Arielle Immortal Passion (11 page)

“Where do you think you are going now that you’ve got me going?”

“Be serious, Sebastian, we just made love. I need to discuss this with you.”

“Do you keep a log of how many times we make love?”

“No, but I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to change the conversation. But I’m not going to change my mind. Are there any secret rooms here that I need to know about?”

Sebastian shook his head, as if in surrender. Then, he said. “I’ve no idea, honestly. I’ve never taken the time to explore this house from one corner to another. I’m sure there must be places that I have never seen and there may be secret rooms. I just don’t know. Most of the rooms are locked, but the keys are on the tops of the door frames, so they can be unlocked as needed.”

“I have read so many Gothic books,” Arielle said in a low voice. “I’m sure there are hidden places, and I’m determined to find each and every one of them.” Her face shone with pure excitement and wonder. Sebastian pulled her down into his arms, a huge smile on his face.

“You look like a child in Wonderland.”

“And that’s just exactly the way I feel,” she giggled.

“So I have to go
another
day without you by my side?”

In answer, she pulled herself closer to him, and was startled when he pulled her on top of him. Her heart raced as hard muscle pressed against her body. Sebastian drew a deep breath. Wild temptation and fevered anticipation swept every other thought away from his mind. Arielle shivered with excitement as his tongue licked her lips and his mouth encircled hers in a soft, hot kiss. The slow, sensuous movement of the kiss spread passion in her veins. Clearly he was ready for another round, and she surrendered, savoring every moment until blissful glory embraced them and raised them to blazing ecstasy. She felt a surge of lust coursing through her that made her shudder as she reached a stage of oblivion.

“What are you doing to me?” he murmured, completely out of breath.

“I’m not sure I know what you’re asking…” she chuckled.

“You’ll be the death of me,” he sighed.

“Mmm-hmm, that’s my plan,” she said and bit back a yelp, as he rolled and took her with him, landing on top of her. His breathing became uneven and hard and she laughed with exhilaration.

“I’ll never understand how I can lose control every single time I’m in bed with you,” he said, his voice soft and dazed.

“Only in bed?” she asked, and she squirmed beneath him, making him laugh.

“No, but it’s a puzzle for me.”

“Sebastian, will you let me stay back and explore the house today?”

He nodded his head in agreement, his lips curved into a soft smile.

“Okay. I’ll let you, but only if Eva stays with you. I’m not going to leave you alone. Are we in agreement about that?”

“All right. I’ll go along with that.”

They had agreed to sleep in and enjoy some time alone that morning. They had spent every day doing something exciting. It wasn’t like any holiday Arielle had ever had, and she knew it was the same for her friends. She could read their minds and knew the excitement they had experienced about every little thing that they had done together.

The trip had made the six friends even closer that they had already been, if that were possible. The guys had developed a close bond that meant a lot to Sebastian and Arielle, knowing the circumstances of his existence.

Suddenly, Arielle felt a jolt of fear move through her body, and on her face was a look of bewilderment.

Sebastian sensed her uneasiness. “Can you tell me what you’re thinking?” he asked.

“Sebastian, my friends have been taking pictures every day, everywhere for almost two weeks. Can you and Troy even be photographed?” Her voice was shaking and her mind was racing, trying to imagine how she and Gabrielle would explain it if their boyfriends didn’t show in any of the photos they had taken.

His laughter made her snap back to reality. “What on earth would make you think of something like that?” he asked.

“I read about vampires, that they don’t photograph,” she said, not seeing what was so funny. “So I was wondering if it was the same with you.”

“Arielle, first off, I told you there is no such thing as a vampire, but even if there were, I’m not a vampire. They are things made up to make humans fearful of the unknown. I can be photographed like any other person. I’ve never
liked
photos of myself, but that’s another problem,” he grinned.

“Well, thank goodness, for that!” She smiled, and her mind went back to the thought of exploring the house.

“You’re somewhere else again…” He half sang, half spoke the words. She focused again on his perfect features. She smiled at him and reached for him, to get closer to his gorgeous, naked body. Suddenly, he pulled her even closer, making it hard for her to breathe.

“Sebastian,” she whispered. “Help, I can’t breathe!” He immediately loosened his grip on her and groaned, unbelievable elation on his face.

“You drive me out of my mind, and I’m not sure what I can do about it. I can’t just lie next to you and not touch you. That’s absolutely insane! This has never happened to me before in five centuries. I’ve never been with anyone who I needed to touch every time I was near them.”

“I’m sorry!” She smiled.

“Oh, don’t be sorry. I’m a very happy man. I’m just bewildered.”

“Sebastian, I love this house so much. I feel like I’m at home already. I want to know everything about it. I want to be able to talk about it the same way you do. I want to be part of your whole world, past and present. I want to build a bridge between the old world and the new.”

“What a concept. Spoken like a true engineer,” he said with amusement. She had to agree that was a funny thing to say.

Chapter 8

S
ebastian and Arielle got up and prepared to meet the others. After a light breakfast together, they discussed their plans for the day. Arielle asked Eva if she would like to stay with her and explore the house while the others spent the day riding.

“I’d love to!” Eva said, and it was settled.

“Be careful, and don’t get into any trouble,” Sebastian whispered, as they went out the door.

“I will.” Arielle smiled, and waved at them. She couldn’t wait to begin her exploration! Eva’s face was full of excitement. She loved to explore fascinating places; she too had a passion for Gothic stories, and of course her interest in spells and the unknown added to her interest in old places.

“Let’s start on the top floor,” Arielle said, as soon as the door had closed behind their friends.

They checked every single room and every single corner of the house. Just as Sebastian had said, the rooms that were not open had keys on top of the door frames. Inside the rooms, they discovered amazing antiques, tapestries, vases, and other objects that would make the heart of a museum curator skip a dozen beats. The treasures were locked up, and had been left through the centuries to collect dust.

After they had explored the top three floors, the girls went into the basement and made their way through long hallways, flipping light switches as they went in order to see the surroundings. There were poorly lit alcoves and some areas that were completely dark. The floor was cold, making them shiver, and they could feel the moisture and smell the thickness of centuries old air. The vaulted arches were of Gothic design, giving the surroundings a spooky feeling, as if they had held dark secrets for centuries.

Arielle wondered about the people who had lived there. This huge house held a treasure of memories, of life come and gone. Lives filled with love, hate, adventure, excitement—and finally death. She shivered at the word, but the mystery of the place was overwhelming.

“I wonder how many people walked these dark hallways,” Eva whispered, as if she were afraid that someone was listening. Arielle was deathly quiet. It was evident that their imaginations were running wild.

“This is kind of creepy,” Eva murmured, uneasily. Arielle had to agree. They were on the west side of the house when they made a turn into a narrow hallway leading to a huge door. The door was locked, but they found the key easily and they were inside in no time. Arielle flipped the light switch on and they stood there in awe. It was a beautiful bedroom, furnished with exquisite taste and beautiful antique furniture. It didn’t look dusty and or smell the same way the rest of the basement did. It looked almost as if it had been recently occupied.

Eva and Arielle looked at each other quizzically. The dresser drawers were empty but very clean. Eva walked to the other side of the room and opened the door of a magnificent freestanding armoire and let out a low cry. “Will you look at this?” she gulped.

“What?” Arielle moved over to her side, then she too stopped and swallowed hard. The closet was full of beautiful dresses, absolutely brand new but from another era. They touched the fabric and they were struck by its softness. The dresses appeared made from costly, beautiful silk fabric.

“Wow! I wonder who owned these beautiful clothes,” Eva said in a hushed voice.

“I’m sure Sebastian would know,” Arielle replied, thoughtfully.

They closed the door and left the room, moving back in the direction from which they had come when Arielle noticed a corner that seemed to be leading somewhere else.

“Eva come and take a look at this!”

Eva walked past Arielle and disappeared around the corner. Arielle’s heart skipped a beat as she moved quickly to catch up with her friend. Eva was a few feet ahead, standing on the top of a small, curved staircase that was leading further downward toward another door. She started to descend slowly and Arielle followed.

“This isn’t easy to find, and it looks very mysterious,” Eva said excitedly.

Arielle stayed close to her, feeling happy that she wasn’t alone. “Now what do we do?” Arielle whispered.

“We go down and check it out,” Eva said confidently.

Eva led the way and Arielle followed, a bit apprehensive, but taking courage from Eva, who seemed sure of what she was doing. When they reached the small door, Eva put her hand on the knob, and was surprised to find that it wasn’t locked. Cautiously, she pushed the door open, peered inside, her eyes slitting against the darkness of the room. But the room was so dark they couldn’t see very much. Arielle brushed her hair out of her eyes and moved closer to Eva, who was ahead of her, when suddenly she heard a scraping noise coming from the top of the stairs. Arielle’s head jerked back, gazing through the dim light, but there was no one there.

“Did you hear that?” she whispered.

“No, I didn’t hear anything,” Eva replied.

“Maybe I’m getting a little freaked out and I’m hearing things. However, I’m sure that there was a noise coming from the top of the stairs, or maybe inside the room. I’m too scared to think straight.”

“Come on, it’ll be okay,” Eva assured her.

“Eva, try to see if you have any visions about this. I want to make sure there is no danger in going in.”

“I haven’t felt anything worrisome. I think we’ll be all right.”

Arielle took a deep breath, moved ahead of Eva, and swung the door wide open. They peered in one more time, holding their breath. They could see four or five more steps, leading down into the room. They descended carefully, blinking, as they tried to identify items in the room in the faint light that was coming from the hallway above. The smell of damp stone and musty air was overwhelming. Suddenly, Arielle felt Eva tripping over her, and she lost her balance. They slipped on the last two steps and both plummeted down, landing on the hard floor.

“What in bloody hell happened?” Arielle cried.

“I think someone pushed me.”

“Come on, Eva don’t scare me. There’s nobody here, you must have tripped over your own feet.”

“Arielle, I’m telling you. Someone pushed me. I’m not crazy!”

“Oh, I think I hurt myself again, the same leg and the same arm. I don’t think I’ll ever heal,” Arielle moaned.

“My legs are killing me, I hope I didn’t break anything,” Eva said.

They sat in the dark, totally disoriented, trying to figure out what happened. “Maybe I’m imagined it,” Eva said doubtfully. “But I really don’t think so.”

Arielle tried to get her bearings. She was reaching out for Eva’s hand when they heard a loud, heavy clang as the door slammed shut. Sheer terror took over as they fought the urge to scream. They held each other, both trembling beyond control. The next thing they heard was the sound of a key turning in the lock from the outside.

That drove a cold chill right through their bones. They held each other tighter as a suffocating feeling draped over them. They finally helped each other stand up, and tried to move in the direction of the door, groping for the light switch. They were in complete darkness, terrified and confused, not knowing what to do next.

“Who would lock the door?” Eva whispered. Their eyes began to adjust to the darkness as they moved towards the steps and climbed up to reach the door. They seized the knob and pushed against it as hard as they could, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Well, at least you didn’t break your legs,” Arielle said, and they both laughed softly, searching for some kind of humor in this dreadful situation.

They started to pound on the door, frantically, hoping that someone would hear them but there was only silence. Suddenly, there was the sound of wicked laughter and a woman’s voice shrieking, “You’ll never have Sebastian, you are going to die, you helpless humans!”

Eva’s eyes widened as fear surged through her veins. “Who is that?” Eva whispered, reaching out for Arielle’s hand.

“I am sure it’s Annabel,” Arielle murmured, and she felt the blood freeze in her veins. “I told you about her, she has vowed to kill me. She wants Sebastian.” They staggered back away from the door, trying, but failing, to find the light switch. They stumbled around in the dark, feeling around blindly to understand where they were and what was in the room. Then, they both moved forward again and pushed on the door with all their strength, but it was shut tightly and they couldn’t move it. They hammered on the door with their fists and screamed at the top of their lungs, hoping someone would hear them. But there was no one who could help them.

“It will be hours before anyone even starts to look for us,” Arielle said, shaking her head in dismay. The air in the room was stale, and Arielle was afraid that it might not be very long before they would begin to run out of fresh air. Her voice sounded hollow as she told Eva not to worry. “We’ll find a way out,” she said, but she had no idea how that would happen. She ran her hands on both sides of the door again and she finally hit a light switch.

They both let out a happy sound, but quickly realized that having the light in the room didn’t change their predicament at all. They slid down to the floor, exhausted from pounding on the door. Arielle covered her face with her hands, afraid to look around anymore, afraid of what they might discover. Eva was sobbing now, giving in to the fact that they would not be found. Arielle leaned against the door and let out a deep sigh of despair. Tears filled her eyes as she realized how helpless they were.

“I’m sorry, Eva,” she said. “I should’ve listened to Sebastian. We should have stayed with the others.”

“Don’t say that, Arielle. It was my choice to do this. But it was a bad choice,” she added, a nervous giggle escaping her for a moment. She became instantly serious again. “I don’t mind telling you that I’m scared to death.”

Arielle gathered what little strength she had left, and lifting herself up. she turned around and pounded on the door one more time. “Please, someone, help us!” she called out, tears rolling down her face. She heard the clear sound of laughter outside the door and a cold chill ran down her spine again.

Arielle was sure that Annabel had lured them here into this dreadful room, and that she wanted them to die there. The memory of her cruel face flashed in front of her eyes and she felt sheer horror at the memory.

“Annabel!” she called. “Please don’t do this!” The sound of retreating footsteps, and the laughter that was becoming faintly audible told Arielle that she was going away, leaving them there, hoping they would die in that room.

“She must be a very sick person,” Eva said. “Do you really think she will leave us here to die?”

“I think she is pretty awful. And I know she really hates me.”

“Was she the one that hurt you in the garden the other day?”

“Yes, she tried, but didn’t succeed. Oh God, I’m so sorry, Eva! This is all my fault.” She covered her face again and started to cry. Eva put her arms around Arielle and they held each other tight, as their awareness of the horrible situation they were in deepened.

Despite all she knew about Annabel, Arielle found it hard to believe that someone truly wanted her dead. She realized she had never known real fear until that moment. “She has locked us in this room and left us to die,” she said grimly.

“She’s hoping that nobody will be able to find us in time,” Eva whimpered. Arielle was sweating uncontrollably and she could feel her hair standing on end. How could anyone find them in this part of the house? What if no one found them before they ran out of air to breathe, and they really did both die?

Annabel wanted me out of the way, and she waited for the perfect moment to do just that,
Arielle thought.
How could I have been so stupid as to fall into her trap?

She thought of her parents and friends, and the most beautiful man on this earth, the one she would never see or hold again. Tears rolled down her face as despair completely took her over. Eva was sobbing quietly next to her. All they could do was hold on to each other.

After a while, they both got up one more time and tried again to push against the door with all their strength but nothing happened. They looked around the room again. They saw some old boxes and a few antiques. The room was small, no bigger than eight by eight feet. There was no exit, there were no windows, and they were pretty sure the room had no ventilation at all.

“I can’t believe that there are people like her on this earth,” Eva said glumly. “I’m so cold,” she added, shivering. “And I think I hurt myself when we fell.” Her breath came out hollow and frail. Arielle reached over and held her friend close as they tried to keep themselves warm.