The house was not what he expected. It was a large manor, built before the war, and was in almost perfect condition. The paint was a sleek coat of white, the trim an expensive-looking dark wood, and the small shed to the side had its own porch. The strange thing about it was that it looked empty. The curtains were drawn shut, the lights were off, and there was not a trace of life anywhere in the yard. A small garden peeked from the back, but he couldn’t get a good view of it.

Ashton turned to him. He raised a finger to his lips.

Ren nodded.

Satisfied with his compliance, Ashton walked toward the front door. It swung open without a sound. And from the inside of the house, Ren smelled flowers and a strong sweet aroma that made his gums throb. The smell was blood. It was a mix of human and animal, though the former was the strongest out of the two.

He thought back to the night he met Ashton. He’d been hunting he said. Animals weren’t the best diet and didn’t hold much nutrition. Ren couldn’t imagine how he could settle for something that couldn’t possibly ever fill him. Even Ren, a half-vampire, had trouble with the amount he had to drink a day. His stomach was a bottomless pit always craving more. A full-vampire would need twice as much.

They entered the hall that led to a large living room and a foyer. The only light was that of the moon streaming through the white thin curtains. He could tell the decorations and the furniture were exquisite. It was the only word he could use to describe them. It still didn’t do them justice.

But the beauty couldn’t hide the ominous feeling. It settled in around him, like a spider slowly crawling its way down a string of web. Inside, it was warm, yet his teeth chattered and goosebumps rose up along his arms and legs. He straightened his back and looked around with a slight tilt of his head.

Ashton grabbed his wrist and pulled him toward the end of the hall. A large set of stairs jutted out from the wall. They were darker than the rest of the wood in the house. New, from the looks. He raised his head to get a better look at the top of the stairs. The moonlight wasn’t enough to see up that far and there were no windows up that way.

He looked down where Ashton’s hand held his. His fingers were so white against Ren’s. He stared at them, mesmerized.

With his free hand, he ran the tip of his finger along Ashton’s knuckles.

Ashton’s grip tightened.

Ren looked up. Their eyes met.

Then, the light flickered on.

“Ashton Mantel. Would you like to explain yourself?”

Ashton turned. His stoic face made Ren bite his tongue. He wasn’t going to say anything, but he wanted to make double sure he didn’t make a sound.

Standing at the bottom of the stairs was a thin, almost pale woman with short blond hair cut just at her shoulders. She had green eyes, lips the color of a lotus which pursed in a thin line, and a tall frame that filled the silk gown she wore. Her arms crossed over her small chest. She narrowed her eyes at them, the faint color of green on her eyelids from the earlier day’s makeup.

“Well?”

She almost didn’t look that surprised to see Ren, a complete stranger, standing with her son covered in blood. Ashton looked worse off with the gashes in his arms.

“What do you want me to start with first? The dead body or the Hound?”

She snorted. She tightened the belt of her silk robe, tying it off with an angry snap. The fabric made a zipping sound.

“Sit down,” she bit out. Without waiting for them to move, she turned around. The bottom of her silk robe and nightgown whipped against her legs. Then, she elegantly moved across the dark room to the plush couch and sat down with a slight fluttering of her clothes.

Ashton was the second to move. He followed her path, an almost copy of her if it wasn’t for his clothes, the blood, and the angry look on his face. Ren could see the similarities between them though they were muddied with the striking differences. As close as they got to being one and the same, they were forcibly pushed away in only slight differences.

Ren tiptoed across the room. At just the soft patter from his feet, he caught her icy stare. She glared at his feet as if he’d made the biggest offense in her life. He swallowed down the queasy vomit.

Ashton sat, falling back on the cushions with an air of no care. The whoosh of him sitting down made the grimace on her face deepen. Ren sat beside him, light as a feather as to not make her notice him further. But he was sure it was hard to not notice the quite large elephant in the room that happened to be him. 

It also didn’t help that they were both covered in blood.

She raised a brow.

“What?” Ashton didn’t look at all frightened by the look on his mother’s face.

Ren stared at his hands, fingers fumbling over one another as he tried not to scream. 

“Do not talk back to me.”

Ren took a side glance at Ashton. His lips were twisted into a frown that made his handsome face look ghoulish. Him and his mom were mirror images of one another. Ren felt like he was trapped between two beasts about to fight to the death. The Hounds had been terrifying, but at least they didn’t talk.

That he knew of.

Goosebumps rose up his arms. He slowly put his hands on his knees and squeezed them so he wouldn’t be tempted to run his hands up his arms to warm them.

Her icy gaze fell upon Ren. “What the hell is this?”

This. What. He wasn’t a who.

Ashton didn’t answer.

She leaned back. “Nothing? Did you just pick it up on your way home?”

Ren looked between them. His mouth parted, but the words were just air he couldn’t form with his tongue. He moved to the edge of the couch. 

“Ma’am” She snapped her head toward him. He inwardly cringed at himself. “Um…I—My name is Ren.”

He would have knocked himself upside the head if he could. That was what he was going to say to her? That was supposed to make the situation better?

A grin stretched over her thin lips. Her white teeth gleamed in the moonlight.

She reminded him why vampires were so feared by humans. This was the beast they saw in their nightmares.

“Ren,” she repeated, testing the name on her tongue. “Why are you in my home?”

That was a good question. Though it wasn’t one that he could answer without giving away what had happened up until this moment.

He looked at Ashton, hoping he would save Ren from his stupid decision to poke the lioness.

He was staring straight ahead. As if Ren wasn’t sitting beside him at all.

She stood up as elegantly as she had sat down. She drifted across the small space separating them and looked down at Ren. He leaned back in the plush seating, feeling smaller than he’d ever felt before. Her eyes bore into his and though he wanted to avert his gaze so badly, he couldn’t.

Ashton cleared his throat.

Her intense gaze looked away, breaking the spell she had over Ren. The brief relief was enough for him to take one deep breath and hold it as her cold piercing eyes landed on Ashton.

“I invited him.”

She pursed her lips. “I see.”

And with the flicker of her nightgown, she turned and sauntered to the stairs. Like a ghost floating through the wind, she glided up the wooden stairs to the second floor.

Ren panted slightly as he tried to catch his stolen breath. “Is this—“

He wanted to ask if this was fine. If it was okay that he was there in Ashton’s home. His mom didn’t look happy, even if it was with the permission of her son. Ren didn’t think his own mom would have liked him bringing in strangers in the middle of the night either. She wouldn’t like seeing him covered in blood either or knowing that he was going off in the forest by himself.

All those combined would have made her head explode.

“Just keep your mouth shut from now on.” He grabbed Ren’s wrist and hauled him up from the couch.

Ren stumbled to stand beside Ashton and to follow him in the direction his mom had gone.

The long hallway was illuminated by the hidden moon behind the draping tree outside the round window at the end of the hall. There were five doors, three on the left and two on the right. Ashton didn’t hesitate to throw open the second on the left and rush inside with Ren being pulled behind him.

The room was bigger than Ren’s living room. Even the hallway which he could only make out by the soft hue of the moon was nicer than his entire house. For its age, which was obvious by the structure and the furniture, it was in good shape. Ren could imagine this house was run by strict adults. There was not a single thing that stuck out so far that let on that kids had once played here. And though he couldn’t ever imagine Ashton being a playful child, he also couldn’t imagine he hadn’t wanted to be one. 

Ren had once been free like a child. Young age was like that for almost everyone.

Ashton’s room was as dreary as the rest. The colors were dark browns and black. The large bed in the center of the room was made up neatly with the sheets turned down and the pillows fluffed. The golden ornate swirls looked far from what he could imagine Ashton picking out for himself. If there was one color that fit him best, it was black and the color of dark red blood against his light skin. He was a monster when he was painted in the color and as Ren turned his eyes away from the bed and back at Ashton, Ren held his breath.

Ashton had stripped from his shirt. It was lying on the floor beside him.With his back turned to Ren, he walked to the tall dresser at the far wall. He pulled out a black shirt, slipping it over his head. The blood was still streaked on his arms and face, but most of it was stained into the white shirt.

“Here,” he said. 

Ren jumped as a shirt flew at him. He caught it with both hands and clutched it to his chest. His eyes were stuck on Ashton’s rippling back. He hadn’t even looked at Ren.

Ren was thankful he hadn’t. Ren’s face was flushed and it was spreading down to the top of his chest. His ears were on fire. A lump stuck to the back of his throat. He swallowed it down as best as he could. It didn’t make the burning in his chest lessen.

The black t-shirt in his hand was identical to the one Ashton wore now. Ren slowly pulled his hoodie and shirt off. As he folded the bloody bundle up, Ashton moved to the open door to the left. He flicked the light on and the large bathroom was illuminated in a blinding light. The bedroom was made darker by the sharp contrast. Ren looked away then and sat the bundle of his clothes to the side, away from Ashton’s bed and away from anything that looked too valuable.