"They usually are very hard to notice especially with no light and the dark mansion. The creature that you saw," he said taking the gla.s.s away from her, "Do you feel like running away?" he asked it nonchalantly.

"I wouldn't be able to get that far if I ran," she answered knowing far too well of her status and the kind she belonged to.

"You're right," he agreed, "With the wolves, ghouls and the guards. I wouldn't be able to a.s.sure that you would come out alive. I don't mean to scare you," but he was scaring her, "You do know I will keep you here the whole night until you start talking."

Vivian stared at him, her hands clutching the part of the skirt that was on her lap.

"Those things..." she started referring the creatures, "Are they your pets too?"

"The ghouls? No, they aren't my pets. Tell me, Vivian, do you see things?" he asked coming straight to the point. Her body turned cold and her face paled. Instead of being furious his eyes lit up in fascination, "What did you see?" he asked curiously.

"You killed your father," she whispered in the silence with only the sound of fire crackling coming from the other side of the study room. Red eyes narrowed at her, watching her with unmoved emotion.

"My," Lord Nicholas finally chuckled before his expression turned dark, "Should I kill you for what you have discovered?" There was no doubt that if the Lord wanted her dead by now she would have been lying cold on the ground but she was still alive and breathing which meant he was still testing her, "Or maybe spare it this time, after all, you did answer all my questions to the edicts. You know I won't kill you," he gave her a smile.

'Why did you kill your father?'

That was a question she wanted to ask but she didn't dare to. He already knew that she had found out about the way the previous Lord had died to be false. Why would someone kill their own family? It was something she just didn't understand.

"Have you always been able to see?" he interrogated her.

"No," she answered before realizing he was waiting for her to explain. She cleared her throat, "It's been happening since we went to the snow castle...Just three-four times."

"You touch a person and see their past?"

Vivian thought about it carefully before she answered to his burning questions, "I don't think it works on people. It's mostly objects."

"Hmm," he hummed in concentration, "You are a rare kind. A gift like yours could be utilized for great achievements if used well. Does Leonard know about it?" very slowly she nodded her head to a yes.

Seeing him not ask any further questions she asked him, "Can I go back to the room, milord?"

Lord Nicholas observed the girl as if she had been brought in for one of his experiments he would like to test and try during his free time. For her to be able to see something by barely using the sense of touch, he was curious about her lineage. But then the gifts an individual possessed, it wasn't in respect to the family one came from.

He then realized something. Leonard had begun investigating on the second lord's mansion since his return. The girl must have seen something there for him to look into the history of the deceased lord.

In the pureblooded families, it wasn't uncommon for a vampire to have superiors powers than the rest, a gift that could be a boon or a bane. Not everyone was gifted though, it was very few and if one did possess it they never spoke of it. He had never heard of anyone to have an ability such as this.

"I hope you don't utter the words of what you saw today, milady," he warned her with a smile before giving her a nod indicating she could go back, "And don't worry about the ghouls. They mean no harm, not unless I want them too," he smiled kindly.

By the time Vivian got back to the room, she had begun packing the little number of things that she had brought to the Rune mansion. She couldn't wait for Leonard to arrive the next morning. She was glad that Lord Nicholas hadn't asked her further questions. She kept the lantern close to her with her eyes wide open sitting on the bed with fear of the creatures, whom Lord Nicholas called as ghouls would enter her room.

Thinking about the tall, dark and ragged hooded creature she couldn't believe she had slept the last two nights without knowing what was lurking in the mansion! Who would have guessed for something inhuman to non-vampire kind to be hiding in these dark corridors of the mansion.

As hard as Vivian tried to stay awake, when the lantern ran out of oil in it her eyes had begun to droop and she fell asleep to the lullaby of the clouds.