(Northern Region- Outskirts Of New Atlantic City)
(Castle Eden- Palace Gardens)
The warm and gentle orange glow of the afternoon sunlight fell on Mary's face as she walked through the garden.
She was holding several large bags in her right hand and a pair of gloves in her left.
Today was harvest day which meant that she needed to pick the vegetables before they turned bad or got eaten by the deer roaming around in the forest.
Mary whistled softly to herself as she admired the beautiful flowers along the path that led to the farming area.
Life should be perfect.
She had a loving girlfriend and their relationship had only gotten stronger over the last few months.
Mary could tell that she was forming a genuine connection with Camilla and that was a thought that both terrified and excited her.
Truthfully... she was bothered by the fact that Camilla was immortal.
Her own good looks would eventually fade as her body aged and wrinkles appeared on her skin, but Camilla would remain untouched by the passage of time.
Would Camilla still love her even when she turned into an elderly woman?
And what about when she died?
Maybe Camilla would wait a few years before taking another lover, but would she really spend the rest of eternity alone?
Probably not...
Was it selfish of her to want to remain as Camilla's only lover? Especially considering that her lifespan was a blink in the eye of eternity...
Mary let out a heavy sigh and tried to drive those distracting thoughts to the back of her mind.
She was only twenty-one so there was no need to dwell on those questions when there was plenty of time.
Besides there were other concerns to worry about...
The attacks on the castle had become much more infrequent and this was making Mary feel a bit worried.
She could not shake the unpleasant feeling that this was merely the calm before the storm.
Perhaps she was being paranoid, but Mary felt as though the castle was being surrounded by dark malevolent shadows.
Maybe she needed to spend an afternoon in the forest to clear her mind...
Mary's footsteps slowed down as she arrived at the fields of crops located behind the castle. She put on the gloves and approached the tomato plants.
She examined each fruit carefully and only selected the ones that were ripe.
By now she was actually pretty used to harvesting and could pick out the right vegetables fairly quickly.
There was a rustling noise in the nearby bushes, so Mary turned her head in the direction of the sound.
A long slender snake slithered out from behind the shrubbery and bared its fangs at the woman kneeling down in front of the plants.
It moved like lightning and shot forward with its jaw wide open.
Two sharp pairs of fangs glistened under the sunlight, and one could see tiny droplets of venom on the tip of its teeth.
With equally fast movements, Mary grabbed the snake by its neck and then proceeded to calmly snap the neck.
Crack!
The snake slumped over lifeless with its jaw still open. Mary threw the snake off into the distance and then went back to the task at hand.
She was strong.
As soon as the snake had lunged forward, Mary in her perspective saw the world slow down to a crawl.
It was result of training non-stop for several years as well as unlocking some hidden abilities that came with being a Sun-Born.
Her reaction time was on par with upper class vampires in fact according to Camilla it may even be slightly better.
Mary smiled as she pictured the beautiful female vampire who was currently lying down naked in the bed that they shared together.
Last night had been one of the rare nights when they did not engage in any physical lovemaking.
Instead, Camilla had wrapped her arms around Mary and the pair had spent the night reading under the candlelight.
It sounded a bit boring but truthfully Mary enjoyed those quiet moments when it was just herself and Camilla for company.
Honestly after living here for so long... the outside world was no longer something that she bothered to think about.
She would occasionally wonder about what happened to her sister but other than that... Mary felt pretty content with her life at the moment.
Her desire to return to the human side of the country had all but faded away and was now little more than a distance memory.
Mary stood up from the ground and used the gloves to brush off some black dirt from her pants.
She had managed to fill up one of the bags with fresh tomatoes so now it was time to move on to the other crops.
She walked a few hundred meters to the right and stopped at the lettuce patch.
The lettuce had not reached full maturity yet but that did not mean that they could not be harvested.
Mary reached into her pocket and pulled out a small knife. She bent down and began to carefully remove the outer leaves of the nearest lettuce plant.
She made sure to leave about one inch above the crown so that it would be protected, and the lettuce would continue to grow.
This was a farming trick that she had learned from books as well as some experimenting during previous harvesting seasons.
Mary managed to fill up another bag and then spent the next forty minutes going from crop to crop filling up the rest.
It was hard work, but Mary did not feel tired.
There was a certain level of satisfaction in her heart at being able to grow her own food.
When Camilla had told her that she wanted to make her a bodyguard... Mary could not have predicted that she would spend more time farming than protecting her mistress.
Still with any luck... that would continue to be the case in the future.
Mary wanted nothing more than to be an unnecessary precaution rather than a constant necessity.
Camilla was a powerful immortal vampire, but Mary knew that immortality did not mean invulnerability.
The young woman looped the bags around her arms and then began to make the trek back to the castle.
On the way back she saw a few rabbits hopping about in the distance. The forest outside the castle was teeming with life.
This was a natural and untouched area of wilderness.
Mary's lips gently curved upwards as she took one more glance at the dense trees before entering inside the castle.
She walked up several flights of stairs towards the kitchen area. It was now the evening time which meant that Camilla would be waking up in a few hours.
She needed to wash, prepare, and put these vegetables and fruits in the fridge and cold storage room before her mistress woke up.
Mary entered the kitchen and peeled off the dirty gloves from her hands. She placed the gloves on a rack and then prepared to get to work.
Just as Mary placed the first bag on a nearby table... she got the feeling that someone or rather something was staring at the castle.
The young woman rushed towards the closest window but could see no one outside save for the animals frolicking about in the forest.
Was she being overly cautious?
Mary frowned slightly and returned to the kitchen with a heavy heart. She could not help but feel as though something terrible would be happening soon.
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