The Debt (Lottie X Zaira)

[Sapphire]

It was an early, crisp winter morning. Fresh snow had fallen that night before, the sun reflecting the white power so that it danced like diamonds in the light. Things were quite and tranquil, but that wouldn't last for long. "What?!" came a loud screech from a white farm house. The chimmey shooting smoke into the air as fires were going to keep it warm. Inside a young girl just woken to the worst news her parents could give her. "Now, now my love it isn't all that bad. The men there are rather attractive." a mother cooed her daughter as she was pacing around the kitchen. "No way, you'll...you'll have to drug me or...or tie me up to even consider doing such a thing!" her daughter protested. "Why can't you send Dawn, or...or Mary?" she asked.

"You know why, both of them are being married off to two other man already. Honey you are 21 years old now and still unmarried, you are turning into an old maid." her mother said just as gently as looked back up to her daughter. "Mother, there is no way I could-" she was shortly cut off by a grunt from her father, now choosing to speak. "You are going young lady, and that's final. We've worked hard to keep this family going, and you've all had it easy. Now it's your turn to do some work." he told her. Even though he spoke calmly, his words carried a certain weight and boom to it, leaving the girl to simply stare at him before storming away.

Twilight was just starting to fall upon the town as a horse and carriage finally came to a stop in front of a rather large and taken care of house. The young woman slowly looked up from the book in her lap, taking in her surroundings. The house was even bigger then her own, which was a bit of a shocker as well. As the door opened, the carriage driver offered her his hand and helped her down the steps. "This will be your new home for a while." he explained. "Don't worry you will settle in fast." he said gently.

"If you just step through those doors there, I will grab your luggage and I am sure the others will come to great you." Opal looked at him before slowly nodding. "Very well I suppose." she said softly, though the look on her face and her posture showed signs of her not wanting to be there at all. No matter how beautiful the house was. Slowly stepped to the wooden doors, she started to push them open. Stepping one foot over the doorway and into the house.

 

[Nad]

"A maid? Why wouldn't you just ask for the money, instead of having an extra maid?." asked Jonathan, the biggest brother, with an expression of complete confusion, as well as disappointment, towards his father. It didn't take long for him to replace those feelings with a grin. "Unless you are thinking we can give another use to that 'maid'".

"The Williams are not in a position to pay us with money, and we don't exactly need it either, young man. Believe me, this girl would be much more useful. But she still belongs to a nice family, so don't even think about it. Don't you dare treat her as a blood sack. And this goes to both of you." said the eldest of the room, talking to his smallest and biggest son. Both of them rolled their eyes at the same time, thinking the only part that sounded good about that deal had just been crashed.

There was also a fourth person in that room, but he wasn't paying much attention to the conversation. And he didn't need to either; he didn't care about new people living in their house, because it was big enough to avoid them completely. He wouldn't try to hurt her at all, and he wouldn't need to see her unless they came across in the hall. So, even if he was sitting on a chair for respect to his father, he was looking through the window to the beautiful white landscape.

"She's coming at twilight. And I want you, Lester, to receive her. I'm leaving to treat some issues to the north in a few hours, and I won't be back for a week. So I trust you to greet her in the name of our family, because I don't care if she's a maid, we are still keeping our manners. And you and I know that your brothers would just scare her off." the father, often referred as Lord Kinlan, added. The vampire glanced at him with a gaze that showed how much it annoyed him, but he still didn't complain about it. It seemed that he wouldn't be able to avoid that new human completely.

And just as his father ordered him to, Lester was standing a few meters from the door when the carriage arrived. He watched as a gorgeous, young woman walked through their main door. With her, an exquisite fragrance of a sweet perfume, mixed with the sweeter essence of her blood, filled his senses, delighting the apparently young vampire. When she was completely inside the house, he took a step closer to her, with his hands behind his back. "Welcome, Miss Williams. My name is Lester Kinlan, and I'm glad to greet you in the name of my whole family to our house." said to her, making a cordial smile. Of course, he was only faking, because even if she was beautiful and smelled great, he was still annoyed by the presence of another stranger around his house. He wanted to make things as fast as possible, still looking polite.

 

[Sapphire]

Opal looked up just as she heard a mans voice, looking to him, she did a quick scan. Before she had left in the carriage her mother playfully suggested she might even come to find herself marrying one of the boys there, and that they were more handsome then any man she had seen, well besides her father of course! Opal wasn't so sure about the whole marrying part, but her mother got one thing right. The man standing before her had to be the most beautiful creature she had seen.

Her face started to get slightly red, and quickly she turned her face and gaze away from him. "It's...very nice to meet you Mr. Kinlan." she said softly, before remembering what she was to become there, and slowly she looked at him again. "Lets save each other some time okay?" The woman started, her flush face returning to normal as a grin slowly started to spread across her face. "I don't want to be here, and I am sure you don't want a pretty girl like me here either. I mean I might scare away some potential brides for you." she said holding her hands behind her back and forth with her tip toes and heels.

"So my suggestion is that we can forget all about this silly little debt." she said waving her right hand as if she was trying to shoo it away, and laughing as she did so. "And I mean I can get a little tavern here for like..a week and then go back home." she said cheerfully. "That sounds like a great idea, don't you think?" she questioned. "And I am sure you would hate to see a pretty girl like me, scrubbing the floors on her hands and knees." she said giving him the biggest puppy dog look she could muster at that moment.

 

[Nad]

Lester frowned slightly seeing the blood rushing to her face, not knowing what he did to awake such response on her body, but still liking the color she took. His expression changed into one with surprise as she kept talking. He seriously didn't expect to have that kind of conversation, but it was slightly more entertaining than he expected. It seemed that the girl was obstinate about going back to her home. Probably she had been forced to go there by her parents.

"Oh, it seems that someone had gotten things easy for being pretty." said, with a grin on his face. He then took a step closer to her and gently grabbed her chin, lifting it a little to meet her gaze. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Miss. Williams, but I do not concern at all about the looks of the person scrubbing my floor. I'm sure you are as capable as anyone else." said with a soft voice, before slowly pulling away. "As for the brides; think of it as a filter. They do not get to marry me if they are scared by a maid. " added, still looking straight to her, a bit amused. Of course, she was beautiful, and it was smart to use it as a way out. But he still wouldn't think of her differently for the way she looked. She was the same as any other human to him.

"Although, you are right. For my personal reasons, I don't want you here. Anyway, I'm not the one to talk about that, you should speak to my father and he's out for the week. I should warn you he does not likely forget about debts, though." added, turning around to leave the room. He suddenly stopped on his way out and glanced back at her. "Anything else I can help you with?"

 

[Sapphire]

When he took a step towards her, Opal took a step back. Having not expected his responds to be just that, and he was right, she was indeed use to getting her way with her looks. As soon as he touched her chin and had her look up at him and into his eyes, she could feel the heat falling back onto her face, her ears turning slightly red.

She listened to him carefully, the way he said maid almost felt like a taunt to her. An annoyed breath escaped her lips as she turned her head away from him and crossed her arms over her chest, pouting almost like a child would. "Well...you are making a big mistake for letting me stay here buster brown." she mumbled. Listening as his footsteps started to walk away, she slowly looked back up when he asked if there was anything else he could help with.

"Do I at least get my own room?" she questioned. Opal was hoping she would, she never had to share a room and liked her privacy. Though each place was different, she was unsure of how many workers they had there. If it was a lot she was sure she would have to share a room with the other maids. Or maybe she could luck out and they would at least let her have her own, but if her pretty looks didn't get her anywhere here. She was sure that wouldn't work out as she hoped.

 

[Nad]

"Oh, your room, of course. Richard will probably take you there..." said, as he approached towards the door to see what was that man, the carriage driver, doing. He was still struggling with the luggage. Lester sighed, his father had mentioned which room was she staying and he only needed to take a small detour from the path he was taking to go to the gardens. "Or I can show you, I suppose." said, and he continued walking, waiting for her to join him.

He lead her, without starting another conversation, through some labyrinthine halls of the first floor of the castle. There was a specific sector for the rooms of everyone who worked on the house. Hers was one of the first ones, and even though most of the others where shared between two or three people, that one wasn't. Besides, it was a bit nicer than the rest, but still it probably wasn't slightly similar to the one she used to have. A few workers that crossed their ways greeted Lester with certain happiness; after all, he could be a bit tough with his words, but he was definitely the nicer of the Kinlan brothers. Lester opened the door of her room for her.

"I'm pretty sure this is it. I'll make another maid to come in here, in case you need something. She would also tell you about your duties, even though you'll probably start tomorrow." told her, with a cordial smile on his face. "You'll see living here is not as bad as you think." added, only to cheer her up, because he didn't even really enjoyed living in that castle. "Oh, and I'm sorry, but I've never heard your first name. I can still call you Miss. Williams if you want, but I'd prefer Lester. There are many Kinlans in this house."

 

[Sapphire]

She didn't have much to talk about either as they walked down the hallways. She stopped short though looking at a family portrait that was hanging up. She looked all three four men over and the woman that was there, she tilted her head to the side ever so slightly and could only guess that was their mother. She didn't comment about it though, when it finally dawned onto her that his footsteps were getting farther and farther away, she pick up the sides of her dress and quickly ran after him to catch up.

She couldn't help but notice how happy the workers seemed to be and was watching each and everyone as they passed by. Maybe living there wouldn't be so bad. She wasn't so sure what she was expecting, but everyone seemed so happy...that was unless they were just sucking up to the man. Quickly shaking her head from her thoughts she stepped into the room that he opened.

"It's...cute." she said as she turned around and looked at all angles. Looking to him once more as she spoke she slowly nodded her head. "Okay...thank you..I guess." she said as she went over to sit down on the bed that was to be her's. "Oh...my name is Opal." she told him. "And you don't have to call me Miss.Williams at all." she said with a shrug. "And I will remember that then, to call you Lester." she said with a small smile.

 

[Nad]

He nodded slightly at her answer and left the room to give her some privacy. Luckily, she met one of the other maids on the hall, and he called her. "Marie, would you take care of the new girl? Make sure she's alright, and give her the tasks she needs to do. Okay?" told her and the woman nodded with a smile.

"Of course, sir. But I don't know what tasks to give her. I heard she was your personal maid, so you should probably be the one giving her tasks."

Lester rolled his eyes hearing her. "Why would I need a personal maid?" asked, but the woman only shrugged. Both his brothers had something similar to a personal maid, but they were only girls they could easily feed on. And, sure, they cleaned their rooms and were close in case they needed something, but he didn't want any personal maid. "Just... make her do whatever you do for the moment." told her and she nodded, right before going into Opal's room to introduce herself. He left towards the back garden, with the picture of the new girl on his mind.

What was his father trying to do? He accepted another maid as a payment, even if they definitely didn't need someone else. He made him welcome her, and he even gave her one of the best rooms. Besides, he wanted her to be her personal maid. Lester was sure he brought her for some reason and it would all make sense, but he just couldn't tell what could she do that someone else couldn't. He just sighed and sat down in the snow, laying against a tree, watching at the marble fountain in front of him.

 

[Sapphire]

Opal had looked up when the door opened once more. So much for relaxing she thought to herself as she looked up at the new comer. She could only smile though and give her own small introduction. She was soon forced up from her bed and was following her around the castle, sticking a bit closer so she didn't get in the twist and turns of the hallway. She had followed her to Lester's room and was starting to help make his bed and get his clothes laid out for the night.

It wasn't long until the sound of someone sitting beside Lester would disturb him out of his thoughts. "I see you guys got another meat bag." a female voice rang softly as she looked at him. "My goodness how many of them does your family need?" she questioned. The voice belonged to a girl named Lilly, a vampire like them though she always like to pick and tease on the family. Especially the brothers, "Tell me is she yours?" she questioned tilting her head to the side ever so slightly. "Or did one of your brothers end up killing their maid?" she questioned. She was rather beautiful as well. Her hair long and golden and fell in curls down to her back.

Richard was just getting her bags into Opal's room and let out a sigh as he did so. "Jeez, you would think she had been packing rocks in those damn bags." he cursed to himself as he leaned from side to side, his back cracking as he did so.

 

[Nad]

Lester heard Lilly approaching but he didn't even turn around to look at her. He didn't even wondered why was she there... he was used to have her around with no specific reason. "Supposedly." answered, talking about the new girl being his. "Oh, no, they didn't kill them. Not yet at least. So seriously, I don't know why is she here. I mean, sure, she looks as someone Jon and Ollie would love to feed on. But our father explicitly told them to keep their fangs away from her." told her, glancing at the beautiful vampire with an expression of confusion. "He probably wants her for me, right? Like to stop caring as much as I do and start feeding on anyone?" added, and rubbed his neck with frustration. Why wouldn't they just leave him alone? He preferred to feed on people that actually deserved it... what was wrong about that?

Meanwhile, Marie was showing Opal how to order and clean his room. "And I guess you'll take care of his room from now on. I'll still help you the first few times, of course." started to say, trying to start a conversation with the girl while she took his clothes to wash. "You are so lucky you got Lester. Have you meet the other two brothers so far?" asked, while she slightly scratched the small white bandage she had on her neck. "The only bad thing is that he is a bit obsessive. I mean, don't ever try to change the way things are placed in here." added, as she lined perfectly a frame, with the portrait of a young woman, that was placed on the bed table.

 

[Sapphire]

Lilly listened to him and was nodding her head to everything he was saying. "Well that certainly interesting." she told him as she started to play with some of the snow. "It looks that way, that he is giving her to you and that she is yours. And maybe he doesn't want you to feed just on anyone. But use her in case you can't find someone at night." she explained as she sat there. "I mean yes there are maids all about the house to pick and choose from. And to be honest Lester you are pretty picky." she laughed. "Maybe he thinks you are a bit lonely too and need a little rump in the sheets." she said looking up him with a grin and starting to get in his face a little bit. "Maybe a little play toy for you and a snack on the side. But be careful, these humans can be so fragile. One wrong move and you could break an arm...or a neck." she sighed as she sat back down.

Opal looked at Marie and was watching everything she was doing, trying to help as best as she can. But it was clear she had no idea what she was doing. "Ah his brothers...no I haven't met them. I've heard some things from my mother though. That they are as handsome as their father is." she said as she started to wander about the room. "Are they pretty bad?" she asked looking at her, she looked at her neck in slight confusion. "Is that some kind of fashion statement?" she questioned as she touched her own neck. "It would look much better if you had a necklace of ribbon there honestly."

"Oh...so he is one of those people. Oh gosh I mean how funny would it be just to place things half an inch off?" she laughed. "He wouldn't figure it out for the longest time and it would drive him crazy!" she said excitedly before gasping, "Come on let's do that." she said as she went over to the picture frame, and started to turn it just ever so, but she stopped as she fully looked at what was inside. Without a word she slowly crouched down and rested her chin on the edge of the stand. "Who is this?" she asked seeming more calmer then before. "She is really pretty, is this his girlfriend or something?" she questioned.

 

[Nad]

Lester bit his lower lip and shook his head slightly. Maybe he was lonely, but why did they assume he didn't want to be? What she said made sense, though. Both of his brothers were most of the time... with company. And, according to their words, knew how to have fun. But Lester didn't want to see anyone since his first love, and he rejected any woman his father brought him as a possible bride before even see her. It would be wise from his part to sneak one as a maid... He focused back on he speech and laughed hearing her say he was pretty picky. Anyway, his expression abruptly changed when she mentioned how fragile humans could be. As if he wouldn't know about that. Sighing, he tried to forget about all that stuff. "My father is completely annoying. As if I needed a super gorgeous maid to play around in order to have fun." complained. A moment after it, he grabbed some snow from the floor and, with a quick movement, he threw it directly to her face. "See? That was definitely amusing." told her with a grin.

Marie frowned slightly when she asked if they were pretty bad. "Well, yes, they are pretty scary. So if you can avoid them, that would be great." said the young worker. She simply ignored what she said about her neck. Seeing she wanted to somehow bother Lester, she raised her eyebrows. With curiosity, she wondered where did that girl came from, because a normal maid wouldn't even think of doing something like that. A slight chuckle slipped her throat though, hearing the excitement on her voice. "Uhm, I don't know..." answered sincerely, staring at the woman in the frame. She was indeed beautiful. "I mean, she had never came to the castle, so she can't be a current girlfriend or something similar. I asked Lester once, but he ignored me. And I've never heard anything about her. But, if you ask me, it looks as a pretty old painting. I don't think that woman is alive anymore." answered her.

 

[Sapphire]

Lilly was shocked when the snow smacked her in the face and felt the horrible shock of it. "That's cold you little jerk!" she laughed before grabbing hangs full of snow and shoving it in his face laughing as she did so. She honestly didn't mind the snow that much, and was soon trying to cover him in it laughing more and more.

Opal was listening to the woman and nodded her head ever so slightly. "Well that's odd that it's so old then. I mean she couldn't possibly been his girlfriend then. He is too young." she said with a shrug. "I will have to ask him the next time I see him then. And I won't take his silents as an answer." she said with a wink as she started to stand up once again. "And I will make a mental note then to keep away from his brothers." she said as she stood there. "I've heard awful stories about how some people treat their help. But Lester doesn't seem like the type of person to hurt anyone. And since I am suppose to be his personal maid I am sure I will be pretty safe." she said happily.

 

[Nad]

"Oh, no!" he said with a fake expression of fear as she started throwing the snow on him. It seemed she wanted to cover him with snow and it made him start laughing. He had instinctively his eyes closed because of the snow on his face, so he began to blindly throw snow back at her, with some of it smashing against her body and some simply falling to the floor. It was weird being a vampire, because no matter how old he was, he would never be mature enough for a snow fight.

"Yes, it's weird." Marie muttered, without adding anything else to it. Of course, she perfectly knew that it was possible, because even if there were only a few workers that knew exactly what the Kinlan were, she knew that everything was possible around them. "I hope you tell me after you figure it out." added, with a slight smile. "I'm sure you will be safe. With his personality, he would probably feel responsible for you and even protect you. But I couldn't tell, you are the first one he ever had. Even if he is nice to be around, I have a feeling that he tries to avoid people as much as he can." said, as she finished removing some dust from a small bookshelf he had. Everything was clean there, so they were done with his room.

 

[Sapphire]

"Yeah you better be afraid!" Lilly yelled at him laughing as she kept throwing the snow at him. "Man you really aren't good at this are you." she laughed as she went to tackle him back into the snow. She was a light weight, but she hoped with the way his eyes were closed she would of caught him off guard.


"Well that is good to hear that I will be protected then." she laughed. "Where are these brothers of his, so far all I've seen is Lester and the help." she explained to her. She was finish moving just little things off by an inch in his room, a small grin falling onto her face as she looked at Marie once more. "So what do we do now?" she questioned. "I mean we are pretty much done right?" she asked tilting her head to the side. "Or is there more to this, do I have to help make dinner and set the table too?" she questioned as she made a face. "Oh and maybe that woman in the picture is his grandmother!" she said suddenly. "That would explain about why it's so old." she said cheerfully. "I am still going to ask...as a matter of fact I am going to find him right now and ask before I forget." she told her.

"Thanks for your help Marie I will see you next time, okay?" she asked happily as she started to take off out of the room and down the hallways.

 

[Nad]

Lester chuckled at her words and she totally got him with her tackle and fell to the floor. "Ok, ok. I surrender. I am terrible on this. I'll remember it for the next time I wanna throw you snow at your face." said, laying down against the snow with a smile. It was a good thing he was resistant to low temperatures for being a vampire, because he had snow all inside his clothes.

Marie had no idea where Oliver and Jonathan were, so she just shrugged as an answer. She was only glad they weren't around bothering the new maid, although she knew they wouldn't take long to do so. She liked that girl, so cheerful and amusing, and she hoped she would be good. Now Marie would just go back to her room and maybe help delivering dinner to the workers, because one of the good thing about that family, is that they didn't have dinner. Not with food that needed to be prepared, at least, so it gave them less work. So she just let her go with a smile, hoping she wouldn't get lost. "Good luck, Opal, see you around."

Anyway, Opal wasn't lucky enough to wonder around the halls by herself without meeting at least one of the other brothers. Jonathan saw her, actually smelled her, and wanted to say hi. He came in the middle of her way, blocking her path. Jonathan was really similar to Lester, with longer hair and darker eyes, which were almost black. And, even though he was a little smaller than the middle brother, he didn't look that way. Maybe it was that he had more muscles around his back and arms, which together with his gaze, made him quite intimidating. "Oh, well, hello there. You must be Lester's new maid." greeted her with a charming smile upon his face. "I should ask for a change. Mine is far less beautiful." added, with an amusing tone, looking at her from top to bottom.

 

[Sapphire]

" That's what I thought." Lilly laughed as she laid on top of him now. "Oooh noo I am frozen and can't move. I guess we will just have to stay like this, oh nooo." she said in a half whining voice before laughing again and just relaxed. Even if she was laying on him she didn't mean anything by it, she saw most of them as brothers anyways. "You'll be fine though kid." she said looking up at him now. "Just learn to open up a bit more, alright?" she asked with a wink.

Opal had almost ran into the man that just seemed to suddenly appear before her eyes. She stopped a few feet short of him, her heart racing for half a second and her blood seeming to run cold. She couldn't help but feel the pressure under his gaze, and her body was almost giving into the fight or flight. Though the sound of his voice and the smile he gave seem to relax her only slightly. "Well hello to you to." she told him with a small smile. "Uh yes I am Opal, I just arrived today. And...well thank you for the compliment." she laughed nervously, she wasn't so nervous around people. But the way he looked her up and down was anything but comfortable.

It was almost like he was looking at some kind of prey. "You must be one of Lester's brothers, right?" she questioned. "May I ask what your name is?"

 

[Nad]

He chuckled once again as she wouldn't move from above him. "You are evil. And I guess I'll do my best." answered her with a smirk. Even if he didn't appreciate much physical contact, he didn't care with her being on top of him. But he still wanted to get up. "C'mon, get off now. You are too fat and I'm dying down here." teased her with a grin.

As he always did, Jonathan enjoyed making people uncomfortable. He didn't mean to feed on her, because he seriously heard his father and his warning. Anyway, as he heard her small heart beating faster, he was just tempted. Oh, well, at least he tried. "Indeed I am. Jonathan Kinlan, and I'm pleased to meet you, Opal. I should also add that I'm the better looking of the three of us." told her with a quick wink and keeping his smile. "I'm sorry I stepped on your way, I was just curious. Where were you going, anyway?" asked her, with curiosity, or so it seemed. "You know what? Forget about it, why don't you join me for dinner?"

 

[Sapphire]

Lilly looked at him in mock shock when he told her that she was fat. "Oh now that hurts." she said putting even more weight on him. "I guess I will have to crush you then with my fat rolls." she laughed before sitting up. "You are lucky I like you." she said putting snow in his face again. "But I should get going, my parents will be calling me for dinner." she said as she stood up and brushed herself off.

Opal looked at Jonathan and laughed gently as she said that he was the better looking brother. "Oh I see.' she laughed as she stood there. "And I was just looking for Lester I had some questions I wanted to ask him." she explained as she held her hands behind her back this time. "And I guess I could come to dinner. I haven't ate since early this morning." she said as she was getting ready to follow after him. She was half confused as why Marie told her to stay away from the other two brothers. Jonathan was indeed intimidating, but he seemed nice...or at least that is what she thought.

 

[Nad]

He couldn't prevent himself from laughing again. Of course she was quite the opposite of fat, and it didn't even hurt him when she tried to, putting more weigh on him. He stood up, together with her and shook the snow off his body and face. "Go, I don't wanna be around if you miss a meal." answered, still teasing her. "I should get inside and check on my new 'toy', anyway." added with a shrug. "See you around, Lilly." told her with a smile as he walked off.

"That's great. I'm also quite hungry as well." Jonathan told her. As the mention of Lester, he couldn't avoid a slight chuckle. He was already picturing the face of his smaller brother when his maid appeared with his trademark. "Follow me, my lady." said with a wink as he went downstairs, towards the dining hall they barely used. Maybe he could really give her some food. That would be fair, right? "What did you want to ask Lester, anyway?"