"I thought you had it under control." Aldon spat, throwing down a news paper article he had finished reading. The headline read: ANIMAL ATTACK AT LOCAL PARTY.
Laila had just walked in the house, after a long day at work. She had barely begun to put her jacket on the iron coat rack. Laila worked at a local bar.
On long days after work, such like today, she liked to challenge her thirst by cutting through the park on her walk home.
"Huh?" Laila responded, curiously. She took the newspaper from Aldon's hand, and skimmed through it. "You seriously think this was me?" she asked angrily, throwing it down on the coffee table.
"Who else would it be? As far as I know we're the only ones in this town." Aldon retorted.
"As far as you know." Laila repeated with a huff. "Doesn't necessarily mean that we're the only ones for sure."
Aldon sighed and flopped down on the soft black leather arm chair, facing the fire. Laila could tell he had given up the argument. After all, he could always tell when she was lying. They had lived together for centuries.
"where were you then?" Aldon asked. "you usually get off work earlier."
Laila sighed, and sat down across from him on an identical chair, seated at the opposite side of the fireplace. "out, in the park.."
Aldon raised an eyebrow slightly. "you promise it wasn't you?"
"I promise." Laila sighed. "I wouldn't betray you like that. You've taken me under your wing ever since I can remember."
Aldon smiled warmly at her. She was right after all. He had taken her under his wing ever since he had found her transformed and passed out alone in an alley.
Laila smiled. "Did you hunt today?" she asked, changing the subject.
"No, not yet. With this animal attack we'll have to be a little bit more secret." Aldon sighed. "we'll have to hunt at night for a wile until this news becomes old."
Laila sighed. "I agree. I'll do my hunting at night."
CHAPTER 1
It was a mildly warm evening. Not too hot or cold. During the day the sun had randomly peaked through clouds wile the air still smelt like rain was just around the corner. The roads still had puddles in the potholes but otherwise was more or less dry. Now that it was heading into the night, the smell of wet cement got stronger with the cool air, and moonlight bounced off the pothole puddles.
Laila started working much to Aldon's protest. Usually they started off in a new town with her going to school, but she was bored of that. She wanted to try something different this time. After all, she was centuries old. Unlike most, Laila enjoyed Mondays, and her job at the local bar. It was a great way for her to practice controlling her thirst in smaller amounts.
After her shift at a local bar Musset, owned by her friend Lucia's family, Laila was on her way through the typical forgotten trail she had always taken on the way home. It was through a small cluster of trees. Fog was starting to roll in, and she could hear the usual night time sounds of nocturnal creatures.
A few feet in front of her, she could see someone walking hurriedly the opposite way, towards her, away from the path that led her close to Aldons place.
"D…Damien?" she called, raising an eyebrow. He jumped.
"Oh, god… Hi Laila." He panted.
"You ok?" she asked curiously. He normally was a tough guy, nothing scared him as much as he was tonight. Damien was more of the shoot first ask later han-solo type of guy. Not the typical personality you'd expect for someone so brilliantly creative.
"Yeah, Um… I'm fine…mind if I tag along?" he asked hopefully.
Laila smiled. "of course you can…. What happened?"
"I'm not sure." he sighed, after a wile. "probably just imagining things. But.. I got this really creepy feeling that I was being followed by something nasty…and it almost looked as if the fog was surrounding me. Normally this park doesn't scare me at night."
"Normally…" Laila trailed off… listening intently to the noises wile they walked. Damiens scent was too distracting though, and she was loosing focus.
"You ok?" he asked raising an eyebrow slightly.
She cleared her throat and nodded. "yeah, I'm fine."
Thankful that it was now dark, and he likely didn't see her skin change slightly wile she caught a strong wind of his scent. She was certainly glad she didn't have fangs.
"You know, you were probably just in one of your many supernatural worlds you created." Laila offered, heading up the steps to her place. "you can come in if you want," she said. Damien nodded, following her.
"you're probably right. I've been having a bit of a writers block lately." He sighed, shrugging off his leather jacket.
"Your ghost story?" she asked, tossing her bag on the chair in the living room.
"yeah.. You know the one about the abandoned Cemetery?" he asked.
"one of my favourites." Laila smiled, heading into the living room.
"well, there's a scene I was thinking about, with the girl leaving the Cemetery. I guess I kind of imagined it too vividly." he shrugged. "I feel stupid now."
Laila grinned. "I'm sure it was nothing," she smiled. Laila got up and headed to the kitchen, deciding to make him some tea for the nerves, at the same time wondering where Aldon had disappeared to.
Wile pouring the water, she started thinking about what Damien had seen. She was starting to wonder if her and Aldon weren't the only Vampires in the town.
The door to the kitchen suddenly opened, drawing Laila back to her senses. She looked up, seeing Aldon some what dishevelled.
He flopped down at the table.
"you ok?" she asked curiously.
"yeah, fine… just hunted…. Why are you making tea?" he asked.
"Oh… for um… Damien." she shrugged. "There's something I need to talk to you about later… or better yet, just read Damien's thoughts. Well. Thought."
Aldon nodded. "Are you able to control yourself around him?"
Laila nodded. "Yes. I have before." She eyed Aldon up and down as he was about to head into the living room to greet Damien. "You might want to wash up first… you look like you got in a fight with a weed hacker."
Later on that evening, Laila and Damien headed back to his place. She wanted to walk in that path he was to see if she had the same creepy sensation he did. They didn't realize how long they walked for, talking non stop about the story he was writing.
"hey.. Thanks for not laughing at me," Damien grinned as they got to his place. He dug around in his pocket for his keys.
"No problem. Secretly, that trail freaks me out sometimes too." Laila fibbed. She grinned at Damien before he went inside and headed back herself.
Laila walked through the route Damien had told her he took when he got the creepy being followed and surrounded by fog feeling.
She walked slowly for about 15 minutes, with nothing at all. Sure enough as soon as she thought that, the fog started rolling in slowly around her. She stopped, listening. She thought, at first, she could hear something, but wasn't sure.
Laila closed her eyes, calmly. An image of a shadowy figure emerged from the fog walking closer and closer up to her. The creepy sensation got stronger the longer she kept her eyes closed. She shuddered and opened them.
"howdy, Laila." said the figure, smugly. She could picture the person smirking.
"Do I know you?" she raised an eyebrow.
"we go way back." the voice said as the figure drew nearer. "centuries."
"You're the thing that scared Damien!" she said. Upon realizing this, all her senses went haywire.
"Thing? Really… c'mon now, I'm one of you." He drew closer, finally she was able to see his appearance more distinctively. He was attractive, looked about early 30s. He had medium length shaggy red hair. He wore a leather vest and black jeans with a wide leather belt. he had big black biker style boots, and a spiked cuff bracelet on his left wrist.
"One of me?" Laila asked curiously.
"The names Nathaniel." he said, introducing himself.
Laila was incredibly tempted to press more questions for this mysterious new vampire in her turf, if they really did go way back. Much of her past was clouded after all. However she preferred to have Aldon talk to this mysterious man first.
Nathaniel watched her, or even could have been reading her thoughts.
"You're a vampire." She said finally, hoping to distract him from her thoughts that could possibly lead him astray.
"Yes." he nodded.
"and you're here why?" she asked.
"to find you, actually." Nathanael said smugly, again.
Laila raised an eyebrow. "really."
Knowing that Aldon was probably watching her, a fact lost on Nathaniel. She decided to invite him over. She was a vampire after all, what did she have to be scared of?
"Look.." she said slowly "why don't you follow me then… less risk of getting discovered or overheard at my house."
To her surprise, Nathanael nodded. "Deal."
She walked quietly, trying to get into his thoughts, but either he was avoiding thinking about his game plan, if he really was aware of Vampires, or he was blocking her out so she wouldn't know what he was up to. Aldon however, was a lot stronger, and more powerful than she was. Nathaniel would not be able to resist.
The story was that Laila had Nathanaels original last name: Hades. When she decided to join Aldon's clan, however, she changed it, for fear of hunter or some sort of rival descendants.
Nathanael had told them that he was the brother of her late husband, at the time she was bitten, during the days of crazy witch hunts and towns being burnt to the ground by rivals accusing each other of being witches.
"so, you were Drakes…" she trailed off.
"Brother." Nathanael finished. "I was in town to find him the night…he died.." he told her slowly. "two nights after you were missing. I was planning to defend him that day. But you know how it was then…"
"mmhm." she lied slightly. She couldn't remember much of what happened in her past life. Nathanaels tale however still seemed made up. Aldon had been trying to help her discover her past though and she thought she knew what his plan was. "That doesn't explain why you were scaring Damien."
Nathanael sighed. "I'm sorry about that. He was getting a little too close to where I was hiding…"
"what about wile I was walking?" she said.
"I knew Damien probably would've told you what he saw… and figured it'd make you come find me. I didn't want the risk of running into the old hunters line." he said simply.
"How did you know if he knew me though?" Laila asked. Nathanael just tapped his head, meaning he could read Damiens thoughts.
"well," Aldon started slowly. "Since Damien found out about you… to a point.. And you've reached Laila, why not stay with us for a wile?"
Laila raised an eyebrow. This was a move she clearly didn't expect from Aldon. She figured there was no use trying to read his thoughts, he was so skilled in blocking others out or tricking them that she wouldn't get very far.
"I'd be happy to," Nathanael said, grinning at Laila.
"There's only one rule." Aldon said, getting up. "We don't feed on humans."
Nathanael raised an eyebrow curiously. Clearly he was the type that did she could tell by the hints of red in his brown eyes. "Its abnormal to me, but I'll do my best."
Laila wasn't too thrilled on that statement. "You'll have to do more then your best." she said defensively. "I have friends in this town, people know me good. If I-"
"Laila." Adon cut her off. "That would be why you're going to hunt with him."
"What about my job? I can't just disappear in the middle of a shift!" she argued.
"I'm sure Mr. Ingrum wont mind." Aldon said.
"NO. Not wile I'm at work. I don't need people more suspicious then they have to be!" she said.
"Look, I will phone you if I get thirsty, and stay in the woods until you manage to get away and help me." Nathanael suggested.
"Sounds like a plan." Aldon agreed. "At least he's willing to try."
"Fine." Laila said, clearly defeated. She knew there was no point arguing. Clearly Nathanael was saying everything Aldon wanted to hear.
Laila got up and headed to her room. She didn't feel like interrogating much anymore. Clearly she was being out numbered. She felt like a teenager whining about their parents rules. She flopped on her bed, flipping through one of the stories Damien had given her to proof read.
Her bedroom was not what you'd expect for a Vampire. No coffin, skulls, things like that. It did have a medieval style to it though.
The bed was a queen size with black/maroon reversible comforter, decorated with a maroon red on top and maroon pillows. The comforter and pillows had matching black criss-cross patterns. A tall window stood behind her bed, dressed in thin black drapes. Wile the walls were a simple white and the floor was dark hardwood with a slate grey colour rug.
A huge pyramid iron candelabra sat beside the bed with long white candles. There was also a matching book case that held all of Damiens stories he had let her keep, and the poems and songs that Drake had written, as well as articles that Aldon had found about her past. Also her journals stuffed everywhere else in between.
Beside that was a long CD rack, filled to the point of nearly overflowing with all types of music. Laila often liked to have music on and read or write. There was also a updated TV on the wall, that she didn't watch too much other then movies.
She had an old wrought iron foot long mirror that hung on the foot of her bed. Unlike typical lore she did have a reflection. Although Aldon says comes with a curse and was not able to see it at sunrise. He didn't specify what would happen, but she didn't want to take the risk.
"Laila?" Aldon asked, with a quick knock.
"Yeah its open." she sighed.
"you're not too fond of this guy are you?" he asked closing the door.
She raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"
"I know you." he shrugged simply, flopping down in her comfy black arm chair.
"what exactly is your plan, Aldon? Inviting a total stranger in the house? For all we know he's doing the attacks." She said. Not caring if Nathanael was overhearing.
"That's what I tend to find out. He claims to know your past right? So, Why don't we keep him around until we figure out what we need to know. For all we know he knows your maker." Aldon explained.
Laila sighed not fond of this plan. All of a sudden a horrible thought came to her. "what if he's it?"
"It what?" he raised an eyebrow slightly.
"My maker?" she shrugged.
"Wouldn't he have mentioned that by now?" Aldon asked curiously. "I know you're not a fan, but just go along with me for now. It may be the only shot."
Laila sighed. "Fine. But if he's lying about being Drakes brother, I'll rip him apart myself. What are we gonna tell people for now?"
"He's one of my relatives visiting for the Holidays." Aldon said simply.
"Great." Laila grunted. "I give up."
"Good." Aldon grinned, giving her a hug. "look why don't we start planning the Halloween party?"
"Are you sure its safe this year? We don't know if this guy can control himself."
"He's got time to learn." Aldon said simply.
Laila sighed. "Alright, alright. You win."
"I always do." Aldon teased. Laila rolled her eyes and smiled.
*
The following day Laila was already up, and putting her costume on for work. The bar she worked at always had a small staff Halloween party of their own, and worked in costume the week leading of Halloween.
It was always the usual costume. A stereo-typical Vampira. Her and Aldon always got a kick out of the irony of the costume. She knew it was the anniversary of her transformation, but she didn't care.
Years ago Laila would to sulk in her room and hate Halloween, hating what she was. It was around her 5th anniversary of her transformation when Aldon had decided to do something about it. He created the Masquerade party as a way for them to get established in the community they lived in at the time. A way for them to meet people.
That was where she had met her friend Ella. There was something about Ella that Laila could trust. Although she never did tell her the truth. Ella was almost into the same similar supernatural lore that Damien liked, although he preferred a little more of the story telling, where as Ella was more into the truth. Not that she was a skeptic. She was the type that would happily go to Transylvania and check out Draculas castle. These days though, Ella has been in college, so busy with work it seemed that she rarely had the time to talk anymore. She did show up for the parties, and Laila was hoping that Ella would be there this week.
The following year she had met her friend Kara. It wasn't exactly the best first impression either. Kara was under the impression that Laila was stealing the interest of a man she was talking to at the party. But the real case was that he happened to be fellow Vampire and Laila was warning him. Kara was impressed with the way Laila handled herself and the fact that she protected Kara wile barely knowing her at the time.
Realizing the parties he had planned were starting to become successes, Aldon decided to remain in the town and continue with the tradition. Eventually pulling Laila out of her slope.
"Busty vampire beauty, huh?" Nathanael smirked in the doorway making her jump nearly poking herself in the eye with a makeup brush.
"Ever heard of knocking?" she asked annoyed.
"Sorry." he smirked. "couldn't help it.. It's kind of a hot costume."
"What do you want?" she asked impatiently.
"To talk actually. Aldon said you had an hour before work…" he said simply.
"Well Aldon was wrong." she said and started to head out. He grabbed her arm. In that quick second that Nathanael grabbed her arm, she saw a strange flash as though a two second clip of a movie.
"C'mon Laila, hurry." a shadowy figure called from the end of a dark alley. She could feel herself panting as if she had run miles, and was suddenly very aware of her stomach.
Turning around she could see a tiny village going up in flames and others fleeing.
As quickly as it had come, it stopped. She blinked for a moment and shook her head.
"What the hell was that?" she snapped, absentmindedly patting her stomach.
"Your past, I'll bet." Nathanael said. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Aldon told me you can't remember much of what happened to you before… I can temporarily restore memories by touch."
"Mm." was all that she could mutter.
"look I know you don't trust me. So I'm offering… if you want… to see your memories. Maybe put some puzzle pieces back together." Nathanael suggested.
"why?" she asked sceptically.
"to gain your trust." he shrugged simply. "it'd make me living here feel more welcome if you trusted me."
"I'll think about it." she sighed. She couldn't help being tempted, if what she really saw was her past.
*
The bar was louder then usual, due to the costume party. Everyone came as everything from Jedi to Zombies. Everyone was dancing for the sake of dancing, not caring about music.
Usually the bar was calm. Everyone sat in their own groups of friends, but at the Halloween dance, people mixed. It was always an interesting mix.
"You vanna suck my blooooood?" she heard a familiar voice mutter behind her.
"what?" she murmured, distracted. She turned around and saw Damien smirking. "Jerk." she teased. Laila laughed almost dropping her tray when she saw Damiens costume.
"you like?" he grinned, doing a silly pose.
"Wolverine, huh?" she laughed. "Definitely unexpected."
He shrugged. "I like the hair." he said, patting it. "although I do owe Lucia a can of hair spray."
"I'll bet. She here?" Laila laughed.
"Mhm. Pirate wench this year." He said.
"well who better to protect her from horny pirates then a 300year old regenerating mutant?" Laila teased, wiping up the counter.
"Exactly." Damien laughed. "So what's the deal with the dude staying at your house?"
Laila raised an eyebrow curiously. "Friend of Aldons. Why?"
"Curious." he shrugged. "He gives me the willies."
Laila laughed. "Yeah me too."
"So are you still doing your party though?" He sounded hopeful.
"Yeah." she sighed, not really looking forward to the new addition.
"Great. I wanted to see if you'd go with me?" he rambled out quickly.
Laila raised an eyebrow. "I don't see why not. Feel like helping me set up that day?"
"Sure." he grinned. Just as he was about to say something, he got pulled into another direction, having to deliver drinks.
Laila smiled to herself and wiped up a spill someone had left on the counter. If it wasn't for her ability to hear what most people were thinking, Halloween often made Laila feel the closest she could to being human.
*
Finally it was Halloween. Laila was looking forward to the party. She stumbled out of bed in her pjs and headed to get dressed, when she noticed a long white rectangular box she untied the ribbon and opened the lid. Removing the red tissue, she pulled out a dress. As the dress fell, a card fluttered out, that simply read 'from Aldon.'
The dress was black satin corset with a long flowing rippled skirt. It was trimmed with a metallic Smokey Gray fabric. It came with black stockings, a matching eye mask, and black heals. She loved it.
"Aldon!" she squealed. "its gorgeous!"
"I thought you'd like it." he grinned.
"What made you get it? I usually wear the red one I have…" she asked curiously, holding it out against her in front of the mirror.
Aldon shrugged. "'Cause I know you haven't been too happy about the whole Nathanael thing…"
"Well…he kind of talked to me the other day…" she trailed off. She forgotten that she neglected to tell Aldon about this.
He raised an eyebrow. "really??"
"He offered to show me my memories… one of his abilities.. In return for his trust." she said.
"Are you going to?" aldon asked curiously.
"I told him I'd think about it. What have you found out on him?" she asked, folding the dress back up and putting it back in the box.
"Well… he really is drakes brother." aldon said, closing her door. "he told me a lot…"
"Like?"
"Do you really want to know?" he asked curiously.
"Yes. I disserve to."
Aldon sat down and got comfortable. Laila looked at him, not sure what to expect. He sighed and looked at her as though he was trying to put it together in a way she wont get mad, he hoped.
"Before you freak out or anything… I'm trying to find a way to verify his tale. If the story about you really is true. Or just his version." Aldon said slowly.
Laila simply nodded.
Aldon sighed deeply. "You died… during a town raid… you were believed to be a witch because you had witch relatives. Drake was defending you, but it didn't work. Didn't convince the jury. He made a plea to Nathanael, who introduced you two… although that he didn't quite specify how he knew you. But Nathanael was too late. Drake was prosecuted. The townspeople had assumed you fled, but you had been attacked. Drake cursed the town swearing that you will get them back in some way.
He was burned alive the same time you were transforming… that's when I had found you. Unconscious in an alley. The baby was lost… and it was the morning after the bonfire that prosecuted Drake. I knew the signs to look for and knew what you had become… which is why I picked you up before townspeople returned.
My theory is that there is more to Nathanael's part then what he has told. He was vague on his role that day. He claimed that he had come to search for you guys. He discovered what had happened to Drake, but there was no trace of you. He didn't quite specify if he was a vampire or not at the time." Aldon explained.
Laila sighed heavily. She had not expected this type of tale, or what to even think of it. Infact she didn't quite know what to expect in general.
"So…you changed your mind…" she said.
Aldon looked at her curiously. She raised an eyebrow. "You said if Nathanael was my maker, he likely would've mentioned that. Even though I think that's total bull. It seems to me like he's changing your mind."
"A bit," Aldon admitted. "So, I was thinking… we should let him use his memory ability on you."
"What good would that do?" she asked curiously.
"Two things: He never says whether or not he controls the memories that he shows you, or they really are your natural buried memories. So why not kill two birds with one stone?" Aldon suggested.
Laila moved slightly, weighing her chances on the idea. "I think you're right."
Aldon smiled widely. Cleary pleasantly surprised that she agreed to do it. He sighed, relieved, and got up. "So what I want you to do… is write down everything you see that he shows you. But don't let him know you're keeping a log. Then after a few months or so, we'll go through them. Find any links or sift through what doesn't make sense and what doesn't connect."
Laila grinned stupidly. "You really had me fooled. I thought for sure you were totally buying his bullshit tale."
"Not in the slightest." he grinned. He stiffened a bit, and sniffed. "Damien's here."
"I smelt him too." Laila smiled, and got up. "The most amazing scent ever." With that, she headed down stairs.
She spotted Damien sitting on the couch talking to Nathanael. She was careful to discretely avoid any kind of contact if she could help it. She didn't want one of her visions to suddenly come to her wile she's with Damien.
Nathanael got up, wile she came into the room. "He's quite the interesting guy." He muttered on his way out.
She couldn't help but grin slightly.
*
A few hours later the house was set up. She used her abilities to speed up the process slightly, whenever Damien wasn't in the room. She'd run around to decorate the room fast. Damien seemed impressed by her ability to help aldon move a lot of the heavy furniture out of the main living room.
She had forgotten just how big the room really was without all their furniture. The living room was large and rectangular. The walls were high, with arched entryways. The windows were tall and big, that showed amazing views of the neglected vine littered castle style garden. Vines running up the side of the house completed the appearance.
Back to the inside of the room, the windows were high, large, and arched at the top. The walls were painted off white, with a light pink sponge painted stoned wall effect. The middle of a large blank wall was a huge golden brown colour tapestry, draped in a wrought iron chain arched in the middle.
From the middle of the ceiling hung a large crystal chandelier that held lit, long white candles. Wrought iron single candelabras hung on the wall with more matching candles, creating a soft golden glow effect. Completing the living room was a large red fireplace that was lit.
"You know, this place is so awesome, you don't even have to decorate." Damien grinned.
"I knew you'd say that." Laila grinned. "That's why Lucia's on her way here to help me decorate. You'd just argue with me and want to leave it as is." she teased.
"You know me too well." Damien returned. "What's the theme?"
"I'm not telling." Laila winked.
Damien just grinned. "Well, I'm off. Gotta go dress up for the party. See you in a few hours?"
"You're not gonna tell me what your costume is you?" she asked, pretending to be annoyed.
"mmm…nah. I'd rather surprise you." he said, pulling on his leather jacket. "you're hot when you pout by the way." he winked and headed out.
Wile waiting for Lucia to show, Laila decided to at least get part of her costume ready. She sat and worked on her hair for about half an hour. Lucias scent was similar to Damiens musky spice, although hers had a sweeter hint. She recognised it anywhere, and was about to leave her room to go meet Lucia when her bedroom door banged open, and in walked several large boxes with legs.
"Didn't know boxes grew legs." Laila teased, grabbing the first two off the pile, allowing her friend to be able to see again.
"Yeah, you'd think with the two testosterones you live with, one of the two would be able to help carry a couple boxes up the stairs." she said, flopping them on Lailas bed.
"Men can be incredibly lazy." She grinned. Lucia laughed and hugged her.
"So I take it the hot mystery guy, is Nathanael?" Lucia asked, flopping on the bed.
"Yeah, and I take it Damien complained?" said Laila. "What's with him lately?"
Lucia squirmed slightly and started unpacking one of the boxes.
"Luc… What's going on?" Laila asked. Lucia clearly wasn't going to talk, Damien had probably asked her not to tell her. Debating whether or not she should eavesdrop on Lucias thought, she decided against it. Whatever it was, Damien would tell her eventually.
Lucia sighed, slowly. "All I can tell you is… He's glad you agreed to go with him to the party. Beyond glad."
Laila nodded simply, and didn't pry. She refused to eavesdrop on her friends unless she absolutely had no choice. She respected their privacy.
The girls brought the boxes downstairs and started to decorate the dining hall for the party.
"Luce, you are a decorating queen!" Laila exclaimed excitedly. She loved the decorations they had used. The design was purely Lucia's department. Every year the girls did a different colour scheme and design theme for Halloween.
A black base center piece sat on the huge buffet table; inside the vase were black and orange fake but realistic looking flowers. Daisy's, Roses and Birds of Prey.
Orange and Black alternating napkins were spread out on the table, making sure everyone had two napkins. One of each colour.
Dark Red punch filled a crystal clear bowl, with black ladles. Clear tall wine glasses sat at each table, next to a black round plate. The buffet table was littered with all types of snacks that Aldon and Nathanael created.
"You sure it doesn't look more like Martha Stewart blew up?" Lucia asked, taking a few steps back and examining the room in her typical perfectionist fashion.
"It looks great, Luce." Laila repeated.
"CRAP!" Lucia exclaimed suddenly.
"What?!" Laila asked.
"Gotta go! Less then an hour to get ready!!" Lucia exclaimed, and took off out the door. So fast, that Laila would've thought she was a vampire too if she didn't know better.
*
Laila decided to talk to Nathanael before a lot of guests started to arrive. Before Damien & his sister Lucia got there. She found Nathanael sitting in the study flipping through one of Aldons history books.
The study was a fairly smaller room than the rest of the rooms in the house. It wasn't crammed small though. It had a cosier feel to it. A typical rectangular shape, with a long wide window that matched the appearance of the living room. The walls were painted the same as the dining hall, but not that anyone could tell. Most of the walls were covered in floor to ceiling high book shelfs that Aldon had collected over the years.
"So what's with the whole Ralph Lauren vampire look?" she asked. Nathanael shrugged.
"Best I can do on a short notice. Not much of a stretch though, really." He teased.
"How's the thirst?" She asked bluntly.
"I fed before the party." He replied simply. Laila wonderd what he ment by fed.
"I hope so." Laila said, wandering out to the balcony. "Actually I came to talk to you about your offer."
"Oh?" he asked, following.
"The memories. Why is it only temporary?" she asked.
"Because they're buried so far back most of our human memories dies when we're turned." he replied.
"Right well…. I'll do it." Laila told him. "I really don't remember much, other then what Aldon has told me. I know I was married and pregnant at the time…and that's really it…"
"Yeah, I heard…So, how do you want to do this?" he asked curiously.
"Whatever you have to do." she said simply. He ran his hand up her arm slowly. She saw a flash of what looked like flames, and moved slightly.
"After the party." She said, and headed back inside.