Vampire Sunrise

The Mascarade

"Julie, if it's OK with you, I'll get the door," I said. Julie was still speechless.

I walked over to the door and opened it. Three tall redheads, each wearing matching sheer, long sleeve white lace dresses, stood in front of me. It was the thee fiends, but they were no longer young teen girls; they looked to be at least twenty. I was in shock. Not only were they my height and build, but mesmerizing to behold.

"We will be escorting you tonight, our queen. May we please come inside," Eleanor said.

"Who are they, and how did they get past our wards," Julie asked. Still slightly shaken.

I turned and looked at Julie.

"Julie, do you remember what happened outside the blood bank apartments to the werewolves?" I said.

"Yes, of course, who could forget that. I still have post-traumatic stress from what those little girls did." Julie paused for a moment.

I stepped aside and let the three fiends enter. They walked gracefully inside with their hands clasped in front.

"Alice, these cannot be the same girls. These are women, and to be honest, do not look like demons at all, no offense." Julie said.

The fiends always had an angle. I didn't know why they decided to come to the mascaraed party, but it looked like they had made up their minds from what I saw.

A few minutes later, Samantha was sent to her room. Beth, Heather, and the other coven witches came downstairs; each of them looked stunning. Beth was in charge of the mascaraed masks and handed each of us one. The fiends had their own.

The mask Beth gave me was ivory and red. It covered the right side of my face and my left eye. Angel's was black, full-faced, and ornate. It had little jewels accenting the eyes and mouth.

The fiend masks were much more straightforward than I expected. They were full-faced and pale white. On the left side, going from the top of the mask to the bottom, were ancient-looking markings that matched the color of their eyes. At least I would know what fiend I was speaking to.

"OK, it looks like we have everyone and then some," Julie said. She opened the door, and we all followed her outside. She took us to one of the sizeable geometric rock structures. The coven witches formed a circle around it and started chanting. Within a few moments, the rocks turned white and glowed.

"OK, Beth, you go first and don't wander off," Julie said. Beth looked nonplused. She touched one of the glowing rocks and disappeared. Next, Heather did the same thing, then the other coven witches one by one except for Julie.

"So, where are we going?" I said.

"Massachusetts, the Ropes Mansion and Garden to be exact. It's directly next to the First Church of Salem." I thought that made sense. After all, Salem supposedly had one of the most active witch communities in history.

Two of the fiends touched a stone and vanished from sight, but Eleanor stayed behind for some reason.

"After you, my queen," Eleanor said politely.

Telepathically I spoke to Eleanor. "What's going on? Why are you with me tonight, and why did you three split up? I have never seen you away from your sisters."

"My queen, we simply do not trust the witches. This coven seems fine, but the other covens in New Orleans had some resistance to you at first. Meeting coven heads from around the country looks unsafe to us. You are but a young queen, so it is up to us to protect you."

She had a point, and I was young. It may take the other witches a little while to warm up to me, but being dressed for the Masquerade would offer some form of barrier between the unfamiliar witches and me.