Title: Lovers Of The Night
Author: ArthurAllen
Disclaimer: I Do Not Own the Characters, Kerry or Ethan. Nor do I own the rights to the book Companions of the night. The book, characters and title all belong to respected author Vivian Vande Velde. And I must say she was a damn good mind to write such a book.
Note: Comments are Appreciated and Suggestions are welcomed.
Okay update! if you read this after I published then it didn't upload everything! I don't know what happened but many apologies! the whole chapter is up now and I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 6
The knock on the door made her get up. She groaned and looked at the clock. It was nearly 12 so she gathered up her blanket around her and opened the door. Denny was all smiles and he held out a card and water.
"Geez Kerry didn't know you were still sleeping, anyway someone dropped this off at the front desk for you. I was on my way out so I thought I would drop it off, the water is extra."
She couldn't help but smile and grabbed both.
"What are you still doing here Denny? I thought you would have been gone for the holidays?"
She peered down the hallway.
"Actually I think I'm the only one on this whole floor"
Denny smiled.
"Nah I don't leave until this evening and I think it's only you and raji left. But I think he's leaving tonight as well. Anyway gotta scatter, I gotta drop a couple gifts off. See ya later Kerry"
He waved and walked to the elevator.
Kerry closed the door and looked at the envelope. She forgot to ask who it was from, she sat down and opened it. The paper was expensive and she realized that it was an invitation of sorts. It didn't have any writing just a time and place with a note at the bottom about Black Tie Dress Only. She looked it over but nothing else came out of the envelope. Puzzled she picked up her phone and googled the address. It happened to be on the rich side of town, and she was even more curious who would invite her to a party in a mansion. Maybe it had to do with Ethan, but no he wasn't the type to do things like that..or maybe he was?. He did live in a penthouse the size of her floor.
She did the math and if she was to go to this party then she would have to leave early as it was across town and with the weather...she could probably make it by the 9pm start. But what kind of party was it? She didn't have a dress to wear and omg she couldn't believe she was actually considering this. She grabbed her things and headed for the shower.
The black bag was hanging on her doorframe when she returned. She grabbed it and went inside before opening it.
The mask was exquisite and she put it down really fast as to not damage it. She looked in the bag but nothing else was there. She ran downstairs to ask the front desk but she found no one. The volunteer sign was up and she realized that it was the christmas holidays and Denny had just left so it meant the front desk wasn't probably going to be manned until after christmas or even new years. She looked at the bag but it had no writing and no indication of where it came from.
She grabbed lunch in the nearly empty dining hall and texted Allie.
[Kerry: So hows the fam doin?]
[Allie: Oh god shoot me now]
[Kerry: Come on it cant be that bad]
[Allie: my Grandmother is threatening christmas carols oh its bad!. ]
Kerry smiled to herself. She knew allie loved her parents but her grandparents were a bit off and she knew that Allie threatening bar time, meant that things had gotten a little heated.
[Kerry: well be safe! Hey got a quick question! ]
[Allie: Wats up ]
[ Kerry: So when they say Black Tie Only does that mean full on ballgown or can I get away with something else. ]
[Allie: It usually means ballgown but depends on the event why? oooh did you get invited to a party?!]
[Kerry: oh geez okay ha ha 0_o yeah I did. ]
[Allie: okay I want details and pics okay! ]
[ Kerry: I don't think I can go you know I don't have things like that laying around.]
[ Allie: Okay you can borrow the dreaded dress! ]
Oh man oh man. The dreaded dress Allie was talking about was a black sheath dress that Allie had intended to wear to a ball in New york with her grandparents to some hoity toity ball that her grandparents helped fund. But instead her mother had gotten her a chanel dress so Allie had decided to wear that instead (you NEVER turn down Chanel!). The event turned out to be pretty horrible and later on Allie would later claim to have wanted to change into the Dreaded dress for some shock value. But the evening turned into the family fight of 2013 and the dress went unworn.
[ Kerry: Oh god I thought you got rid of it?]
[ Allie: I was! but then I got back from new york and I forgot about it! it's still in my closet with the shoes!]
[ Kerry: I can't wear that dress! ]
[ Allie: Oh yes you can! if it means it'll get worn then heck yeah! plus I want to see the pictures of you in it. Your figure it spot on here lately. ]
[Kerry: I'll think about it...I don't even know who invited me to this party.. ]
[Allie: Really? that's wierd. ]
[ Kerry: yep just an invite with place and time. ]
[ Allie: Sounds like an upscale do..hmm..well it's up to you. Be careful! the dress is yours]
[Kerry: Thanks I'll let you know :D ]
[ Allie: okay gotta go the singing has started eeeeeeek kiiiiilllll meeee noooooowwwwww ]
[ Kerry: lol later ]
Kerry finished her lunch and finished looking at her messages. Her dad was still mad and Reese have even messaged her with guilt trips on how she was disrespecting her father and family(eyeroll). She suddenly felt tears come to her eyes but she wiped it away and started to put her tray away. She waved at a couple people and made her way back to the dorm. She wasn't feeling well so she decided on a motrin and a nap.
She woke up about 5 and decided to go to the party. She knew it was probably a bad idea but she wanted to see who sent her the invite and the dreaded dress awaited. Doing her own hair took a while, she had never been good at getting it into order but thanks to the internet and tons of bobby pins she had pushed a mass of curls into order and after looking in the mirror, she realized that she did look great. The headache was creeping back so she threw back another motrin and took out the dreaded dress.
Dreaded was something that it was not. She was very surprised that she fit it and the minute she put it on, well it fit!. The front was clean but the back..well at least it had lace. She took her black bag out of her closet and realized that it was probably the only expensive thing she owned and it was her mothers. The clutch was black satin with a white bow and jewel center, she grabbed the mask. She looked at the clock and realized it was almost 7. She applied one more layer of lipstick and grabbed the fur coat that came with the dress and walked out.
She was probably wearing thousands of dollars in couture knowing Allie, but she also knew that Allie would never know that she had borrowed the coat either. She walked to her door and to her car when she heard a whistle. A black limo pulled up next to her car and a man in black stepped out. He bowed.
"Are you Kerry?"
She nodded.
"Yes I am..who are you?..."
He smiled and waved a hand towards the limo.
"I was instructed to drive you to the party. You will have to excuse my lateness...the roads are rather icy"
She looked at the limo and then him.
"I didn't order a limo...in fact I didn't know you were coming"
He smiled and waved once again towards the open door.
"Don't worry we have one more passenger who we have to pick up and then I'm sure you will have the answers you seek"
She smiled at him.
"You read to many fantasy novels because you suddenly sound like the guard on start of an adventure"
He chuckled.
"I do like to read a lot but alas I'm just a driver who is running late"
He did a little bow.
"My lady"
She smiled and stepped into the limo.
She didn't have to turn on the heater as it was already warm but soon she realized that it had heated seats. The limo was beautiful and immediately she could tell it was privately owned.
They drove for a while until they stopped in front of a townhouse. Out stepped a girl in white and the door opened with a flourish and fur. The girl was beautiful and she turned to Kerry and smiled.
h
"Hey! nice to see I'm not traveling alone this time."
Kerry smiled back. She noted the dress was even more racy than hers, what kind of party was this?!
"Um..hey do you know what kind of party this is? I mean this guy just showed up to give me a ride and I barely found something to wear"
The girl smiled at her and continued to apply her lipstick.
"I probably shouldn't ruin the surprised for you then. Someone went to a lot of trouble to get you this far"
She winked at her and continued to check her appearance in her compact.
"uh well...if someone did go to all this trouble I don't know why they did it for me"
The girl put her compact away and stared at her for a second then grabbed her hand.
She held her wrist for a minute then dropped it.
"I see..well I'll let you find out in due time anyhow lets have a glass before we get there shall we?"
Kerry looked at her and took the champagne flute.
She grabbed the mini champagne bottles and opened them before pouring them both a drink. The drink was well amazing! she usually hated champagne(thanks to that wedding and allie!) but this was really good!.
The girl smiled at her and sat back before turning up the music.
"Don't worry it's all paid for in advance, lord knows we couldn't afford this on our own"
She giggled and it caused Kerry to giggle with her.
The girl held out her hand.
"I'm mia but everyone calls me mary"
She waved her hand and drank her champagne.
"My mom wanted me to be mary but my grandmother wanted mia so now it's just mary because well it's better"
Kerry took another sip of her drink and stared out the window. If she had driven herself this trip would have taken her longer. She looked at Mary one more time but she was busy on her phone texting and so she finished her champagne in one fell swoop and continued to look out the window.
When they arrived the party was in full swing. Loads of people were getting out of either limos or Ferrari's. She noticed they didn't bother to ask who she was but instead the limo driver talked to the doorman and he nodded before letting them through. If she thought her dress was racy it was nothing compared to mary's. It had a deep v down her chest and her back was nonexistant, if it wasn't for her fur then I think it would have looked like she was bare. Mary seemed to thrive on the attention but instead of ditching her she seemed to be interested in showing Kerry around the party. Everyone was wearing the masks and at the last second Kerry donned hers. The party was a mixture of old and young who mixed with tuxedos and diamonds. A man asked her to dance and she was going to reply but Mary interfered.
"She's not your's darling but thanks anyway"
Before Kerry could say something to the poor man she was dragged to a library of sorts.
"I didn't want to lose you just yet before I showed you the whole house"
All she could do was mutter an "ok.." before they entered the ballroom.
So imagine a typical mansion right? well triple that and you would have this fabulous room. It had ornate crystal chandeliers and a painted ceiling. She had seen books and movies like this room and it rivaled versaille. Not as big of course but all she could do was stand there in shock. The people at the party didn't seem to mind the opulance and she was the only one who was looking at how fabulous this room was. Whoever owned this place was amazingly rich and put a lot of money into how they wanted it to look. It even had a stained glass dome at the center of it. When she had looked the place up on Google maps it hadn't shown the house being this big, in fact it was big but not THIS big. She had a creeping feeling in the back of her neck but shrugged it off, she would save that thought for later. Mary was giggling at her and shoved a glass into her hand and pulled her around the dancing couples.
"Come on starstruck, there is sooooo much more than this"
The house in it's entirety was amazing but nothing quite topped the ballroom.
After two glasses of champagne she found herself giggling with Mary in what seemed to an off room for guests to "lounge" but it was quite empty.
"Oh believe me this room will be full later on, this is just the beginning of the evening."
Kerry laughed and pulled out a book and it was a first editon, she gulped and put it back.
"Mary who invited us here? I mean I came but still no one has told me who brought me here"
Mary looked puzzled then shrugged and sat back.
"His name is Abel and he's french but you could never tell by his accent, but I've only met him once or twice"
She sipped her champagne.
"I don't know who invited you here, the person who invited me hasn't texted me that they've arrived yet."
She looked at Kerry who was still pulling books from the bookshelf, stood up and walked over to her. She touched Kerry's chin and made her look at her.
"You do know who some of these people are right?"
Kerry look confused.
"Should I?"
Mary laughed and sat back down looking at her.
"Don't play coy Kerry you know about Vampires this is the only way you could have been allowed into such a party like this. It's all so exclusive and the list is gone over several weeks in advance"
Kerry was shocked at her words and went to sit down but a part of her seemed to not want to fully answer the question.
"I knew they existed persay but I don't know who would invite me here or why"
Mary smiled deviously.
"Come let's go back to the party. I'm sure my date is here by now"
So they walked back to the ballroom and by this time the room was in a completely darker lighting and different music was playing. It seemed it was techno hour.
She lost Mary in the crowd and Kerry skirted around the edge and went to itch her cheek. But before she could a hand stopped her. She looked up and was shocked and he put a finger to his mouth and whispered to her.
"Dearest Kerry don't look so shocked it's just a suit"
He smiled at her and grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the dance floor.
It was Ethan and he was dressed to the nines in a black suit that fit him perfectly and a black mask. She was in shock and let him guide her around the dancefloor.
"Ethan? what's going on? why did you invite me here?
He held her close and inhaled.
"I didn't but after I heard you were coming then I had to come, it wasn't by choice"
Kerry stiffened against him and he stopped dancing.
"Don't do that, don't evade the question, why am I here?"
He looked at her and pulled his mask up and looked at her.
He seemed to be pondering the question before touching her chin and slowly kissing her.
She pulled away and he smiled.
"I'm not evading the question come"
He grabbed her hand and pulled her off the dance floor. She was reeling from his answer and the kiss. Her headache was creeping back and she realized that she didn't pack anything with her. He pulled her into an off room she hadn't seen before.
He pulled her to him and kissed her, he deepened the kiss and Kerry fell into him.
She didn't know if it was him or the champagne but suddenly she was being pushed into a corner and he was tearing off his coat.
She pushed her wrap off and he grabbed her before setting her on the table and he started to pull up her dress but then a voice spoke and Kerry crashed back into reality. She stood up and Ethan was standing in front of her. She re positioned her dress and for a moment she couldn't see who was talking. Ethan was holding her wrist and making sure he was in front of her.
"You know how many bedroom's this place has? I mean seriously you could have chose one of the upstairs bedrooms"
Kerry looked around Ethan and saw a gorgeous lady in a green velvet dress. Kerry recognized her as the girl from her bar. She stood beside Ethan and looked at him then her. A sick feeling crept up and she was suddenly very aware how cold the room was. She took off her mask stared at Ethan. He didn't answer the redhead but looked at Kerry an apologetic look on his face.
"Is this some kind of sick joke? I mean I get right? wow...I can't believe fell for this crap"
She grabbed her wrap off the floor and clutch before heading out the door. She heard the lady laugh and Ethan talking but didn't bother to stop and listen. She wanted to cry but couldn't instead her head was pounding and she was seeing lights in front of her eyes. She stopped on the edge of the ballroom for a second before making her way through. She suddenly felt dizzy but managed to make it through and then she started crying. She made it into the entryway where no one was around, it seemed they were all at the party at the back of the house. She realized she didn't have a way home. Maybe she could call a taxi but how long would that take. Her head was killing her and she rubbed her temples. She breathed as deep as she could and counted to ten before taking her phone out. A hand grabbed her wrist and she looked at him.
Ethan looked at her and Kerry jerked her hand away.
"Go away just leave me alone!"
"Kerry please! let me explain this isn't about her , this is me and you!"
She wiped her cheek and continued to text the cab company.
She looked at him and he was looking concerned.
"Kerry your heart is beating really fast what's wrong"
She wanted to yell at him so badly but she felt her body refuse to do so. She tried to utter the words but nothing came out. She looked at the lights and they were double and she felt herself fall to the floor. Ethan was yelling at her and holding her suddenly but she couldn't hear anything. She wanted to yell to say something but her body was refusing everything and then it all went dark.