Chapter 4: For Research

Lord Hunt's sudden cold shoulder had her bewildered. The only thing she had done was answer his question. The answer seemed innocent enough. There couldn't be any harm in getting to know someone and yet, he had shut down. There had to be an answer to that. Finding those answers might prove to be a little trickier than she thought.

Charlotte wasn't done there just yet, she was going to use the chance she had while at this ball to try and find out something. Even if it was just a little bit of a hint on how she might be able to speak with Lord Hunt. Her idea of where to start was with one of his contracted servants.

Those that had agreed to work for Lord Hunt as a supplier of live blood. Exactly what their relationship was to their employer, she wasn't sure. Kaleb Mosey had made it sound as though they were treated as nothing more than just regular employees. Something in itself that was unusual for most vampire lords and something that was still worth learning about.

She entered the ballroom at the end of the entrance hall. It was a large room with high ceilings and gorgeously decorated for the occasion. The floors were made of pure black marble, which were perfectly waxed to give it a shine. Rounded pillars lined the wings of the ballroom to support a second floor, which lined the first half of the room.

A live string instrument ensemble had been gathered at the back of the room and provided the ball with enchanting, haunting music while the pairs along the floor swayed along with it. There were long, autumn themed tables towards the back of the ballroom with various finger foods and punches for the guests.

A single large chandelier hung at the center of the room, made entirely of crystal, gave the room a soft, warm glow. The colors of tapestries and table cloths touched in sunset, which blended well with the dark marble of the room. It gave it a true feeling of October. It did make, who she assumed to be Lord Hunt's employees, easy to spot, too.

They were the only attendees dressed solidly in black and white, just as Lord Hunt had been. The same type of individuals that had pulled the front doors open to him served the tables or carried trays around the ballroom to offer drinks to guests. She couldn't imagine they would be anything other than the people that worked for him.

"Excuse me," Charlotte beckoned to one of the waitresses as they passed by her with a tray.

She stopped and turned to her, making a first approach with a warm smile. "Would you like a drink, Miss?"

"No, thank you. I just wanted to ask you a question or two," Charlotte replied.

The waitress remained attentive to her, despite her denial of what she had to offer. "Of course. How can I help?"

"You're one of Lord Hunt's servants, right?" Charlotte asked.

Her question had the demeanor of the waitress change in an instant. Her smile dropped and she seemed suddenly in a hurry to get back to work. "I'm sorry, Miss. I can't talk right now. I have to get back to serving the other guests."

Charlotte was beside herself. She couldn't figure out why it was so hard to get any straight answers out of anyone. Even if she just wanted to find out what kind of Lord he was, everyone was elusive to any of the questions she wanted to ask about him. She couldn't decide if this was because it was something Lord Hunt had instructed or because the busy setting was keeping the servant from talking too much.

"Wait, please! I just want to know what kind of vampire Lord Hunt is," Charlotte called to the waitress.

The girl stopped and made a half turn towards her. "If you really want to know more about the job, we can talk tomorrow morning in front of the castle. I'm sorry, but I have to get back to it."

Away she went after that and in a hurry to get back to what she had been doing before Charlotte stopped her. Again, she was left puzzled. Mystery and secrecy surrounded the castle and the vampire that lived within its grand walls. Why there was so much he was hiding, she had no idea. Again, it only left her feeling like she must unlock that answer.

In all of the traveling she had done in the last few years as a historian, she had never run into such a deeply buried secret. Every little town like Willow Creek had its hidden truths and history, but none like this. None that were so elusive that not even the people that worked alongside the source could openly talk about it. It was probably the single most intriguing find she had stumbled upon, yet.

Despite how lovely it was, Charlotte decided not to stay the entire duration of the ball. She found herself growing increasingly frustrated whenever Lord Hunt reappeared and made sure to keep a careful distance between himself and her. Occasionally, she would look up to find those beautifully dark wine-colored eyes watching her, only for him to then lose himself in the sea of guests.

Getting the attention of any of the other servants over what it was they were offering was difficult as well. Every time she tried, the answer was the same. They couldn't stop to chat right then because they had a job to do. They were always polite about it and apologetic, but it didn't help her frustration any more. By the time the ball was in full swing, she was already heading for the doors back into the entrance hall.

The only promise she had to get any sort of information was from the first waitress she tried to speak to. The one that promised they could meet in front of the castle. Charlotte wished she had thought to ask her for her name before she rushed off. All she could do now was show up the next morning and hope that the waitress would remember her and be just as willing to talk as she had indicated that she might be if she stopped by.

The next morning, Charlotte came to the gates of the castle, which were tightly shut this time as opposed to how they had been the night before. In fact, looking over the structure, it was hard to believe that anyone had set foot inside it just the night before. It stood so quietly inside its grove of weeping willows, with no signs of life at all. In a single night, the castle had become just another hauntingly beautiful reminder of a past long since gone.

Charlotte was brought out of her thoughts though by probably the only sound of movement. The quiet footsteps of an approaching young lady. While this time, she wasn't dressed in the black and white attire of the ball, Charlotte was able to recognize her as the waitress she had tried to stop the night prior. This time she was dressed in regular, everyday clothing, a pair of jeans with a light jacket to battle the brisk October chill.

She waited patiently while the waitress busied herself with unlocking and slipping through the front gate to the castle. Once she relocked it, she turned to Charlotte with the same warm smile that she had greeted her with the night before. It was welcoming to know that that smile hadn't just been one meant for use for the ball. It made it easy for Charlotte to return the smile.

"I'm so sorry about the other night," the waitress said and motioned for Charlotte to walk with her back towards town. "My name is Shayla."

"I'm Charlotte, it's nice to meet you," Charlotte introduced herself.

"The night of the ball is always the busiest. Lord Hunt gives us an entire list of tasks to do but he's gracious enough to give us all a week off afterwards," Shayla explained as the pair started back towards Willow Creek.

"So, you do work for him then?" Charlotte questioned.

Shayla nodded. "Are you like a journalist or something?"

"Close, but no. I'm a historian. I travel to places like Willow Creek to learn about their history and then I publish it, so others can learn about it," Charlotte answered. "I came to Willow Creek because it's an old town and stumbled upon Lord Hunt's castle. I just wanted to know more about it and about him as part of the history here."

"If you're wanting to learn about Lord Hunt, I think you'll find that difficult to do," Shayla replied.

Charlotte slowed her pace next to her, perplexed by her statement. "What do you mean? Don't you work for him?"

"Yes, I do. But Lord Hunt has never disclosed anything about his personal life with us. He assigns each of us our tasks for the day and at the end of each week, we get our payment," Shayla spoke while slowing down to match Charlotte's pace.

"You say 'we', how many servants does he have?" Charlotte asked.

"There's about a dozen of us. He lets us stay in the castle as long as we're contracted to him, if we want to." Shayla replied.

How peculiar, she thought to herself, there were a dozen contracted servants and it sounded like none of them knew much about their Lord. Even more interesting was the idea that they all stayed in the castle and still couldn't produce any information to her about him. It had Charlotte very curious on how the life of one of his servants might be. Aside from being assigned a task every day and being paid for it. How much free roam did they have over the castle grounds?

There had to be some sort of limitations there if even living with the man, they couldn't provide any personal information about him. Shayla had even stated that finding out personal information about Lord Hunt would be difficult, even from the servants' point of view. But she would not be intimidated by this fact. If anything, she would learn all she could from Shayla first before she decided her next move. Lord Hunt would not remain a mystery forever.

"Shayla, would you like to grab a coffee? I'd love to hear more about the life of a contracted servant," Charlotte questioned her, her smile brightening up once more.