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****The guardian is the only one who can open the passageway he or she has been assigned. They will have to perform the movements as taught to them by their predecessor.****

I paused my reading here, caught in my thoughts. How would I know the movements then? Both granny and mum were dead, so who would teach me?

Could it be that the movements were standard for all the guardians, but I didn't know any other. I gazed at the wide array of books on the shelves and wondered at the possibility of finding any information in one of these. Well, I would never know if I did not try. I got up and started looking at the titles on the lower shelves. There were books about the physical abilities of vampires, effects of the moon on vampires, most popular vampires and so on. But nothing on the passageways. I leaned my head back and surveyed the upper shelf. It could be reached through a library ladder. I'd always wanted to try one before, so I guessed it would be the perfect occasion to do so.

I climbed on it and one by one put my foot on the rungs until I reached the top. The books looked older in this section and I took a lot of care in picking books one by one. There was one with a red cover and its color reminded me of Nani's book. I gingerly pulled it out and suddenly I felt something crawling on my left wrist. Surprised, I shook my hand trying to dislodge it, realizing too late that it was the hand holding on to the ladder. I lost my balance and started falling backwards. I braced myself for the impact and closed my eyes.

When I opened my eyes, instead of lying on the floor, I was half-squatting with one hand on the floor and the other holding on to the book. What had just happened? Slowly standing up, I looked around and slowly realization started setting in. I had managed to land on my feet. Was it a new skill I had acquired from being a vampire? I started beaming and felt a sense of pride. I patted my own shoulder in a self-congratulatory move. Well done, Ash.

I took back my seat in the comfy chair and starting going through the pages which had yellowed with age. The title was 'Travelling across the worlds.' The first few pages mostly talked about the history of the travel, about the sages and everything. I already knew that so I skipped that part. I had always been a good speed-reader, it came with the duties of a teacher. When you thought of the number of scripts you had to read within a short frame of time, you needed that skill to survive.

The book wasn't broken down in chapters, so there was no index I could refer to, complicating the process. It was divided in sections, but each one did not start on a new page. Ah, this part seemed interesting, 'How to travel across the worlds?' It repeated the information about there being three gates across Earth, and then there was mention of the other worlds having gates to, but I didn't read those in detail as I couldn't recognize the name of the places.

****Bhuvar has 4 functioning gates and they are protected by guardians too. Guardians of Earth can also activate these passageways to facilitate the movement of individuals to their destinations.****

A crazy idea came to me then. We were having some difficulties to have access to the gate in Crimson town as we simply did not know how to find it. Then why not access it in reverse, by moving from a gate in Bhuvar to the one in my town? I started drumming randomly on the arm of the chair with my fingers, finding it hard to contain my impatience. Nana would surely know more about it, but how to contact him? It would be too far to travel to meet him, but they had phones too over here so I could contact him with one of those technological gadgets. I stood up resolutely and went down the stairs to find Martha. I was still burning from Dave's aloofness, so did not want to have to ask him. One part of me understood that he had work to catch up on after spending so many days with me on Earth, but the other part that had been the most excited, about spending some alone time with him, rebuffed all mediating attempts.

As I was getting down the stairs, I noticed that there was a small stain on my shirt. I had always been a messy eater and this must be from the stew. I had to wash it off, before it stained permanently, but for that I needed a change of clothes, which I did not have. Thinking back at Martha's size, I doubted that her clothes would fit me. I had now reached the first floor and looking around, I saw that the master bedroom was just next door. I hoped that Dave wouldn't mind me using his personal bathroom. You really know how to hold a grudge, Ash. You've already used his bathroom before and you think he would mind something like that, my little voice scolded me.

Shrugging, I went in. The last time, I had just had a quick glance so I didn't really feel the impact of the size. I had heard of king size beds, but this one looked as big as the mattress we had in our school for our high jump practice. It even had a green bedsheet, the same color as the mattress. I looked eagerly at it and already visualised myself sailing across the room in a jump and landing on it. I shook my head in denial, now was not the time. I put both hands on the side of my eyes like blinkers and went directly to the bathroom.

'Wow,' I exclaimed and stopped short at the sight of the sleek white whirlpool bath set to the left. There were some discreet LED lighting by the edge and there was a control panel set by the side. This was perhaps from where the lights, temperature, water flow and massage options could be controlled. I could see the pressure point jets and the massage spinners and they seemed to be inviting me to come and rub away the stress. It would be like a personal spa experience and I badly needed one.

Ash, you came here to remove the stain, so do it. I turned my face around and went towards one of the two washbasins set in marble. I took off my shirt and looked at my reflection in the mirror at the garnet lacy contraption Claudia called a bra. It was one that she had received, but which didn't fit her. I wasn't going to complain as at least I could get it to wear. The deep color flattered my complexion and actually made my chest look more bountiful, which was a blessing when you had a small chest.

I got some liquid soap from the holder nearby and rubbed it on the spot, hoping that it hadn't set yet. I added some more water from the tap to make it foam well. After a few seconds of brushing the stain with my fingernails, it started fading. A few more minutes, then it would be almost gone. I could then rinse that part of the shirt and use the blow dryer to dry it.

'You should be careful when you eat. You're so messy,' I mumbled, rinsing the hem of the shirt where the stain had been. As I raised my eyes to locate the blow dryer, I froze at the reflection in the mirror. Dave was leaning against the doorjamb, observing me. With a gasp I hurriedly pulled the shirt up to cover my chest and promptly squealed at the touch of the cold and wet shirt on my skin.

'I've already seen it, you know,' he drawled lazily, making me remember the time we had spent at Claudia's house. Oh my god, it was yesterday itself, so why did it seem that it had been days ago? I felt heat rush to my face. He slowly advanced towards me, with his hands in his pants' pocket. I felt the need to justify myself and I stumbled over my words,

'My shirt got wet. No, I mean, it got a stain. I was cleaning it and it got wet.'

He simply took another step.

'I don't have any other clothes to wear, that's why.'

He stopped short in his steps and a puzzled frown came over his face.

'Are you sure about that?'

'Umm, yeah, I would know if I had. Remember, it all burnt down,' I said feeling the familiar pinch to my heart each time I remembered my loss.

Dave swivelled on his feet and went back to the bedroom, leaving me to stare at his back in bewilderment. I pulled the shirt over my head and wore it, wincing at the contact of the cold patch on my skin, and followed him.

He pressed on an intercom I had not noticed before.

'Martha, where is the package I had ordered?' he asked with a dose of impatience.

'In the blue room, Mr Dawn.'

'Thanks.' And he marched out of the room, leaving me once again to follow him. He didn't go far, just to the neighboring room. When I went in, he was opening a package that had been placed on the bed. He then pulled out a clear transparent bag and handed it to me.

'This should do for the next few days,' he said and watched my reaction as I opened the bag upside down, allowing its contents to slip down on the bed. There were 3 blouses, one pair of shorts, a pair of jeans and an odd assortment of silk and lace, which I assumed to be the underwear or sleepwear. I raised my eyes to look at him and he smiled, making my heart beats accelerate.

'I hope they fit. Get changed, we are going on a trip.' And he left me in the room.