A Battle of Wills
Olivia smiled at her friend in the rear view mirror, and wondered what would happen if she discovered the truth. Putting her foot down, she encouraged the beaten up old Mini to keep up with the rest of the traffic, as it rattled into the centre lane. She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at the yellow Lotus bolting past them on the over- taking lane, secretly hoping that her car would make it to the end of the journey, without leaving them stranded at the edge of the motorway. As The Killers crackled from the radio the girls sang along, slightly out of tune, and the fluffy dice bounced about in the front of the windscreen. Olivia glanced at Bella, clasping the pile of well thumbed yellowing research books, her mobile jingled in her pocket, probably another text from Nick. The rest of the car was bursting with their luggage for the weekend. Bella must never find out, she was fiercely protective of her father, and it would spoil everything if she knew the truth, but she was the one true friend who she had always been able to trust, and she couldn't risk losing her.
Bella's mobile remained resolutely silent. She wasn't expecting a message or phone call from anyone. She couldn't wait to see Olivia's Dad again, she had found him enchanting when she was first introduced to him, and felt lost as she had looked into his steel blue eyes. Bella had spent a lot of time thinking about Sebastian since that first occasion, and when Olivia had suggested they go and stay at her family home for the weekend she had been careful not to seem too enthusiastic. In the secrecy of her own room she had also spent a lot of time deciding what to pack, tonight she wore a plain white dress, the top of which enhanced the outline of her breasts, and the skirt was loose against her thighs, moving slightly in the breeze when she walked, her long bare legs beneath the skirt were the envy of every girl at uni, and the strappy wedge sandals in tan made her ankles appear even more slender than usual. Although, unlike a lot of the other girls, Bella was unaware of her own beauty, she was normally far too shy to think of herself in that way, and it was unusual for her to be dressed in anything other than cut off jeans, pumps and a uni T-shirt. Tonight though she had wanted to make an effort, and she had to admit that it was nice to be in a dress, it made her feel feminine in a way that she was not used to, and her dark chestnut hair that she had allowed to remain free, the curls escaping over her shoulders, added to this feeling.
A couple of minutes after leaving the motorway Olivia breathed a sigh of relief as the car made it onto the driveway. Beyond the wrought iron gates the trees reached up on either side, joining overhead to create a tunnel that led up to the house, shutting out the last of the daylight. Bella jumped as a crow took off from one of the nearby branches with an ear splitting squawk. As the Mini crawled to a halt by the moss covered fountain the security lights sprang into life, giving a ghostly silver tint to the front of the house that loomed before them. Out of habit Olivia tapped one of the concrete lions on the head that stood on guard at the top of the stone steps. Bella noticed the look of concern on her friend's face as Olivia glanced at the twisted maze of prickly bushes on which none of the blood red roses now survived. Forcing the carved oak door, which creaked open, she called Bella to follow her in.
"I'm starving," Olivia announced, allowing her trainers to skid her across the polished surface of the marble tiled floor in the direction of the dining room. A sharp crackling came from the fire that illuminated the length of the room, despite the summers evening the huge fire hardly had any effect on the chill of the house, other than to cast shadows across the wrought iron table where further flames flickered from tall candles ensconced in ancient bottles. For students that had grown accustomed to beans on toast as a way of living the feast set out before them should have been tantalizing, but the look on Olivia's face was unimpressed, embarrassed by the eccentricity and grandeur of the old house. As they sunk into the carved wooden dining chairs Bella savored the smell of the beef Wellington that beckoned to her taste buds. There was only one thing missing, but Sebastian wouldn't be joining them for dinner, neither of the girls had ever seen him eating before.
As Bella sipped the rich red wine from the silver goblet and gazed at the vase of red roses which had started to wilt a long time before their arrival, out of the corner of her eye she was aware of the flames dancing in the fireplace, and the crackling of the wood splitting and sending out glowing sparks, it had a hypnotizing effect. She felt her head nodding, as she tried to focus on the meal before her but she was too tired, so tired, how much had she had to drink? Having taken several sips from the goblet of wine she wondered at the fact that it had remained resolutely full. How long had they been sitting at the table? Bella made another effort to focus but her brain didn't want to function, she was past the point where her thoughts could flow lucidly, and she felt comfortable but uncommonly relaxed. A polite cough came from the other end of the table, and Bella broke out of her trance long enough to realize that they had been joined by Sebastian. It was difficult to make out his features in the dim light, but she recognized his tall, slim frame, his long dark hair shadowing his face, and the smoke spiraling from his pipe. A new light flickered from the corner of the room where the television had been switched on, it was an old film, Dracula or something similar.
"Hello Bella, I thought you might be asleep too." A gentle snore came from Olivia's side of the table.
"How are you Sebastian?" Bella asked, although she was already aware of the answer. She wasn't surprised to see him wince as the light from the television suddenly fell across his face, and he pressed his hand to his left temple in an effort to numb the pain. There was only one thing that would take those incessant headaches away, and it would be dangerous to keep him waiting much longer, she couldn't bear it if anything happened to Sebastian, she was willing to give him everything he needed, and much more.
"Go back up to bed Sebastian, I'll bring you up a bottle of wine to help you relax." As he left the room Bella hoped that Olivia would forgive her when she realized her true intention.
Bella approached the top of the stairs, followed by a trail of eerie music from the television in the room below. There was a single flash of light as she flicked the switch, followed by nothing but a long corridor of darkness spreading out in front of her. But really how long could the corridor go on for, she asked herself. There was a window not far away, through which a crack of moonlight shone, maybe she would be able to make out the rest of the corridor from there. Clutching the bottle in one hand, and a couple of old fashioned goblets in the other, she carried on. Bella had almost reached the window when a sudden draft sent the white muslin curtains billowing out towards her. Damn it! Wine spilt from the bottle as a tree tapped its long skeletal branch against the pane of glass on the other side of the window, and an owl screeched in the distance, and what was that other noise? This was stupid, Bella told herself, she was letting her imagination get the better of her. She didn't believe in ghosts, did she? Although a little voice in the back of her head insisted on telling her that this would be the perfect place to be proved wrong.
The door to the master room had been left slightly ajar, enticing her into the silvery moonlit bedroom, from the dark corridor. Bella stepped part way into the room, remaining partly concealed by the door. She took in the impression of the moonlight spilling through the tall arched windows, over the crisp white surface of the bed. Sebastian lent back against the stone headboard, a book clasped in one hand, a crystal tumbler in the other. His face was unnaturally pale, even in the moonlight. His steel blue eyes gazed at her, calm, controlled, despite his pain.
"Hello Bella, how's the birthday girl?" Bella had forgotten that it was her birthday, and that this trip was designed to be part of her birthday celebrations. Sebastian lay the book down on the bed beside him, the study of Hematology; she knew it was one of his interests.
"I'm not a girl anymore, I'm an adult now Sebastian," she replied. Bella used this as her cue to step further into the room, placing the bottle of wine down next to the antique vase that contained a single wilting rose. A pile of petals scattered on the surface of the glass table beneath the vase, and only a solitary petal remained attached to the stalk, but it was the only rose she had seen in the whole house that was even barely surviving. An old fashioned sepia photograph stood framed beside the vase, it showed a family gathering on the house grounds, in the days that the bushes that outlined the house had been bursting with roses in full bloom. There was no mistaking the character on the right of the photograph, although it was from another time, that was definitely Sebastian, just as young, with the same sweep of dark hair across his shoulders, like ebony against the ivory of his complexion, in which those steel blue eyes were deeply set, everything was the same, other than the look of optimism on Sebastian's face which had long since faded. It confirmed everything that Bella had suspected.
"I'm sorry," Sebastian responded, there was a hint of amusement in his voice. Bella frowned, must he insist on treating her like a child? Taking the first instinctive action that came to mind she allowed her dress to slide from her shoulders, falling into a silken shimmering puddle on the floor around her ankles. The shape of her body was silhouetted against the moonlight as she stood at the foot of the bed, a single figure reflected in the mirror before them.
"Does this look like the body of a child to you?" she asked.
