Chapter 3

CAMILA had nothing to do in her room, so she went to the botanical garden instead. In this place, she could be with herself, thinking nothing else other than having her own time. She could do the things she wanted there without other eyes looking at her. Everyone who worked at the mansion rarely go there, even her mother. The garden was so extensive that she had to move around to reach her favorite spot where her swing was hanging. She had tied the rope on the two poles that she buried on the ground. The two pole wasn’t visible anymore because of the vines of the flowers that covered them. She even used the vines to make an arch. She sat down on the wooden swing and looked up at the clear night sky. The moon shone brightly, and the stars twinkled melancholy that called her to look up. In front of her was the field of flowers of different colors and sizes.

After a while, a black butterfly flew from its hiding place at the back of roses. As the butterfly approached her, she lifted her right hand. The insect landed on her fingers.

“What did you all get for me this time?” she asked the butterfly.

To anyone who could witness what she was doing, they might think she had gone insane. But it wasn’t the case she was like that. She found a talent of her own when she was just a little girl. She could talk to animals, plants, and insects.

She could understand them as if she could hear their voices. 

The butterfly flew from her finger and landed on her left shoulder as she heard skittering from the field.

The flowers moved because of the fast movement on the ground. The movement continued until it reached the end of the field where she was. Three squirrels came out, dragging a pack of pink donuts wrapped in thick plastics.

“You know guys. I am always amazed by you all,” she said to the squirrels. The three small animals squeaked. She picked up the pack and took out one donut which had sprinkled on top. “This is so good. I will buy this on my own next time. It seemed like Lucas would let me outside.”

The squirrels looked up at her before climbing up on her feet. They stayed on her lap and let her eat the donut. While she ate, a noise sounded to her right. She looked in that direction.

“Who’s that?” she asked and waited for an answer.

The noise became louder, and a man clad in a navy blue suit came out struggling from the tall bushes. After the man appeared, the three squirrels and black butterfly hid in the flowers. He breathed deeply when he finally freed his self and looked at Camila with a smile on his lips.

“Good evening!” the man greeted her.

She looked at him blankly and ignored his greeting. “You’re not allowed to be here,” she told him before Lucas would knew outsider went to the garden. “Leave before my lord found you here. You would not like what he would do to you.”

“That’s the problem. I can’t find my way back to the party,” the man stepped closer to her and only stopped when there were a few feet distance between them. “I am actually lost.”

“You can’t fool me. Stop pretending. You can just look where the bright lights are coming from and they will bring you back to the mansion.” 

The man brushed the back of his head and smiled widely. “To tell you honestly, I just want to talk to you,” he confessed as he put down his hand.

It surprised her a little because no one like to talk to her even before every time there were guests in the mansion. He was the first one. That’s why instead of sending him away with force, she just let him stand there. She thought it was not bad that she could finally talk to others. She would just handle the consequence after.

“What for?” she asked, finishing the donut on her hand.

“I wanted to know your name,” he said truthfully, and removed the mask on his face. 

She looked at his handsome face. He had this refined eyebrows and his eyes were glistening to the moonlight. His smile made him more attractive. She had guessed a lot of girls had swooned over him.

While she was contemplating to answer him, she felt a menacing aura drifting around them. She quickly stood up and throwing the remaining donuts to the field of flowers.

“You need to go now,” she told him.

The man looked at her in confusion. “Why?” he asked.

“Just go!” she shouted that shocked the man, and he didn’t move. “Leave if you still want to live. You will die if you’re going to stay here longer,” she added in a whisper.

He was even more surprised by what she said. But he finally listened to her. He went in back to the bushes where he came out. She could only now hear him walking away. After he was gone, he heard a voice inside her head.

“Who are you talking to?” Lucas asked her, even from the distance.

“No one. I am talking to myself,” she answered his call.

She grasped her chest. Her heart was beating fast.

“Camila, I know you can lie. But it isn’t good if you’re going to repeat it,” the man growled inside her head. “Go to the other room now. Don’t wait for me to drag you away from there.”

After everything the man said, her head became quiet again, and the menacing aura was gone. She took a deep breath, thinking nothing’s going to happen to the man.

She waved goodbye to the squirrels and butterfly peeking through the flowers and she walked back to the mansion with no confidence in her strides. She even listened carefully to know if the other man was still on the other side of the bushes. When she heard nothing, she went on.

EVEN though the room was neat and well lighted, there was this eerie feeling wafting in the air. Every time when she was in that room, Lucas only allowed her to stand in a corner near the window that opened out to the forest behind the mansion.

There was no other furniture in that room other than the sofa. Her eyes drifted to the portrait of a woman wearing a black dress hung on the wall of the top of the fireplace. The style of the dress was pretty old, she only saw it from history books. She always thought that the portrait sent the shiver on her skin. The woman was beautiful, but when she looked at her face, it felt like she was staring back at her and she would come out to grab her neck. It was the same portrait that Lucas obsessed with. He would stay there before going to bed while drinking and watched the woman without saying a word.

That time she was not worrying about the woman would jump at her. Her mind dwelt on more to what’s going to happen to her after Lucas ordered her to stay in that room. She could not think of any other reason she was there other than when she talked to one of the guest. She knew that the man in the navy blue suit followed her into the garden.

She waited for a while until he heard a loud grunt and scuffles behind the door. A second later, the door opened and the other man from earlier fell on the floor face front after Lucas pushed him on the back. She wanted to help him stand. But the way Lucas looked at her stopped her from moving an inch. The only thing she could do at that moment was watch the man on the floor struggle to sit down.

The man looked at her. “So you’re here. It’s nice to see you again,” the man said and smiled.

His smile confused her. She couldn’t understand why he was smiling when it was pretty obvious something bad’s going to happen to him. That was why Lucas brought him there.

Lucas closed the door with his foot. It was so strong that it echoed to the hallway and inside the room. She didn’t respond to the man’s greeting and looked at Lucas instead.

“What are you planning to do, my lord?” she asked Lucas, even though she had already guessed what was his plan.

“What else?” Lucas grabbed the man’s hair, making the latter winched in pain.

She knew all too well what he meant. “You can’t kill him. I thought you only need virgin women to fill your hunger,” Camila reminded Lucas.

“You’re right and also wrong for thinking I don’t drink blood from others.” Lucas kicked the other man in the back, making the other fall again on the floor for the last time. “I am going to give his heart to you as a gift.”

“Let him go, my lord. He did nothing wrong.”

“You really think so? He’s not supposed to talk to you. I am not allowing you to talk to any guests that would come here from now on. Remember that. It is your fault he’s going to die.”

She thought she could be friend with the other man. But it was just her thinking. She forgot that she’s living in the mansion and working under the man.

Camila told herself it was really her fault. “Please, don’t kill him, my lord,” she kneeled on the floor and vowed until her forehead touched the cold floor. “Spare him. Kill me instead, since I am the reason you’re mad.”

Lucas glared at her while she was still vowing her head. Camila wanted to save the man. At least she could do that. She needed to convince Lucas. While she was thinking about what to say, the other man spoke.

“Don’t worry about me. I want you to be free. That’s my wish for you. It seemed like you’re not happy here,” the man said with his hoarse voice.

Camila lifted her head to see the other man. He smiled at her again. She wanted to say something, but she never had the chance. Lucas lifted the other man by grabbing his head and raised him up. The other man grunt in pain. After that, Lucas stabbed the other man’s back with his sharp hands. He even removed the man’s heart and let go of the other man’s body that stumbled on the floor. She was used to that, but this time it was different. Her knees became weak, and she sat down on the floor, feeling devastated.

Lucas approached her, carrying the man’s heart. He crouched down and gave the man’s heart to her. “Here. Keep his heart since you like him.”

The heart was still beating. Camila looked away as she talked. “I don’t like him. We just met,” she told Lucas.

The man lifted her chin with his other freed hand. He looked at her entire face.

“You’re not really lying,” the man uttered. “I will still give this heart to you as a gift since you will become my wife starting tomorrow. That’s what I am going to tell you. You will bear my children. If you will become my wife, you will be free to go out.”

Camila turned to the man. “I will not marry you,” she said with emphasis on her words.

Lucas’ face become stern because of what she said. He grabbed her neck and pushed her against the wall. Camila looked away the moment he shoved the human’s heart into her mouth. She clenched her teeth, but the man was far more powerful. He forced the heart to her mouth. He only let her go when she was gagging and had a hard time breathing. The moment she fell on the floor, she vomited and she glared at the man, only to receive a powerful slap from him that made her unconscious.

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