“I promise,” I whisper.
“There have been sightings of what’s known as the Hell Horde just outside the walls. They shoot poisonous arrows that glow, and they are reddish-black with cat-like tails. They don’t have physical eyes, as they’re from Hell. We think their eyes act like heat sensors, so it’s almost impossible to hide from them.”
I didn’t know that. I guess Shadow and I are extremely lucky we were behind a waterfall. They must have not been able to sense our body heat because of the waterfall blocking the cave entrance.
I yawn. “I don’t think it was about them, but I’ll tell you if I remember it,” I tell him. I need to talk to Shadow. If I really am dreaming his memories, this could mean something far worse than just having a nightmare. I won’t even think about what I really hope is not the case.
“Alright Alexia, If I can do anything to help, I’m right here. I’m always right here,” he whispers as he lies back down behind me and cuddles up close.
I lay there until my heart slows down and his breathing becomes even. He’s asleep and I’m wide awake, because I am afraid if I fall asleep I will dream that Shadow decided to kiss Lillith. And that, for some reason, seems like it would really hurt.
*~*Chapter 14-All Dressed Up~*~
Time flies. I have been here for six weeks already. It’s hard to believe it really, it seems like six months. Gabriel has rolled over in his sleep to face away from me, no matter that he went to sleep holding me. He must be awake now because he slowly rolls back towards me, careful not to wake me.
“Good morning,” I say, without turning my head to look at him. I’m staring at the ceiling with my arms behind my head.
He yawns at the same time he tries to reply and it sounds something like, “ood warie.”
“Did you have any more nightmares?”
“No, thank the gods.” I don’t tell him I didn’t get much sleep. I just lied here until the sun rose, afraid to go back to sleep. Afraid to see what would happen if I did and what else I might see, like kissing, or worse.
“Well that’s good,” he smiles. “So there is a celebration ball tonight, and everybody who’s anybody will be there. I was thinking it would be fun if you wanted to go. It would mean a new dress,” he wiggles his eyebrows.
I’ve never been to a dance; I’ve never even danced with a boy. This is when we’re supposed to try new things; this is supposed to be the time of my life. I decide that I will go, whether or not I want to.
“Sounds like it could be fun. Are Kaia and Wraith going?” I ask.
“They are,” he winks. “So we’re in?”
“Yeah,” I say, “Definitely.”
“Great! I will call our advisor and tell him to bring up enough dresses for you and Kaia to try on.”
“Thanks Gabe.” I try to show my gratefulness by leaning over and giving him a kiss on the cheek, but he’s sneaky and in a playful mood, so he snuck his lips to mine before I could even land one on his five o clock shadow. Ug, ‘shadow’. I will not think of Shadow right now.
He gets dressed and walks out of the suite before I get two feet on the floor. I look around for my slippers with the clouds on them and find one peeking out from underneath the bed and one flipped over at the foot of the bed. This is going to be a long day, I can already tell.
I brush my teeth, fix my hair in a sloppy up-do, pull on a fancy yellow sundress and look for some shoes. Before I slip either foot into the yellow wedge sandals, Kaia bursts through the doors as if she owns the place.
“Hello dahling!” She flops her hand in mock prissiness. “Oh! That dress is so cute!”
“And it’s almost as cute as it is uncomfortable,” I add.
“I know, it’s not fair how we have to suffer to look so good,” she says in all seriousness. “Anyways, I come bearing gifts…” she mumbles, walking back to my doors and grabbing a cart full of beautiful ball gowns.
My breathe hitches.
“We’re lucky we wear the same size because they gave us so many to choose from. I personally love the pink one, so I hope it’s okay with you if I call dibs.”
“Yeah, I have enough pink in my closet anyways.” I know Shadow will probably be there, and I really want to impress him for some reason. I know it’s not right that I don’t think about wearing something sparkly or white for Gabriel, but I am going to have to go with something bold and daring. I just can’t help myself. Red, something whispers across my mind. Red isn’t really a color angel’s wear, and for whatever stupid reason that is, it matters not to me. I want a red dress.
We both start rummaging through the dresses. There are blue ones the color of the sky, green ones, silky ones, frilly ones, yellow ones, a few pink ones, a dozen white ones, some cream colored ones, and one red one. I cross my fingers that I will like the red one. I don’t want frilly and you never know if a dress is going to fit your body shape. I slowly and anxiously work my way to that red dress, not really paying any attention as I look through these other ones. I grab the red one. I pull it out and it’s breathtaking. I will be so lucky if it fits well. Either that or it is just meant to be, which makes me even more excited.
“Red, Lexi?” she seems very unsure. “Don’t you think it’s a little dark? I think it might have been left in there from the demons dresses or something,” she muses.
“It’s actually kind of perfect. It’s the mood I’m in. I’ve never worn red and I’m ready to branch out, Kaia. Aren’t you tired of the same old same old? I’m just over the traditions and stereotypes. I’m ready to change things.
“Well, I guess so. If it’s what you want then I guess I can’t say anything. But what do you think Gabriel will think about it? You know you also have his reputation to uphold…and that’s all I’m saying. His dad may be there, who knows?”
Ug. I don’t really care. What Kaia doesn’t realize is that they aren’t really giving us free will to make our own decisions. Not even about these dresses. They give us the colors that they want us to wear, and none of the ones they don’t. Either way we will be wearing what they want us to wear, whether it’s pink or white. I know I’m going to draw attention when I show up in a dark color, but it was on the cart and there’s nothing they can do about it.
She takes three pink frilly dresses over to my privacy screen and starts changing into them. I take my one red dress to the bathroom and cross my fingers hoping it fits. Inside, I hastily fling the stupid sundress over my head and throw it rodeo style somewhere behind me. I pick up the dress. It’s really heavy because it’s made up of tiny black and red beads and sequins. It doesn’t reflect the light like a bright disco ball though; instead it’s more of a dark red ruby, and black marble. I flip it over to look for the zipper to find there isn’t one. I groan loudly when I see that it’s all lace up.
“What? It’s bad isn’t it?” Kaia pessimistically asks.
“No,” my voice echoes through the bathroom. “It’s just the whole thing is lace up. I’m going to need some help in here.”
“Alright, I want to show you this dress anyways. Just a sec.” she replies.
I unlace all of the straps and pull it over my head. It has a heart-shaped neckline and it laces up both of my sides and the back, where it stops in a u-shape just above my butt. A knock sounds at the bathroom door.
“It’s open, just come in,” I mumble sidetracked as I stare at this intricate dress in the mirror.
The heavy gilt door groans on its hinges as she opens it and peaks around it. Her eyes are huge and for once she is speechless.
“Wow,” she whispers. “I think that is the one for you.”
I smile bashfully.
“Here,” I say as I turn my back to her so she can start lacing me up.
After she laces the back up, the dress fits snugly and hugs my body in all the right places, showing off what few curves I have. It’s a little too tight for my chest and I’m not sure if I can breathe, but I just tell myself that I will get used to it. It’s not any worse than these st
upid sundresses.
“Oww owww, Alexia!” she cat calls. “I didn’t know you had such nice assets. Can you give me some of that cleavage?” she jokes. She smacks my rump playfully.
“Ouch!” I hiss. “Be serious for once Kaia!” I turn my right side to her and hold my arm up. “I don’t know if you’re going to be able to lace the sides up, but at least try,” I demand, hopefully.
“Oh, I’m going to get it laced, no matter if I have to squeeze you two sizes smaller. You know, the humans used to wear girdles tighter than this all the time.”
I raise an eyebrow. “How do you know?”
She rolls her eyes at me. “I didn’t sleep through history class. The humans were my favorite discussion.”
Finally, both sides are laced up and I can stand back and see the finished product. I think the humans were on to something because it makes my body look great. It’s amazing how a dress can make you feel so pretty. It’s beautiful and I feel so excited to show it off to everyone. I feel confident and anxious. It catches the light in all the right places when I move. It flaunts my curves by having the darker sequins shade them and red beads accent my bust and derrière. I turn sideways and it makes me look skinny right where a girl should be. This is definitely the one for me.
“Gabriel is a lucky guy! Now we have to find you some shoes to match that bad baby,” she says. “Oh, and what do you think?” she holds her hands and does a little turn for dramatic effect.
In all my selfishness I didn’t even notice that she had on one of the pink fluffy dresses. She’s always dressed in some kind of fancy dress, so I didn’t pay much attention, and now I feel guilty. I hope I’m as good of a friend to her as she is to me.
“It’s awesome,” I say, smiling. And I mean it. You could put Kaia in a potato sack and she would look good. Especially if it was pink. This is one of those strapless numbers that has pink thread embroidered on it and cinches at the waist. From there it flows out in silky billows of material and gathers up under itself in three different tiers. “Absolutely beautiful.”
“We’re going to be the prettiest girls there!” she shrieks excitedly.
“Well, hopefully,” my grin widens.
“So now all we need is shoes and an idea,” she puts her finger to her lip and thinks. “Hmmm.”
“An idea?” I ask, unsure.
“Yeah, you know, like what you’re going to be.”
“Kaia, what are you talking about?”
“I don’t think we’re on the same page here. It’s a costume ball…you know that right?” she asks.
I freeze right where I’m at. “I most definitely did not know that.”
“Oh.” She acts like it’s no big deal, and fluffs her hair one time. “Well, now you do.” She looks at me and smiles. “So…what are you going to go as? I would think the only thing you could go as in that dress is a demon.” She scowls.
A demon? I chew on that thought for a second. If I went as a demon I could wear some fake fangs and do some sultry eye make-up and it would be perfect. Maybe Shadow would swoon over me if I was a demon for a night. I really want him to notice me; I’m practically desperate for it. But I wonder, would Gabriel be okay with me going as a demon? Decisions, decisions.
“Well what are you going as?” I ask her
“A fairy I think. I’m going to add some little pink wings. It’ll be so cutesy.”
“Where could I find some fake fangs? What about shoes?” I ask.
“Oh Lexi,” she laughs, “you’re going to need more than fangs to pull this off and make it the best. You’re going to need some tattoos, and some piercings, and maybe even red eyes. You know how much I love artwork so you just made my day!”
I stand here staring at her, not sure if she’s serious about all this or just joking because she thinks I’m being an idiot to go as a demon.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’m serious! And I have the perfect shoes for your ensemble. We better get started on all this, because we only have a few hours before it starts.” She pulls her dress up a little so she can walk and prances over to her room as I follow.
Inside her room she digs in her closet through the sea of heels and wedges until she finds a pink pair. “Ah, perfect!” she exclaims.
I don’t want to seem rude, but what is she thinking? Those aren’t going to match my outfit at all.
Without looking back at me she responds to my unanswered question just as I’m about to ask, “No, not for you, for me.”
She digs a little more, she has to get on her knees and reach the very back corner of the closet. “These…” she mutters in the closet, “are for you.” She sits back on her rump outside of the closet and hands me a pair of lacy black platform pumps that lace up the ankle. They’re not too tall, probably only about four inches and some of my wedges are about six, so I think I can handle this, even though the heel is a skinny little stick. I picture walking in them and my ankles wobbling and I giggle a little bit.
“What? You don’t like them?” she pouts.
“They’re perfect.”
“Alright, come here and let me draw some tattoos, do you have anything in mind?” she asks.
I close my eyes and picture Shadow’s tattoos. He has a lot of tribal and swirls and I really liked that. “Just a lot of swirls and curly cues. Maybe some wings.” That gives me an idea. I want to put things on me that remind him of what we shared. “I want a waterfall, and…” I trail off trying to decide how to put some blood in there from when he took mine. “…and a drop of blood.”
“Weird, Alexia, but okay, I’ll do it. Sit down.”
She finds a sharpie marker and I sit in front of her. She unlaces my dress and I cover myself. We sit there for thirty minutes and she draws on my shoulder blades, my arms, and my neck. She’s taking her time, and I know that means she’s doing an awesome job. Kaia can really draw. After about an hour she is finally finished and I stand up and walk to her mirror.
“Kaia, you are such an amazing artist.” I try my best to convey my sincerity through my voice. “It’s…” I almost say beautiful, but I glance at her in the mirror right before I say it and she has her face all scrunched up. Then I remember. I remember how we aren’t supposed to like demons or anything about them. Now that I look like one, with tattoos and the red dress, I know she is almost disgusted. “It’s really good, Kaia. Thanks.”
She nods and gives me a tight lipped smile. “Okay, now for the teeth and piercings,” she motions me to follow her back to her closet.
She digs in her drawers instead and comes back with some glue and jewels, and what looks like white nail polish but it’s in a small plastic square.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“It’s liquid porcelain. I use it to make fake pearls and nails sometimes. I’m going to mold it onto your teeth and when it dries you’ll have your…fangs.” Her lip curls up at the word fangs, like she despises even the word.
She works on me diligently for about thirty more minutes until I am all finished.
“There, all done! Luckily, I already made my wings because we have to leave in five minutes to meet Gabe and Wraith.”
I step into the shoes, lace them, stand up, and let her lace my dress up again. Then I walk to the mirror and see it all for the first time. Wow, I do look like a demon. I love it. This is awesome, and I have to try not to wish I was a demon so I could be with Shadow. I have to remind myself of how much I love to fly. There is a small diamond glued to the side of my nostril and it shines in the light. I really like it. Also, there are swirls and curly cues down each arm, a drop of blood on my neck, which is perfect, and a waterfall on the back of one shoulder matched by gothic looking wings on the other.
Kaia is putting on her shoes and wings right now. I stand here waiting and she comes over to me. “Turn around,” she orders.
I turn. She twists my hair and sprays something, then scrunches it and clips it. She twists me back around and puts red lip stick on me.
“We�
�re going all the way here,” she smiles, “and who knew blood red looks good on you, Lexi.”
I try not to blush but I think I fail.
She puts eye make-up, eye liner and mascara on me and we’re through. I’m ready to go to the ball and see Shadow, and I’m not ready to see Gabriel. What if he doesn’t like what I chose to go as?
“Time’s up, Lexi. Let’s go meet up with the guys!”
I take one last deep breathe and look in the mirror. I smile showing some fang. “Alright, let’s do this.”
*~*Chapter 15-The Costume Ball*~*
We meet Gabriel and Wraith in the lobby of the Aerie. Wraith is dressed up as a Wraith, ironic I know. He’s wearing black leather pants and a tight black turtle neck with a cape and a weapons harness crisscrossing over his chest.
Gabriel stands next to him wearing a gray fur coat with a fur hat complete with wolf ears. He holds his arms out to me and I walk to him. When I get close enough, I notice two fang tips peeking out from his upper lip and his diamond pupils. He must be a shifter. It looks cute and it makes me smile.
“Wow, look at you,” he whistles. “You are the sexiest demon I have ever seen,” he says, sincerely.
“You’re the most handsome wolf I’ve ever seen too,” I reply honestly. “Can you shift into anything else?”
He scoffs. “I wouldn’t be a very good shifter if I couldn’t.” He reverses the gray fur coat and shows the other side. It’s orange and brown with a furry neckline made to resemble a lion.
“That’s awesome!” I giggle.
He shrugs, “I thought it was pretty cool too.”
“Kaia,” Gabriel nods politely.
She smiles back at him and embraces her man. “You boys look almost as good as we do, but let’s not be late!” She hustles us out the lobby doors and to the ball.
*~*~*~*~
”If…you…don’t…know…me..by..nooooooowww,” Gabriel coos in my ear, singing along to the slow dance, “you will never, ever, ever know me…”
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