Chapter 15

"I'm certain there's more beauty to behold behind that towel," Sarah rallied, smiling. 

Adam dropped the scissors and pulled Sarah off the stool, leading her by the arm towards the door. 

"I have warned you not to grab my by the arm in such a manner. It triggers me," she screeched.

Adam did not reply to her, instead he proceeded to open the door, pushing her outside. He locked the door from behind. 

Adam looked back a the room and saw the hair mess on the floor. He usually didn't have the workers stay around, he only let them when it was time for them to clean the house. He knew he didn't have the patience to wait for a cleaner to come over, neither could he risk having someone coming into the house and seeing Sarah. 

Of course she might be able to pass for his girlfriend or something, but Adam could not guarantee that Sarah would not try to hurt whoever will come into the house to do all the chores.

*****

"How is this used?" Sarah asked herself, pulling the shower pipe. Where the water was going to come from, she had no idea. Adam had washed his hands in the kitchen sink earlier, there was also one in the batheroom She walked to the sink and turned on the tap, taking handfuls of water and pouring it over her body. It was an uncomfortable feat for her. Sarah had taken handfuls of water already in twenty rounds, but the bathroom floor was a whole mess instead.

She took a break and went for the bar soap on the other side of the washroom. Rubbing it in full tilt across her wet body, she turned the tap back on subsequently and took more handfuls to wash herself up.

"Ugh!" Sarah deplored in frustration and walked back into the tub, hoping she would figure out where the actual water was going to come from. With the grip of both soapy hands she pulled aggressively on the shower hanging casually on the tiled wall. 

"Clink." "Clink." "Clink". Made the sounds of the screws falling off their positions. The next second, the pipe was torn of the wall by the vampire's hands. A more perplexed look came on her face while she checked the pipe for hidden water. Soapy water has already started sleeping into her eyes, causing a slight burning effect. 

****

His hairy hands pushed and clicked aimfully on the consoles, his blue eyes were glued to the television screen, running quickly from left to right in reflex. Lights from the screen radiated on his face in different colours. A satisfying smile played on his face. And at regular intervals, he would take a bite of the burger next to him on the cushion, or drink from the open water bottle.

Shooting and laser sounds escaped from the speakers. The avatars ran around in the game, shooting and hiding, some falling dead, some reappearing. He was competing with another gamer whose tiny ID icon sat at the topmost right corner of the screen. "Wesley23774536" was the name following the icon. The player's icon was directly opposite his opponent's on the left side of the screen "Lycan.King.108446".

"Wesley23774536" was also somewhere around the four corners of the world, staring at the screen and trying to beat his opponent. "Lycan.King.108446" had not imagined that his happy leading tenure on the game was going to be cut short. 

He wasn't expecting the naked woman who ran in between him and his game to lift the television up in the air. 

Adam dropped the consoles and stood up from the cushion in fury, accidentally knocking the water bottle over, whose contents poured out to create a tiny stream. 

Sarah inspected the television in fascination, wondering how it had tiny people appears inside of it. 

"Are you out of your mind?" Adam seethed, pushing her away from the television. 

"You even have other people in your house," she noted rather stupidly to Adam's dislike, referring to the game characters on the screen. 

"Why the fuck can't you just...and why are you naked?" He asked her, just noticing that she had no clothes on and that she had soapy foam all over her. 

Sarah, as if coming back to the consciousness of the state she was in, folded her hands over her breasts. 

"There is no water in the bath," she told him, hiding the lower part of her body behind the cushion. Adam pulled his hair back in obvious irk. Dropping his hands to his side, his hair fell back to the sides of his face. He caught on the fact that he ought to have put her through the process of using the bathroom before asking her to. 

Adam walked into Sarah's room to see what condition the bathroom was in. The pipes and pins were on the wet floor and he gave an expected nod. 

Sarah picked up her stolen night dress from the floor and put it over body. Adam turned to look at her, then traipsed out of the door. 

"Follow me," he told her, his voice echoing in the hallway. She obeyed and went behind him. 

****

It was 7am in the morning, Alicma watched the activities going on outside the mansion from the wide windows of her room above, enjoying the cool breeze at the same time. She listened to the chirping of the birds and the morning sunrise that spreading its shades of red and yellow on the horizon of the sky. This was a treat to her eyes and soul. The pure and fresh air danced into the room, filling it with freshness and spirit. 

There were a number of members of the pack in the park outside the mansion. It was provided to he public by the former leader of the pack—her husband. Some were walking to their destinations, while others were either cycling down the road afar off or taking their little children to the academy. There were a group of adults who had come prepared with their cricket and badminton kits. 

She felt happy that there was already so much energy and good spirit so early in the morning. The sight of pretty flowers and the dew drops on the marigolds and rose petals and were a real pleasure. The gardeners from the mansion were up and doing as well, taking care of the various flower beds. They plucked the unwanted weeds, watered the plants, primed and trimmed the hedges. 

"Lovely," Alicma remarked, beaming with the beauty she beheld. But, there was no doubt there were hidden troubles in her heart. 

She had eyes similar to Adam's, only that they didn't have the same youthful glint in them. All the same, Alicma was an absolutely beautiful woman and anyone could tell that her children got their amazing looks from her.

Inside the mansion grounds, she could see the movement of the workers who had started their work early in the morning. The sweepers, were busy, diligently doing their work. The tractors outside were also on duty, picking up garbage collected in heaps at intervals on either sides of the street. As time ran past, the scene outside changed gradually. The people had reduced and the area was less noisy. Most of the people from the park had started leaving for their daily businesses and a few late comers were seen hurrying up with their exercises.

"Hmm," she inhaled with her eyes closed. It was obvious from her countenance that she had something she was stressed out about. A crow perched slightly on the panes of the windows but flew quickly away when it noticed Alicma was standing there.

Helena, the oldest maid in the mansion walked into the room and knocked softly on the already ajar door. Alicma turned on hearing the sound while the woman bowed slightly. Alicma smiled slightly and walked away from the window. Hitting the rocking chair softly with her and, she watched it rock gayly and sat on the couch next to it. 

"Have a seat."

Helena nodded curtly and sat. Alicma heaved another heavy sigh. 

"I suppose you know the reason why I have called you here again for a talk."

Helena nodded curtly and responded,

"Yes."

Wrinkles of old age graced the white skin of the eighty year old and her grey use looked distant—like they had been lost in another far away land. Her completely grey hair was plaited down in two equal corners, both tails being tied together in a bun. Her hands were folded respectfully over her legs. However, there was no doubt Alicma had such great respect for the woman.

Helena had been the one who took care of every newly born in the mansion…whether or not it was from the royal family or the workers. She knew a lot of local remedies and herbs, which she would always lovingly prescribe to whoever needed it or whenever it was needed.