Page 81 of When Night Falls
"Oh. Wonderful." I skip the part where I pretend to feel excited at that thought. Granted, I am choosing this life but to celebrate something as sublunary as dying a human to become a vampire seems downright cruel.
"Usually when I hear the word party, I get excited." Troy smiles at me as she watches me try to digest this information.
I never liked parties. The last party I went to before moving here, I was almost coerced into some sex film situation.
"It's just the last time I went to one of your masquerades, I ended up trapped in some weird porn hallway after being bullied by Travois." I think back to that night. How I met Travois for the first time and how I haven't seen him since. Or how I was questioning my morals by being in that hallway and watching a group of people perform sexual activities in closed off rooms.
Troy shoots me a look that tells me I'm being dramatic.
"Okay, not fully to the extent of bullying, but you know that party was weird. Everyone knew my name and-"
"They were celebrating the arrival of their new queen." She interrupts me to give me a new perspective of the night, something I didn't think about as much either. "As for Trav, he's in his own head. He's got a dark heart, and he has no qualms with being an asshole to literally everyone. Sometimes I wonder who's worse, him or Riv."
Her statement makes me wonder about her brother a bit. He had no problems pulling me away from the party just to feedme my first spew of cryptic bullshit since being thrust into this world and it’s off that I haven’t seen him since.
"Well, when is this new party then?" I watch Troian as she walks back over to the door and lean against the frame of the wood.
"Ten tonight, when curfew ends." She gives me a small smile.
She really is pretty. I can't compare her to her twin because I've never seen him without his mask, but I don't see much resemblance between her and Rivian. Maybe the eye shape, but his are green where hers are blue and I love the way her dark hair accentuates them.
"I've got that down too," I say to her, mentioning the time of curfew. Rivian explained to me yesterday that vampires can't go out during the day, so curfew starts when day breaks and ends when night falls.
"You're doing good, you'll get the hang of this in no time." She turns to walk out the door but part of me wants to keep her here for some reason, so I find something to ask her about.
"So, what should I wear?"
"Check your closet. I believe Natasha stocked it for you earlier." She's not wrong, and I already knew that.
I don’t have anything else to talk about, so I let her walk away like she attempts, leaving I'm alone with my thoughts.
It's been hours of me just sitting here, staring out the window.
When I felt like it was close enough to start getting ready, I went into the closet and found a few dress options to choose from for the night. Considering it's meant to be a fancy event, I opted for a red velvet dress with straps that hang loosely down my arms and connect to black lace gloves that cover my elbows down to my fingertips.
It's got a bit of a dip between the breast and the form of the bodice pushes them up to accentuate the curvature of them. Little black jewels line the top of the A-line hem and there is a split down one side revealing one of my legs, mid-thigh down.
Natasha had been up here earlier to help me with my hair, seeing as I am hair-dysfunctional other than a braid or some small curls. She was able to throw it up into a beautiful bun with a small braid wrapping around it to polish it off. She also helped with my makeup as well leaving me with dark, smoky shadowed eyelids and a touch of red lipstick.
She pointed me to the jewelry in my closet before leaving me, which is what I am browsing now.
As I scan the options of necklaces and earrings, something else catches my eye. A pretty silver ring with little baby diamonds wrapping around the band. In the center is a small heart shaped diamond and the sparkle on it glints as I pick it up.
I hadn't thought about ever wanting a wedding ring, as marriage had never been on my mind before all of this. But it just hits me that Rivian might not even present me with a ring for our wedding. I didn't expect him to propose, that's for certain. But the idea of a loveless marriage and nothing to show for it starts to put a damper on the hopes he had built up yesterday when we were getting along so well.
I slip the ring onto my marriage finger of my left hand.
It's a perfect fit.
I hold it up in the light and watch as the diamond creates little rainbow shadows around me, dancing in the light. I let theidea of me being someone's wife shape my future and feed me optimism while I twirl around in the beautiful dress with the diamond on my finger. I picture my wedding to be ethereal and magnificent with flowers everywhere and family and friends that I pretend to have sitting in the decorated chairs, standing as I walk in.
"You look stunning." A deep voice scares me of my daydream, and I yelp as I turn to face the man that haunts my thoughts.
I immediately look down at my hand and remember the ring I have there.
I try to hide it behind my back, but it's too late. He catches the glint of the shine in the light before I can keep it from him.
"Lucynda," he whispers my name in a forbidden low tone sending waves of electricity to voltage down my spine.