”Yes, My Lady. Let me quickly put the fire.” Emily replied with a bow before moving to the fireplace.

Emily brought out the wood stored in the cupboard near the fireplace before putting them inside the firebox. She looked around, as if in search of something.

Emily stood up, ”My Lady, please excuse me to get the matchbox.”

”Alright,” Perdita answered and Emily quickly left the room. Perdita’s feet made their way to stand in front of the fireplace. She bent on her heels to put more wood in the firebox as she needed more heat in the cold weather. After all, she was just a turned vampire.

A small piece of the wood stuck into her middle finger, and in pain to remove the tiny wood, she snapped her fingers. The next thing that happened made her shriek in fear.

When Perdita snapped her fingers to remove the tiny wood, fire from nowhere suddenly emitted out of her finger and ignited the wood.

Perdita gasped and stumbled on her heels, terrified at what just happened. Her face held a horrified expression as she stared wide eye at both her hand and the fireplace that held the burning woods that started to softly crackle as they burned.

”W...what was that?!” Perdita asked no one in particular. She slapped her cheek to check if perhaps she was in another dream, but the sting from the slap let her know that everything was real. The fire now brightly burning in the room served as evidence of what transpired.

”Oh my goodness! What in the name!” Perdita further exclaimed. Her mouth and eyes were wide like saucers. She looked at her hand, suddenly horrified of them.

She snapped her fingers again to check if the fire will emit from her fingers like before, but nothing happened even after she did it more than five times.

Perdita’s body shivered even though the fire was enveloping the room with warmth. She hysterically crawled away from the fire, afraid something else would happen.

Was it the fireplace? Did it have magic? Or was it truly her? Has she gone mad to imagine things? Perdita questioned aloud. What was she going to say to explain what happened?

That was magic. She was so sure of it. And as the horrific scene began to settle in her head, thoughts from different angles began to envelop her brain.

”W...what will people say if I told them that fire brewed out of my fingers when they snapped?” Perdita continued to question herself as she stood up from the floor. Her mind and eyes dilated in daze, unsure of what to do next.

If people got to hear this, they would surely call her a...a witch! Because they were the ones who could perform something like this one. She would be burned!

But she wasn’t any witch. She was a turned vampire. She wasn’t a pureblooded vampire that could have helped erase the doubt. It would have been assumed she was a vampire with abilities because some pureblooded vampires had abilities. She had to quickly inform Sthena about this because right now, she was scared of stepping out of the room.

The sound of the door opening shook the body of Perdita as her body jerked in the direction of the door, and in came Emily.

Oh goodness, she had forgotten Emily went to get the matchbox.

”My Lady?” Emily called with an obvious question about how the fire was burning when she had gone to bring the matchbox.

”Did you see the matchbox and lit the fire by yourself?” Emily questioned as she walked towards the fireplace as if inspecting it.

”Ah,” Perdita cleared her throat to rid the anxiousness in it. ”I happened to find it just below the woods in the cupboard when I went to add more wood,” Perdita answered with an awkward smile on her lips.

”Oh—is that so?” Emily responded while her eyes moved around the place in search of the matchbox Perdita said she found.

”Ehm...I threw it inside the fire since it was remaining a stick.” Perdita explained. Her eyes cautiously looked at Emily to see if she found anything suspicious.

”It’s alright, My Lady.” Emily smiled, ”You shouldn’t have troubled yourself with such work. It is my job.”

”Hm, you shouldn’t worry about that, Emily. Why don’t you help me prepare the bath?”

”Right away, My Lady.” Emily bowed and disappeared behind the door of the bathroom.

Perdita’s legs shook as she felt her body sway and she fell backward and into the bed. She was lucky to be standing near the bed, else her bottom would have suffered the hardness of the cold marble floor.

What could she make of this strange encounter this morning? Perdita held her head which had begun to throb. Where was this going to her lead her? What was going to happen to her?