His Mortal Bride

♱Chapter 12♱

Raven's P•O•V

You know that feeling you get when you first wake up? Your mind is totally blank. No thoughts, no worries. Just that peaceful silence. You don't think. You have a clean slate. It's almost like being born again, waking up and starting anew...

And then you start thinking again and start remembering what happened the day before, and what you have to do today.

I groaned and rolled out of bed. I walked into the bathroom, my eyes barely open. I faced the mirror and shrieked.

My hair looked like a bird might have been living inside it. My face looked even worse. My lipstick was smudged on my lips and my eyeshadow smeared around my eyes.

I looked horrid.

I started the shower and while it heated up, I tried to brush out my hair as best as I could. I removed my makeup and pulled off my tank top and pajama shorts. I sighed and stepped into the marble shower.

I instantly relaxed, the warm water feeling like silk against my body. My hair instantly smoothed out and swept against my skin. I stood underneath the showerhead and let the water immerse me. I sighed and could feel how tense I had become lately. I tried to relax under the warm water.

Once I was done in the shower, I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my body. I dried off my body and went to get some clothes while my hair air-dried. I picked out a thick, black knit sweater, some jeans, and combat boots. Nothing too fancy, just the way I liked it.

I went back into the bathroom and put on some makeup before I left my room. The hall was quiet and empty. I had no idea where I was going, but I knew where I wanted to get to. So I just walked down the way I had to get to the main hall. Once I got there, I passed a couple of Vampires.

"Can you tell me how to get to the stables?" I asked politely to the woman. She smiled, her pearly fangs prominent, and instructed me to go down the hall and take a right and there'd be a door to the outside. I nodded and thanked her in a quiet voice.

After doing as she told me, I did find a door that leads to the outside. When I opened it, the cool autumn air hit me. I gasped, smelling the fresh air. I smiled and walked out the door. The fresh air was something you'd rarely smell when in New York City.

I was faced with a huge stone garden with a fountain in the middle. Across the garden, I could see the fence encasing the pasture and to the right was the immense barn.

I started walking across the stones and around the fountain. I found myself at the fence. There had to be twenty horses out in the acres of pasture. When I rested my arms against the fence, some of them looked up at me. I spotted the Friesian horse that unmistakably was the one I had seen Alec with a few days prior. It stared at me, its long, wavy locks of hair flying in the soft wind.

The Friesian and a couple of other horses started trotting over to me. I smiled as they approached me. I remembered what Irina had said about them not particularly liking Vampires. Something about the way they ran to me made me realize they could sense I had certain mortality that their owners didn't.

I looked in disbelief as they stopped in front of the fence, huffing and stamping their hooves contently. The Friesian was in front of me, towering above me as its black eyes stared deep into mine. He bowed his head and I held out my hand. I softly stroked his muzzle and smiled widely. He stood straight up and looked at me again before snorting and walking away. The other horses followed. I watched them go back out into the pasture and stepped away from the fence.