Penny's Choice Read Online Free Page A

He leaned over, kissing her lips longer than before. The pillows still separated them as Charles continued to kiss her. Penny tried to remove the barrier keeping her from embracing Charles, but a knock on the door interrupted her.
    “I bet that is George coming over to introduce himself,” Charles said as he pulled himself off Penny. He started laughing again.
    “Hello?” An older gentlemen entered the room.
    “Afternoon, George!' Charles said rather chipper. “I haven't laughed this hard in years!”
    “And all this time all I had to do to get you to loosen up was shower naked...” George said as he stepped into the room. He was a tall thin older man with gray hair.
    “Hi George,” Penny said trying not to show her embarrassment. “Charles neglected to tell me about the window to your shower...in my room.”
    “Ah, yes, I wouldn't worry about that,” George said and laughed. “If you start to make it a habit though I might get the wrong impression, though.” George winked at Charles. “And who wouldn't want to get the wrong impression from a pretty girl like you.” He patted Charles on the shoulder as he paused. “Normally girls go for Charles, not me!”
    Charles rolled his eyes. “Alright, old man, I think that's enough for now,” Charles said, cutting him off from divulging more information.
    “Oh, already got your game on, eh?” George sat in a wing back chair near the bed. “Can't find a better guy than Charles.”
    “So you're allowed to...to fraternize?” Penny said. She had been hoping fraternization was possible since the moment she set eyes on Charles.
    “Eh, this ain't the military. Besides, who else?” The old man shrugged. “Welcome to the Brotherhood...sorry it's in such terrible circumstances.”
    “Thanks,” Penny replied. She stood up and walked over to another window. “Is there anything behind these other two that I should know about?” She wanted to avoid the topic of her family. She was sure that everyone in the Brotherhood knew what had happened.
    “No, one's just a wall and the other is a stained glass window,” Charles said as he walked over and pulled back a curtain reveling a window with a plain wall behind the glass. “There's a trap door behind this window that leads to a crawl space. It's an alternate escape route. All rooms have them. Yours just happens to be behind a window.”
    Penny peaked behind the curtain and saw a stained glass window showing a relief from Romeo and Juliet.
    “Do the curtains need to stay closed, or can I open them?” she asked.
    “Well, I would prefer if you left my curtain closed,” George said then he chuckled slightly to himself.
    “Why isn't there a curtain on your side?” Penny asked. She thought that if it was her shower, that she would want control over who could peep on her bathing.
    “That's just not how it was designed,” Charles said as he closed the curtains over the trap door window.
    “Everything has a purpose and a reason. They may not make sense to you, but they do to vampires. You can have the curtains open sometimes, but you should close them before you sleep or leave the room.”
    “Okay,” Penny said, rubbing her eyes. She was getting tired.
    “I think that we will leave you alone for a little bit,” Charles said when he saw Penny rubbing her eyes. “You need some rest.”
    After the two men left, Penny decided that sleep was indeed in order. She flopped on the bed without even bothering with the blankets. The long trip and emotional strain had worn her out and she was soon fast asleep. That night Penny had the worst dreams since her family had been killed. Instead of just throwing her into the closet or turning her into a vampire, the monster kept coming into the closet with her. He would stand over her paralyzed body, staring at her as the screams of her family echoed through the house. No matter what she did her in sleep, the vampire was always there, following her, touching her, staring at