𝑻𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄'𝐒 𝐇𝐔𝐒𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖜𝖔

'•.¸¸.•''¯'••._.• . •._.••'¯''•.¸¸.•'

*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*

Those loud, harsh knocks at the door could only mean it was time to go.

"I'm going... to the vampire's castle..." Shuichi thought, swallowing a dry lump down his throat as he shakily went down the small set of stairs that led to the only room on the first floor and towards the front door.

Looking around, the house was small, crowded, but held a sense of warmth- that warmth would vanish as soon as Shuichi opened the door.

*WHOOOOSH*

When the front door was opened, like a hurricane blew in; a sudden burst of wind nearly knocked Shuichi back if he hadn't held onto the doorknob for dear life. Furniture got pushed back, and anything small like vases and books went flying across the room, against the wall behind Shuichi. All the light sources went out as well; candles got blown out, the fire in the fireplace was extinguished, making the entire room dark. The only source of light came from the pair of glowing red eyes looking down at him.

At first, Shuichi thought he was looking up at the vampire, and his heart stopped, but he was proven wrong when the figure at the door gestured to a carriage behind him out parked in front of the house.

" t i m e t o g o "

The figure spoke in a hushed tone, almost gravely, as if its voice didn't work too well. And with the small amounts of moonlight above the creature, Shuichi could make out some of its features. It didn't look human- it resembled a statue, almost as if it was made of charcoal, it was black and dark grey and had masculine features, and... it was quite tall.

But apprently Shuichi was spending more time staring in shock at the figure than he was supposed to, because the giant leaned down, bits of dust and rock coming off it as it repeated again:

" t i m e t o g o "

Shuichi, as petrified as he was, managed a small nod, and the towering creature stood back up to its full height, and stepped to the side, as if telling Shuichi to go first. Which, Shuichi reluntly did, slowly taking a shakey step at a time as he went outside, but Shuichi had immediately noticed something: the villagers were all spying on the scene from inside their windows as they clutched crosses to their chest, crying and saying things to each other that was impossible to hear from outside.

Quickly Shuichi pulled the veil on his head closer to his face as he kept his head down.

"If they realize I'm not Kaede... It could mean trouble for her..." Shuichi didn't want to imgaine what would happen if these people found out he broke the rules, and they may just take their anger and fear out on Kaede while Shuichi wasn't here to try and stop it. Not that he could imgaine doing much against a mob of villagers if they decided to retaliate, as the elders here took the traditions more seriously than anything. And it wasn't like anyone had dared to break the vampire's bride tradition before. So the unknown of what could happen if discovered made Shuichi more than just anxious.

Shuichi didn't glance up until he saw the carriage he was supposed to get into. It was definitely fancy, but had an ominous sense to it; it was black, the sides plastered with matching black fabric with darker shapes sewed onto the material; smooth polished wood carvings along the sides and corners created a masterpiece of the most elegant carriage Shuichi had ever seen. If he weren't so terrified at the moment, he may have paused longer to admire the craftmanship.