Who Said Vampires Don't Exist? Well, I Did, Until Now

Chapter 27: The Ball

He said, "the search party was unable to find Ali, so we will be sending out another one directly after the ball." He gave me a serious look. "I'm going with them."

"That's a good thing, right? Now you can help find him." It was hard to hide my relief; I thought that maybe Reuban wouldn't discover my absence until after he found Ali. That would give me more time to distance myself from him.

"Yes." He walked past me to sit on the couch. He held his head in-between his hands and seemed to be trying to breathe evenly.

"Then why don't you seem happy?"

"Because-" He brought his head up to look at me, and his expression was shockingly affectionate. He quickly broke his gaze and stood up, only to begin pacing. He ran his hands through his silky hair a few times before he stopped right in front of me. "I'm not sure how long I'll be gone."

"So...?" I felt like I was missing something.

"It could be days, weeks, or even months." His eyes were pleading with me, but I didn't understand what he was trying to convey. "I won't return until I find him."

"Yes, but does that matter?" A dumbstruck and angry expression crossed his face. "I mean, since you will be looking for Ali. Does time matter when his life is on the line?"

"No... I only meant that..." He let out a deep sigh. "I will spend however long it takes to find him."

"Right."

"Yes... but it might be a while." Again, it seemed like he was attempting to express something important.

"Reuban, I don't understand what you're trying to tell me."

Delicately, he brought his hand up to my face and brushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear. My face flushed, and I tried desperately to calm my racing heart. The way he stared into my eyes, and the way his cool hand left a trail of tingles across my skin, sent my heart into overdrive. Breaking our locked gaze, he walked over to the door. Just when he was about to step out, I heard his voice, barely a whisper:

"I'll miss you."

I never thought I could feel such a depth of guilt, besides towards Samie, than I did in that moment.

Now, as I looked at my reflection in the mirror, that same force of guilt began to push at me. How could I do this? How could I leave everything? I shook my head because I knew it was the only way. I had to get home to my mother. That was what was important, none of the people here could compare. My mother was all I needed. Every time I pictured her sitting at home all alone, her entire family having abandoned her, I felt an intense need to escape. At the end of the day, my feelings didn't matter; I owed her this sacrifice. No matter what it took.

My red dress made a ruffling noise as wind from my balcony blew around me. I shivered and saw small goose bumps rise up on my arms. The only thing I could be confident of in that moment was that I'd never worn a prettier dress in my entire life.

The corset top hugged my body tight and showed off my curves. Small diamonds trailed crisscross over the fabric on my stomach which continued onto my hip. At this point, the dress became loose; the rest of the dress fell down in large red ruffles all the way to the floor, and it made a swishing sound every time I moved. Everything about the dress was perfection, besides the fact that it had no sleeves and the weather was much too cold.

To match the beautiful dress, I made sure my hair would be perfect as well. I curled it flawlessly and french braided it into a long ponytail that rested on my right shoulder. After curling my side bangs and applying vibrant red lipstick on top of my perfectly minimal makeup, I was ready.