1. A Love Will Blossom

I slowly made my way through the graveyard, towards the resting place of the Baroness. Bats were flitting around my stomach as I got ready to change my life forever. To become a child of night and spend the rest of eternity with my one true love. Just Alexander and I, saying those words in Romanian, sipping from the goblet, just a bite away.

As I approached the altar I saw him. Alexander. His back was to me, but I could see his dark hair glistening in the mix of candle flames and moonlight. My heart was pounding. I was so nervous but so excited. I have wanted this all my life and finally, I was getting my chance.

I placed my lace-covered hand on his shoulder to turn him around and see his gorgeous face. But instead of looking into those chocolate-brown eyes I love so much, I was staring into the bright green ones of my enemy.

"Hello, Monster Girl. You have no idea how long I have waited for this to happen," Trevor Mitchell, my nemesis, spoke. His hair had been dyed and his nails were painted black. I know I was shocked to see him, but damn he looked great. His gothic look was extremely attractive.

"Trevor!" You could hear the shock in my voice and the hint of anger of him being here instead of Alexander.

"You seem surprised. I know I'm not Alexander, but Raven, you know we have a connection. Oh, and look what I got," Trevor turned the bottom of his wrist towards me and there, in small black ink, was a raven. "It's permanent. Raven, I have loved you ever since we were kids. I know we have acted cruelly towards each other, but that was only for fun," he grinned, showing all of his perfect teeth, and two little fangs.

Wait! Fangs?! When did he get those? Are they fake? Where was Alexander? Why was Trevor saying he was in love with me? Everything was racing through my mind. Then it came to me. Since Trevor knew about vampires he was playing a prank on me. He didn't really love me and he probably got the fangs from Henry.

"Ha-ha. Very funny Trevor. Nice fangs. Also, lovin' the tattoo and wig. Where's Alexander?" I laughed a little. Trevor was getting me back for the last time. I really would miss him. "Come on, man. Where's Alexander? Do I have to go looking for him?"

Trevor looked really confused and hurt. "Alexander isn't here. I am. He isn't going to be here." Trevor grabbed my hands. "Don't you see Raven? This isn't a joke. I'm not trying to play around. Alexander left for Romania an hour ago."

"What? Romania?" I started to look around frantically. "Alexander!" I called out. "Alexander! Come out here! This isn't funny anymore!" Nothing. No response. My heart rate started to pick up. This wasn't funny. What were they thinking taking a joke so far?

"Raven. I'm here for you. I'm not leaving you. I'm not afraid of a commitment to you. Don't you see? He's treating you just like he did Luna. . ."

"No. He wouldn't do that. We've been planning this night. This was supposed to be eternity for us. He wouldn't do that to me. He loves me. . . He loves me." I slowly sank to the ground. He wouldn't do this. Not to me. He wasn't in love with Luna. Not the way he is with me! "Alexander, just please come out," I whispered, barely audible. Tears started to well up and not a minute later they were steadily rolling down my cheeks.

"Raven. It's okay. I'm here for you." Trevor crouched down to my level, gently pressing my back against his chest.

"It's not true! He wouldn't do this to me. He loves me. He wouldn't leave me alone like this!" Screaming this over and over, I cried until I blacked out.

"Ugh," I awoke, my head spinning slightly. As I focused on steadying myself, I heard voices.

"Is she gonna be okay?" The first voice said. It was slightly familiar, but one I hadn't heard in a while. I couldn't quite figure it out.

"Yeah, she's just shocked. That bastard did it again. How did you find out that he had left?" The second voice answered, all too familiar.

"I was at the airport with Luna and Romeo. I saw him boarding the same plane as them, a flight to Romania." Luna and Romeo? Was Jagger here? No way. . .

"Of course, he would run away. I'm glad you called. So at least someone was able to be there for her. She would've just shown up to nothing. . . To no one," Trevor said. Well, I guess him being there was better than me just having to stand there forever, just waiting for Alexander to show up. And him never doing so.

"Honestly, I would've rather been there, but yeah, I couldn't have her show up to nothing. Luna went through enough with that. I can't have Raven go through that too." No mistake, this was Jagger. Why would he think like that though? I don't mean anything to him. Was he just being nice?

"So, like, is that a real tattoo? Or did you apply it with water?" Jagger laughed. "Ouch, dude, chill it was a joke." Trevor must have hit him. I finally decided to sit up and figure out what was going on.

"Where the hell am I?" When I sat up I took a peek around and realized that I wasn't in the graveyard anymore. Instead, I was sitting in some damp, dark basement.

"Raven!" Trevor and Jagger exclaimed in unison. They rushed at me, Trevor going to one side while Jagger went to the other.

"Where the hell am I?" I repeated myself.

"You are currently located in my basement," Trevor replied. "After you blacked-out I carried you here," he said this with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Your basement?" Of course, I was in his basement. Where else would this creeper take me? And why did Alexander leave me? Why is nothing making sense? Still more questions unanswered. While all of this was occurring, my heart was breaking slowly and painfully.

"Jagger, what are you doing here?" I finally asked. I grasped from the conversation that he was the one who found out about Alexander, but why did he stick around?

"Trevor called me when you blacked-out. He told me what happened and I came to see if you were going to be okay," he smiled shyly. I had never seen that smile before. With his white hair falling over his green eye, he looked almost boyish instead of his usual menacing self. I gave a small smile but realized how not okay I was.

"Of course, I'm not okay! Alexander abandoned me! I will never be okay! My chest hurts, my head hurts, everything hurts. Why would he do this? I thought he loved me!" Now everything that I had been thinking decided to come out to Trevor and Jagger. "He wouldn't do this! How are you sure that he left me? What if he is waiting for me right now? What if he thinks that I abandoned him?" I burst into tears, shaking uncontrollably. I was so not okay, and having these two here instead of Alexander made everything worse. At the moment, I didn't care if they were here to take care of me or make sure I'm okay. The person who's supposed to do that, who said he would always be here, isn't here anymore. How am I supposed to be okay ever again?

"It's okay. Calm down, Raven. He's gone. But it's gonna be okay," Trevor was now holding me in his arms, stroking my hair. We stayed like that for a little while. I noticed that he had changed into a t-shirt and his soccer shorts. It suited him more than the black tux. Jagger eventually decided to go for a flight to clear his head.

Finally, I stopped sobbing and wasn't shaking as badly. "Thanks," I whispered into Trevor's now soaked shirt. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cry so much. I shouldn't even be here. I should just go home."

"Did Monster Girl just thank me and apologize to me?" Trevor questioned sarcastically. I lightly punched him in the shoulder. "Ouch. You have got some muscle there," he was trying to cheer me up. "I don't think I'll ever get a "thank you" or an apology from you ever again."

"Again, thanks," I said, proving his last sentence wrong. I tried to put on a smile, but it slipped and so did a few tears as they slid down my cheeks.

"Hey, like I said, I love you. I'm not gonna let you be alone," There's that word again, love, does he really mean it? I just nodded and let him comfort me. It was better than being alone.

After a few minutes had passed, Jagger flew in through the basement window. He looked worn out and like he was working things through his mind.

"Hey, where you been?" Trevor inquired.

"Just flyin' around. How ya doin' Ra?" He seemed hesitant to ask me. Probably because I blew up and burst into tears last time he asked.

"Heart still breaking, feeling like shit, love of my life left me. . . hmm, I'm feeling great," I added a small smile so he wouldn't get the impression that I was mad at him.

"That sounds like you are having a wonderful time. Wanna go walk somewhere? Get your mind off things?" Jagger knew what I was going through and he probably knew what I needed more than I did. I stood up, deciding it would be good to get some exercise after what just happened.

"Sure. Trevor, are you coming?" I didn't want to exclude him after all he'd done for me tonight.

"It's okay. If you wanna go by yourselves I'll just hang around here." He looked a little worn out, but he also had a look that seemed to say I don't want you going anywhere alone with him.

"You're coming," I dragged him up from the floor, looped my arms through their elbows and didn't leave any room for discussion. They both looked confused but decided to stay silent. It was probably for the best. I walked up the stairs and out the front door still holding onto their arms. If I let them go I probably wouldn't have been able to stand on my own.