"You'll never know the truth, my dear! Otherwise, you'll suffer for me. You don't have to suffer. No one has to. It is only my burden," I thought bitterly.

– Yes, of course," I smiled a fake smile.

A couple of minutes later, the lake and the two-storey wooden house on its shore, painted matte red, peeked out from behind the trees. But I didn't ask why red and why they needed swings.

– Well, I must justly say that Fredrik has done his best! – I exclaimed sincerely, stunned by the skill of my former lover.

– Yes, he did his best! But I helped too. I mean, I painted the whole house! What do you think of the colour? It's beautiful, isn't it? – Misha said with pride in her voice at my exclamation.

– Oh, yeah. Just gorgeous! – I answered her.

Misha parked the car near the house. Fortunately, the sun was hidden behind thick white clouds, and I could not hide from its rays.

I got out of the car and took the moment to look at the house more closely.

The "little house" (in the young Haraldson family's terms) was actually a massive tall house made of large, rough-hewn planks, fitted together so tightly that the lines of distinction were barely visible. The large wide terrace on the first floor, with a low railing made of thin trunks of some kind of wood, looked very cosy. There were wooden chaise lounges with soft fake fur covers on them. Next to the terrace was a large veranda with sliding glass doors. On the ground floor there were four wide windows and between them a tall solid wooden door, to which a wide wooden staircase with six steps ascended. The staircase and door were securely sheltered by a wide triangular roof, from which a large lantern descended on a thin chain.

– I forgot to warn you: we don't have electricity," Misha said suddenly, approaching me. – To be more precise, we have only one working socket, but only for charging phones.

– Are you kidding? – I grinned. – My MacBook is going to die in four hours, and I need to write to Elle about how busy I am!

– Do you have internet access on your phone? – Misha asked. – I don't.

– Of course I have internet! I'm just addicted to it! How do you live here? Without electricity and internet? – I hummed, surprised more and more.

– I assure you, life without the internet is magical! We are free of it. And we don't need electricity: in the evening we light candles and a fireplace. And it's so cosy! I only need water for my flowers.

– Don't tell me you don't shower? I know you, you're so tidy, you can lie in the bath for hours! – I laughed.

– We have a whole lake for that! But we have a shower, of course! True, it's more like a hose with water, there behind the house, but there's a wooden cabin! – Misha replied to this with delight. She took me by the hand and led me to a low jetty, next to which a big red boat was tied up. – Look how beautiful it is! The water is so clear and clean that you can see the bottom. But it's actually quite deep.

– Yes, it's very beautiful," I agreed eagerly. – But, you know, I couldn't live like this. With no electricity, no internet and an outdoor shower! Even in the middle of this lonely paradise. You could get bored out of your mind here!

– Yes, it can be lonely sometimes… But that's what we have a house in the capital for. And when I get tired of Stockholm, we come back here again and again. – Misha smiled dreamily. – I have so many memories with this place! And it helped me to recover from my bad experience in Oxford.

– After a crisis, you mean? – I asked, and immediately saw my sister's eyes round with surprise. I stroked her shoulder encouragingly. – Yes, yes, Martin told me! But don't be angry with him because he made me swear not to tell you what I know. And so I did. – I smiled warmly. – But it hurts me that you kept it from me. Why, Misha?

She lowered her gaze to the ground.

– I was ashamed… And I didn't want you and Mariszka to know," she answered quietly.

– So Mariszka still doesn't know? – I clarified.

– No. Not unless Martin has told her.

I can't believe it! It's happened! I know something about Misha that our sister doesn't!

I was very pleased with that.

– Well, let's put it behind us. Now show me your house, missy! – I said cheerfully, to distract Misha from unpleasant memories. – What about the cleaning? Do you do it yourself? Or do you hire mortals?

– Yes, ourselves, but when we are in Stockholm, an elderly couple from the local village lives here. They clean, take care of the flowers and the boat," Misha said with renewed vigour.

– And someone voluntarily agrees to live here without electricity? – I teased.

She took me by the elbow, and we walked towards the house. There was fine gravel all around, and I was unhappy to think that I would scratch my expensive shoes.

– We pay them well. All the more reason for them to like it here! – Misha showed me her tongue. – All you want is comfort! Which one of us is the cleaner?

– Aren't you afraid to leave them in a house with a blood supply of their kin?

– We don't have any. We only hunt.

'Ah, right, I remember that stupid opinion of Fredrik's about using bottled blood!' – I thought sarcastically. – Poor little sister! He's got her so subjugated!".

– But it's not Fredrik's fault," Misha said suddenly, as if she understood my barely perceptible chuckle. – It's my decision. Because… I'm afraid that if I stop hunting and acting like a real vampire, I'll have… A split personality again. – She smiled bitterly.

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