Prettiest Vampire

Chapter VII: Lilian

Chapter VII: Lilian

“Watch out!” screamed Maria. Lilian lost his balance as the bar stool spun underneath him, toppling him over backwards. A hand steadied him, supporting him by his shoulders and setting him upright on the stool.

“You must be careful, young lady,” said Roddy as he made sure Lilian was balanced on his own.

“Yes, thank you,” said Lilian in confusion. “I was just… wasn’t I… I thought I was up in my…”

“Oh Roddy,” teased Maria with a twinkle in her eyes for the ancient British ex-pat. “At your age and still picking up the young girls!”

The small group that had gathered at the bar laughed. Roddy nodded, accepting Lilian’s thanks, but left to sit at his usual table rather than continue to stand with the younger people present.

“Lily,” said Maria affectionately. “Your life is like one of the soap operas. One day so far up, the next so far down! And now today, oh Lily, we are all so proud of you! We all feel as if somehow, you are our special little girl.”

Everyone looked at Lilian, as if he might say something. Except he had no idea what they were talking about, and so simply blushed a bright pink.

“You have embarrassed her,” said Klaus, making everyone laugh sympathetically.

“No,” said Lilian, trying to make them understand. “It’s just, I want you all to know, you need to understand that I’m not a girl…”

As Lilian glanced back and forth across the faces of mostly strangers, he happened to look down and caught sight of his own knees. His knees, sitting at the bar. His naked knees, sitting at the bar.

Lilian reached down and touched his knees, rubbed them. Not naked. He seemed to be wearing panty hose. And a few inches higher up, a blue skirt. He was wearing the blue dress from his closet. And judging by what he could see, he was wearing the white padded bra from the dresser as well. Lilian stared in shock at the way the dress clung to the feminine shape created by the satiny under-thing, a true marvel of modern engineering.

Everyone was looking at Lilian. “You’re not a girl?” asked a confused Klaus.

“She’s not a girl,” explained Maria, “who likes a lot of attention.” Then she turned to Lilian. “But that’s not an option for you today! This, of all days, is your special day, the day every girl dreams of. Today you are our beautiful Lilian, and we are all so very proud of you!”

“Here, here!” called the group, and toasted poor Lilian. He still didn’t know what was going on, when the phone rang. Maria picked it up and spoke, while everyone listened intently.

“Yes, yes. So it has arrived? Yes. Of course. I’ll tell her. Goodbye.” Maria hung up the phone and turned to the expectant group.

“That was the bank,” she informed them. “They say they have received the wire with the money, the full amount. So Lilian, my precious, you are set to go. Your special day is completely paid for!”

Everyone talked excitedly, and stepped back as Klaus took Lilian’s hand and assisted him from the bar stool. The group of well-wishers walked Lilian to the front door, wishing him good luck, and giving last minute advice that made no sense whatsoever to Lilian.

“What money?” he asked, except no one was listening. Maybe he made a sale? Maybe Mr. Dilworth sent money to purchase the furniture? Could everyone in the town get this excited about that?

Lilian turned as he reached the door and said, “Please, wait! I’m just not sure where I’m…”

There was a small mirror by the door. Lilian stopped, and looked closely at his reflection. Yes, he looked beautiful. But his eyes, they were so deep, so dark, and the flames…

The world spun around him.

^..^     ^..^     ^..^

Lilian tripped, and barely managed to regain his balance. He was standing on a small, round platform for some reason. His head was still spinning when a middle aged woman entered the room, her arms full of billowing white material.

“Oh, please be careful,” the woman said. “Maybe I should not leave you alone up there. Sometimes, the girls will get the fear of heights. Come down, come down. We do not need you up there for now.”

The woman held out her hand, and Lilian gratefully took it to steady himself as he stepped down from the raised platform. “Thank you, Miss, um?”

“Just Gina,” laughed the woman. “Now, I’m sorry to have to tell you. The one that you loved so much was not available in your size. It can be ordered, but obviously cannot be here in time. But, I did find this which I think you are going to like.”

Gina unfolded the bundle and held it up to Lilian.

“What do you think?” she asked.

Lilian looked at himself in the mirror. Gina was holding a white taffeta gown in front of him. It went with his eyes, which danced with flames…

The world spun around him again.

^..^     ^..^     ^..^

“There, that’s better,” Tatiana said, spinning the chair around to face her. “Lilian, this is Grigore Albescu.”

When Lilian’s head stopped spinning he looked up to see a tall, thin man with a pencil moustache looking down at him. Lilian looked around to discover he was back at the beauty salon.

“Grigore is one of my suppliers,” explained Tatiana. “He only comes out this far every couple of months, but we are so fortunate to have him here today, of all days! For he is one of the foremost makeup artists in all of Romania.”

“In all of Europe,” Grigore supplied immodestly. The only reason he didn’t say “In all the world” was because in his mind, the rest of the world did not deserve mention.

“I’m not sure this is what I want,” said Lilian, looking frantically for a way out.

“I am not concerned with what you want,” said Albescu without looking up. He set the last of his many brushes to an exact 45 degree angle, then grabbed Lilian’s face, turning it left and right. He pushed Lilian’s head back and tapped under his chin with the back of his hand. He pinched in Lilian’s cheeks and forced out his lips as he continued, “You will be a masterpiece, this is all that concerns me. You have the bone structure, the natural coloring, the youthful elasticity of skin that I look for when choosing the girls I work with. Otherwise I would leave you to Tatiana. But I will work with you, and you will be magnificent.”

Still pinching Lilian’s cheeks together, Albescu turned him to face the mirror. The perfect terror on his face was emphasized by his eyes’ deep, roaring flames…

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A/N: I told you it would be a very short day! Next stop: Castle Dodrescu...

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