Crimson

Chapter 3

There was a multitude of people being entertained in this one room. Though there must have been over four hundred attendees, it seemed that the room could fit at least one thousand. Its walls stretched up thirty feet above the ground, golden, blue, and white tapestries hanging from the high ceiling showing scenes of the birthing of our Lord, the crowning of the king, and the beginning of Italy herself. Women and men flowed to the dance floor as the light tones of a violin swept across the room, the tension between the women was heightened each second, knowing that the man who they danced with could easily be the King. As an array of gowns the colour of dragons eggs danced around the room, their long skirts sweeping the pristinely washed floors, I walked further into the centre of the party.

My eyes swept the crowd, scoping out the room, finding places which would serve as battle grounds, and most importantly, finding the monsters I would engage in battle with. I could tell that the room was full of immortals simply by the way they moved. It was as if they glided across the room, the epitome of what a predator should resemble. Speed, agility, beauty, and danger. Two stood by the refreshments table, pretending to sip on wine, another four were dancing in the middle of the ballroom, causing many people to stop and stare at how beautiful their movements were, then, I spotted a man, in a full white suit and a simple white mask, gliding across the floor. Our eyes met, and I quickly sucked in a gasp of air. Two grey storms held my gaze, their stare possessing more sadness than I could bear. Shaking my head, I began to search the room once again in attempt to ignore the grey eyed man who had affected me so. Three immortals stood by the chocolates, another five waltzed into the room through the West entrance, their beautiful faces full of laughter.

"Jocelyn" Announced a deep voice, its lilting tone hitting my ears. I snapped back to reality and turned my head to the source of the voice, the man with the storm coloured eyes.

"Pardon me?" I questioned, feeling a certain weight lift off of my chest. My head tilted to the side slightly, out of sheer curiosity. Had that man just called me Jocelyn?

"You look well, my love." Said the man as he took my hand in his and kissed it gently. My mouth fell slightly open as he glanced at me under hooded eyes. The soft feel of his lips sent shivers up my arm as if I had just been shocked by static electricity.

"I, uh, you must be mistaken. My name is Cecilee, Cecilee Attanasio. And you are?" I stated, seeing confusion flash in the strangers eyes. He quickly let go of my hand and cleared his throat. Blinking twice, he took a step back out of my personal space and nodded twice.

"My name is Nicolas Vestico. I am sorry, I had mistaken you for someone else." He continued to look confused as he smiled and bowed.

"You are most forgiven sir. So, who is this Jocelyn? She must be very important to you." My eyes swept the room ones more, looking for any signs of movements within the groups of immortals. They hadn't moved one inch. Eerily standing like statues, fixated in one position, mouths moving, but never moving anything else.

"That is a story for another time mia bella. But in the meantime, shall we dance? I feel as if we aren't making the most of the night." He stated, taking my hand for the second time tonight, and leading me to the dance floor without waiting for my answer.

His hand was cold, and for a second I wondered if he was one of the monsters that I was here to kill, but once he spun me around and his eyes met mine, all of my doubts were washed away. This man was in no way a vampire. I had been trained to see past glamours and hidden eyes of blood, this man was a simple mortal. The sound of violins swept across the room as if the dance floor was the bottom of the ocean. My skirts swayed around Nicolas and I as we waltzed to the music, all thoughts of the job that I had to complete flying out of my mind. He had one of his hands fastened around my waist, while the other hand lay dormant in my own. Colours swirled around my vision as we spun around along with the waltz, which seemed to continue to quicken its pace, and though Nicolas and I were right on time with the music, I feared that I would lose my timing and embarrass the two of us. My feet felt as if they would fail me any second, yet I could not decide if this was because of the fast paced waltz, or because of the mysterious man that held my eyes with his own. Quickly, I saw something in his gaze shift, and a small smirk appear on his mouth, suddenly I found myself hoisted up into the air with his two strong hands holding me in place. He spun me around as the music hit its climax, the violin and flute intertwining with each other, creating a world of sound. I heard the gasps of many people within the ballroom but ignored them and let myself enjoy a moment for the first time in my life after my mother had died.