Elizabeth and the Vampire's Cabin Read Free Page A

the backyard. The backyard was a beautiful
Japanese garden and tiki torches were lit throughout to lend some ambience. The
garden was empty as all the guests had decided to enjoy the warmth of the
inside of the home.
    “You
were perfect,” he said breathlessly.
    “Let’s
go outside,” she suggested.
    Arthur
nodded his head vaguely. He was speechless. He looked like he couldn’t believe
what was happening. She was finally opening herself up to him. After all these
years, this was his chance.  
    Elizabeth
led Arthur to a small bench in the garden. She glowed under the tiki torches.
Nearby, he could hear the rustle of the coy pond where there was a small
waterfall. The music from inside drifted out to them. They were playing
Wonderwall by Oasis. Conditions seemed perfect for him to finally make a real
connection with Elizabeth. Then he looked down and saw her bloodied big toe.
The nail looked broken. She had on beautiful golden slippers cradling her
otherwise pristine feet. He couldn’t believe he had so badly marred those
delicate feet. Arthur leaned towards her with trepidation. In the background,
they heard the song lyrics, “Today was gonna be the day but they'll never throw
it back to you/By now you shoulda somehow realized what you're not to do/I
don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now.” 

    “You
were perfect on the dance floor,” he said reverently.
    Elizabeth
gazed at him with total comfort. She was unafraid and felt no shame in his
forward behavior towards her.
    “I
have a good ear for music. Also, my body has been trained since childhood to be
well coordinated. Austin made sure of that. He needed me to be able to go
hiking, hunting, and fishing with him. Sometimes, the terrain would get pretty
rough. You don’t want to lose your footing on a cliff for example.”
    Arthur
was shocked into silence. He had never before seen her volunteer so much
personal information. She also never spoke about herself or other people.
Instead, she generally chose to speak about her hobbies and other things
unrelated to humanity. She had left him nonplussed.
    “It’s
nice out here in the garden,” he said dully. He was coming off as more bored
and disinterested than he wanted to, but that was just because he was exerting
so much energy in staying calm. He could feel his heart pounding.
    “Does
that mean you’d rather stay out here with me instead of going back inside?”
Elizabeth asked. Arthur paused.
    “Yes,”
he managed meekly. “Are you really going on this trip? Or are you just
pretending to rebel against Austin?”
    “Of
course I’m going,” she said indignantly. “It’s all paid for. The arrangements
have been made for a long time. I can’t just cancel now at the eleventh hour.”
    “I
can’t believe he will actually let you go by yourself. I know it’s not my
business, but I have to say something.”
    “It
finally happened. I rebelled against him and said I wanted us to do what I want
to do for a change. He wanted to go to Texas to be with his fiancé, and I
wanted to go camping on a deserted island. We argued for about a week before we
finally came up with a compromise. He’s going to see me off. He’ll give me his
full blessing, make sure I’m all packed with everything I need, and instruct my
wilderness guide to regularly check in on me on the island. Then he will leave
for Texas. At the end of about three months, I will join him just in time for
his wedding. This is actually the first time that we’ve ever wanted to do two
completely different things. But, I’m eighteen now, so I can do whatever I
want.”
    “I
just don’t understand why Austin won’t go with you! He always takes these kinds
of extravagant trips. It doesn’t make any difference to him if he spends a
summer camping on a beautiful island. He could even take his fiancé with him.”
    Elizabeth
had never met Austin’s fiancé: a wealthy heiress from Texas named Alex. Heiress
to what, Elizabeth