Children Of The Damned

Eliana

I knew I had no real reason to be nervous, but I was anyway. It wasn’t a very bad kind of nervous, however. It was a slightly jittery and buoyant feeling that came with being giddily happy and looking forward to something.

Elena and I had gone shopping earlier that week in preparation for the Lockwood charity event. No one really knew how it helped the disadvantaged, but everyone knew it would be the best party ever, until the Lockwoods had another party, of course.

“That dress looks gorgeous on you,” she had told me when I came out of the dressing room.

The dress stopped above my knees, shorter than any other dress I owned, and was light pink shell color, bordering on a light peach. It was strapless and had delicate looking frills on the front below the bodice.

I bought it, and then got platform heels to match. I knew I already had nail polish at home that would go perfectly with it.

Now, just under two hours before the party, I showered, shaving, and after toweling myself, moisturized every inch of my body with lotion. Then I put on my favorite rose-scented perfume. I remembered in one of our many conversations that Damon had mentioned he liked the way I smelled.

I kept my makeup simple, adding a light dusting of bronze eye shadow and eyeliner to match with my favorite brand of kohl black mascara. I put on a soft, rosy pink lip gloss, and then my makeup was done.

I put my hair up in an elaborate bun, and then pulled down a few strands here and there at the nape of my neck and in front of my ears, letting the strands fall in their natural curls.

I painted my nails, and once they were dry, I took off my dressing robe and put on my lacy strapless bra and matching underwear. Then I slipped into my dress and my platform heels.

I put pearl post earrings in my ears, and then I was done.

I started listening to Bright Eyes in an effort to calm down, to slow my racing heart, and it just started to work when my phone rang.

“I want the world to stop….bring me the morning.”

I practically ran over to my desk and answered the phone.

“Hello,” I answered, feigning a cool collected mood I didn’t really feel.

“I’m pulling up to your house right…now,” he said, and I heard the sound of his car in the drive.

“I’ll be down in a second.”

I hung up the phone and went to my dresser, putting on my locket before making my way slowly down the stairs. I was going to make him wait a few more seconds, and he was just going to have to deal with it.

When I opened the door, he was waiting for me, looking devastating in his tux.

“Well, hello, handsome,” I said, cracking a grin.

He didn’t seem to have heard me. He was too busy staring, actually. I felt a mug sense of satisfaction, knowing I had bought the dress for the sole purpose of getting this reaction out of him. I had obviously succeeded.

“You look…” It was the first time I had ever seen him at a loss for words.

I laughed after he couldn’t come up with something in a normal frame of time. “Let’s go.”

“Your carriage awaits, my lady,” he said, snapping out of it, and taking my hand. He led me to the car, where he opened the door for me and bowed like a coachman in a Cinderella fairytale…or a Victorian Era gentleman, which made a little more sense.

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The party was already well underway when Damon and I arrived, and the first two people we spotted were Stefan and Elena walking up the front steps of the Lockwood mansion.

“Wow,” I said to Elena. “Look at this place.”

“Yeah,” she said as if this were a normal thing. “When people are rich enough to have the biggest place in town, they can afford catering and party planners that even celebrities would kill for.”

She was right. There was a DJ out back where a huge dance floor had been erected leading out from the back steps. There were string of golden lights that made a beautiful net like stars over the dance floor, and there were tables everywhere along with waiters, laden with delicious looking treats.

There was a stream of people making their way inside, and I saw that there was a whole other atmosphere in there. The dance floor outside had not yet been filled, because mostly everyone was inside where there was a pianist and a house singer. People ate fancy finger foods from caterer’s trays, and kids from school stood in large groups talking to each other, holding glasses of champagne. Apparently the legal drinking age didn’t really apply here. Ha.

Matt stood next to Caroline. She was laughing at something he said to her. She touched his arm. He smiled.

He looked happy, and I was happy for him.

“Here comes Tyler,” Damon whispered into my ear. Tyler walked over, looking a little buzzed, and clapped a hand on Damon’s shoulder. I was surprised. I had never seen anyone touch him before. He always seemed to have that “stay away” vibe that he emitted to all other males. Maybe Tyler was just too drunk to pick up on it.

“Hey, Ana,” he said, looking more at my cleavage than anything else. I raised my eyebrows at him in a warning way. He didn’t even notice, he was so fixated. “Would you like anything to drink?” he asked.

“Not for me. I’m good for the night.” I didn’t want to drink at this party. Not tonight. I planned on remembering every second of this, getting to spend this evening with Damon.

Damon shook his head, and steered us away from further conversation.

“That boy tests my patience in human men,” he muttered.

“Your patience? Think about us poor women over here. I’ve had my share of Neanderthals.”

“But you can handle them. You don’t mess around when it comes to calling it like you see it. I have had first hand experience with that.”

“Thank you.”

“Dance with me?” he asked, pointing to the dance floor.

“Like you have to ask,” I scoffed, and then he took me out on the floor. We were one of the only couples there, as the outside dance floor was still relatively empty.

He put his hand on the small of my back and took my hand in his other one, dancing with an expertise that was almost dizzying.

“You look very…tempting tonight. I hope you know this. I’m going to have a very hard time keeping my hands off of you.”

The way he said it, with lips pressed against my ear, his breath hot on me, made me shiver, causing something to coil and uncoil inside me, almost like a fist that was continually clenching. And then I was grasped by a sort of boldness I hardly ever felt.

“What makes you think I want you to take your hand off of me tonight?” I said, using his own torture weapon against him, my lips brushing the skin just under his ear.

“Mmm…careful what you wish for.” His arm tightened around me.

I kissed him right there in the middle of the dance floor, not caring who saw us. He smiled against my lips.

“You’re being feisty tonight,” he noted.

“I’m in a very good mood.”

“I’ve noticed. I like this mood. It suits you.”

Over the next few songs, more people filled the dance floor, including Caroline and Matt, which made me happy. I was glad he was smiling again. He deserved someone who could make him happy, even if it was my cousin. Bonnie and Jeremy were dancing together, and Bonnie’s usually uptight nature was gone.

“I am so glad we did this,” I told Damon, my fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

He swooped in for a light kiss on my cheek. “I’m going to get us something to drink. Would you like some punch?”

“Yes, please,” I told him. He gave me another light kiss and walked inside.

Feeling totally blissed and at peace with myself, I started walking down the meandering paths in the Lockwood garden. Low-hanging lamp posts hung at different intervals, emitting a soft golden light. They were almost at level with the rose bushes that grew along the paths, and I found myself picking one of them, rubbing the soft petals against my cheek as I walked down the paths.

I was almost at the lake on the Lockwood land when I heard the snapping of twigs just beyond where the light of the lamps reached.

I figured it was Damon, playing games, but then I thought better of that idea. With everything that was going on, with the vampire that was watching my house, I didn’t think Damon would think sneaking up on me was such a good idea.

Still, I hoped against hope that he was the one coming closer to the path through the trees.

“Damon? Is that you?” I asked timidly into the darkness. “This isn’t funny.”

The shape in the darkness moved with inhuman speed, and I didn’t even have time to shield myself before it came at me, knocking me hard onto the grass along the path.

I screamed.