Shadows

An invitation

  As soon as I was in my room I flopped down on the bed and inhaled its musty smell, it felt so cosy and comfortable that I prayed Dante would hurry the hell up, tell me what he wanted and then piss off so I could go to sleep. I thought that maybe if I closed my eyes for a second, it wouldn’t be so bad.

“Don’t you dare Vicki” I smiled as his voiced touched my ears. The bed sank down as he lay down next to me. He wrapped his arm around my waist and grabbed my hand “You can’t fall asleep yet, I have something important I need to discuss”

“Go” I murmured, as I turned around to face him. His Jade eyes twinkled in the moonlight, making me smile “What’s wrong?”

“Well, every year this family holds a ball. It is crucial that I go, but you do not have to” he rolled on his back to look at the ceiling, a trick I knew all too well “But I wanted to know, if you would do me the honour of accompanying me there”

“What? Like a date?” we both laughed

“Yes like a date. But you would have to learn how to dance”

“I know how to dance” I stated

“I don’t think grinding and slut drops count as dancing” I smacked him on the chest

“I know that, I meant I know how to Waltz!”

“Now that I didn’t know about you Vicki” he smirked “Does that mean you will?”

“Sure” he began to rise from the bed when I reached out and grabbed his arm “No”

“What’s wrong?”

“Stay. Please” he lay back down, scooped his arm under and over my waist before driving me close to him with a huge ass grin on his face. I buried my head in his chest and inhaled deep, there was the faint smell of aftershave mixed with cold and damp, to most that might put them off, but I inhaled deeper in hopes it would forever be held in my memory. It was his scent, so it meant it was precious to me. Being close to him was all I wanted at the moment, he was the one stable thing I had in my life and I wanted to keep It that way. Slowly but surely I started to drift, allowing the darkness to take over me like a child’s blanket, snuggling closer to him I whispered stay before accepting my sleep.

  My eyes began to flutter and my response was nothing but a moan, reaching over I was relieved to find myself still wrapped in Dante’s arms.

“Morning” he chimed

“Howdy” I smiled at him whilst stretching my legs, he wove a hand through my hair and chuckled, amused probably by the dark and dirty thoughts that were probably spinning around in his head at that moment. I mentally rolled my eyes before closing my eyes again.

“Oh no you don’t!” he laughed as he slid from under me, causing my eyes to spring open as my head hit the bed. “You have to learn how to dance today” I groaned, grabbed a pillow and pulled it over my head “Not a morning person at all” he mused. The next thing I knew, two cold hands wrapped around my ankles and I was pulled to the bottom of my bed

“Knock it off!” I yelled, throwing the pillow in his direction which… surprise, surprise he caught and threw back at my face.

“Go have a shower, get dressed and meet me down in the hall. I’ll know when you’re done” he winked.  Groaning once more I stretched upward until my back clicked and popped before making my way to the bathroom. Turning the water on in the shower, I stripped out of my dirtied and sweat encrusted clothes, threw them in the washing basket and slunk into the scolding hot stream. I looked down at my legs and sighed. It seemed like a lifetime ago since I had self-harmed… yet the scars remained very evident and the memories behind still left me in tears.  I did however manage to hold them back this time, I was in a better place, somewhere safe where the people loved and cared for me. They didn’t even judge me for my past.  Scrubbing my body with shower gel provided I began to feel much better, it’s smell left me feeling bubbly and invigorated. Once body was cleansed it was time for hair which was washed with something that resembled Raspberries and cream.

  Once I was sure that I was fully cleansed, I grabbed one of the robes and a towel for my hair, then made my way back to  my room to get changed. I shook my head once I saw clothes had already been laid out for me, along with a note.

I thought this would suit you.

Sorry I had another peek at your underwear.

Don’t kill me… ha ha

Dante

I scowled that he had looked at my undies again but smiled when I saw that he had laid out a stunning knee length emerald dress with matching shoes and gloves. He was really taking this seriously. Not many guys went to the effort of putting together an outfit for the women they loved, the undies part was a normality that I was sadly used to… the guys at school would do anything to get a peek as I was the only one who wore thongs at the time, another reason why Serena hated me. Slipping into the dress I slumped down and began to sob… the dress showed my scars. I didn’t have the nerve to walk around showing them and I certainly didn’t want to head down dressed in something else for fear I would offend Dante, so instead I sat there with the robe draped over the bottoms of my legs. Shielding them.

  There was a knock on the door which made me jump almost out of my skin,

“Vicki? Are you ready?”

“Go away!” I shouted “I’m not going, and I’m not going to that damned ball!” I broke down, sobbing and sniffling. Moments later he burst in, I clutched the robe tightly around my legs and buried my head onto my knees.

“What’s wrong?” he tried to place a hand on my shoulder but I shrugged it off “Vicki?”

“Don’t look at me” I breathed as I wiped my eyes

“Tell me what’s wrong” he grabbed my shoulders and made me face him

“Dress is too short”

“Is that it?” he asked whilst once more raising a brow

“No its not fucking it!” I screamed as I pulled back the robe “Look at them! Look at them! They look horrible” he traced a finger down them which left me dumbstruck

“They’re a part of you so therefor they are beautiful” more tears fell down my face, I didn’t wipe them away. I just stared at him, unsure of what to say and feeling a little more than foolish.

“But” he placed a finger to my lips to silence me. Pulling me up on my feet he then locked me in a warm embrace, my wet hair dampening his black shirty, yet he didn’t move and left me speechless.

  Once I felt calm enough, he dried my hair as I put some makeup on. I then slipped the high heels on provided, linked arms with him and we made our way down to the ballroom. All the way however I couldn’t help but pull at the hem to try and get it to slide down longer, much to Dante’s chagrin.

“Relax”

“You try relaxing when you’re trying to hide scars”

“Don’t hide them then” I cursed at him under my breath but then leaned on him and sighed. He was right; they had seen them before when I fainted. So why should I feel embarrassed about them. Like he said before, they are a part of me now. I wished they would fade and disappear but they don’t call them scars for nothing. As my eyes glanced around the hall I could not help but exclaim and mutter words of amazement under my breath. The entire room was intricately decorated; I mean really it looked like something of a dream… it put the room that the beauty and the beast used to shame that was for sure.

“I see you like the room” Anna’s voice echoed across the room.

“Very much so” I replied, still smiling.

“And I love the dress you are wearing. Dante was right to buy it for you” I spun around and stared at him with mouth opened wide.

“You didn’t!” I shouted at him “I hope you can return it!” his mouth pulled into a widened grin, showing my little tantrum did not work. I crossed my arms and pouted at him.

“You are worth every penny”

“You’re going to make the poor girls head swell” she beamed “Now; once the others are here we shall begin. I believe you are familiar with the Waltz my dear?”