Must I Be Your Bride? - Chapter Eighteen

I'm waiting for the two large mahogany doors before me to open. This is it. I'm finally getting married. This is the day I promise to never leave William, and William promises to never leave me. After this, there is nothing that can separate us. No more attempting to back out. This is it.

I woke up this morning just right after midnight, as a vampire. I'm still getting use to it; seeing every distinctive detail that has always been invisible to a human, smelling and hearing things I never thought were possible or even existed. What still sort of terrifies me is the craving I have for more of that blood William gave me. The memory of the way I finally convinced William to turn me keeps replaying in my head, and even I'm surprised, and get the tingles at the thought.
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I'm awake and aware. I can hear the ringing in my ears; feel the hand I'm tightly holding, feel the comfortable cushion under me. Was it all a dream? Was all that pain, all the screaming, real? The pain was barely hard to bear; it felt almost like a burning hot metal liquid was exploding inside me, killing everything in my body. I was feeling part of me die. I knew it. Thinking was impossible, and for a moment I just wanted to make it stop, no matter what it costs. I just wanted to die. But then I felt the hand in mine, barely. And I knew William was there. So I endured the pain, telling myself it would all be over soon. Soon was longer than ever, but once the pain was starting to fade, and I was able to hear my ragged breath and whimpers, I knew it was almost over. So I waited, and waited, and finally, the pain was nothing but a soreness, and I heard the long never ending ring in my ears. But I still couldn't find myself to open my eyes.

I tighten my grip on the hand holding me and I suddenly hear movement. Eyes are on me, and I know they're expecting me to open my own eyes, so I force myself to. It takes a whole lot of effort, and a lot of fluttering, but when I finally do manage to take a peek around me, I realize its nighttime, and the only light in the room is from the fireplace on the side of the room. The living room. William's living room.

I look at the hand holding mine and follow up the arm until I see William's face, his eyes studying me. He held his emotions pretty good right now.

So we just stare each other while I allow my body to wake up, to regain its strength. I'm still hungry for him, and I can't tell why. But I don't move.

When he reaches over to the coffee table, his movement startles me. He takes a white foam cup, with a lid and a straw, with his free hand and in a swift movement he lets go of my hand to sit me up. The lid of the straw is placed near my lips and I hesitantly suck on it. The taste that enters my mouth is so delicious and so addicting, that I place my own hand, over William's, on the cup, and drink thirstily, my hunger for William slowly satisfying itself with the drink. Maybe I was just thirsty.

When I heard the last drop being sipped from the cup, I'm so disappointed and suddenly feel weak again. I wanted more.

But William tosses the empty cup aside and leans down to place his forehead against mine, his cold hands on each side of my face. He doesn't have to say anything for me to hear the words of guilt that radiated off him. And that's when it was finally getting to me. I'm supposed to be a vampire right now. Before I could even act on my thought, William whispered, "We're getting married today, Serene."

This made me stop cold. Today? Isn't it Tuesday?

"It's four in the morning. It's Thursday," William slowly explains. "Your transformation wasn't instantly."

I couldn't speak. My throat was suddenly dry, and I forgot how to move for a moment. Marriage. A year ago I sort of promised myself I wouldn't get married at a young age, and whoever did that was obviously prepared to give up all their dreams for some guy. I still had dreams, but they were all fuzzy right now. This was exactly what I never wanted, yet, right now, it's all I'm asking for.

William wrapped an arm around my waist and lifted me up to my feet, making me gasp. He led me toward the fire, and once my eyes caught the flames, it was as if the whole room went extremely bright, and had to quickly look away.

"It will take time getting use to," William says quietly.

I blinked, having to adjust my eyes real quick before I slowly looked back at the fire, this time the brightness not surprising me as much. As I see the swirls of orange and yellow dance together, I think about the future ahead of me; us. The thought of being a vampire makes me uneasy, and when I remember that I'm already a vampire, I clutch William's hand.

"Do I look?" I trail off, not sure if asking about my appearance was such a great first question.

"Beautiful," he whispered in my ear. "Like you've always been." I bite my lips, this time clutching William's arm, pulling him closer. "I'm a..." I was ashamed at my uneven voice. "Vampire?"

"Yes."

My eyes widened. "I drank blood?"

"Yes."

I sucked in a deep breath, trying to take everything in. "Okay..." I whispered. "And we're getting married today." I was mostly trying to confirm everything to myself, hoping it would make me feel better. I wasn't sure if it did. I was relieved that after today, William and I would always be together, but there was some part of me that still didn't want to understand the facts. I wasn't ever going back home; to see my family. This was my life now.

William noticed my hesitation on the thought. He let my arm go so he could wrap his arms around my waist and pulled me to him in a tight grip, planting kisses on my neck. But he didn't say anything, because there wasn't much to say.

He gave me two more cups of blood, and knowing what it was didn't make me thirst for it any less. When I asked for more, William insisted that there would be a lot later on - he didn't mention it was because of our wedding - and I shouldn't over drink. As hard as it was, I agreed.

We sat near the fire, glancing at each other sometimes, kissing in others, but we still didn't say much.

When the fire was out, and the sun was shining brightly through the window, William stood up, taking me with him. We walked out of his room and through the halls.

As we stepped out onto the garden, it was like I was surrounded by colors that were painted into this world. The roses weren't just red, but they had a color that I wasn't sure had a name. The colors were so extreme and so beautiful, I found myself just staring at my surroundings for minutes, not aware until William gently pulled me deeper into the colors. He led me into the clearing, and we took a seat on the grass, having no cookies to join us today. I felt sort of crazy, watching every little thing, thinking how much a human eye has missed. Everything was just beautiful.

"I wish it didn't have to be this way," William sighed, tangling his fingers with mine.

I was silent for a moment, ready to get mad at him, but I didn't. "Love is a good reason for everything right?" I gave him a sly smile, and I was relieved when he forced a smile back. It's been a while since I've seen it. "I..." I hesitated. "I'm never going to see my family again?" I already knew the answer, but I needed to stop this little hope that was starting to form in me.

As always, I seem to make his smile disappear. He looked away, thinking - I hope that was it. "There is a possibility, before. I'm crowned king."

"They can come live here," I say, almost jumping at my optimistic tone. Even William flinched when I said that. It was the most foolish thing to say. They couldn't come here - I can't ask them to live this life.
So I kiss William to stop myself from saying anything else, to stop him from feeling guilty again.

As soon as we went back inside, the maids separated us, making me feel the worst when I was torn away from William. I'm glad they couldn't do the 'must part a night before the wedding'. I wouldn't have survived the night without sneaking over to William's room again.

He gave me a long tight-holding kiss before I was ushered away by the maids. It would probably be the last kiss we had as non-married people.

The maids stared at me a long moment as I sat on my bed, glimmers in their eyes. "You look so beautiful," the maid says. I look at them confused. I didn't change physically did I?

She seemed to read my mind because she led me to the long mirror at the side of the room, and once I hesitantly turned to look at myself, I froze.

My light hair wasn't only shining with health, but it was also inches longer, and actually, for the first time, they had nice natural-looking curls. My skin was brighter, something that I guess I was ready for, but what surprised me were how my eyes suddenly seemed lighter, something that resembled the color of the sand on a beach. I just couldn't believe it; I never expected to turn so different; I had to look away. This is what I wanted, and I know it will take time to get used to.

The maids silently prepped me, dressing me, placing makeup on me; they took their time this time, making sure to make me much better than the last time I wore this wedding dress. At least this time the maid had more hair to work with, and therefore they were having a great time working on it. In the end though, they ended up leaving my hair down, curling it a bit and putting on some hairspray to help the style. They outlined my eyes with white eye shadow and something that almost sparkled, but not before they put on a whole bunch of mascara that I knew was going to take days to take out. Soon, when I was dresses, my veil on, all I had to do was slip into my semi-heels and grab my bouquet.
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And now I was waiting to walk down the corridor, knowing William was waiting for me at the end, knowing that the sovereign would be watching me, along with the whole village, on my way there. I was going to have to walk alone, having no father to give me away. And believe me, I was heartbroken about this, but I knew if I ruined my makeup one bit, the maid would go frantic and demand to fix me. So I kept my calm, and tried to breathe.

Then I heard the music, the music that told me it was time. And just like that, before I could feel the nausea that was slowly getting to me, the doors opened, and I was greeted by the lavishing room, and the standing crowd on each side of the room. And right in front of me, almost fifty feet away, I see William, in his black suit, all neatly dressed, looking as nervous as I was. But once I met his gaze, my steps weren't as hesitant as I expected them to be, and I knew what I was doing was right.
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So sorry! I've been sort of busy. But I have a whole morning to finish the rest of the story and I should be posting the end by tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed. And your comments are just so amazing and inspiring!