Free Playing with Shadows by Kay Bond

Chapter 1:
    Nicola Burroughs swept her long auburn
waves back behind her shoulder as she climbed the steps before her.
She had a successful hunt and smacking her lips together, she sent
a smirk towards her sire and master. With dark eyes penetrating her
gaze, her sire inclined his head towards her in a show of respect.
Respect that he seemed to only show her most recently.
    “ You’ve done well despite
being so young,” Vlad Tepes murmured though she couldn't help, but
hear the pride in his voice. “Are you positive that you aren’t a
descendent of Cain?”
    Nicola giggled though she hadn’t done
that in years… not since she had been human and her parents had
still been alive. “It wouldn’t surprise me any more than it would
surprise me if you were Cain in disguise.”
    To her master, this was the highest of
compliments. Cain was not only the son of Eve and Lucifer, cursed
for all eternity for murdering his brother, but he was also the
father of the vampire line. Cain was the very first to
exist.
    Vlad shook his head though a slight
smile quirked the ends of his lips. “Oh you flatter me,
child.”
    “ It’s only because you're
easily flattered.” She responded naturally, her British accent
floating on the air as she pushed the doors to their home wide
open.
    The Romanian castle had been empty for
hundreds of years, but Vlad had acquired it about thirty years ago
when a stockbroker put it on the market in an attempt to get back
the thousands he had lost on purchasing it. The old castle had lain
desolate due to its bloody history until Vlad had approached as an
interested historian looking to preserve the residence. No one was
aware that Vlad was actually the original owner of the castle from
some hundreds of years before. He had come to regain his
birthright.
    The sight of familiar vampires and
ghouls walking the floors of the castle made Nicola smile. She'd
never felt truly happy until Vlad had made her a vampire and
brought her to his home. Living with him and his line gave her
everything she'd craved as a human but never got. She had respect,
understanding and in some ways, love. She had a family
here.
    Allowing her emerald eyes to sweep
across the faces surrounding her, Nicola noticed one of them didn’t
belong. He wasn’t even flesh. That fact alone shocked Nicola. Vlad
wasn’t partial to ghosts and would never have one as part of his
line let alone invite one into his home.
    Vlad didn’t seem to notice the spectral
creature and when she glanced at him, he looked as happy as he'd
been after feeding. As the ghost crossed their path, Nicola studied
it in interest. It was male and appeared to have been twenty five
or so when he had died. His clothing was strange to Nicola. She
dated the attire back to the 1500s and judging by the way he wore
the clothing, he was a laborer during those times. His curly blond
hair, or at least she thought it was blond by the lightness of it,
was pulled back into a low ponytail with a dark ribbon. From what
Nicola could see the ghost had been handsome when he was
alive.
    “ Insufferable vampires!” The
ghost mumbled to himself. “They are useless!”
    Confused, Nicola spoke up to the
spectral being before she could stop herself. “Is everything
alright?”
    The ghost’s eyes glinted her way for a
moment as if determining whom she was speaking to. It was then he
realized she was looking straight at him with an inquisitive look
on her face.
    Gesturing towards himself, the ghost
asked, “Are you speaking to me?”
    “ Who else would I be
speaking to?” Nicola asked seriously.
    The ghost glanced over his shoulder as
if to verify that no one was standing there talking to the vampire
before responding to her question. “You can see me?”
    Rolling her eyes, Nicola
glanced at Vlad for some confirmation that this was actually taking
place. He frowned at her expression. Her master looked as if the
situation was frustrating for him. For as short a time as Nicola
knew Vlad