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I’m not one for stories. I never have been. It’s just strange that my life turned out the way it did. That the man I would fall in love with would crave my blood, and that the only thing I would want is to be with him for all eternity.
But I guess that’s just me though...
I should start from the beginning of the day. I'm wandering through a graveyard, which is located in the center of town. It’s where my parents are buried, and I haven’t paid my respects since I've returned. It's the 14th of August, a holiday for my family, and we are getting together for a 2-week celebration. I stand up and walked back to the house I inherited from my parents.
I’m the youngest female, but not the youngest child. I have a younger brother who is twice my size, and an older sister who is extremely short. My brother was coming to visit, and he was bringing along his best friend. He told me that his friend’s name is Vincent, but I could care less. I have to cook and clean for the entire family. I hate being the middle child.
My older sister, Samantha, along with her husband, Nicholas, and three children are the first to arrive. I feel pity for the middle child, even though it is a boy named Eric, and the three are triplets. He’s the tallest right now, but sooner or later Marie, the youngest, will catch up to him.
My brother enters as soon as the group that is now filling the living room of my parent’s old house is finally settled. Following him is an older man and a younger one. I don’t know which man is Vincent, but I’m guessing the younger to be him. Of course I’m not certain, but I’m allowed to guess.
The younger man walks over. He’s strikingly beautiful, even though he is a man. I guess he should be labeled as handsome, not beautiful, but handsome seems to be an understatement. He swiftly grabs my hand and gently kisses it.
“Hello my dear,” he says in a voice that is as mysterious as his beauty. “Thank you for being so kind enough to let me join your family today.”
My brother shoots him a dangerous look, and Vincent backs up, letting my hand fall limply to my side.
I gather myself up, realizing that I was still wearing my baggy jeans and shirt. Everyone else is too, but they’re all waiting for me to tell them what rooms they will stay in.
I promptly hand out room assignments. Vincent takes off his long coat, showing off his gentlemanly attire. I try not to blush, but it’s hard not to.
I notice that he’s wearing white gloves. It was hard to notice earlier, seeing that his skin is almost the exact same shade of white. It contradicts with his black hair, but it also suits him well. He looks at me with icy blue eyes and my body starts trembling. I’m not even sure why, so I turn and walk into my room.
My favorite dress is laid out on my bed. I quickly lock the door of my room and slip out of my jeans and shirt. I pick up the dress and smile. It smells like my mother’s perfume, which brings back many old memories. I pull the dress over my head. The red silk slips down my skin. I zip up the back and realize that I’m showing off more than expected. I walk over to my mom’s dresser.
Mom’s been dead for a few years, but I’ve never actually cleaned out her things. It was too painful to let her go, even though dad’s stuff was already cleared out.
I open the dresser doors and shuffled through the mess of shawls and coats. I find a beautiful black shawl, which I drape over my shoulders.
I look in a mirror. My hair is a mess. I had already prepared dinner, and I know that the gifting will start soon. I pull a brush through my hair, before securing my hair in a bun of light auburn. There are pieces that had made their way as a frame around my face. I take a curler and turn the strands into shiny ringlets that drape around my face.
I never found myself beautiful. I have auburn hair that falls in an ugly straight line down to the middle of my back, light skin and blue eyes that are the same color throughout it. The only thing I like about myself is my lips. They were always a perfect shade of pale rose pink and plumper than my sisters. People were envious of my lips. I found that to be the only beautiful thing about me.
I pick up a handbag of makeup that my sister had bought me a few years back. I finally open it. This is the first time I would put makeup on myself. I had done this a lot with other people, but for the first time on myself today.
It takes me a while, but I finally pick up a red lace fan and leave my room. Devon, my brother, is the first one I see. He stares in surprise as I slip my stilettos on and secure them onto my feet. He smiles and holds out his hand as I unsteadily made my way down the stairs. I reach for it and use him as a balance to counteract my clumsiness. He lets me go as soon as I am on the stable ground.
“Vincent. Look. The tomboy’s all washed up. Spiffy huh?” He laughs.
Vincent looks over and chuckles slightly.
“I’m not sure she was ever a tomboy. Maybe it was a façade to fit in.” Vincent replies to my brother coolly.
I stop walking and stare at him.
“If it were a façade, you’d know. Since it’s not, you should know. Its men like you and my brother that made me this way, and if you have any problems with me... TAKE IT UP WITH MY LAWYER!”
I storm off, feeling terrible that I had said that. I unlock a closet and begin gathering up the presents for my family and... Him.
It’s painful. There is a lot to carry. I would call for help, but, being the stubborn girl I always have been, I won’t do it.
“Need any help?” the calm voice of Vincent asks. I nearly jump out of surprise, but I catch myself before that happens. He looks at me kindly, despite the fact that I was rude to him. He grabs most of the packages from me. I’m still a bit miffed and flick my head to the side, hitting him with the few curled strands.
“I can handle this myself!” I say to him grabbing for what he’s holding.
“No... You’ve been having trouble ever since your back gave in.”
“How did you...?”
I remember that my brother told me about his family’s medical research.
He smiles and looks at me kindly again.
“Mind if I take a look?”
“No... Unless you’re only trying to do things...”
“What kinds of things?”
I’m surprised that he doesn’t understand what I mean. I stare at him blankly for a moment before shaking my head.
“Never mind...”
He returns the blank stare, before walking forward. Well, not really walking I guess. More like drifting.
I follow him, lagging behind. I feel a bit pathetic... but it’s because of the heels, I think.
He offers to hand out the presents for me. I agree, so he reads the nametags and hands everyone their presents. I make my way into the kitchen and start plating the salads and soups. I place everything on the table, wishing that I had some sort of help, but that’s beyond me.
People file into the dining room, sitting where they want. I open a bottle of white wine, pouring myself a glass and drinking as much as I can in one gulp. I usually can’t stand being around so many people, so my family knows that most of the alcohol in the house is for me. I sip at the rest, before refilling my glass. I want to go to bed, at least before the critics rage all over my food. I realize that I haven’t even taken a seat at the table, and the manners of the house forbid the others to eat until everyone was at the table. I sat down, placing two bottles of alcohol next to where I sat.
Vincent stares at me, as if the alcohol issue is strange and a bit scary to him. I offer him some, but he refuses. He doesn’t eat dinner either. I’m a bit annoyed that he won’t even try some of the food that I slaved over. He looks around the table of my family. My sister is the first to speak.
“So... Vincent... Do you not like food?” She asks, drinking some hot cider. Her perfect face turning to face him. He doesn’t make eye contact with her. In fact, he stares at me, making me feel uncomfortable. A sudden involuntary movement forces me to stare at my plate. I poke at the salad on my plate.
“I already ate. I wouldn’t have done it if I had known such a meal was to be prepared for everyone’s arrival. My apologies.”
I look back up, wanting to intimidate him with my solid, unchanging eyes. My attempts are in vein.
Devon shakes his head.
“Stop it Vanessa Evangeline Miller. Your attempts are going unnoticed.”
I look to him.
“Why did you use my full name?”
He laughs.
“You could always use mine...”
I think on it. Devon Samuel Miller isn’t the most fun to say, and he’s stopped reacting to it.
I sigh.
“It’s no fun with you, Devon...” my sister sighs, brushing her long, brown hair behind her ear. She has a few diamond earrings in her ear.
“Samantha Annalisa Jackson... You know you shouldn’t interfere with Vanessa and my conversations.”
I’m tired of everyone already. I want to sleep. Or maybe I just want to get out of these stupid heels. Or maybe I really want to have a professional look at my back.
I pick up the dishes after everyone’s finished. Only a light meal today. Tomorrow I’ll cook something different. Maybe Vincent will actually eat next time. I don’t know. Nor do I understand why I’m aching to impress him. Sure he’s cute, but, from what I’ve seen so far, he’s also arrogant and rude. I’m not into guys like that. Maybe I’m hoping he’s arrogant and rude to have an excuse to not like him. He did offer to help me in a time of need, so maybe he’s not rude. He kissed my hand when we met. He’s definitely a gentleman. Gentleman can be arrogant too though.
I stop thinking and walk slowly up the first few stairs. I feel as if I’m about to slip and fall on my a**. I’m such a clumsy person. It’s not even remotely a stretch that I would slip and fall, especially in these heels. I begin falling back, and a hand makes its way to my lower back. My eyes grow wide. I don’t like this.
Vincent stands behind me, holding me up, so that I don’t hurt myself again. He offers to walk me to my room. I can’t help but feel the blood rush to my face. I look at the floor, avoiding his gaze. I don’t want him to see me like this, but I agree.
When we finally reach my room, he opens the door, and lets me get changed into something other than a dress and heels. I lock the door and let the silk fall down to the floor. I pull on my pajamas and unlock the door, poking my head out to tell him that it’s okay to enter.
He enters swiftly, closing the door and smiling.
“Let me take a look at your back...” he says in a quiet, cool tone.
“How?” I ask. It makes no sense to me. Usually, I’m put through x-rays to see what’s wrong. He has nothing of the sort.
He smiles again. I don’t understand why, but it seems like this is a game to him.
“I forgot to thank you for the gift you got for me.” He says. I notice that he’s wearing the gloves that I had gotten him.
“Devon told me that you like gloves... I just bought them. There was no thought put into it.”
“On the contrary, the fact that you remembered means a great deal.”
I smile to myself and look at him, remembering dinner.
“Why do you stare at me? It’s strange.”
“How could I not? And why is it so strange?”
I decide to answer the last question first.
“It’s strange because this is the first day we met, and I’m not anything special.
I sit on my bed and sigh to myself. Vincent sits next to me and chuckles.
“You see yourself so differently compared to most. It seems that negativity is your thing. I see something that you can’t see, but only because the views of yourself are so negative. I find you beautiful. You’ll learn to deal with that fact in time.”
I laugh. This is the first time I’ve ever heard this from anyone other than my mother.
“I guess I’ll have to...”
He blinks.
“What’s so funny?”
“I’ll tell you some other time... Depending on if you stick around long enough...”
“I intend to.”
I feel a sensation in the pit of my stomach. I’m curious what his lips would feel like against my own. I try and pull my body forward, just so I could know.
He turns to me and smirks.
“You’ve had a lot to drink. You need some rest, only so you don’t feel as tired later.”
I’m confused. I only had 2 glasses of wine. I don’t pull out the strong stuff until later. I’ve gotten used to this over the years anyways. There’s nothing for me to worry about.
He stands up and his familiar smile spreads across his face.
“Sleep well Vanessa.”
He bends down and kisses my forehead before leaving.
During the night, I dream of him. Only something simple. Something that seemed like a choice. On one side was most of my family. On the other was Devon and Vincent. I had to choose. Devon keeps whispering one word and one word only.
‘Eternity.’
It seems like the word is significant to me in the dream, and so I choose to be with Vincent. He embraces me and then there’s pain.
I wake up after the pain starts.
I sit up and gasp. I don’t understand what any of that was about. I doubt I ever will.
If it was a warning, I wasn’t getting it.
I guess I should ask Samantha what she thinks about it.
I walk into the hallway without any further delay, not knowing that he's waiting for me
 The Little Nightmare · Sat Dec 27, 2008 @ 01:58am · 0 Comments |
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