It was dark. I couldn’t do anything when it was too bright, after all.

  But this time, it was incredibly dark. Thick curtains blocked out most of the sunlight, and only faint rays bounced off the ground outside, barely lighting the room.

  It had been three days since we burned down the mansion. Not much had changed since then.

  We moved to the servant’s quarters—a simple house a few hundred meters away—and that was it. Sure, I sneaked into the city under the cover of night to steal some vodka and other useful stuff, but other than that, nothing.

  For once, there was calm in my life. I could lie in bed all day, just like I’d always dreamed. But it was dull.

  We’d burned every book, every scrap of distraction, and the hallways here had windows without curtains, leaving me useless when daylight hit.

  The only things keeping me sane were the few luxury items I’d spent my hard-earned military money on.

  Around noon, I heard Mary and Tom outside the door. The first time they’d come together in days, and I hated it. Dealing with Tom had been a nightmare—he was itching for action.

  And I hated that none of these doors had locks. None! Just one lock would be enough to keep them out, but no—they left me exposed. So I had to deal with them. Over and over.

  “Mary, you really shouldn’t come in right now,” Tom said through the door. He’d already visited me in the night, and let’s just say it hadn’t gone well for him.

  Wrapped in a soft, cozy blanket, I rolled onto my side and stared at the door. Seconds after I pulled the blanket over my head, it opened and closed swiftly.

  “Lucinda?” Mary’s voice was gentle in the darkness.

  “Not here,” I growled, muffled beneath the blanket, clutching my two most treasured things tighter.

  “Okay… What have you been up to lately? After you cleaned the house like crazy the first night, I barely saw you. We’re already rebuilding the mansion and hiring a few maids… do you want to help?” Her concern seeped through her words. I rarely left this room anymore.

  “Alright… I guess I’ll do that,” I said, drained and unmotivated, pushing myself upright. The blanket slid off my head and down my bare shoulders.

  During the day, I moved like a dead cat—slow, sluggish, barely aware—unless I was on high alert.

  So it was a surprise when Mary suddenly threw herself on the bed, pinning me beneath her, blocking me from Tom’s view.

  “Uhuuu,” I groaned, my head throbbing from her sudden tackle.

  “Lucinda, are you naked under this blanket?” Mary asked, only releasing me once I stopped struggling.

  “Aye… didn’t have money for a nightgown,” I admitted, dramatically fanning the empty space beneath the blanket.

  “You were paid handsomely in the army, though?”

  True. My pay was better than I expected, but still not enough to cover everything I wanted.

  “I spent it all on silk, feathers, and other frivolities. I needed a proper pillow to sleep on. Look.” I pushed up the large, human-sized pillow I’d been hugging and proudly showed it off. Tom had gathered the materials, but I’d done the sewing myself.

  Mary’s face twisted in disbelief — not the reaction I hoped for.

  “You spent everything on a pillow?” she said, incredulous.

  Was it really so strange to want the best pillow ever? I mean, humans spend a third of their lives on those things—why not make it worthwhile?

  “Not everything. I made cookies with the rest.” I presented a bowl half-filled with sweet, oddly shaped cookies. They weren’t tasty, but their effects packed a punch.

  Mary reached for one, but I stopped her.

  “Don’t eat a whole cookie. Try a tenth of one. They hit hard.”

  “You put drugs in these? Fascinating.” Tom eyed the cookies with newfound respect. If only he knew the real ingredients I used in my purgatory cooking experiments…

  “Fascinating?! She spends all her money on a pillow and drugs. And she’s not even remotely worried about being naked in the same room as a grown man! Lucinda, why aren’t you wearing any underwear?” Mary sounded a little upset by my reckless behavior.

  “Don’t know where they are…” I shrugged. Sometimes on the second day, after eating too many cookies, I completely lost track of where things were — not that it was because of the drugs.

  “What did I expect from a drugged vampire… And you, Tom, what’s with that lecherous grin?” Mary snapped, glaring at Tom, who was suspiciously close to the curtains, judging by where she was looking.

  I growled, warning him off, but he just smiled cheekily.

  “You still don’t get Tom, do you? Want me to show you what’s really up with him?” I said flatly, lifting my upper body again.

  Before I could get far, Mary pressed down on my chest, forcing me back onto the mattress.

  “No, you don’t.” I said firmly, my voice low but resolute. “I forbid you from standing up until he is out of the room. Tom, if you would be so kind.”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Tom didn’t move a muscle — just as I expected. His calm defiance was one of those little things about him that got under my skin. Sometimes, I thought about punishing him for that unruly streak, but that particular conversation could wait for another day.

  “Mum…” I groaned, voice thick with fatigue. “Just leave us alone. There’s nothing he hasn’t seen already, although… I admit his strange fascination with me since I turned Arthur is a bit worrying.”

  “A bit worrying?” Mary’s tone sharpened instantly. “Lucinda, do you know how he’s looking at you right now?”

  I turned my head lazily toward Tom, half bored, fully expecting to find exactly what I suspected. Sure enough, his eyes were locked on the small patch of my shoulder not fully covered by the blanket — his gaze hungry, as if my blood were some rare treasure ripe for the taking.

  “Hmm,” I murmured with a hint of amusement, “he’s in love.”

  “In love?” Mary’s voice rose in surprise, disbelief clear in her tone.

  “Oh, Mum.” I smirked despite myself. “The love you feel is completely different from whatever twisted infatuation he’s nursing right now. Just once, he wants to flip this dynamic upside down—take control and force me to do what he says. Isn’t that adorable? How can I possibly refuse this ‘love’? How can I not show him what’s waiting if he succeeds, to egg him on even more?”

  Mary blinked, confused, and I pressed on. “Mary, he doesn’t want my body. Well… that, too, since he saw me with Arthur, but what he really craves is my blood.”

  I closed my eyes briefly, gathering myself, just before the room flooded with light. For some reason, Tom didn’t want Mary to witness the full extent of his desires. Maybe it was embarrassment, or perhaps he feared her disgust. But Mary needed to see the truth. After all, there was nothing wrong with wanting the upper hand in a relationship — or even desiring to become a vampire.

  “I forbid you from ever using my greatest weakness against me so poorly again,” I said, voice sharp with warning. “At least formulate a plan beforehand.”

  The light dimmed, receding like a feeble attempt to interrupt me — one that was, frankly, laughably weak. I expected more from him.

  I shifted my gaze back to Mary. “Why are you here, anyway? You’re not here to pry into our fucked-up little relationship, right? And you’re certainly not here to lecture me about my drug abuse. So what is it?”

  Tom was supposed to update me on the outside world — what was happening beyond our little bubble — but Mary’s reason for coming remained unclear.

  “I’m here because…” She hesitated, clearly about to reveal something important, but then, as if second-guessing herself, she circled back to her original point.

  “…Lucinda, you are a terrible excuse for an intelligent being. You do drugs because you’re unhappy with your life. You manipulate Tom’s feelings so much that he doesn’t even know where his desires come from anymore.”

  I laughed — a quiet, amused sound at her complete misunderstanding of me. The way she missed the mark was almost endearing. Still giggling, I nudged her gently, pushing her toward a better perspective.

  “Mum, do you really think I’m taking drugs because of some pitiful excuse for a life? Or because I want to get high?” I rolled onto my side, clutching my beloved pillow tightly against my chest. “Oh, Mum… I’m also taking them to drown out this relentless thirst. It’s been gnawing at me since the last time I drank blood — three days ago. And as for Tom? I have nothing to do with his fascination for darkness, let alone his… twisted love for me.”

  Mary closed her eyes, the stubbornness in her gaze faltering for a moment as she struggled to see my actions as anything but malevolent. I watched her brows knit together, deep in thought, her expression a complex flicker of denial and dissatisfaction.

  Without another word, she stood up slowly, leaving the bed behind. Her footsteps echoed softly as she moved toward the door. I remained lying there, staring after her in a mixture of curiosity and weary wonder.

  The door clicked shut, and the familiar darkness enveloped the room once more. I sat up carefully, wrapping the blanket tighter around my shoulders.

  “Well… Tom,” I said, offering the cookie bowl toward him with a sly smile. “Want a cookie?”

  He eyed the bowl suspiciously and shook his head. “Oh no, I’m not about to die from an overdose.”

  “What? There aren’t any drugs in these.” I held up a cookie for him to see. “After I found out they don’t taste good, I just swallowed the drugs straight. These are just cookies now.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You lied?”

  “Hmm,” I admitted with a shrug. “I wanted to see how Mary would react.”

  Tom’s curiosity was finally piqued, and he leaned closer, eager to sample the now drug-free treats.

  “So, was it worth it? Did you get the reaction you wanted?”

  “No…” I sighed, staring into the bowl. “Except for the concerned mother act — that was strangely genuine. Otherwise she can’t keep the lie up forever. One slip, one mistake, and the whole truth will come tumbling down. She will need to believe in the lies she is uttering herself.”

  I shivered slightly at the thought. The damage Mary could cause if she faltered just once was enormous. We either had to find a way to soften the blow or make sure it never happened at all.

  “And what’s your plan? Train her to act perfectly? Manipulate her emotions so she sees you as her real daughter?”

  I shook my head, skeptical of both options. “No. No matter how much I teach her, she’ll fail the moment her emotions get the better of her. And manipulating her feelings? That might work, but one mistake on my part, and it could cost us everything.”

  Tom’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

  “Have you ever thought that maybe... just maybe... we need to change? To be more likable?” I looked at him, intrigued despite myself. “No, I doubt you have. Mary isn’t like us, and she, like so many others, will always see us in a bad light if we don’t hide our true selves when she’s around. Maybe we have to act… normal for once. That means you, the dutiful butler, and me, pretending to be a naive fourteen-year-old girl.”

  I chuckled dryly. “Yeah… no. But if we start behaving more ‘normally,’ maybe she’ll open her heart. Maybe she’ll see us as more than the monsters she fears.”

  “So, we are manipulating her emotions,” Tom said quickly, a hint of accusation in his voice.

  “No, Tom.” I smiled wryly, though I agreed with him more than I’d admit. “That wouldn’t be normal at all.”