The Valdez family (2)

As Leah stepped into the dining room, she felt the weight of every eye in the room upon her. The intensity of their gazes made her nervous as she made her way towards the table.

A maid quickly appeared and pulled out a chair for her, situating it next to Lucius' seat. Leah murmured a small thank you to the woman, who seemed to know exactly where to place her without any prior instruction. The maid had already received strict instructions from Lucius before the meal, to make sure Leah sits next to him during the meak, and she had followed his instruction.

"Now if you are all done staring, I would like to introduce you all to Leah," He gestures towards her. "She is my guest and a very special one, so I advice all of you to keep your fangs away from her," he turned to Priscilla. "And your curses of course." He then turned to the three council members sitting down by the left side of the table. "And the same goes for the three of you." He flashed them a sly smirk.

"Please pardon me, but I was not aware that it was allowed to show our true nature to humans and partake in their company," Priscilla remarked as she delicately lifted her glass and savored a sip of its contents.

"If I recall correctly, our constitution explicitly permits every vampire to keep a 'pet,' unless you're also unaware of the definition of the term," Lucius retorted with a hint of sarcasm.

Despite only having been seated for a mere two minutes, Leah could already sense the tension at the table escalating. Perhaps it was due to the contentious nature of their discussion.

Leah didn't want to be the cause of any conflict. If she had known that her presence would displease the others, she would have simply eaten in her room. She felt uneasy sitting at the table fill with vampires and possibly witches, and oddly enough, even her chair felt hot.

Leah gazed at Lucius, contemplating what he meant by "pet." Why had he referred to her in such a manner?

"But you already have a companion." Francisco gestures towards Grace, who was sitting directly opposite Leah with a sour expression.

"Grace isn't my pet. And even though she was, who says I can't have two?" Lucius responds, taking Leah's hand from her lap and bringing it up to the table, where he gently rubs it.

Leah's eyes widen slightly at his action. She glanced at their intertwined hands and then back at him, unsure of what to make of the gesture but decided to remain calm.

Francisco shrugs and nodded in agreement.

"It's his house, he can do whatever he wants, Priscilla," Jane says.

Priscilla smiles. "Then I suppose you intend to turn the young lady very soon, just as you did with Grace, right?" she asked.

"I am not obligated to turn her, Priscilla. And if you are unaware of this fact, it means you clearly did not study our constitution properly, or perhaps you have forgotten it due to your excessive drinking," Lucius retorted with a mocking smirk.

Priscilla's eyes widened, and she almost choked on the wine in her throat. She slowly set down the wine glass, her face red with embarrassment.

A small chuckle escaped from the blonde girl sitting next to Leah, and Priscilla turned to glare at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just couldn't help it. That was really funny, Lucius. But you know how Priscilla can't resist a good wine just staring at her," the girl chuckled, and William joined in too.

Priscilla appeared as though she was on the verge of attacking the girl with the cutlery that was laid out on the table, but she restrained herself.

"Please don't think I was being serious, Priscilla. I was just joking with you," the girl said, her smile still visible.

Priscilla lips stretched into a small smile, her face brightening a little.

"I understand, dear. No offense taken."

Leah glanced at the girl sitting beside her, assuming that she must be either Anastasia or Andrea.

"Let's eat, the food is getting cold," Lucius said and everyone began to serve themselves. However, Lucius made sure to dish out Leah's food onto her plate first before serving himself.

This action caught everyone's attention at the table. Even Leah was surprised by his sweet and caring gesture. She wondered if he was still in his acting mode, trying to convince everyone that she was his new pet. Despite her initial suspicion, Leah found Lucius's gesture very endearing and heartwarming.

During the meal, she felt a gentle tap from the girl seated next to her and turned to see her smiling. Leah was taken aback by the girl's striking cherry-red eyes.

"Hi, I'm Anastasia," the short blonde-haired girl said with a warm smile. "But you can call me Anna for short."

"Oh, hi, Anna," Leah responded with a smile.

"I am so happy to finally meet you. I have been dying to meet you since the day I heard that Lucius brought a human to the mansion, but brother and Lucius wouldn't let me see you. They always had one silly excuse or the other," Anastasia said before rolling her eyes. "Anyway, it's really good to meet you. I'm sure the both of us will have so many bonding moments."

"You mean 'we', Anastasia," the dark-haired woman sitting next to Anastasia interjected.

Anastasia turns to face the woman. "Of course, Andrea. I meant we will have so many girls bounding time."

Leah couldn't help but feel relaxed due to the women's liveliness. Lolly was definitely right about them they were very friendly. Soon the table was lively and everyone was talking happily except for grace who was still sending Leah killer glares. Robert would occasionally contribute when Lucius or Fransisco drag him into a particular conversion.

"So, Leah," Anastasia said as soon as she turned to Leah. "Are you skilled at playing chess?" Anastasia asked after dabbing her lips with a napkin.

"Yes, I'm pretty adept at it," Leah replied.

"That's fantastic. I really love chess, but I haven't been able to play recently because everyone is always busy, and Andrea is terrible at it," Anastasia said, causing Andrea to roll her eyes.

"I'm not that terrible at chess. You're just too skilled at it," Andrea retorted.

Leah smiled. "Maybe if you tried teaching Andrea, she could become better at it," Leah suggested to Anastasia.

"That's the thing, Leah. Anastasia is an awful teacher," William interjected with a mocking smirk.

Anastasia glared at him. "Shut up, William," she snapped, clearly annoyed.

William chuckled, enjoying the reaction he had elicited from Anastasia.

Leah felt relieved that the evening had turned out well, just as she had hoped. Even though there had been a touch of tension at the start, things had settled down.

After they finished their meal, Anastasia kindly offered to accompany Leah to her room. They strolled together through the upstairs hallway, engaging in light conversation about their hobbies and interests.

"I hope you don't feel uncomfortable, I mean, with my eyes?" Anastasia asked, her voice gentle.

Leah smiled warmly, appreciating Anastasia's concern. "Oh, not at all," she replied. "Your eyes are very unique beautiful. I love them, Anna."

Anastasia blushed slightly, her cheeks turning a soft shade of pink. "Thank you, Leah. I was afraid you would find my eyes disturbing since Lucius told us it was your first time being around Vampires."

Leah smiles. "I actually think you guys were really nice. Most of you, I mean." She said, remembering the constant glares she was receiving from the brunette sitting opposite her.

Even Anastasia noticed Grace attitude. She didn't blame Grace because she understood that she was probably jealous of Leah.

"Grace isn't always like that, she probably felt left out because everyone was focused on you. And She's used to getting all the attention from Lucius but it was different today because of you." Anastasia explained. "I sure she'll be nicer by tomorrow."

Leah nods in understanding. "I totally get it."

Any woman would be pissed if their man acts chummy with another woman in front of them and totally ignore them like they weren't even there. And Lucius did not help matters by introducing her as a special guest of his.

Leah dud not understand why he had lied to the other people at the table that she was his new pet but she assumed that he must have done that to avoid further questions.

Finally, they reached Leah's door. She turned to Anastasia, a sense of gratitude in her eyes. "Thank you for walking me to my room. I've had a wonderful evening, and your company has made it even better."

Anastasia beamed, her eyes sparkling with warmth. "The pleasure was all mine, Leah. I'm glad I could be here with you. Have a restful night, and I'll see you tomorrow for our game."

Leah nodded, bidding Anastasia goodnight before entering her room.

...

Leah tossed and turned in bed, struggling to find sleep after two hours of just lying down. She had tried reading a book she had found during the early evening before lying down but it didn't seem to help at all. The unfamiliar surroundings left her feeling uneasy, making it difficult to relax. Eventually, she gave up and decided to use the bathroom.

Leah came out from the bathroom, stretching her limbs and humming a sweet song.

"Can't sleep?"

Leah was startled by the sound of a male voice by her window. She immediately recognized the voice, her initial startle subsiding a little.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, still a bit shaken by his sudden appearance in her room.

It was dark, and she could only make out his silhouette in the dim light emanating from the side lamp.