Midnight After Midnight - Nanowrimo 2022

Chapter 20 - Amendment

As if killing her husband wasn't taxing enough, Adelaide also had to prepare to talk to the people in Ravenseye after seventeen years that day. All of England was alert because of her kind, which meant that she expected the worst welcome in the world. She didn't know who she'd encounter first - a stern grandfather, a judgmental grandmother, a pair of fearful parents, a former classmate disappointed in her for ruining her life, or a child who'd had it drilled in his head that the souls of all vampires belong to Satan. Who she ended up encountering was someone she should've expected, but was still surprised at seeing nonetheless.

It was Mrs Parkinson, whom she didn't recognise at first due to her being old now, but who hadn't become too unrecognisable either. Although her hair was grey, it was still tied into a ballerina bun; although there were red rectangular glasses around her eyes now, those eyes were still the same familiar light hue of brown she'd always known; although her lips were chapped, they were still plump and pink, and although her figure was now bonier than ever, on it was a pastel dress with flower patterns and white ballet shoes, an outfit which wasn't at all out of place in her wardrobe. Only one important thing had changed. Her eyes were now gleaming with nothing but fear and hatred, which sent a shiver down her spine.

"Hello, Mrs Parkinson," she said awkwardly. "How are you doing today?"

"I was doing fine until you showed up," the other woman responded in a raspy voice. "Why did you come back in the first place? Everything was perfect without you."

Adelaide laughed uncomfortably. "Mrs Parkinson, I'm sorry for the mistake I made. I fell in love, and the vampire I fell in love with seemed to be good, and when I discovered that he and his friends were evil, I was devastated. For years, I've been trying to escape, but couldn't until now. I only did it because I killed him, and now that I'm back, I'll try to help you all when it comes to the other vampires, and I'll only drink the blood of people who are rotten inside. There's nothing I want more in the world than to exact justice."

"Sure, whatever you say," Parkinson said while shaking her head. "I know that, deep down, you just want to eat me, and you're acting nice because you think I'm stupid enough to fall for your manipulation tactics. As a God-fearing Christian, I'd never trust a vampire if my life depended on it! How far you've fallen... And it all happened because of your ridiculous love of dancing."

Adelaide's face went red with fury. Parkinson could say whatever she wanted about her, but if there was one thing about her she wouldn't let anyone mock, besides her dead parents, was her love of dancing, especially in an exaggerated way such as this. She was acting like dancing and literal vampires were on the same level of horribleness. The wish to please the woman evaporated from her heart instantly, and now she was wondering why she wanted to please her at all.

"I don't care what you think," she spat in her face. "I've got many people who are far more significant to me than you to worry about, and now that the only thing I got out of this conversation was the fact that I shouldn't invite you to my wedding, I'm leaving before you can bore me furthermore. Farewell, madam, and I wish you all the best in your life."

Parkinson snorted as Adelaide turned away from her. "Your wedding? I thought you were already wed."

Adelaide waved her hands in the air. "I told you that I killed my first husband! Now that I've realised my mistake, I'm marrying Simon, as I should've done from the beginning, for I know that he wouldn't want anything different to happen. I'm leaving now!"

Parkinson facepalmed. "There are many things in these few sentences that I consider unsavoury, and many more outside of them, but if you want to leave so much, then leave."

Adelaide ran right to Simon's house without saying a word. She got there in several minutes, and the moment she did it, she knocked on his door aggressively until he was forced to open it. When he saw who the visitor was, his jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes became abnormally wide, standing in the doorway like a statue for a few seconds until he coldly told her to come in.