Kiss Me Undead

Chapter Sixteen || The Descendants of the Glorious Dead

Chapter Sixteen

The Descendants of the Glorious Dead

After most of the presents were opened, the party goers moved on to cake and ice cream. Reine was quite happy. She received new clothes, books, and some makeup and nail polish as well. As Reine ate her cake and ice cream, she spotted her sister over by the bar talking to Arlene and Sam.

"Vamp club not all it was made out to be, huh? A lot of freaks, I hear. And people from Arkansas." Arlene told Sookie as she placed her serving tray down on the bar top.

"It was fine." Sookie said as she poured some ketchup into a half empty bottle.

"Why would you take your little sister to a place like that?" Arlene questioned the young woman.

"That's really none of your business, Arlene." Sookie informed the woman.

"So what, then? Did that vampire get all handsy with you two?" Arlene was curious as to what happened. She had never stepped foot into the vampire bar. She prayed she would never have to. The vampires creeped her out a bit.

"Arlene!" Sookie nearly shouted. "We can take care of ourselves. And no, I won't be goin' out with him again." Sookie stopped pouring the ketchup into the bottle. "Ok, that place was kinda freaky, but how are you ever gonna know until you go see for yourself?"

"I said my piece yesterday." Sam told the woman. "Just don't take Rae there again. She doesn't need to be around that stuff."

"She's a big girl, Sam. She can handle herself." Sookie started pouring the ketchup into another bottle as she fell silent.

"I'm sorry it didn't turn out like you'd hoped, but better it happens now than before you end up hurt, or dead." Arlene told her friend before walking away to tend to some customers.

Sookie put the lids back on the ketchup bottles and went to return them to their tables. Once she finished with filling the bottles, she went over to her little sister and attempted to grab her attention. She was talking to her friend Kate. "Rae, are you ready for your last gift?" Sookie asked her sister.

Reine turned to face her sister, a smile gracing her lips. "Sure!"

"Alright, follow me." Sookie said as she led her sister outside to the parking lot. One by one, the party goers joined the Stackhouse sisters outside. The young woman went to stand by a red Ford Escort. It was an older car from the 90s, but it was in great shape. Sookie and Jason made sure of that before buying it. "Happy birthday, Reine." Sookie told her sister with a sweet smile. "I hope you like it."

***

Later that day, as the sun set, Reine was getting ready for the meeting. She didn't particularly want to go, but it was important to her Gran. Rae looked in the mirror as she finished the last few curls with the curling iron. As she did her hair, she heard her Gran yell up the stairs. "Rae, honey. Your date is here!"

"Coming!" Reine yelled as she unplugged the curling iron and sat it down on the counter. She hurried out of the bathroom and made her way down the stairs. A smile formed on her lips when she saw Riven. He wore a pair of dark blue jeans and a white button up dress shirt. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. On his feet, he wore a pair of brown dress shoes. He looked quite handsome.

Riven looked the girl over for a moment. She wore a dress that had flowers on the skirt, the upper part of the dress was made of white lace. The sleeves went down to her forearms and a little brown belt was around her waist. To finish the outfit, she wore white lace ballet flats. Her hair was done in soft curls, it cascaded down her shoulders. As for her makeup, it was done with a nude pallet. Her eyes had different browns adorning them and, as for her lips, she wore a nude lipstick. She looked lovely. "You look beautiful." Riven commented.

"Thank you." Reine said with a charming smile. "We should probably go before we're late." Sookie had already left about thirty minutes ago. "Gran, are you ready?"

"Yep! All ready!" The older woman said as the three of them left the house and went out to the car. Riven opened the passenger door for the older woman and held out his hand to her. "Oh!" Adele exclaimed. "How sweet." The old woman said as the young man helped her into the car.

A smile crept over Reine's lips as she got into the driver's seat. Her grandmother was always a sucker for a gentleman. Once Riven was settled in the backseat and she made sure her grandmother was comfortable before she pulled out of the drive and headed for the church.

***

When they arrived at the church, other than a few members, the church was nearly empty. Straight away Adele grabbed some flyers and began passing them out to the members and guests that gradually made their way into the church.

Reine looked over the chairs and took a seat in the middle of the room. Riven followed close behind and took a seat next to her. "So, where are you from?" The young woman questioned her companion.

"Originally I'm from Greece. I've traveled so much though, I guess I'm from all over." The young man confessed. "What about you? Have you always lived here?"

"Yeah, I've always lived here." Reine answered, her attention was grabbed when she noticed how fast the church was filling up. Mrs. Fortenberry and her son, Hoyt, took a seat next to her. The woman seemed extremely worried about the fact that the guest speaker for tonight's meeting was a vampire. "Have you traveled a lot?" The sound of Riven's voice drew her back to the conversation.

"Not really. I mean, I've been to Shreveport a few times, and I went to New Orleans when I was a kid. Other than that, I haven't left Bon Temps."

"If you get the chance to travel, I'd suggest going to Europe. It's quite beautiful. Especially the castles. It's really interesting if your in to that kind of stuff."

"I'd love to go to Europe-" Reine was interrupted when she heard her grandmother's voice. "Welcome. It certainly is a pleasure to see so many new faces here this month. But Mayor Norris assures me that there will be enough ambrosia and tipsy cake for everyone."

Riven raised his brow when he heard that they had ambrosia here. "How did you manage to get a hold of ambrosia?" The man asked the young woman.

Reine got comfortable in her seat and prepared to listen to war stories for the next hour. "Some of the women made it for us to eat." Rae explained in a whisper.

"They made it?" Riven was confused, perhaps they weren't talking about the same ambrosia. However, before he could continue his questioning the old woman continued to talk.

"Now, our guest tonight is a gentleman who, despite what you might have heard, is one of us." Adele paused and looked over the crowd of people. "His family was among the first to settle in Bon Temps and he bravely fought for Louisiana in the war for Southern independence. Let us welcome one of the original sons of Bon Temps back to the town that he helped build. I give you First Lieutenant William Thomas Compton." Adele stepped aside and went to take her seat in the front row as Bill made his way over to the pulpit.

The whole room waited on baited breath for the vampire to speak. Reine could only hope this went well. All they needed was a mob of people attempting to stake the vampire. Rae took a deep breath and slowly let it out as she leaned back in her chair. She impatiently waited for Bill to utter a single word.