Chapter Four

One ring. Two rings.

“Carrington.”

The brisk greeting stalled the young woman for a second. With a sharp nod from Max, Colbie turned away so he could only see her back while she held the phone tightly to her ear.
“Daddy?”

“Bee?”

There was some shuffling on the other end of the line. She could vaguely make out some muffled words before her father’s voice came back on the line once more. The tinny quality removed some of the warmth of his voice but it still made her heart unclench. She hadn’t even realised until then how worried she had been. The dreams had definitely not been helping with her anxiety or her sanity.

“Hey daddy,” She winced and glanced over her shoulder at Max but he was doing the gentlemanly thing and was pretending not to listen. A difficult thing when the room was big enough for even breathing to carry.

“Is everything okay?”

The worry in her father’s voice made an uncomfortable knot form in her stomach.

“Bee, are you okay? Do you need me to come and pick you up?”

“No, no I’m fine.” Colbie started walking up the length of her room, pausing when she got to the wall before turning and pacing all the way back. “I just wanted to speak to you about something.”

She could imagine her father frowning as he leant back in his antique armchair and scratched at his five o’clock shadow.

“What is it, Colbie?”

Pausing, she raised her dark eyes and met those grey ones belonging to her friend. He was fiddling about with the top drawer of her dresser, riffling through the lace and silks that laid within. A blush stole up her cheeks but she allowed him to continue. Instead Colbie quietly moved to the furthest end of the room and lowered her voice so it was only just above a whisper.

“I’ve been having these dreams. Well, they are nightmares really. There’s blood and this man, he wants to hurt me daddy. I wouldn’t even bring them up but they are happening every night.” She rambled on for a few moments.

Noting the complete absence of sound or shuffling on the other end of the line, she pulled the handset away from her ear to check the connection. The timer was still ticking away.

“Daddy, are you still there?” Colbie asked once the headset was pressed against her ear once more.

“How long have you been having these dreams Colbie?  I need you to be completely honest with me here.”

There was pure steel in his tone. It had the heiress shuffling awkwardly as she tried to think how best to answer. The only time she had heard her father use that tone was when danger was standing on their doorstep. The last time she had heard that tone there had been a massacre. Forty of their dwindling race was slaughtered by so called vampire hunters – a group of misguided humans who trained to hunt the things in the night. They just couldn’t differentiate between the good creatures and the bad creatures.

Was there really something more to it? They were just silly dreams, Colbie tried to assure herself as she offered Max a shaky smile from her place in the corner of the room.

“I’ve had them since my second night here.” Chewing on her bitten down thumb nail, Colbie closed her eyes. “They’re always the same. The ones I remember. Blood, lots of blood and hair – chunks of blonde hair all over the floor. The man in the shadows – he’s laughing. Always laughing.”

She shivered, her free hand rubbing at the goosebumps that had formed the length of her arms.

“Colbie, when I tell you to be careful, I mean it. I will send over some protection to watch over you but please don’t take any risks.”

Colbie opened and closed her mouth several times before sighing.

“Is it that bad dad? I thought they were just nightmares.”

Her father responded with an agitated groan. His chair creaked down the line as he shuffled around uncomfortably.

“You’ll find these dreams and feelings will occur more often the closer you get to your birthday Bee. It’s part of the process. It’s a taster of your true capabilities should you choose the immortal path.”

Colbie held her breath for a moment before asking the question she knew would hurt her father most.

“And if I chose to be mortal?”

“I-if you choose to be m-mortal.” He cleared his throat. “If you chose the human path then any visions and dreams would disappear. You would sleep the sleep of mortals and dream only as they do.”

She nodded her head and glanced down at her feet.

“So what do I do now? Just play it safe and wait for trouble to come.”

“Yes, that is exactly what you will do. The dreams are never as they appear. I will speak with Celeste. She may be able to interpret your visions.  Just don’t take any risks, we will all work to keep you safe and figure this out.”

More shuffling and even some clicking sounded over the phone. He was probably already sending out instructions to the security team. Colbie would have her own team outside her home within twenty minutes. Her father was always efficient.

“For now sweetheart, please write down anything you remember from your dreams and send it to me. But try not to worry. Your mother went through the same thing before her ascension. Fortunately hers were a lot of worry over nothing. She dreamt that the grim reaper was coming to steal all of our souls but the only trouble we had during that time was your grandmother coming over for dinner.”

Colbie snorted which quickly turned into a giggle. The Queen Mother was the epitome of a dragon. With a haughty exterior and superior attitude, she was a fearsome dinner companion to any tea party. Her shoulders relaxed as some of the tension left their conversation.

“Okay daddy.  That reminds me - I didn’t know Lydia was here. I thought she was supposed to be in Edinburgh.”

“Lydia was there?” William Carrington’s voice was sharp and so loud that even Max whipped his head around to stare at the offending source of sound. 

“Yes?” She replied uncertainly.

Meeting Max’s eyes, she shrugged her shoulders at the questioning look lurking within.

“When? Was she alone? Was she with someone?”

Reeling back from the barrage of questions she stuttered through a few words as she tried to form a coherent answer.

“We saw her at the beginning of term, at a party. I don’t think she was with anyone in particular.” Colbie paused and tried to think back to the party that had seemingly started it all.

She could see in her minds eyes her pixie faced cousin moving through the crowds like a sultry seductress, touching and tantalising every male in the vicinity as she moved on through the throng. When she came into her full inheritance she would be a thing to behold. Colbie shivered. And she would be a thing to fear too.

“Can you not remember anything else?” William pushed gently but with no less force than if he was poking her with a very large stick.

If he had been there the head of the Carrington line would have been giving his daughter that stare of his. That one stare which would bore into her mind, searching for the secrets that she was omitting from him.

“I’m sorry daddy, I don’t remember much. I had -.” She paused unwilling to ruin the complete trust her father had put in her. She had been sheltered and there was no way that the king of vampires would be pleased to know that she was acting like a normal, reckless teenage girl.

“You had what?”

“I had had a few drinks. I’m sorry daddy.”

William Carrington paused at his daughter’s remorseful tone before letting loose a loud bellowing laugh.

“Daddy?”

Frowning she shared a glanced over at her housemate who had finally given up with rummaging through Colbie’s things and was now sprawled across her bed, his glasses sitting crookedly on his face.

“Bee, you have been the least trouble of all my children. Your brothers were out getting drunk on their fourteenth birthday, running through the villages and seducing all of the local girls by the time they were eighteen. Luckily that wasn’t their great charm otherwise they would have brought down the downfall of our race.”

Still reeling with confusion, Colbie barely resisted the urge to shake the phone in the hope that it would bring some sense to her father.

“Are you feeling okay? Should I hang up and call mother?”

A strangled gasp sounded through the phone as the eldest Carrington struggled to reign in his amusement.

“There’s no need. I just want you to know that I am not mad about you having a drink or two. It could be so much worse. Just remember no drugs and no taking drinks from strangers then we will be fine.” He drew in a deep breath and then cleared his throat. “You’ve never had the chance to be yourself, to just have fun and be a normal girl. Here’s your chance. You know that your life will change in a few months and you may never get this opportunity again.”

Colbie stared at the wall, watching as the sunlight danced off of the white paintwork. She had the urge to hang up and call her mother just to make sure that her father was truly okay and that he wasn’t intoxicated. How many parents actually gave their children the go ahead to get drunk and have fun?

“Okay daddy.”

“Good, now that’s sorted.”

He breathed deeply and let loose a tired breath.

“Now I want you to be good, look after yourself and if you see Lydia, let me know. She hasn’t checked in for three weeks and her parents are very worried.”

Colbie gulped and nodded. Then, realising he couldn’t see her, she whispered. “Okay daddy. I’ll see you soon?”

“Of course Princess, your brother’s coronation is set for All Hallows Eve. A car will collect you but I will confirm the details with you later. Okay?”

“Yes daddy. Love you.”

“Love you too sweetheart.”

The phone beeped in Colbie’s ear as the call ended.

“Everything alright?”

She jumped and looked over at Max. He was laid comfortably on her bed, arms behind his head and shoes kicked off onto the floor.

Colbie glanced around her room, rubbing away the last of her goosebumps. Her talk with her dad had left her with too many questions and he had answered her about the nightmares, at least not well enough to reassure her.

“Yeah, everything is fine. Dad told me not to worry about the nightmares. He’s put some security on us.”

Seeing her housemate’s wide eyed look she laughed.

“Don’t worry. It’s more to make me feel safe. I’ve never been without bodyguards before. Usually I don’t leave the estate unless it’s for one of daddy’s important functions.”

“So what now?” He asked, not even making an effort to move from his position on the bed.

“Pizza?”

Finally a reaction, he lifted his head from the pillow and beamed at Colbie with pure delight.

“Sounds good.”

Colbie couldn’t resist smiling back at him upon seeing his excitement. But there, in the pit of her stomach, was an unsettling feeling that kept dread hanging on within her. Only the days to come would reveal if it was just silly worries plaguing her, like her mother’s premonitions had been, or whether it would turn out to be something much worse and much more deadly.