Life, Death, and Strange Encounters

When opening my eyes the next morning, I felt strangely refreshed, the night’s events put behind me. I looked to my left to see Isaac curled up beside me. He was adorable, sleeping like that. I let out a quiet sigh and got out of bed, deciding to take a long hot shower to soothe my aching muscles. It was still rather early in the morning and I didn't want to wake Isaac, so I had plenty of time to wash off the memories of the night before. I could honestly say that showering was my favourite part of the day. I just loved the feeling of hot water dripping down my skin and the smell of my shampoo. It was good to wash off all the worries and problems that I had encountered in the past weeks..

Magically, all thoughts of the night before seemed to vanish, to disappear down the drain. I felt free and much calmer. Jonathan didn't scare me anymore, he just seemed as a pathetic little boy who didn't get enough love from his whores and had to come and bother me. In a way, it was sad to know that his personality was so horrible and he was completely consumed by his egoistical and even evil ways. Still, more than being sad, I was rather disgusted by him. But I wasn't scared and that was a good thing.

When I had freed myself from the thoughts of Isaac's stupid twin brother, I started to think about Isaac himself and about my feelings towards him. I finally came to a conclusion: I loved him. There was no doubt about that anymore and frankly, I was tired of waiting for him to make a move. Granted, there was always the possibility that he just didn't like me in that way, but when I considered everything that had happened, it seemed unlikely. So, I decided to tell him I loved him, no matter the consequences. It was still a little early, but I was determined to do it when exactly two weeks had passed from the day we came to England. It was such a short time, but yet my feelings were as strong as if I'd known him for a year. A cold jolt went through my stomach when I thought about the important task ahead of me. I had two days. Nothing could go wrong in two days, right?

I sighed, trying to aleviate the looming nervousness, and dried myself off, wrapping a towel around me. Yet again, I had forgotten I didn't have any clothes in the bathroom. When I quietly entered the bedroom, I noticed that Isaac was still asleep, thankfully. I grabbed some undergarments and clothes and went back to the bathroom to change. I brushed my wet hair and left it to air dry, I also applied my usual make-up. Then it was time for me to make Isaac get up, I had let him sleep long enough. I jumped on my bed, scrawled on top of him and started poking him. Not a great way to wake someone up? I begged to differ. In my experience, it worked every time!

He groaned and opened his eyes warily, but when he saw my smiling form, a grin crept on his face and suddenly he gripped my waist and flipped me over, so that he was on top of me. What happened next was a few minutes of torturous tickling by the meanest guy alive. Of course, although I was screaming and laughing, trying to get him to stop, I didn't actually complain. Finally, he let me go and we both fell on the bed, panting. Him from making sure I didn't flee and me from laughing too hard and trying to free myself.

I laughed breathlessly and sneaked a glance towards him. Isaac was staring intensely back at me. "What do you say if we end this war and go have some breakfast?"

He smiled. "Great idea, darling. Not that I mind being in bed with you, but right now I'm rather hungry."

I jumped up. "Let's go then!"

He grabbed my hand and pulled me back on the bed. "Don't rush, love. I should go change before we go anywhere. I'm still wearing the clothes from last night."

I nodded and ushered him out. "I'll wait. Hurry up!" He nodded with a chuckle and closed the door behind him.

After about ten minutes, he reappeared, now dressed in some black ripped jeans and a blue t-shirt. I looked at him approvingly. "You look great in blue, you should wear it more often. Of course black is also amazingly sexy on you..." A second after I finished my sentence, I clasped a hand over my mouth. I did NOT just say that out loud! He started laughing. "Yes, you did say that out loud. But no worries, sweetheart, I'm glad you think black suits me. And I’ll try to wear blue more often." He winked and I blushed a deep red. Damn him and his... perfection!

Breakfast went by rather uneventfully. Natalie once again had the pleasure of feeding us privately, since normal breakfast had ended half an hour before we reached the dining room. She didn't mind, of course, and made us a delicious omelet with a fresh salad and some orange juice to drink.

When we were done eating, Isaac insisted that we go see the horses again. I was more than happy to accompany him. We thanked Natalie and made our way to the stables. Cinnamon was very happy to see us, it seemed. We were standing close to him, petting him, when he suddenly pushed me with his head so that I fell into Isaac's arms. I looked up into Isaac's eyes and then at Cinnamon, who was eying us with a knowing look. It made me chuckle. Isaac smiled and held me closer. "It seems Cinnamon doesn't want you to leave," he said after a while. "I'm glad," was all I managed to say.

A bit later, we made our way back to the mansion. Laughing, we ran the whole time, playing some strange version of tag. We made it back just in time for lunch. When we were eating, Lucy reminded me that I hadn't taken any pictures during our stay, which was a miracle since I normally didn't leave my camera untouched for more than a day. I was a complete photography freak. And now, it seemed that I hadn't touched the camera for almost two weeks! How was that possible?! I needed to change the situation. Without wasting any time, I hurried to my room and grabbed my camera. For the whole afternoon and evening, I ran around the mansion, annoying everyone with the constant flashing of my camera. It wasn't my goal to make artistic photos, but just to capture as much as I could: the amazing people I'd met and the amazingly beautiful home. I even snapped a picture of the ever-bitchy Helena while she was glaring at me. In the evening, when Lucy and I were laying on my bed and looking through the 700 pictures I'd managed to take, the one of Helena made us laugh so hard we had trouble breathing.

After our breathing had finally normalized, Lucy looked at me with a serious expression. "You know what I discovered?"

She earned a worried look. "What is it?"

"Every third picture you have is of Isaac. Did you notice?"

I blushed. "Um... No?"

Lucy sighed. "Darling, you're head over heels for him. I can see that. Are you sure everything's okay?"

"I have everything under control, don't worry. And I must say, he's amazingly photogenic." I winked and Lucy chuckled at my words.

When I went to bed that night, I was content. Things were going great and I was happy with my day. Even Cinnamon seemed to want Isaac and I to be together and I took that as a sign that everything would turn out fine. Maybe it was stupid to take signs from a horse, but what had happened in the stables was just another event in a long line of moments that seemed to strengthen my relationship with Isaac.

***

The next morning was full of surprises. I slept until 12 o'clock and had to hurry to breakfast. Lucy was nowhere to be seen and Damien seemed to be gone also. Actually, everybody I knew had disappeared for a strange reason unknown to me. Since I was left utterly alone, I had nothing better to do than just shuffle along the corridors and try to find entertainment.

On my way to the library, I bumped into Nathan, the guy from our trip to the club. He was puzzled to see me. "Didn't you go with them?"

I raised my eyebrow. "Go where with whom?"

"Lucy and Damien, of course."

I brightened up in an instant. "Do you know where they are? I've been looking for them the whole morning!"

Nathan chuckled. "They went Christmas shopping quite early in the morning. I assume you were sleeping, since apparently, you have no idea what's going on in the world."

I mock glared at him. "Of course I know what's going on in the world, the little detail about the whereabouts of my two friends had just slipped my mind! I know everything."

He grinned. "Right, of course you do... Well, glad I could be of help and give you information on the sudden disappearance of your friends."

"I appreciate it. I thought they had abandoned me... Well, now that I think about it, they did. But I guess it was for a good cause. Thank you, none the less. You reminded me a very important thing."

"Oh? And what's that?"

I smiled. "Christmas is coming. Actually, Christmas Eve is exactly one day before Lucy and I have to go back to Estonia. I have to go shopping, too!"

"Well, unfortunately, Clara and I are going away for two weeks, so I must wish you a merry Christmas today," Nathan said, "we're leaving early tomorrow morning."

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, we're visiting my brother who currently lives in Italy."

"That's awesome. I'm sure you'll have a great time. And merry Christmas to you, too. Be sure to forward Clara my wishes, also. It seems we won't see each other before Lucy and I have to go back. It was nice meeting you and I hope everything goes great for both of you."

Nathan smiled and hugged me. "Same to you, Johanna. You're a great girl. And for some reason, I believe we'll see each other again."

He let me go with a wink and walked away. My next goal was to find Isaac and make him go to London with me. I had no gifts yet! I decided to check his room, the possibility that he could be there hadn't crossed my mind before. It seemed to be too obvious, since he always hid himself in either his study or the library, but I could at least check!

Surprise, surprise - when I knocked on his door, I heard a faint "Come in!" Smiling, I opened the door and walked in. He was sprawled out on his bed, drawing into a sketchbook. When he looked up and saw it was me, he quickly closed the book and grinned. I jumped on the bed and gestured towards the sketchbook. "Will you show me your drawings?"

He smiled and shook his head. "They're not that good, darling. I'd rather not."

I pouted. "Please?"

Chuckling, he stroked my hair. "You're cute when you do that, but please don't! I might let my guard down."

"But that's a good thing! Now let me see!"

"I don't think so, love. But you know what? I'll draw a sketch of you if you want."

"Of course, I'd love that! Could you do it right now?"

"Sure, just stay right where you are."

For the next 15 minutes, he was engaged deeply in drawing me. I must say the way his eyes grasped my body was exciting. I liked him looking at me. I was sure the drawing would be amazing, like everything else he did. Soon, he was ready and put the pencil down. He smiled and looked down at the sketch. Then, agonizingly slowly, he gave it to me.

The drawing was absolutely wonderful. Trying to describe it wouldn’t be fair, one had to see it for himself to fully understand the amazing talent behind the simple sketch. His drawing was almost as good as a photograph, with precise shadows and highlights and no line of the pencil where it shouldn't be. Everything was in place. He had captured the gleam in my eyes, when I was sprawled out on the bed, facing him with one hand gripping the blanket and the other under my head for support. I was speechless to say the least. The drawing was the best I'd ever seen anyone create.

His eyes seemed hopeful when he tried to read my face for a reaction. "Do you like it?"

I smiled at him. "I LOVE it! It's the best I've ever seen. And you've made me look beautiful."

"I didn't make you look anything. You ARE beautiful."

Blushing, I slightly punched his hand. "You're silly. But can I have the drawing as a keepsake, to remind me of today?"

"Of course, love. But tell me now, did you have a reason to sneak into my room or did you just miss me?"

I chuckled. "Of course I missed you. Well, actually I wanted to ask you if you would come with me to London. I need to buy Christmas presents."

He nodded. "Sure, I need to buy some too. Did you want to go today?"

"Yes, if possible."

"No problem. We can leave in half an hour if that's okay."

"Super! I'll be in my room, then. Come and get me when you're ready."

I ran to my room to get ready. I decided to change my clothes since I had just slipped on the clothes from the day before when I woke up in the morning. My choice of the day were my favourite black skinny jeans, a black tight-fitting v-necked shirt and a red knitted jumper. I laid my black coat on my bed and threw some things that I would need into my bag.

Not long after I'd finished getting ready, Isaac knocked on my door. "Are you ready to go, sweetheart?"

I nodded, quickly slipping on my boots and Isaac, being the gentleman he was, helped me put on my coat. I then grabbed my purse and we were off.

We decided to just go to a huge department store, since it was likely to provide everything we would need. Both agreeing that we wouldn't show each other what we were going to buy, Isaac and I decided to go our separate ways until we were done with our shopping. Then, when one of us was ready, we would call the other.

I had no problem finding the gifts I needed to buy for everyone, only Isaac's present was tricky to find. I just couldn’t decide what to get him. I wanted him to absolutely adore my gift. When I was going insane already, I found some art supplies almost by accident. This seemed like a good place to hunt for a gift. Since I painted too, I would have known what to buy. I skimmed through the wide range of products, when a very special box of brushes caught my eye. The brushes were of good quality and the small antique-like carved wooden box they were stored in was very elegant. I decided to buy it for Isaac. The price was unbelievably high, but I was sure that this was the perfect gift for him, so I really didn't care. I knew he would love it. Right after I'd purchased my last gift, Isaac called and said he was also ready. With smiling faces, we drove back to the castle, our presents a well kept secret.