Forbidden Lies

10

Selena was finally outside, enjoying the crisp morning air and all the sounds it brought with it. She heard one or two crickets chattering about and several songbirds calling out to the morning sun. The landscape was impossibly green and adorned by huge sugar pines. Mrs. Allister had left Selena with the tiny bell, so she could ring it whenever she was ready to go in.

Selena sipped her coffee, which tasted like rich smokey maple wood. Black coffee wasn't her thing, but she did not feel like complaining. She couldn't complain, she was just a temporary guest there.

The warmth of the sun excited Selena, as if it was the first time in a very long time she had enjoyed it. Maybe a year sleeping in a bed inside a white room with only florescent light would make her body crave warm uv light.

Selena stretched her arms and closed her eyes. She relaxed into the chair and began to ponder on the very vivid dreams she had been having. Cassian and Ana meant something to her, but what? Was it all in her head due to trauma? Or did she actually know these two nocturnal creatures?

Her thoughts flickered back and forth from one memory to the other. First to the white-haired woman, Ana. Ana was possibly the most beautiful woman Selena had ever seen, but then again she could only remember the nurse and now the two maids. Ana had soft and sharp features about her, like a character from a fantasy novel. Her face was small and narrow, what Selena thought resembled an elvish look. Her body was tall and thin but her bust and hips were full enough that it was easy to see she was a woman. When Ana ran, her muscles were obvious, not to an extreme but to a hard elegance to them.

Ana's eyes were deep blue like a sapphire in the night, but they rippled a different color whenever the moonlight hit them. When the moonlight hit her eyes, the glimmer in them almost made them seem yellow. But when the bright light of the sun momentarily hit them, they turned impossibly black. Perhaps a defense mechanism.

Her white hair was darker than snow but not exactly grey. Ana had a natural beauty that most women nowadays are not blessed with. If she ever wore makeup, it would not enhance her beauty but lessen it. And under her phenotype, was a hardened interior. It is full of iron walls and caution.

Selena's mind then went to Cassian shortly after. Cassian was taller than most men, with proportionate limbs and defined muscles. His shoulder-lengh black mane complimented his sharp and hardened facial features. His face resembled that of an ancient Greek statue, very manly. His eyes were wild with passion and life, sometimes brown, other times black, but regardless, they always peered through the soul. His hands were bigger than normal men, and his fingers were not wide like you would think, but instead narrow and long.

Ana and Cassian were two beautiful beings, too beautiful to be human. And yet both had been human once. Selena wondered how old either one was. Ana had wisdom in her, earned through long years of trials, but how many years? Cassian was rash and impatient, acting like the age he had been before he was turned. Selena concluded that Ana had to be older than Cassian, much older.

Selena wanted to know where their story would go and why she dreamed of the two. She sat for another hour before she rang the bell.

Mrs. Allister helped her bathe and served her a hearty lunch before Selena requested to go back to her room. Mrs' Allister provided Selena with a few books in case Selena became bored.

Selena sat on the bed for a couple of hours, still contemplating the two characters of her dreams, when she heard a soft knock. She sighed but gave the person who had knocked permission to enter.

Callum slowly stepped into the room, but before he spoke he looked around the room. His eyes wandered to the dark drapes that kept the sunlight out.

"I hope I am not bothering you but I wanted to know how you are adjusting?" Callum finally spoke.

"Everyone has been wonderful. You have a beautiful home." Selena responded.

" Ah yes, the house. I have modernized it. The house always reminded me of a plantation house and I dreaded it, so I decided to change it. My mother wouldn't be happy, but to be honest she never was. The manor was her jewel and she wanted it to keep it as original as possible." Callum smiled.

"Well, you did a good job. If you ever sell it, it will go fast." Selena said.

"I would never. Although I am the last of my bloodline, perhaps it will sell after my death," he said softly.

"When Mrs. Allister gave me a tour of the house, I was told there was a garden. I am curious as to why no one can go see it?" Selena boldly asked.

A shine came over Callum's eyes and for a millisecond Selena swore they flashed yellow. Callum crossed his arms behind him and began to pace.

"It was for my late wife. I wanted to present her with something I thought resembled her beauty." He finally spoke.

"I am sorry to hear about her passing," Selena said awkwardly.

"It was a quick death but an unfortunate one. It shouldn't have happened. The garden was built before she died."

"She must have loved it." Selena said.

"She hated it." He responded sharply.

"Why?" Selena pressed.

"It is a garden made of dahlias. She despised the flower." Callum mildly chuckled.

"Why would you build a dahlia garden if she hated the flower?" Asked Selena.

"Because I liked them." Answered Callum.

Selena internally rolled her eyes. The garden was built for him, not for his late wife. But why would he do such a cruel thing?

"Since her birth and up until her death, many men had gifted her dahlias. She grew to despise them. 'All I ever wanted was roses', she told me. But there were never roses, only dahlias." A sadness came over his face but it was gone before Selena blinked.

"Sounds tragic." Selena said, not knowing what to say.

"What was her name?" Selena asked.

"Her name was Dahlia." He answered.