A Dark Night (Book One of The Grandor Descendant series) (4 page)

“R
eally; you scream now?” he said, a small smile spreading across his face. “Hold on,” he added, before speeding away.

As they rode to wherever Ragon was taking her, he would o
ccasionally glance back or look around, as if checking they weren’t being followed. At one point there was a car close behind them and Ragon slowed, straining to get a glimpse of the driver. Though it crossed her mind, Ari didn’t scream when he did this, and when the car turned off down a side street, Ragon seemed satisfied, increasing the bike’s speed so that they shot forward again.

They were riding for no more than fifteen minutes before they left the road and entered a long driveway. Ari saw an enormous removalist truck reversing, followed shortly by a long black heavily tinted van with the slogan, ‘when you want
the
tint, call
V-tint
.’ She
thought this was odd, given the lateness of the hour.

Ragan pulled the bike over to the side
of the driveway, giving way to the two large trucks. As Ari watched the cars disappear, she couldn’t help but wonder exactly what Ragon had meant when he had said that he needed to organise some things. As they neared the end of the circular driveway, a large garage came into view and just beyond that, what could only be described as a spectacular house; it was three storeys high, with wide verandas all around the first two levels. The third level consisted of a magnificent hexagonal room, surrounded on all sides with high glass windows topped off by a dark blue conical roof.

“Here we are,” said Ragon, watching Ari as she removed her
helmet herself.

She still felt slightly embarrassed about her scream
and so did not reply. Instead she watched as Ragon blurred up the stairs to the entrance and opened the door, before racing back down the long driveway, obviously checking that they hadn’t been followed.

Ari entered the house first, looking up at the high ceilings and examining each room in turn. The place was enormous, with countless bedrooms and bathrooms, two living areas, a large kitchen and spacious outdoor entertaining area at the back, which looked out onto the city. Each room looked roughly the same, with wooden floors, white walls and antique furniture all covered with thin sheets of plastic. On the windows were black strips of laminate, while each door contained thick security screens and intricate locks.

“This is yours,”
said Ragon, when she entered the second bedroom on the first floor.

Ari made more
of an effort to examine this room. Walking past the large bed, she peered into the adjoining bathroom, eyeing the shower almost lovingly. Then Ragon entered the room and she froze.

“I also bought you these,” he
added, blurring past her and opening the sliding doors of a large built in wardrobe.

Ari stared at the closet and breathed out a sigh of relief;
it was full of clothes.

For a momen
t Ragon watched her, transfixed, and then he raced back to the bedroom door.

“I’ll
leave you to get comfortable,” he said.

“Wait,” she called after him, “why am I here?” 

“Really?” he asked, “again with the whys?”

“I just mean,” Ari began to say, but Ragon cut her off.

“-Ariana,” he said, and again Ari wondered how he knew her name. “How many times do I have to tell you? You will be safe here. I am not going to eat you; don’t you think that if I wanted to kill you I would have done it by now? You’re not exactly making for a gracious house guest.”

“No, I mean… why buy me clothes and put me in this amazing house, I mean… Jesus, this place is great but why am I here?
Why did you stop those boys? Why did you help me?”

Ragon had told her several times that he was keeping her safe
, but what did that mean? Was that something that vampires did? Keep people safe so they could have access to an easy meal later on? Was she soon to become that meal? She knew next to nothing about vampires and this more than anything else was the source of her questions.

“Would you have preferred to stay in the cemetery?”
he asked.

“No but…” said Ari, trying to gather her thoughts as she stared wildly up at him. “It’s not every day that you find yourself in a house with a vampire. What am I supposed to do?”

“Well,” said Ragon, looking at Ari as if grateful she had started to be a bit more rational, “the way I see it is you have two choices. We stay in this
amazing
house, or we go back to the mausoleum.”

“Or there is the th
ird option,” she said, and Ragon cocked his head. “You could just let me go? That seems to be something you haven’t thought about”.

“How many times do you need to hear that you won’t be safe,” said Ragon, clearly starting to lose patience
.

“Why won’t I be safe?” she asked; Ragon shook his head, already half way out her room before he closed the door shut and left
. 

In Ragon’s absence, Ari paced around the room several times. Her immediate thought was to escape, but what would be the point of that? She couldn’t outrun him and she didn’t have her car here. Perhaps she could reason with him, convince him that she couldn’t stay here. She thought of storming out of the room and demanding that he let her go. Her hand was halfway to the door knob when she stopped. Who was she kidding? How was she going to tell a vampire he had to let her go? Put him in the naughty corner for five minutes if he argued? Maybe threaten him with a couple of wacks with the wooden spoon? No; if Ari wanted to get back to her normal life, it was going to take some planning. Moving to the edge of the room, she pulled the curtains closed and checked to make sure that the door to her bedroom was locked. Satisfied, she then moved into the bathroom, turning the shower on before disrobing and letting the warm water revitalise her.  

Forty-five minutes later Ari was drying her hair with a large fluffy white towel and looking through the wardrobe for something to wear. Thumbing through the outfits, she couldn’t help but be impressed with Ragon’s selections. Not only had he chosen nice clothes but they all looked to be the right size. There were outfits for all occasions, each hanging neatly with the tags still attached. She wondered if someone else had perhaps assisted him in his purchases; either way, he had clearly put a lot of thought into her imprisonment. And who said vampires couldn’t be considerate kidnappers? Trying not to laugh manically at this thought, Ari finally settled on a pair of full length olive green pants, some black thongs, a black singlet and a jumper. It felt wonderful wearing the fresh clothes and though her skin was swollen and sore from her attack, the warm water of the shower had rejuvenated her, washing away everything except the bruises and the memories of the last few days.

Tipto
eing around the house, Ari searched for the kitchen. She was just about to move up to the second level, when she realised that there was a door underneath the stairs; something Ragon had not mentioned during her tour of the house. Moving purposefully towards it, she stretched out her hand, ready to push it open. The moment her fingertips touched the handle however, the door swung open and Ragon emerged. Instantly Ari cowered backwards but not before Ragon had grabbed her roughly by the arm, pushing her away from the door so that she fell backwards.

“Don’t ever go in there,” he yelled, slamming the door shut.

“I… I was just…” Ari stuttered. “I didn’t mean to; I was just looking for something to eat.”

Ragon growled but said no more. Instead he moved along the hallway and towards the living room. With her curiosity peaked, Ari couldn’t help but turn to
look back at the hidden room. For an instant she dared to wonder what was beyond the door, but then she raced after him, her rumbling stomach urging her on.

When Ari walked into the living room she found that Ragon was not there. He was standing on the veranda with his back to her, both hands gripping tightly onto the railings as he looked out at the view of the city.

“Thanks for the clothes,” she
said casually, moving onto the veranda to join him, as though the past few minutes had not occurred.

Demanding to be released had had little effect so far, so she decided trying another tactic.

This high up, Brisbane city in its entirety was discernible. Ari’s eyes fell on a circle of brightly glowing lights, still twinkling majestically in the distance- the South Bank Ferris-wheel. Though she had never ridden it herself, as a child she’d often watched it rotating from her window in the Grace Valley Orphanage. Opposite this was a large blue beacon, which honed around the city, mimicking a light house. The neon lights of the buildings traced their way throughout the city, with only the Brisbane River punctuating their glow. Still, the river was not black entirely; the reflection of the city lights spilled onto the still water’s surface, giving the usually dirty brown river, an almost rainbow appearance.     

“It’s
so beautiful up here,” said Ari, mirroring Ragon by placing her hands on the railing as she looked out at the view.

Ragon turned to face her.

“Yeah it is,” he said.

“How long have you owned this place?”
she asked, feeling her face blush.

“A little over a day
.”

“What?” she asked.

Ragon smiled but did not reply, rather he moved back inside.  

The moment she was alone, Ari
glanced down from the railings. The ground looked to be at least five metres below, although she couldn’t be sure as it was so dark. She defiantly wasn’t getting out that way.

Moving into the kitchen, she watched Ragon open the fridge, showing her the food he had bought. The moment she looked inside she couldn’t help but smile, and when she looked even closer she burst out laughing. Haphazardly placed items had been piled into the fridge, including many things that clearly shouldn’t have been there; a handful of bagels were in the crisper, a large bag of lettuce in the freezer, while a few loose mushrooms sat in the pantry next to a roast chicken, which was giving off a rancid odour. Clearly Ragon knew as much about humans as she knew about vampires- nothing. Did that mean that he did not eat normal food, only blood?  

Fighting the urge to make a joke about this, Ari placed one hand gently over the freezer door and the other hand against her hip.

“Look, it’s really um… thoughtful what you’ve done for me. I am really grateful that you saved me from those guys, but I’m not a pet that you have to look after. I have a life, I have exams-” she began to say, before Ragon interrupted.

“Yes,” he said simply, star
ing intently back at her. “You have a life, and if you want to keep it, you will stay here.”

Ari blinked a few times, taken
aback by his comment.

“What’s going to happen to me if I leave?”
she asked.

“I’d rather
we didn’t find out,” he replied.

Shaking her hea
d and pacing around the kitchen, Ari said, “Yesterday you said
she
would find me.”

Ragon looked
uneasily, his eyebrows raised. His green eyes darted around the house nervously and then back towards the veranda, as if he were worried he might be overheard.

“You caught that?” he asked
.

Ari tapped her foot expectantly
, waiting for an explanation.

“Let’s just say that I am not the only vampire in town
, and the others that are here have been waiting for me to show a weakness to take advantage of,” he said.

He thought of her
as a weakness? Ari couldn’t help but feel confused by his overprotective nature towards her. A few days ago she’d had a crush on him, had watched him as he read silently in library while girls all around him swooned. And yet in the two years that she had been studying vet, Ragon had never so much as talked to her. Sure they had shared a few awkward glances, but he was gorgeous, coveted by almost every girl who set eyes on him; so why was he putting all his efforts on keeping her prisoner? He could have any woman he chose. Why did he want to keep her safe… and from what?

“Why would
they
care if I am here with you?” she queried.

Ragon eyed her
apprehensively, and Ari wondered if she would be reprimanded with beginning her questions with the word
why
again.

“Many years ago I made a powerful enemy
, and they will stop at nothing to get back at me for what I had done. I don’t know exactly how closely they watch me, but I wouldn’t put it past them to have someone keeping an eye on my comings and goings,” he said.

At these words Ari’s eyes widened slightly but then narrowed. Ragon was a vampire; why would he or any other vampire c
are about her? She was just a girl… just a human girl.  

Apparently satisfied that he had warned her sufficiently,
Ragon moved out of the kitchen.