Only in the Shadow's Darkness (Chp 8)

As he was told, Darien took us directly to the spare bedroom. He opened the door and stepped in. After a few steps in, he spun around around with his arms out as if he were trying to sell the place by showing how roomy it was. Roomy wasn't the only word to cover it. It wasn't bare, like the rest of the house. It was nicely decorated like the room in the basement. The walls were a soft shade of lavender. The curtains and drapes were a sort of olive color, giving the two colors a lovely sence of a nice wine. I was almost expecting to see a bottle placed on the bedside table. There was only a lamp. The king sized bed frame was made of dark oak, with elequently detailed posts. The sheets and pillows were a shade of crimson, but it still added to that rich wine look. There were two tall vanities for our clothes, had we had any to put in it. Again, there was a lone painting. It was one by Monet that I had recognized from books in high school. However, I couldn't put a name on it.

"Why is this room so much more decorated than the rest of the house?" I asked. I couldn't help it.

Darien let out a small chuckle and sat on the bed. "This was Frost's room some time ago. However, he didn't enjoy the decor too much after a while and he moved to the basement, where he said, and I quote, 'It feels more homey to me where there are no windows.' I thought it weird, since he used to be a city boy, but I didn't complain. He wanted the basement, he got the basement. We were going to change the room into something else, since it wouldn't be used. But Frost said not to. Maybe incase he changed his mind, but I don't know." He sighed.

"It's nice." Brandon said in a low voice, eyeing up a darkly shaded chair in the corner. He walked over to it and ran his hand along the lining before sitting on it.

"Well," Darien said, heading for the door. "I've done was I was to do. If you need anything, let me know."

"Wait." I said, and he stopped. "As Spike had predicted, I'm not tired at all. Would you mind showing me around? I'd do it myself, but I don't want to see something I shouldn't."

Darien nodded his head and opened the door. "Sure thing. Just three rooms I'd suggest not going in."

"Let me guess, basement, and wherever Angel and Spike sleep." He nodded. "Gotcha." I looked to Brandon. "Are you going to come?"

"No." He said in a tired voice. "Unlike you, I didn't get the pleasure of sleep while I tried to find you the past three days." He got up off the chair. "So I'm going to take them up on their offer of sleep."

"That's an interesting change of heart. Moments ago I had to stop you from going haywire on Spike."

He shrugged. He sat down on the bed and let his feet hang off the side. He could have rest them perfectly fine ont he floor, but he kicked them out like a little kid. I shook my head.

"Don't do anything stupid."

"Who me?" I gave him a hard look and he gave me his best smile. "I promise to be good, though I will sleep with one eye open."

"That's the Brandon I know." I said and I closed the door behind me as I stepped out into the hall with Darien.

"He still doesn't trust easily." Darien said, what seemed like, to himself.

"Not the bad guys, at least." Darien shook his head.

"He was always cautious of strangers. It took him a while to warm up to me. I'm surprised he still seems okay with me, since I'm working for vampires."

"I suppose you haven't given him a real reason not to trust you yet. So far, no betrayal."

"And there won't be." He said calmly. "These guys are good. I've seen them fight. I've seen them kill their own kind if it meant to save a weak human. They meant all they said." He stopped, even though it seemed like he wanted to press on. He let out a small sigh and pointed his arm down the long hallway. "Shall we start the tour in that direction?"

I shrugged. "Wherever you'd like to begin." He nodded and we walked down the long hallway. There were three other doors besides ours in the hall. The floor was wood, the walls a dirty white. Simple light fixtures hung from the ceiling, lighting the hallway to a comforting glow.

The first two rooms we came upon were across the hall from each other. The doors were closed.

"Angel." Darien said, pointing to the left door. "And Spike." He said, pointing the the right. I only nodded, though he wasn't looking. We didn't stop as we passed those doors and I was glad.

At the end of the hall was the final room. The door was open just a crack. Darien pushed on it and it opened slowly. It was a bathroom. White tiled floors with matching white tiled walls. It had a walk in shower to the right and an old tub that had little feet to the left. The toilet was behind a wall that was placed next to the walk in shower and diagonal from that was the sink and a little cabinet area. All was a polished white. It really didn't match the house by what I've seen so far, but it was a bathroom. No need to be all fancy in here.

"Nice." I said and gave a slight nod of my head.

"Yeah. It's really bright, when the sun hits it at that one angle, but why complain. When you gotta go, you gotta go."

I let out a small chuckle and we stepped out. He left the door open in case Brandon needed to find it. We figured he'd be smart enough to not open the closed doors first. We turned around and walked back down the hall, then downstairs. We walked through the living room with a simple comment by Darien stating that it was, in fact, the living room. I laughed at him as we walked to the far side of the room and into the next area. It was the kitchen/dining room. Being as it was, it was a large room. It had all the usuals, a fridge, a stove, a dishwasher, and a sink. There was a wooden square table in the middle of the floor with 4 chairs surrounding it. It had been stained a dark color, neary black. The chairs were the same.

"Kitchen area, but for obvious reasons, it is barely used. Why cook when blood is the real food?" He opened the fridge to reveal several pints of blood. "As long as it is fresh, it's okay." He sort of shuddered and closed the door.

"Better than killing innocent people." I said in a low voice. He nodded.

"You bet." We walked out of the kitchen and back into the living room. We walked beside the stairs, where Spike had been earler. Under the stairs was a closed door. I had recognized the area from when I had come running out of it earlier today.

"The basement." I said.

"Yup. Frost's room. Quite cozy."

"I woke up down there this morning." He blinked at me for a moment, then understood.

"You were poisoned, so they let you sleep there. Angel had told me. I was out of town, which was why I didn't come sooner." He shrugged. "Anyway. That's basically the house."

"Where do you sleep?" I asked.

"Usually, the room that you and Brandon are in. However, the living room has this pull out that is so very comfortable. I find myself prefering that more sometimes."

I only nodded, then brought up a question that's been bugging me for a while. "Weapons?"

"Excuse me?"

"There is no way they go fighting off vampires and demons with their own bare hands and your abilities. They must use weapons."

"Of course. We have a whole cabinet full. Swords, crossbows, guns, stakes, fancy little toys. All sorts of goodies."

"Where? I haven't seen this cabinet." I said.

"I'm sure you have." He said. "You just didn't know it."

I folded my arms across my chest and stared at him.

"Basement. The huge cabinet. I'm sure you have seen it. It's hard to miss."

It only took me a moment to picture it in my mind. I remembered it. I only assumed that whoever's room it had been was a lover of clothes. My bad.

"The basement isn't really a good place to hide them. What if there was an attack up here? You'd have to run downstairs to get the weapons then come back up. Not a good strategy."

He walked past me and went to the fire place. Where a few pokers were placed he pulled out a sword. He brought it out enough for me to see before hiding it again. He then walked to the table by the sofa and from under it pulled out a gun. He cocked it and flashed it around before putting it back.

"Clever." I said. He smiled at me, then pointed to a pile of firewood.

"And a few stakes in there. The good weapons are downstairs. But these will help hold them off, if not kill them, before we get a chance to get the better ones. Good of you to point that out, though."

"Hey, just cause I'm a girl, doesn't mean I don't know my stuff. I am what they call the Slayer, after all."

Darien just shook his head. "So much more." He whispered and he walked past me.