I stared at Gregory in shock and disbelief.
An actual werewolf was present at the club this evening and I had no idea.
"A-are you sure?" I asked him hesitantly.
"Positive," Gregory sadly replied, "They have a distinct smell of a wet dog that is slightly combined with a scent of pine or dried leaves."
"…That's a very descriptive and unusual body odor," I finally mumbled to him in response, pinching the bridge of my nose while trying to wrap my head around this information.
"Huh, I suppose it is," Gregory let out a small chuckle before placing his hand on my knee, rubbing soothing circles with the pad of his thumb.
"Gregory…is the clan in danger?" I hoarsely whispered, scared that my selfish night out might have jeopardized everything we've worked for.
"No…no, everyone is safe," Gregory reassured me.
"So, werewolves and vampires get along?" I questioned for clarification; not understanding why we left so hastily if there was no danger.
"…No, werewolves and vampires don't necessarily get along—"
"But you just said—"
"Yes, the clan is safe because that werewolf wasn't able to verify that I was a vampire," Gregory quickly explained when he saw that panicked look in my eyes.
"…I don't understand," I began, scooting closer to him on the bench, "You were able to figure out that he was a werewolf, but he didn't figure out that you were a vampire?"
"I've been told that us vampires have the unusual scent of a freshly dug grave," he further explained, "Humans can sometimes smell it and describe it as rot and decay, but the werewolves I've met in the past have said that I reek like a cemetery."
"…We are discussing what you meant by 'werewolves you've met in the past' later," I told him before switching back to my current line of questioning, "How were you able to mask your scent from the werewolf?"
"It was actually thanks to the crowd of the audience," Gregory confided while scratching the back of his neck in slight embarrassment, "Apparently a lot of those teenagers like to hang out in cemeteries and I was able to easily blend in to the crowd without notice. He wasn't so lucky since wet dog mixed with leaves isn't a common smell in an enclosed room of mortals. I practically smelled him as soon as he stepped onto the stage."
"Wait…stage? It was a band member that was a werewolf?!" I asked him incredulously.
"Yeah, someone from the Bone Diggers group…could be all of them for all I know," Gregory admitted while running his hand through his hair, "Truth be told, I was more distracted with not drawing attention to myself that I couldn't determine how many there were."
"So, when we were leaving the club…" I prompted him, needing to be assured that the clan was safe.
"He must have gotten a whiff of my graveyard scent and wanted me to step closer to him to verify his suspicions," Gregory admitted to me, "But, the wind was on our side and we were able to walk away without alerting him of the clan."
"But, he'll still be suspicious…"
"Yes, more than likely, but we will keep a low profile and he'll eventually move on," he stated, already devising a plan, "Werewolves don't tend to stay in one area for too long. If they stay stagnant for extended periods of time then it makes it easier for hunters to track them down."
"They have to worry about hunters as well?"
"Oh, of course," Gregory stated in a matter-of-fact tone, "Like us, they suffer from bloodlust and are considered monsters."
"…But, your thirst for blood is controllable…" I reminded him with a tilt of my head.
"Only when we don't have to go extended periods of time without our life source," Gregory quipped back to me, "The same thing applies to werewolves. They need to hunt, and they need to run in their wolf forms, or they become untamable, savage beasts."
"And humans don't like anything that is different from them…" I muttered beneath my breath.
"Lucy, remember that they are not us," Gregory chided, "We don't know their laws or if they have any loyalties to anyone besides their pack. The reason why we tend to not get along with each other is because of past encroachments on our territories and their hunting grounds."
"When you say hunting grounds…do you mean that they hunt other animals or do they…eat humans?" I whispered, fear lacing my voice.
"…Both…Some of them keep a low profile and only hunt animals. While others enjoy the taste of…uhm…humans," Gregory reluctantly admitted to me before hastily whispering quick reassurances, "I swear, Lucy, I won't let them hurt you or your family."
His hands gently cupped my face and he tilted my gaze to his own.
"I know you won't, Gregory," I honestly told him while placing my hands over his own, "I'm just nervous about them hunting in the area and bringing unwanted attention of hunters to our home. The clan may not be in danger of werewolves, but what of hunters?"
He gave a small huff of laughter, shaking his head in disbelief before resting his forehead on my own.
"I should have known that you would easily pick up the true cause of my concern," he mumbled before pulling away from me, "That is another reason why we don't get along with each other. If both their pack and our clan are in the same area, it almost always leads to an influx of hunters. We have had to fight each other for bits of territory in the past and one of us gets pushed out. If we don't act swiftly then it will be all for naught and hunters will soon be upon us."
"But, you don't hunt humans anymore," I reminded him, "Can't we just keep a low profile and not interact with them? We can keep our eyes on the news, in case they kill any humans, and figure out a new plan of action then."
"That's what I would like to do," Gregory told me, "However, I have to find a way to convince my father and Cornelius that this is the best plan of action. They may want to start an unnecessary war otherwise…"
"I can help you with that," I eagerly told him.
"Lucy, I don't want you to—"
"Gregory, I won't be part of the meeting," I cut him off while taking his hand into my own, "But I can at least help you prepare your argument. Please, let me help you keep our families safe."
He hesitated, considering his options before nodding his head.
"Alright, what did you have in mind?" Gregory inquired.
"Well, you said that he was part of a band, right?"
"Yes…but I'm not sure if he was the only werewolf or if his other band mates were also werewolves," he disappointedly grumbled to himself.
"That's fine, we won't focus on that," I supplied, "What we will focus on is that they are just passing through."
"What do you mean?" He asked with a tilt of his head.
"Well, bands have to travel to gigs to make their money," I explained, "I bet the club's website has a list of their tour dates or at least a link to their website."
A look of realization passed over Gregory's face.
"We can monitor their whereabouts and plan to avoid future confrontations with them," he mumbled looking absolutely ecstatic at this newfound information.
"You said it yourself," I reminded him, "Werewolves have to be constantly on the move to avoid being taken down by hunters.
"…Lucy, you're a genius," Gregory whispered to me in reverence.
"I know," I proudly replied, slightly puffing up at his compliment, "Do you still have my phone?"
"Yeah, here," Gregory told me while pulling out my cellular device from his back pocket and handing it to me.
"Alright, we'll quickly collect the information and evidence, so that you have it on hand and don't walk into the argument blind," I said while unlocking my phone, "We only have about 10 minutes before we have to rush inside. You start practicing what you are going to say to your dad and Cornelius, and I'll pull up the website."
"Thank you, Lucy," Gregory gratefully replied to me.
"Anytime, Gregory…Besides, what are best friends for?"
We had just flown into the castle when my dad's booming voice beckoned us from the den.
How on earth did he hear us?
"Somebody from the clan must have heard us enter the castle," Gregory whispered to me.
Oh, that explains that.
Gregory and I flew the rest of the way to the den before he set me down in the entryway.
"Lucretia Eleanora Thompson!" My dad bellowed with a hard look on his face, "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"W-what did I do?!" I exclaimed pulling my watch to my eyes, "It's only 11:58 pm and curfew is at 12am!"
"It's 11:59pm now, young lady, and you don't think that you are pushing the curfew a bit close there?" Dad seethed at me.
"Dad, you can't be—mom, is he serious?" I asked my one normal parental unit who was trying to hide a laugh behind her hand and her tablet with the other.
"He's serious, but you're not in trouble," my mom divulged to me, taking pity on my flabbergasted appearance.
"Dottie, she is indeed in trouble!" My dad argued.
"Oh? Is Gregory in trouble then?" My mom questioned.
"No, of course not, he's a good boy and got her back here safe and sound," my dad informed her in an obvious manner.
Gregory sent me a smug smile while I opened my mouth to protest at the injustice of it all. However, my mom held up her hand and halted my complaints.
"Then why is Lucy in trouble?" My mom pointed out.
"Be-because…"
"Because why?" My mom prompted him.
"Because…because she's growing up and I told her not to!" my dad finally exclaimed, pouting at my mother.
"Are you—daddy, are you serious?! I was 3 years old when you tricked me into that promise!" I yelled at my father, levelling a glare at him.
"Hey, we had a deal!" He shouted back at me.
"You bribed me with strawberry shortcake ice cream!" I indignantly shrieked in response, "I would have agreed to take over the moon if you had requested it!"
"Well, I didn't want the moon. I wanted my little girl to stay little and you didn't hold up your end of the deal," dad grumpily growled at me before crossing his arms in a huff.
"Oh, my—mother!" I called out for the voice of reason to help me.
"Mother is not here right now. Please leave your name and a brief message after the beep and she'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you and have a great day, beeeeeeeeep," my mom deadpanned without looking up from her tablet.
I just glared at her before sarcastically replying, "Mother your husband is being absolutely ridiculous, please get ahold of him as soon as possible and call me back. Thank you! Click."
My sass caused her to burst out in laughter as she clutched her tablet to her chest.
Once she reigned in her snickering she looked at me and asked, "All joking aside, did you two have fun tonight?"
Remembering my amazing night out caused all my annoyance to disappear from my body and I eagerly nodded my head.
"Oh, yeah! It was so much fun!" I gushed before going to sit next to her, "The festival was absolutely gorgeous, and the club was fantastic. They had the bands play everything. There were genres ranging from punk to alternative to heavy metal. And they didn't just play American songs there either! They had a wide range of songs from different countries that were sung in French, German, English, Spanish…"
I trailed off towards the end and noticed Gregory standing near his parents.
"Don't forget to tell her about your favorite band," he reminded me with a smile.
"Oh, my—yes! They are called Electric Hearts and they played rock covers of pop songs. You know, pop goes punk type deal," I ecstatically told my parents, "Oh, man, when they sang the rock version of 'Bad Romance' by Lady Gaga—it blew my mind!"
The heads of the four members from Clan Genovese popped up in alarm at my last statement.
"Oh, no, it's just an expression," I quickly reassured them, "It means I thought something was amazing or exciting."
They seemed to be satisfied with my response and went back to pretending not to care about my stories from my village outing.
Hopefully one day they'll look at us as friends.
"It's so wonderful to hear how much fun you had, Lucy," my mom chuckled at my vibrant attitude before directing her next statement to my father, "Isn't it Bob?"
Her eyes were narrowed at my dad, almost daring him to say otherwise.
"…Yes, I'm happy to hear you had so much fun, Lucy," dad finally sighed out while looking down on me with a small smile. I giggled at his reluctant acceptance of my growth before pulling him into a hug.
Poor dad, he must have had a rough night worrying about us.
"I take it you had fun as well, Gregory?" Freda asked her son with an affectionate smile.
Gregory returned the warm smile before answering with a nod of his head.
"Oh, yes, it's just like Lucy said—the festival was enjoyable, and the live music show was spectacular," Gregory responded while affectionately patting his mother's hand that was resting on his forearm.
"And there was no trouble?" Frederick interrogated his son.
Something about his tone set my body on edge.
There was no way that he knew…right?
Gregory kept his cool and calmly replied, "No trouble, father."
Which was halfway true…the werewolf wasn't able to follow us and cause any trouble for the clan.
Frederick didn't look convinced by his son's short answer and was about to question Gregory further when I interrupted him.
"Hey, mom, dad where are Tony and the others?" I innocently asked them.
"Oh, I think they are in Tony's room drawing some comic books," my mom answered.
"Oh good," I whispered to myself before turning my attention to Gregory, "Did you want to go have Tony help you wash all that gunk off?"
He smirked at my distraction technique before agreeing that he would feel more like himself once all his special effects makeup was removed.
Gregory excused himself from his parents' presence but stopped in the middle of the doorway and turned back towards me.
"Don't forget about the, uh—" Gregory began informing me while motioning to his inside pocket of his jacket that I was still wearing.
"Oh, right," I nodded my head before turning towards my mother, "How long do you think it will take to overrun a fashion industry and instill pocket equality?"
"Not that, you brat!" Gregory shouted at me from the hallway while chuckling at my childish antics.
I returned his laughter with one of my own before pulling out the pamphlets and brochures from Gregory's jacket.
Handing the information over the various events that were coming up, I began telling both our parents my ideas for family outings. I then turned towards Freda and Frederick and told them about the play that was being performed in the village. They both seemed excited about the prospect of going to the theater on a double date with my parents.
Apparently it had been ages since they've seen a play and even longer since they were able to have an outing with their adult friends.
Anna flew down into the den with our hair kit while I was telling everyone the premise of the play.
"I'm sure that Tony could make you look human too, if you wanted to go see the play as well," I informed Ismey and Cornelius while offering an olive branch to the other two adults in the room.
Maybe this outing was just what was needed to help push this alliance into the right direction?
"We do not mingle with…mortals," Cornelius replied, contempt dripping from his voice.
…Or not…
"Oh…okay, well if you change your mind…" I told them, lamely trailing off towards the end.
An awkward silence was permeating the room until Anna cleared her throat to get my attention.
"Lucy, do you think that you would be able to combine two hairstyles?" She sweetly asked me.
"That depends…what did you have in mind?" I asked her, smiling at her endearing behavior.
"Well, remember when you put my hair into that bun bow?" She inquired.
"Yeah, I remember that, it looked so cute with your red hair," I recalled.
"I was thinking maybe an inverted, half ponytail with—"
"Oh, with a miniature bun bow?" I asked her excitedly.
"Yes, do you think that you can do that?" She nodded her head eagerly hoping that my answer would be yes.
"Of course!" I told her excitedly while having her sit in front of me on the couch and opening up the hair kit.
"First, we need to straighten your hair a bit to smooth out the wavy curls from your braid," I told her while pulling out the curling iron and looking for an outlet, "Actually, we're going to have to do this in the corner over there."
Picking up the hair kit, I motioned Anna to follow me to the other side of the den. It was closer to where the four members of Clan Genovese were seated, but I figured that as long as I leave them alone then it'd be fine.
Once the curling iron was plugged in, I set it on a nearby end table so that I wouldn't singe the expensive rug that laid in the den.
My knees were placed on both of Anna's sides as she sat Indian style in front of me. I then made quick work to gently release her hair from the confines of her braid. Running my fingers gently through the tangled strands, I did my best to separate the knots before reaching for a hairbrush.
Anna had thick, slightly curly hair that was almost as stubborn as she was. I had to take my time brushing her hair if I didn't want it to frizz out on me in protest.
She hummed in delight as I ran the brush through her long tresses. Once the tangles were gone, I started separating the sections with clips and grabbed the curling iron. I was halfway done straightening the strands of her hair, adding a slight curl at the ends, when Gregory reappeared in the den.
"So, this is why you raced out of the bedroom when you saw that I had returned," he commented while he watched me meticulously work on the young vampire girl's hair.
Anna gave her brother an unamused look which prompted me to stand up for her.
"I told you already, Gregory," I informed him with a teasing voice, "You don't know how to braid hair and might as well give her to me."
"Never," Gregory joked with me as he sat down by my side, "Is she supposed to be missing clumps of hair there?"
"Gregory!" Anna shrieked in outrage.
"Gregory don't tease your little sister like that you jerk," I stopped my curling to whack him in the arm.
"Ouch…" he exaggerated while pouting at me and rubbing his 'injured' arm.
I went back to finishing curling her hair as the other two boys decided to join us in the den. Both Rudolph and Tony decided to sit down next to my parents on the couch.
They were still excitedly talking about their recent comic book they were creating when I remembered the conversation Gregory and I had earlier that evening.
I wanted to call them out on their new business venture but restrained myself from talking about it.
If I did mention it then they would know that Gregory snitched on them. I don't want the boys to mistrust him. Plus, I gave Gregory my word that I wouldn't tell the boys that he let the proverbial cat out of the bag.
So, I kept my mouth shut and tried to nonchalantly bring up Anna's talents to Freda and Frederick.
"That reminds me…Anna shocked me with an eloquent verse of poetry earlier this evening. I didn't know that your daughter is such a talented poet," I informed the pair of vampire parents.
"Oh, yes," Freda began cooing, "Anna has always had such a marvelous talent with words."
"That is quite right," Frederick expounded on the subject, "When we used to host parties, everyone would compliment her on her wonderful wit and ingenious, poetic rhymes."
"You used to host parties?" I inquired, only getting slightly distracted by this new information.
"Oh, yes, wonderful parties," Freda reminisced, "Sometimes we would throw parties for our human friends and other times we would throw soirees for our vampire compatriots."
"They were lovely balls," Ismey commented with a small smile on her face. She quickly wiped the look of happiness away when she saw me staring in awe.
I don't think that I've ever seen her make any facial expression that wasn't a scowl or a sneer…
"You went to these parties?" Tony asked her, seeming to be in shock that Clan Genovese ever had fun.
"Ismey used to sing at them," Freda answered for Ismey. She glared at Freda's admission before going back to her needlework.
"I didn't know that you could sing," I commented, fascinated by the hidden talents that I was learning about this evening.
"Because you weren't meant to know," Ismey coldly answered.
I rolled my eyes at her attitude before shrugging her off.
Whatever, I have bigger fish to fry.
"So, going back to Anna's talent with writing poetry—"
"And short stories!" Freda chimed in.
"Yes, we mustn't forget those wonderful tales that she created," Frederick agreed.
"You write short stories, as well," I asked the vampire girl as I gently tilted her head back to look at her eyes.
She gave me a bashful smile before replying, "Only a little bit…"
"You are so letting me read those later," I firmly told her.
"Me too!" Tony called out from the couch, "Maybe I can illustrate a couple of them for you? I could help you turn them into a fairytale book."
"Oh, Tony, that would be wonderful," Anna gushed lovingly at my little brother.
Those two were quite the pair.
Rudolph groaned from beside his best friend and glared at his little sister for stealing Tony away from him.
I'll have to think of something for Gregory and Rudolph to do together so that the young vampire boy doesn't feel left out.
"That sounds like a great idea," I informed the pair, "Maybe we could publish the completed works online?"
I voiced my question towards Freda and Frederick, hoping they would pick up my hint.
"I don't see why not," Frederick happily declared, "A little over 304 years back, Anna used to publish her works under a penname in the newspapers."
"I remember that," Freda commented from beside her husband, "Her column was extremely popular. It was such a shame that we could never announce that it was Anna who wittily wrote those beautiful pieces."
"Because she's a vampire?" Tony questioned in curiosity.
"Oh, no, it was because she was a girl, that we had to submit those works under a false name…Well, a false boy's name," Frederick explained.
"…What?" Tony asked in confusion.
"Tony, back in those days, women didn't have any rights and a lot of them were forbidden from leaving the house or their family's property," I explained to my younger brother.
"That's right," Freda confirmed with a sad smile.
"…But…that's not fair," Tony pointed out, still slightly shocked by this new information.
"Tony, you've learned about women having to fight for the right to vote in school," my mom pointed out to my brother.
"Well, yeah, but I didn't realize that they couldn't publish stories or—or leave the house!" He exclaimed, throwing up his hands in exasperation.
"It wasn't that bad, Tony," Anna calmed my brother, "I was lucky to be born into a vampire clan that believed in equality. Father made sure that I was given every opportunity that my brothers were presented."
This information seemed to appease my younger brother and we let the topic drop.
I finished up Anna's hairstyle and thought she looked just cute as a button.
"I must say that I am extremely impressed with how well this turned out," I lovingly whispered to her.
She smiled in response as Tony jumped up from the couch and bounded for the stairs.
"Wait right there, Anna!" He called out down the hallway, "I'll get my sketchbook and show you!"
"Grab your Nintendo Switch as well, Tony!" Rudolph hollered his hopeful request to his best friend.
Tony must have heard him and shouted out a muffled okay from somewhere in the castle.
I was cleaning up and packing up our hair supplies while confirming with Freda and Frederick that it was okay for Anna to publish her works.
"We can set up an account tomorrow if that's alright with you?" I hopefully asked.
"That sounds marvelous," Freda agreed while Frederick nodded his head in approval.
"If her works become popular enough then we can submit it to some editors in our publishing house," my mom announced to the group, causing me to freeze my movements.
Oh, boy…
I forgot about the publishing house incident…
"You have your own publishing house?" Anna asked in amazement.
"Why yes we do…It was quite the strange occurrence when that business venture suddenly appeared on our docket a few years back. Wasn't it, Lucy?" My mom questioned with her eyes narrowed at me.
"…Strange occurrence, indeed," I agreed with my mother, not able to meet her piercing gaze.
"Lucy…" she cautioned.
"If I recall correctly, I was already punished for my…lapse in judgement and can't be punished again," I firmly stated with a nod of my head.
"I'm your mother, I can punish you as many times as I want," she informed me.
"What happened to 'double jeopardy'?" I inquired, reminding her of the law that prevented a person for being punished for the same crime twice.
"This is a family, Lucy—not a court of law," she easily replied with a wicked grin.
"…So, not fair," I sighed out, "Would it help my case if I said I am still really sorry for being sneaky about that purchase and remind you that I haven't done it since?"
"Haven't done it sin—Lucy! You bought a castle!" My dad shouted in amazement at my forgetful behavior.
"…Oh yeah," I muttered beneath my breath, "Well, that was for a good cause and technically, I only prepared the paperwork for you to—"
"Lucy…" my mom growled in annoyance.
"No, you're right, completely and utterly sorry for my misguided behavior. Making amends for it to never happen again. Totally agree with you 100%," I quickly placated while holding my hands up in surrender.
Both my parents had their heads slumped in their hands with a look of utter defeat.
If I wasn't afraid of getting punished right now, I would be impressed with myself for getting both of them to facepalm at the same time.
Gregory nudged my side before whispering, "Why did you buy a publishing house, again?"
"I didn't buy it. I only set up the paperwork for my parents to—yeah, I know, I heard it after I said it. Quit giving me that look," I muttered back to him before responding to his previous question, "Remember those two lists I told you about earlier?"
"Lists?" He questioned his eyebrows furrowed in confusion before realization crossed his face, "You bought it for Ton—Oh, Lucy…"
Gregory choked on his chortles, causing him to slightly snort out before he was practically rolling on the floor in hysterics.
"Oh, shut up, you jerk!" I growled at him before whacking his arm.
"You did all that for nothing," he wheezed out.
"Yes, yes, I realize this now," I snapped at him while gratefully taking the pillow that Anna handed me, "Now would you just quiet down, already?"
I whacked him in the face with the fluffy cushion a couple of times before he snatched it from my grasp and placed it beneath his head.
He had a sly grin on his face as he managed to finally quiet his cackling.
Stupid jerk.
I was about to yell at him some more when Tony came back in the room with his supplies and gaming device for Rudolph. His reappearance helped to change the subject as he started to sketch Anna, and Rudolph played a fun videogame in the background.
Anna suddenly let out a gasp in excitement before turning to me and then to Ismey.
"Can we play with Maria's hair?" She excitedly asked the older female vampire.
"I beg your pardon?" Ismey requested trying to clarify the situation.
"I just got a brilliant idea for a cute hairstyle for her…and I have a cute dress to go along with it!" Anna excitedly explained.
"Well I don't see why no—"
Ismey was cut off by her husband.
"You said 'we'," Cornelius reminded Anna, "Who is this 'we'?"
"Well, I'm going to need Lucy's help," she honestly told him, "She's the one who taught me these wonderful techniques and she is better at styling than I am."
I wanted to reassure Anna that she was making great improvement with her braiding but felt as though I should keep my mouth shut in this moment.
Cornelius and Ismey tensed up at the thought of a mortal touching their precious daughter's head. It looked as though they were going to deny Anna her request until Maria piped up.
"Can I get my hair done too, Mommy?" The sweet bundle of cuteness begged her mother, "I want to look pretty like Anna!"
Maria's sweet pleas paused her parents' denial and they gave each other a reluctant look.
"…I suppose that as long as this 'hairstyling' is done in front of us…it will be alright," Ismey began stating, casting a look to her husband to gauge his thoughts on the matter.
"Only you will assist her in changing into this dress," Cornelius spoke to Anna in a commanding tone.
I was shocked that they were going to let me play with their daughter's hair but wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Maria joyously clapped her hands together and hurriedly raced to where we were at on the floor.
"So, what hairstyle did you have in mind?" I asked Anna while gently taking the red bows from Maria's hair.
Oh, my goodness, her hair was so soft.
It felt like the fine hair on a baby's head.
So, precious!
"I was thinking that we part her hair down the middle and make a crown made of loops. Then we can put those silver beads in her hair where the loops meet. That way it kind of looks like a lacy halo or a princess crown," Anna elaborated.
She was truly a creative child.
I absolutely love her vision.
"Oh, I like that, but may I suggest we use the blue beads, instead?" I commented, slightly adjusting her idea, "The blue would match her eyes perfectly and I feel like the silver ones would blend into her blonde hair too much."
"…I like it," Anna stated while altering the picture in her mind, "Oh! We could also add the silver beads here and there in between the main blue beads to give it a bit of contrast!"
"Oh, that would look so nice," I approved grabbing the brush and repeating the process of brushing out the tangles in a little girl's hair.
"And…we can add that small, blue piece of jewelry to complete the crown look," Anna told me while rummaging through the hair kit.
"Piece of jewelry?" I asked her, trying to figure out what she was talking about.
Truth be told, I bought a lot of hair ornaments for our girl's nights and had a hard time keeping track of them all.
"This one," Anna told me pulling out a small, silver chain with a blue gem in the middle. It was a hair piece that latched onto two strands of hair with the silver beads on the end of it and would dangle perfectly in the middle of the forehead.
"…That is absolutely brilliant, Anna!" I gushed at the small girl while adding it to the pile of hair pieces that we were going to use.
Anna puffed up with pride and sat next to me, waiting for me to show her how to complete this look.
"Okay, so after your brush out the hair, you're going to use the rat-tail comb to separate the strands you're going to use," I told her while beginning in the front of Maria's hair, "You're going to separate the first long strand like you were going to begin a braid. Slightly twist it towards the head and play with it until you find the spot where you want the first loop to end up."
I demonstrated the first part before grabbing one of the clear bands to tie off the first piece.
"Now once you have a good idea of where you want the loop to lay, you'll take the comb and separate the next piece. But only make sure you only grab a pinch of hair, like this, or else the beads won't fit on the connecting strands, okay?" I explained this to Anna while making sure she understood the process.
She nodded her head in understanding before motioning for me to continue my lesson.
"Alright, so you double check where the first loop is going to lay, make sure it didn't move from when you grabbed the next strand, tie the band in the hair…and…there, you have your first loop," I told her with a small smile, proud of how well this is beginning to look already.
"Now, we are going to go to the other side and repeat the process," I informed her while scooting to Maria's other side, "When you're doing loops like this, loops that are going to connect around the head, you want to alternate between the sides one loop at a time. That way if something isn't even, you won't have to completely start over from scratch. Once I do the first loop on this side, I'm going to let you practice with the second loop, okay?"
Anna responded by nodding her head eagerly.
She was a hands-on learner like Tony…it was really amazing how alike those two are.
After, I finished the beginning loops, I let Anna style the second part. Her fingers slightly fumbled with the strands, but she eventually got the second loops situated on both sides.
"Perfect, now, to give it contrasting lacy look, we are going to separate the remaining strand from the second loop into two parts. The first part will be a smaller loop while the second part will be parallel with it, but larger," I told her while showing her what I meant by separating it and how it would lay against her head once we tied a band around the strands.
"I see, it's kind of like French braiding and adding strands to the existing braid," Anna commented, understanding flashing on her face.
"Exactly," I told her while making work of the two loops while adding a bit of hair to the pieces. Once the first side was banded, I scooted over to the other side and repeated the process.
"Okay, so go ahead and do a single loop again and then you can practice the double loop, sound good?"
"Yes!" Anna excitedly exclaimed.
I giggled at her eager love of learning before handing the comb to her and turning to plug the curling iron back in. The look would be even cuter if we freshen up her natural curls.
Her fingers were swifter with the single loop, but she really struggled with the double loop. Anna was a bit of a perfectionist and didn't like how one side didn't match up with other and kept getting frustrated with the end result.
I had her take a deep breath and try again.
She let out a whoop of victory as she managed to match the double loops together. I chuckled at her innocent behavior.
"Great job, Anna," I congratulated her, "Now, this is going to be the last loop, so we don't want any leftover strands if we want it to look like a crown. So, you connect it like a normal single strand loop, but we are going to band the ends together. Don't worry about any pieces sticking out since we can use multiple beads to cover them."
Anna nodded her head and easily finished off the style. I had her start clicking the beads on one side of Maria's makeshift crown while I curled the other side. Once Anna, finished that, I switched with her so she could replicate the bead placement.
After I turned off the curling iron, I helped Anna place the final piece of jewelry into Maria's hair.
With her hair finally styled, Anna and I were able to take a step back and coo at how adorable Maria looked.
"Oh, I can't wait until you see the dress that I have in mind for you!" Anna told Maria excitedly while helping the small girl to her feet. I giggled at the pair as I finished cleaning up our mess.
"Well, go hurry up and get changed so that I can see it!" I lightheartedly demanded while shooing the two vampire girls off.
Maria was happily laughing as she flew off with Anna to get changed.
So. Freaking. Precious.
"Hey, Rudolph, could you throw me a pillow?" I requested the young boy who was lazily sprawled on the arm of the couch.
"Sure thing, Miss Lulu," Rudolph replied while tossing me the comfy cushion.
"Thanks!" I called out before laying down next to Gregory who was reading something on his phone.
I peeked up at his phone and read a couple of lines but couldn't decipher which book he had downloaded to his kindle app this time.
"What are you reading now?" I asked him with my eyebrows knitted in confusion.
"A horror story about a serial killer," he replied.
I made a distressed sound in the back of my throat.
Knowing him, it was something gory.
"Can't you read a mystery novel instead?" I pleaded before my eyes fell on a scene with a hacksaw, "Oh, God…why did I keep reading?"
I covered my eyes to stop my morbid curiosity from carrying me into the gruesome clutches of the gory novel.
"Your mystery novels have murder in them too," Gregory commented with an amused look at my internal struggle.
On the one hand, I wanted a nightmare-less sleep, but on the other hand…I really want to know what happens next.
"Yeah, but they don't go into such detail like your horror stories," I told him, deciding to take another peek at his phone, "Normally, the detective appears on the scene and the person is already dead…Not in the process of being brutally murdered or in this case tortured—Wait they did what with the bottle?!"
My fingers grabbed the phone in shock as I brought it closer to my eyesight and shuddered as I reread the paragraph.
"Nope, nope, nope…whole lot of nope," I said while shaking my head and giving him back his mobile device. Gregory just laughed at my denial and disbelief.
"Please tell me that this is a work of fiction," I begged him with a slight pout on my face.
"It is…"
"Oh, thank God."
"But it's based upon true events and torture techniques of various serial killers," Gregory further explained without glancing away from his phone to see the look of horror on my face.
"…I really don't like you sometimes," I fumed at him with a glare on my face.
"Hmmm? Did you say something?" Gregory 'innocently' asked me before looking up from his phone and shooting me a sadistic smile.
I elbowed him in the ribs in response.
He laughed at my feeble attempt to injure him.
Stupid jerk.
I need to buy a bunch of garlic bulbs the next time I go to the village.
"Ahem!"
A loud cough brought our attention to the entrance of the den. Anna stood there with a smug grin on her face.
"Presenting Lady Maria Genovese," she proudly announced before stepping to the side to reveal Maria's small figure standing behind her.
The sweet, five-year old girl was dressed in a blue and white Italian Renaissance dress. It had a beaded pattern on the sides that made it look like an ocean of flowers. The sleeves billowed out in white clouds on her shoulders before turning a dark blue hue that ended at her wrists. It almost looked like the precious girl had wings.
She might as well of been an angel with the cute halo hairstyle that Anna and I gave her.
"Oh, my…Maria you look like an angel!" I gushed at the small child while sitting up to get a better look at her completed outfit. I was completely enraptured by her pure and innocent form.
She modestly blushed before replying with a small, "Thank you."
Ismey seemed to be just as enamored as I was with her daughter.
"My sweet, precious gem…you look absolutely stunning," Ismey cooed at her little girl.
Everyone agreed that Maria was the most adorable thing in this world.
The little girl giggled at our compliments before giving us a cute curtsey and flying to her mother. Said woman continued to coo and pamper her youngest child while Cornelius turned his gaze upon Anna.
"You have a wonderfully creative mind, little one, thank you," Cornelius directed towards Anna before turning towards me, "…Thank you for your services as well mor—ahem, Lucretia."
I blinked in surprise at his recognition. I sat there completely stunned for a moment before I remembered my manners.
"O-oh, you're welcome!" I quickly responded, "It was a lot of fun for me, thank you for letting me play with her hair."
Cornelius simply nodded his head in response.
A growl from my side drew my attention towards Marcus.
He didn't look amused by how polite his father was being with me.
Gregory sat up and pulled me closer into his side, not amused by how ungrateful Marcus was being with me.
Oh, boy…
Time for a distraction.
"So, Anna," I called out, trying to avoid a confrontation, "You did a great job with the dress! Is it one of the one's you had custom made?"
"Yep! I figured Maria might want to play dress up with me and had it made with the others," she informed me with a smile.
I nodded my head in approval and went to compliment her designs when my mom's voice interrupted me.
"Custom-made dresses?" She called out, requesting clarification.
Oh, no…
"Yeah, Lucy let me order some custom-made outfits along with the other clothing a while back," Anna clarified, "We figured it would be a good idea in case I wanted to dress up or if Tony needed a model for his comic books."
Crap, Anna, please don't say anymore!
"Oh, really?" My mom asked looking at me with a glint in her eyes.
"Y-yes…?" Anna nervously answered while looking between my guilty face and my mother's narrowed eyes.
"Lucy…" my mom called out to me.
"…Yes mother?"
"How much money have you spent?"
"I've only spent my own money and haven't misappropriated any funds!" I quickly reassured her.
"That's not the point, Lucy, and you know it," she told me.
"I know… but I'm still in the green," I honestly answered.
"If you were to spend the same amount of money for a full year, would you still be in the green?" She asked me with a raise of her eyebrow. My mom already knew the answer but wanted me to say it out loud.
"…No," I sighed out before truthfully revealing, "I would be so deep in the red that there wouldn't be a way out of the debt I'd incur."
"Uh-huh, Lucy, I get it—you're excited to have two more younger siblings to spoil and play with, but you need to be responsible," she gently admonished, "I've taught you how to budget better than that and how to separate your emotions from your finances."
"Yes, mother," I mumbled, not liking where this conversation was going.
"I expect a new budget plan and your previous expense reports handed to me by the end of the week. Do I make myself clear?" Mom informed me of her demands before making sure I understood her terms.
"Yes mother," I agreed while nodding my head.
Phew…I actually got of easier than I thought I would.
Last time I had went on a spending spree like this was for one of Tony's birthday and I got my accounts frozen as punishment.
"I didn't get you into trouble did I, Lucy?" Anna asked worriedly from the side.
"What? No, no, no, no… of course not, Anna," I reassured her, "Finances and budgeting are a big part of running a successful business. My mom just wants to make sure that I don't lose sight of this."
"That's right," my mom agreed, happy that I was understanding the meaning of my lesson, "A successful business owner isn't miserly, but they can't be overzealous with their expenditures. Lucy needs to master this balance before she takes the reins of our family's business. It's kind of like the responsibilities and high standards that Gregory has to maintain as the clan's future leader."
"Ah, I see…" Anna nodded her head, but still didn't look convinced that she wasn't the cause of my reprimanding.
"Anna, seriously, don't worry about it," Tony called out from the side, picking up on the young girl's feelings of guilt, "You should have seen how much she spent on my Christmas gifts when I was 4 years old."
"Awww, you were so cute at that age!" I cooed while teasing my little brother, "With your big blue eyes, freckled face, and I think that was the year when you lost both your front teeth too. Plus, you were still growing into your ears and had your cute, chunky baby fat—"
"That's beside the point, Lucy!" Tony interrupted with a blush on his face.
"No, that was the main point," I clarified with a nod of my head, "You were too cute to say 'no' to and when we went shopping and you kept pointing out all the toys you wanted…well, who was I to deny that cute, chunky face?"
"Lulu…" Tony warned.
"I think that I have some baby pictures of you from that time—"
"Lucy, I will show them your gremlin pictures," Tony cut me off, halting my movements as I pulled out my phone.
"Yep, quite right, not sure what album I put them in, anyway," I lamely mumbled out while slipping my phone back into my pocket. My face flushed in embarrassment.
"Gremlin pictures?" Gregory questioned, already enjoying the thought of blackmail information.
"Sorry, Gregory, I need that leverage in order to stop her from showing pictures of me in diapers," Tony apologized to the older boy.
"…You did have such a cute tooshie," my mom commented from the side.
"Right?!" I agreed with my mom whole heartedly.
"MOM! LULU!" Tony screeched in horror while Rudolph cackled at his best friend's horror.
"Aren't they just adorable at that age?" Freda chimed in, "I remember Rudolph absolutely refusing to wear any clothes and strutting around the house stark naked!"
"MOTHER!" Rudolph shrieked out with a look of betrayal.
Freda innocently looked at her son, "Yes, my naked jay bird?"
Rudolph's mortification helped Anna forget her previous feelings of guilt and we all ended up laughing before spending the rest of the evening in polite conversation.
I noticed Gregory making side glances towards his father.
He was probably trying to decide the best time to request a private conversation to tell him about our encounter in the village.
I just hoped that the information that we found out would be enough to put both the clan leaders at ease.
We've made so much progress on this wonderful evening.
I don't want anything to jeopardize Clan Genovese's slow acceptance of mortals.
We're so close to a true alliance that I can feel it in my bones.
I just need a little bit more time to make it happen.
I can do this.
AN: Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I just wanted to let you lovely readers know that the next chapter will answer a lot of your questions that I have been seeing in the comments/reviews of my story.
I don't want to give too much away, but the chapter will include the day of Samhain and will have mentions of the soul-bond ritual.
I hope that you all have a wonderful day! Happy reading and lots of love!