Darkness. Something familiar, something suffocating.
Violet lay submerged in darkness, as if floating in a black pool within a black room. No light, no way to know how many hours she had been there. Nothing but the cries in her head breaking otherwise eternal silence.
In the distance the faint ticking of a clock grew, soon enveloping her.
Louder. Louder. Then Violet realized, it wasn't the ticking of a clock, but the beating of her heart. Growing louder, and faster.
Like a whiplash, Violet found herself snapping back to reality and awake, her heart racing and breathing ragged. As she blinked, an elaborately decorated ceiling of hand carved moldings came into focus above her, partially lit by the bouncing moonlight that leaked through the adjacent windows creeping towards her.
She lay, unmoving, trying to recall what had happened. It took only a moment for the memories of that night to begin trickling in. They were vague and incomplete, but enough to have her throwing back the sheets and looking down. It was in that moment Violet realized how beat up she was. Bruises ran up her arms, her shirt hung tattered and right ankle lay red and swollen. Not to mention her head's painful throbbing, while spurts of nausea and dizziness kept her bedded.
"Those bastards really did a number on me." Violet thought out loud, wincing while attempting to survey her surroundings.
"Where am I?"
"You are in my home."
The answer from the darkness made Violet jump. Her body still on edge and trembling. Cautiously following the sound of the baritone voice, she looked for the man who made conversation in the dark. There, against the facing wall was a french settee occupied by a dark mass, windows framing it, the moonlight only revealing his broad form while leaving his face in shadow.
"My name is Esmond." He began, his deep voice resounding off the walls, carrying forth like a deep lullaby. It was calming yet sensual. Violet found her rigid body relaxing unconsciously.
"I took you to my home after finding you passed out in that alleyway. Do you remember what happened?"
She drank in his words and compared them to her vague memories. Besides the two attackers, she recalled someone in those last few moments before blacking out. 'That must of been him.' Violet thought, 'the man who saved me.'
After collecting her thoughts and composure, she answered, "Yes. I remember most of it. But I think I may have a concussion. Things are a bit blurry after that bastard rammed my head into the wall." Her words dripped venom, brow furrowing together as she allowed her emotions to show through her blackened eyes, makeup dried in streaks down her cheeks.
"But, why did you bring me here? Why not to the police station?" Violet questioned, gazing in his direction, squinting to adjust her sight in the darkness. Since it was still night, she concluded only a few hours had passed since that nightmare in the streets. 'I wonder how long I've been out?'
Violet took note of the awkwardly long pause that transcended after her question and grew nervous. Suddenly the unnatural situation of a savior shrouded in mystery was beginning to lose its romanticism.
"Because you saw something you shouldn't have."
Esmond's answer left Violet puzzled. Pain shot through her skull and she grasped it with one hand, looking down at the sheets she unconsciously gripped them till her knuckles bore white. Memories she had forgotten; his form hovering in the blackness, hands gripping the attackers neck, and a flash of white...teeth? It took a moment before the vision of bloody fangs exiting flesh and the crumpling of her attackers body flashed before her. It had been in that last moment before losing consciousness, and she had almost forgotten it's dreadful existence.
Fear welled up leaving her body shaking, eyes wide, and pale hands tugging the sheets around her, as if they would provide much protection. 'What in the hell did I just remember?'
Once again, silence so thick it could suffocate came between them. Esmond was observing Violet, partially lit by the pale moon streaming in the floor length windows. Even in her dreadful state, she was eerily beautiful, her eyes glittering like jewels in the cascading light. He suppressed an ancient face that dared to creep back into his mind, not wanting to remember it.
Esmond soon took notice of her fear, resembling a small mouse trembling in the presence of a lion, and rose to exit the room.
"Rest tonight. I have no intentions to harm you."
"How do I know for sure!" Violet suddenly exclaimed, her outburst startling Esmond and leaving him standing awkwardly halfway between the settee and door.
"Men are all the same! Self-righteous...deceitful...abusive..." The last words faded out, her voice caving under the pooling emotions in her throat.
After her words disappeared in the air, she was hit with instant regret. Violet knew she was at the mercy of this mysterious man and allowing her sharp tongue loose wasn't wise. Her disgruntled expression fell to one full of worry as she pursed her lips tightly, sealing off any future snide remarks.
'After the events tonight it is only logical she would respond this way.' Esmond gathered his composure, holding back his otherwise swift temper. This was hardly enough to break the placid mask he had spent centuries perfecting.
"If I wanted to, I would have done so already." Esmond stated, matter of factly. His firm tone reaching Violet and silencing any future response. "I've already cleaned the wound. Rest here tonight. Lock the door if it makes you feel better."
It was only then she became aware of her bandaged head, fingers gingerly finding a taped pad amongst her sticky hair. A medicine kit on the nightstand caught Violet's attention before veering her eyes back across the room towards the man striding elegantly towards the door. He was giving her no room to respond and shutting out any further discussion.
The soft click of the closing door signaled his exit. She sat in a state of shock, attempting to digest the dire situation at hand. It wasn't long before hot streams fled her eyes, and she curled back into the sheets, mentally and physically exhausted.