I ran into the hallway and looked to see if anyone had seen or heard anything. Our floor was deserted most of the time. The nosiest person in the building was spread out on my kitchen floor and had just tried to choke me to death. But it would be my luck to get a curious neighbor at exactly the wrong time.
I headed toward the elevator, not sure what to do next. It was only as I passed Lydia's door that I realized she couldn't fit anything in her skimpy outfit. She hadn't brought a purse, no clutch, nothing and she had no pockets in that dress. I used my sleeve and tried the door to her apartment. Sure enough, it was unlocked. I slowly opened the door and waited for someone to call out and ask who was at the door.
No one called out. Just silence. With her door now wide open, I moved as fast as I could. I ran back to my apartment and jumped through my apartment door ready for a fight, in the event that she had woken up during the three delirious moments I had spent in the hallway. My heart raced and the adrenaline took over.
I felt as if my heart would explode at any moment. I grabbed her by her ankles and began dragging her, wiggling her body as I went to try and get her to glide on the hard floors easier. You would think that all the water she had been laying in would make her easier to slide but it had started to dry as soon as I had begun dragging her. Her skin had started to cling and stick to the floor. That would be one hell of a well deserved 'rug burn' on her ass tomorrow.
I snickered to myself at the thought as I kept grunting away, trying to drag her into the hall. I had her legs up, a good grip on her ankles, but she weighed deceptively heavier than her appearance.
I paused at my doorframe and checked the hallway one more time for random witnesses. I listened for the elevator and heard nothing. I waited a few seconds and then began dragging Lydia as fast as I could down the hall to her apartment.
It felt like a solid hour of dragging her scantily clad squeaky butt down that dirty hallway but I'm sure I managed in less than five minutes. Once I got her into the apartment I closed the door as fast as I could. I dragged her onto the rug in her living room. I looked around me and there was nothing but party mess on every surface.
Alone in Lydia’s apartment, looking down at her sad self, I realized that I in way over my head. I smacked myself in the head and rushed over to at least make sure she had a pulse. My hands trembled as I pushed into the side of her throat looking for a pulse. My stomach plummeted as I pushed around looking for a heart beat. Panic set in as I struggled to find her pulse. Her skin felt cold to me all of a sudden. Had I just dragged a dead girl down the hallway? I grabbed handfuls of my hair and sat on the floor, pulling my knees up under my chin and closing my eyes. This couldn’t be happening. I hadn’t even done anything. But it’s not the way it would look.
It would look like I had dragged her down the hallway after I killed her in my kitchen, maybe they would say she had come to see Robert and I had been the jealous ex. I began frantically rubbing everything I might have touched in the apartment with my shirt sleeve. I even tried rubbing my prints off of her shoes in case I had touched them too. I tried to wipe my prints as fast as I could. I looked at the living room, Lydia’s body splayed in the middle of the rug in a very unflattering manner, and decided I couldn’t stay any longer. I had to get out of there. I spun around quickly and to my horror my arm caught on the edge of a table lamp. It came down and pieces of lamp shattered all over the floor around my feet.
Terrified someone heard the lamp break, I locked the little door knob lock from the inside and then stepped out of Lydia’s apartment as quickly and calmly as I could, pulled the door behind me slowly, quietly. I might not have bested Lydia in a fight but I had survived. Maybe next time she wouldn't wear heels to a fight in a kitchen with dirty dishes and dull kitchen knives. And then that got me wondering, would there be a next time? What happens now? Now I sprint for my apartment and pray. The click of the door signaled that the door was closed and that was when I heard it.
I heard the ding that meant someone called for the elevator and sprinted to my apartment. As if someone would catch me in the hallway and simply know there was a dead mega-bitch in the apartment down the hall and it was my fault. As if my life depended on it.
Chapter 20
I felt the sting of a slap on my face and my eyes were open immediately, ready to fight. My fangs were down and my hands were up, nails at the ready. My vision was blurry and my head bobbed a little as I tried to see who was standing over me. I felt woozy. I tried to shake it away and it barely helped.
"You really are a drunk, Lydia," said a familiar voice standing over me.
I groaned slightly. I would know her voice anywhere. My Master stood over me, her smile coming into focus finally, with her short hair looking like a halo around her round face.
"It's not what it looks like," I said, groaning as I reached up to touch my head. There was a small amount of blood on the top of my head but the wound had already healed. One of the best parts about being a Vampyr, the fast healing from everything from bruising to stabbings. I stumbled as I got to my feet and Master helped steady me.
"This ought to be good," she said out of the side of her mouth. Living through the twenties had her talking that way. An accent of the times that occasionally slipped. Considering that had been when we met, it always brought back memories. She thought I would have a funny story to recount. I had a feeling she would be disappointed. I slunk to the sofa and sank into it.
"Master..." I said, hand to my head and too ashamed to look at her, "I made a mistake,"
The room got quiet and still. I waited for whatever punishment she had for me. Last time I made a mistake she had skinned me. Not exactly the most fun to live through but I had let the Chancellor discover that I had been sent as an assassin. If that didn't get you in hot water, blowing your own cover in a very stupid way, I don't know what did.
"What seems to be the problem?" she asked.
She stayed standing and stood very close to me. I could see her hands were tense.
"Penelope, I just didn't think-" I began and immediately realized my mistake.
I felt the flash of her hand against my cheek. My head wasn't in the best state and I could hear ringing. The lighting was blindingly bright as I stretched my jaw and waited for the pain to ease enough that I could see and hear.
"The Chancellor all over again?" she asked, "Is that where you want to end up? Because your creator isn't here to take the stake this time."
I looked up at her and all I could manage, safely and with my temper, was a glare. I practiced concentrating on my breathing, on the pain, and I slowed my anger.
"I'm sorry, Master," I said, "I'm disoriented. I'm not even sure how I got here."
I looked up at her then, embarrassment and shame evident on my face. Not knowing how I had gotten home wasn't even the worst part. Attacking Prussia and then somehow managing to knock myself out was the worst. A human had gotten lucky and gotten the best of me. The only luck I had on my side had been that I didn't drop my fangs or she would have killed me or worse. I tried not to think about it.
"What do you mean?" asked Penelope, "You mean you don't remember?"
"I mean..." I took a deep breath and had no idea where to even start.
"Just spit it out Lydia," said Penelope, rolling her eyes and her head, annoyed.
"I attacked Prussia," I blurted out, "against the order of the Queen with the penalty of death,"
"Did you kill her?" asked Penelope without missing a beat, staring intently at me and waiting to hear the answer.
"No," I said after a long pause, "As soon as anyone knows...I don't know how much time I have,"
"Wow," said Penelope, laughing a little and then looking at me with a perplexed look, "How do you manage to be on the wrong side of the Queen's chopping block after less than a month back in the royal court?"
She smiled at me and continued to laugh. I kept holding my head and shrugged, groggy still and unsure how everything around me seemed to be falling apart.
"I have no idea," I said, beginning to laugh a little at myself as well, "And Sebastian and I are over too, so it's all going ...swimmingly,"
Penelope shook her head and kept her smile.
"You are borderline worthless," said Penelope.
It hurt, having her say that even though I knew she didn't mean it entirely. I had been a valuable asset in the past. I could still prove valuable in the future.
"Well," I said, trying to think of something to better explain all the forced working against me, "It's not as if the court is exactly the same. I mean, since when does the Queen keep a pet human? Since when does a loyal lap-dog Prince decide he would rather marry a human than me? And how is it that the Queen is so wrapped up in her goings on that she doesn't even care? I mean...the world is upside-down!" I closed my mouth then, realizing I had probably laid it on too thick. Saying it out loud, it seemed ridiculous that I had so many problems because of a human.
I swallowed as the Master continued to just look at me, her hand on her chin with that stiff and intimidating smile on her face. Her eyes squinted down at me and I felt the staring - the tension. Maybe I hadn't explained how silly the entire situation had been. It made me sound weak, incompetent. She might stake me in my own living room just to tie up a dangerous loose end. We had a friendship but it wasn't as if I wasn't expendable. A liability is a liability.
"A human pet," mumbled Penelope, "and you say Sebastian has hinted at marrying her?"
I nodded, swallowing my nerves and trying to appear calm and collected.
"Yeah, well," my mouth felt too dry to even swallow let alone talk, "The Queen swears she had no idea but she didn't exactly come out and condemn the idea,"
"What did she say?" asked Penelope, sitting next to me and taking my hands in her own lap.
"I..." I tried to remember exactly what she said but was drawing a blank on the exact words, "...I had been so furious it's hard to remember but the Queen had basically asked me not to tell anyone and that she would talk to Sebastian and sort it all out,"
"No excuses? Nothing like that?" asked Master.
"No," I said, shaking my head.
My head slowed in my shaking as I recalled what the conversation had actually been about.
"Well...unless you mean, like, her pointing out that he was probably just saying things to make me jealous," I wasn't sure if that was what she was looking for.
Penelope nodded for a moment, looking as though she were lost in thought, and then patted my hands, smiling at me.
"I think that settles it," said Penelope.
I nodded in agreement. I waited for her to say something else, to say what to do next or what my punishment would be.
"Settles what?" I asked. Terrified at what she might say after the mess I had created.
"If the human girl had said anything you would already be dead, right?" Penelope asked.
I nodded. The Queen would have issued a death warrant immediately. I would have been staked where I lay, no trial from the sounds of things.
"Then the problem is the human girl," said Master, "No girl, no problem,"
My eyes lit up. Doubt set in almost immediately.
"There is no telling if she's told the Queen yet," I said, slumping.
Master opened the door and I followed her out into the hallway.
"Do you smell that?" asked Penelope.
The scent was leading away from Prussia's apartment and out of the building. It had been recent, in the past twenty minutes.
"Yeah," I said, "It's Prussia...and Robert,"
I didn't mind the thought of hunting Robert. He had served his purpose. What I wanted even more than Robert would be Prussia. I looked at my Master. Her fangs were down and she had begun following Prussia's scent. I knew she wouldn't want to lose the scent. I dropped my fangs down and smiled at my Master.
"Let's have some fun," said Penelope, an evil smile spread across her face and the hunt began.
Chapter 21
I kept my eyes on Lydia's door the entire time I spent trying to open my own door. It's amazing to me that a door can be so hard to open when you're terrified out of your mind. It felt locked but I knew I hadn’t locked it.
As soon as I got the door open, I ran into my apartment, holding on to the door knob, and slid across the hard floor. Once I went as far as the door would let me, as I had been holding on, I flipped around and slammed the door closed as fast as I could and stood back, looking at the closed door. Never had I ever been so glad to be in my apartment.
“Surprise,” he said, “Are you okay?”
Robert stood to the side of the front door staring at me in confusion. He must have come home when I was in Lydia’s apartment and locked the door while I was out. And then he must have unlocked it when he heard me trying to open the door.
"Hi," I said, breathless and no clue what else to say.
"Are you okay?" he repeated, reaching a hand out to touch my arm gently, concern on his face.
That calmed me. Even if I had just committed accidental murder, he cared. He cared about me in this moment and it made my heart skip a beat.
"Of course," I said, trying to smile and catch my breath.
"Okay," he said, slow and confused, "because you sound like someone has been chasing you. And I saw your car outside, I thought you would be here already but...somehow, you were here but you weren't..."
I tried to think fast and all I did was get a migraine. I had to come up with something. I bent over and rested a hand on my knees, trying to catch my breath and garner a little sympathy for some added time to think.
"Did you run up the stairs or something?" he asked.
I looked up at him from where I was bent over, head almost between my knees and started to straighten up. My initial surprise replaced with confidence.
"Yes," I said, "Yes, I thought I would give running stairs a try,"
"Well," he said, eyebrows going up, "You don't need it if that's what you're wondering,"
He looked at me and there was an awkward pause for a minute. Was he complimenting me? Did that count as hitting on me? I smiled and then he started to laugh lightly and I joined in. I had forgotten how quick he could be with a line or two.
"Hey, I know you just got in and everything, but," Robert pointed toward the door, "I was wondering if you wanted to take a walk and talk, like old times,"
I couldn't be sure because I hadn't caught my breath yet but it looked as though he was holding his. Had it been the car? Had that been what had pushed him over the top? I hadn't really seen him jealous at all. Just the whole cooking thing which had been a little strange but still nice. I fidgeted with my hair and realized I probably looked a little unkempt with dragging a body down the hall and fighting in the kitchen and all.
"Really?" I asked, "At this time of night?"
As much as I wanted to be away from our apartment and by proximity away from Lydia's apartment, a resounding piece of advice was ringing in my ears about not going out walking late in the evening and it was getting pretty late.
"Are you worried?" he asked, surprised.
"I just," I tried to find the words without bringing up Sebastian but after a moment I realized it wasn't going to happen, "I met Sebastian on the jogging trails," I blurted out, "after...he saved me from some random guy attacking me," I said sheepishly.
His face was unchanged for a moment and then he smiled, "Don't worry," said Robert, "I won't let anything happen to you,"
I smiled at him. Robert opened the door and looked to me to see if I would be joining him. I peered out into the hallway and the desire to be away from Lydia's apartment overwhelmed my uneasiness about being out at night. After all, it's not as if I would be alone. I smiled and took Robert by the arm, shoring up my confidence, and we left.
I enjoyed the quiet of the night and I felt the nerves abide as we walked. All my worry melted away with Robert there. We walked in silence at first, until we got to the trails around the pond.
"Am I
too late?" he blurted out.
We stopped walking on the path almost before we had begun. He had surprised me. I had hoped that he wanted to talk about us, about the possibility of us getting back together but I never dreamed he would just come out and say it. I thought it would be something gradual.
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