Hollow Waves | OFAF #1

18

Sagan drove the rest of the way to Lucinda's mansion. With the plan changing, there was no point in hiding the cars a few miles away. Eryn was too nervous to focus on anything but the task at hand. "This is awful. We're risking her life while trying to save others. How is this any better?"

"You're overreacting. Remember your heightened senses are taking over. She's going to be fine, we can trust the boys." Sagan wanted to snap at Eryn. Why did she even care about the life of a mermaid she just met less than a month ago? As much as Sagan wanted to yell at her, she didn't have the malice in her, not when she saw how Eryn's hands trembled even when they were on her lap. She saw a nerve tick in Eryn's jaw and her legs bounced whenever she stopped talking. She couldn't tell if Eryn was so worried because of the return of Hades or something more. Sagan mashed her lips together at the thought of it being something more.

Eryn cast a sidelong glance at Sagan. She found her too relaxed, too at ease. The stakes were just as high for her as it was for Eryn. "I would expect you to be more paranoid, especially since if this goes wrong, Hades will get wind of it. Don't get me wrong, I trust them." It was herself she did not trust.

"It's a statement," Sagan began, tapping her fingernails against the steering wheel. She shifted her weight in her seat, "The Veronis clan are making a public appearance together. You haven't heard the rumor of us going soft, have you? Ever since we took in Amelia, we've been getting shit for it."

"Is being soft a bad thing?" Eryn shook her head. She couldn't understand the politics of clans. She did not care about being the most ruthless or powerful clan. She could give a damn, she merely wanted to exist... for however long fate would want her to. Sagan was more wrapped up in rumors than her. Eryn took after Sybil more so in that sense.

"Marina; why isn't she afraid to be here?" Sagan pulled up to Lucinda's mansion. She found parking along the street and slid out of the car. "Think about that for a bit."

Two vampires stood on either side of the entrance gate. With the way the vampires stood a bit away from the gate, it was either made of silver or electrified. They were like two gargoyles, made of stone, unmoving aside from their eyes.

Eryn pulled her hand from her pocket. She inspected the ring on her finger—a 'V' and 'W' interlaced together. Ward and Veronis. The joining of Chris and Lance.

She hated the ring.

It signified the very thing she was trying to avoid. She was starting to fall into the part of herself she tried so hard to avoid. The two wardens looked over Sagan and Eryn's rings and nodded.

The security was rather lax.

As Sagan and Eryn made the trek upward to Lucinda's mansion, Sagan shuddered, "Even I am wigged out."

Lucinda's mansion was more on the modern side, something unusual for their kind. She liked to keep up with the trends, adopting a minimalist mansion to her style. The house itself was a geometric form with neat and straight components to it. The only window was a huge frosted wall window revealing where the majority of the party was. Eryn was sure there was a remote Lucinda had lying around to change the transparency of the windows.

Upon stepping into the house, white walls and hardwood floors lined the length of it. Barely any walls were around, just an open space, allowing people to mingle between one side of the room that acted as a ballroom and the other side acted as the bar. Blue orchids hung from chandeliers, an inconsistency in her minimalism. Candelabras hung from the walls, another attribute of Lucinda's age.

Many vampires were in one place. They were all split into their respective clans. Eryn sighed.

It was a social cesspool. Sybil would've easily mingled with everyone, not caring about the social construct of vampire clans. Just standing in the room felt like there were man-made borders Eryn could practically see engraved into the floor. She couldn't stifle the uneasiness that flowed through her. The thick band of tension was difficult to wade through as they made their way to the bar.