“Not me,” Sean replies. “But I’ve always wanted to. My friend dated a vampire for a little while, and he wasgorgeous. It didn’t last, of course. But I couldn’t help wondering was it was like. I started going to vampire clubs, and the next thing I knew, I got scouted! I couldn’tbelieve my luck.”
“I’vebeen bitten by a vampire,” Chelsie says.
Sean gapes at her jealously. “Really?”
“Yep! I used to work at the Respite hotel, in Silverlake City. It’s run by a family of vampires. One day, they needed a donor for the CEO, and they asked me to step in!”
“What was it like?” Sean asks in a hushed voice. Both of us turn to Chelsie with wide eyes. I have to admit, I’m curious too.
Chelsie glows under the attention. “It was…completelyunlike anything I’ve ever experienced…”
Then the car comes to a sudden stop, and my chest tightens. The windows are so dark that I can’t see outside properly.
“We’ve arrived,” announces the driver firmly.
The other two quickly exit the car, but I feel like my feet are made of lead. What have I gotten myself into? Blinded by the money - and the opportunity to support my little brother - I’d convinced myself that this would be just a job. What had that vampire said? That it was just like donating blood?Howcould I have been so stupid? Of course it’s not like that! There’s a huge difference between letting a medical professional take your blood and allowing avampireto…
“Um, are you coming?” chimes a voice from outside the car. Chelsie and Sean are staring at me impatiently as the driver retrieves our bags from the trunk.
“Yep!” I respond, trying to sound normal and not like I’ve just realized I’m about to become a meal for a supernatural creature.
With a shaky exhale, I scoot out of the backseat and into the deep blackness of the night.
It takes my eyes a moment to adjust. In the city, there’s always lots of light pollution. Streetlights, cars whizzing down the street, bright beams emanating from the windows of many-storied condos. But this far north of Midnight City, the brightest lights are the twinkling, plentiful stars hanging up in the expansive sky.
Punctuating the eerie stillness of the night is a looming, enormous house. The driver had referred to it as “the mansion,” but really, it’s more of a castle, or a fortress. It stands several stories tall, and it’s at least as wide as the high school I attended with Amanda.
But it’s far less welcoming. It’s made of rough stone, with trellises ofdark vines trailing up and down it like veins. Its windows are peaked elegantly in an old architectural style. I’ve never seen a building constructed this way before. There’s dim, amber light emanating from the windows, but it’s impossible to see inside because they’re all curtained off. Behind the thick, red fabric, I can see moving shapes, like flickering candles in the distance.
I hadn’t realized as we were driving, but we’re surrounded by a tall, spiked iron fence. The car must have been allowed through, but now the gate is closed behind us.
What prison have I willingly entered?
“This issocool,” Sean whispers to Chelsie. She lets out a hushed squeal, and takes both his hand and mine in a tight squeeze. She doesn’t comment on my sweaty, shaking palm. And before any of us can say anything further, the front door to the mansion opens and a woman steps out.
I instinctively recoil, but then I quickly recover. She doesn’t look like a vampire. Her smile is warm and genuine, reaching her soft green eyes. Her chestnut hair flows down her shoulder in a thick braid, and her skin is a light pink. She wears a simple shift dress and a soft cardigan, making her look more like a dorm leader at a university residence than someone you would expect to meet in a spooky vampire house.
“Good evening,” she says softly. “Welcome to the Midnight Mansion. My name is Eloise, I’m the Manager of Living Resources for the Night clan. I’ll be showing you to your rooms.”
Something about the words “Living Resources” sends a shiver down my spine. Eloise gestures that we should follow her into the mansion, and Chelsie and Sean eagerly climb the stairs toward her. I’m about to offer to help with the bags, but it seems like our driver has no trouble managing all of them. Without a word, he carries them effortlessly into the mansion.
With no other choice, I climb the stairs behind him. I was hoping that the inside of the mansion would be more inviting, but I have no such luck. The walls are draped in velvet wallpaper, and there’s a thick, blood-red carpet covering the hardwood floors. A glittering, candle chandelier looms like a full moon above us, and old paintings of decadent celebrations and lavish flower gardens hang on the walls. I feel like I’ve gone back in time about two hundred years.
Wait…is that because vampires never age? Is that just a myth, or could that really be true? It’s impossible to imagine.
“The staff accommodations are upstairs, on the third floor,” says Eloise, sweeping across the thickly carpeted floor toward a wide staircase. “I’m sure you’re all eager to get settled in. I hope the drive wasn’t too onerous.”
“It was great!” Sean says, his eyes moving quickly over the paintings we pass as we ascend the stairs. I notice nervously that many of the figures depicted in the artwork are in various states of undress, and I avert my gaze. But I suppose that’s normal for old paintings. It’s just art. I should try to be a little more open-minded, especially if I’m going to be living here for the next three months. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.
“We’re really happy to be here!” Chelsie adds brightly.
Eloise gives her a grin. “We’re glad to have you here as well.”
Chelsie looks delighted at this response, but there’s an ominous note in her voice that makes a shiver crawl up my spine.
We come up to the third floor, and go down a long hallway. It’s a bit brighter up here, with electric lights lining the walls. There’s a row of wooden doors, each with a shining brass number on it.
“The staff reside in these rooms, in the west wing,” Eloise explains. “You’ll each have your own room and key. They’re completely private. The vampires won’t come up here.”
