"Yes. I accept."
She answered.
Am I mad? What am I doing? She thought at she stood rigid, Damon smiled as he turned to the man in the robe and scary mask.
"By swearing yourselves to one another this night, you help forge a bond that will be with you in every time and in every place throughout the long journey of years. Marriage is not merely a bond of the flesh; it is also a binding of souls."
The man in the mask said, everyone in the ballroom nodded solemnly. Caelia gulped hard. This was real, this was real and it was not a joke, she had not tasted any drink, so it was real.
She was getting married to Damon Wright.
The logical part of her wanted to run, as far as she could, away from the ball and away from Damon, but the illogical part of her didn't want to leave Damon hanging, that and the fact that she was so curious, so very curious to see where it all ended.
"When we touch one another, when we kiss and make love, we do not embrace only the body. We touch the spirit as well. The union of flesh is sacred and beautiful, but the union of souls is forever. Even when death separates you, that bond will remain. Nothing is more eternal than a vampire's love."
Vampire?
Did she hear right?
She thought as she looked at Damon, he remained stoic but when he turned to look at her, his eyes softened and he smiled.
"Now that you understand this, are you still ready to swear yourselves to one another and enter into a binding union?"
Damon nodded, he turned and looked at Caelia and she gave a slight nod too.
Someone from the crowd brought wine forward, another person held a chalice and brought it forward. Both the cup-bearer and the wine-bearer stood close to the man with the black plague mask.
The wine-bearer poured some wine in the chalice, Caelia looked at them in confusion. The man with the plague mask unsheathed a knife, then passed it to Damon.
"What's going on?"
She asked nervously looking at Damon for answers.
"It is all part of the ceremony."
Damon said calmly as he took the knife in his hand.
"Give me your hand."
He said and Caelia stretched her hand.
What he did next was something she was not expecting.
He slashed her wrist with the sharp knife. Caelia looked in horror as her blood dripped on the marbled floor.
The cup-bearer brought the chalice forward and put it under, letting her blood drip into the chalice filled with wine. She looked up at Damon and noticed that he was passing her the knife.
Her head felt light and heavy all at the same time.
She finally looked up. Up at the wall clock that she should have been keeping an eye on all night.
It was two minutes to midnight. The clock would strike twelve soon, she should have left since 11:50pm. She shouldn't have stayed here.
She snatched her hand away from Damon and started running towards the exit, praying that she wouldn't slip and fall in the heavy gown. Fortunately the crowd made way for her, she didn't know if it was out of shock or for whatever reason, the people who didn't she shoved out of the way.
One of her shoes slipped from her feet as she descended on the stairs, she almost slipped but she was lucky to have not fallen. She didn't stop, fearing that Damon would be hot on her heels, following her. From afar she could see the car, just outside the gate, she was so close. So so close.
She saw a couple in the bushes, next to the shrubs and at first she thought they were just having harmless fun with each other, just kissing, but the more she looked, she realised the woman was biting the man, on his neck.
Caelia paused and looked closer. The woman raised her head, her face paled as she realised that it was Sophia.
What the fuck?!
Her blood went cold. Sophia raised her head slightly, her mouth was covered in blood.
"Ella!"
That was Damon, she turned to look at him.
He was gonna come after her, she had to run now.
She started running again.
She was so close. So so so close.
She reached the car and opened the door, barely getting in before yelling at the driver to drive off.
In a flash, she was gone.
............
"What happened?!"
Samantha asked as she pulled Caelia out of the heavy dress, Caelia stood, rigid and shocked. She didn't say a word, she was trying really hard to process everything that had happened.
Olga turned to Samantha with anger in her eyes, she looked furious.
"I warned you about this. I told you she wasn't ready. I don't know why you sent her there!"
Samantha scoffed.
"We don't know what happened yet. Besides, I made sure she had adequate protection."
That she did. Samantha had doused Caelia's gown with a fragrance meant to conceal her human smell, she had added it to her makeup too and her bare neck, just so they would never know she was human.
So far, everything looked intact. Caelia looked fine and she could still smell the fragrance on her.
Then she saw her wrist.
"What? What's that?"
She asked with morbid fear as she raised her wrist up. The heavy gown and the redness of the gown had made her miss the bleeding hand and dripping blood, because it blended so much with the skin. And now that she could see it, her jaw slacked.
She turned to Olga who was also looking at her wrist, her face pale, her lips bloodless.
Samantha inspected the wound. No, it was not a bite. It was a cut from a knife. This was unusual, there was no reason anyone would be cutting her with a knife unless...
"What happened Caelia?!"
Samantha demanded as she pulled her arm.
Caelia flinched and looked at Samantha.
"I-I... There was Damon..."
"And then what happened?"
Caelia struggled to gather herself, she started looking around, being more aware of her surroundings, seeing Samantha's worried expression and Olga standing at the side, with a stoic expression on her face.
She held her head.
"I don't know. There was some priest in a mask, Damon cut me, I think it was a marriage ceremony..."
"A marriage ceremony?!"
Samantha balked.
Olga rushed to the windows, she started closing the blinds.
"They'll be looking for her, you have to send her back home and burn the dress."
She said as she looked outside and hastily started closing the windows.
"I told you. I told you this was a bad idea."
"Did anything else happen?"
Samantha asked as she started wiping Caelia's makeup off, rather harshly too, Caelia could barely talk.
"No, nothing else. What do you mean?"
She asked, contemplating whether or not they would believe her if she mentioned the part about Sophia.
They seemed to be hiding something, the looks on their faces showed that they knew more than they were letting on.
"Is there.. is there something you're not telling me? What happened?"
She asked as she stared at them with confusion on her face.
Samantha continued her work of removing her makeup, but she faked a small smile.
"Everything's fine."
"Then what happened at the party. What was the ceremony about?"
"Don't worry yourself about that and just manage to get undressed and out of here in time."
Olga snapped.
Samantha started.
"Well..."
Olga cut her off.
"Samantha. finish up and let her leave."
They looked like they were having a secret conversation in their head with all the glances they kept sharing with each other.
"Nothing. It's just a silly little ball with silly little games. That's all."
Samantha said as she moved to her hair, running a brush over the delicate curls and quickly braiding it up in a braid and wrapping it all up.
Just like that, she was back to being Caelia again. She was back in her regular clothes, she removed the contacts herself and that was the final touch, she as herself gain.
"Where's the other shoe?"
Samantha asked as she hurriedly put away the red gown and the jewelry and the heel.
Caelia looked around, vaguely seeing that it was missing.
"It must have fallen off while I was running."
"Okay. Don't you worry about that. You should be on your way, make sure you take a shower when you get back home, then head straight to bed. Keep your head low, don't talk to anyone about what happened."
"If you do, the deal is off."
Samantha said
.........................
Caelia snuck into the annex. Rachel was fast asleep, Greta was nowhere to be found. She had a hot shower and slipped into her nightwear. Then she tried to sleep.
But she could not.
She tossed and turn for at least an hour. Her mind replaying everything that happened. Then finally, she stood up and went outside. She was at the far left side of the house, far enough from the party but she could still hear the sound of the orchestra and the laughter of the people outside.
"You're back."
Greta's voice startled her, so bad that she jumped.
"Oh. It's just you."
She murmured as she put her hand on her chest.
Greta noticed the bandage immediately.
"What's that?!"
She asked and Caelia tried to hide it.
"It's nothing."
She murmured.
Great stared at her.
Then she sighed.
"You know already. Don't you?"
She asked and Caelia shook her head.
"Know what?"
Greta sighed as she looked outside, towards the direction of the party.
"Look at them, all dressed in their best dresses and finest suits, they look so good, but you'd never believe what lurks underneath all the pomp and pageantry."
"I don't know what you mean."
Caelia murmured.
Greta scoffed.
"I can see the look on your face. You already know, you're just denying yourself. I heard you come in, you were crying in the shower, you can't sleep. I also felt the same way after I saw it."
Caelia opened her mouth, but words failed her.
Greta turned towards her, her menacing look on her face.
"Samantha will tell you it's a lie, because she's one of them. But you, I want you to never forget."
"What?"
Caelia muttered.
She gulped hard and asked the question that had been plaguing her mind ever since.
"What are they?"
She didn't know if she wanted to confront the truth, but she asked anyways and the dread that filled her up told her that it might be a bad idea to confront the truth.
Greta looked at her.
"Oh you already know the answer to that."
"Greta, what are they?!"
She persisted.
"They're vampires."