14 Blood Rose

Rayne shelters her face from the cold wind, tucking it into the smooth nape of Drake's neck. She squinches her eyes shut tight due to her fear of heights. The mist of the clouds leaves her skin and hair feeling dewy as they pass through them. The air gets warmer as they soar higher up the mountain and the morning gradually approaches. Drake doesn't fly too fast as not to frighten the girl, and they arrive at Hasting's sometime later. Rayne feels Drake's speed slowing even further so she peaks nervously over her shoulder. Below is a massive grey stone building, multiple stories high. Its lush groomed yard is surrounded by dense forests.

'Is this the Capital?' she thinks to herself as they descend closer to it. Drake lands softly on a balcony near the top of the building. He sets Rayne down and she peers out over the colossal back yard. Its green grass dances in the light breeze. The dawn sun sneaks through breaks in the clouds, touching the land and leaving it looking peaceful and heavenly. Rayne smiles and inhales the fresh air.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Drake says behind her, making her jump from her trance. She turns to see him staring at her and smirking. Rayne nods, her cheeks blushing.

"Where are we?" she asks, "The Capital?" Drakes lets out a small laugh through his nose. He smiles, showing off perfect pearly teeth with no fangs which confuses Rayne.

"No." Drake answers, still grinning. "This is my house. The Capital is much, much larger." Rayne's jaw drops in shock.

"This is your HOUSE?" she repeats. "It's huge!" Drake chuckles again.

"Yeah I suppose it is. C'mon." He walks over and opens the glass double doors, exposing a wide red bedroom inside. Rayne follows him slowly, embarrassed to be in such intimate quarters with a man who's not her husband. She glances around, soaking in the details of the mansion room. Its patterned walls and thick, soft rugs radiate wealth like she's never seen. The bed itself is enormous, with four beautifully carved wooden posts towering above it. A sheer silky fabric is draped over and tied to them, creating a canopy over multiple fluffy pillows. The place looks spotless, with the only dust or dirt being the burned ashes in a large fireplace at the other side of the room. A vase full of dark roses sits atop the mantel. Rayne walks over to them. The petals look black at first glance but moving closer she can see they're actually a deep red.

"I've never seen some so dark." Rayne says, petting the soft petals with her fingertips.

"Blood Roses." Drake replies coolly, grinning at the irony. Rayne gulps, the mention of blood reminding her that he could drink her dry at any moment. Drake senses her discomfort as she shifts away from him.

"I'm not going to hurt you Rayne." He says again. "I don't like harming humans like most vampires do." His face shadows and his tone turns gloomy as he walks around to the side of the bed, taking a seat. The plump mattress dimples under him as he shifts so one leg is bent in front of him on the bed and he's facing her. Drake frowns and looks down, twisting a stray string from the bedspread between his fore finger and thumb.

"I need to drink to survive but I don't enjoy doing it." He looks back to her, his voids meeting her big blue eyes. "We are working on finding an alternative for human blood, but we haven't had any luck yet." He explains.

"You can't drink animals?" She asks, more curious than scared at this point. Drake shakes his head disappointedly.

"Unfortunately, not." He answers. Rayne tilts her head in interest. "It has to be human blood since we are of human descent." He continues, "We wouldn't be able to drink from a witch or siren either, for example, our bodies reject inhuman blood and we become very sick."

"I see…" Rayne replies, her words trail as she thinks of those in her village who he killed.

"I drink mostly from those who give me permission, but I don't want to harm them, so I only take small sips. That keeps me full for a while, but I get weak so, when I must kill, I search for someone deserving of death." Drake says as if reading her thoughts. Rayne's brows furrow at his words.

"Deserving? How did Mr. Hytop and Frank deserve to die?" she questions defensively. Drake's face twists with disgust as he recalls. He sighs heavily.

"That boy the other night…he…" Drake struggles to get out words describing the despicable acts he observed. "He…I caught him being inappropriate with a child." He says, anger burning in his chest. Rayne's expression turns horrified as she realizes what he means.

"Oh gods…" she replies, "and Mr. Hytop, the old man that died months ago?" she asks. Drake shakes his head to rid himself of the image.

"Again, improper…but with a pig." He explains, trying to be as vague with the details as possible for Rayne's sake. The words leave a nasty taste on his tongue and his stomach in a swirl. Rayne grimaces at the unspeakable things that were occurring in her small village. She can't believe people can commit such horrid acts and the idea of it makes her more understanding of what Drake did in response.

'Maybe I can trust him.' She thinks to herself. Drake stares at her in silence, trying to evaluate her reaction and thoughts. The young woman looks around the room, avoiding his gaze. Her blonde curls spiral wildly from the winds of their flight. Her youthful face looks pale and weary.

"So now you know." Drake begins, breaking the silence and standing up from the bed, "If you feel okay with it still, you can stay here somewhere until I find you your own place." He walks toward the bedroom door and opens in, motioning with his head for her to follow. Rayne nods and obliges, still holding her bag of belongings. She steps out into a tall, open hallway which feels much chillier than the bedroom. Long lit candlesticks jut out from the stone walls, the flames dancing on the reflective marble floors. Rayne notices the house smells citrusy and inhales the fresh scent deeply. An older man comes from around the corner and walks swiftly over to them. He wears a nice black suit, though not as expensive as Drake's, with knee high black boots and white gloves. His white hair is pressed firmly to his head with oil and parted neatly at the side. Under his big nose, he sports a black mustache that consists of two small lines sitting on his lip. He flashes a gape-toothed smile under gentle blue eyes before he bows to greet them.

"Good morning Master Drake!" he says kindly, standing back up. He turns to Rayne. "May I take that Miss?" He asks, extending his hand out to her bag. Rayne gives it to him reluctantly. She isn't used to people serving her.

"Thank you, Mr.…?"

"Walter." The old man replies with a smile.

"Rayne." She introduces, returning his grin.

"Thank you, Walter but I'll take that this time." Interrupts Drake. He takes the bag from Walter's hands and the man bows to them again

"Very well sir. Nice to meet you Miss Rayne." He says before turning on his heel and walking gracefully away. Drake reaches out and places his hand gently on Rayne's back to get her attention and gesture for her to follow. His touch sends a chill down her spine, fluttering the butterflies in her stomach. They go a short distance down the long hallway until they come to a large, double wooden door painted white. Drake opens it, allowing her to enter into another bedroom. This one's walls are a pale yellow, making the large room look light and sunny even in the cloudiness of Estra. The white furniture and rugs only accent this. Numerous long chains hang from the tall mansion ceiling connected to lit silver oil lamps. The light illuminates the room brighter than the hall.

"I thought you could stay in here for the time being. Is it okay for you?" Drakes asks. Rayne turns to look at him, his black eyes full of genuine concern.

"It's perfect." She replies with a small smile. 'The bedrooms alone in this mansion are nearly as big as Grandmama's house was.' she thinks. A pinch of sadness hits her at the loss of her old home.

"Good. You're probably tired," Drake continues, "I'll let you rest, do you need anything?" he asks kindly.

"No, thank you." She shakes her head.

"Okay well if you do, there's a bell next to the bed. Just ring that and Walter or a maid will come and get you whatever you want okay?" Rayne nods. "I mean it, anything you want you just ask them. We can get it for you." He says seriously. Rayne nods again, grinning at his kindness.

"I understand. I appreciate it." She says sweetly. Drake smiles and turns to walk from the room, placing her bag of stuff on the bed. He stops before leaving, glancing back to her.

"Hey Rayne?" he says.

"Yeah?"

"What that guy was doing when I got there…are you okay?" His voice sounds sad and his deep eyes search her anxiously.

"Yeah I'm okay and thank you for that." She smiles at him. He nods and leaves, closing the big white doors behind him.