Reflection

12

Adam walked me back to my room quickly and silently, told me to get some rest, and left. Reuben came by a few minutes later to check on me.

"Do I have to go to the party?" I asked him. "Can't I just stay here?"

He shook his head. "I wish you could. The Elder would get suspicious."

"Who exactly is the Elder?"

"He is one of two," he said, and I waited for him to continue. "The two Elders are the very first vampires."

"So how were they changed?" I interrupted, unable to help myself.

"No one knows," he answered, seeming to have much more patience with my endless questions than Adam. "The Elders have never shared their secret, and no one has the courage to ask. So it remains a mystery, and the reasoning behind their vampirism is left to our imagination."

"What do you think the reason is?"

"Well, most vampires think it was a witch who turned them," he said. He leaned in closer, spoke softer. "But I think it was a curse."

"But... Wouldn't a witch create a curse?" I asked, thoroughly confused. He shook his head. "No, I think something else did, something much more powerful."

A chill raced up my spine. "Who?" I whispered. We were alone, but the conversation seemed to muffle my vocal cords, and I was incapable of raising my voice any louder than it was.

He glanced at his watch. "The party will begin in a while. Elizabeth's room is to your right, three doors down. I suggest resting for a bit before getting ready."

With that, he rushed out the door, leaving me cross-legged on my bed in stunned silence.

I knocked on Elizabeth's door a few minutes later after countless failed attempts at sleeping. She answered groggily after four knocks. Her hair was sticking up in every direction, which was surprising, as I've never before seen her hair messed up. "Sorry," I apologized, grimacing. "Did I wake you?"

"Yeah," she mumbled sleepily, rubbing her eyes and checking the clock on the wall. "But it's fine. I fall asleep impressively fast. Can I help you?"

I felt my cheeks heat up. It suddenly seemed very stupid. "Well..." I rubbed my arms uncomfortably and bit the inside of my cheek. "I was hoping I could borrow your mirror." She smiled and said, "No."

I nodded and started to back away. "Okay, that's fine. I didn't need it that much, I just-" She held up her hand. "Wait. Just a second."

I waited awkwardly in the hallway while she went into her room and brought back a mirror, handing it to me. It was different then hers, though. It was a circular, hand-held mirror, the cool medal around it encrusted with sparkling silver diamonds. In the clean glass, my reflection looked back at me. "You can't use mine," she said, "but you can use yours."

I stared at her. "You-"

"I went by Serenity's this morning, before you and Adam did, and had her make this. Of course, that was before she met you." She grimaced. "Adam told me about your little meeting."

"Yeah. She doesn't seem to like me very much."

"Don't worry. There's very few people that Serenity likes."

"Well, thank you for the mirror."

"No problem," she replied, yawning and stretching her arms above her head in a cat-like movement. "Other than Serenity, you are the only other girl around here, and I haven't had a girl for a friend in a couple dozen years."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "There were plenty of girls at the party."

"Yeah, but they don't live here."

"Who all lives here?"

"Me, Serenity, Reuben, Adam, James, and now, hopefully, you. This place is called the B&B, in case no one's told you, which I doubt anyone has. It's a Bed and Breakfast for vampires. Some stay and go, but few ever come. So most the time it's just us."

"Oh," I said. Elizabeth glanced at the clock again. "Wake me up in about an hour, okay?"

"Sure," I responded, retreating to my room. "Thank you."

I sat on my bed, staring at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were still that bright, bright red. Why was I cursed with the color red? My name, my hair, my eyes, even my freaking tears. I didn't used to mind, but seeing the color at every turn was really starting to get annoying.

I glanced down at the Mark on my arm. I can go home now, I thought. I should've been happy, but I just couldn't bring myself to be. I mean, who's to say I won't suck my own father's blood? Who's to say I won't kill my own friends? Can I even go back to school? I mean, I'd have to get contacts to hide my red iris', but even then, would it be safe?

• • • • •

I took a shower before going back to Elizabeth's an hour later, like she said, and she got me ready again.

This time she brushed my hair, so there was quite a bit of her yanking and me whining about it. After she had somewhat successfully yanked the brush through, she twisted my hair into an elegant bun on the top of my head, pulling down a few loose curls.

"Adam doesn't seem to like me much," I said as Elizabeth finished my smokey eye.

"Why do you think that?"

"I don't know, exactly. He just always seems so distant. Not only that, he's..." I struggled for the right word. "Dangerous. But not in a bad way. It's-it's hard to explain."

"Look up," Elizabeth ordered, eye liner pencil once again in hand. I did as I was told. "He's in love with you," she said, to my surprise, "and it scares the heck out of him. That's why he's distant. Because he's in love with you, and he doesn't want to be."

My eyes flicked back down to her, and the pencil slipped. With a yelp, she scrabbled for a rag, and hurriedly fixed the mistake. I hardly noticed. I stared at her incredulously. "Why would he be in love with me?"

"Because you challenge him," she replied, grumbling irritably as she picked up the eye pencil again. "Because for 342 years, he's gotten his way. He's not used to someone standing up to him, and Adam always likes a challenge."

I stayed silent the rest of the time as she finished my makeup and gave me my shoes and dress.

The dress was black this time, making my hair stand out like a flame. It was a v-neck, tight around my torso, but it loosened considerably below that, so it swished around my legs and toes. The sleeves were made of lace so loose it only barely brushed my skin. To go along with it, she gave me a pair of black heels (which took me a while to get used to) and small silver diamond earrings.

"It's gorgeous," I said when she was done. She had gotten ready before I had gotten there, wearing a strapless midnight blue satin gown, with jewelry similar to mine and black stilettos. Her thick blonde hair was straightened again, falling almost down to her waist with her bangs loosely braided into small silver clips. She tucked a stray strand behind her ear. "Thanks. I made it myself."

I stared at her. "You did? That's amazing! How did you do that?"

"Well, I'm going to live forever; I have to have some hobbies."

"Thank you, Elizabeth."

"Don't call me that," she said, immediately snapping me to attention. "What? Elizabeth?"

"Yeah."

I blinked in surprise. "Why not? It's a beautiful name!"

"It's too...old-fashioned," she decided.

"How about Liz, then?" I suggested.

"No," Elizabeth said, shaking her head.

"Well how about..." I thought for a moment. "Ellie?"

She smiled. "Ellie," she said, testing it out. "I like that."