The meal concluded with some light strawberry mousse and chocolate cake. Throughout the rest of the meal Mr Hareena kept his hand on her thigh, occasionally rubbing his thumb back and forth. She turned to him as others at her table shared conversation. He leant down and she whispered into his ear, "I know who poisoned the food. I just don't know why." She kept her voice low and her lips close to his ear so that Brenna could not understand. His hand on her thigh tightened but his face otherwise stayed happy smiling. He then sat up, turning to her to say, "I rather love the paintings you did. They really do capture my family. May I have a couple?" She blushed at his compliment, nodding as she replied. "You may actually have all except one. Whenever I do many paintings I always keep one. My dorm room is decorated and scattered with artworks I've done." She gently place her hand under the table to rest on top of his.
She danced her finger tips over his hand as she smiled at him. He nodded before beginning to eat his dessert. She had questions about how he could eat normal food but didn't really care about them as she ate her mousse. The night concluded with a goodnight speech from Mr Hareena. His eyes scanned the room as he spoke but always came to rest on her. All the girls rushed from the cafeteria once the night concluded, all excited to talk in their dorms. Julie did not race of with her friends but rather walked casually with Mr Hareena towards the great hall. They collected the 9 paintings and continued their stroll towards his house. He pushed open the large front doors allowing her to enter the foyer once more. "I would love to explore here." She whispered to herself earning a chuckle. She looked over to see him smiling as he set a couple canvases against the wall.
He guided her towards a study, pointing her towards a blank wall with hooks for artwork. "This is your wall for now. I will get you to move them into the library once it's complete." She was shocked at his gift but smiled up at him anyway. "Thank you." She whispered still shocked. They spent the next hour trying to organise the paintings on the wall. Since she was keeping the main painting the others had to be shifted around to look right. The hour gave them time to get to know each other and for Mr Hareena to explain himself. She now knew that he was a 600 year old vampire, that his family is scattered overseas. He was born in 1439 in England. He explained that vampires could be born or created, for a vampire to be born both parents must be vampires. He didn't tell her how a vampire was made and she didn't ask, she sensed pain with that knowledge. He also learnt about her unknown paternity and how her little sister had died in a car crash three years ago. He asked about her mother, receiving a simple answer, 'she's overseas.'
They sensed each other's pain but continued on with their conversation. It was after midnight when she returned to her dorm. All the girls were still up eating forbidden chocolate and gossiping about the boys from the public school in town. The girls turned as she entered and carried her heels to her bed. "What do you think of the State School Boys?" one of the girls asked smiling. Julie gave her a blank look before replying (without thinking), "They're just boys. I prefer men who know what they're doing." All the girls laughed at her comment while she just went into the bathroom to get changed. Though she was comfortable with the girls she wasn't that comfortable. She emerged minutes later in an oversized t-shirt her dad gave her and panties, no bra of course.
She slumped to the floor beside Jesse, laying her head on the girls shoulder. "Where will we put the new painting..." The confused looks she got from the girls gave her a spark of alarm. "We thought you gave it to Mr 'Spook'-eena. It wasn't in the hall." Jesse's voice was calm as she spoke, this was not a prank, this was not a lie. Dread filled Julie's stomach turning it in knots. She instantly got up and sprinted out the door in her pajamas with the girls hot on her heels. She slid around corners and jumped down stairs. As always she slid around a corner and hit someone. Mr Hareena held her as she wobbled from the impact, seconds later the girls rounded the corner panting. She looked into his eyes feeling tears well up and threaten to spill down her cheeks. His concern formed into anger, "Who's hurt you?" His gruff voice gave her comfort as she tried to steady her voice.
"The portrait, the one of you, it's missing. Someone took it. IT'S GONE!" She started to become hysterical from the stress, fear and adrenaline from the nights events. Without warning Mr Hareena hoisted her over his shoulder and went marching towards the great hall. She got the perfect view of his ass, the tight muscles flexing with his long strides. She couldn't look, at least not properly, the girls still tagged along behind whispering to each other as they tried to keep up. She knew they were whispering about her, could probably guess what they were saying. At least she could have if a hand wasn't distracting her. Mr Hareena had a hand wrapped around her to hold her in place, that hand was slowly moving from behind her knees up her thighs. She felt goosebumps break out wherever he touched and could feel shivers building along her spine.
He was being cruel, no, the universe was being cruel. Until she was 18 they couldn't do anything and even then they'd have to hide everything until she graduated. The whole scenario was cruel. Her thoughts hit the breaks as they walked into the great hall. She tried desperately to see around Mr Hareena's back with no success. He lowered her to her feet in front of her stand, it was empty. Not only was it empty but someone had also torn the silk cover and ripped up her name tag and photo. Someone had it out for her. She could feel the blood drain from her whole body, her hand flying out to steady herself against Mr Hareena. She took a deep breath and looked for any clues as to who could have done it. Scratch that, she knew who, she need to work out how.