Meanwhile in her bedroom, Lucia shivered silently, burying herself further in the thick mattress around her She was so deep in sleep that she didn't notice the stranger that intruded her room.
Damian chuckled when his eyes fell on a stack of books on the bedside table. All of them were about vampires.
He took one and flipped it open, reading the content. "Vampires were borne out of Satans's will."
"Nonsense." He slapped the pages shut and dropped the book, looking now at Lucia's sleeping figure.
"Lady Lucia von Burren." he whispered but she didn't respond. Her hair fell over her eyes and he brushed it away softly.
"Don't read my books. Go get yours." She said groggily, reaching up to his arm.
He flinched and moved away from her. "She's a menance even in her sleep."
"Lady Lucia?" He heard a quiet female voice call outside the bedroom and escapes through the window.
"Lucia!" Anna gasped as she ran into the bedroom and shut the windows.
"How could she leave the windows open?" She shook her head and tucked Lucia in, turning off the candles and going to bed.
The next morning, Lucia awoke with a radiant smile on her face.
"He was here. I had a dream. He came in here." She told Anna.
"Who?" Anna asked as she pushed back Lucia's bedsheet.
"The vampire. He visited my dreams. See? This is what I was talking to you about, Anna. We're so meant to be." Lucia got out of bed and began to dance with herself.
"Ugh. It's that vampire's book again." Anna palmed her face.
"You make reading sound like a life-destroying habit." Lucia rolled her eyes.
"Reading Nelia Nicklebone's books is one."
"Whatever."
"Your father wants you to join him for breakfast."
"I see."
"Please, don't see. Go get dressed and please, let it be a proper gown this time."
"Don't worry. I'll give him something proper to talk about."
Lucia, with Anna's assistance, bathed and dressed for breakfast. On their way, they met August.
He smiled. "If it isn't the count's daughter."
Lucia returned the smile. "If it isn't menance himself. What brings you here alive?"
"I was hoping to have breakfast with my future wife." He replied with a chuckle.
Lucia pinched the skin between her brows. "For the last time, there is no wife for you neither is there a future."
"You'll come around eventually. In the mean time, how do I look?" He asked with a huge grin plastered on his chubby face.
Her eyes traveled from the short brown hair he loved brushing aside to his hazel eyes to his expensive coat and breeches and down to his shoes. She smiled and walked past him. "You look exactly like the scriptural term for a donkey."
"What's that?" Her compliment leaves him confused.
"Go read the bible and you'll find out."
Lucia went to the breakfast table and as usual, the relatives all stare.
She tuned out most of the conversations floating around the table, buttering her scones and chewing silently. Her eyes darted round the room for him. He hadn't showed up.
Her heart fluttered when the knights began to march in.
"Good morning, Your Lordship." They all chorused as they went in the other hall for their breakfast.
Patiently, Lucia waited till they all went in. However, he was missing - the man she was looking for.
She drew Anna near amd whispered. "Where is Sir Damian?"
Anna whispered back. "I hear he's still in his quarters. Sunlight is harmful to vampires."
"Oh, I see," Lucia said quietly. Then she pushed back her seat. "Excuse me."
"Where are you going, Lucia?" Her father called.
"To my chambers, My Lord. I have something private to attend to." She curtsied before walking away.
Lucia bundled up her dress and ran to the Knight's quarters. She pushed open the door and walked in, instantly regretting why her father had to build such a huge hostel.
On every door she approached, she knocked and said. "Hello, Damian. It's Lucia von Burren from the chapel."
She did that to 26 doors and was almost giving up. On the last door, the 30th, she knocked and no one answers. Then she decides to try a different location - the stables. There, she found him.
"There you are." She said, catching her breath.
"Go away." Damian told her as he hid the book he had been reading.
"Aw you talk. I knew you would. Adam was being such a jerk." She rolled her eyes.
"Leave!" Damian repeated.
"And why should I? This land belongs to my father and as one of heirs, it belongs to me. If anyone should leave, it should be you but then, I don't want you to leave so stay."
Damian found himself in a pickle. "What is this girl's problem?"
Lucia chuckled and took a seat on a heap of hay. "Ah. The life of a vampire is good. You don't know how lucky you are, Damian."
When Damian said nothing, she carried on. "You have superhuman strength, speed, power, immortality. What's not to envy? Humans like us grow old while gossiping about who's not getting married or who's not aging well."
She heard a quiet snicker from him and smiled. "Ah. You're so lucky indeed. I bet your family is not like mine. On this estate, you can hardly go anywhere without meeting someone in the family tree. It's so annoying."
"My father wants me to marry my cousin, August. And I've tried to convince him that August is the Beelzebub but he doesn't believe me. He and I are in what you'll call a battle but I always emerge victorious."
Lucia kept on rambling and Damian still didn't respond. When she got tired from all that talking, she looked up at where he sat on the top bed of a rusty bunk.
"Hey, why are hiding? I don't bite." Lucia took to her feet and grabbed on the ladder.
"Don't come up here." Damian warned in a soft tone.
"Pfft. Nah." Lucia chuckled as she climbed up carefully.
"Lucia, stay away from me." Damian moved closer to the window.
Her jade coloured eyes sparkled as they went round. "You called my name."
She reached the bed and sits next to him. "Say my name again, Damian."
"Lucia, you have to go." He repeated, much to her desire.
Lucia gave a dramatic gasp. "You said my name again."
Just as she's about to loom near, a nail caught her dress and when she tried to rip it off, she swooned, falling through the open window with a loud scream.
Before she could hit the ground, a strong pair of arms caught her just in time.
"That was dangerous!" Damian scolded her.
Lucia gasped, pointing at his face. "You - You're not burning."
He puts her down and walks back into the stable but she followed after him.
"We just stood in the sun. You and I. And you were not burning. What are you?" Lucia gasped.
"I am not what you think I am, Lucia." He turns around to face her, his eyes holding a menacing gaze that sent a shiver traveling down her spine.