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Chapter 2 Opening her eyes, she did not expect to see a bear….but there it was…a bear. Slowly she realized it was a painting. Which raised the next question…where was she? Looking around, she found her self in a large canopy bed. The painting of the bear was probably a hundred years old, and it was probably the newest thing in the room. Everything looked very dark, wooden and somewhat Transylvanian…ok…she thought….I’m in a Dracula movie… Getting out of bed, she caught sight of herself in the full length mirror that stood in the corner of the room. She was wearing a floor length white silk nightgown….she had to admit, it was very comfortable. Her feet were cold, though….looking down she was surprised to see the floor was made of stone. There was an endtable at the foot of the bed…there was a pair of slippers and a bathrobe…surprisingly…or maybe not….the slippers fit. Opening the door she walked out into the hall. Painting lined the walls in both directions…to her far right she saw what looked like the head of a staircase, so she took a right and headed down the stairs, only to find an old lady who looked like something off of Masterpiece Theatre waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs… “Good morning, Miss Campbell…Did you sleep well?” “Yeah, I guess…excuse me, where am I?” “Why…you’re at Wyndemere…”… “In the middle of the lake….why…” “Master Nikolas carried you in last night, and told me to make sure you were looked after. He said he would be here to meet you for breakfast…” “He carried me….guess I fell asleep…..well, Ms…” “Landsbury, miss…’ “Ms. Landsbury….where are my clothes?” “They are being laundered, Miss Campbell. Master Nikolas wished me to inform you that he’s taken the liberty of informing Mrs. O’Lear that you stayed with Ms. Webber last night. He has also provided you with clothing for the day….it is in the closet in the room in which you awoke…In a door off of that room you will also find a bath of which you can avail yourself. Breakfast will be ready as soon as Master Nikolas arrives.” “You mean he’s not here..?” “No, Master Nikolas lives on the mainland….he should arrive in ¾ of an hour…” Great, she thought….I’m stuck in a weirdo castle in the middle of the lake. Heading back up the stairs, she took a few minutes going through the rooms until she found the one with the messed up bed…if had taken any longer, she’d have never found it because there was a chambermaid already making the bed.. “Oh, please excuse me, Miss Campbell….so sorry…would you care for me to draw you a bath?.” “Uh….yeah…thank you, …”…She realized she was talking to air, the maid was already filling the tub.. She almost fell asleep in the tub, it
felt so good….the maid had put some sort of something in the water….it
almost felt like she was bathing in milk…. She almost jumped out of her skin. She opened her eyes to see Nikolas standing there smiling his head off with the biggest dimples she’d ever seen . Ok, Gia….get some composure here…. “Yes, actually…it’s divine…” “Well, breakfast is almost ready. And I will start without you…” “Go ahead….I never asked you to get breakfast for me..” “Well, you never asked me to get you back to shore, but I’ll do that too..” “I didn’t ask to be in this mausoleum, you better take me back to shore…” “I couldn’t exactly knock on Mrs. O’Lear’s door and leave you on the doorstep, now could I?”… “You could’ve woken me up…” “The launch to Wyndemere was right there, and it was just simpler…” “Ok, Ok…now get out of here before I stand up out of here and have to watch your jaw hit the floor…” “…eh….yeah, whatever…I’ll see you down stairs..” With that, he turned and walked out. She had to admit, if he had picked out the dress himself, he had great if somewhat old fashioned tastes in clothes. In the closet, she had found a white mid-length dress that was somewhat sixties mod, with a wide black belt hanging beside it. There were even some calf high white boots in her size. The heels were a bit high to suit her, but she suspected Nikolas had chosen the outfit to suit his tastes, not hers. Fine, she’d look good anyway. Then again, he probably knew that. Mrs. Landsbury showed her to the terrace where a breakfast spread bigger than anything she’d ever seen was laid out. Nikolas was on his cell phone….. “He did what?….oh…no I’ll take care of it……thanks…tell me if there’s any news…really ? That changes a few things…okay well call me you hear anything else” Looking up he saw Gia…his mouth dropped…he found himself staring at how the dress hugged her hips…. Gia was amused by the attention, but she thought she should stop his reverie before he embarrassed himself…“Hey…you can quit drooling now” “ Oh hey, I didn’t know what you liked, so I had Mrs. Landsbury make a few things….” “Looks to me like you killed a few pigs there’s so much here…” “No….at least I don’t think so” “I was kidding…” “Oh….” “Anyway…Who was that on the phone…Did you hear anything more about Emily.?” “No….your mother’s fine, though..” “She is?…How’d you find out? You didn’t tell Marcus where I was, did you?” “No…I didn’t….I actually called Bobbie….Lucky’s aunt….she’s a nurse at GH….I asked her to keep me posted…” “Good….so as soon as we’re done eating, you can take me back to Mrs. O’Lears…” “That might not be a good idea….” “And why not…?” “You were right. Juan spilled his guts….your brother had a squad car waiting for me when I got back to my cottage last night. I didn’t say anything but it was obvious Juan had. Your brother knows all about Mrs. O’Lear’s, too. That was Lucky on the phone. He’s been at the station trying to talk to Emily’s brother Jason. He called to give me an update, and he said there’s an APB out for you.” “You think he’d actually arrest me?” “You tell me…he’s your brother….but if the Quartermaines have anything to do with it….yes…” “Why, it’s your money...” “Is my money? So you still have it?” “Yeah….I was going to use it to pay my tuition at PCU…Mom can still think I’m using the scholarship for Columbia....…..now what am I going to do?” “Ever hear of student loans?” “Funny, you don’t look like the one at this table who would’ve had experience with loans. Until I’m older they need my mom’s credit information on any application I make…..Now what am I gonna do….I can’t exactly get the money from Mrs. O’Lear’s now. Now if I go back, I could get arrested by my own brother…” “Guess you should’ve thought of that before you blackmailed Emily….” “Oh gee thanks for the sympathy here…..” “No problem.” “Mmmm….this is good..” “Mrs. Landsbury’s orange marmalade….it’s the best…but slow down or you won’t leave any for me” “Oh like you can’t get it anytime you want. Maybe I’ll go swipe her jar from the kitchen before I leave…” “You could have it every morning if you stay…..” “Stay…what, here?” “Where else are you going to go?…If you go back to Mrs. O’Lear’s the police will get you…if you leave town, you’ll just worry about your mom…If you stay here, you can keep tabs on your mom and stay away from the cops” “Oh the cops don’t have boats, Mr. Super Genius? As soon as they get out here, all they have to do is scare your little Miss Havisham to death, and she’ll lead them right to me…” “There are miles of tunnels underneath the house you can hide in if need be. Besides, why would they come out here? They would have no reason to look for you out here. I live in town, and there’s no reason for them to think you even knew about Wyndemere. Even if they did, on this island, my word is law. If the servants are told to hide you, they will. Believe me, Cassadine servants have been called upon to do much worse…” “What, all the lowly peasants pledge their loyalty to King Nikolas?” “Prince, actually, and yes, they did, before I was even born…You want to do this or not…?” Gia didn’t like it, but she couldn’t think of anything better. “Ok, rich boy….if that’s the case, I’m going to need more clothes….and they had better not all be like this Nancy Sinatra getup…” Back to the: Library
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