Chapter 7
(Catarina)
I wear a dark blue short sleeved blouse and a black skirt that isn't as tight as my other one. If I spin around it twirls with me. I wear a new pair of black flats since I ruined my other ones in the water. I pull my hair back in one long braid. All of the princes are busy with the news about the vampaneze and so are many of the others.
Most vampires make it out of the needles under forty minutes. Shan takes a nerve wracking hour and a half but he emerges finally. He is cut and bloody all over so I do not hug him. I just grin happily. "Congratulations Shan. You did it!"
While he is taking a shower to wash away the dirt and blood, the good news comes that the last vampire has arrived finally. It means we can start the Festival of the Undead. It a three day party. Everything troubling has to be put to rest including the vampaneze matter and we can all be merry. It also gives Shan three extra days to rest before the next trial. I am laying in my cot with candles lit and am reading a book when someone walks in. "Catarina?" he walks in hesitantly. I sit up and put down my book.
"Hey Shan, how are you feeling?"
"I'm a little sore but I'll live," he says.
"You can sit down. I don't bite...vampires," I tell him.
He sits beside me. I gently touch some of the cuts on his bare chest. He is only wearing pants. I still have on my skirt and blouse. "You look really nice," he tells me.
"Thank you," I say.
We sit together for a while and I read from my book of fairy tales aloud. Finally, he yawns and we hug goodnight.