by J Armitage
Once out of the bath, she wrapped the huge fluffy towel around herself. Like everything else in the house, it was luxurious, thick and soft and had a lovely clean laundry smell. She checked her reflection in the mirror and was relieved to see her normal self peering back at her.
The long black hair, inherited from her mother’s side of the family, was now clean and beginning to twist into its usual ringlets that formed when it was wet.
She quickly rinsed the bath of any last remnants of blood and put her head around the door to Aethelu’s room. The room looked remarkably tidier than it had when she had walked through it earlier. The clothes had been removed, the bed made and the vanity table cleared. Aethelu was now singing the same Christmas tune she had been whistling earlier whilst clearing up piles of books and putting them onto a bookcase. She stopped when she noticed Anais.
“Feel better?”
“I feel much better thanks. Can I borrow some clothes please?” Anais felt very embarrassed stood in front of Aethelu with only a towel to cover her modesty.
She hoped that the reds and pinks of the wall behind her would mask the fact she was blushing. If Aethelu noticed, she made no mention of it.
She placed the last book on the shelf and turned to Anais.
“I laid some out on your bed. They should fit pretty well.”
Anais mentally plotted out the route from this room to the room she had been imprisoned in. There were two corridors and a flight of stairs. She didn’t fancy making the journey in this unfamiliar house in just a towel and was surprised that Aethelu expected her to. She still didn’t know how many people were in and she thought that, if she happened to bump into anyone on the way, they might not take kindly to a strange naked girl wandering the corridors.
She was just about to ask Aethelu to get them for her when Aethelu cut in
“I thought that you could have the bedroom next to mine. The one at the other side of the bathroom. It belongs to Arcadia, my sister, but she doesn’t stay here very often.”
Anais had decided that she wasn’t going to stay. It was all well and good that she had been kidnapped by the most accommodating kidnappers in history who just happened to be practically immortal, but they still hadn’t told her why she was here and what exactly did any of it have to do with her. She decided that now was not the time to break the news to Aethelu. She would at least wait until she had got dressed and then calmly ask to be dropped off at the nearest railway station.
She turned and walked straight through the bathroom into the other bedroom. It was a mirror image of Aethelu’s with the same style four poster bed, velvet chairs, this time in pale blue, and wardrobe. It was equally as lavish as Aethelu’s but much less of an assault on the eye. For a start it was perfectly clean and tidy. Not a thing out of place. The only clue to the occupant were the many photos, mostly of family members she assumed, as many of them had the same silver hair and bewitching black eyes. She could recognise Aethelu, Raphael and August in some of them. An occasional celebrity appeared in some of the frames, usually with a stunning woman draped over them. In some pictures the woman was a violent redhead, some a stunning blonde and in some she had poker straight brunette hair. In all the pictures she was gorgeous, whatever the hair colour. This must be Aethelu’s older sister, Arcadia. She was even more beautiful than Aethelu but classically so. Somehow her perfection served only to make her seem less human. She was more like a doll or shop mannequin than a real person. Arcadia and Aethelu shared the same Almond shaped eyes and flawless skin but Aethelu had a sparkle about her that was absent from the photos of Arcadia.
The room was decorated in muted tones of beiges and blues which gave it a much fresher and more relaxed feel than Aethelu’s. A vase of fresh stargazer lilies sat on the little table by the cabinet emitting a beautiful floral scent that filed the room. Anais padded over to the large window, enjoying the feel of the thick, pale blue carpet beneath her feet, and gazed out. It was the first chance to get a good look at the Manors immediate surroundings. The trees that encircled the house were bare, having lost their leaves to the winter, but now wearing a fresh layer of snow. This room, Anais placed at the front of the house, as she could see steps running up to what must be the main doors she had seen earlier, from the inside. At the bottom of the steps a driveway curved past the house, with one way rounding the side of the house and the other disappearing off into the trees, to the main gates of the property. The drive widened at the front to allow for cars passing and giving space for cars to park, although no car was parked there at the moment. The drive and steps must have been gritted as they were the only things not covered in a fine layer of snow. White covered lawned gardens at each side of the steps sparkled in the pale winter sun. Green grass just peeked through where footprints had been left in the snow. They all led to a magnificent snowman complete with top hat and scarf. Charcoal eyes looked blindly out over his carrot nose. A couple of robins pecked at birdseed on a nearby bird table, seemingly oblivious to their freezing environment. The snow continued to fall lazily, making everything appear magical and fresh, even under the heavy grey sky and weak sun.
The trees were thick, even without their protective layer of leaves but off to one side, Anais could just make out a hill, hiding, between the branches. She could also see a house in the distance, possibly two or three. Something green flashed in front of the houses which Anais realised was a car. It made her feel more at ease knowing that she was at least close to civilisation.
She could now hear Aethelu splashing around in the bath. Sweet Christmas melodies being sung on full volume sounded lovely and slightly haunting with the bathroom acoustics, even though her voice was muffled through the now closed door. Aethelu had now moved on from the contemporary Christmas tune to a more traditional Christmas Carol. It brought back memories of Anais parents singing the same song whilst putting up the Christmas tree at home. Anais smiled a sad smile and turned her attention to the bed. A beautiful dress was laid out upon it, white, with a bold black pattern of flowers. It was slightly dressier than Anais would normally wear in the day time but it was so beautiful that she actually felt excited to put it on. She could see by the label that it was an expensive designer dress. It probably cost more than her entire wardrobe at home, but then she did spend most of her time in jeans usually. She dropped the towel on to the floor and pulled the dress over her head. The dress had a zipper at the back which, no matter how she twisted and turned she could not do up. She also had the problem of lack of underwear. The only other article of clothing was a small black cardigan. She picked up the cardigan and held her dress to her as much as she could. She knocked lightly on the bathroom door.
“Aethelu?”
The sound of the plug being pulled from the bath was followed by the sound of Aethelu getting out. Seconds later she stood in front of Anais with a red towel around her and another one wrapped expertly on her head.
“I need a bit of help with the zipper.” Anais turned to show Aethelu her naked back.
“Ok, yeah just a sec.”
Aethelu disappeared back round the door re-emerging seconds later with her black leather gloves on. She zipped up the dress which now fitted Anais perfectly, hugging her curves in all the right places.
“Wow, you look gorgeous. It really suits you,” Aethelu eyed Anais up and down making Anais feel slightly uncomfortable.
She turned to the full length mirror in the room and was surprised to find that she did look pretty amazing in the dress.
Aethelu put her gloved hand on Anais shoulder, lingering there for perhaps a second too long.
Anais wondered if Aethelu had some kind of skin complaint on her hands which is why she always wore the gloves. She made her mind up to ask but there were more pressing matters at hand.
“Do you think I could have some underwear please?”
Anais was feeling very naked even though she was totally covered and could actually feel herself blushing once again. She made a big show of putting the cardi
gan on to hide the fact her cheeks were burning. Honestly what was the matter with her? She was only talking to another woman for goodness sake, and about much less than she had chatted about with her friends back in LA.
“The dress belongs to Arcadia,” Aethelu said, “my sister,” she added when Anais looked confused. “I think she’ll be ok with you borrowing her room and her dress but lending you her underwear would probably make her flip out. Actually lending you the dress would probably make her flip out too but needs must. Just don’t spill anything on it. I sent August to town to buy you some clothes and undies. He should be back soon. I just didn’t want you to get cold waiting for him to come back.”
“Ok thanks, but it’s not really necessary.” Even as Anais said it she realised it was very necessary. The only clothes she had with her were the pyjamas she had arrived in. She’d just take what she needed and then they could take the rest back to the shop. She made up her mind to tell them she was leaving as soon as she got some new clothes. Aethelu grabbed Anais hand and escorted her back into her own bedroom. She sat her down on the bed and then walked over to her wardrobe.
“I’d lend you some of my clothes but as you can see my stuff is a bit higgledy piggledy,” she said as she threw open the wardrobe doors.
‘Higgledy piggledy’ didn’t cover it accurately enough. There were two items of clothing hanging up on hangers and the rest were in a messy pile at the bottom, all of which were red. Aethelu rummaged around in the bottom of the wardrobe searching through scarlets and crimsons. She was still wearing her leather gloves.
“Why do always have on leather gloves?” Anais asked her.
“Oh I’d forgotten I still had these on,” she said. She pulled them off and threw them haphazardly on the floor.
She pulled out a dress and threw it over her head quickly, pulling the towel out from under it. She extracted some panties from an equally messy drawer and slipped them on. She walked over to Anais but stopped short about a metre from her.
Anais looked at her hands. They looked perfectly normal. The nails were coated in red nail varnish.
“The gloves are to protect you.”
“Protect me? How?”
“When we drunk the elixir there was one other funny little side effect. There is really no way to describe it so I’m going to have to show you.
“Put your finger out in front of you.”
“What?” Anais was confused by the command.
“Just point at me.”
Although Anais had no clue as what to expect, she decided the easiest thing would be to go along with the strange command. She raised her hand and extended her index finger tentatively in front of her. She had no idea what was coming but she really hoped it wasn’t a lame pull my finger joke that had been so popular one year in school, doing the rounds as silly crazes do, then disappearing in favour of another silly game.
Aethelu put her own finger out and brought it towards Anais.
When their fingers were within millimetres of each other Aethelu stopped.
She looked down at her fingers and chewed her bottom lip. Anais missed the gesture as she was too occupied with wondering what was going to happen to her fingers.
When it did happen she wasn’t ready for it. When their fingers connected, instantaneously her whole arm jerked back with a force so strong it took her breath away. It was akin to getting an electric shock. Anais wondered if this was what sticking your fingers in an electric socket felt like. Her whole arm tingled.
“What just happened?”
“Try it again but this time try to keep your hand still.” Aethelu’s mouth started to curl up at the edges.
Anais wasn’t sure she wanted to try it again; she was amazed her fingers weren’t smoking, but she once again held out her hand.
Aethelu brought her finger back up to Anais. Anais steadied herself. Their fingers connected but this time Anais was ready. The sensation in the end of her finger was immense. It felt like every nerve in her being was electrified all at once and the current concentrated on the end of her finger. It wasn’t an unpleasant experience, it actually felt amazing, but it was too much for Anais to take. She withdrew her hand quickly and immediately the sensation passed, although her finger was left pleasantly warm and tingly.
“Now imagine if I’d have caught you off guard and accidentally touched your skin.”
Anais imagined that it would be similar to being struck by lightning although she wasn’t sure if it would be an altogether bad thing. She’d never felt so much sensation and to feel it in the very tip of her finger. She realised she had been holding her breath the whole time and now she let it all out, exhaling in a big rush. A playful smile crept on to Aethelu’s naked lips. Anais realised that this was the first time she’d seen them without lipstick. They were as beautiful as the rest of Aethelu and Anais thought it was a shame that they had ever been covered up. Her own mouth was echoing Aethelu’s and beginning to turn up at the corners. She stifled a giggle but watching Aethelu also struggling not to laugh was too much. She broke out into a huge roar of laughter which was immediately followed by Aethelu’s. Both girls rolled around on the bed laughing so hard that tears had sprung to both their eyes. It was an amazing release for Anais after her days of stress and uncertainty and, even though she was not really sure why she was laughing, she felt so much better for it.
They were both laughing so hard that they missed the knock on the door. It was tentatively opened by August who stuck his head around the door, though his eyes were closed.
“Is everyone decent?”
Anais quickly wiped her eyes and sat up on the bed followed by Aethelu who was still chuckling to herself.
Aethelu invited him in.
He carried in his shopping booty and dropped it on the floor. There were many bags and they were all from the local big chain supermarket. Anais got the feeling that he was not as big on shopping for clothes as his younger sister Arcadia.
“I‘ll take my leave ladies.” August left, closing the door behind him.
Aethelu had a quick look in the bags and pulled a few items out, all different sizes.
“Not bad but I’m not sure about the colour.” She shrivelled up her nose at the green blouse she was holding in her hand. It looked perfectly fine to Anais who also started searching through the bags to find an outfit. She loved the feel of the designer dress and she knew she looked hot in it but it wasn’t hers and she didn’t like the idea that Arcadia could come back any second and accuse her of stealing a dress. She was careful not to touch Aethelu’s hand whilst they were going through the new clothes although she was secretly afraid she wanted to have that amazing feeling again. She eventually settled on the green blouse (which she suspected Aethelu would like if it had been red) and a pair of jeans which looked like they might fit. She also found a bag of underwear from which she extracted a bra and panties and a bag that contained two pairs of shoes.
She carried her haul into Arcadia’s bedroom and had one last look at herself in the mirror in this amazing dress before reluctantly stepping out of it into her new clothes. Thankfully, despite the blouse being a couple of sizes too big and the jeans needing a belt, the underwear, at least, was the right size.
She finished by up tying the shoes and headed back to Aethelu’s room through the bathroom. The bags were where she had left them on the floor but Aethelu had left the room. Looking out on to the corridor which was empty, she thought the best course of action would be to go downstairs and find Aethelu and August. She would then tell them that she was leaving and hoped they would understand. Even though they had kept her here against her will, she trusted them both enough to keep their word, believing that they would let her go. She followed the corridor to the top of the grand staircase and this time as she walked down slowly she looked more carefully at the paintings hanging in the entrance hall. There were thirteen of them, spaced equally throughout the hall. Now she knew what she was looking for she quickly picked out Aethelu’s portrait. S
he was dressed in a very elegant old fashioned dress, probably Victorian, Anais guessed. It was as red as all Aethelu’s other clothes which made Anais smile. She must have had a love of red for a long time. A very, very long time. If the picture was indeed Victorian then it was well over a hundred years old. Paintings weren’t Anais forte but she was pretty sure she was right about the age of the painting.
The painting to the left of Aethelu’s showed two handsome young men identical in facial features but dressed very differently. One had a mischievous grin which caused dimples in his cheeks. His black eyes twinkled like those of his younger sister and the flecks of light she had seen in Aethelu’s eyes had been painstakingly painted in to the picture. His arm was casually draped around that of his twin brother. Despite having the same face, the brother possessed none of the sparkle. Standing tall and proud with a stiff expression on his face and well dressed with a top hat and silver lion topped cane. He was wearing a suit and looking at a fob watch. Raphael and what must have been his twin brother Alexander, Anais guessed. They both had the same white blond hair as Aethelu. Raphael obviously dyed his in this day and age, in an effort to appear more normal. Next came the same stunningly beautiful woman Anais had seen in the photos upstairs, this time with silver blonde curls elegantly coiffed and topped with an extravagant hat, which in itself was adorned with a peacock feather. Arcadia was wearing a corseted dress in the same peacock colour. She had a slightly haughty expression and was perfectly groomed in the highest fashion of the time.
August was next, he hadn’t changed a bit. The picture could have been painted yesterday. The clothes were obviously from an older time but he hadn’t dressed up for the sittings in the same way his siblings obviously had. He looked uncomfortable. Anais suspected he’d have the same expression if she pointed a camera at him today. In the painting though, he wasn’t wearing a hat and she could see the full glory of his bushy white blonde hair. It was longer than would have been fashionable in the Victorian era and stuck out at all angles. His beard was exactly the same as it had been when she had met him that morning. She wondered if he’d had the same haircut for hundreds of years.
