Certain the sun had set, Evonne emerged from her room. Her mind, foggier than the night before, still picked up on the subtleties of the house. Though each bedroom was fitted with a fireplace, a more modern heating unit kicked on and off throughout the day. The clanking noise came from the vent near the bedroom door, expelling heat and the dry scent of burning fuel. Evonne couldn’t tell whether it was wood, coal, or natural gas that heated the house. But she liked the comfort it gave.
     She headed downstairs and began her investigation of the house. First on her list was the location of a TV room, or at least a TV. A house this large was bound to have a television somewhere.
     A boy stepped into the foyer and froze upon seeing a girl nearing the bottom of the stairs. Evonne, too, stopped to stare at him. He looked close to her own age, but taller by a few inches, and had short, dark hair. His eyes widened as he scrambled for anything to say.
     “I, uh, I’m sorry to disturb you,” he quickly said. “Forgive me.”
     Evonne’s ears took in every inflection in his voice. She was in love with his accent from the moment his words came stumbling out.
     “Has anyone else come downstairs,” she asked, wondering what he thought about her own accent.
     “I don’t believe so.” He tilted his head at her, eyes narrowing.
     “What?”
     He shook off the stare. “It’s that… I’m sorry. I’ve never seen a vampire before.”
     Evonne looked away, uncomfortable. “Don’t look at me like that.”
     “Oh. Then I’m truly sorry,” he said, stepping closer with a hand extended. “My name is David.”
     Her uneasiness turned to disbelief. She slowly took his hand. The heat from his body called out to her.
     Picking up on the faint hesitation, he innocently asked, “What’s wrong?”
     Evonne was now the one scrambling for words. “I have—had this friend. His name was David.”
     “Had a friend? What happened to him, if you don’t mind me asking.”
     “He died.”
     “I’m sorry,” he said, stepping back. “I’ll let you be on your way.” Giving a respectful nod, he left the room the way he entered.
     Evonne rolled her eyes at herself. No, that wasn’t awkward at all.
     Continuing on with her searching, she found a door off from the kitchen that lead to the backyard. She remembered the barn outside and the possible animals it housed. Not for food, of course. She hoped to find horses. Horseback riding was one of the few things she wanted to try at least once. And if there were horses, there was a good possibility of riding while she was here.
     The barn was two buildings in one. One side held four stables, whereas the majority of the place was set aside for… swords? Evonne saw the scraped metal sticking out of a box, the old, canvas covering blown off. At least one of the pieces of metal looked like the beginnings of a sword. She then stepped into the stable area and found them empty. Along the top of the stable doors hung rusty horseshoes.
     Evonne opened the door to another room, this one housing saddles, bridles, various tack, and grooming items. The scent of leather settled strong in here. Evonne ran her fingers over one of the English saddles. Perhaps the horses are in the field somewhere.
     She heard the sound of people approaching from the house and quickly closed the door to the tack room, concealing herself inside. She flattened her body against the wall and heard the voice of the man, Philip, followed by the unmistakable sound of Gabriel’s voice. They entered the barn, still talking as they came to the large, work area.
     “They were here two weeks ago,” said Philip. “Just checking on things, I guess. They were more interested in your next visit. I believe they have a job for you.”
     Gabriel voice shown his frustration. “They seem to do this every time I visit.”
     “But it’s good money,” he reminded.
     “It’s never been about the money.”
     “I know. But it’s a perk.”
     Evonne heard the clanking of objects moving around in the work area.
     “Planning to fire things up here?” Philip continued.
     “Later, perhaps. I have some requests I need to work on.”
     Listening to every sound, she heard the human walking around, his voice now coming from the barn area.
     “I had to sell my horses last month,” said Philip. He sounded disheartened. “I just couldn’t keep up with the chores. And with Lydia passing away last year, I had to let my babies go.”
     Evonne heard the clanking of other objects as Gabriel replied, “Your grandson couldn’t help you?”
     Philip let out a sigh. “Children these days have a different mindset. They believe everything must be handed to them on a silver platter. And his choice of friends leaves something to be desired.”
     “Children have always had that mindset. It is the parents who enable their behavior.”
     “You’re right. His father, though respectful to me, was nothing but a friend to David—never a father. But what am I doing? I can’t raise another.”
     “He’s an adult, correct?”
     “He’ll be eighteen in March, but he’s still stuck on twelve.”
     Evonne relaxed and slowly stepped from the wall. She bumped into a couple of bridles and cringed at the sound.
     Gabriel continued speaking. “Does he know about the rules of the house?”
     “Knowing and abiding are two different things. But he has been respectful thus far.” Philip’s voice hinted at his attempt to keep things light. Gabriel, however, remained serious.
     “Watch him carefully. With the other guests in the house, I can’t guarantee his safety.”
     “Of course,” Philip respectfully agreed. He crossed the room and headed for the door. “Well, it will be bedtime for me soon, and I still have some more things to attend to. Procrastination is the breeding ground of laziness.”
     Evonne heard the sound of his footsteps change as he stepped from the building and onto the soft grass. She waited, her lungs quiet, as well.
     “You can come out now,” said Gabriel.
     Realizing she had been caught, Evonne left the tack room. “How long did you know I was here?”
     He continued to straighten up the area. “The whole time.”
     So much for being stealthy, she thought as she took a seat on a bench. She watched him fiddling with another wooden box, this one containing old work tools well past their prime. The resurging hunger crawled from her gut and buried itself deep in her muscles. She hated this feeling of weakness.
     “Demetrius mentioned about us hunting in the woods,” she said, sliding her hands between her knees. Her body was on edge. She tried to calm herself, but the hunger was winning.
     “With the full moon in three days,” he replied, “we’ll have to be extra careful and not linger in the woods for too long.”
     Evonne dropped her elbows to her knees and rested her head in her hands. “But you live here too. Don’t you have some right to stay as long as you want in the woods?”
     Gabriel placed the box on a stack of others then grabbed another, sorting through its contents, as well. “I live here because they allow it. The only rights I have are the ones they give me.”
     “Why? What do they get in return?”
     “I work for them whenever I’m here.”
     Evonne was amused at his answer. “As their own private hunter?”
     “Sometimes,” he hated to admit. “Boredom is one of our greatest enemies. We do what we can to keep it at bay.”
     Her hunger clawed once more. “Are we going out tonight?”
     “Yes. But we have to wait until later. The wolves patrol heavily after sunset and throughout the night. We’ll only have three hours of hunting before sunrise.”
     “Why such a limited time?” She sat up and folded her arms over her stomach.
     “Those are the hours I’m permitted to hunt,” he said, setting the box onto a different stack.
     “How long are we going to stay here?”
     “I’m not sure. The chances of your father finding us here are very slim. This will give us sometime to relax.”
     Evonne forced herself to take in a deep breath. “I hope you’re right.” She waited before speaking again, even debating on whether or not to change the subject to something more personal. But her curiosity crept within her alongside the growing hunger.
     She bit at her lower lip and willed herself to speak. “Demetrius also mentioned something else, but he urged me to ask you instead.” She paused, rewording the question once more in her mind. “He said that it took you over forty years to accept what happened to you. I find that hard to believe.”
     “As I said before, time has that affect. I am a different creature now,” he replied, avoiding eye contact.
     She tried to read his body language. Though he carried himself with an unhindered confidence at times, he seemed to falter in the wake of this one question. She saw more than his simple answer.
     “What happened to you?” she asked.
     Gabriel stopped what he was doing, but didn’t face her. He finally spoke. “Cruelty in its purest form.”
     Evonne’s mind shuffled over many possible images that the word ‘cruelty’ invoked. But none compare to the truth he kept hidden. She asked another question that continued to bother her.
     “Demetrius isn’t your sire, is he?”
     He continued cleaning. “He is, but by title only. After those first forty years, I haven’t seen my true sire.”
     “What did he do to you?” she asked, right away wishing she hadn’t.
     Gabriel grew quiet as he continued to clean. “You don’t need to know these things.”
     “That’s the thing. I don’t know anything about you, but you know everything about me. What is the harm in telling me your past?”
     “Not right now.”
     She threw up her hands. “I see no other perfect time. We have half a night to kill, and you mentioned the battles against boredom.”
     He stopped to face her. “Evonne, please. I don’t want to talk about this right now.”
     The look in Gabriel’s eyes struck her hard.
     “All right,” she acknowledged meekly. Her voice softened even further. “I’m sorry I even brought it up.”
     Standing from the bench, Evonne left the building. She wanted to get out of there as fast as she could. Though her questions were innocent in her eyes, she meant no maliciousness by them. As Evonne headed into the house, she continued to scold herself for even bringing it up.

They were questions Gabriel feared she would ask. But the answers, they were irrelevant to who he was in this era of his life. She didn’t need to know his past. Even Keelan only knew of the summarized version. Demetrius, on the other hand, knew the truth. But this was something Gabriel deliberately chose to keep from others. He didn’t need their pity.
     And if he eventually told Evonne?
     Again, Demetrius’ old speech about trust came echoing forth. But this—his past—wasn’t needed to earn her complete trust. The thought of even telling her pained him.
     Grabbing the last wooden box, he continued to clean.