Nova's Diary

Chapter Six

14th August Brașov, 7:45 pm- I awoke to the sound of footsteps in my room. I sat up, rubbing my head and searching around for the person walking around. Finally, my eyes adjusting to the setting darkness, I spotted the yellow hair of Elizabeth. She was setting clothes in the dresser, unaware I was awake. I cleared my throat, earning a jump from her. I tilted my head, seeing that some of the clothes were not even mine.
    "Elizabeth? What on earth are you up to?" I sat up more, moving to the edge of the bed and raising my brow in suspicion. I rubbed my arms, a bit chilly. I looked down at myself and saw I was in my nightdress. My brow furrowed, wondering who changed my clothes. I looked back up at Elizabeth, squinting slightly as I waited for an answer.
    "Well Mademoiselle, I was looking through the laundry and saw you only had a few days worth of clothes. I went to the attic and into town to find some clothing for you. When you fainted, Dexter brought you up and I dressed you in your nightclothes and took your measurements to prepare the clothing." I gave her a nod, standing up and cracking my neck, stretching and letting out a mighty roar. Elizabeth gave a chuckle, before setting some clothes on the dresser and moving over to me, reaching down and grabbing the bottom of my nightdress, which my body responded with backing up and nearly falling over the bed.
    "Elizabeth! What are you doing? This is most uncalled for!" Elizabeth gave me a confused look, standing up and tilting her head. Her look was innocent, as if she really did have no idea what she had done.
    "Mademoiselle you are the master's beloved, you are to be treated just the same as he. You are aware of what we all are now, so there is no need to hide things anymore. We are very old fashioned, if you cannot tell...I am your servant, you needn't worry to dress yourself." She bowed and smiled. I bit my lip, feeling as though it would be rude to simply say no. This was a whole species I did not know about, I had no place to judge. I gave her the go ahead, and she gave me the most excited look. I think it had been a while since she had someone to serve, and that must have been her favourite activity. Elizabeth held up the outfit she had set out, a black high waisted skirt, looked to be from the Edwardian era, or at least inspired by it, a black, velvet short sleeved shirt with a white collar, and a bright red broach. Elizabeth gave me a proud smile, saying she'd found these clothes in the attic and had plenty of time to alter them. She proceeded to remove my nightdress and was about to put on my bra, when she paused. She was staring at my chest, which made me a tad squeamish. I followed her concerned eyes and realised she was looking to my nipple. I gave a soft snort, she must have seen my nipple piercings.
    "They do not hurt, it is fine to put that on." She slowly slipped on my undergarments, happy that I'd not been hurt without saying. I though that was that, but then she held up the corset, to which I declined. She then gave me the biggest, saddest eyes I'd ever seen. I let out a sigh, holding up my arms for her to put it on. She let out a happy giggle, putting it on and pulling it tightly. She tied it, making sure it was fitted properly, before patting my sides. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and relaxing a bit. The corset did give my back some support, so that was nice. Elizabeth dressed me fully, it was odd to watch someone dress you. She held up a pair of long black gloves, the finishing touches most likely, and slipped them onto my hands. I gave her a smile as she grabbed a brush and comb. I sat down on a chair, pulling up my phone as she brushed my hair. I stared at my reflection in the black screen. I had deep circles under my eyes, and the way I was sitting, so upright, my clothing, and Elizabeth behind me brushing my hair, I looked as though I was a century in the past. It was creepy, but also somewhat alluring. Some part of me wanted to remain this pampered, but the other part of me told me this was strange and out of date. I was broken out of my thought when Elizabeth called for my attention.
    "Mademoiselle, the master has requested you meet him down in the parlour, he wishes to spend the evening with you, a date if you would. He seems quite excited." I gave a small smile, closing my eyes. He really did seem to want to try to take this somewhere. I nodded, opening my phone and seeing about twenty texts from my boss. I opened them and they were all asking me where I had went, why I was not in the office. I blinked, realising how much time I'd lost, even though I've been recording each date. I furrowed my brows.
    "Elizabeth, how long have I been here exactly? Elizabeth tilted her head, thinking for a moment.
    "Around 8 or nine days now? It feels like you have been here much longer though~" She seemed pleased at that notion. Turning my attention back to my phone, I bit my lip, shutting it off. This was a risk I needed to take for myself yes. I was a bit nervous to just ignore these texts, but it was my life after all. I shifted in my seat, closing my eyes. I thanked Elizabeth and she continued to do my hair. When she finally finished, I stood up from the chair and walked over to the door, Elizabeth rushed over and opened it for me. I thanked her again, walking out of the room and down the steps, headed for the parlour. Dexter was standing in the middle of the room, his back to the door. He seemed to be in thought, swaying in place slowly. I walked up to him, tapping his shoulder, smiling up at him. He spun around on his heels, peering down at me before giving a small breath of relief. He reached down and grabbed my hand, bowing and kissing the top of my hand gently. He pulled away and smiled charmingly.
    "You look very lovely...not that is a change from the usual." He held out his arm for me to grab, which I happily did so. He walked me to the front door, humming softly and grabbing a cane propped against the side of the wall. He opened the door, leading me to the carriage just in front of us, Constantine sitting in the coach seat. Dexter opened the carriage door, helping me inside. I smoothed out my skirt and sat down, the door shut and Dexter entered from the other side, sitting next to me. The carriage lurched forewords, and off we went. I looked to Dexter and smiled, raising my brow.
    "So, what are we doing? We must be doing something rather interesting if we going out in the carriage." Dexter smiled, turning his head to me and leaning back in the seat. He closed his eyes and let out a relaxed sigh.
    "Well, I have planned taking you to a lovely dinner, and then take you to a few stores, the antique stores are most lovely. Then I figured we could talk in the garden." He looked rather proud of his plans, and I was most pleased with them myself. I blushed softly, nodding to show my agreement. He was a sweet man, and I really couldn't believe he thought about all of this. We were in for quite the lovely evening.
-Later-
We had a lovely time at dinner. We chatted and laughed, talking about our lives. It was so interesting to hear about his life, he could tell me about historic events in such detail, telling me about how he was able to watch the very world change before him. He fought in World War 2, he fought for the Americans. He told me about how amazing it was to ride in cars for the first time, detailing how it felt to fly in the first passenger plane. It was utterly fascinating, my life looked so boring compared to his, but he implored me to tell him about it. I did, detailing my life with my sister, mother and father, telling him about my school life, my college experience. I asked him why it was so interesting to him, and he explained he never attended schools, his mother and father taught him what he learned. By the time we were in the garden, we had fallen into a peaceful silence, mostly because both of us had run out of things to chat about. It was amazing how fast you could get to know a person when talking nonstop for hours. We were sitting near the lake in the garden, I was examining some of the wild berries next to me, Dexter was tossing some rocks in the lake. I turned to him, a question that had been burning in the back of my head was finally starting to surface.
    "Dexter, you said there are reasons you moved so quickly in relationships. Why is that?" Dexter gave me a surprised look, before looking up at the sky, his eyes gazing over the stars. He took off his glasses, setting them down next to him.
    "I have loved humans before. It is painful." He turned to me, first his head then his body. Dexter looked sort of sad now, a quivering in his voice. I gave him a sympathetic look, frowning as I continued to listen.
    "I loved a human woman, but she did not love me. I had to watch her die an old, lonely woman. It hurt me so much to see her age and break down, while I remain young and healthy. I wish to move fast because..." he trailed off, twiddling his thumbs and dropping his head.
    "Because I believe if I get someone to love me soon enough, they will allow me to turn them, and I will no longer harbour that guilt of knowingly watch them die slowly. I want to save them, spare them from the pain of death separating them from their beloved." I looked at him in surprise, that was incredibly poetic, and very sweet.
    "Dexter, I do not know what to say. I-I had no idea. That sounds utterly awful! No wonder you'd want to move a bit faster than most. But how on earth can you tell I am a good person? I have not even been here two weeks. Sure you know nearly everything about me but that is just from tonight alone!" Dexter closed his eyes and opened them, they were glowing a bright red now, like bright pinpoints in the darkness. He looked at me from the corner of his eye, the eerily monstrous look caused me to shudder.
    "I can see your life energy. Every living person has one. A vampire's eyes are so much stronger than a human's. That is why we cannot go out during the day, other than our skin, we would go blind if we looked out for too long. The moon is our sun, it is just as bright to us. We see more than 20/20 vision, we see more than any human could ever imagine. Every creature you miss as a human, every being you mortals refuse to see. I saw your energy and I knew you were a good person. Yours is the softest pink I have ever laid my eyes on. Over my years of living, I have learned pink shows in beings who try so much to love others, but they have been very hurt. And I know now you have been hurt by someone. That man you left. I knew you meant us no harm, that's why I began to move a bit faster. You have so much love to give, and I want to have some, if not most of it, as selfish as that may sound. I am a man doomed to be as cold as death for all of my life, and I began to fantasise about how warm you would keep me, how warm my body may become, if only for a moment." I felt tears coming to my eyes, one sliding down my cheek. Dexter gave me a look of shock and reached into his chest pocket, pulling out a red handkerchief and wiping the tear from my eye. I let out a sniffle, wiping my other eye.
    "Dexter, you have such a sad life. I had no idea you were so lonely. I wish I had known this much sooner, you poor thing. I have tasted loneliness before and it is so bitter, but you have downed the whole glass. I can only imagine how you must feel...I have not heard such a sad array of words in all of my life." I reached out to him, to which he made a strange little flinch, perhaps from not being touched much. He squinted at me a bit, as if suspicious. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a hug, pressing him against my body closely. He let out a breath, his eyes widening a bit before closing, his long arms wrapping around my and pulling me even closer. I closed my eyes, smiling softly. He was trembling. I felt him grip the back of my shirt, his ears flicked a bit before lowering, like a sad little puppy. It broke my heart. When I tried to pull away from the hug, he clenched onto my shirt tighter, shaking his head a bit.
    "J-Just a moment longer." He whispered softly. His voice had cracked, as if he was crying, or trying not to. I let him hold onto me for quite a while, until he himself pulled away. He quickly wiped his eyes, clearing his throat softly.
    "How embarrassing. Crying in front of a lady." He mumbled. I quickly shook my head, reaching up and putting my hands on his cheeks, rubbing them with my thumbs softly.
    "Dexter, it is perfectly fine to cry, you have every reason to. I would rather you cry than press it all in. You may be different, but that doesn't mean you must hide behind your wall. You have shown me your feelings and that was very brave! You are so sweet and so caring, it is a crime you are alone. I want you to cry in front of me because you have feelings too." His ears flicked again, before he gave me a small nod. He looked at me now, his eyes looked big and sad, tears brimming them. I leaned in, closing my eyes and pressing a soft kiss to his lips, holding it for a moment before pulling away and looking at him. He had a shocked expression, before a shaky, nervous smile crept onto his face, his ears wiggling as he quickly put on his glasses and scratched the back of his neck. I smiled and leaned on his shoulder, placing my hand on top of his. He leaned over, before falling back onto his back, looking up at at the stars. I laid back as well, reaching down and grabbing his hand, intertwining his fingers with mine. He looked at me, giving me a small smile before turning his head back to the sky.
    "There is a story my mother used to tell me. Once there was a man and a woman. The man loved the woman very much, but the woman did not even notice the man, as he was nothing special to look at, let alone notice. The man went to a witch to get a spell to look better, but the witch tricked him, giving him a potion to turn him into a terrible beast. The man ran into the woods and never went back into town. One night, in the winter, a big storm broke out, and the woman was lost in the woods. On the brink of death, the man found her and took her to his humble cottage in the woods, where he kept her warm and nursed her to health. The woman was fearful of the man turned beast at first, but soon, she began to fall for him, his kind actions making her stay in his cottage longer and longer. She soon began to love the beast, and the beast loved her. But the townsfolk had caught wind that the woman was being held captive by the beast, and went to save her. Before the woman could explain, they began to beat the beast, to near death before the woman stopped them and chased them away. The woman found her beast sobbing on the ground. She held him close, sobbing with him, telling him how much she loved him. It was then the beast revealed who he truly was, and said that he had one final gift for her. He closed his eyes, drawing his last breath before his body lifted up, bursting into a million pieces, floating into the sky. They shined above her. The beast had given her the gift of light. Every night, she looked out of her window and saw her beast in the sky, more beautiful and calming than ever before. When she died, she too became what we call a star. Every lover who truly loves each other, becomes stars so they may live together forever." I smiled at at that story, resting my hand on my stomach and looking at the stars.
    "Dexter that is a very sweet tale...I have never heard of that story. Thank you for telling me." We both fell silent, relishing in the moment we just shared. I have never been in such a comfortable, warm silence before, and it was something I enjoyed very much. I closed my eyes, letting out a soft breath. I felt my eyes grow heavy as the soft noises of the night began to lull me to a happy, warm sleep.