Chapter 19

.nicole's point~of~view. Every day, they take vampires out of their cells and some of them never return. I look at the vampires' faces, hoping that I wouldn't see any of my friends being lead away. With each passing hour, we grow weaker from the lack of blood and more ashen than the regular vampire. I have lived through almost every mortal tragedy anybody could ever think of. Illness never strikes me, along with age. I still have the face of the beautiful, innocent looking girl I once was and never will be again... "Get out of the cell," ordered the guard harshly, "It is seven o'clock." "Oh? And what the Hell is so special about seven o'clock now?" I asked with equal harshness. "Weak vampire," huffed the guard, "You forget that tonight is Alania's party..." "Wow, I am jumping for that," I remarked, exiting my cell and mixing in with the other imprisoned vampires. Adrenaline rushed through me and I could have sworn I felt my unbeating heart leap to my throat. After all the time we spent apart, I was going to be reunited with my friends. As soon as I entered the ballroom, the sight of vampires, imps and other demonic things welcomed me. Laughter came from all around, but I saw the same thing in everyone's eyes: emptiness. I pushed through the crowd and saw Fred, Lee and Laurel in the corner. "You guys!" I called out, immediately drawing their attention to me. "Nicole!" they yelled back simultaneously before running up to give me a hug. Just then, I heard another call, "Nicole?! Fred?! Lee?! Laurel?!" We all turned around and saw our remaining friends. We exchanged a mixture of hugs, "Where have you been"'s, "I miss you"'s and "So happy to see you again"'s. I saw some unfamiliar faces, but I accepted them. "Oh, Lord, I thought I was the only one alive in this place!" exclaimed Lee, tears welling in her eyes. Jonathan slipped his arms around her and gave her a kiss before whispering, "I love you, babe." Jayden and Coby were melting in each other's arms along with Laurel and a man named Amir. "Fred, I missed the Hell outta you!" I exclaimed, my bottom lip quivering. "I missed you more, Nicky," Fred whispered, before smothering his lips over mine. Rita had a pang of hurt in her face and she leaned over to Jayden to whisper something in her ear. Jayden shrugged and whispered something back. Rita's expression returned, but this time sadder. Just then, a booming voice interrupted our delightful conversations. Alania's. "Welcome, my beautiful Dark Children, to my ball. I hope you all are having a grand time!" Alania said, putting on a sickeningly sweet expression. Some cheers erupted, but all of us stood still. "Thank you all," Alania grinned wickedly in our direction. She cleared her throat before continuing, "As my loyal Children, we are all together now and safe from the horrid Mortal Earth. I hope you all are enjoying your immortality." She turned to a figure that was dressed nicely in a black tux on his thin physique. His hair was spiked up in all directions and faint crimson showed through. A low gasp escaped from some in our crowd. Alania leaned over to the vampire and said something that I could not pick up. The vampire's eyebrows lowered as he said something in between clenched teeth. "What the Hell?!" Rita exclaimed in a breaking voice, "Why is JAY up there?!" to be continued...