"No one." A bit of the roughness returned to Annie's voice and posture when she said this. "They're all dead. It's just me - and the two of you, now. And I don't plan on staying here any longer than I have to."
She lifted off the door frame and crossed her arms loosely over her chest. The breeze rustled through her ginger-blond hair, leaving it to hang in limp strands around her face. "If the girl wants a job, there's plenty to do. It's a big property." Annie left the door open as she moved back inside, calling to them over her shoulder, "I suppose I should tell you I'm with the Verbena. Can probably guess where your affiliations lie, but why don't you go ahead and tell me anyway? And come on back if you're not gonna use the spring."
Assuming they followed her, she'd lead them into the kitchen and point to a couple of doors along the wall. "That leads into the garage. There's tools and such in there, and a riding mower for the grass. The other door goes to the office." From there they moved into the dining room, where two long, sturdy wooden tables sat end to end. There were chairs enough for 12 people, though surely there were typically fewer than that living here.
Annie showed them the living room, the upstairs and downstairs bedrooms (sparsely furnished and cleaned in preparation for guests) and bathrooms, the workout room, the rec room (which was set up with a tv and a couple of gaming consoles) and finally the basement. There was a special lock on the basement door that required a code, a fingerprint id and a retinal scan. Annie pointed to the door and said, "That's the library. I'll take you down there tomorrow, if you're still here."
Then she paced over to the white sectional in the living room and sat down, making herself comfortable. "Alright, conversation time. I got questions for you, you got questions for me."
She lifted off the door frame and crossed her arms loosely over her chest. The breeze rustled through her ginger-blond hair, leaving it to hang in limp strands around her face. "If the girl wants a job, there's plenty to do. It's a big property." Annie left the door open as she moved back inside, calling to them over her shoulder, "I suppose I should tell you I'm with the Verbena. Can probably guess where your affiliations lie, but why don't you go ahead and tell me anyway? And come on back if you're not gonna use the spring."
Assuming they followed her, she'd lead them into the kitchen and point to a couple of doors along the wall. "That leads into the garage. There's tools and such in there, and a riding mower for the grass. The other door goes to the office." From there they moved into the dining room, where two long, sturdy wooden tables sat end to end. There were chairs enough for 12 people, though surely there were typically fewer than that living here.
Annie showed them the living room, the upstairs and downstairs bedrooms (sparsely furnished and cleaned in preparation for guests) and bathrooms, the workout room, the rec room (which was set up with a tv and a couple of gaming consoles) and finally the basement. There was a special lock on the basement door that required a code, a fingerprint id and a retinal scan. Annie pointed to the door and said, "That's the library. I'll take you down there tomorrow, if you're still here."
Then she paced over to the white sectional in the living room and sat down, making herself comfortable. "Alright, conversation time. I got questions for you, you got questions for me."