Chapter 49: .•20.1•.

She rushed to open the fridge and grab something from there, coming up with a piece of cheese and some fresh fruits. Wait. The fridge was restocked. When did he-

A sharp and loud scream escaped her as as soon as she closed the fridge door, her gaze fell on miss Nancy's smiling face. Staring right back at her as she stood there by the counter.

The old woman's smile quickly fell upon noticing that thoroughly startled look on the girl's face.

"I take it that he already told you, didn't he?" The woman murmured with a roll of her eyes. Blowing out a sigh before going to retrieve a plate from a nearby cabinet. The girl could only blink with utter astonishment.

"Idiot," she heard the old woman mumble under her breath as she put the plate on the island, right before gently prying the cheese and grapes from her tightly-clutching hands.

She neatly placed them on the plate before shifting to a nearby drawer to retrieve a small knife.

"You can show yourselves now," the old maid called out as she proceeded to carefully cut the cheese in small pieces, making the girl throw her another dumbfounded look.

What...Show...Who was she talking to?

She took a curious and equally puzzled look around the fairly empty kitchen, brows furrowing. Until that hint of movement in the corner of her eye suddenly caught her attention, making her have another look.

A blurry and translucent figure appeared by the other side of the island. Followed by another in the corner. And another by the door. And another close to it, the kitchen soon crowding up with them. Diana's eyes widened up like two saucers. Staring around at the sea of smoke-like silhouettes filling up almost the entire room.

Those tiny hairs rose up on her body with cold and icy dread, lips parting open. And in the very next moment, she let out a long and thoroughly horrified scream, forgetting all about that cheese and everything else as she broke into a mad dash out of that kitchen, screaming like a banshee.

"Darn it. Diana! Diana!"

She thought that she had heard Nancy calling out after her, but she did not pause to check. She was way too freaked-out by what she had just witnessed. And also startled out of her mind.

She forgot all about her gnawing hunger or tiredness as she desperately ran all the way to her old room, pushing closed what was left of her door. She even pushed a small chest of drawers up against it, using it as a some sort of barricade.

She then entered her en-suite and locked herself inside, letting her back rest against the door. That clouding dizziness was starting to poke at her brain again as a result of her strenuous activities. It was making it hard for her to even focus.

But she took a few deep and calming breaths, waiting for that haze to clear. And once she felt steady enough to walk again she went straight for the sink, set on having at least a few mouthfuls of water. She needed to hydrate if she wanted to remain conscious.

She desperately chugged those mouthfuls of cold water by placing her mouth near the tap and letting the water flow, feeling relatively soothed now. She even splashed some on her face and then rose again to have a look into the mirror, not surprised at all to notice that she actually looked horrible. She looked tired. Underfed. And all cried-out. She looked like she went through hell. Which was exactly how she was feeling right now. Like she'd been through hell and back. And it wasn't even over yet. Very far from it, actually. She had just discovered that she was actually living into a haunted manor. A house filled with ghosts. And the owner was a vampire who hadn't decided yet if he wanted to murder her straight away or keep her for a while longer as his bloodbag.

She wanted to scream. Break into another fit of hysterical wailing.

What was going on with her life? Why was this happening to her? Was it even real, or had she actually died and this was Hell that she was experiencing? What was all this? Some twisted and cruel farce, set at her expense? How could she be so unlucky? First her struggles at home and now this... She just wanted to cry at the unfairness. Bawl her eyes out until she passed out.

Sadly, she knew that she couldn't. Not right now. Not when she was just about to enter the lion's den once again. Yes. She had to go back there. Keep him pleased if she wanted to survive. She was painfully much aware of it. So she undressed and took a quick shower, washing away all that mud clinging to her skin and hair after that scuffle in the forest. She cleaned all those tiny cuts and scrapes littering her skin as well, careful not to leave them bleeding any longer. She really didn't want to tempt him into sinking his fangs into her again. Once was more than enough.

She then stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body, walking back into her room. Her stomach twisting into knots at the thought of what she was just about to do.

She had to change into her pjs. Her sexy, lingerie-styled pjs. That certain type of clothing that was only destined for her to see herself in and enjoy. For her to take comfort in, within the privacy of her own bedroom.

She blew out a sigh, quickly reminding herself that he had already seen her naked anyway. He had seen all that there was to see. All of her.

She could feel herself blush, even as she walked to her dresser to grab some underwear and one of her many two-piece sets of silky pyjamas, casually noticing the small service table sitting by her bed.

Her brows furrowed, quickly grabbing a random pair of lacy underwear and a glossy pink two-piece before walking to the bed. She rapidly shrugged on the panties, camisole and shorts, leaving the towel on the bed before heading straight for the small rounded table.

There was a large plate sitting on it. A plate covered by a silvery lid. And as soon as she took it away, her gaze fell on the nicely-put together pieces of fruits, cheese and charcuterie meats.

Her gaze immediately darted to the barricaded door, brows knitting together into another curious frown. The chest of drawers looked untouched. Did these ghosts happened to also wield magic or something?