Bound, An Arelia LaRue Novel #1 YA Paranormal Romance (5 page)

Henri left me to wait for the guests on
the lit, front poarch with its shiny marble and elegant steps. I
looked over the clipboard and read through the names. Mr. and Mrs.
Dumpty from New York, the Smiths from Boston, the Gopals from
California. The list went on. Guests were coming in from all over
the country to get a glimpse of Darkwood. I was getting restless
waiting alone, and there was still no sign of Sabrina.

In the distance, I saw several cars
pull up, and people get out. The plantation had hired valets, so
the guests wouldn’t have to worry about parking their own cars. I
wondered where the LaPlante family was and if they would be making
an appearance anytime soon. As the guests made their way down the
oak-tree lined path leading up to the house, it was clear they were
mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the property and the
house.

A bulky couple with a chubby child in
tow was the first one to make their way up to the house. Their
faces were sunburnt from the New Orleans heat. Their coordinated
Hawaiian shirts and khaki shorts made it obvious that they didn’t
care if they were going to a ball.

“
Hi, I’m Arelia!” I said
enthusiastically as they approached me. “Welcome to Darkwood
Plantation. What are your names?”

“
Well, aren’t you a pretty,
little thing,” observed the man. His beady eyes scanned over me as
he extended his sweaty palm. “I always tell the Mrs. that if she
put in an effort, she wouldn’t be half as bad. We’re the
Dumptys.”

“
It’s a pleasure to meet
you.” I faked interest.

“
It sure smells good. I
wonder what kind of Southern food they’re going to surprise us
with,” squealed Mrs. Dumpty with excitement in her beady, blue
eyes.

“
I’m sure whatever it is
will be delicious,” I predicted. “And what is your name?” I asked
the chubby, blond boy who appeared to be no older than
ten.

“
I’m Ben. I’m here to see
the alligators and ghosts,” he responded in a matter of fact
tone.

“
Sure son, but you have to
let us get a few Hurricanes in us, before we take you to see any
swamps,” Mr. Dumpty reminded him.

“
Please, make yourselves at
home, and head inside, a staff member will take you to the
ballroom,” I advised them.

“
Sounds excellent!” Mr.
Dumpty boldly brushed by me and gave my butt a slight
squeeze.

I clenched my fists and took a deep
breath. “Have fun in there,” I shouted after him.

Next to arrive was an elderly couple
from Maine. They were well-dressed and introduced themselves as the
Scotts. They were in New Orleans visiting their son who was a
doctor and thought that it might be fun to spend some time at
Darkwood plantation. After them, the Gopals arrived. They were a
young couple from California and were in New Orleans for their
honeymoon.

“
Am I late?” Sabrina rushed
to the porch surrounded by a cloud of Chanel 5.

“
Finally! Where have you
been? All of the guests are already inside.”

“
Thanks for covering for me.
I got so sweaty in this dress that I decided to take a quick bath
which took way longer than expected. I mean the bathroom is to die
for. Of course, then I had to re-do my makeup.” She went on to
explain how two minutes had turned into almost three
hours.

“
Okay, I get it. You look
beautiful, by the way,” I added.

“
Do you think?” She asked
fishing for a compliment.

“
Yes, you’re gorgeous, and
you’re my best friend, but if you don’t help me tonight, I swear I
will kill you,” I joked. “Some creepy guy from New York grabbed my
butt.” I vividly rehashed what Mr. Dumpty had done, as I guided her
into the house and towards the kitchen.

“
Is he hot?” Sabrina asked
as exhilaration filled her blue eyes.

“
Eww, no. Not even a
bit.”

The kitchen was buzzing with waiters,
cooks and bartenders. Pots sizzled and bubbled with red beans,
creole jambalaya, seafood gumbo, and gravy. Counters were covered
with brisket, grilled shrimp, flutes of champagne and colorful
cocktail glasses. It smelled heavenly and gave me the urge to stuff
my face with every dish until my corset exploded. The amount of
food seemed endless and almost excessive considering that it was
enough for a large army rather than just a group of tourists. It
was the epitome of extravagance. If this was an informal ball, I
wondered what a formal ball at Darkwood would be like.

“
Hurricanes are my
favorite!” Sabrina eagerly eyed her surroundings to see if the
coast was clear. Seeing that Ms. Mae and Henri were nowhere to be
seen, she grabbed a cocktail and chugged it down.

“
Sabrina!” I furiously
hissed. “What are you doing?”

“
Relax Arelia, we’re on
vacation.” She casually grabbed another cocktail and drank it. “You
don’t mind, do you?” She winked at a muscular, blond waiter who was
around our age.

“
No, I sure don’t,” replied
the waiter. “My name’s Ivan in case you’re interested in meeting me
for a drink later.” He purposely loosened his tie and undid a
second button on his shirt. It was an obvious attempt to attract
Sabrina’s attention.

“
You are very cute, but I
don’t date the help,” Sabrina snarled.

“
I’ll make sure it’s worth
your while.” Ivan casually threw her another wink.

“
Really, maybe I will take
you up on the offer.” Sabrina placed her hands on his arm and gave
it a squeeze.

“
Okay, that’s enough,” I
said as I steered her away from the counter. “If Ms. Mae or Henri
see you…”

“
I don’t think your friend
here likes me very much,” Ivan openly challenged me with his grey
eyes. His gruff voice was filled with contempt.

“
I don’t know you, why
wouldn’t I like you?” I snapped back. “I’m just trying to do my
job.”

“
Maybe you shouldn’t worry
so much and mind your own business.” Ivan clearly was hungry for a
fight, or at least an argument. For whatever reason, he had his
sights set on me.

“
What the hell! What’s your
problem?” I didn’t do anything to this guy, and he was being a
mega-jerk. Obviously, he had issues.

“
Is everything alright in
here girls?” Ms. Mae interrupted our little scene.

“
Everything is fine.” I
quickly gave Sabrina a nudge prompting her to stand up
straight.

“
Yes, just fabulous,”
Sabrina giggled in a sugary voice.

“
Good to hear.” Ms. Mae eyed
Sabrina with suspicion. I knew that she knew what Sabrina had done,
but luckily she let it go.

“
The food has been laid out
in the serving room, so the guests have the option of eating. There
is no formal dinner tonight. Some of them are already in the
ballroom dancing and having drinks. I need you girls to go there
and make sure that everyone is happy and to answer any questions
they may have. If you read the guides I gave you, you should now
know Darkwood’s basic history. If you don’t know the answer to a
question, find me or Henri. Some of the guests have children, so
please keep an eye on them in case they decide to wander the
property. It can be awfully frightening in the dark,” explained Ms.
Mae. I tried to take mental notes of everything she was
saying.

“
Got it,” I
affirmed.

“
Not a problem.” Sabrina’s
doubt filled voice was a clear give away that she hadn’t heard a
word Ms. Mae had said.

“
I know you girls will do
great.” Ms. Mae looked upon us approvingly before she left the
kitchen.

After she left, Sabrina turned her
attention back to Ivan. “If you want any chance with me, stop being
a jerk to my friend.” She took another drink from the tray he was
holding and carelessly tossed it back.

Ivan didn’t say anything, but I knew
from his expression that he was doing everything in his power not
to make another snarky remark. “Sure, I’ll catch you later then,”
he directed his comment at Sabrina and refused to acknowledge
me.

“
Yeah, for sure,” Sabrina
giggled and pulled me away. “He is so hot, isn’t he? Did you see
the size of his chest and that cleft in his chin? I usually hate
bum chins, but it makes him even hotter.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“You can’t be serious, he’s such a…”

“
Please, you think all guys
are jerks.”

How could I explain to her that I got
an appalling vibe from Ivan? It wasn’t your typical, jerk radar. It
was something more than that. It was something threatening and
dangerous.

As we walked into the ballroom, the
sound of classical piano music greeted us. The room looked
spectacular with its chandeliers lit and floors polished. The
guests seemed to be having a good time mingling amongst themselves,
making small talk about where they were from and why they decided
to spend time at Darkwood. I watched as Mr. and Mrs. Dumpty slammed
down cocktail after cocktail. Mr. Dumpty caught me staring and came
up to us.

“
So, we meet again,” he
slurred as he stared at Sabrina.

“
Gross,” Sabrina
muttered.

“
You’ve got to be the
prettiest thing I’ve seen in the state of Louisiana,” he continued
to stupidly speak while his eyes stayed glued to Sabrina’s pushed
up chest.

“
You’re so sweet,” said
Sabrina. No matter how repulsive a guy was if he gave Sabrina a
compliment, she melted like ice cream. Besides, the three cocktails
she gulped down earlier were probably taking effect right about
now.

“
Would you do a fat guy from
New York a favor and dance with him?” Asked Mr. Dumpty, as he bowed
in an exaggerated manner.

“
Why I would be delighted,”
responded Sabrina channeling Scarlett O’Hara. “I only hope your
wife won’t mind.”

“
Nah, she’ll be fine with
it.” Mr. Dumpty turned around to make sure his wife was busy
flirting with a cocktail waiter.

Mr. Dumpty clumsily escorted Sabrina to
the floor where he proceeded to hold her close to him and blatantly
stare at her chest. Well at least one guest was taken care of I
thought. I started to relax and sway to the music when I realized
someone was missing. Wait, where was the Dumpty’s son? Amidst the
cocktails and dancing, the Dumptys seemed to have forgotten about
him. He was nowhere in sight, so I decided to interrupt Mrs.
Dumpty’s flirt session.

“
Excuse me, Mrs. Dumpty,” I
tapped her on the shoulder.

“
Wait a minute,” she slurred
without turning around. “You really can balance a spoon on your
nose? Nah, I don’t believe you,” she challenged the
waiter.

“
Mrs. Dumpty,” I tried
again. “Where’s Ben?”

“
Ben? Who’s Ben? His name is
Andy, isn’t it?” She pinched the waiter’s cheek and licked her
thin, dry lips.

I was horrified, how could she not even
remember her own son. “Ben, your son,” I reminded her.

“
Oh, right. He must be
sitting in some corner somewhere,” she offered. “He loves
corners.”

“
Thanks,” I halfheartedly
muttered as I went to search for Ben. If anything happened to him,
I knew that the Dumptys would blame Darkwood, and I would be the
one held responsible. That would mean sayonara summer job and hello
homelessness. I searched all corners of the ballroom but couldn’t
find Ben. The Gopals were engaged in lively conversation with Ms.
Mae who seemed to be enjoying herself. There was no point getting
her involved.

“
Ben, Ben, are you here?” I
gently whispered while desperately scanning the dance floor. I
headed towards the spiral staircase where I thought a heard a
whimper.

“
At least you care about
me,” breathlessly pouted a sad, little voice.

I kneeled down and found Ben cleverly
hidden under the spiral staircase. His chubby cheeks were red, and
his beady eyes were full of tears. When he saw me, he pulled down
his Yankees baseball cap over his eyes as an attempt to hide his
weeping. “Hey Ben.” I crawled under the staircase and sat beside
him. “What’s wrong?”

“
I came here to see the
alligator’s and the ghosts, but all mom and dad want to do is see
the hurricane,” he complained. “Here’s the swamp,” he showed me a
map of Darkwood with its swamp circled in red.

I had to laugh. “I think you mean drink
a Hurricane.”

“
Whatever, they never pay
attention to me anyways.”

“
I’m sure they do,” I
offered. “After they’re done drinking their Hurricanes, I’m sure
they’ll take you to see the alligators and ghosts. There’s still
plenty of time to see them.”

“
Tonight?” His eyes
brightened. “Look it’s not even a ten minute walk. I can read maps,
and this map tells me that we can be there in no time.”

“
Well, maybe not tonight,
but maybe we can do something else.”

“
I would really like a
Coke,” he requested.

“
If that is what you would
like, that is what I will get you. Wait here, I’ll be right
back.”

I went to the kitchen in search of
Ben’s Coke. It was still full of staff shouting at one another,
arguing over whether or not the dessert should be put out now or
later. “Hey,” I said to Ivan, even though I didn’t ever want to
talk to him. “Is there any Coke around here?”