10 Fresh Eupatorium

Rayne rushes around to the front door of Adelia's cabin and bursts through it. Fletcher and Adelia quickly snap to face her and Adelia pulls her dress up to cover her large, exposed breasts. She smirks snobbishly after seeing it's Rayne who's interrupted them. Fletcher looks like a fish out of water. His mouth gapes open in horror and his eyes are wide but only for a moment.

"Rayne!" he squeaks before clearing his throat and returning to his usual cocky demeanor. "What are you doing here?"

"What are YOU doing here?" Rayne sneers at him with her arm extended toward where Adelia sits on the bed. Adelia winks at her sarcastically. "Never mind." Rayne puts up her hand, ignoring Adelia. "This is perfect actually, I never wanted to marry you anyways. You're a pig!"

"You're still marrying me Rayne." Fletcher says sternly, causing Rayne to scoff.

"Ha! I'm afraid you're sadly mistaken!" she laughs at him.

"I paid for you Rayne. You're mine." He raises his voice, getting angry. Adelia chimes in, grabbing his arm from behind.

"Fletch why don't you and I just…" Fletcher pulls his arm from her grasp harshly.

"Fuck off Adelia, you're no wife. There was never going to be anything between us. You're nothing more than a good lay." He turns from her and takes a step toward Rayne leaving Adelia shocked, embarrassed, and looking like somebody just slapped her. "Rayne if you had just given me what I wanted I wouldn't need to find it in other women. I'm a man Rayne…I have needs and it's your duty as my wife to fulfi…"

"Stop!" Rayne cuts him off, throwing the bundle of flowers at him. She points her finger in his face aggressively. "I am not, and never will be, your wife." She grits her teeth and turns to leave. Fletcher grabs her wrist from behind, but she rips her arm from his grasp and storms out of the cabin toward the graveyard. Fletcher stands there, flaring his nostrils and clenching his jaw as he watches her leave.

'He is unbelievable!' she thinks to herself at she stomps down the dirt road. 'Why would he force me to get married if he just wants to prance around in bed with other girls?' There's no way she's going to marry him now, no matter what arrangement he made with her father. The thought of her impending freedom makes her smile. Rayne eyes a patch of wild eupatorium and swoops down, grabbing a handful. She reaches the cemetery to visit her grandmother and Clementine, as was now her daily routine. She leaves a few of the fresh flowers on each of their graves and sends small wishes into the darkening sky before saying goodbye and heading back home.

Late that night, Rayne sleeps curled on her side in her small bed, tucked in tight to avoid the frigid night air. The rain has started to fall gently, dropping a soothing beat on the wooden cabin. The night is peaceful until suddenly a loud thud on the rooftop wakes Rayne from her sleep. She sits up and looks around, confused at what's woken her. Through the sound of the raindrops, she hears a few more knocks above her, quieter than the first. Rayne cautiously climbs out of bed and pulls on her old robe. She walks nervously into her living room, following the moving noise above her. All of a sudden, it stops. Rayne glances around her house bewildered, was she imagining it? She peers out of her front window through the drizzling rain outside. A dark figure slams down onto the muddy street, frightening her and causing her to jump and yelp. He stands and turns around to face her, allowing her to see it's Drake. Rayne stands there frozen with her hands on her mouth.

'What is he doing here?!' her mind shrieks. Drake just stands there, staring at her. Rayne thinks back to their first encounter. Truth is, she hasn't stopped thinking about it and she still wasn't sure how she felt. 'On the surface it appears that Drake is the one who killed Mr. Hytop and who else would have locked Clementine in the cellar?' she questions. Still, deep down, she feels like he won't harm her. Timidly, she makes her way to the front door and opens it. Drake's dark eyes follow her as she moves.

"Hello Rayne." He says smoothly, smirking. His voice causes her stomach to flutter. She tries to swallow the lump in her throat.

"He…Hello Drake." She stutters, stepping onto the porch. "What are you doing here?" Her face is pale as she thinks of Mr. Hytop's lifeless body during his last visit. Drake frowns, seeing how uncomfortable she is. He hates making her feel this way but no matter how much he's tried, he couldn't resist coming back. She hasn't left his mind since the first night he saw her.

"Umm…how's Clementine?" he asks, trying to hide the real reason he's here.

'How does he know her name?' Rayne thinks to herself. Her eyebrows squeeze before her face falls and she looks down at her cold, bare feet. "She didn't make it." She answers quietly. She peaks back up at him. Her frosty blue eyes look empty and sad, making Drake's chest heave.

'What was that?' he puzzles. 'Am I sad because she's sad?' Normally, he doesn't care how others feel and his newfound concern for this little human is unsettling. Still, he can't manage to stay away from her. "I'm sorry." He says, looking away. The heaviness in her eyes is becoming too much for him. Rayne tilts her head.

"Are you a vampire?" She asks, unable contain her curiosity. He nods and grins at her ignorance. Rayne swallows hard and works up the courage to ask him the question that's haunted her for months.

"Did you lock Clem in that cellar?" She asks cautiously, fearful of what he might say and that she might meet the same demise. He looks back to her, furrowing his brow.

"No. I had no reason to hurt her, just like I have no reason to hurt you." He looks upset at her accusation. Rayne nods and opens her mouth to ask if he's the one who killed Mr. Hytop. A door to her left creaks open, interrupting her, and the flicker of a dim candle catches her eye. Her neighbor, Mr. Davis, emerges from his cabin, peering at her through the trickling rain.

"Rayne?" he calls out. Rayne whips her head back to where Drake stands only to find that he's gone. "Are you okay?" Mr. Davis continues. Rayne looks around bewildered.

"Um, yeah!" she yells back reassuringly. "Yeah I'm okay, I just needed some air." She lies. She doesn't want the villagers to know she's been speaking with a vampire, especially if he's the same one that tormented the town just months ago. 'What do you mean if?' her mind questions, 'Of course he did it, he's the only one that's been here in ten years. Then again he said he didn't hurt Clemen…'

"I heard voices." Mr. Davis pries, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Um…yeah that was me…I was talking to Grandmama." She pretends, feeling kind of guilty. Her neighbor nods and a look of pity crosses his face.

"Oh…okay well try to keep it down please. It's nearly three." He asks politely.

"Of course. I'm sorry Mr. Davis." She apologizes. Her neighbor smiles and waives goodnight before retiring to his cabin. Rayne looks around the empty streets and rooftops, searching for the vanishing vampire. After a moment, she decides he's gone and returns to bed. She lays there thinking about Drake. 'He said he didn't hurt Clem, but could he really be trusted? Afterall, he is a vampire. What if he just enjoyed playing head games? And why was he coming back here, talking to me anyways?' She rolls to her back, closing her eyes and placing her arm above her head. She is confused as to what this man wants with her but a part of her secretly wishes he will return. She grins and drifts back to sleep, dreaming of deep, black eyes.