“Sometimes is better to live in solitude, than to fall prey to a blind love”

  It was already past eleven when Eva finally went down the stairs. To dress Eva and to comb her hair didn’t take too long for the young maid, but as soon as Anna left the room, Eva felt terrified. She didn’t also know the reason, but something was yelling in her not to cross the threshold of that room, because she will lose her freedom, that outside there it was beginning the path to a dangerous world and that an unknown power was ruling there, and once caught in its whirlpool you will never be able to release yourself again.

  An unknown world that Eva wished she wouldn't ever meet. But what your mind is planning is not always related to what Heaven had planned for you, and Eva knew it well. She felt something similar on her skin during those years she spent in Stonebridge’s house and she also knew the well-known smell of death that keeps flying around in circles outside there. It’s like a hand of blackjack: if you have some luck you will manage to survive, if not you will be thrown out of the game or simply killed.

  But in what team, she was now, she didn’t know. She just knew that she didn’t want to be a loser. She was feeling it with every particle of soul, with every step taken forward, with every heartbeat that was puncturing through her chest. And she was happy. In a strange way, that void of the unknown drew her like a magnet to him and Eva thought that it had to be something that she would love in the end.

  Miss Bircham’s laugh was loudly heard coming out of the small boudoir on the ground floor. Someone unknown was making her laugh and for the first time, Eva felt jealousy. That someone, who was meant to be her first important meeting with life, he or she, preferred to spend precious time with this old Miss and not with her. That someone chose to forget about Eva.

  She was about to cry. Yes, Eva felt that the corner of her eyes became wet and her first thought was to run upstairs and to close herself in her room. Her hands clenched in a fist were biting hard from the soft skin of her palms. She felt waves of pain passing through her fingers while she was clenching her fists, but the muggy inside her chest was dizzier and soon Eva had forgotten that she was injuring herself.

  “Miss Stonebridge?” The soft voice of Anna was heard behind Eva. The young girl turned her head and saw the servant carrying a tray with tea and cookies. Only three cups were on that tray and Eva understood that Miss Christine was now alone with that stranger. A wave of hate and jealousy crossed again through Eva’s body. She was about to explode, to have a crisis of hysteria for the first time in her life, but breathing deeply she managed to keep it inside her.

  “Who’s the guest, Anna?”, asked Eva with half a voice. A strange temblor was felt while she was talking and Eva wished that it had been noticed only by her. She hated to be exposed or anybody else to know what was happening inside her and she forced herself to hide her feelings, and she learned to do it well since she was little. Till now she managed not to reveal her feelings to anybody, but she also didn’t know until she could keep the fire from her soul hidden.

  “I don’t know his name, but he seems to be someone important for Miss Christine”, had answered Anna and passed beside Eva heading toward the boudoir’s door.

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  “Loyalty”, a world suddenly crossed Eva’s mind. “Loyalty with that old Miss and not with her”. She understood that she was closed inside those walls and nobody was on her side. Once again Eva had been betrayed by fate and once again she’s on her own. She had lived something like this before but now was somewhat different: Eva was definitely alone facing this cruel world.

  “Come in, Miss Stonebridge!” Miss Bircham’s voice was heard from inside the boudoir. Christine saw Eva standing in the middle of the hall, through the opened door. Deeply breathing, Eva sketched a smile.

  “I’m coming, Miss Christine”, answered Eva trying to be as calm as possible. A step was taken in front of her, then another and one more. With every step taken, the inside of the boudoir was revealed.

  There wasn’t anything out of the normal. Only a room similar to any other room in that house. The difference was in those black curtains that were closed all year round and the furniture, style Louis-Philippe, which had been in vogue at the beginning of that century.

  Christine Bircham loved grandiose things. The furniture was one of her biggest weaknesses and somehow it was related to the French influence also. She never had the honor to spend time at the French Royal Court or to meet King Louis-Philippe, but she was aware that she was seeing nothing around if somebody else had something more valuable than she had. Being a king or wealthy person, all those who knew her would have never dared to buy something that was in Christine’s interest. They never knew what was making her so powerful, but they were afraid of her hatred. They could only whisper about the strange wave floating around her, but nobody could ever talk openly about it.

  Being only two steps from the door, Eva noticed the presence of a man in that room. The fact that he was relaxed while sitting in front of such an influential woman like Christine was a hint that they knew each other well and for a long time already. “Who can he be?”, thought Eva while continuing to advance. She could see only the feet of the man and part of his body, but she didn’t manage to see his face yet. “He must be someone really important”, Eva continued her thoughts while standing in front of the door. She stopped right before entering through the half-open door the moment she felt a thorn stabbing her heart. “What can it be?”, thought Eva while slowly breathing.

  It was something that she couldn’t explain. She felt that she knew this feeling before, but she couldn’t understand when it was. And that smell, that pleasant smell of jasmine and lilac flower… so fresh… so alluring. It couldn’t be the smell of a man, but it definitely was. But, where did she smell it already? Where did she feel it once more? It was like her heart was madly biting at her as if to get out of her chest and to run away, like a frightened bunny chased by the wind.

  The man stood and approached the door. Eva’s eyes stopped on the doorknob, caught the movement of the metallic door element heading down. Her breath was increasing. Her heart beats also. The anxiety was taking her into its claws and she felt like a prisoner. She wanted to run away, but she wanted to stay also. She would have wanted not to meet him, but she was also curious about who he could be. And in the end, they met each other… when the door was completely open and that man’s face was revealed, Eva could look into his eyes.

  “Brian Beneath”, whispered Eva barely heard. She was frozen in front of him, staring at those black demonic eyes so beloved by her. She was astonished. She was in love. She had fallen into his trap and it would last for long.

  “Nice to meet you again, Miss Stonebridge”, said Brian, this time, in a more familiar tone, while sketching a devilish hypnotizing smile. He knew that his purpose was reached and for the first time, after entering that house, Brian had forgotten about guilt. He was happy to meet Eva again and he was feeling like a teenager. It was something that he never planned, but it happened.

And a black aura covered them both.