32

After the brief conversation with Drax Ari had been escorted back to the room they were keeping her in. He had not clearly stated exactly what he expected from her, but he was not pushing demands on her either at this time. The others in the house did not speak to her or bother her as they had walked down the hall.
The moment the door had shut and she felt alone the tears came crashing through. Seeing Mika touch another an anger welled up inside her. *Jealousy I suppose.* she thought. But she forced herself to replay the scene over and over. She **felt** Mika in that direction, she felt her heart break, but she felt something more now. She could still tell a general direction where Mika was.
*Is it possible that I have been played?* she thought. She knew they'd be listening to her and she had to keep up the rues if she was going to get a chance to flee. *He is my fated mate. I know he wouldn't have done this to me, to us.* She replayed it again removing her emotions from it this time. From every angle the man was Mika, from the tip of his head to his toes.*Wait!* she gasped realizing the image showed regular nail beds. Mika had dipped his in silver in preparations for this fight. they were permanently dyed now. *It was an illusion.* relief flooded through her. She knew Mika would never have done such a thing. Her heart felt as if it had received life saving shocks as it fluttered back to life.
Now that she felt safe knowing that the Mika scene was a lie she began to wonder what else was a lie. *If he can make me see things like that, what else is he distorting?* she shuttered at the thought. *I'm gonna have to play along, making the trickster believe I believe his lies.* she breathed letting out a sniffle. After what felt like hours a knock came to the door. Ari got up from the incredibly soft bed to answer. A tall thin girl of 17 maybe 18 years old, with long black hair was on the other side. She had a very large bucket in hand, and had several other females holding two buckets standing behind her.
"Master Drax thought you would like a chance to clean. “They entered with out Ari's invite and began pouring the steaming water into the tub. Ari watched them warily. The one who had knock stepped forward as the others continued to fill the tub. “Don’t fret Master Drax has given strict orders. I am here to *assist* you. My name is Trix." she said with a hint of resentment in her voice. Ari did not respond but she kept watching every movement they made. A shorter girl, maybe no less than 15 years old stepped into the room. She had black hair much like Trix but hers was pulled back in a tight bun. She looked pale and thin, not at all beautiful like trix. The girl did not make eye contact. She raised a small wooden tray up for Ari to examine. Atop sat various herbs and flowers. "What would you like in your bath ma'am?" Trix asked. Ari picked up each one sniffing and feeling the brittle herbs crushing under her finger tips. They were normal herbs that one would put in a bath for relaxing, lavender, chamomile, jasmine, hops, meadowsweet, roses, mint, orange blossoms, sage, rosemary, stinging nettle, and a root of ginger even was placed for inspection. Ari played dumb. "They all smell so good. Which would you suggest?" Trix smiled sweetly and began her selection. "Well I do believe these would be lovely for you. The hops and the rosemary will help energize you. But the stinging nettle and the grated ginger will help refresh your skin. The jasmine also will leave such a sweet smell in your hair." Ari nodded. "Thank you. They do sound lovely.' Lie.
*Lies ever bit of it. the hops and rosemary are used to relax and help someone sleep. The stinging nettle and grated ginger are used for blood circulation.* The only truth Trix told Ari was that the jasmine would in fact smell lovely on her. Ari noted that Trix was not one to trust, but that truly wasn’t a surprise as none of the bloodsuckers as far as she was concerned could be trusted. Ari allowed them to help her into the bath and had the herbs. Now that she was aware what they would be using she be more open to over riding the herbs. As for the blood circulation -not really much that can be done for that. She sat in the tub soaking while the others had left her. She plotted and thought again of Mika. *Come to me.* she wished. What she would give to feel Mika next to her again. A candle light flashed on her piece of mirror and she grabbed it looking at herself.
So much had happened to her and for so long she had been covered in mud or dirt that sometimes she forgot she might actually be pretty. A knock on the door and Trix with the little girl came in as before. Head down not saying a word. She shuffled around the room bringing in a long cotton white gown. Ari brought the mirror up to see the girls working behind her. Trix was talking about getting her comfortable and wanting to showing her the grounds. She was talking so fast but was not looking at Ari. Ari raised her little mirror and angled it just so she could see Trix working behind her. She wanted to know if this bitch was going to stab her or come from behind with a bite. Instead what she saw in the mirror startled her. The well present woman appeared almost starved, stringy hair, her skin was not pink but a grey blue. Her perfectly shaped nails in the mirror looked like broken crooked skeleton fingers. She looked horrible, ugly even. Ari gasped making her cover her mouth and dropping the mirror in the water. "Did you say something?" Trix asked over her shoulder as she fixed the bed.
"No, um just relaxing. I feel like I could just keep relaxing and take a nap." Even though Ari wasn't looking in the mirror she could almost hear trix's grin. "Of course I will let Master Drax know." she shuffled out of the room leaving the little one behind. She was busy replacing candles and not paying Ari any mind. She pulled the mirror from the water and brought it up to see this girl. Nothing she looked completely human. *Huh?* She was exactly the same but Trix certainly wasn't. *Okay she must be a human they feed on.* she guessed. She felt so bad for her then. "hey." she whispered to the girl. She slowly looked up at Ari with a blank expression. "Are you okay?" Ari asked in a hush whisper. The girls face relaxed and she almost looked as if her eyes glazed over, "Yes of course. I am very good." she squeaked. "No really, are you okay?" Ari insisted. The girl giggled and gathered up her supplies. "I am very good. Master takes very well of me. I am blessed to be in his service. And you are blessed he has chosen you. We are all so happy to have you." she nodded her head before slipping through the door.
*Fucking creepy.* Ari thought. The girl had left the door open and Ari wondered how fast she could get back down stairs again. Probably not a good shot as she had tried it once before. She needed to see the grounds. She stepped out of the tub and had just pulled the gown on when Trix entered the room again. "You know I would like to take that tour now if you don't mind. It'll help me to relax and rest." Irritation flashed over her face for the briefest of moments. "Of course you can. Come with me."