So Sacrifice Yourself, and Let Me Have What's Left

“Are you sure it’s okay if we go like this?” I asked Zacky after I laced my fingers with his as we walked to his car on this dark Halloween night. The moon was a bright yellow color it was almost orange and was gleaming darkly along with its fellow stars that were slightly smaller as they filled the black sky. Since Zacky was a Hybrid, he didn’t change into a werewolf during full moons. The other guys were gone. It’s pretty much obvious of why.

“I doubt this Draken guy will care.” Zacky shrugged, opening the passenger door for me. I knew he wanted to see up my dress like he had attempted to about five other times before this one. I really started to hate Lauren.

Lauren and I soon became good friends, mainly because she was always with Johnny, her boyfriend. I think Johnny’s partially deaf in one ear now. He should learn the magic of earplugs when he tells me something that exciting. Lauren was the one who came up with the brilliant idea of having me put on a dress. I thought maybe Lauren wasn’t as diabolical and conniving as any other girl when they want to put on a dress, but I guess I was wrong, although, I’m not sure if I could call whatever I’m wearing a dress.

Something told me that Zacky knew about the color scheme of my dress, because his tie was red as well. No, he was not wearing a suit. Oh God forbid Zacky try to look somewhat normal. It’s not that I’m complaining, it’s just that he might stand out just a bit at this party that I’m guessing is fancy beyond belief. He was wearing the usual black jeans that were a bit tight at the thighs—once again, I’m not complaining—and baggy at the feet, meaning they were practically covering his red Chuck’s. His black leather jacket covered most of his black Misfit’s shirt that was in red writing, and to top it all off his red tie loosely hung on his neck. My guess is Lauren told him about the dress, and I’m almost sure that he was all for it.

I felt kind of bad for making Zacky wait that long for us to finally ‘do the deed’, as some would say, but I felt the need to wait. I didn’t want to rush any further into our relationship. Don’t get me wrong, I think about these things, too, but it just scares me to think that Zacky would use me and then leave. I don’t know if I would be able to live with myself knowing that someone wanted me purely for sex. Well, I guess I shouldn’t be talking. That’s basically what I used the deceased Bryant for, but that was different. Don’t ask me how, either, because it’s hard to explain. I’m a girl; I can get away with these kinds of things.

I looked at my makeup in the mirror that I took out of my purse a few moments ago. It amazed me that I could look so different with this much makeup on. Lauren was the one who did it. She said, and I quote: ‘You’re going to a party! You need to look fancy. Plus, your makeup’s too boring.’ Gee, what a nice thing for a friend to say to a friend. The red eye shadow glistened—thanks to the glitter that was in it—against my green eyes, and with the right amount of eyeliner and mascara my eyes popped. It scared me a bit, because this girl wasn’t me. I wasn’t used to wearing all this makeup. Hell, I couldn’t even tell what was my skin and what was my makeup! Lauren went crazy once she realized that I was basically her rag doll for the evening. I swear, this girl was nuts, but that was the perfect girl for Johnny, so I would just have to live with it.

“Stop it.” Zacky said, snatching the mirror out of my hand. I looked at him with a dumbfounded look, wondering what he could possibly mean by those two words. “You look beautiful.” He said quietly, causing my heart to flutter. “Stop stressing over it and just have fun with the one-night you.” I felt his warm hand on mine, and I immediately laced our fingers together as he drove towards the, as the address said, La Maison d'Enfer. Huh, must be in French, or something.

I didn’t tell Zacky that it was my father who gave me this invitation, I’m not that stupid. I told him that it was someone that went to my school and apparently invited everyone that was a junior or senior. I told him it was sort of like prom, only not school supervised. He fell for it, which was good, but I couldn’t help but get nervous at the fact that I lied about who was awaiting my presence. It scared me to know that my father wanted to see me. I knew he wanted me dead, so I was more than prepared for knowing that this was a trick. But, still, Kala said he wanted to know what I was like. Maybe if he got to know me, he wouldn’t want to kill me? That sounds somewhat reasonable, right? No one has ever said anything about Abigail, my mother, wanting to kill me, so maybe she already knows what kind of person I am? She must know that I’m not a threat to anyone, and could get in a fight with a leaf and loose. Maybe, just maybe, if my father knew all of these things, he would understand that I’m not all I’m cracked up to be? I mean, most of those things said about me are legends and myths. I could never actually be the Butcher, and take down the Lycan and Obyri army without a scratch. I did some research, and realized that Obyri is the root word for vampyre. How it came out spelled two totally different ways, I’ll probably never know.

“Candace, are you okay?” Zacky asked. I jumped at how close his voice was, and I heard him chuckle under his breath. I looked over to see that he was facing me, and I realized we had stopped. I looked around, and saw a huge gate in front of us. The words La Maison d’Enfer were wrapped around the two gates that were slowly opening. I guessed this was the address. Wow, Zacky is really good with directions.

I remembered that he had asked me something, and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine, why?” I asked, not surprised that my voice sounded slightly higher and more nervous than it usually did. I had every right to be scared out of my wits as I was now.

“You’ve been quiet this whole way.” Zacky shrugged, slowly driving through the gates and through the dark pathway. Trees were lining either side of the dirt road, and nothing could be seen out of Zacky’s car lights, which terrified me. We were technically in the woods, and, being the kind of person I am, I was nearly having a heart attack. I was still terrified of the woods, and I just wanted there to be a clearing, or something, just to tell me that everything was alright. I squeezed Zacky’s hand in fear, and he chuckled. “I will never understand what it is with you and the woods.” He said.

I didn’t say anything. I held my breath as I thought I saw something moving outside my window, squeezing Zacky’s hand tighter. He knew about my fear of the woods, so he knew that it was best not to tell me that there wasn’t anything out there and just squeeze my hand right back. I could have sworn that a tree moved from one side to the other in the form of it being pushed away by something. I bit my lower lip furiously, hoping not to get worked up over nothing. We wouldn’t want to have another relapse of that.

“You can breathe now. We’re here.” Zacky chuckled, his breath grazing my cheek. I felt his plush lips press against my tender cheek that was covered in makeup and a light red shade of blush. I tried telling Lauren that blush wasn’t necessary, considering that’s all I can do when I’m around Zacky, but did she believe me? No, she didn’t.

I looked out to see that we were in a clearing, only the clearing was demolished by a huge mansion standing proudly before us. It looked as if it had been built in the medieval times and hadn’t been restored once to look more modern. Its huge pillars holding up the second story were intimidating as they stood out from the rest of the house, gleaming with pride in their stained crusted white paint. The house was made of wood, which had clearly begun to rot, but somehow it managed to stay put. All of the lights were off, that I could tell from the blackness coming from the windows that arched along with the rest of the house as it reached up towards the heavens. The roof was a staggering peak that completed this odd mysterious building that is I’m guessing to be a house. I could see that behind the house and into the backyard had a steep hill running down the rolling pastures and into the unknown.

“Spooky. Perfect for a Halloween party!” Zacky cheered excitedly, jumping out of the car and walking towards my side. He hurriedly opened my door and extended his hand out to me. “C’mon! I bet they already have the food out!” he giggled.

Wait a minute…did Zacky just giggle?

I shrugged off that fast moment of Zacky showing how feminine he really was, and placed my hand in his. He gently lifted me up onto my feet, and I rolled my eyes when I noticed his eyes were glued to the south part of my body. Good God, this boy is just plain out desperate now, isn’t he? I smoothed out the bottom of my dress, ignoring the top corset part that was causing the girls to involuntarily stick up. I felt like a slut wearing this, but hey, this is the fashion. Might as well get used to it, plus I can tell Zacky loves it.

We walked hand in hand up the patio. I was dangerously close to him, mainly because the woods were what were surrounding this house that took up the majority of the clearing. I became fidgety under my skin as my eyes darted across the trees, hoping that nothing would jump out and kill me. Call me paranoid, but I call it being prepared.

“Got the invitation?” Zacky asked me. I nodded, as did he, and he knocked loudly three times on the door. I lifted my free hand up to grasp his arm, and Zacky chuckled. “There’s nothing to be afraid about.” He whispered into my hair before kissing my temple.

That may have been easy for him to say, but for me, it was a totally different situation. I had heard legends about him, thanks to Cynthia and Devin while they told their werewolf children and me about the dangers of this man. They said he could kill an entire militia in two seconds when he wasn’t even trying, so God only knows what would happen if he really put an effort into things. And now here I was, holding onto an invitation with my shaky hand’s grasp that was hand-written by him, saying that he wanted to meet me, and that he had been awaiting this moment for the longest time. None of this made sense to me. Everyone, even Kala, said that he wanted me dead. So now what was up with him? It was a possibility that he suffered from being bipolar.

The door creaked open slowly, but it all seemed to be as if someone hit fast-forward on a remote, causing the man who was at my door the day I received my invitation to appear quicker than he probably would have normally. He looked the same from the last time I saw him, only something about his skin was slightly different. He looked more…alive. His deathly pale skin from the last time now had a tint of awareness and being. His pitch black eyes had a certain glisten to it than before, when they were dull and boring. It may have been the October moon making them so bright, but something told me that wasn’t the story. His eyes locked with mine, and the knowing smirk appeared. “Ah, Candace, we were wondering when you would arrive.” He spoke softly, yet I heard every word precisely as they slipped his thin lips. His gaze averted to Zacky, and his expression hardened. “I see you have decided to bring a guest.” His voice slithered with venom as his cold stare aimed at Zacky. The man stepped to the side, leaving room for Zacky and me to walk through. His hand gracefully lifted, gesturing us to walk through. “Please, come in. The party has just begun.” He said, walking through the door and into the pitch black building.

Luckily for Zacky and me, we were lucky enough to be born as the son and daughter of a vampyre and a werewolf. Both species can see in the dark, meaning our sight was almost impeccable. Zacky held my hand tightly; pulling me close to him as we walked behind the man and down what I think was a hallway. I saw a bright light appearing through an opening, and I could hear laughter, voices, and music coming from that strange opening that was just a few feet ahead of us.

Once the voices grew nearer, I heard Zacky sniff the air. “Uh…Ace? Who did you say invited you?” his voice asked full of confusion and, from what I could hear, disturbance. His hand tightened around mine, almost making it hurt a bit, but it didn’t bother me much.

All I had to do was lie. That was the only way to get out of this. I didn’t want Zacky to get angry at the fact that I brought him to a party full of vampyres. “A guy who goes to my school.” I stated, shrugging as much as I could to make it look like it was no big deal and that I wasn’t lieing.

Zacky didn’t believe me. “Candace, who really invited you?” his voice was serious and cold. I knew I couldn’t get out of this one.

Before I could explain myself, the man walked away from us, exposing the opening and the room that was contained inside. It was a huge ballroom, with the dome ceiling reaching up with paintings of angels and nature decorating the inside of the circle. A huge diamond chandelier hung from the dome, reaching down as it was supported by a golden chain. The crystals shook slightly, but my guess was that it was just the air conditioning. There were red and yellow drapes hanging off of the railings of the second story, and I could see people talking as they looked out into the first floor. The first floor was decorated with gold pieces of furniture such as the tables, couches, even the water fountains were covered with a rich gold color as the little angels held their harps while water poured from the secret domain. The middle of the floor was dedicated to the dancing portion of the party, and a few had already started a traditional dance from the Victorian times. An orchestra was softly playing on the stage that was prepared for them at the right side of the stage, with the conductor gracefully moving his hands to indicate how the members should play. The people were dressed as if they had just stepped out from a time machine. The women had on elegant dresses that popped out a bit below their breasts, which were propped up so high even I couldn’t help but stare. They wore hats that had a bit of a poof to it as it was the same color as their dresses along with the gold trim that their dress contained as well, and let’s not forget the long fabric that ran down their backs from their hat as they flowed and moved with such grace it was intimidating. The men were wearing brightly colored tops that puffed out a bit at the chest, but flowed with the poetry sleeves that were among the shades of white. I never thought it was possible, but they all managed to pull off tights. The men and women at the party were all either talking in groups, laughing and being merry, or they were dancing elegantly and smoothly as their feet grazed the floor they walked upon in rhythm to the music that was playing. They all acted the same way Kala had in the presence of grace and beauty, and if I thought I was intimidated by Kala, apparently I knew nothing and that there were more experienced, bloodthirsty, and more intimidating people out there, and I just happened to be in the presence of them.

I was in the House of Vampyres.

I looked at Zacky, searching his face. His teeth were clenched, that I could tell from how tense his jawline had gotten. His jade orbs were shining with confusion and anger. I hoped the anger wasn’t directed at me. His shoulders tensed as he looked out into the ballroom, his gaze wandering across the men and women at the party with us. Slowly but surely, his gaze averted to meet mine. “I can see why you brought me here.” He said slowly, but I could hear a bit of humor in his voice. A smile creeped onto his lips, and my heart fluttered. Good, he wasn’t angry at me. “Let’s go see what the vampyres in here will do when they see two Hybrids walking around.” He chuckled, kissing my cheek before leading me towards the stairway.

We found out what they would do, alright. As we passed them they would stop whatever they were doing to stare at us. Their gaze would wander down and stop at our linked hands, and their eyes would widen. Some jaws dropped, some eyes widened, and some brows raised. They knew who we were, but they didn’t know what I was. They would whisper to each other, and I would hear the word ‘Hybrids’ escape their perfect lips many times. I walked closer to Zacky, and he unlaced our fingers to drape his arm across my shoulder, causing the whispers to grow.

“Why aren’t they hurting us?” I whispered to Zacky, turning my attention away from the vampyres staring at us. I looked at Zacky’s perfect face as he would smile and nod occasionally when his eyes met another’s.

He turned to look at me, our lips only inches apart, but I knew he had to explain first. “They don’t kill Hybrids, only the ones responsible for creating them.” he whispered. “Werewolves and vampyres need a few Hybrids running around just in case the war gets completely out of hand from their point of view. Although, if they knew who you were, they would most likely be hailing you at this very moment.” He chuckled, attaching his lips with mine.

A chorus of gasps was heard all around us as we shared our innocent kiss. It was kisses like these that left me breathless and wanting more. But I had to control myself, for now, anyway. It had to have been surprising to the vampyres to watch two Hybrids kissing each other. Our kisses weren’t forced, they just happened. Zacky didn’t treat me like his pet or his slave, just his girlfriend, which was what surprised them the most. Hybrids were rumored to only have sex and leave, but we were different. We treated each other as equals, and I looked happy to be around him, not like I was forced by him to come to this party. It was strange, because no one seemed surprised by our attire. It then occurred to me that—since we were Hybrids and could get away with anything—we were the exception of dressing just a tad bit differently than the rest.

“Excuse me?” a soft, young voice asked, causing Zacky and I to look away from each other, and our gaze met a young woman’s. She had light brown hair, almost a dirty blonde color, which was put into a long braid as it touched the beginning of her lower back. She had oddly colored eyes. They were a golden color, only a tint darker, and the color was almost a liquid caught in the circles of her large eyes as the liquid danced around her pupils. Her skin was a pale tint of beige, but had a bit of liveliness to it, just like the man who had escorted us in here. Her bright pink lips plumped out of her skin with a slick gloss running across them. She was dressed the same as the other women here. Her dress was a dark yellow-orange color with gold trim outlining the detail and it reached her feet, where you could vaguely see her dark yellow-orange shoes covering her feet that looked to be propped on the tips of her toes. This woman had to be a vampyre, but she was different, somehow. She looked…innocent. She looked as if she just had her virginity taken from her, if that is blunt enough in the ways of describing her. Zacky and I stared at her, and I was happy to see that Zacky didn’t look like he was interested in her in the corner of my eye. It scared me to think that one day a beautiful girl such as the one in front of us was going to show Zacky what he was missing, and leave me to be with someone much more beautiful than me. “Are you Candace Vanderkay?”

The minute the name slipped from her pink tongue everything grew eerily quiet. The orchestra had stopped playing, the drinks had stopped being served, the conversations had stopped, and everyone had their eyes on me. I didn’t avert my gaze away from the girl, mainly because I didn’t want to see either shocked or angry faces that I could feel looking at me. Instead, I looked at Zacky. He nodded ever so slightly, telling me and only me that I should confess, and I looked back at the girl. “Yes, I am her.” The voice from when I was talking to the man came back into my vocal chords, and I feared that it was once again my vampyre side wanting a taste of control.

The chorus of gasps came from everyone in the room, and everything remained quiet as the girl didn’t seem fazed by my confession at all. A small smile creeped onto her plush pink lips as her liquid gold eyes stared into mine. “Perfect.” It was as if she whispered the word, and yet I still heard it perfectly. “Come, the Count has been waiting for your arrival.” She said sweetly, turning her back to me after gesturing me to follow as she made her way up another stairway and heading towards a room that the doors were wide open to.
I looked at Zacky, who nodded, telling me that everything was alright. I made sure he walked beside me as I felt everyone’s eyes on us, preferably me, as we followed the girl up the stairs that were decorated by red and gold pieces, and hoped not to get my red stiletto heels caught in the red and gold carpeting covering the stairs.

It terrified me to think that, through those doors and in that room, my father was waiting for me.