I Thirst for You — Chapter 15 – Making the Master Happy

'To hell be this morning, ′ Cord cursed as another day greeted him complete with the morning sun blaring against the castle rooftops. He wore no blindfold on, sitting in his throne chair with a lazy posture, enshrouded by his liquid shadows. He expected a peaceful rest to overtake him, but the contrary happened.

Dammit, the woman was like an alarm clock to him.

Every sure beat of Amanda’s heart was like a lullaby, but it wasn’t an invitation to sleep, it was an invitation to listen more along with her footsteps all over the hallways.

She must be having another tour with the maid, he mused. Would have been better if I did it.

But of course, he couldn’t. Wouldn’t.

After his moment of weakness last night, he promised to harden himself and he was damned sure to do just that.

Not like he wasn’t already doing it.

Since Amanda occupied the room where Noman had used in the night of the anniversary party, Cord didn’t sleep in his master chamber.

Why?

Because it was located directly above hers. On the third floor.

Being the only heir of a wealthy, aristocratic couple, he preferred to be as secluded as he could be. He’d taken in residence of the upper west wing where only the grand library and the unused music room as his neighbors.

The North Wing of the castle was where his family relatives stayed. They made a mark there. Invited in willing blood donors they had chosen during the party and feasted there. Cord let them be. He cared less of it just as long as no corpse ends up in the hallways or in the Libree road. Or anywhere for that matter. It was his one strict rule.

Now that the woman sleeps directly below his chamber, he decided to relocate himself in the throne hall. But even there, her scent and heartbeat still affected him.

And bloody hell, what a complete torture it was.

It was enough to keep him from his overdue sleep.

“You know it is already morning cousin, can’t you wait for tonight to summon me?” Calvin waltzed inside the throne room, clad in a grey suit. His white mop of hair looked messy; the collar of his shirt smudged with pink lipstick.

Cord gave him a once-over and thereafter landed his sights directly on the discoloration, staring at it with mild amusement.

“If you weren’t so busy feeding and fornicating last night, I wouldn’t have called you now. What’s the update on the murder case?”

Calvin sat on the sofa chair already prepared by Jerome and answered, “Huh, you are so impatient with that. Is it because of the woman?”

Cord snapped a frown at him.

The latter just smiled smugly. Since Amanda’s arrival, Calvin knew talking about her would irk him. But feeling an immediate spiking sensation in between his toes, he realized answering the Master now would be a safer action, just to drive the electric-charged liquid shadows away. “Nothing still, ” he sighed and wiggled his toes. “It is difficult to get answers when our rogue vampire is this sneaky.”

“Three years of sneakiness, playing with me, ” Cord growled low and so did his pet who was just sitting comfortably near his boots, quietly clocking Calvin like a prey. “The gall of him when he knows I’ll still win in the end.”

“Well, he must be this desperate.” Calvin, ignoring the animal, just shrugged his shoulders.

“Hell, why would he when I have already given all in this castle?” Cord clenched his jaw. “Freedom. Food. Luxury. Is it not enough?”

“You know I can’t answer that, Cord. I’m not the culprit, ” Calvin replied, showing him a look of confusion. “But do you think it is one of the staff and not one of our relatives? You know, probably just to spite you.”

“Huh, spite me...” Cord muttered. “I have already suffered so much. I have atoned for my father’s mistakes more than all of you and now you say it is to spite me?”

“Well, you are the curse in the first place, ” Calvin voiced out without hesitation. “You are the reason for our centuries-old predicament. Every one of us here who breathed inside this castle during that night became like this because of you.” He raised his hands up and gave him an assured smile. “But don’t get me wrong cousin, I don’t hold a grudge against you. Although I wouldn’t be able to walk under the sun and am doomed to drink blood for eternity, I enjoy my immortal life now. I’m just saying that what if there are those who can’t still accept what had become of us? Who were just innocent? Who was thrown into this mess just because of what your father did?”

Cord shifted in his seat and released a throaty grumble. He clenched his eyes shut and took a deep breath. “Let’s not stray away from the topic Calvin, ” he said, unable to rebut his womanizing cousin’s logic since he had a big point there. Even he himself still cannot accept turning into a blind creature of the dark. Unlike his relatives who took advantage of their situation, he still denied being a ‘vampire’ - as what human’s normally call it.

This was the sole reason for his rampage during his early years as a vampire. This was the reason why he had killed so many souls - both innocent and guilty. He couldn’t accept what he had become then, just like how he couldn’t accept it now.

What happened to him then might be the same thing for this culprit - on a rampage, unable to take the damnable darkness of what the curse had designed.

“Alright, ” Calvin’s voice snapped the Master out of his thoughts. “How about that woman? She’s the sole witness, right? Maybe you can get something from her?”

“Yes, ” Cord replied after clearing his throat. “At dinner tonight, I am to interrogate her again. I already gained approval from the Chief yesterday - through beguiling her of course. Maybe this time Amanda will tell me everything she saw.”

“What?” Calvin raised a brow, surprised. “Why just use your persuasion on her?”

Cord silently exhaled, pissed off a little. “I did that on her first night of stay here, but the chit was hard to break. I can’t seem to get through to her.”

Never. Never had he come across a human like her before. Normally, using his ability wouldn’t have been a problem. He just needed to stare at them, make his voice soft and lulling, and spill his invisible waves of beguiling energy to tempt his victim. To Amanda, this ability turned useless. Utterly useless.

With this fact, her blood and her reaction to the full moon, had him thinking that the woman was of special breed.

“Well, that’s new for just a normal human, ” Calvin commented after lighting a cigarette he clamped in between his lips.

“I don’t think she is just a normal human, ” Cord pointed out.

The smoke of the cigar scattered all over the immediate space as Calvin snorted. “Huh, the way you said it, it makes me want to see this woman more.”

And because of his words, Cord unintentionally chipped the edge of his armrest from the strain of his hands.

Calvin saw this and realized he just spewed a dangerous sentence. The Master was just too sensitive when it came to her.

To lessen the invisible tension, he cleared his throat and changed the subject instead, “What if it turns out there’s no clue in her testimony? What then?”

Cord remained silent for a moment and contemplated well and hard.

What if it was the case indeed?

Yesterday, Chief Moretti recounted to him what Amanda had reported. It comprised of only just seeing how the murderer and the victim seemingly embraced each other, the former’s mouth buried on the latter’s neck, blood making a river down to the collar bone effectively soiling their shirts. She added how the criminal used a gun to shot his victim dead, how he turned to her with a promise of death in his stance, and how tall and confident he was.

Aside from the red glowing eyes, there was no other account that told of anything significant with the man. Significant enough to pin him down.

“I’ll use her, ” Cord finally said, his eyes lingering on his fingers were he felt the pulse of her wrist last night.

“Use her?” Calvin parroted, confused.

“As bait, ” the Master added. “I’m going to lure that bastard out. I know he is just bidding his time, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t trembling in fear. He will come for her soon. All I need is to allow an avenue for that.”

“Huh, it sounds that you have planned this all out cousin, ” Calvin remarked, puffing out smoke from his mouth like a cigar aficionado that he was. “May I ask how are you going to do that?”

“Let her leave the castle, ” Cord started. “The bastard biter won’t try to lay a finger on her while she is under the protection of this roof but once she gets outside, I know he’ll strike.”

Although it would go against the entire witness protection program’s goal, the Master had no choice. Better try the trump card now than to wait for another dead body to drop. It was not like he’d leave the woman a sitting duck. He’ll protect her with all his ability. Mayhap even walk under the sun for her just to ensure her safety once she leaves the castle. Or maybe even become her unseen bodyguard during the night.

“Cleverly planned cousin, but are you sure you want to put her in danger? The last time I checked, you looked smitten by her.”

Cord, in effect, silently grumbled. “That’s irrelevant, ” he said, putting up a stern face for his cousin to see, definitely not willing to show what he had just thought seconds ago.

Calvin snorted. “Huh, irrelevant...”

He stood up, already expecting the Master to order him out. He puffed out smoke again and thereafter saluted with a parting word, “Until then, I’ll continue my investigation. Enjoy your dinner tonight cousin.”

Cord dismissed him with a lazy wave of a hand. He didn’t say thanks nor did he smile on his cousin’s way. He just waited for the double doors of the throne room to sound shut before he continued whatever he was doing earlier: No. Not trying to sleep. Not trying to plan for tonight’s dinner. Not trying to think of a way on how to unmask his rogue biter even.

It was just mainly listening.

Listening to a certain musical heartbeat that he so wanted to claim.

***

Enormous was the castle library - that was what Amanda immediately thought first when she stepped inside the room. Four marbled columns towered above her, supporting the whole place as it lived in a world of its own. Shelves after shelves of leather-bound books lined up as much as Amanda’s eyes could see. Surprisingly not a sign of dust and web collection was visible. And surprisingly, book titles and where to locate them were easily known through the computer when Amanda asked for it.

Arissa, being a tech-savvy person, guided her through the process.  They stayed there for over half a day before descending to the dining room for Amanda’s lunch and heading to the castle gardens thereafter.

Nothing untoward happened during Amanda’s second tour really, except for her gut feeling that someone was watching her. Twice or thrice she was able to shake it off, turning to the flowering shrubs along the cobblestoned pathway of the garden, but once she shifts to face the facade of the castle, there it was again, and more convincing than ever before.

The only time the feeling disappeared was when Amanda returned inside. She went directly to her chamber and stayed there for what seemed like an eternity, waiting for her dreaded dinner with the Master.

At one time, she stood up from lying on the sectional sofa of the receiving room. She hadn’t bothered to turn the flat-screen TV off when she waltzed to her bedroom’s walk-in closet.

This morning, Arissa had informed her that she placed all her clothes inside. Now, that every article was hung neatly, she was able to scan which dress to suit her best. But midway from grabbing one pink cocktail dress, a wrinkle in her nose formed.

“This is absurd, ” she murmured and bit her still-sore finger, “I can’t believe I am debating on what to wear. It is just a damn dinner for heaven’s sake!”

Forcefully, she banged the closet door to a close and huffed.

“Just a dinner...”

She strolled back to the receiving room, grabbed the remote control, and pressed the volume button to a high. The voice of the famous actress, Sheena Dextré, in her popular ‘Chase and Run’ reality TV show, enveloped the entire space. She tossed herself back into the sectional sofa and lay there until her flustered state weakened.

But of course, someone just had to sound a knock on her main door.

Amanda immediately straightened to sit and glanced at the wood when it opened.

“Good evening Madame O’Malley, ” Lady Granger stepped inside, cast a wary look at the TV screen first, and then to her, “I suppose you are readying yourself for tonight’s dinner?”

Amanda cocked a brow, her heartbeat suddenly spiking up. “Why? Do I have to wear a gown for it?”

The governess stifled a laugh. “No, you don’t need to Madame, but you will be dining with the Master. It is imperative that you look your best.”

Amanda shook her head and tried to reason. “I don’t think that is necessary Lady Granger. I had already dined with him on my first night here, he didn’t mind what I wore that time.”

“True, but still you should change.” Lady Granger glanced at the door’s opening and signaled for someone to enter. “Dayana here will assist you.”

The said maid entered and to Amanda’s surprise, she had a big blue box together with her.

“The dress is your size I believe. It would suit you perfectly.”

Dayana beamed a smile and settled the box right in front of their guest, in the center glass table. She opened it and with care pulled the delicately sewn fabric out.

The whole time, all Amanda did was gawk. “Ah, you-you really shouldn’t have Lady Granger.” Though uneasy, she managed a small smile. “I have a couple of dresses with me you know. I can always choose one of them if you really insist on me changing.”

The governess grinned as a mother would to her daughter ready to attend prom. “This dress is better. I insist you wear it.” She turned around thinking her work was done and said to Amanda as a parting message, “Enjoy your dinner Madame. Do make the Master happy.”