Unexpected Misfortune

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I find my mother sitting on my bed in Andalucia, waiting for me with a long bag laying beside her.

"I have waited a very long time for this night."

I sit down beside her on the bed and hug her.

"It is only a party mom, it will only last four a couple of hours."

"It is not just a party. It is a celebration of our family royalty surviving."

"What do you mean?"

"We thought you would never agree or accept who you really are."

"Mom, I am not really a vampire, right? Vampires do not exist."

She frowns at me, "if you have not accepted who you really are then why are we having this party tonight?"

I sigh, "everyone is so happy that I am back. They all want the prophecy to come true. I cannot let anyone down."

"Celeste, you do not have to go through with it if you do not want to."

"I want to make everyone happy, plus it would not be so bad spending the rest of my life with Alexander. I like him."

"You really do like him? You are not lying to make him or anyone else happy?"

"No mother, I really do like him. I may even love him."

"That is so good to hear. Now I will let you get some rest before tonight."

She gets up from the bed and walks over to the door leading to the hallway.

"Oh by the way, there is a room down the hall and behind the grand staircase that might help you to relax a little bit before tonight if you would like."

She turns and walks out leaving me alone to my thoughts.

'Hmm maybe relaxing would be a good idea so I am not too stressed out for tonight.'

I walk out into the hallway and close my door behind me. Making my way to the grand staircase, I wonder what could possibly be in the room I am heading to that could help me relax. I scan the doors hidden behind the grand staircase in a secret hallway. One of the signs on the doors catches my eyes as it reads: spa. When I open the door, I am surprised to find an indoor pool and a hot tub that is hiding in the corner of the room. Well I guess hot water could help relax my muscles before the party tonight. I look over to see a bathing suit and towel already laying out on a nearby table.

'Wow my mother just thinks of everything, does she not?'

I change quickly and climb into the hot tub before closing my eyes in complete relaxation. My mom will probably make a big deal later on with the party tonight and go crazy on the decorations. It is definitely a good thing that I am relaxing right now. I suddenly get a cold chill as someone lightly touches my shoulder and continues down the length of my body. My eyes snap open in alert to see Alexander standing in the hot tub right in front of me. I would be okay with it except for the fact that he is wearing nothing but a pair of swim trunks; leaving nothing to my imagination I find myself staring at his chest. In an instant, I feel very self-conscious about my body so I get up and wrap the towel around me as I get out of the hot tub.

"What are you doing here? You are supposed to be at school right now."

He smiles, "I could ask you the same thing and school ended a while ago. Your mom told me you were here."

He climbs out of the hot tub after me and is now standing right behind me.

"I was worried when I did not see you last period."

"I am fine. I just needed time to relax before tonight."

He caresses my face and smiles.

"If you would like I can leave you to relax alone, even if I would love to stay here with you."

He kisses my cheek and goes to leave the room.

'Alexander is really sweet and if I am going to spend the rest of my life with him, I have to get use to him seeing me like this. It is not so bad, is it?'

"Wait, if you want to stay and relax with me that is fine."

He stops and walks back to stand in front of me.

"Are you sure?"

I look up into his gorgeous brown eyes and smile.

"Of course I am sure."

He smiles and kisses me. At first the kiss is nothing but then it hardens and grows into more. I find it hard to catch my breath, so I pull away and walk back to the hot tub.

"I am supposed to be relaxing," I say as I climb back into the hot tub.

I lean back in one of the corners and close my eyes. I feel the water move as he climbs in and sits down beside me.

"So why did you leave school early?"

I open my eyes to give him a dirty look.

"I am supposed to be relaxing and talking about school is not going to help me at all."

"What will help you relax then?"

His hand reaches out to lightly touch my arm before running down the side of my body. My eyes feel like rolling into the back of my head as I feel chills.

"That does not help either," I whisper.

He moves closer to me until our lips are almost touching.

"Are you sure," he whispers against my lips.

"I am positive."

'What is it about him that always makes me lose my breath?'

"Alexander, I need to relax."

"Are you absolutely positive that is what you want to do though?"

His eyes are bright with a fire I have never seen before.

"Alexander…"

I do not get to finish my sentence because his lips are on mine the second I say his name. I wrap my arms around his neck as his hand begins to explore my body. He moves me to where I am sitting on his lap, making it easier for me to pull him closer to me. His hold on my waist tightens as my hands grasp his hair in passion. A sudden knock occurs on the door that scares me so much, I jump off of Alexander's lap immediately just in time as Charles walks into the room.

"I am sorry to disturb you but I thought you should know that there are two girls in your room. I let them in from your old house. I figured you would not mind at all since they said they are friends of yours."

"It must be Lauren and Stephanie. Thank you Charles."

He bows his head before closing the door behind him. I get up out of the hot tub and wrap the towel around myself.

"I guess I will see you later."

Alexander comes up behind me to hug me.

"What are you going to tell them?"

"Do not worry, I will not tell them about any of you thinking we are vampires. I am just going to leave that part out, but I may tell them the rest of it. See you later."

I kiss his cheek before heading out to my bedroom. As soon as I open my bedroom door, the girls start bombarding me with hugs and a million questions.

"You have another house?"

"How come you did not tell us that you are rich and have a butler?"

I smile, "calm down you two, I will tell you everything but you might need to sit down while I explain it all."

"Okay but we want all the details," Lauren says as they both take a seat on my bed.

"It is a lot to take in so be prepared," I warn.

"Just tell us everything already," Stephanie complains.

"Okay, the first thing you need to know is that I am not just rich but I happen to be a princess. I am the princess of Andalucia, which is where we are right now."

"What?!?!"

"What do you mean you are a princess?"

I sigh, "look, my parents happen to be the queen and king of this kingdom, which I guess makes me a princess and the next in line for the throne."

Lauren smiles, "Wait if you are a princess, does that mean you get to have a prince all to yourself too?"

"Yes actually, I already have a prince."

"Who is it?"

"Well, you will get to find out the answer to that question later which brings me to why you both are here tonight."

"I thought you said your parents are having a party," Stephanie ask.

"Well it is a party but it is mainly a celebration."

"What are we celebrating exactly?"

"We are celebrating my engagement."

I watch as both the girls gasp in complete shock. They look at me dumb founded as I try not to laugh at their reaction.

"What do you mean we are celebrating your engagement?"

"Why in the world are you getting married? You are still so young."

"Well there is this prophecy for our kingdom; a girl will marry a prince and it will make us the wealthiest thriving kingdom in all of the land and I am that girl."

"Wait, so who is this prince charming of yours then that you are marrying?"

'Should I tell them about Alexander? What will they say when they find out he is the one I am marrying?'

Luckily Charles decides to come into my bedroom at the moment, so I do not need to worry about what to tell the girls.

"Miss Dargomir, your mother would like you girls to start by getting ready for tonight."

Suddenly a group of women walk in to start looking at the girls and I up and down.

"These servants here will help you with everything you need to get ready for tonight. We will see you in a couple hours."

He bows his head before leaving and closing the door behind him. The girl in the very front of the group is the one to speak first.

"We will start with your hair and make up before finally helping you ladies get dressed. You may all sit down in these chairs we have brought and relax. I suggest you get comfortable because it is going to take awhile to get you all ready."

"Thank you," I say, before taking a seat in one of the chairs they lay out.

The girls smile and follow me in sitting down in the other two chairs. The servants surround us in seconds and begin working on our hair, pulling and tugging little pieces here and there. I feel so relax and peaceful that I end up drifting in and out of a dreamless nap. Almost two hours later my butt hurts so badly that I am not sure if I will be able to get out of the chair.

"You may stand up and open your eyes now. We are finally done with your makeup."

I walk over to look into my vanity mirror to see my long lovely hair curled and pulled up into an updo. A dazzling sparkle catches my eyes as I notice a diamond crown tiara laying perfectly in place on my head.

"What is this," I ask as I admire it.

'It looks so pretty yet fragile that I am afraid to touch it at all.'

The servant that spoke earlier is the one to answer my question.

"It is your tiara princess. You were supposed to receive it on your wedding day but your parents thought tonight would be the perfect time for you to wear it instead."

"Thank you, it is really beautiful."

I turn around to see Laruen and Stephanie are already in their dresses. Lauren is in a beautiful sparkling purple dress while Stephanie is sporting an elegant black dress.

"You both look so amazing."

They pull me in their arms for a hug as we all are on the verge of crying from looking so pretty.

"It is time to put yours on now."

I look over at the big black bag that is laying on the bed. One of the servants walks over to unzip the bag and carefully remove my engagement dress for the night. It is a gorgeous red velvet dress that sparkles in the lightning perfectly. I wave my hands trying to dry my eyes so I do not cry and smear my makeup that the servants worked so hard on. One by one the servants make a circle around me as they all grab the dress and help me step into it before tying up the back of it for me. Once they finish, I step back from everyone and glance at my reflection in my floor length mirror.

"You look so beautiful."

"You look like a true princess."

"Thank you guys."

I pull on my black heels and smile once more at my reflection.

"If you two are ready then we can go."

Linking our arms together, we walk down the hallway until we get to the top of the grand staircase. The entrance hall is decorated elaborately in gold and silver tapestry. My eyes scan the area to notice how packed it is here before realizing that Charles is waiting for us at the top of the stairs.

"I will announce Lauren and Stephanie first and then you Miss Dragomir," he says.

I smiled at my two best friends.

"I want to thank you girls for coming tonight. It really means a lot to me for you to be here."

We all hug each other before Lauren and Stephnaie turn toward the stairs to get ready to make their entrance.

"Presenting Miss Lauren and Stephanie, Miss Dragomir's best friends and maids of honor."

The girls smile as they walk down the stairs together to a quiet applause.

"Are you ready?"

I step up to the stairs and take a deep breath before smiling.

"Yeah I am ready."

"Presenting Miss Celeste Audriana Dragomir, princess of Andalucia."

A loud applause erupts through the castle as I descend the stairs. I meet my two best friends and my mother at the bottom of the grand staircase.

"I am so proud of you," my mom says, wrapping me in a hug.

When she lets go of me, she turns and looks at my two best friends.

"You ladies better have fun tonight. I am going to go see how your father is doing."

She blows me a kiss before turning back to the crowd and searching for my father.

"So when do we get to officially meet this prince of yours," Lauren asks.

"Yeah, I want to meet him too," Stephanie chimes in.

"I am not really sure when he is coming down to join the party or if he is here already."

"Are you looking for me," someone asks as I feel two strong arms wrap around my waist.

I smile and turn around to see the most attractive pair of brown eyes I have ever seen.

"I was just wondering when you were coming down," I say.

"I actually came down earlier, but I could not wait any longer to see you."

He bends down to kiss me as the girls gasp. I turn back toward the girls and smile.

"You both remember prince Alexander, right?"

"Wait, did you just say prince but he goes to our school."

"My parents wanted him to get to know me before I got to know him."

"So he has been going to school to learn more about you?"

Alexander wraps his arms around me once more and grins.

"I wanted to learn how to get her to like me but it just turns out I just needed to be myself."

"You know even if you were a bigger jerk, you still have your good looks going for you."

"Why thank you."

Lauren gasps, "wait a second, this means that Alexander is your fiance?"

"No way, you two are getting married?"

"Like I said earlier to you two in my room, there is this prophecy and I have to marry a prince to fulfill it. I got lucky because Alexander is so sweet and I really like him."

Instantly Alexander turns me around toward him to look into my eyes.

"You really mean it? You are not just marrying me because you have to; you really do like me?"

His eyes are full of such hope that it makes my heart squeeze.

"Of course I like you."

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I know for sure that I am absolutely telling the truth.

'I like Alexander, heck I might even love him.'

Alexander's eyes change suddenly to a darker color almost black as he takes a deep breath in. Not leaving my eyes he speaks to the girls.

"Do you both mind if I steal Celeste away from you for a while? You girls can go and mingle with the royal families, maybe even find yourselves a prince as well."

Lauren and Stephanie exchange glances at one another.

"Well, I guess we could go meet some new people."

"Yeah, we will see you two later," Lauren says as she grabs Stephanie's hand and pulls her with her into the crowd of people.

In seconds, Alexander has my hand in his grasp and is leading me back up the stairs to my bedroom.

"What are we doing up here? The party is happening downstairs. You know, the party that is for us."

I look up at his face to notice that his eyes have grown darker within the last couple of minutes and are now pure black.

"Are you okay?"

He moves closer to tug me against him as his lips hover an inch away from mine.

"You really do like me," he whispers.

'Why is he asking this again? Why are we up here when there is a perfectly good party downstairs, the one that is in our honor if I might add?'

"Alexander…"

"Celeste, I need to know for sure once and for all if you truly like me. My heart aches every time someone mentions you possibly being with someone else or the fact that you may not even like me at all."

He is so upset over his thoughts that a tear starts to run down his cheek in sadness. I wipe it away before caressing his cheek.

"Alexander… I like you. I truly do, to be honest though I may even be falling in love with you."

As soon as the words leave my mouth, Alexander wraps his arms tightly around me to close the last bit of space between us. His hand enfolds in my hair to pull me hard against his body as I melt against his touch.

"Alexander, we should be downstairs at our party," I whisper against his lips.

He ignores my remark considering that I in fact do not want to go back downstairs to the party from my unstable voice.

"Alexander, I am serious. We should go back down now," I say, trying to make my voice more solid.

He ignores me once again as he begins to kiss the side of my neck. My consciousness and everything I am trying to say instantly flows right out of my mind as soon as his lips touch the skin of my neck. I close my eyes in pleasure. Before too long I notice that the gums of my teeth are starting to ache.

'What is going on right now? Is something wrong with me?'

I pull away from Alexander and walk toward my floor length mirror.

'They look fine so why were they hurting just a second ago?'

"Are you okay sweetheart?"

"Um yeah, my gums were just hurting for a second but it is no big deal."

His eyes widen at my words.

"I am so sorry Celeste. I should not have tempted you like that, it was very rude of me. I promise it will not happen again."

He begins to walk away from me but I grab his arm to stop him.

"What are you talking about," I ask.

"Your gums were hurting because of your fangs."

"Are you crazy? I do not have any fangs."

"Well, not yet anyways."

"Wait, what do you mean not yet?"

"You fangs will not come out until you have been bitten by another vampire or by drinking blood for the very first time."

"But I am not a vampire."

"Celeste, must you keep denying who you are?"

"Fine, go ahead and prove I am a vampire then; bite me."

"What?!?!"

"If you are so convinced that I am a vampire then go ahead and bite me to make my fangs appear."

He sighs, "I will not."

"See then that proves that I am not a vampire."

I begin to walk away in frustration when he grabs my wrist. He reaches up to stroke my cheek with his hand.

"When I bite you, not only will your fangs appear but a certain feeling will take place and I am not sure if you are ready for it yet."

He lets go of me to walk over to the bedroom door.

"When you are truly ready, then and only then, will I bite you and make you officially mine."

He closes the door behind him as he leaves me alone in my bedroom. Tired, I sit down on the edge of my bed and let all my emotions out.

'What did he mean by a feeling? Was he seriously going to bite me and why does he still think that we are vampires? How do I feel about him?'

Thinking of all the closeness we have been sharing lately, I can feel my face starting to turn red. My thoughts are interrupted though by a sudden knock on the bedroom door.

"Come in," I say standing up from my bed.

"Audriana, we need to talk."

My whole body freezes as Damon steps into my bedroom.

"What in the hell are you doing here?"

'How in the world is he here right now?'

"Well first off I came here to give you a gift to celebrate your engagement."

"Damon, I do not want to talk to you, let alone have to see you. You need to leave right now."

"I will as soon as I finish what I came here for and that is to give you this."

He walks forward until he is standing in front of me. I look down at his hands and see that he is holding the most stunning heart shaped, red medallion.

"Is that for me?"

"Yes, I thought it would compliment your beauty very well. Here, let me put it on you."

"Damon you have been very mean and rude to me lately. Why should I believe that you have changed all of a sudden?"

"Audriana, I am trying to be nice here. Please just accept this gift as an apology for everything that I have done."

I take a step back from him.

"No Damon, I am sorry but I do not trust you."

He looks so upset and hurt by my words that I find it getting harder to stand my ground.

"Please Audrey, please accept my gift for you and my apology."

Hearing my name being used from the other world makes me lose my hardness immediately.

"Fine, I will accept your apology and the necklace. It really is so pretty."

He smiles at me, "here let me help you put it on."

I turn around so he can slip the necklace around my neck and fasten the clip. The medallion looks beautiful hanging from my neck as I admire it in the full length mirror. I turn back around to thank him, but when I see his face again something hits me and I cannot think anymore. My mind instantaneously goes blank and I find it hard to speak. It is like all of a sudden I realize that I have never noticed how good looking Damon is until now.

A huge grin appears on his face.

"Now for the second reason I am here tonight, it's all for you. I want you to come with me Audriana."

"What," my voice is but a whisper as I try to process what he has just said to me.

"I want you to come with me, we are supposed to be together, you and I."

'What does he mean by we are supposed to be together?'

A small voice in the back of my head is screaming at me to run and get help, but it is soon drowned out by a bigger voice that takes over and is telling me to follow Damon and do whatever he wants me to do. Not having the energy, I ignore the smaller voice and smile.

"Yes, I will go with you. I will do whatever you want me to do so long as it pleases you."

"That is what I like to hear. This could not have worked more perfectly for me. We should leave my love, before anyone comes to take you away from me again."

Damon reaches his hand out to me, grinning from ear to ear. I extend my hand out to his. As soon as my hand touches his hand, I am immediately enveloped in total darkness as I black out.

* * * The End * * *