Blood Ties (NaNoWriMo 2015)

Twenty-Four

I learned something else about Ife before the party. She really knew how to do hair. An hour before Damon was due to "pick me up" (I still didn't get that, why wouldn't he just meet me there?) Ife sat me down at my vanity in the bathroom and chirped. "Be calm you will look beautiful."

She brushed through my slightly messy hair, ignoring my winces and gasps when she hit a snarl and then set to work. Her nimble fingers first braided a section of my hair and then gathered it up with the rest and arranged it into an artful up-do that I could never have managed on my own.

"Wow," I commented unable to say much else. "This is awesome!"

"Told you," she said smugly crossing her arms, I looked up ready to meet her smug smile in our reflections and then gasped. I couldn't do that-Ife wasn't part of the reflection. All I saw was her clothing and necklaces and the beads in her hair floating in midair!

"No you didn't," I gasped, trying to remain composed. "You said I would look beautiful, 'awesome' never once set foot in that sentence. And vampires don't show up in mirrors?"

"Nope," Ife said. "Don't appear in pictures either, that's why all the images we have of people are done in paintings or drawings."

"Oh, so Bram Stoker got that right too huh?"

"Sure did," Ife said as she made some last minute adjustments to my hair.

I hesitated before I asked, "Why is that? Because you don't have souls?"

I stopped feeling Ife tugging at my hair. I heard her sigh and though the mirror didn't show it, I thought she might have been frowning. "I don't know, really, no one does. But I don't think it's do to an absence of a soul. I'd like to think I still have one, but I suppose if death comes for me I'll find out then for sure."

"You can't die," I said, feeling myself frown. "I've seen a real absence of sliver and brass stakes around here, how could you die?"

"I'm immortal," Ife said. "We all are, none of us age past when we were Changed, but we can still get sick like other people. Johnathan Lockwood is proof of that."

"Johnathan Lockwood?" I repeated, a heavy weight settling in the pit of my stomach. "He's sick?"

Ife shook her head, beads clanging together. "Worse, he's dying. Cirrhosis of the liver, he doesn't have long now."

My chest tightened and the pieces fell together. "That's why he just announced Damon was the next leader of Robur. He needs to train him in now and help while he's still around." It also explained why Damon always seemed to be under stress. This new, unexpected responsibility, the whole affair with me and unknown vampire hostiles, the fact that his time with his dad was running out.

"Exactly," Ife titled my face up as she examined her handiwork. "You need a necklace or something, need a bit of sparkle."

"I don't have anything," I said. I'd never owned much jewelry past a few pair of earrings, I hadn't been able to afford it. I had a car that needed gas, I had a college fund to build, and one time a landlord to pay when my mom broken her leg and had been out of work for a while. He hadn't cared that she was currently not able to go and make a paycheck large enough to cover the month's rent, the greedy money-grubber just cared about cold hard cash.

"Got it covered, be right back!" Ife ran out of the room and once again I was amazed by how graceful she was. An unwelcome pang of envy shot through me and I shook my head trying to clear it away. It was not her fault that she could move easily in heels, it was not her fault that her mouth perfectly fit her face.

"Envy is the root of all evil," I muttered to myself as I turned my attention to my make-up less face in the mirror. I'd seen it wreck friendships, people becoming bitter because someone else had something they desired and couldn't have. I didn't want that to happen with Ife and I. I grabbed a little sponge out of one of the drawers and tipped my bottle of foundation on it and began the process of getting dolled up.

I was completing the last of my eye makeup when Ife came back with a thick, intricate gold chain collapsed in her hand. "Where did you learn to do that?" she asked me, taking in my new face.

"Do what?'

"The winged eyeliner," she clarified.

"YouTube, and lots of trial and error." I set the liquid pen down. "I can teach you if you'd like."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," she fastened the chain around my neck and it fell just beneath my collar bone, drawing some attention to the bit of cleavage the dress showed off. "Here! You're perfect now!"

"I'm barefoot," I pointed out as I glanced at the clock. Ten on the dot, I probably had a little more time before Damon showed up, he had to have at least several more things on his plate before he could even think about making sure I attended this celebration. And quite honestly now, as the time was upon me, I felt even more so that this was either going to be alright and go smoothly or it was going to blow up in both our faces. There would be no middle ground at all.

A knock startled me and I looked over at Ife who was smiling smugly. "Oh didn't you know? Damon is known for being punctual."

"No I did not," I slipped on the peacock-blue shoes and stood up, testing how they felt on my feet. Comfortable, thank goodness, but I'd see if that changed in the next few hours.

"Come," Ife said holding her hand out to me. "Let's not keep him waiting."

God I don't believe in You, I thought in my head. And Zalam the same goes for you, but if either of you are real and listening please let this go well for Damon. I stopped my little prayer, took a deep breath and left the safety of my bathroom to go and braced myself to face eleven covens worth of vampires.

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New chapter! So we now know why Damon got the job sprung on him, dad's sick and running out of time. Sad =( and now Cruor Luna is happening! Who else is nervous?

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Write on! =D