A large man.

Inside the doorway stood a very tall, very broad man with light skin, thick black muttonchops, and a pair of long scars running down the right side of his face. He was well dressed in a black butler’s coat, well-groomed, but had a cold stare that turned Riley’s blood into ice. For a brief moment, she considered turning back, only to feel the cold wind biting into her ears once more.

“Uh…hello?” the teen spoke in a weak voice, “May…may I come in, please? It’s…terribly cold.”

The man let out a low growl and narrowed his dark eyes at the girl. For a moment, it looked like he was about to turn her away when someone called out from inside the house. “Oh, let her in, Kole. I can see her shivering from here.”

Kole turned his eyes towards the voice then back down to Riley, all without turning his head. He then slowly stepped aside and motioned for the young girl to enter.

Riley was quick to cross the threshold in the creepy yet very warm house. The outside certainly didn’t match the inside. While the exterior was old and crumbling, the interior was well kept with a polished wooden staircase with red-trimmed rugs. There was even a working fountain in the middle of the main hall. The walls were adorned with paintings of beautiful men and women courting each other in some form or another. It was almost as if she had walked into a Victorian romance novel. All that was missing was…

Riley’s cheeks turned a bright red, and her eyes went wide when she looked atop the stairs and saw a handsome young man dressed in black and red. He had black hair, brown eyes, fair skin, and a charming smile that made the teen’s heart stop. He had to have been at least four years older than her, perhaps twenty or so, well out of her league. Still, this didn’t stop the girl’s heart from fluttering as he glided down the stairs.

“God, you’ll catch your **** in those close,” he said as he approached her, “Kole, show the young lady to the shower and provide her with some fresh clothes. I’m sure we have something in her size lying around.

Kole gave the man a slow nod, then motioned for the girl to follow him. Without saying a word, the young girl followed him up the stairs and down the hall.

The restroom was large, larger than any other bathroom she had been in, wealthy too. The tub had to have been large enough to accommodate three people, maybe more. There were golden statues of nymphs lining the walls and more variety of soap than what she knew what to do with.

Once she was inside the bathroom, Kole closed the door behind her, presumably to look for some clothes. Meanwhile, Riley quickly discarded her old clothes and jumped into the tub. It took her a lot longer than she would have liked to clean herself, the disadvantage of being on the road for almost a month in a stolen car.

Once she was cleaned, the teen grabbed a nearby towel and started drying herself. Even the towel was too much. It had to have been as soft as silk and it was warm to the touch. By the time she had worked her way into a bathrobe, Kole had returned carrying a red and black dress.

Riley blushed, “Oh…Uh…I’m afraid this might be too fancy for me.” Kole arched his brow then turned to leave, leaving Riley with the dress. Either the man didn’t know how to talk, couldn’t talk, or just didn’t want to talk. Riley sighed and worked her way into the dress.

It was a little larger than what she was, but not by much. Perhaps in a few years, she could fill it out. Once she was dressed, the young albino stepped in front of a large body mirror and frowned. “I look like a vampire,” she grumbled. Just then, the door opened, and Kole motioned for the young girl to follow him.