He Has My Heart (Chapter One)

I rested my head against the car window, watching the road quickly pass by, the headlights being the only thing to make it visible.

My father looked at me from the corner of his eye and sighed. “Melanie, you’ll love the new house, it’s beautiful. It was also built in the 1920’s.”

I looked at him and laughed, amused. “Great, another reason to hate it. And don’t call me Melanie. Please.”

“Melanie is what we named you and that’s what your name is going to be for a long time. And you haven’t even seen the new house yet. When we get there in a few minutes, I’m sure you’ll love it.”

We’ve had this conversation too many times to count. Ever since my mother died, he’d been wanting to move into a new house, thinking that our old house had a bad aura. Whenever he’d talk about it, I would just laugh. I never believed in that kind of stuff, my mother taught me not to.

I snapped out of my memories when I felt the car stop. I looked out the window and saw the most beautiful house I’ve seen. The front yard was lit with small florescent lights. I saw a man waiting on the front porch, who I’m guessing is the previous owner of the house.

“Melanie, can you get the bags? We’ll get everything else once I’m done talking to the old owner.” My dad said, getting out of the car.

I sighed and muttered. “Don’t call me Melanie.”

From the corner of my eye I could see the man more clearly as he turned the porch light on. He had such a cold stare. The kind that would send chills down your spine if you were right in front of him. I shook my head and slammed the car door, slinging the bags over my shoulder.

My father looked at me and smiled. “Melanie, this is Julius. Julius, this is my daughter, Melanie.”

I was about to correct him on my name but stopped myself. Twice is enough for tonight. I shook the man’s gloved hand and smiled. It made me wonder about why he was wearing black leather gloves, it’s almost 70 degrees. “Nice to meet you.”

He looked at me and nodded. “You too.” He looked towards my father and nodded also. “I should get going. Nice to meet you two.”

In a flash, he was already to his car. I shook my head, thinking that I was seeing things since I haven’t had much sleep. I looked back at dad, who had the same confused look on his face.

“Well, we should get our things inside and get some sleep. We’ll get the beds in tomorrow. We can sleep on the inflatable mattresses.” My dad explained and went back to the car.

I nodded and slowly walked into the house, not knowing what to expect. I turned the lights on and was in awe.

I chandelier hung in the middle of the room, two sets of staircases on either side of the wall, a small balcony in the middle. All surrounded by a dark green marble floor and bright white walls. I smiled and looked around again. It was beautiful, my dad was right.

I walked up the right stair case and ran my fingertips across the railing. So smooth. I leaned against the railings connecting the tops of the stairs and smiled. It’s surprising that Julius moved, it’s such an amazing place.

I looked across the hall and saw 4 doors. Two bedrooms and two bathrooms I was guessing. I walked into the first room and instantly went in awe again.

It was a beautiful large bedroom with dark wood floors and dark red walls. I could tell that the dark red paint was mixed with a bright white color, to give it a hint of a brighter red than it originally was. I bet I would have a fight with my dad on who would get this room. I chuckled, thinking about it and heard my dad coming up the stairs, the mattresses banging against the steps. I giggled a little and ran over to help him. I’m sure that I’ll have a good night’s sleep tonight.

****

I stared up at the man, breathing heavily. “W-Who…”

He looked down at me and smiled, softly caressing my cheek. “That’s something to save for later, my dear. Just pay attention to now.”

Now? What could possibly happen now? I’m almost afraid to know. He leaned down to my neck and kissed it once before whispering, “You can’t escape from me.” And bit down on my neck hard. I felt the blood pooling out, squeezing my eyes shut as I hope to wake up.

****

I shot up quickly and looked around. It was just a dream. Just an extremely vivid dream.

My dad came in and looked at me worriedly. "You okay now? You were pretty restless last night, I could hear all the way from my room."

Was I? I don't remember a single thing but that dream. "Um...yeah I'm fine. Just a pretty bad dream. I'll be fine."

He just nodded and said that we'll get everything inside and go to breakfast afterwards. I didn't really listen though. All I wanted to know was...who was that man in my dream?