Chapter 38: 27-1

Alina "We're here." Kendrick's deep voice woke me up oh-so-rudely from my power nap. Seriously, it was the second time today! When Erick informed us that we would have to wake up early to get to the venue, I thought early like six o'clock in the morning or maybe five... but not as early as three fucking am in the bloody morning! Since Erick was banned from seeing me until the wedding, it was Kendrick who had to wake me up. He came barrelling into the room, literally dragging me up from the bed and throwing me inside the bathroom. I finally managed to clean up, brush, and dress up in a pair of comfortable blue jeans and a full-sleeved white sweater with black polka dots after falling asleep nearly a hundred times. It was all thanks to Kendrick who threatened me every five minutes with various modes of torture. By three-thirty in the morning, I was ready and inside the car with Kendrick in the driver's seat. Erick waited upstairs to follow behind us as soon as we left the driveway. I fell asleep as soon as Ken started driving, and as I result, I now had no idea where we were and what path we had taken. The only thing I knew was that my watch now read five-seventeen a.m., and I was not at a church. Yawning, I stretched out my hands and legs as much as the car allowed and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I then looked out the window. "Holy shit!" The view was straight out of a fantasy movie, a very gothic, fantasy movie. The mansion... sorry, my bad, the castle was located on top of a cliff high above the sea. The sun rising on the horizon provided a picture perfect backdrop, and the castle in front was H.U.G.E. It could very well have been the biggest castle in the world for all I knew. I had this sudden urge to take pictures and post them on Instagram to make my non-existent friends extremely jealous. "Um... Alina, if you're done staring, we should really be getting inside." Kendrick broke me out of my trance as he awkwardly held the door open the entire time. Pulling myself together, I got out of the car. "Sorry," I said, my cheeks warming up with embarrassment. "Don't be." Kendrick gave me an affectionate pat on the back. "It happens to the best of us." "Assuming that the best of us carry a mean ass looking dagger on our belt loop?" I was unable to question him the past few days, having been too busy trying to save Erick's life. But now that Erick was all but back to normal, the question had been on the back my mind with its teeth bared. "Hey, I work for vampires! I need to be ready for when someone decided to make a main course out of me," Ken said in defence. "Not that it ever happened, but I like to stay prepared." "You're like a commander in the Royal Guard, aren't you?" I asked, not buying his defence bullshit for an instant. "Yes." He accepted defeat without batting an eyelash. "Now, we should really get inside. Erick's about to arrive." Nodding, I followed Kendrick to the front porch of the ominously big castle while looking back at the endless driveway. It was beautiful just like the castle. I could count up to twelve fountains that ran the length of the road before disappearing downhill, with the roads on either side. The entire area was dotted with multi-coloured blooms. Their fragrance mingled and spread in the morning air, creating a scent so elegant, the world's largest perfume companies would kill for it. I saw a red car appearing in the uphill driveway just before I was ushered inside the beautifully carved enormous mahogany doors. "Alina, dear!"Kenna was waiting for me with a handful of other women. She engulfed me in a hug as soon as I entered. "Oh, you look so tired! Didn't you get enough sleep last night?" "I didn't know I'd have to wake up at three in the morning," I replied sheepishly. "Don't worry." She cupped my cheeks in her hands. "You'll feel better once the cleansing starts." "Hello, Alina!" A beautiful brunette woman wearing a peach knee-length lace dress rushed over to give me a hug as soon as Kenna stepped aside. "I'd been dying to meet you! I'm Selene, Jordan's wife." "Hi! It's so nice to meet you." So this was the woman Jordan and Erick had spoken so fondly of. She sure was lively. "Ladies," QueenKenna said, drawing everyone's attention, "we should start the ceremony now. We have lots to tell her." A chorus of yeses sounded from all around me, and I was yet again ushered inside and down a long hallway lined with several hand-drawn portraits. The inside of the castle was just like a fairy tale. As we were walking on the beautifully crafted carpets, I couldn't help noticing the century old paintings of legendary battles, only these ones with vampire soldiers. The artist's talent was clear in the way every tiny detail had been imprinted on the canvas. The walls were light yellow with red highlights, and the ceiling held ornate Belgian glass chandeliers that reflected the fragile light of a thousand candles. Huge glass windows stood at regular intervals draped with red silk and lace curtains. It seemed like a place where time had frozen, and the people inside had lived through more than history could ever have penned down. We stopped in front of another pair of huge mahogany doors. This one had the carving of rose vines on it. Its painting was so lifelike that I wanted to reach out and touch the soft velvety petals of the flowers in full bloom. Selene came to stand next to me, along with another blonde woman I swear I'd seen somewhere before, but I couldn't remember. "We'll get her ready for the ceremony while you prepare the rest," the blonde woman spoke. "I'll leave it to you then." Kenna moved forward with the rest of the women while I was escorted inside the room. Two guards appeared out of nowhere to pull open the doors, and just as suddenly, disappeared out of sight. "Don't worry. It'll take some getting used to." The blonde woman reassured me.