Penny's Choice Read Online Free

be back in a couple hours.”
    “No,” Penny replied, even though she had one burning question on her mind: What about us? Actually they were a series of questions about him kissing her, whether they were even allowed to kiss each other, and if he actually liked her or just got caught up in that moment. She would wait until later. “I need to get settled in here anyway.”
    “Alright, I'll see you later then.” He left without a hug, a kiss, or any other sign of affection that had been there before.
    Penny sat on her new bed and surveyed the room that would be hers forever. There were strange symbols and decorations on every wall. The furniture was elegant and either made of wood or gold. There were no mirrors anywhere in her room and, in fact, she hadn't seen them anywhere else in the house either. The ceiling was painted with frescoes from Shakespeare and all the linens were silk or taffeta and all the drapes, the ones surrounding her bed and the ones covering three windows, were made of a heavy embroidered wool.  It was much fancier than she would have expected from a group of vampire hunters. But then again, from the moment she saw the house, it had blown her mind.
    To say that the house was enormous was an understatement.  Its Victorian architecture sprawled on for acres with gazebos; the miles of twisting hallways were made even more intriguing by secret passageways in the walls. Charles and Penny had to travel through the house in a roundabout fashion in order to get to her room. They descended a stair case seven steps and then went up eleven steps where Charles reached out his hand and smacked the wall. A door had appeared and he swiftly directed her through it. They had walked through walls, opened windows on the floor, walked on air. They road an elevator down several stories and then walked across the hall and road it back up to the same floor, which now looked completely different than before. Penny had counted again to make sure they were on the same floor. When Charles had seen how confused Penny was, he said, “I know this place doesn't seem to make much sense, but it keeps the vampires out.” Penny was beginning to wonder if becoming a vampire took away your sense of logic.
    Penny stood up from her bed and went to a window. She thought they had gone way too far into the house for there to be windows. But then again she could be could be looking out onto the front lawn. So, she threw open the drapes.
    Penny screamed. There was a naked man standing in her window. She quickly shut the blinds as the man realized that he was being watched. Was he in the shower? She thought, Why would a window in my room look into someone's shower?
    Charles burst into the room. “What's wrong?” When he realized she was standing next to the curtains, he said, “Oh, oops, sorry, I should have warned you not to open that curtain.” His voice was broken up with laughter.
    “It's not funny,” Penny said. She was sure that her cheeks were as red as a vampire's lunch. “Is there anything else that you forgot to tell me? Are there more naked men hiding in my closet?” Penny threw a pillow at Charles's face. He caught it midair and continued to laugh at her.
    “No, just good old George's shower...” Charles replied, still snickering at Penny's predicament.
    “Get out of here,” Penny said as she threw another pillow at Charles. He caught that one too and threw them both back at Penny. The massive wool and silk pillows hit her square in the belly and sent her sprawling onto her bed.
    Charles jumped onto the bed and grabbed another pillow to protect himself as Penny flailed her legs and arms.
    “You are really gonna need to learn how to fight better if you plan on lasting against any vampires,” he said, still chuckling. When he leaned over Penny's body, one of his small, perfect curls fell out of place and into his eyes.
    Penny sighed. He was gorgeous.
    “You are very beautiful when you get frustrated,” Charles said.