I awoke feeling more tired than usual.  I knew it was because of him.  The new servant.  He kept me up all night.  It was his eyes, I guess.  He had such a deep red hue—it was so enticing!  Nevertheless, he doesn’t seem to sleep much because I didn’t hear him snore.  I didn’t even hear him breath!   Maybe he is just quiet?  Just because we are vampires, doesn’t mean we don’t need sleep, right?

I got out of bed staring across the empty room—well almost empty.  I wonder if he’s still asleep?  I turned—not thinking I was just going to stare into big, curious, close, red eyes.

My first reaction was a very loud shriek and a struggle to get away—meaning I fell off the shared bed.

“What’s wrong?”  He asked softly as I finally realized there wasn’t anything to be afraid of because it was only the new servant.  

“’What’s wrong?’ What’s wrong?!  I’ll tell you ‘what’s wrong’!  You keep me up all night, then, when I finally get up, you stare at me with wide, red eyes—scaring me half to death!”  I screamed—getting very close to his face to make sure he heard me.  I wish I could vent some anger on the mistress one day.  I notice that I would have never done something like this before I found Eric.  I could see her in the small mirror snickering at me.  

“You have red eyes too and technically you’re already dead.”  He pointed out, giving me a soft smile.  He was very close now.  If he moved just a half an inch closer out faces would touch—our lips would touch.. Oh god—why did I think that?!

I laughed awkwardly at his comment.  He was right, though.  My eyes were red just like his.  And I was ‘technically’ already dead.  I was going to be fifteen forever—I hate being immortal.  

I noticed that he was still very close—looking at me and smiling still.  I could feel a rosy hue cover my face just a bit as I turned away.  I, never in my entire life, had I ever wished I was not a bitten vampire, but a bred vampire so that I was paler and I didn’t blush.

I looked at my frosty reflection in the small window.  I couldn’t believe what I saw.  Eric was snickering at me—again.  She seemed to only do it when she knew she could get on my nerves easily.  

“You know you like him!”  Her voice was dripping with taunt.  She could—unfortunately—feel everything I do so she knew the truth before I did... or at least admitted before I did.

“Shut up!!”  I hissed back—not thinking  he was in the room.

“I didn’t say anything, though..”  I turned around when I heard his confused voice.  

He was across the room—dressing.  His shirt was half off—it looked he just taken his head out of the hole.  His perfect pale abs and upper back was hunched over just a bit.  His short, dark brown hair fell across and hidden the left side of his face.  Why did the mistress even put him in here?!  There were plenty of other servant rooms, weren’t there?!  Nevertheless, Eric was right, I guess.  I did like him, but there was only one problem with my crush.  I didn’t even know his name.  

I quickly turned my head to hide my blushes—hoping he wouldn’t notice the embarrassed feeling I was having.  But he did.

I could hear him chuckle and step slowly toward me from behind.  It only took a few seconds for him to reach me because he took such slow steps, but it felt like an eternity.  

“Strange.. I don’t even know your name and I seem to like you already...”  I could feel the smirk on his face when he breathed lightly on my shoulder.  Where did this sudden boldness come from?

“I.. I-it’s E-Erica...”  Why did I have to stumble with my words?!  I could hear him laugh and mumble something, but it was so quiet, even being so close to me, I couldn’t make it out.

His nose gently touched my neck and he took a deep breath in.  I could feel him shiver by my scent.  Every vampire that I’ve met says I have a nice smell, but they have never gone as far as to sniff my neck and shiver in such a way.  I don’t think I’ll ever put my hair up in a ponytail again.  

I stepped forward and walked around him—not giving him a second look—toward my dresser.

“Markus”

“What did you say?”  I turned to look at him.  He wasn’t there, though.  I turned back around to my dresser and screamed again.  

He covered my mouth with his thin, pale hand and the other hand slithered around my waist holding me still, making me tilt back as though we were dancing and he was dipping me.

“You are very noisy.  It makes me wonder what else you’re doing when you are this shrill.”  The corners of his mouth made a small smile as he started intensely at me when I turned to hide the redness in my face.  As he slowly removed his hand, it traveled slowly down my neck, then my chest.  His hand ran down my body very, very slowly, just barely touching my skin, leaving a numbing feeling to where he did touch.  It felt good, but it was scary because I didn’t know what he was going to do next.  It was my turn to shiver as his hand traveled lower and lower.  

His smile grew when he felt me shake, but then his hand traveled slower.  His slow hand was at my belly button.  I wondered if this was how vampires acted around each other when they were alone.  I had only been around the vampires who worked here in this house, but we were never left alone with each other.

I closed my eyes in prayer that he would stop moving his hand lower—and he did.  My eyes shot open, but I didn’t see him.  I felt cold actually.  This was strange because he was colder than the air, but I still felt frozen.  He let me go—and I was alone.

I walked around the small room and saw his dirty shirt and sleep pants on the ground by our dresser.  He left.  Is he that fast?

“Oh that was so nice of him! I loved the show you put on!”  I heard Eric’s voice and giggle from the small mirror I discovered her in weeks ago.

“Shut up!! I wasn’t planning on that to happen! Nor did I want it!” I snapped at her, giving her a good, hard glare when she didn’t stop laughing.

“Yes, you did! And look! The sweetie left you a note!”  I looked around the room and sure enough, Eric was right.  The servant left me a note sitting on my pillow.  I hesitantly walked toward it.  What was it going to say?!  I picked it up and looked at the fantastic, smooth handwriting and read:  

Erica,
What we share this morning was nice, but do not think I will be that nice ever again!  Our first chore is in the gardens, by the way. See you then!
~Markus

A small heart was drawn next to his signature.  What did he mean by “ever again”?

My mind quickly changed to the fact that we had to work in the gardens.  I hate working in the gardens.  And it’s cold, damn it... At least I had some help this time—maybe work will go faster and it will be warmer with Markus hanging on me.

“See?”

“Shut up, Eric!”

“He’s cute!”

“I said ‘shut up!’ or disappear!”

She rolled her eyes and disappeared from the mirror, only to reappear in the reflection in the icy window.  I gave her a frown and she smirked as I walked out the door.  

When I got down to the gardens, he had already done most of the work.  He stood with a shovel over his shoulder while frowning at the list of things needed to be done.  He look just as I saw him the night before, calm and unmoved.  

“Do they usually tape a long list of things to do for us on the door while we are sleeping?!”  Markus snarled.  His anger made me jump and drop the other shovel I just picked up.

“They don't wake me up because they like to watch me run around trying to get things done before I get beaten...”  I sighed as I started weeding around the vegetables.

“Really?  Great...”  

A long time went by before either of us talked—it was kind of scary.  Both of us took small trips back to where he left the list of things to do, marking off things we had finished in the gardens and checking how many more things we had to do.  I could see he also wanted to get us of this cold.  We might be part of the half dead, but we were still very cold—least I was.

“Did you get my note?”  He asked finally.  His voice was so quiet I almost didn’t hear him.

“It was lovely!” I lied—I didn’t know what to say, though.  I wanted to ask why he wrote ‘never again’ but I was afraid he would... do something again.

“Did you wonder why I said ‘never again’”  I dropped my shovel and screamed again—and louder than before.  When he said those words, he some how made it behind me and put his arms around my waist—from behind.  “Such noise.”  

I shut my eyes tight as one of his hands circled and gently touched my neck.  He was so careful—even his grip around me was gentle, but it still felt stern so I couldn’t get away easily.  Did he think I would brake?  

I struggle this time, but I couldn’t get away.  So much for thinking I could get away.

“W-what did y-you mean?”  I asked as if nothing was happening—or tried to make it sound that way, but I could hear the fear in my voice as it quivered.  

“That I wasn’t going to stop at your cute little belly button—but further down. Does that answer your question?”  He whispered—his voice was husky and sounded deprived of something important.  I did not want to know what it was either!

I struggled more and more, but I still couldn’t get away from him.  Then, as if my prayers were answered, the mistress called.

“ERICA!!”

I heard the voice and I didn’t feel him behind me anymore.  My shovel was still on the ground, though.  And I could not be caught not working—it took me 30 whole minutes to heal from the last beatings!  So I quickly pick it up and pretended to work and not hear my name being called until my mistress was in the gardens.  

“Yes, ma’am?”  I said to the small, blonde girl who had a very red face from the anger.  What a brat...

“I was calling you! Did you not hear me?!” she screamed in my ears.  Did she not realize that I was a vampire and could hear much better than she could hear herself?  What a stupid question..

“No, ma’am.  Please accept my apologizes, ma’am.”  I could not laugh at her face.  It was so red and such a big contras to her huge, shockingly blue eyes that every werewolf had—including the temper...

Behind me, Markus chuckled softly enough as my—our—mistress “chewed my ass out” as Eric puts it.  

“You did not make me my breakfast nor did you hem my dress! I had to get the maids to do it!”  The blonde yelled louder and pouted very pathetically.  “I only sought that vampire,”  She pointed at Markus like I was stupid, “to do this work! I did not want the person who was going to touch my new dress to be filthy! Not that every vampire isn’t already filthy!”  I saw her smirk evilly.  I wanted to smack her so bad.

“I’m very sorry, ma’am... I’ll try harder next time...”  I looked away so that I wouldn’t laugh at her face.  Though, her skin was smooth and beautiful, it was very red and looked like an elder’s face because of the many stress lines.

She smiled an evil smile again—the one she made when she is going to do something unnecessary at an unnecessary time.

“No, dinner for the both of you will be your punishment.”

My mouth fell open.  I could feel the intense glare Markus threw at the ground as he kept at his work.  If he was being treated like me, he, also, hasn’t had any food for three weeks and was getting weak.  How could that little brat do that?!  Doesn’t she know that I’m a vampire and in order to work I need food?!  It is bad enough I’m not allowed by vampire law to attack a human—but good lord!  How could anyone smile such a ridiculous smile like that?!  I wanted to shoot her—or bite her, which ever came first.  

“Now that I have your undivided attention, I want to both of you to start going to the human market to buy bread everyday.”  She turned and started walking away with a huge grin on her face.  “The Royals will be staying here for a couple months and we will need more bread everyday for a couple months because with this amount of people, the bread will disappear quite quickly.”

In the corner of my eye, I could see Markus taking to shovels back in the garden shed.  I think he was trying to get away from the mistress so that he didn’t attack her.

“Yes, ma’am. Will that be all, ma’am?”  I tried to sound scared.  The mistress liked it when I was scared because it made her feel powerful and usually she would leave.  And I really wanted her to leave now.

“No. It will never be all... Not until you die.”

I heard a high-pitched laugh as she disappeared from my sight.  I growled at the gardens’ door.  How I loathed her.

I walked slowly toward the list.  I reached down to pick it up, but I was stopped.  Markus had come back and he grabbed my wrist.  I looked up slowly at his angry eyes.

“I was capture and put into your room so that we could breed. The mistress told me she needed more servants... I’m not going to do anything that you do not want anymore.”  He whispered quietly.  I blinked at his confession.  I couldn’t believe she would stoop so low that she would want to breed a new kind of servant.  Why would he tell me something like this?

“Thank... you..”  I replied in the same low, soft tone.  I dropped my confused red eyes down to the list.  Markus had let my arm go.  Should I run away from this place?  

“Yes.”

I looked back up and he was gone again.  I looked around, panicking.  I did like him and I didn’t want him to leave me!  Then I turned around and there he was.  

“You didn’t scream this time.”  He said, smiling.  I had to giggle at his comment.  I guess I didn’t!  “You’re very pretty,”  He’s tone was serious again.  “I wasn’t lying this morning when I said that you had a nice smell also.”

I had to turn away again because of my blushes, but this time I took the list with me.  I marked off the rest of the garden chores and fixing breakfast and hemming the dress for the mistress—those two things were on the back of the list.  Now we needed to get bread.

“Do you want me to go get the bread and you can stay and start on other chores?”  I said, ignoring the glare he was giving my back—probably because I turned away.

“The mistress said we both had to go get the bread.”  Why did he always have to be right?!

“I’ll go change.”

“I’ll come with you.”  I stopped and turned to look at him, but he was already behind me.  I could feel his nose smelling my hair .  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw he raised his hand and was gently pressing his fingertips to the scar on my neck.  “How long have you worked here?”  His voice was husky again.

“Co-couple years n-now..”  I stumbled with my words again.   I wanted to kill myself, but I never had another get this close to me.  I wanted to run, but three things kept me back, curiosity, fear and knowing that he was much faster than me.  I wanted him to touch me, but I was afraid of what would happen.  My curiosity and fear made me hold my ground.

“And how long have you been a vampire?”  His fingers pressed harder against the scars, it felt nice to have something cold on them.  My scars were the only thing on my body that ever felt remotely warm.

“How l-l-long have y-you b-been a vam-vampire?”  I asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

“I was bred.”  His statement was cold and hard.  At that moment, I felt cold again.  He left again.