Belle Morte

Part Four; A Knight Comes Knocking

It was already Friday, and Azi lay in her bed holding her cat. Jinx was overly happy with this, purring loudly as her slow hands moved through his short onyx fur. At this point all traces of a normal life was gone, but her she was petting her cat as if it was any Friday. Actually on most Friday's she'd be in school, trying to get past her senior year. Instead, she skipped the last few days of school. They weren't going to matter anyways. By tonight she'd find out what exactly destiny had planned for her. There wasn't very many possibilities she could think of pertaining to what exactly would happen at the ball. She figured she would go, then either be murdered by the other guests, or be taken as a slave. She had heard of Vampires choosing only one human to give them blood. She didn't know which fate was worse to be honest. Snuggling closer to her cat, she tried to hold herself together.
She could barely believe this was going to be her last day in her house. She would never see this bedroom again. She would never see her cat again. This thought made her especially sad. Jinx would have no one to pet him, she was the only person he allowed close to him. She had heard of animals dying from missing their owners. Azi squeezed Jinx a little tighter at this thought.
She also knew she would never see her mom again either. When she got home last night, she hadn't moved an inch. Azi helped her mom get into her own bed, but she was still very dazed. She hoped Chloé would take care of her.
Staring at the digital clock on her bed side table, Azi watched as the minutes ticked by. It was getting closer and closer to six. Maybe they would forget that Azi was on the list of humans and not come. She knew this was unlikely, but a girl could dream. Closing her eyes she laid her head on Jinx, not wanting to keep them open anymore. Soon she found herself accidentally drifting off.

***
Azi woke with a start, a rhythmic pounding on the door down stairs had filled her head. Sitting up hastily she looked around confused. Looking at the time, she saw that it was five minuted past six. Scrambling to get down stairs, she startled Jinx in the process, who hissed and ran under her bed. Quickly going out her bedroom door, she carefully went down her stairs as not to trip. Flinging herself at her front door she swung it wide open to see a man in his twenties standing there hand raised in mid knock. Raising a dark eyebrow at Azi, she tilted her head in confusion. The man wore a dark grey suit and a long thin tie, even the undershirt of his suit was a light grey. Straightening himself, he spoke.
"Miss Aziza Fontaine I presume?" He spoke as if he was some type of god. His attitude in general was 'holier-than-thou', making Azi feel small. Nodding at the man, she felt her heart race. This was it. She had no other choice but to go to the ball.
Seeing her answer he moved a hand, gesturing for her to walk ahead of him.
"Right this way, Madamoiselle." He spoke using the french term in almost a flirty matter. His shinning grey eyes watched her as she moved past her. He must be ready for a fight from her, because usually Knights didn't have resting grey eyes. Looking away from him, she turned to see an expensive black car parked in her driveway. She had no idea the brand of the car with it's blacked out windows. Approaching it she saw her reflection in the sleek dark metal. Wow, she looked like a mess. She hadn't bothered to get out of bed today, and she was still wearing her clothes from yesterday.
Opening the door for her, she silently slid into the car, the leather groaning under her weight. Sitting next to her, the man closed the door behind them. In the dark car she decided to get a good look at him.
He had extremely curly hair, it seemed almost fluffy. It seemed so touchable. It framed his face nicely. He also had a fair amount of dark facial hair, it looked good on him. The way his body was built was spectacular, brode shoulders, a sharp jawline. Being well muscled was apart of being a Knight, being strong was good for reinforcement. Good looks on the other hand came from their vampire aspects. Vampires had evolved to draw humans in, making it easier to catch their prey. Knights weren't full vampires though. His round eyes were slowly reverting from a tense grey to a softer brown. Reaching a bronze hand to pull his thick hair back, he spoke to the driver ahead of them, indicating to start going. Looking back Azi he sighed, his eyes dropping to a warmer brown. Most girls would have fainted right from the sight of him. Azi had to admit he was a good looking person, but most Knights were.
"I was worried you'd had something planned." He admitted, seeming to shed some of his rigid exterior. Azi just stared at him, unsure what to say. He gave a lopsided grin.
"You didn't answer for sometime," he continued. She still did not know how to respond. What was this small talk? Most Knights were hard like steel, but he seemed to be more open to chatting.
"I was sleeping," Azi admitted, shrugging. She was almost uncomfortable with how different he was from the vampires she had met. While she hasn't met a lot in her lifetime, the ones she had were usually to good to talk to humans. He still gave off the vibe that he knew he was sexy, but at least he talked to her. Almost chuckling he nodded at her statement.
"Explains the bed head," he raised a bushy eyebrow. She could almost ease up with his held back laughter, but she couldn't trust him. Going silent again, the two sat as the car continued moving forward. Seeming uncomfortable with the silence, the Knight asked a question that caught Azi off guard.
"So, are you excited?" He seemed to genuinely believe his statement was something you asked in this situation. Azi's eyes widened, she had no idea why he would even think that she would be remotely excited for this. Blinking long dark lashes at her, he seemed confused on her reaction to the question. Trying to muster up coherent words, Azi began to answer him.
"Wha-I--? I don't know who you are, but where would you get the idea that I would be excited for this?" She wanted to shout at him, but her tone came off as more of a quiet flame. He seemed taken back, not sure why she gave him such a tone. He still kept his calm demeanor.
"Well, I'm Blake, and I just figured you would. Most girls are. They find it to be quite the honor," He spoke matter of factly while introducing himself and explaining. Azi still gave him a horrified look. Who would want this? She had no idea why there were girls out there enjoying being picked, but she knew she was definitely not one of them. Still unsure of her attitude towards this, Blake continued on.
"I don't know why you are upset, Aziza. There are girls who would kill to be you right now." He spoke her name strangely, like a substitute teacher just learning the students names. Frankly, she had forgotten he even had knowledge of her name. Trying to sort out the information this strange man was letting on, she spoke her reasons to him.
"Why am I upset!? I am being taken from my family, my friends, my life! Why would anyone want that?" She tried to make him understand, using emotional reasons he might be able to relate too. He still remained questioning her silently. She secretly wondered how being a vampire has affected his ability to empathic. Did they not understand these things in their culture? For her, humans and vampires were never really allowed to mingle, there was hardly sight of them. Most humans lived in poverty, the ones who were rich were basically sucking up to vampires to get where they are. Was vampiric society that much different than her own?
Obviously the two had extremely different views, yet Blake still pushed on to talk to Azi.
"I know there are families that are honored to even be relatives of someone chosen, sometimes they pay to have extra ballots put into the drawing." He was like a confused book of information, though the last bit interested Azi.
"Wait--there's a ballot?" She furrowed her eyebrows, looking just as confused as he was.
"Yeah..." He started, drawing the word out. She waited for him to explain, he seemed to not know of how to at first. Finally decided on words to use he went on.
"Every human past the age of 16 gets a ticket. They put another one in each year as it goes on until the age of 35. So at 16 you get one ticket put in, but at 17 you have two tickets." He explained slowly, Azi taking this information in. He continued on.
"The rich pay extra money to have more tickets put in for their child. They have bragging rights if they get picked. Didn't they tell you this in school?" He questioned her now, she instead sat wide eyed, shaking her head to answer his question. So if she was 18, then she had only 3 tickets in there. 3 out of who knew how many other people of France, and she got drawn.
"There's a party and everything where the rich get together to see the Queen choose names. I was actually surprised you were picked. There usually isn't an abundance of poor humans picked." She wasn't sure if she should be insulted that he called her poor, though it was true. She wasn't anything close to rich, but somehow it still hurt. She supposed it was the air the word held around it. Poor people usually weren't desirable, even though it was just an economic status. She lead her mind to other things he had said. She couldn't believe there were other human beings hoping their children got picked. It made no sense. Why would you want that fate for them? Granted, perhaps Azi knew less of what really went on at these parties than she originally thought? She honestly wasn't sure what to do with this given information at all. Blake gazed at her with liquid brown eyes. He seemed to be intrigued with her. Like she was something to gawk at and try to figure out. She had no idea why he would find her interesting. She was sure there were vampire girls who had much more to offer than her. Looking from him she turned a little to see outside the dark window beside her.
A rush of shaded green flew past them, they must be in the very few regions of France where there was countryside. She actually had no idea where they were going. Either way she wanted nothing to do with the unknown place. The motion of outside was calming, good to know the world kept turning even if her story felt like it coming to a bloody end.
Right now she knew she should be thinking about her family and friends, but thinking about them would make her tear up. She didn't want to cry here, she didn't want to show weakness. Even if Blake seemed somewhat approachable, there was still a cold, clueless to emotions vibe about him. He was still his kind. And she was still hers. They just didn't understand each other. Perhaps they never would.
As the drive seemed to drone on, the hum of the car becoming soothing, Azi started to feel tired. She wasn't exactly physically tired as much as she was emotionally drained. The past few days she was a nervous, crying wreck. Now, even with the event she worried herself out on coming closer, she felt like she had no more room for sorrow inside of her. Instead, like the hum of the engine, it was constant inside her. Perhaps she'd drawn to the conclusion that there was no way it could get any worse.
Being torn from her gloomy thoughts, the sound of the door opening caught her attention. Snapping her head to the sound, she saw Blake was holding the door open for her. Sliding out she saw what seemed to be the backyard of a fancy estate. Looking up at the towering, white house in front of her she tried to imagine someone actually living in it. It seemed too big to feel at home. It was quite the house, but could it be a home? It seemed like a façade, something that you would only show off perhaps.
With Blake by her side, he escorted her inside the front door of the home.