Tormented Mistress ( Book One )

Chapter 27

The two girls had danced for three slow songs before Amber brought up the idea of getting something to snack on as her stomach lightly growled. Eva agreed and the two held hands as they searched for a food table.

They soon were successful as they reached a long table filled with finger-foods and many drinks which of one being a container of blood. Amber couldn't help but stare at the blood and wonder where it had come from.

She lost her apatite at the sight and thought, but gained it back once seeing a dish filled with chocolate covered strawberries; one of her favorite treats.

She had just filled her tiny plastic plate with some of the strawberries as Eva approached her with her plate of food. The both of them went to find a table which took quite some time as many of them were filled.

Amber followed Eva's action as she pulled out a chair and proceeded to sit. Once comfortable, Amber immediately questioned Eva about the thing that had been tugging at her mind.

"Eva, what are you exactly? I don't think we ever discussed it."

"What am I?" Eva repeated, clearly proving she was puzzled by the question.

"Like, you're not human are you?"

Eva quickly showed signs of understanding and nodded. "No, I'm not human. I'm half-vampire," she flashed Amber a smile. "Like you!"

Amber giggled at her before taking a bite out of one of the strawberries. She almost let out a moan at the taste of it. She hadn't had one of these treats in forever, but was still aware they were her absolute favorite.

She grew a bit embarassed as Eva laughed at her. "Is it that good?!"

"Yes! It is," she said, before swallowing down the rest of it.

Eva only shook her head and enjoyed her cheese atop of crackers.

Amber was about to bring up something to talk about, before she didn't have to as Joel approached their table.

"Well look who showed up anyways!" Amber said with a big grin.

Joel did not appear to be as ecstatic as her, though. He bluntly pulled out a chair next to Amber and plumped into it before drooping his chin to rest in his hands.

Amber looked at him with concern. "You...okay?"

Joel shrugged. "I don't want to be here."

Amber hesitated before letting out a laugh and playfully slapping his shoulder. "Joel! Seriously."

Joel's facial expression when he turned to her showed all signs of seriousness and she knew he wasn't kidding.

While thinking of what to say, she frowned at him. They stared at each other for several moments before Amber let out a sigh. "What's so bad about this?" She asked, motioning to the large room they sat in.

Joel looked about him with his eyebrows furrowed and his nose pulled up in disgust. He slowly returned his gaze to Amber to clearly show his unamusement.

"Joel!"

"I hate large crowds, I hate dancing, I hate relationships, and...parties in general!" Joel yelled dramatically before collapsing his head against the table.

Amber glanced to Eva who only blinked at her, clearly at a loss of words.

She sighed and slowly rubbed Joel's back in effort to comfort and calm him down, but he only stood up after a moment and walked off.

Amber wondered if he had been planning on staying since he was wearing a fancy suit and it was obvious he'd put good work into his blond hair. Amber was curious as to why he would even bother coming if he was aware of how much he'd dislike being there beforehand.

Her thoughts were soon shot to Eva who's stomach made a harsh growl. Amber's eyes widened as she wondered what the hell the noise had meant, but her eyes turned into a worried look as Eva's face began to turn a pale purple.

"Oh God..." Eva said before squeezing her lips together.

"Eva, are you-"

Eva silenced her by quickly standing up from her seat. "I'm fine. I'll be...right back," she said quickly before running off.

Amber jumped out of her chair, thinking Eva was crazy to assume Amber would just sit and wait for her to return. She was clearly ill.

She began to make her way to track Eva's footsteps, but felt a cool hand touch softly against her bare arm.

"Amber," Luna said sweetly as Amber turned to face her.

"Oh, mistress," Amber responded before quickly bowing to her. She looked Luna over as she bowed and noted her black hair which was pulled up into a messy but fancy bun. Amber adored her silky, long red dress that she wore. The straps clung to the edges of her shoulders and the dress poofed out and stopped at her ankles. The dress was massive but gorgeous, and as Amber got lower into the bow, she spotted the tip of Luna's black heels poking from under the mass of silk.

Once retrived from her bow, Amber was desprate to scurry after Eva. "I'm sorry, but can I catch up with you later, Eva's-"

"I want you to meet someone," Luna said with a tense smile which gained a quiet groan from Amber.

Still having a hold of Amber's arm, Luna guided her over to a man and women who stood arm-in-arm with smiles painted on their faces. They looked to be older than Luna, and a bit...familiar? The closer Amber got to them, the more she swore she had seen them before, but could not exactly fit from where.

"Mom, Dad," Luna said once they were in front of the pair. Amber looked up at Luna in shock. For some reason, she never really imagined Luna with actual...parents. It just didn't seem right. "This is Amber, my stepdaughter."

Silently wishing she would stop introducing Amber as her own, Amber smiled at Luna's parents. Her mother had short blond hair and clear, green eyes. She wore a long dark dress which wrapped around one shoulder and mimicked her daughter's high heel tradition. Her father, on the other hand, seemed to be more the casual type as his raven hair laid shaggy and somewhat messy as he wore a simple suit.

Amber's inspections of the couple were interupted as she felt Luna squeezing her arm. Gasping lightly in pain, Amber shot her head to Luna who was busy in making a stern face at her. She pondered on what she had done wrong, but then quickly remembered the bow she had forgoten. Amber slowly bowed to her parents and their smiles grew bigger.

"How nice to meet you, I'm Samantha," her mother introduced herself as.

"I'm Mark," Luna's father simply said with a nod.

Neither of them offered to shake hands with Amber, so she awkwardly nodded and slowly looked up to Luna for guidance.

"But you will refer to them as Mr. and Mrs. Sanders," Luna said as she pointed a black polished finger down at Amber.

Happy to finally know Luna's last name, she slowly then returned her gaze back to the couple who still smiled at her. Amber was beginning to feel like she was at a circus being introduced to two creepy clowns who never stopped smiling.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet up with you again," Samantha...or Mrs. Sanders said to her.

Amber tilted her head at her words. She opened her mouth to speak, but Luna interrupted her. "Yeah, well, we must be going. Right, Amber?" She asked as she lightly tugged on her arm as she slowly backed away from her parents. Either it was a rhetorical question, or she just simply did not give anytime for Amber to answer as she pulled her along in the other direction.

As she was pulled to only God knows where, Amber looked back at Luna's parents. They were now speaking to each other, but then stopped and simultaneously moved their heads in Amber's direction. They coolly stared at her and she was so creeped out, she quickly turned around and must have fastened her pace, since she found herself to collide with Luna's back.

"Watch where you're going, child," Luna said harshly as she did not stop walking.

Amber cowered under her hold and was beginning to feel terrified of what was going on. Who were those people? Why did she recognize them? And why did they say what they had said before to Amber?

Suddenly, things seemed twenty times more complicated than they already were before.