06

Lily

Lily woke feeling languid and more tired than when she had fallen asleep. Rolling onto her back, she blinked groggily up at the overhanging above her.

Sitting up, she pushed her hair from her face and squinted against the morning light. As she waited for the fuzziness in her head to clear, she turned her neck and felt a slight kink. She winced and peered down, startled to find her flannel open at the neck.

She pushed the blankets aside and stood and found her little midnight picnic. Frowning, she had no recollection of coming to bed. She crossed the room to the bathroom and hit the switch. As she stepped before the mirror, she gasped.

Her face lacked color, which wasn’t too unusual because her complexion was pale, but she looked far paler than her normal paleness. She turned her head, felt another spasm, and pushed her hair away.

The tiny markings on her neck were almost too faint to detect, but she found them, two intricate bite marks that flipped her stomach.

What little color she had left in her face dissipated completely as she turned away from the mirror, recalling a dream that had been almost surreal.

Instinctively, her hands moved to pull the edges of her flannel together, as the effects of her midnight wine seem to all but vanish with a sudden unnerving alarm.

She pressed a hand over her heart thumping wildly in her chest as she pictured the man from her dream ; had it been a dreamy kiss or a fright night bite ?

Her eyes wavered warily to the bite marks in the mirror.

It had felt so real ; could it have been real ?

She floated to the door of the bathroom and her eyes swept her room, finding no indication of a break in.

She shook her head and laughed nervously. She was being silly. She was seriously lacking in the dating department to have conjured a phantom lover.

She showered and dressed. Even after getting ready for the day, and slept nearly well until noon, she couldn’t imagine why she could still be tired.

She decided that she may have rolled in the night and simultaneously nicked her neck, on what, she didn’t know, but it seemed the only rational explanation for the sudden markings on her neck as opposed to the actuality of something existing that just impossibly didn’t.

Yet, the markings unnerved her, reminding her all too well of her phantom lover and decided to hide them.

She pulled a light scarf from her luggage and wrapped it loosely around her neck. Taking a minute to right a few unmanageable strands, she left her room.

She waved to Louis in the hall as he came towards her.

« Good afternoon, ma’am. »

« Lily. » She corrected, feeling awkwardly ten times her age of twenty-five. « Have you seen the man that I arrived with ? »

He nodded, « Mr. McDermott is having luncheon downstairs. May I show you the way ? »

She shook her head, « No thanks-«  she started past him and than paused, suddenly struck with a thought. « Louis ? »

He turned, « Yes, Miss Lily ? »

« Has there been-«  she fell silent, unsure on how to word the unusual. « -any bizarre talk ? »

Louis frowned, « Bizarre ma’am ? »

« What I mean is has anyone reported a break-in ? »

He didn’t seem quite as surprised by her question, « No ma’am. » He studied her a little more intently. « Has something happened ? »

Her face turned red and she sought to divert his attention. « No not at all. I was merely curious, you know, new continent and all. »

He appeared satisfied with her answer and smiled as if to reassure her. « This is a prestigious hotel, ma’am, with the best security. »

She smiled and turned to hustle down the hall. She felt him staring after her all the way.

As she stepped in the lobby, Ward was making his way toward her. Nothing seemed to go unnoticed beneath his intense scrutiny, for immediately he noticed her pallor. « Are you sick ? » his eyes moved over her face and her heart did a nervous flip when his blue eyes settled on the scarf around her neck.

« No. » she said quickly, drawing his attention away from the scarf. « I had a restless night. »

His mirrored stare took on a peculiar, knowing gleam. « Any particular cause ? »

She felt suddenly nervous beneath his scrutinizing gaze. « First night in a new country, that tends to unravel your nerves a bit. »

He eyed her with sudden suspicion. « I imagine it would. » He said, his eyes still searching, « Meet me here in a few hours time, we have work to do. » He stalked away, leaving her standing alone in the lobby.

She turned and found the desk clerk watching her curiously. She offered a small smile and the clerk quickly averted her eyes.

Frowning, Lily shrugged it for nothing and started up the stairs.

She returned to her room and fell on the bed, her fingers absently touching the scarf around her neck.

Her birthday was in two days and she was going to spend it in Bucharest, yet, some part of her was not as thrilled at the idea of it, she suddenly had a deep yearning to return home to her little, cluttered apartment verses this foreign world of porcelain and strawberry-chocolate delights.

She closed her eyes and pictured home.

Lily…

She shot upright, her eyes splayed wide as she searched the room ; certain she had heard the voice.

Fear fueled her heart, sending it into a pulsating frenzy.

She listened carefully, straining for sounds outside her door. Maybe a couple was speaking in the hall or the attendants were passing towels ?

No other sound came.

Had she imagined it ?

She shook her head in an attempt to shake out the nerves. Romania was beginning to spin tales inside her head, before too long, she’d be dreaming of Vlad Dracula instead of her phantom lover.