Over the last three days the Lady had been applying healing salves to her waist bite and luckily her neck wound was healing nicely and only left two scabs ready to fall off any day now and reveal the new skin underneath. She spent more time reading her father’s journals on how and where best to strike a vampire down. Various techniques he’d used to distract them using his own blood as a diversion. She began to jot a few ideas down. She had decided to go to the summer house early evening during the sunset to set up a small writing desk, prepare a pot of tea to drink and hydrate herself in readiness for Vail’s arrival. Soon her blood would be fuller and more easily drawn. She’d even taken to eating iron rich foods over the few days, such as green vegetables and red meat with more iron in it to replenish her nutrients quickly. Like a farmer plumping up his hens and sheep ready to take to the slaughter for their succulent meat.
As she drank her tea and contemplated all the ways she can distract Spencer from the real threat…she looked up to the horizon and the setting sun. Vail would soon be here to drink her blood and yet she didn’t dread his visit, rather she anticipated it. He would have to choose another part of her to bite. Perhaps the other side of her waist, maybe a thigh where it was meaty. In any case, she would have to don something loose fitting so that he could get to it. So instead of wearing a corset underneath a tightly fitted dress, she swapped it for normal undergarments and removed the ties from her
red dress. She figured any blood spilled on a red dress would attract far less attention to it. It also had a hidden high slit at the front underneath layers of frills that could be loosened.
She finished making notes and possible ideas in hopes to formulate her plan but as the midnight hour grew near, so too did her excitement at wondering what Vail would do next? The lantern flickered softly as it had all evening, it was no secret the Lady was enjoying the summer house until the late hour. She then set up the Chess board and began to play against herself. She hadn’t played since her father died. Her mother wasn’t interested in this game, she was intrigued with the foreign trend of Mahjong.
“Hmm…what would Father do…” She contemplated a move, remembering his play style. She moved a pawn in sacrifice in order to make a better move next time. “The power of diversion suited him well.” She told herself, that’s when she realised, he was always ten moves ahead no matter which move she made, he always anticipated it and was ready. She had to do the same with Spencer. Imagine every possible scenario and a counter for it. “Oh Father, you’re a genius!” She giggled as he was helping her from beyond the grave. She looked around the summer house, it felt quite empty. She wondered if she could fit a piano in here to spend some time relaxing and unwinding before her impending blood donation.
‘Yes donation, let’s go with that…’ She didn’t know how any other way to really describe this deal. It was a most unusual situation.
Suddenly her butler called out. “Would you like more tea My Lady?”
“No! Get out of here Sebastian!” She shouted at him. “I want to be alone!”
“S-sorry Miss! I will leave you be!” Sebastian’s voice trailed away from the lodge. Victoria sighed with relief and fell back on the chaise lounge. “That was close…” He could have been killed if Vail had sensed any threat of being discovered. That would have been a very hard web to untangle. She placed a gloved hand to her temple. ‘What am I doing…?’ She questioned her sanity once more. Then remembered the sensuous touch of his hands. She told herself, it was just business. She was in the phase of denial.