"Plus! You wouldn't be breaking your promise and no one will be angry." he added.
Simon couldn't have been more wrong about anger, but he had no idea at that time.
Thus deciding on going exploring, Simon and Stella walked out of the room. Once they reached the stairs, Simon turned to look at her. "Up or down?" he asked.
Stella furrowed her brows as she thought. "Up? Or down?" she muttered, looking at the stairs leading the two ways. Then she sniffed and scrunched up her face. "Down smells like too many vampires. Not safe." she said.
"Up it is then." Simon said and the two started to climb the stairs. The two of them had been in a room on the second floor when they decided to go exploring, and the mansion had five floors. They continued to climb floor after floor as Stella continued to say 'up' at every landing.
Finally, there was no more up to go, the two had reached the fifth floor. Stella smiled like a little girl as she looked around and wondered in which direction she wanted to go. She decided on something and pulled Simon along with here.
"Not good, not good!" Simon muttered to himself as Stella found a ladder leading up to the attic in a secluded corner of the floor. How the hell does she find things to get her in trouble so easily? Simon thought to himself as he pulled Stella's arm as she was about to start climbing up.
"Stella no!!" he said, staring at her over his spectacles. "Simon yes!!" Stella shrieked back, her voice filled with excitement and eyes shining with mischief. "Stella!! Your hand is broken! It isn't safe to . . . ." Simon began but his words turned into a sigh as Stella deftly climbed the staircase and disappeared from view.
"How on earth do I keep forgetting that she is a little monkey with super-human strength." Simon muttered as he climbed after Stella.
But as soon as Simon poked his head in what turned out to be a huge attic, his annoyed mumbling turned into a low growl in the back on his throat. Simon had caught scent of a vampire. God why? He thought to himself as Simon quickly climbed up and looked around for Stella.
He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Stella standing a few feet away from the vampire. Simon was about to call out to her to rush down before the vampire noticed her scent, but at that moment he caught sight of Stella's face. Her face seemed to be in some trance as she stared in the direction the vampire was.
Simon was about to pull her away when he recognized the scent. He frowned and the tenseness disappeared from his shoulders as his eyes fell on a small figure sitting cross-legged by the window, eyes closed and in deep meditation.
"Penelope?" Simon said, his voice barely above a whisper. He knew what Penelope was doing when she became like this. She was training. And while she was training, it really wouldn't do any good talking to her. It was almost like she wasn't even in this world while she trained.
As he had figured, Penelope gave no response. Simon gazed at her for a few moments. She really had changed in the past century.