away in what must be the back of the mansion, I came across a large wooden door. Scratches lined the frame and someone or something had gouged chunks out of the wood, exposing the paler rings below. The brass doorknob was blotched and smeared, like it had been used over and over. Unlike the ones downstairs, it didn’t warm up as I wrapped my fingers around the metal.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I glanced each way down the corridor, as what sounded like a whisper floated along the walls. Far away, a door slammed shut and the gas lamp flickered and with a pop, went out.
Startled, I ripped my hand from the brass and turned and fled. I didn’t stop, even when I realized I must have taken a wrong turn. I wasn’t superstitious, but something about that corridor had chilled me to the bone and I didn’t want to be anywhere near it.
I was getting more and more lost when the wood panelling ended and I found myself in a whitewashed corridor, lit with bright, artificial light – a stark contrast to the rest of the mansion. I doubled over, catching my breath.
‘Excuse me, miss, but are you okay?’ I jerked my head up, startled at the new voice. ‘Sorry, miss, didn’t mean to scare you,’ the voice said, thick with a cockney accent. It came from a young girl, not much older than I was by the looks of her. She was dressed in a plain black dress and a maid’s cap. Her face was round and plump, her mousy-blonde hair framing rosy cheeks. She would be quite stunning, if it was not for the lines of hard work that adorned her face.
‘Don’t worry, I’m fine,’ I replied, trying to smile and failing.
‘You must be the human the Varns took from London. Violet, isn’t it?’ I nodded. ‘I’m Annie,’ she said, smiling, revealing two small fangs.
I eyed them, my eyes sliding down to her dress. ‘Do you work here?’
‘I’m one of the servants,’ she replied. ‘Are you sure you’re all right?’ she added.
I shrugged. ‘Lost, I guess.’
‘Well, I can help with that.’ She smiled and picked up the bucket and mop beside her feet. ‘Take the servant’s stairs. They are at the end of here.’ She pointed in the opposite direction from where I had come. ‘Go three floors down and follow the main corridor and it will bring you to the entrance hall.’ With one last smile, she hurried off before I could even thank her.
Sure enough, at the end of the corridor there were a set of narrow spiralling steps, which twisted around and around a column until they opened out into a wide hallway, which in turn had smaller passages branching from it.
I stopped, staring down its length. The emptiness of the place left me feeling very alone and very vulnerable, as the scale of the situation hit me again. At the end of the corridor, blending with the darkness, I could see a man crumpling to the ground, rubbing his neck and scrambling away from me.
I shook my head, smacking my palm against the panelled wall.
‘Shit,’ I breathed, as I realized a tiny trickle of blood was flowing from my raw knuckle. I quickly wiped it away, not wanting to attract any unwanted attention.
‘Father says you shouldn’t swear. It’s unladylike,’ said a quiet voice from below me. I looked down to see a little girl with the widest, most emerald-green eyes. Her long blonde hair fell in tight ringlets around her face and she had perfect features, right down to her button nose. She looked to be about four.
‘Who are you?’ I asked, taking a couple of steps back.
‘I am Princess Thyme,’ she sung, twirling around, making her pink frilly dress whip around after her. She smiled, revealing two pinpricks for fangs. A kid vampire. ‘And you are Violet, and Kaspar brought you from London.’ It was a statement, not a question. I said nothing, astounded at the sureness she had of her words.
After a minute, I recovered my voice. ‘You’re Kaspar’s little sister?’ I asked, bending down to her level.
‘And Cain’s and Lyla’s and Jag’s and Sky’s,’ she chimed, doing another pirouette.
‘Who are Jag and Sky?’
‘They are my big, big brothers. They are really old,’ she stated with pride. ‘I like them better because they are fun when they come and visit from Romania.’ She pouted, looking down at the ground. ‘All the others are mean when I ask to play games.’ Her bottom lip quivered and I panicked at her complete change of mood.
‘Hey, don’t get upset.’
Her little eyes filled with hope, and she looked up at me. ‘You’ll play a game with me, won’t you?’ She tightened her grip around my hand. ‘Will you carry me?’ She didn’t wait for me to answer, but took a few steps back and made a running leap – I only just caught her in my arms. Realizing I didn’t have much choice, I complied and followed her directions down the corridor.
‘Do you have a sister?’ Thyme asked, twiddling with my hair.
‘I have a little sister,’ I answered. ‘She’s thirteen.’
‘What’s her name?’ she asked with vague interest, more preoccupied with my hair.
‘Lily,’ I answered.
‘That’s a pretty name. Do you have a brother?’ she carried on.
‘I did. But he died,’ I mumbled.
‘That’s sad,’ she replied.
‘Yeah, it is,’ I breathed.
‘Do you have a mummy and daddy?’ I turned my head and saw her cute little face twisted with something I couldn’t read and she tugged a strand of my hair, making me wince.
‘Yes, I do.’ I stopped myself, wondering why I was volunteering so much to a little girl. My eyes misted over and a sick feeling clutched at my throat. Homesickness. ‘What about you? Do you have a mummy?’
‘Mummy can’t be here at the moment,’ she said with a blunt tone far beyond her years. ‘My daddy is always too busy to play with me. He is always in a bad mood.’
We fell into silence for a while. She started playing with my hair again, twisting it around her finger.
‘You’re really pretty.’
‘Thanks,’ I said, unsure how to take the compliment. ‘You’re really cute,’ I replied.
‘I know.’ She gave a little sigh. ‘I wish I had a sister like you. You are nicer than Lyla and much nicer than those horrible girls Kaspar keeps bringing home,’ she muttered darkly, again sounding far older than she must be.
‘Girls?’ I asked, trying not to seem too interested.
‘His friends. But they always stay for the night and they are really mean to me,’ she blabbered.
It didn’t take much brainpower to work out what these ‘friends’ were here for. Again, she seemed content to play with my hair until I felt a cold breeze on the back of my neck and I almost dropped her.
‘What the heck are you doing?’
