The library's maze(1)

They stopped before an ornate set of double doors.

The head maid rapped her knuckles against the wood. After a beat of silence, she turned the handle and pushed one side open.

"Go on." She I structwd and swallowing a gulp, Larissa finally stepped inside.

The room was grand yet cold, the air laced with a faint scent of aged parchment and something richer - like dark spice of wine. Heavy drapes were drawn across the tall windows, allowing only slivers of light to pierce through. A massive four poster bed bed stood against the far wall, the deep crimson canopy pooling onto the floor like bloodied silk. Bookshelves lined one side of the chamber, filled with leather_ bound volumes that stretched towards the ceiling. A fireplace, long burned out held only the remnants of ash.

Larissa set down the bucket, exhaling slowly before gathering the dusting cloth, her fingers trembled slightly as she reached for the nearest surface, but she steadied herself. 'Its just a room. Just a task.'

She moved carefully, brushing dust from the grand mahogany desk, the ornate chair, the nightstand beside the bed. The silence pressed against her ears, thick and suffocating.

Her eyes momentarily scanned the area that she had dusted and rolling her sleeves, she set back to work. Dusting the shelves, sweeping the marble floor, carefully tidying the velvety drapes - She worked in silence. Ye weight of her new reality pressing down on her.

By the time she finished, her arms ached. It was strange working in such an extravagant room knowing well that the man sleeping there was not even human.

When she stepped outside, the same maid from earlier was waiting. "Master Hamilton has requested your presence in the study area."

Larissa felt a flicker of unease but followed nonetheless.

The halls of the estate loomed grand around her, the towering windows stretching towards the high ceilings, their deep red drapes pooling like bloodied velvet against the polished floor.

The head maid stopped before another grand set of doors, their dark wood carved with intricate patterns of intertwining vines and creatures hidden within the grain - serpents, wolves, bats. She knocked once.

From within, a deep voice murmured. "Enter."

The maid pushed the door open, stepping asides for Larissa to pass through but before she could take a step, movement from within caught her eye.

A figure was approaching the threshold, walking with unhurried elegance that sent a cold prickle down her spine. The moment he stepped into view, her breath left her lungs.

It was him!

The vampire from that night.

The one who had killed in the alley, bathed in crimson beneath the moonlight.

Time seemed to slow, trapping her in place as the young vampire moved towards the doorway. He was tall, impossibly so, his frame draped in fine black attire that clung to him like a shadow itself. His presence was suffocating, like the press of a cold bade against bare skin.

And then- his eyes met hers.

Larissa felt her heart slam against her ribs. Her stomach knoting into something sharp and primal.

He recognized her.

She could see it in the brief flicker of awareness in his dark eyes, a glint of something knowing beneath the mask of indifference. But his expression remained untreadable, his face a masterpiece of cold and arrogance. Not a single crease of concern, not a hint of unease.

He walked past her without a word, his gaze sliding away as if she were nothing more than a passing shadow.

Larissa forced her face into a mask of indifference, willing the terror in her veins to still.

She did not look back.

The door clicked shut behind her, sealing her inside the study.

Across the room, seated on a chair before a grand desk was senior Hamilton. The older vampire studied her with a gaze that held centuries of knowledge, his red eyes unreadable yet sharp.

"You seem frightened."

His voice was smooth, a quiet observation rather than a question.

"No milord."

A slow him rumbled from him, as if he did not believe her and yet, he did not press her further.

The silence in the s study room thickened, stretching between Larissa and senior Hamilton like an invisible force. The vampire observed her with quiet intensity, his fingers lightly tapping against the polished wood of his desk.

Larissa kept her posture straight, her hands folded before her to steady herself. The memory of the dark haired vampire that she had met on her way here still clung to her like a phantom touch, but she forced it to the back of her mind.

Senior Hamilton leaned back slightly in his chair, his red eyes gleaming with something unreadable. Then without a warning, he asked, " Do you know how to read?"

The question surprised her. She blinked, u sure if she had misheard. "Yes milord."

A flicker of surprise crossed his features, so brief that she almost missed it. He had not expected such an answer from her.

"Truly?" He mused, studying her as if she was some peculiar artifact he had just unearthed. " A peasant girl with literacy, that's not common."

Actually, she just happened to be lucky. Being a person who visited the church orphanage often, she had managed to get the knowledge there. Not much, but over the years, she had horned it to perfection.

"Then I don't think I will need to call the butler. I need a book from the library." He said and then continued, " 'The history of the great houses.' it is bound in deep green leather with gold embossing. You will find it on the western shelves."

"Yes milord."

At her words, he nodded. " The library is on the second floor. At the end of the eastern hall, take the right wing staircase, them follow the corridor past the grand gallery. The library doors are marked with an engraving of the sun and moon."

His directions sounded simple enough.

Or so she thought.

With a respectful nod, she turned and left the study, closing the doors behind her.