Chapter 3

Abigail ran as fast as she could through the woods, away from the house and away from her sisters. She loved them very much but she was tired of being weighed down by them. She felt bad for feeling that way about them, it wasn’t their fault. But she couldn’t help the way she felt. It was past time to be alone for a while. She thought about going back to the house they have in Scotland, or maybe Ireland. She only brought a small duffle bag with a few clothes. She didn’t have to bring much because all of their houses had clothes and everything they needed. All she needed was her passport, ID, and some cash, all which she had in her purse. She changed her clothes before she left, she didn’t want to attract any unnecessary attention. She had changed her shirt and left on her jeans and put on a dark blue sweater. She thought about when they had been changed, it was the 16th century.

She could remember that fateful night so clearly, she had gone to take a walk and of course that was a bad idea. Her mother had told her not to go by herself but she needed to be alone. She was on her way home and walked through the alley to cut time when she heard footsteps and looked up. He was absolutely gorgeous, and he was staring right at her. She knew she should be scared but she wasn’t, everything in her was screaming at her to run, but she couldn’t move, she didn’t want to move. He walked up to her, his face so close she could feel his breath, she turned her face upwards to look in his eyes as he lowered his mouth to her shoulders. She felt his teeth sink in and felt the burn, she tried to fight him off but he was too strong.

That was when her sisters came walking down the alley looking for her. “Now we know why you wanted to take a walk on your own.” They giggled. He let go of her and walked towards her sisters. She desperately wanted to yell at them to run but she was frozen. She watched him do the same to her sisters as he did to her, then he bit himself on the wrist and put it to each of their mouths and told them to drink. He took them to his house, far away from town and in the woods. After the change was complete, he told them what he was and what they had now become. Vampire. He explained to them what they needed to know to survive in their new life.

He had also told her that when he saw her, he knew he wanted to change her and to keep her as his lover. He had planned on changing only one and he was just going to kill the others but they all looked so much alike he decided he couldn’t waste beauty such as theirs. But still, only she had been his.

Four hundred years it’s been since that night, but still, she thinks about it, and about him. He had left after a couple of years, in his opinion it had just gotten to crowded. He asked Abigail to go with him but she couldn’t leave her sisters. Maybe she would see him again one day. Not likely though, there was no telling where he could be at.

She had arrived at the airport and decided that she would go to Ireland for a while. She loved the scenery there and she loved the house. The plane didn’t take off for another 45 minutes so she had to try to sit and be patient, but it was proving to be difficult. She was ready to be away from here. It’s a good thing she came across that deer when she did or it would be even more difficult to sit here in an airport with all the blood walking around.

They finally started boarding and she took her seat and watched as the plane took off and climbed up in the clouds and across the ocean. Although nobody else could, she could see the dolphins that jumped up out of the water. She watched as the plane crossed over into Ireland. She walked off the plane and went over to the rent-a-car booth and got a car to take her home. She made arrangements to have someone pick the car up in a few days.

She managed to get a Chevy Camaro, it was a convertible, silver with black racing strips. It wasn’t as fast as she would’ve liked, but it was fast enough. The airport was around four hours away from her house. She could make it there in one, although with this car it might take her a little longer. She was going to drop the car off 35 miles from the house and run the rest of the way. She was enjoying the wind on her face and the speed of the car. She had it topped out at 180. She slowed down when the drop off point came into view. She stopped the car and put the top up and locked the keys in the car. Whoever came to pick up the car would have an extra set of keys.

The house was on around a hundred acres of land and it was surrounded by woods and a big pasture for the horses and a barn that was almost as big as the house. The house itself was a three-story, with eight bedrooms, and six bathrooms. The bedrooms were split five on the third floor, three on the second. There is one bathroom on the first floor, two on the second, and three of the bedrooms on the third floor, which belonged to the sisters, had their own master bath. The house also had a library which was on the first floor but they had part of the ceiling cut out so that it would go up to the second floor and it had a spiral staircase to connect the two. They didn’t use the kitchen much but it hadn’t been left out of the renovations.

The living room was huge with big bay windows and was painted a pretty baby blue with white trim and had plush white carpet. Alaina had painted this room herself. She loved the color of the paint as soon as she saw it. Abigail and Arianna hadn’t argued at all, they thought it was perfect as well. Now standing here looking at it, they were right, it is still beautiful.

She could live here for a while, hunt the woods. They have a caretaker for all their houses, to make sure they stayed clean and up-to-date, made sure what animals they had were taken care of. They didn’t have many, just a few horses at a couple of houses. She went upstairs to her room and walked out onto the balcony. The balcony ran across to connect three rooms that were hers and her sisters.

She looked out over the woods and took a breath, it was just so peaceful here. Her favorite house had always been the one she just left, but now it is the one that she’s in. She had always loved this house, but being here, out on this balcony, looking at the view it held, and being alone, it just gave her a sense of peace. She can come and go as she wants without having to argue or convince her sisters of anything, she can just go. And if she decided that she didn’t want to stay here after a month or two, she could just pick up and go to another house.

Hunt, she thought, let's go hunting. She jumped off the balcony and landed on her feet like she had just jumped off a porch step. She ran into the woods and started to sniff out something good. She came across a couple of deer, a few rabbits and squirrels, but nothing really appealing to her. She ran a little longer and came across a worn path. She didn’t recall there ever being a path here, although it’s been around fifty years since they have been here. But even still, this is still their land and there should be no path there.

She followed the path and found that it came to a clearing, from the looks of it a campsite. The coals were still warm from a fire, there was a tent but nobody was in there. A deer was skinned and hung up for the sun to dry it out, meat was lying beside it on a table. She sniffed the air to try and catch a scent of the human that had been staying here. Who would be staying here on our land, she thought to herself. 

She heard the footsteps just as she caught the scent. Tall, dark, and lean, he walked into the clearing, a shotgun in his hands ready to shoot. Dark hair with piercing green eyes, he lowered the gun and just stared at her. “Who the hell are you and what are you doing out here lurking around my tent?” he asked her.

She let out a snort of laughter and turned to him, “Who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing camping out on my land?”

His eyes got wide and his jaw dropped, obviously shocked he just stared blankly at her, “Well, are you going to speak or just stand there looking like a dumb ass?”

“Apologies miss, I didn’t realize that you owned this land.”

“But you knew the land was owned?”

“I’ve heard that this land has been owned by the same family for hundreds of years, but I didn’t realize that the land extended so far from the house. Nobody has been here for a while now, I just assumed it wouldn’t matter either way.”

“The land extends for miles even past this point, there is a caretaker that stays a few miles away. He tends to the house and the land, there is never any point in us coming here unless we want to stay for a while.”

“I apologize. I will pack up and move along.” He told her.

Her gaze was fierce, she wasn’t about to just let this meal walk away without some damn good explaining why he was there in the first place. “I’m not through asking questions or getting answers. Why are you living on my land?” He made a move to get past her to the tent but she was faster and blocked his way.

“I have been traveling through Ireland making my way back to England. My horse went lame about a week or two ago and I haven’t found another to take its place as of yet. I was camping until I did, this looked to be the best spot for it.”

“Why in the hell are you traveling on a horse? It’s much easier to drive a car across the country.” She said. He made another move to get past her and once again she blocked him, he looked at her warily, wondering how she could be so beautiful but why this fear was building inside of him. Her eyes, he decided, so fierce like she is something to be feared. Little did he know, she was his worst nightmare should she choose to be. Lucky for him she had decided she wasn’t in the mood to try to take him. He looked like the type that would put up a good fight. Although that intrigued her, she was just too tired.

“I don’t have the money to buy a car. Horses are cheaper. I like horses.”

She shifted just enough so he could slip past her, the smell of him was so enticing that it was really hard to resist the urge she had fighting to break loose inside of her. She watched him take down the tent and put everything into the pack. She wondered if he had any family or friends that would be expecting him, it would be easy enough to seduce him and then feed.

“Do you have any family back in England?” She decided to ask. 

“Not really,” he replied. 

“Are you going to elaborate on that or am I going to have to keep asking questions?” He stopped packing and looked at her. Her gaze wasn’t as fierce as it had been but now showing signs of exhaustion. “I have family, but I haven’t spoken to any of them in years. Years before I even left England. Is that enough explanation for you?”

She smiled, this one might just be a shame to waste. He has almost enough wit to match her own, it’s been a while that she has come across someone like that other than her sisters. “That will do for now, if it is a horse you are seeking then I will be kind enough to offer you one of mine, for the right price of course.”

“Thank you miss, I don’t think I can apologize enough for being on your land. I will pay you as much as you wish.”

She smirked at him just a little, “Yes, of course, I have something that needs to be done first, I will leave you here to pack up the rest of your camp and I will be back.” Without another word she turned around and disappeared into the trees.