The Bride

It was starting to gently rain as I was heading downstairs, my thoughts turned to the eerie note that was lain upon my pillow. My feet barely touched the velvet carpet, yet I was careful not to trip. I was in a daze, so I guess that's why I didn't notice Mr.Nex at the second flight landing, staring out of the window. I stumbled into him, barely knocking him over.

"I am so sorry!" I choked,putting my hands up to my mouth.

He turned around, a playful smirk on his face," Do you find me that irresistible?"

My cheeks warmed up as I averted my eyes. He was pretty darn cute..... We stood there for a few moments in an awkward silence, he steadily staring at me, examining me. I kept my eyes to the ground, not wanting to give myself away. Finally, he broke the silence:

"I believe we better head to dinner. Do you agree?"

I looked up, smiling bashfully, "I believe so."

He held out his arm for me, which I casually took. Slipping my hand through his strong muscular arm, we descended the rest of the majestic steps. As we reached the bottom, I noticed that there were two gentlemen at the bottom of the stairs, muttering with Claire. Both of the gentlemen appeared to be slightly amused by Claire. There was a blond one and a brunette one, both of them looking buff, especially with their skin tight black t-shirts. I felt Nex's arm grow stiff as we saw them. Looking up, I saw him staring at the gentlemen with annoyance and...hatred.

"You okay?" I whispered so no one could hear.

"Perfectly fine." He gritted through his teeth.

I drug him past the three and took him to the dinning room, a sprawling room with a huge fireplace at the middle of the room, a warm fire ablaze. He slipped away from me, heading to the fire, as the three goons walked in. Claire pranced her way towards me, dragging the two poor souls with her.

"So...Anna!This is,"she turned to the brunette," this is,uh..."

"Blade Hunter,"he extended a hand, I took it, " and this loner is my brother, Slade.

I nodded at them, trying not to show my impatience. Claire loved to rub in my face that she was single. Easing myself into the chair, we all began to eat a delicious meal. Katherine, who later came in, sat to my left, at the head of the table. Claire sat in between Slade and Blade across from me, while Nex sat a few chairs away from me.

"So how did you sleep,Anna?"Katherine asked in between spoonfuls f pudding.

"Wonderful," I mused," well...except..."

"What?" She asked, leaning forward.

Leaning in,I whispered," I had a weird dream. I as in the ballroom, which was amazingly clean. Anyway, I was in a ballgown watching Claire dance with my fiance. Then some mysterious guy started talking to me. That's when the dream ended...then..."

"What?" she whispered, her eyes becoming wide.

I leaned even closer," I woke up to a note that said ' Welcome home,my dear'."

She leaned back, her eyes wide, her skin suddenly pale. Kath glanced at the three gentlemen with worry. We all sat in silence for a while, until Claire couldn't take it anymore. Wimp.

"So," she turned to Blade," why are you guys here?"

He smiled at Claire, then looked at me as if I asked the question, "We're hunting. We're hunters."

"Your hunting what," I mused, " wild boar?"

"No," he laughed, "something even wilder than that. And darker than that."

"What?" I raised my glass up to my lips.

"Not what. Who."

"Well, who then?" I drunk a little of my water.

"Death."

I spit out my water, as I stared at Blade with a mixture of shock and...disgust. Why would they want to kill a part of nature? Something that had no control of what destiny told it to do? Nex Slammed his fork down, flew out of his chair, and out the doors. I stood up, I heard enough also.Before I left, I heard Slade mutter:

"So, how are we gonna kill him?"