A Unordinary Vampire Tale

A ball you'll never forget

"Can I make a few changes to it?" Nadine would say as ladies helped fit her into the ballgown the next morning.

Trent was walking around the pedestal Nadine was on, admiring how the dressed looked on her.

"Well? And it's not like I'm going to make it look bad, but I want to make a few changes. It makes me feel really old."

Trent continued to ignore her, debating he wanted to let Nadine mess around with the dress. It could either look really good or really bad and a centuries old dress would be ruined, possibly bringing the wrath of his mother upon him.

He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Fine." He'd say relentlessly.

Nadine hopped off the pedestal and gave him a kiss and scampered off. "It'll be a great surprise. You'll be blown away with what I can do with things made of fabric."

The weeks leading up to the ball were full of various charity and city events. First Friday was a very popular event for downtown Lakeland, which meant various business and local groups raising awareness for themselves. Trent hadn't ever attended one, because hunters typically roam the event. He stuck to simply donations toward the city event to keep the bank in good standings with the community. Nadine managed to drag him out of the compound to show off one of her favorite events of the city.

"I used to go all the time." The pair walked toward the park.

"I thought you lived in Auburndale?" Trent would question her sarcastically.

"Don't tell me you never ventured to another city for an event? Besides, Auburndale doesn't have this." She'd giggle excitedly as they crossed into the park, it was the first time she had interacted with humans since becoming a vampire.

"Excalibur Bank's owner actually out and about for a change?" Came a voice from a woman who approached the two.

Nadine looked between the woman and Trent, hoping she'd get an introduction of who the woman was.

"Miss Naomi Hoover, it is a pleasure to see you. This is my --" Trent looked to Nadine before cracking a smile and looking back to Naomi. "My girlfriend."

He'd say it with a sense of pride in his words. Naomi would immediately whip out a pen and notepad.

"The city's most eligible bachelor now has a girlfriend? Oh Mr. Jones, please maybe a short statement for the Ledger? Maybe your girlfriend's name?" She would turn her attention to Nadine with an eager smile.

Nadine looked to Trent making sure it'd be safe to use her real name or not and she was granted with an assuring nod from him. "Nadine, um, Nadine Burns. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Naomi began to scribble down quick notes in her notepad before snapping her fingers and a man with a large photography camera would turn to their direction. Trent would wrap his arm around Nadine, pulling her in close for the photo as the flash goes off.

"It's a shame Mr. Jones," Naomi would resume talking. "there are going to be a lot of broken hearts."

Trent would start to lead Nadine away as he makes his response. "Yes, but none of them would ever compare to my little flower." They would keep walking, not giving Naomi any more time to ask any more questions.

It was the night of the ball finally, and Trent paced impatiently waiting for Nadine to be finished getting ready. He was in the attire his mother sent him, along with the claymore, now in a more appropriate side sheath. He continued to pace next to the limo and looked at his watch. The sun hadn't set just yet, but he did want to get to Tampa just after sunset to make a good impression of seeing his mother again.

Marcus was watching the Prince pace back and forth as he lazily leaned against the limo. "Last I checked, she was insisting of not having help to get the dress on. Or what's left of it."

Trent stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Marcus.

"What do you mean, 'what's left of it'!?" He questioned loudly as the door the garage had finally opened.

Marcus turned and darted into the limo to avoid Trent see him burst into laughter. Nadine had walked out of the door with a proud confident smile that stretched from ear to ear. Her hair was put into low braided pig tails, she was wearing a pair of long prosthetic elf ears with a set of ear cuffs dangling off each. Her make-up made her look flawless, had she not covered her face in body glitter. The centuries old dress that was given to her for the event was barely recognizable, let alone looked like a dress. Nadine had deconstructed the entire dress, turning the skirt into a straight skirt with a zigzagged cut hem over skirt. The bodice of the original dress looked like it was cut apart into hundreds of pieces and stitched back together in a low cut corset with wide shoulder straps. Nadine also had a plain white cotton ruffle top to wear under her corset.