Chapter 5

Or

New introductions

*previously in Coup D'Etat

"Rumor says that when you stare at a vampire, they can take your soul," he said with a devilish smirk. "You'd better not stare too long or I may just eat yours."

…

…."Respect isn't the same thing as fear Caroline." I was impressed he remembered my name. "Every one of you walks on your tiptoes for those things… It wasn't meant to be this way."

I thought of my father, William Forbes, who died for a revolution who did nothing for the human race except kill a couple vampire families. I thought of my mother, a newlywed who probably only wanted a family and freedom. I don't even know if they have parents, if I have grandparents somewhere out there. "No," I told him. "They weren't."

He walked towards me and grabbed the clothes I set down by my fingertips. "But what're we supposed to do? We're human and only human," I muttered, not really expecting an answer. The heat from his body left as he walked back to the other side of the room with his clothes.

"You're right," he responded as my voice faded out. "We are only human. But there are more of us than there are of them."

I wonder if that's how Bill Forbes spoke to the uprising. It must have been amazing to listen to such a confident man who wanted to bring change for us. Everyone I know had their heads lowered towards our owners who claim we have freedom.

"Breakfast is at nine," I told him as I walked back to the door. "You shall be dining with Lord Stefan and—"

"Please don't call them that." He changed his shirt, not bothered that we were in the same room together. I turned around and concentrated on the designs on the walls, trying to ignore his indecency. "They aren't Lords," he said behind me. "They're creatures who think they deserve to be at the top of the food chain."

"You shouldn't—"

"Say things like that?" he huffed what I assumed was a laugh. "Please, I'm not afraid of them."

I turned around and strutted towards him annoyed by his pompousness and ignorance. "Well maybe you should be!" I was surprised he survived this long. If any undead heard him speak like that, they would send him to the blood banks without second thought. "You're acting like you're better than them, like they have no authority over us. You're obviously not a vampire." I wanted to shove him so hard right then to prove how weak he actually was. "So keep your head down and stop saying things like that."

"Don't you know why I'm here?" He said almost too calmly.

I looked him over, trying to figure him out. His wrists were still red and he was so tan he had to have worked outside a lot. "You're a guest to the," I corrected myself from saying Lords this time. "Salvatore brothers."

"A guest who comes in chains?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

I tried to remember what he said the first day.

"These are silver handcuffs, Caroline. I'm allergic to them. They're meant to bind my hands together because I won't fight to get out of them. The truth is, I'm a prisoner. And according to him, these handcuffs are enough to protect you from me."

He smiled as if watching the wheels turn in my head and rubbed his wrists again. Elena would hate how forward he was towards me. She and I were raised to keep our heads down and smile politely, make small talk, stay out of trouble and keep away from danger. The most I ever talked with a guy was with Matt before he left for his internship from the town over.

I know I should feel threatened by this Lockwood person or intimidated in some way, but I wasn't.

"Why did you say that I needed protection from you?"

He let the question hang in the air without an answer. I walked over to the door taking his silence as my leave and let him know when breakfast was.

Bonnie was his escort that morning, and had a mouthful to say about him at lunch. "He is the most peculiar person I've ever met," she stated in the corner of the kitchen. It was so busy in there, I didn't know how we managed to stay out of the way or that the cook tolerated us.

He was a very preserved man who made little or no eye contact, the cook. He was so focused on his work that when he spouted orders to the rest of the people in the kitchen, it was like breathing air. It was interesting to watch how in sync everyone was with one another.

If Bonnie hadn't known him so well, I would have felt intimidated by walking through his territory, let alone ask him to make me anything to eat.

"I don't get it," Continued Bonnie in her near epiphany. "And no one knows why he's here. Miss. Greene only told us that he's our guest, but he doesn't say anything."

"He doesn't?" I asked. We must have been talking about two different people here.

"Well I mean he grunts. How was he like with you when he got dropped off?"

She eyed me while I took another bite of my sandwich. I felt like if I didn't answer correctly she would think I was hiding something, as if there was something to hide.

I looked around the room wondering how many conversations the workers in here overheard. That must be how rumors started.

"Hey!" A loud voice said joining us. I should be used to it by now, but I wasn't.

With a squeak of wood against marble floor, another person joined us at our small table. "Matt, have you been introduced to Bonnie?" I asked pointing to my friend.

"Matt Davis," he said taking her hand and kissing the top of it. I didn't remember him being such a flirt. "Rick!" he called out to the cook. "Can I please have my usual?"

The cook got to work as another thing was added to his order.

"Why is it so busy in here?" I asked. "It's not like the Salvatores actually…you know…eat." They fed.

"They treat us well, here," Bonnie said stiffening her spine. Her stance changed as she raised her head and put her shoulders back, almost as if offended. "Rick Saltzeman isn't just a cook, he's a well known chef and Stefan wanted to find someone who will feed his employees well. Rick gives us good, healthy meals for any honest person here. Do you know how many people actually work here?"

I shook my head, becoming more educated with this place and took another bite of my sandwich. Matt sat there rolling his shoulders. I wonder if he'd already heard this story.

"There are gardeners, laundry women, Vampire Knight—"

"Vampire Knights?" I interrupted.

"Of course. Every vampire royalty has them. They don't want another Killer Bill around their neck of the woods, do they?" Bonnie asked.

I saw Rick shift his eyes between us while he threw some more dirty dishes in the sink. I smiled at him politely before focusing on Bonnie again.

"Killer Bill?" I asked.

"William Forbes," Rick said loud enough where nearly half the kitchen heard him. Everyone quieted their steps as if William's name resounded a certain control over them.

Some eyes flew to one another. Whether any of us realized it or not, we all had our heads down. So few of us in here were old enough to have known him. Most of them were kids when Bill was hung, and I was a baby. But William Forbes, I guess, had a special hold in everyone's heart, even if they weren't his daughter.

A tea kettle went off from the stove and a few of us jumped. It wasn't until I looked at the clock that I nearly lost my appetite. It was twelve and I was supposed to have met Miss. Greene in her office so we could go over the afternoon schedule.

As much as I wanted to know about the father they were talking about, I could lose my job if I didn't meet her at the proper time.

I took one more bite before running off. Litterally.

The bottom of my dress that usually hung right above my knees was hitting people as I rushed for the door and swayed when I rounded the corner to the hallway. Some people were up ahead, going to the kitchen where they were going to enjoy a meal of their own and I raced up two flights of stairs.

Without thinking, my feet led me to the fabricated walls and warm smell of vanilla as I entered Miss. Greene's room.

I barely caught my breath when I realized she and I weren't alone in her office.

I was still huffing, wishing that my dress hadn't felt so tight and trying to adjust the white ribbon in my hair so it wouldn't tangle with the bonnet I had to wear. It was the last part of my outfit that I put on for my work attire every morning.

Miss. Greene's eyes widened as if a herd of stampeding elephants were following me. Her guest, however, seemed amused by my entrance.

"Miss. Gilbert," Miss. Greene said between grounding teeth. "Please learn to knock before coming in. I will meet you out in the hallway in just a moment."

"Yes, Ma'am," I whispered. I was still trying to catch my breath from fear of her and adrenaline of my run.

"Nonsense, Alison, you and I are done here."

"But Stefan," Miss. Greene said paling. I mirrored her action. This was the first time I had and encounter with Stefan Salvatore in person. I couldn't believe Miss. Greene called him by his name without any of his rightful titles. "We still haven't gone over next month's arrangements, who will be visiting later this week, when Damon will be visiting Lord and Lady Allies of other courts, what you will do with Tyler Lockwood, not to mention." She stopped as he held his hand up.

His smile seemed so genuine, as if talking with a dear friend, but there was no way he understood the term 'friendship'. "Alison, you worry too much. You need to go home, visit your family, enjoy yourself. If not for yourself, then for me. You do too much for my brother and I, and I won't have it that you waste away in this room."

"It's not waste Stefan, you know that." She clutched at the locket I never realized she wore until then. Had she always had it? "And without this room, you would have no way of reaching the outside world. When will you let this town have phones?" Her brows furrowed in a glare. "I'm tired of sending letters out to every city for your parties."

They were beginning to sound like my parents when my mother argued about Papa playing too roughly with Jeremy. He would throw him in the air when he was a baby. Of course Papa argued that Jeremy loved it, and deep down, Mom knew he wouldn't drop my baby brother.

"Fine, Alison, for you I will think about it. We'll let the town vote."

She huffed and crossed her arms as he stood to leave. She was beginning to act like a teenager throwing a tantrum. "I'm tired of the town votings. They take too long. Besides, they want it. They want a revolution. They're getting antsy. They need change." Her voice grabbed youthfulness in her rant and her deep aged sound was beginning to leave. "I need change. I'd like to drive something, not ride I would love to hear other people's voices instead of waiting for weeks of reply via postage stamp. Tyler Lockwood should have been here a month ago, not a few days ago."

"Alright, alright," he said giving in. Was this how they always conversed? Him letting her talk with such an impertinent tone, and he replying as if a parent giving in to a child. "Damon and I will come up with an agreement and let the people vote."

He walked over to the door, careful not to interrupt me in my stance as he gracefully slid past me into the hallway.

"I want that phone!" Miss. Greene yelled her point again. I'd never thought she could raise her voice like that, let alone to the Lord. There's no way I could continue working here if that's how I spoke. If anyone back home spoke like that, we would all be sent to the banks.

She quieted down just as quickly as she got riled up and sat back in her chair waving me in. I guess she forgot to stay mad at me with her other problems twirling in her thoughts. "Caroline, your evening is cleared."

I stood by one of the chairs as she twirled a ring on her index finger and shuffled through the endless papers on her desk. Her voice was back to its deep calm sound. I didn't realize how serene it could be compared to her normal rugged voice and continuous glare she had to anyone looking at her. "Lady Branson is unable to make her visit today and will be coming later this week. Find a way to keep yourself occupied or find work elsewhere. Just do something to stay out of the way. You will meet me in my office tomorrow at seven." She looked up at me, her steely gaze fixated on how annoying I appeared to her. "You are dismissed."

I almost reached the threshold when she called out my name again. "Do knock before coming tomorrow, and please, be on time."

I nodded respectfully, biting my tongue.

I had my entire evening free. I could do anything!

I could walk around the home, get more used to it, help Elena with her work, or Bonnie even. I could even go visit Jeremy in the hospital…that is, if he was still there. They should have a room personally for him for all the times that he's been in and out of there.

I went back to my room, debating what to do.

"Care. Caroline, wake up."

It wasn't until my eyes shifted open did I see the clock on the wall telling me it was eight at night. "You've got to be kidding me!" I hissed.

Elena was taking off her shoes and running her fingers through her hair to get more comfortable. "Didn't you have to work tonight?" she asked placing her hair ribbon in the drawer.

"I had it off. Gah, this is so irritating. I can't believe I fell asleep! I could have gone to visit Jeremy!"

"Well at least you got some rest. Bonnie asked if she could stop by later, I hope that's ok."

"Yeah, that's fine. How was your end of the maid's service?"

"Damon Salvatore is an absolute pig," she laughed shakedly. "Care you should see his room. It was disgusting. I hope I never have to deal with cleaning it again. And if Stefan Salvatore is anything like him, I think I'll have to quit. Oh and then the garbage."

I sat on the edge of my bed piecing his room with his personality. Damon Salvatore seemed so cold to me earlier with his precipice stance, surely his room couldn't have been worse. "What do you mean by garbage?"

"Well Vivian." She looked at me. "Another maid, calls them garbage, but really, I feel for them. I shouldn't call them that; I can't believe I even said it."

She went quiet. "Elena, what happened?"

"They were his food. They could have been human, they could have been vampire, but two women were in his room asleep, with bites in different places." She bit her own lip. My stomach wanted to hurl itself out of me.

"I mean they looked so peaceful, but what if they didn't want to be there? I've never heard of the Lord Salvatores being forceful, but," her voice drained to a stop.

We both sat, thinking about that type of life style when Bonnie knocked on our door before entering. "Hey you two." She came closer and sat on a nearby chair. "Is everything ok?" It's like puzzle pieces came together in her head. "Vivian said you helped with the 'garbage' today. Is that what this is about?"

"How could they want that?" I never heard Elena talk with such mourning.

"It's their job," Bonnie explained shrugging her shoulders. "They hope it's a way to prove to that they can become a vampire."

My mouth dropped. "They want that?"

"For some, they love the high behind being food, for others, it's the money. For the rest, it's their only way out of the lives they're stuck in. Sometimes home is worse than here." I thought of Bonnie who came here as an orphan. Maybe this was better than where she could have gone. Did she relate, or compare herself to them in that way? "Anyway, it's their choice. If they can get through it, they can become a vampire, and with it wealth and in a century, their own land. They'll be the owners of themselves. Who doesn't want that?"

Elena glanced at me. To be completely free would be refreshing as unrealistic as it was. "How many times do the Salvatores change a human?" I asked.

"Stefan? Never. Damon, once maybe? Well not since sixteen or seventeen years ago." She took a deep breath. "So what's Tyler like? He's so mysterious. We don't get many male guests, let alone in chains. Is he human?"

"We're human and only human."

"You're right," he said. "We are only human."

"I guess. But he doesn't seem afraid of vampires like the rest of us. He actually seems defiant of them."

"Maybe he's the next Killer Bill and they want to stop him before he acts out and kills a Family," Bonnie suggested.

I sucked in a breath. I could feel Elena watching me before turning back to our friend. "What did you meant when you said sixteen or seventeen years ago?"

"You know, when Killer Bill went loose."

"Can you please not call him that? He was a human being. He had a name." My voice came out harshly like a staccato. "William Forbes."

Bonnie stared at me, examining me with sorrowful eyes. It was almost like she knew my secret. I shivered. "Of course. Sorry. Seventeen years ago, William was attacking Families, so Vampire Lords and Ladies had to find a way to protect themselves. They turned humans to become vampire bodyguards, or the proper term now as 'vampire knights'. They didn't earn the right to own land, merely serve their makers. Some of them are still around, but others were killed off after William was, well, killed. As far as I know, the Salvatores have theirs around still, but I rarely run into any of them."

"I'm tired of all this talk," Elena said perking up on her side of the bed. "So who do you think is more attractive? Lord Damon or Stefan?"

I looked at her, mouth dropped and Bonnie began a giggling fit. She looked so much younger. "That was the last thing I thought would come from your mouth!" Soon we were all laughing. It was nice. We stayed up making jokes and catching up for the years we missed each other.

Hope you liked it. Again, lemme know your thoughts, they are very much appreciated! My cousin is in boot camp for the marines and we just got letters from her. I was excited to read them.

Be yourself, no matter what people say, and never change unless for the better! Happy weekend!