five gold coins

At first, she was scared and with all the narratives that she had heard about the vampires, it felt like she was walking on a thin ice that had a limited time to break.

"You will be surprised to know that some humans are way terrible than our own kind." The old man commented but his words did nothing to ease the nervousness that had slowly bloomed and it was now about to reach it's peak.

It had been two minutes since she got hired and all that she could think of was to leave this place and to never come back. Just before the old man could take a glass of the beer that he had been drinking, there was a knock on the door and upon answering it, a maid appeared.

Just like her, the maid was a human and by the look on her face, she could tell that the maid was not as scared as her.

"Master, lady Amanda has requested me to give you this."

When the maid said that, she handed a rolled parchment to him and taking his own time, he finally picked it.

Other than watching, Larissa did not utter a word and once the maid had left, he passed the parchment to Larissa who carefully took it.

"I want you to read this for me. With all those centuries that have passed, my interest in reading has diminished."

The man said with a bright smile.

Unrolling the parchment, she cleared her throat and started to read the contents inside.

"To Senior Hamilton,

I hope that all is well with you. I have personally written this letter to invite you to my daughters wedding that will be held in two days.

You and your family are invited and it would be a pleasure to have you here."

Below it in the lower right, there was a royal seal on it and once she was done scrutinizing the parchment, she finally lifted her eyes to meet his red ones.

"A caregiver who knows how to read. I am definitely going to keep you." The man remarked with a proud smile and for the first time since she got hired, she spoke up.

"Was that maid a human?"

"Yes she was. Why do you ask?" He looked intrigued by her question and placing the glass back on the table, he waited for her to reply.

"I have heard so much about the.." she trailed and seeing the look on the old man that was coaxing her to speak, she continued.

"That vampires do nothing but kill. Will you kill me?"

She blurted out the last part. At first, there was an amused look on the old man's face but it slowly faded into something serious.

"Well, some of us are murderers, but just like humans, most of us are good. You are not the first human to work for night creatures and trust me, you will love it here. I am a man of my words which is why I promise that no harm will ever befall you."

Larissa did not know why this man reminded her so much of her own grandfather. Probably because they looked like they were of the same age.

She thought to herself and pursing her lips, she gave a feeble nod to the old man.

"With that being done, I think I should show you around."

When Senior Hamilton got up, Larissa did the same and moving towards her, he hooked his hand around hers and they stepped out of the room.

When they got outside, she was greeted by a beautiful spring view and for a moment, she almost forgot that someone was next to her. On the outside, there was a beautiful vast garden that was lush and the beauty of the flowers offered some tranquility that was inviting.

As they continued to slowly walk on the wide cobblestone paths that led between the brightly coloured plants, she could not help but wonder how the magical flower garden looked so pristine. There was no way only one gardener could maintain such a beautiful space.

"You feel that?" The old man asked and Larissa whose thoughts had been occupied by the beautiful scenery turned to look at him.

"What?" She questioned back.

The whisper of tranquility. This is a season that I always looked forward to. It gives nothing but a hope for the best things coming."

Larissa could not agree any less. To her, spring season was something that she always looked forward to. The sun, the beauty that sprouts after the destruction that is brought by the winter and the lively chatter of birds that shows that life is about patience.

"I also love spring. All things come back to life."

As she uttered those words, she turned to her left where bees and butterflies were hovering over the scented flowers.

During the time that they continued to spend in the garden, she found herself talking to the old man. At times, she smiled and at other times, she became serious.

She could not have thought that a vampire could be this nice and it somehow felt good to speak with someone who knew nothing about all the pain that she had gone through.

At the time of lunch, she was led to the servants diner and to her surprise, the room was filled with humans while others were vampires.

++++++

Just like other times, the day finally came to an end and she was happy that she had made it through the day without actually dying.

"So much talking yet we have not spoken about the pay."

She heard the man and knowing that she had no plans of coming back to the Hamilton's mansion again, she quickly started,

"About that sir.._"

"Five gold coins. Would that be enough?"

His question turned her tongue tied.

' Five gold coins!'

She exclaimed in her mind. Never in her life had she ever touched such an amount.

"Alright. I shall see you tomorrow then." She spoke. She had neither accepted what he had to offer nor had she refused.

Offering a bow, she turned around ready to leave..