“Well? Which is it to be?” Hugh blinked at me, expectantly, as if he was asking me which type of biscuits I preferred with my tea. “Do you want to kill Derek yourself or shall I get one of my staff to do it for you?”
I needed more time to think. I knew there were still things that Hugh was hiding from me. “Let’s save that for later. I want to enjoy the party for a while first.” I smiled at him.
He frowned and then laughed. “You do surprise me. I would’ve thought you’d be itching to stick a stake into his chest.” He clapped his hands together. “Party it is - DJ, turn the music up and play something a little more lively.”
Pumping deep house came on and the women, clustered around Hugh, started gyrating. It was surreal. I felt like I’d stumbled onto the set of a music video. I waded out of the pool and sat by the side, watching as I sipped my lemonade. I was way out of my depth. Even if someone else killed Derek, Hugh would see it as a favour that he’d done for me. Everything that I’d heard about this man, before meeting him, was negative but since I’d arrived, I’d only been shown the positive. This entire experience seemed like a carefully controlled piece of theatre - designed to make me think he was a generous, benevolent playboy who just liked to enjoy life. Looking around, I saw only happy, smiling faces. Maybe life as a vampire’s plaything wasn’t all that bad? I certainly couldn’t see any evidence that this man was as evil as the Ahimsas made him out to be.
But then I thought about Darla. The fear in her eyes had been unmistakeable. When I’d asked her if she had a maid, she’d laughed, almost as if the idea was ridiculous. Why? What was it that made Hugh choose certain humans as his playmates while other humans were servants or blood slaves? I looked around the leisure suite at groups of splashing, laughing men and women. Around the side, servants stood milling around.
And that’s when it hit me.
It was so obvious, I couldn’t believe I’d missed it. The people in the pool were all white. The servants standing around the sides were all lighter shades of brown. I thought back to the woman I’d seen being led from Beaufort’s study earlier. She’d been dark skinned. As the unavoidable realisation hit me, I turned my face, left to right, looking for evidence that my suspicion was wrong. I found none. The house was clearly built on a hierarchy of race. White people - typically attractive white girls, were Beaufort’s pets or favoured humans. Brown people were his servants and black people were his food.
My heart raced and my throat went dry, in spite of the lemonade. Growing up, there hadn’t been many non-white people in my town. But I’d been raised to view everyone as equal. There were a thousand and one ways in which my family was fucked up. But racism wasn’t one of them.
Mel swum over and leaned on the edge of the pool. “What are you doing out here all by yourself? Why don’t you come and join us?”
“No thanks, I’m feeling a bit… tired.”
“Ooh, you should go and get a massage? That’ll make you feel better.”
My insides were in turmoil. I hated that I was here, enjoying the high life while others around me were slaves. Nevertheless, perhaps I should get the massage. It would give me peace and quiet to work this all out. “You know what, I think I’ll do that.”
“Go to Sandra - she’s the best. She’s over in that treatment room. See you later” She did a cutesy wave and twinkled her eyes at me before swimming off.
Grabbing a towel from one of the passing servants, I dried myself off as I walked to the treatment room, Mel had pointed to. A man was just coming out of the room and as he walked past, a whiff of vampire floated past my nostrils. There sure were a lot of vampires in this place - did they all take turns feeding off the blood slaves?
Entering the room, I was greeted by a buxom, fair-skinned black lady, in her mid thirties, with braided hair tied up with a scarf. “Good afternoon. My name’s Sandra, may I ask what your name is?”
“I’m Bree.”
“Welcome Bree. Don’t be shy, come on over. I’ll just close the door while you get ready. I need your bikini top off, you can change behind the screen if you wish. Then drape this towel over your body and lie on the massage table, face down. Do you have any injuries I should know about?”
“No but I have quite a few cuts and bruises, as you can see.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll avoid those completely. Do you have any allergies?”
I frowned, wondering what the point of the question was. “No.”
“Good. I had one client once, who was allergic to lavender and didn’t tell me. She came out in hives. You see, I add a few drops of lavender to my massage oil - helps you to relax.”
I smiled, feeling my shoulders already relaxing. Sandra was a chatty one and that was exactly what I needed. I would spend my time milking her for as much information as I could.
I got myself ready and lay face down, on the massage table. Sandra leaned over me, slathering warm oil onto my back and I allowed myself to enjoy the sensations for a moment before asking, “how long have you worked here?”
“It’s going on ten years now.”
“Wow! You must have seen a lot of changes to the household, in that time?”
“I sure have. I was here when Mr Beaufort was still married and then he lost his Lucy…” Her voice cracked a little. “That poor man has suffered so much.”
“It sounds like you had a good relationship with the family.”
“Yes. It broke my heart when Lucy died. Such a shock to all of us. She was a sweet girl.” She sniffed and reached for a tissue, to wipe her nose. “I’m sorry, I get a little… you know.”
I tilted my head to the side and saw her fanning her eyes, with her hands.
“Please don’t apologise.” I changed the subject. “What’s Hugh like to work for?”
She paused for a moment, then went back to rubbing her hands over my back. “He’s very kind, very kind indeed.” There was something tight and manufactured about her response. She’d been here long enough to learn that dissent wasn’t worth it and she was not going to breathe a word of complaint. Her hands moved down to the tops of my thighs and I flinched as she got to a tight spot. “Sorry, I’ll go a bit softer.”
“That’s ok. My hamstrings are really tight - I work out regularly but I’ve never had a massage before.”
“In that case, you’re probably going to be sore afterwards then. Drink plenty of water and get a good night’s rest. You should have a bath tonight, it helps with the detox process.” She slapped the side of my body. “Okay, you can get on your back.”
I turned over, pondering the question I was dying to ask. There was no way to ask it delicately so I just went for it. “There are a lot of vampires living here. Does Hugh share his blood slaves with all of them?”
Her face dropped, for just a second and then she corrected her features into the same serene smile, she’d had on her face before. “He is very generous. We all get so well treated - vampires and humans.” Her eyes filled with fear and then flicked to the ceiling, where I saw tiny cameras. Beaufort was watching us here too. Did he have people permanently monitoring our every move? Or did he just replay the recordings later and mete out punishment to anyone who’d stepped out of line?
I couldn’t blame her for towing the party line, to protect herself. If she’d been here ten years, she must’ve seen a lot and suffered a lot.
Suddenly there was a blast of colder air and I noticed an air vent, in the corner of the room. An eerie sound, like a child crying, blew in with the air. Sandra walked over and shut the vent then dusted off her hands and wiped them on her apron.
“Did you hear that?” I asked.
“What?”
“That. It sounded like crying.”
She let out a high-pitched laugh and then cleared her throat, her eyes begging me not to pursue this line of questioning. “It’s a very old building, there are lots of weird creaks and groans. Most likely the wooden floorboards, combined with the wind. Or it could be bats, we get those coming in from time to time.” Her hands trembled as she placed them back on my body.
Bats?! As if! I dropped the issue. Her behaviour had already given me what I needed. If that sound was bats, I was a ferret’s priest. Somewhere, within the bowels of this mansion, there was a child crying. With the size of this place, and the amount of vampires here, he could have hundreds of kids locked away, some of them could be blood slaves. It was no longer just about my survival. I might be the only person who could set these people free. I hadn’t worked out how yet but I would - I was determined to. As I lay on that bed, with Sandra pummelling my thighs, I took a deep breath, to steady my emotions.
“All done! How do you feel?”
I did my best to keep my voice light and cheery. “Great! You have magic hands.” I started to get up and Sandra laid a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t get up too quickly, you’ll get light headed. I’ll go and wash up and leave you to get changed. Take as long as you need.”
“Thanks Sandra.” I waited until she’d left the room and closed the door and then I sat bolt upright. Not caring about the cameras, I scrambled off the bed. I marched over to the air vent and tried to reopen it but it was jammed shut.
Damnit!
I struggled for several minutes, then swore as I tore a nail. My head whipped towards the door at the sound of footsteps approaching. I raced back to the massage bed, acting natural as I put my bikini top back on.
Sandra came back in and smiled at me. “All ready?”
I returned a wan smile. “Yep. See you soon.”
She nodded kindly at me. I felt so bad for her. She was being held here against her will, like all the others. I had to help her, I had to help all of them. And I couldn’t forget the sound of crying I’d distinctly heard, coming from that vent. Perhaps I could sneak back here later and see if I could hear it again? But would I even be allowed to do that? Would Hugh allow the pretence that I was a guest here extend to me roaming the mansion as I wished? Okay, Mitchell and Peterson would tag along behind me but so far they hadn’t stopped me from doing anything.
If only I could just get this damned dog collar off. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the obsidian-coated metal band, as if willing it to break. It lay fixed around my neck, as stubbornly as ever before. I sighed at my own silliness. What did I think would happen? That it would magically pop off? I walked over to rejoin the fake party, my legs feeling as heavy as my heart.
Walking out of the massage room, I felt a heavy sense of inertia settle over my body. The exhaustion and drama of the past few days had really taken their toll on me. But it felt like more than that. Maybe it was the months of working two jobs, for a pittance, in London? Being here felt like a luxury holiday and I found myself starting to feel at home. I was already slotting in, just like all the other girls here. Guilt and shame fought for dominance, within me. Was I eventually destined to shrug off the injustice that existed in this house and simply enjoy life, like Mel and Gemma did?
My gaze found Gemma at the other end of the pool and as I looked at her, she walked over to me.
Her eyes narrowed. “You might be Hugh’s favourite for now but he’ll soon tire of you, just like he does with all his new pets.” She gave a triumphant smile. “Then he’ll be mine again.” She strode off and I watched her in pity. She really thought I was competition. Was it a severe case of Stockholm syndrome or did she really want to be here? Actually, it seemed like many of the other girls suffered from the same syndrome. I watched as they playfully splashed, fluttered their eyelashes and giggled at Beaufort’s lame, Dad jokes. I refused to become like them. It was a pitiful waste of a life. I might not have a clear idea of what I wanted out of life yet but I was damn sure of one thing. My dreams extended way bigger than being a vampire billionaire’s mate. I gritted my teeth. If Hugh Beaufort thought he could charm his way into my knickers, with trinkets and parties, he had another think coming.