Chapter 6 - The Ball and Meeting Arkane

Chapter Five











Amelia's eyes ached as she slowly opened them and she quickly sat up in her bed, in the same small, dark room that she had been in that morning.



She felt of her nose, seeing if it was still broken and sighed as it didn't bend under her fingers and she closed and opened her mouth to see if it was still out of place.



Everything was alright. Rose had healed her.



She smiled, “Thanks, Rose.”



At that moment, Rose came barging through the door, laughing, “Sorrow, leave me alone, haha!”



Amelia choked as Sorrow followed Rose through the door, a genuine smile on his face and his eyes were shining with laughter, “I won't! Not until you clean up…..your room….”



He was looking at Amelia, a shocked look on his face that she felt probably mirrored her own at the moment as she grinned at him, “Hello.”



Sorrow mumbled, “Hello.”



Rose leaped at Amelia, still laughing, “Hello Amelia! Are you feeling better?”



Amelia grabbed Rose and hugged her tightly as she wrapped her arms around her, “Yep, I'm all better. But it's all because of you! Thank you!”



Rose giggled, “You're welcome.”



Amelia looked up at Sorrow, who was watching his sister with a wary look on his face when Rose whispered in her ear, “Who did it? Was it Selena? She's always picking fights with the girls who get too close to my brothers, especially Sorrow.”



Amelia nodded, “Yep, it was Selena.”



Rose jumped off of her lap and jabbed a few punches at an invisible foe, “I hope you got a few punches in! Did ya, did ya?”



Amelia laughed, “Yeah, I elbowed her in the side and punched her in the face.”



Rose made a face, “Oh, that's why she had that big black bruise on her face when she came to visit us last night, isn't it, Sorrow?”



Amelia glanced at Sorrow, who had a big smile on his face, “Yeah, a big bruise.”



Amelia blushed as Sorrow winked at her, “That was a good hit, by the way.”



She was shocked as she continued to blush furiously, “Um…..it was nothing, really.”



Sorrow acted like he was going to say something else but was cut off by the door opening behind him and Atherin walked in, a line of women following him through the door and they were carrying lots of boxes and dresses.



Amelia watched Sorrow as his face changed back to the icy, dark and aloof, `Sorrow Mask' that Amelia had come to call it as he glared at Atherin, who walked over to her side and kissed her lightly on the cheek, “How are you doing today, Amelia?”



Amelia smiled, “I'm feeling great!, she frowned though as she thought of what Atherin had said, Um, excuse me but….did you say, `How are you doing, TODAY?' Isn't it the same day as when I came here? How long did I sleep?”



Atherin explained, “You've been under Rose's healing trance all night and for a day now. It's evening right now and in a few hours the ball will begin.”



He waved his hand at the women behind him, “That's why I've brought these women, so you can pick what you want to wear to the ball tonight.”



Amelia smiled, nervously, “Um, okay. Thanks.”



Atherin nodded at her and turned back to Sorrow, “Now, you must leave and get ready yourself. You'll be able to see Amelia tonight.”



She flinched as Sorrow growled, “I didn't come here to see her anyways. I came to make sure she didn't hurt Rose, that's all.”



Atherin seemed amused, “Oh….really?”



Sorrow glared one last long glare at Atherin and he grabbed Rose's shoulder, pulling her out the door with him.



Atherin sighed as he turned back to Amelia and he explained, “I'll leave you to your new servants, so you can get ready for the ball. It will start in two hours and try to make it on time, please.”



Amelia nodded, “Okay. Thank you, Atherin.”



Atherin grinned, “You're very welcome. Now, I'd better go so I can get my council meetings done with before the ball starts. I'll see you then.”



Amelia waved at him as he walked out the door, “Bye!”



She turned back to the women, who looked really anxious and submissive and she whispered, “I guess you'll be my servants from now on and well, I'm kinda new at this, so I hope you'll forgive me if I do something wrong.”



Amelia slowly stood up as she asked, “Who's the head servant?”



A woman, who looked like she was in her early twenties, stepped forward and nodded, keeping her head bowed, “I am, miss. My name is Sheila.”



Amelia nodded, “Nice to meet you. I'm Amelia. You don't have to call me, miss, just Amelia. Um…..I guess I should start looking at the dresses.”



The women all picked up a dress and held them in front of her so she could inspect them, they also had matching jewelry that went with some of them also.



Amelia was kinda leaning towards the yellow and black dress with butterfly wings attached to the back.



She was about to choose but she stopped as all other dresses left her mind when Sheila held up the last dress in the line.



She whispered in awe, “It's….beautiful.”



The dress was pure white, it was sleeveless, the neck was off the shoulders and it looked like it would be form fitting enough at the top without being too tight and it flowed loosely almost to the floor.



It had silver flecks in it with golden designs on the train of the dress of Crescent and Full Moons and Stars



The matching necklace and earrings was a long silver chain with a red stone in the middle of a Full Moon and the earrings were silver with twin stars one golden and one silver.



It had a matching Tiara that was silver with diamonds along the rim and a Crescent Moon with a star in the middle and the shoes were silver with silver flecks on it just like the dress.



She smiled, “I would like that one, please.”



An hour later, she had the dress on and she quickly put on some makeup, clear, shiny lipgloss, some mascara and silver eye shadow.



She ran out of the bathroom, slipped on her shoes and she smiled at Sheila, “Do I look okay?”



Sheila smiled, approvingly, “You look very good, miss Amelia. Now, let us fix your hair.”



Amelia quickly sat down in front of the mirror that the women set up, two women stood behind her and quickly began pulling her hair up into a sort of bun.



Amelia looked confused as she asked, “Um, what are you doing?”



The women put some hairpins in her hair and let the curly ends of her reddish blonde hair stay out at the top of the bun as Sheila answered, “We're doing an old custom. This is the way we have fixed the other moon maiden's hair. But your hair is the prettiest, by far.”



Amelia nervously smiled, “Um, thanks. I'd better go. Thanks for helping me.”



A woman ran up with a mirror and held it in front of Amelia, she gasped, “Is that me?!”



She looked like she had always pictured Cinderella looking like when she had gone to the ball to meet her Prince Charming.



Amelia smirked, “Well, it's more like Prince Pain-in-the-butt!”



All of the women looked quizzical as she laughed, walking toward the door, “I'd better go. It's almost time and I don't want to be late. I'll see you all later!”



All of the women bowed as she quickly walked out the door, startling Deklin as he whirled around from his post beside the door and he quickly relaxed, smiling, “Man, aren't you the beautiful lass of the ball tonight. I've seen some women walk down the hall but you're the most beautiful star amongst them all.”



Amelia blushed, “Um, thanks. Can you show me where the ball is being held at? I don't know my way around yet.”



Deklin beamed, “Sure! I'd love to.”



Deklin held out his arm and she took it, smiling up at him as he led her down the hall, that she noticed had doors all down the hallway and there were gaurds beside them and she blinked as they walked out into a dome like building, “Um, what part of the place is this?”



Deklin looked amused, “It's not called a `place'! This is the underground dominion of the Vampires of the Moon, you should just be glad that you're not in the underground castle of the Vampires of the Dark. And this is the Dome of Arkane. In the center of the dome, Arkane's staff which never left his side until his death, resides. I'll show you.”



Amelia tried not to trip on her dress as she stepped up onto the portal that rose out of the floor and she gasped as she looked on Arkane's staff.



It was white, some unknown language was written on it, carved in Amber and on the other side one line was carved in Ruby red, at the top it curved to where it looked like a Crescent moon, a star hung in the middle and a red stone that looked just like the one in her necklace was inbetween the star and the moon, like it was holding them together.



She squinted her eyes as she saw a wolf's head on the top tip of the Crescent moon and she whispered, “What's the writings on the staff? Some sort of ancient language?”



She jumped as a deep, dark voice spoke beside her instead of Deklin's light hearty tone, “It is the Vampire language. It is very old and no one hardly ever uses it anymore, except for the Ancient ones which are very few if not any left.”





Amelia whirled around, looked into Sorrow's deep green eyes and she looked around for Deklin, “Where's Deklin? Where did he go?”



Sorrow started to twirl his index finger in his hair as he looked Amelia up and down, “I sent him away. You don't need him, I can show you where the ballroom is.”, he held his arm out, “Come.”



She didn't really know if he was commanding her or what but she didn't think about it as she lost herself in admiring him again.



She did that a lot! She was definetly going to have to work on her covering up her embarrassment with anger and openly admiring men complex!



His clothes were beautiful, a black suit which was tight around his chest and it became loose at the waist, long in the back, gold buttons on it, his pants were black with gold lining on them and to her embarrassment, they were tight, his whip was hanging on his hip and he had a white shirt under the black suit with ruffles on the end of the sleeves and a high collar.



He had a gold ring on his right hand with a emerald green jewel in the middle of it, in the shape of a rose, his necklace was a long gold chain with a green rose at the end and he had a gold earring in his left ear and it had a little green jewel in it.



His hair was pulled behind his left ear but the rest fell freely to his waist but his eyes were what entranced her the most.



He looked like something that had stepped out of the movie Emma or Sense and Sensability.



Amelia had to admit…..he was gorgeous!



Sorrow smirked, his arm still held out, “Um, anytime now. Please.”



Amelia shook herself and blushed as she grabbed his arm, trying not to look at him as he led her out of the dome into a hallway filled with candles and statues of Wolves, “This is the Hallway of Destiny but I prefer calling it the Hall of Tragedy.”



Amelia looked confused as she looked up at Sorrow, “Why? Why do you consider it tragedy?”



Sorrow looked away from Amelia as he murmured, “The women look so sad and…the wolves….never mind.”



Amelia walked silently with him down the hallway and they walked through a doorway at the end of the hall.



Sorrow spoke, “Now this, is the Congregation of The Stars.”



Amelia let go of Sorrow's arm as she gazed up in wonder at the roof of the ballroom which was painted purple and black, like the sky at night but a promise of the sun about to rise and there were pinpricks of stars dusted across the blackness, a big yellowish-orange full moon amidst them all.



The room was huge, full of candles in sconces, the walls were golden with hints of white here and there, giant statues of Wolves, animals of every kind and Vampires filled the corners and lined the walls.



A big chandilier hung from the middle of the ceiling, glistening silver with gold and silver dew drops dangling from the stems, looking like they are about to drop onto the floor in wonderful, showering brilliance.



It was beautiful!



She smiled, “It's….It's beautiful! I've never seen anything so breathtaking before! Who painted the ceiling?”



She was surprised as someone put their arms around her waist and whispered in her ear, “Why Sorrow did, of course.”



She stiffened as she tried to pull away from the unwanted embrace but whoever it was, was not letting go, she whispered, “Please let me go.”



Whoever it was, sneered and pulled her tighter into the embrace, “Do you honestly think I'd let such a beautiful star out of my reach? Oh no, you're terribly mistaken.”



She whimpered as she struggled even harder against the person who began to kiss her on the neck, “Why don't you and me get together in the room back…..”



Whoever it was, was cut off and she felt the arms let go of her.



She did the first thing that hit her mind, she ran.



She tried to keep the tears from her eyes as she tripped over her dress a few times, running, just running, as long as she got away from that person and that feeling of hopelessness and violation.



Amelia ran into a dead end of a hallway and she slipped down on the floor, placing her head in her hands as she silently cried.



She didn't know how long she had stayed there, in the dark, all alone and crying but she jerked back when she felt something cold on her forehead, “Are you okay?”



She looked up, wipeing the tears out of her eyes as she shakily nodded her head and she tried to smiled at Sorrow but didn't quit make it, “I'm alright.”



Sorrow looked doubtful, “Are you sure?”



Amelia bit her lip as she started to cry again, “No….i'm not sure.”



All the time she was crying, she was thinking, `You stupid!!! Stop crying!!! Don't cry in front of Sorrow!!!'



She heard him sigh as he slowly sat down in front of her, crossing his legs under him as he put one of his hands near Amelia and he mumbled, looking down at the floor that separated them, “I'm sorry that Darshia upset you. He's very forward and I'll make sure he'll never do it again! But…why are you upset exactly? Do you want to tell me?”



Amelia didn't know what to think, the man that she felt like had hated her guts and the very earth she walked on was actually attempting to comfort her!



She blushed as she whispered, “Um, well, I was scared and well…..”



Amelia glanced up through her tear filled vision and Sorrow had a look of annoyance, curiousity and concern on his face, “Go on.”



Amelia gulped, “I've never…..kissed anyone before. I've never had a boyfriend before and I've never had a man….touch me like that. It was….scary and violating.”



Amelia was blushing like she'd never blushed before as she felt something cold touch her cheek and she looked down to see Sorrow's hand brushing her cheek, “Stop crying.”



She was startled as he quickly stood up and reached a hand out to her, “Well, we'd better get back. The ball is already starting and they'll be wondering where I am.”



She slowly reached up and took his hand, “Okay.”



She quickly took his offered arm instead when she stood up and she smiled down at the ground, “Um, thanks for coming to find me.”



Sorrow grunted, “It's nothing.”



Sorrow led her out of the hallway and into the room full of Vampires who were all dressed in black and grey.



She instinctively tightened her grip on Sorrow's arm and he glanced down at her, “Are you going to make it?”



Amelia nodded, “Uhuh, I'll be okay.”



She stayed like that all through the ball, attached to Sorrow's arm and she was wishing that Atherin would get there so she could switch, I mean, it was Sorrow that she had ahold of and she was sure that it was really ticking him off.



She met a lot of people though and she was having fun watching people dance.



She could feel a shiver go up and down her back as the Vampire that Sorrow had refered to as Darshia walked up to them, his long white hair back in a ponytail, his blue eyes glistening and his fake smile plastered across his face as he snickered, “Sorry for my little introduction but you was so tempting that I couldn't resist it.”



Amelia nodded, “I accept your apology.”



Darshia glared at Sorrow, “Don't you think that Selena wouldn't especially like the attentions that you've been giving this…..human? You know how possessive she is. It's a good thing that she's at home nursing her wounds.”



Amelia glanced up at Sorrow, who was grinning maliciously, “Well, I don't really know what Selena likes and does not like, so I wouldn't know and anyway I don't care. And this `human' has a name. Her name is Amelia.”



Amelia was overcome with an urge to hug Sorrow but she restrained herself, she didn't really think he would appreciate her flinging her arms around him in front of his subjects and she didn't really think she would like it as well……or would she?



Amelia was surprised as Sorrow asked, `Can I have this dance?”



Amelia smiled, “Sure.”



She stopped though as she looked up to see Sorrow glaring at her and his teeth were clenched, his arm tightening up as he snarled, “Come with me.”



She was confused and a little frightened as Sorrow grabbed ahold of her hand, tightly squeezing it as he pulled her off to one side of the room that was away from everyone else and he pinned her up against the wall by the shoulders, “Hold still. I won't hurt you.”



She stiffened as he released one of her shoulders, grabbing her neck and slightly turning it until he was gazing at the place on her neck with her birthmark, she asked, “What are you doing?”



Sorrow snarled, “Who bit you? Answer me!”



Amelia looked confused, “Um….Atherin did.”



Sorrow clenched his whip by his side as he growled, “That insolent, little…he's no brother of mine!”



He quickly turned and strode off into the throng of Vampires.



She shook her head, clearing it as she hurried after him, “Sorrow! What's wrong?”



She walked all the way across the ballroom, tripping a few times over her dress and she was panting when she caught up with Sorrow who had unfurled his whip, yelling at Atherin, who was totally shocked, “You! How could you mark her as your own when she had no idea what you were doing? That's lower then I thought you'd ever go!”



Amelia was still very confused, “Mark?”



Atherin looked very calm as he smiled, “Oh, is this what you're upset about? Well, you can always take her and mark her as your own, if you want.”



Sorrow looked dumbfounded, “Who says I'd want to mark her? I just think that it's considered taking advantage of someone when they don't know what they're really getting into! I'm going to beat you for that!”



Atherin was still smiling as he continued, “Oh, well, can we wait till after the ball? There's kinda a lot of people around. I don't think you want to start a fight in the middle of a ball.”



Sorrow growled as he wrapped his whip back up in one swift jerk and quickly walked away, “Don't think I'll forget this, brother.”



Amelia was still very confused and was going to follow him but Atherin grabbed her by the arm and shook his head, “I don't really think you want to follow him. When he's mad he likes to be by himself.”



The rest of the ball was very boring and she quietly slipped out of the ballroom, telling Atherin that she was going to go to her room and go to sleep early before she left.



She was really confused and upset at the way Sorrow had become so furious like that. She didn't know what to think or what was real and what was going on anymore.



She whispered, “I wish somebody could understand me.”





She was walking past Arkane's Staff in Arkane's Dome when she heard a whisper, “Charlotte.”



She quickly turned around, looking for the source of the voice, “What? Who's there?”



She heard the whisper again, “Charlotte…I wish you wasn't dead…I wish somebody could understand me..”



She yelped as she looked toward the hallway that leads to her bedroom and a wolf was running down the hallway, towards her room.



She whispered, “Arkane.”



Amelia ran down the hallway, ran into her room, jumped into her bed and didn't bother with changing her clothes.



She knew what she had to do now.



Every night she had been plagued by nightmares with a white wolf screaming and howling in the night.



She knew his name.



She willed herself to sleep and she quickly felt the cold, sharp wind in her face, her bare feet in ankle deep snow and the cry of the wolf in her ears.



She opened her eyes, looking at the hillside where the wolf always ran through and she braced herself as she saw him running up, “Come on. I'm going to get you to talk with me this time, Arkane.”



The white wolf sped by, it's amber eyes shedding tears as it's howl ripped the heavens and she heard the human voice, shreaking, “Charlotte! Why? Why is life so cruel?!”



She quickly followed the wolf tracks, panting as she made her way up the hill and she growled, “I am so not giving up this time!”



After a few more hills, an overwhelming smell of smoke filled her nostrils and she heard a fight ensuing, growls and caws coming from the distance, “I'll kill you this time! You're not getting away, Raven! You killed my beloved! How could you?”



She ran up the last hill and she gasped as she looked on a sight that was going to haunt her for the rest of her life.



A makeshift house that had been made of sticks and a hillside was on fire, smoke billowing into the blood red heavens, there was blood on the ground, blood everywhere, the moon was completely in shadow and there were Ravens everywhere on the ground, in one little spot where most of the blood was.



There was one unnaturally big Raven that stood back from the rest, looking on with red eyes and cawing in enjoyment, “You fool! She has been dead over centuries now and you still think she has just recently died! You pitiful creature, I mock and despise you! I will make you relive this dreadful scene forever! Hahaha!”



Amelia ran toward the big Raven, intent on hurting it but she stopped at the bloodcurdling scream that filled the air, “Charlotte!!!!! NO!!!!”



She looked at where the wolf had been trying to drive the Ravens away and she wished that she hadn't cause she saw what they had been so excited about.



She immediately became squeamish as she looked on a broken, torn body, the skin was peeled away and all that was left was bones.



The wolf was howling up at the moon, in pain and sorrow.



She glared at the Raven who was cackling in pleasure, “You're so fun to play with, you stupid puppy, haha! You'll never get out of here, hahaha…..ack, you crazy girl, what are you doing? I'm the Great Raven!”



Amelia was swinging a big stick at the Raven, screaming, “You know what I'm doing, I'm trying to kill you! You buzzard, leave Arkane alone or the next time I'll come back it'll be with a gun!”



The Raven flew off, it's feathers ruffled as it cawed, “I'll be back, Arkane! That little girl can never free you! Never!”



Amelia threw the stick away and looked over at Arkane, who had changed from wolf form to his human form, all he had on was a loin cloth and he was screaming to the moon, “Raven! I'll kill you even if I have to do it in the underworld!”



Amelia looked uncertain as she slowly walked up to Arkane, who was rocking back and forth cradling Charlotte's torn and stripped body to his bare chest, tears streaming down his face.



She lightly touched his shoulder, “Arkane. She's dead.”



Arkane snapped at her hand and she quickly jumped back, he had jumped up, the muscles all over his body bunched up as he growled, “Don't you dare say that to me! She's alive, she's…alive..”



He sobbed as he fell down to his knees in the snow, wrapping his arms around his chest and he whimpered, “I can't believe she's gone. She was my warmth, the person that meant everything to me and was more then life itself to me. I lived for her! Why did she have to die such a horrible death?! Why?!”



Amelia forgot every precaution as she walked forward and flung her arms around Arkane, holding him close, “I know how you feel, Arkane. You don't think I do but I really do!”



Arkane stiffened at the contact but he relaxed, letting her hold him as he asked through his tears, “How could you understand my pain? No one ever has.”



Amelia sadly smiled, “I lost the person that meant everything to me too. She was my mother. She was the most important person in the world to me.”



Arkane pushed away from her and he held her out at arm's length, “How do you know that I'd even care? If you know my name then you know what I am and vampires don't care about people's worries.”



Amelia smiled, “I know you care. Don't ask me how, I just know.”



Arkane's amber eyes glowed, “You're a very perceptive woman. How do you know my name, how did you get here and who are you exactly?”

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