"Stay here, I will be back," the servant looked down at the new butler whose shoes were dirty and wet but thankfully it wasn"t covered in mud.

When the servant left the man in the hall, the man instead of staying put in his place, walked towards the window to see if the creature that had been there outside a while ago was still there or if it had disappeared. Seeing no one outside, he looked at the sky to hear the clouds garble with sparks of lightning coming out of them. Though it was the time of the morning, the dark clouds made it appear as if the night was yet to pa.s.s.

He turned around to look at the mansion he had stepped into.

Taking in a deep breath, his mind whispered "night creatures". His dark, black eyes drank in his surroundings, noticing every single detail when it came from the vases with the number of flowers that were put into it to the way the hallways led to different sides of the mansion and the portraits that hung on the other side of the wall.

His feet made their way to walk towards the portraits that were hung at the center of the wall where a man, woman, and a little girl were painted into it. Both the man and woman were seated on the magnificent doubled winged chair made of red cus.h.i.+ons. The little girl wasn"t seated with them and with the way the moment was captured in the paint, it appeared that the little girl was having fun by standing next to her father with her feet twisted for fun with a sweet smile on her face.

How strange, he thought.

With the years that had come by and pa.s.sed, he had noticed how humans and vampires who belonged to the high society often made sure to raise their children in a certain "normal" way they believed was right.

The servant who had gone to get the lantern which was lit as the mansion was dark, he came back to see that the man was not where he had left him. Where did he go? Walking forward, he came to stand with the lantern raised in his hand and called,

"Mister?" when he heard a voice behind him.

"What?"

He jumped, almost having a heart attack! He had just pa.s.sed through the pa.s.sage looking for the man and this man had out of nowhere appeared to stand behind him.

Now that the luminous light of orange glow fell on the person"s face, the servant noticed how handsome the supposed butler was but at the same time, there was something very unnerving about him. His eyes looked like a hollowness pit of darkness that could suck anything in it and the servant quickly shook his head and lowered the lantern.

"The servant"s quarters are on the other side of the lower side of the mansion. Let me settle you in your room and you can meet the Adams once they come down for breakfast," said the servant, leading the man away from the hallway as they walked straight and took a left at the far end before making some more turns.

Once they reached a series of doors that were closed and looked dull in appearance, they walked towards a comparatively better-looking door and the servant pulled out a bunch of keys and started to try unlocking them one after another as they jingled every time he tried to pick another one.

The mansion"s servant gave a queasy smile as he turned around to look at the man who had arrived to have his smile drop when he caught sight of the serious expression and he coughed, "It has been four months since we had a butler and the room hasn"t been opened during that span of time," he said, picking the lock with another key.

The person picking the lock was a young man who looked as if he were in his late teenage. Brown hair, freckles covering near the bridge of his nose and below his eyes. He wore an old woolen sweater to keep himself warm from the weather of Bonelake.

Five minutes pa.s.sed and the servant was still trying to pick the lock open through the help of the keys. As if it wasn"t enough, the servant continued to ramble to fill in the empty s.p.a.ce, "Mr. Rufus had mentioned about you coming a week later. We weren"t expecting you, I mean me," he turned around hoping the new butler would respond back but he didn"t know why the man didn"t bother to speak but he did stare at him that had him talking again, "My name is Milo, some call me Miles. You can pick either of the names. Pardon me, but I forgot y-"

"Lucas," replied the man and at the end of the man"s voice, the servant named Milo heard something similar to a whisper that strangely reminded him of smoke when the candle was blown out.

Milo heard the man named Lucas exhale softly before Lucas said, "Give me the keys."

Turning around the servant boy handed the keys. Not because he knew he would be able to open it, after all, the man didn"t live here but because of the shadow that fell on the butler"s face that made him appear to look as if he had come from h.e.l.l. Not to forget the way he looked right now. Annoyed. The expression wasn"t evident but Milo could feel it.

The boy stepped away, letting the man take over the lock, and in less than a second the lock clicked open.

"I can tell you will be an excellent butler," the boy praised the man to have the keys dropped in his hands.

Before the young boy could continue his rambling, Lucas asked, "Is that all?" his words came out dull and uninterested.

"Uh, yes. I will come to get you. You can rest until then-" the servant found himself to finish his words looking at the door as it was shut close.

In the room, the man named Lucas stood still wondering what to do. The land would be on high alert for what happened which he had no clue about. He had stepped through the gates of this mansion to avoid letting a similar creature like him notice him. He had to let things cool down before he could step out and take back his form to see what happened. There were too many people who didn"t like him and now that the opportunity has arisen, they wouldn"t be able to wait to drag him down.

Until things would settle down, he could stay here and pretend to be the butler who was supposed to work for this family.

He looked at the room which was small. A bed, chair, desk, and a table with a mirror that was affixed on the wall. Walking towards it, he looked at his reflection and then looked down at his hands. The flesh on his hand was gone and had come back to the long boney fingers of pure skeleton.

He would stay here for a few more weeks or months and then leave this mansion like the phantom he was. Not bothering to stay in the room, the butler stepped out of the room, walking through the pa.s.sage of the servant quarters as he pa.s.sed the doors one after another where the servants were fast asleep.

He walked up the curved stairs that were wide and long and he stepped on the floor, lightning flas.h.i.+ng on the walls that came through the transparent gla.s.s windows. Walking close to the windows where water dripped down the windowpane, his black soulless looking eyes searched for any possible creatures who had caught on to him when he heard light footsteps on the floor.

Turning his eyes to the corner and then moving his head, he caught sight of the little girl who was painted in the family portrait.

She wore a white dress that reached below her knees. On one hand she held a pillow that was being dragged across the floor while on the other hand, she held a stuffed toy. A white rabbit to be specific that had long ears and had lost an eye.

The girl stopped walking when she caught sight of the man looking at her and she stared back at him, clutching her rabbit close to her chest.

They shared a good distance between each other, the man standing tall with his face turned towards the little girl who stared at him with a curious look on her face. He then turned his body and just then the lightning struck again from the clouds, the light falling on his face to showcase the skeleton bones on his face that had the girl widen her eyes.

The man continued to look at her with an unmoving, inexpressive face whilst he saw her eyes and the stance of the little girl change immediately. Did she notice his appearance? It couldn"t be possible though, no one was able to see the mask that he had placed.

Her liquid like red eyes stared for a second more before she turned around and ran towards her supposed bedroom like the rabbit she appeared to be.

When she went inside the room she had dropped the stuffed animal behind her without realization and shut the door. Walking towards it, he picked it up, looking at the little toy and when he went towards her room, the door suddenly opened with the little girl standing in front of him, her eyes still wide.

He raised his hand to bring the toy in front and when her eyes fell on it, she quickly grabbed the toy from his hand and closed the door shut.