My mom immediately felt the chill in the air.
"Thank you, Jameson, but keep my sweater." She had it tied around her shoulders but loosened it and put it back on.
"TheSterlings will be down shortly. May I get you a drink while you wait?"
"No thank you," my mother said. "We can wait for theSterlings ."
"Why don't you have a seat in the parlor room? They will only be a moment." Jameson showed us in.
Candelabras and votives filled the Mansion. Skeleton lights were strung from the ceiling. Harpsichord music played loudlyThis time I expected to see aPhantom of the Opera-type musician banging out his melodies on a giant organ, but I found neither.
My father scanned the dusty books, and my mom fascinated herself with the vintage furniture.
"This is the home you've always wanted to live in," she said to me. "This must be a dream come true for you."
I appreciated my mother's moment of understanding.
I had a feeling that everything would be okay, though there was a teensy-weensy bit of my overactive imagination that wondered if my parents would be safe partying with two vampires on their home soil.
But when I saw Alexander enter the parlor, I knew that if there was a turn for the worse, he'd protect us from any harm.
My handsome Knight of Night came over to me and kissed me softly on the cheek. He shook my father's hand, and my mother gave him a gentle hug. He returned to me and took my hand. His hand felt strong in mine, and I squeezed it hard.
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. May I get you something to drink?"
"No, we were just browsing. This room is charming. I can feel the history in its walls," my mom said.
"Yes, my grandmother was very proud of this mansion. That is why I'm so horrified..."
We all glanced at Alexander.
"...that some of the boards need repairing." Alexander's comment was odd. The whole house appeared to need repairing-well beyond a few floorboards.
We heard the lyrical Romanian accents of theSterlings as they entered.
"My apologies for our delay," Mrs. Sterling said, extending her hand to my mom, then my dad. She wore a lavender scarf around her neck. "I hope you haven't been waiting long."
"We just got here," my mom said. "The house is... beautiful."
"We were hoping you'd be longer so we could peek around the house," my dad blurted out.
"A tour?"Mr. Sterling asked. "I think that can be arranged. Where shall we start?"
"You'll forgive us if anything is out of order. We haven't totally settled in since we've been back," Mrs. Sterling said.
The house wasn't messy at all; in fact, everything was in its place. If anything, it was bare. Only what was needed was shown or on display. Now, dust andspiderwebs; that was a different story. There was a high volume of both.
"You've already seenConstantine 's favorite room," Mrs. Sterling said, gesturing back to the parlor as we continued on. "Did Jameson tell you? When someone passed away in the family the parlor was used to view the dead."
My dad was impressed. My mom was aghast.
"Fortunately, that doesn't happen very often in our family," she added cryptically.
"Who are the people in the hallway?" my dad asked.
"I didn't see any people," Mr. Sterling said. "Are you referring to ghosts?"
"No," my dad said with a chuckle."Lining the hallway."