A knock came at my door and once I answered it, I saw Remus standing a small smile on his lips.

I lifted an eyebrow, my finger acting as a bookmark for a new book I found in the shelf. “Remus?” I asked, shifting my body weight on one side of my foot. I looked out of the door, the fire in the chandeliers was illuminating a golden orb of light across the dark passage.

Several framed portraits which were now engulfed in the darkness could now be seen thanks to the illuminated hallway. The floor had an intricately woven rug with a zigzag kaleidoscope of colours and loose threads tied into knots on the edges.

“Ma’am- Oh! I’m sorry,” He cleared his throat. I shook my head at him a small laugh escaping my lips. “Ruella,” He shook from foot to foot, “Lady Clara, has invited you to dinner at the dinning table.” He finished. “I’m sent to accompany you to the dining table, downstairs.”

“Oh, please don’t take the trouble to call me downstairs.” I started, a pang in my chest. “I am capable of walking down myself. I think you’ve other members of this household to attend to, apart from me?” I said, lightly touching his arm.

Remus smiled genuinely, touching his hand to his chest, bowing. Bowing? My mouth hung open slightly at his behavior. What is this place? What is Kay, keeping away from me? My anger started to flare. I was tired of his secrets.

“I appreciate your kindness, Ruella. But it’s my duty to accompany you downstairs.” He said.

I nodded, suppressing my anger by plastering a smile on my face.

The dining table was long. Several empty chairs lined on each side of the table. An unrecognizable man with dark brown hair sat at the head of the table. He was broad chested with sharp green eyes. A thin gold chain was hanging around his neck as he spoke to Kay. He had worn a white coat with a flying raven handwoven on it.

As I descended down the stairs with Remus at my side, I saw something glinting on his fingers. Upon squinting my eyes, I saw that his fingers were adorned with gold rings. Precious stones of various colours adorned his scruffy fingers.

More important people began to take their seat at the dining table as I was nearing the end of the steps. I felt different with this new outfit I was wearing. Remus informed me that Clara had gifted it to me as I was dining with them for the first time as their guest.

When I wore the dress, I was shocked at the girl who stared back at me in the bathroom mirror. The dress was dark red and it had a heart shaped neckline with transparent waterdrop beads hanging off the neckline. The sleeves were long and had strings of long white cylindrical beads. The rest of the dress had an outline of a flying raven handsewn with glass beads on it. The dress length was till my knees and I had paired them with gold stilettos.

My black hair was left open with a small section of it twirled on either sides and clipped at the back with gold floral clips. Remus had a talent of styling me and I felt regal with the whole outfit and shoes. Once he was done styling me, he stared at my reflection in the mirror with a sigh.

As I walked down the steps, the beads and glass on the dress made a clish-clash sound. My hand made contact with the stone banister in a vain attempt to calm my nerves. The beads cascading down my arms parted to allow my hand to hold the bannister for dear life. I was thankful that no one had seen me descend downstairs or I would have been uncomfortable to have their eyes piercing on each part of my body.

Seated opposite to Kay was Clara, watching the man and her son talk animatedly amongst themselves. I was now walking towards the dining table, Remus taking my left. I was grateful for him accompanying me.

The other diners started to look at me and I reached out grabbing Remus’ hand in a vice like grip. Remus stilled, his arm twitching at my sudden action, but said nothing. I met his eyes, pleading with him. He nodded.

Kay, Clara and the mystery man hadn’t looked up yet, so I was slightly at ease. Remus lightly removed my hand from his arm and proceeded to remove a chair out of the dining table next to Kay. He ushered me to sit. I smiled tightly.

I heard them stop talking and saw three pairs of eyes stare at me. I dare not look, I thought as I sat on the chair, pulling the chair closer to the table. The beads on the dress, clanked loudly with the cutlery and I winced.

“Oh hello, Ruella.” Clara said seated diagonally in front of me. Her eyes quickly did a quick sweep of my clothes and I stared at her.

“Hello, Clara.” I said, my voice hoarse.

She smiled warmly at me. “This is Gavin, my husband,” motioning to the man seated at the head of the table.

“Hel-lo, Gavin.” I said, smiling tensely.

He nodded at me, his eyes not leaving me. I could see something going on behind those blue eyes, assessing me. “Ruella, welcome to the Davos mansion. I hope you’ll enjoy the dinner.” He said, his voice deep.

I merely nodded.

The food was served and it was all sorts of exquisite cuisines I’d never heard of. There was a huge variety of food and drink. One of the contents of the drinks were slushy red with a metallic copper smell. I placed my palm on my nose, trying not to gag. What the fuck was that smell? There was vegetarian and non vegetarian options. Beside me, Kay helped me with the servings and I felt myself relax at his kind gesture. I was too scared to look up at him, for I was afraid I might get lost in them.

I ate my food in silence, my ears cutting out the conversation of the trio on my right. I was silently observing the decor in the dining hall. There were maroon, black and white tapestries hanging from the high walls. A few feet below the roof were the same arched windows and frosted glass obscuring the sight of the beautiful moon. The moonlight seeped through the glass like a clear white haze.

Once finished with the hearty dinner, we were served with dessert and I cursed myself internally for eating heartily. My stomach was bloating and if I ate more, I feared it would burst. Gavin and Clara excused themselves from their seats leaving me and Kay alone.

I felt his foot caress my skin. I jumped in my seat and turned towards him. But Kay was looking at his plate- having just finished with his desert, setting it aside. He caught me staring at him and raised an eyebrow at me, a lopsided grin on his face. I blushed hard, shaking my head at him.

He chuckled in response.

***

That night I retired to my room and changed into my normal day clothes. It was ten thirty and not yet my time to sleep so I sat in bed, reading the book I placed on the bedside. A few moments later, I got up from the bed and began to pace in my room. I then stood near the closed window and opened the latch since I wanted to get a look at the full moon.

The stars were shining brightly in the night sky. A group of bats flew by my window, breaking my trance. It was then I saw some movement near the forest. I squinted my eyes to get a better picture, blinking a couple of times. Then I saw it. Kay and a few of the guests, some male, some female were walking into the forest wearing some light clothing. What were they doing at this time of the night? Why are they going into the forest?

I decided to wait for them return.

And they did.

Three hours later.

I was about to plop down from the window ledge to go back to sleep, when I saw Kay and the others return back from the forest, his chest and mouth dripping with blood.

His movements were staggering and heavy as he waited for the others to catch up. The others behind him had similar injuries on their faces, but much less. Then I saw four of the men drag something out of the forest. I couldn’t see it clearly as it was black.