Author's note
Hello, dear reader! Miss Roberta here! First, I want to make it clear that this story does not aim to be accurate to any type of vampire mythology. Venus is my vamp, and she follows my vampire rules. As you know, I keep trying different things, and this time I aimed for a longer story with less emphasis on sex. I loved how it turned out (even though I'm still sticking with short stories like "Teacher's Pet" and "Princess Evaluation"). I hope all my lovely readers like it too. Thank you for reading! XOXO
•••••
The house is falling to pieces. The white paint almost gone because of the many years of neglect, plants almost swallowing the place, and no matter where I look, there's always something broken. So I take a deep breath, do a quick look in the mirror, and start recording.
"Hey guys!" I say, switching to my influencer voice. "I just arrived at my new home, but I'm not showing you yet because, as you all know, starting tomorrow we'll be doing a renovation series here on our profile! So stay tuned because my sponsors and I will be sharing a lot of tips, tricks, and, surprise, surprise, discount codes for y'all, obviously!"
Just as I finish posting, I hear a car honking and turn around to find my real estate agent waving at me. I smile and wave back as she parks the car and starts heading my way.
"Hey, Judy," I greet her and raise my hand for her to shake, but Judy just gives me a hug.
"Hi, Belle! How are you doing?" she answers, squeezing me hard before letting go.
"Amazing! I can't wait to start all the renovations. This house will look out of this world once we're done!" I say excitedly.
"It definitely will! But be careful not to bother the vampire in the attic," she says playfully, and we laugh together.
"So, have you brought the keys?"
"Here they are!" she exclaims, grabbing a keychain and dangling it in front of me.
I excitedly take the keys and rush to the front door to unlock it. The door is a bit stuck, so I lean on it, using my whole body to try and open it. After a few tries, we finally manage to get into the dusty foyer.
"You sure about moving here already? Maybe you should wait until the renovations are about halfway done," she says, frowning at the abandoned place.
"I'm 100% sure! I'll start cleaning today so at least one room will be good enough to spend the night," I answer, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
As always, I'm mesmerized by the architecture. The place is a rough gem that definitely needs quite a bit of polishing, but as I stare at every nook and cranny, all I see is potential to be something great. My business side also tells me that renovating this house is a great opportunity to gather even more followers, making it possible to work on my influencer career full time. I sigh dreamily at the thought.
"So, do you have someone to help you bring in all these boxes?" Jusy asks, and I end up laughing because, unbeknownst to her, she will be the one helping me get the heavy boxes inside.
•••••
In my dream, we were dancing in the living room, right in front of the fireplace. All the furniture was pushed aside to give us more space. My eyes wandered to her hand in mine, our skins forming a beautiful contrast of dark and light. I switched my gaze to the necklace dangling on her neck, thinking about how emeralds suited her so perfectly. I raised my head to look at her face, but it was so dark I couldn't really see it.
But I was able to see our hands intertwined and all the little details composing her necklace. Why couldn't I see her face?
I quickly reached out for a candle that I didn't even know was there and tried to illuminate her features, but I wasn't fast enough, and my alarm started ringing before I could see her.
•••••
I jump out of bed as soon as the alarm starts ringing. I think I had a weird dream, but there's no time for that. The sponsors and their crew are coming today so we can start the project.
I quickly get into the only working shower in the whole house. The water is absolutely freezing, but maybe that's a good thing. I spent way too much time cleaning yesterday and slept very little, so a cold shower will definitely make me feel more energized.
I finish getting ready, and as soon as I'm done with my breakfast (a cereal bar and a banana because there's no time and no working kitchen), I hear the cars arriving and rush to the door.
"Good morning, y'all!" I happily greet the probably twenty people standing in my doorway.
And the work starts immediately. Each of the brands sponsoring the renovation series sent an agent, so four of them in total are pulling me here and there to discuss decoration, market something for my followers, take a picture, or make a story. With this being an old house, there are a lot of problems right on the first day.
"As you guys can see, the crew from Dream Garden has already made a lot of progress in the front yard," I say, talking to my followers live. "It's already starting to look like a whole other place, and--" I stop mid-sentence as I spot one of the agents, Harry, motioning for me to come in urgently.
I quickly make an excuse, close the live stream, rush into the house, and follow Harry into the living room.
"It's a disaster," he says dramatically, pressing his palms against his cheeks, reminding me of The Scream by Edvard Munch.
"What happened?" I ask the head of the construction team, since Harry is clearly too desperate to explain the whole situation clearly.
"No biggie," he answers very calmly. "Just a pillar we can't take down. It's one of the ones holding the structure."
"Classic," I say, rolling my eyes, and he chuckles lightly.
"Always happens," he says and gets back to work.
Harry grabs me by the shoulder, staring at me wide-eyed. "What do we do, Belle?! We will be stuck with a pillar between the foyer and the main living room. The integration is ruined! If that pillar stays in the middle, it will be ugly as fuck!"
I help Harry calm down, giving him a thousand reasons why this wasn't the end of the world. Between so many tasks--both expected ones like marketing and unexpected ones like calming down a hysterical man--it's time for the people to leave. I couldn't believe how fast the day went by. With the amount of stuff to do, I didn't even keep track of the hours passing by.
As soon as they're all gone, I just drop on the living room floor, not managing to gather the energy to go up the stairs to my bedroom. I wasn't feeling tired or anything while I was working, but it seems like when I stopped, the fatigue hit me all at once, making every muscle in my body ache.
I rest my head against the wall, closing my eyes and trying to feel well enough to take a shower and get into my, at the moment, not-so-comfy bed. I take deep breaths and take in the peaceful silence in the place. I used to live in NY, so I really value this atmosphere. Peace and quiet were all I ever craved, and I smile lightly, realizing I've finally got it.
And then I hear it, very far away, very slight--the sound of wood flooring creaking. Probably my imagination. And then I hear it again. But anyway, it's an old house; everything in here creaks, right? But then it comes again and again, and when I realize what it is, I can feel my heart freezing in my chest. Footsteps. I'm hearing footsteps.
I can't open my eyes; I'm too scared to do it, and the footsteps are getting closer and faster, sounding desperate. I keep my eyes shut, trying to even my breath. The first action that comes to mind is to pretend to be asleep, so I do so. I hear it walking on the second floor, getting down the stairs, rushing through the foyer into the living room, and stopping dead in its tracks.
