Zyair and Harper share a look. Clearly wondering why I'm asking. I give them an innocent smile.
"A bride is what we vampires call our mate's. There's a few reasons why. However the most obvious is because we don't have female vampires. As you probably noticed. Our mate's can range from all species. Werewolves, witches, fae, and even humans.
We cherish our mate's the most out of every species. They're what give us meaning. They bring light into our darkness. They're our joy. The ones we continue to exist for. Without them we become nothing but a dangerous shell. No emotions. No purpose. Just bloodlust and destruction." Zyair tells me. Although half way through he was staring at Harper lovingly so he could of been talking to her too.
"So there aren't any female vampires? I didn't know that." I tell him. Eating more of my food I think about what he said. So I'm Marcellus mate? That did make sense though. Why I felt betrayed by him and Starla. My anger and hurt feelings.
"Why do they enter your dreams though? Vampires, I mean. How can they just appear in your dreams?" I ask him.
He gives me a curious look. Harper looks confused at first but then she starts to smile.
"Cora, are you dreaming of a vampire? Oh my Goddess you are!" She squeals when she sees me blush. "Who is it?! That's why you're asking about vampires! Oh my fucking Goddess it's Marc isn't it?" She practically yells when things start clicking in her head together.
"I don't know, okay? That's why I was asking. He started showing up in my dreams two nights ago. This morning I went for my normal jog and ended up finding myself at his house. Only I didn't know it was his house until he started having sex with Starla on his balcony and I saw his face." From the look of horror on their faces, I quickly rush to defend myself.
"I didn't mean to witness it, okay?! I didn't understand why I was even there in the first place. Before I could even figure it out though, they just started going at it. I left as soon as my feet let me." I said avoiding looking at them now. Talking about it brought back the hurt and betrayal feelings I was having this morning.
"Oh Cora, I'm so so sorry!" Harper says grabbing my hand. "That's got to be the worst way to meet your mate. Wait you said you were dreaming about him right?" At my nod she looks at her mate.
"If she was dreaming of him then he was dreaming of her too. Why would he still continue things with Starla then?" She demanded him.
He looks at us sympathetically. "Honestly I don't know. He didn't even tell me he found his mate but I'll ask him and find out." He tells us shaking his head.
"No!" I yell at him. More calmly I say "no, I'll figure it out on my own. Please."
"Okay but we're here for anything you need, okay?" Harper tells me with a reassuring smile.
"Thank you." I tell them sincerely. "What do the dreams mean though for vampires?" I ask Zyair.
"Dreaming with our bride's help us find them easier. It only happens though when you're close enough. Being in the same town can do it and even a small city. The more the distance however makes it impossible unless we've already made the connection with the first dream or had a connection with her in person." He tells me.
"So a vampire would know his bride is close if they've shared the first dream together?" I ask.
"Yes." He tells me sympathetically, seeing where my mind was going with it.
I didn't ask anymore questions while I finished my food.
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After dinner I head back home. Even though it's 9 p.m. I decide I'm going to work on Harper's dress. I'm almost done with half of it when I realize it's 3 in the morning. No wonder my eyes were burning and I'm feeling so tired.
Leaving everything where it is so I can work on it tomorrow I head to bed. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.
In my dream I'm standing in the woods by myself. No, not tonight! I groan to myself.
"Mi belleza." I him him sign in relief.
"Look Marcellus, whatever it is you want from me, I'm not interested. Please just leave me alone." I plead to him turning around.
I wish he wasn't so attractive. Seeing him brought back this mornings incident again though. The hurt and betrayal came rushing forward. I felt angry. Murderously angry.
"You're mine, mi belleza. I'm not going to leave you alone. You belong to me as I belong to you." He says fiercely while stepping closer to me.
"No. I do not belong to you. You do not belong to me either. If you did you wouldn't continue to give yourself to another." I hiss angrily at him.
He pulls back a little shocked. I smirk at him. He thought I would never find out, didn't he? How fucking wrong he was.
"What do you mean, mi belleza?" He had the nerve to ask me.
"Starla. I saw you fucking her this morning." I confess in disgust. "Going for my usual run, I had this strange pull that lead me straight to your house. I saw you guys on the balcony."
I look away from him. Those unwanted fucking tears filling my eyes again. I will not cry in front of him, I chant to myself. How do I wake myself up from this nightmare?
"Mi belleza, it's not what you think. Just let me explain." He pleads to me. I can't help but laugh. I didn't want to hear his explanation.
"Save it. I don't want to hear it. I don't care. She can have you and you can have her. I am not yours and you are not mine. I don't care. Leave me alone Marcellus! I don't want anything to do with you! Just leave me alone!" I scream at him.
I wake up panting. As soon as I catch my breath I curl up into a ball and cry. I hated that I was crying over a man I didn't even know. I couldn't stop the tears though.
He was suppose to be my mate. The one destined for me as I am for him. I should of known it would of ended up this way. I was born from two werewolves and came out human. Did I really expect I'd get a mate who would eventually love me and wanna spend the rest of eternity with me?
He wants you though. A small voice whispers in my head. No he doesn't. He wanted his cake and to eat it too. From what I understood from Zyair vampires cherish their bride's. She's it for them. They'd never want another. Would never do anything to hurt her.
But I guess I just wasn't good enough like I wasn't good enough for anything else. I wasn't good enough to have been a werewolf so why would I be enough for a mate?
I stayed curled up in a ball on my bed until the sun came up. I was exhausted but hadn't wanted to go to sleep because I didn't want to dream with him again. I was all out of tears too.
Finally being over pitying myself, I grab clothes and go take a hot shower so I can get ready for work.
While in the shower I hear my phone going off. Whoever it was could leave a voicemail and I'd call them back. After washing my hair and body, I decided to take the extra time it took to shave.
Shutting the water off I wrap a towel around my body and one in my hair. I was about to start drying off to get dressed when my phone started ringing again. Sighing I walk into my room and pick it up to check the caller ID. Harold it read.
"Hey Harold what's up?" I ask a little apprehensively. He never called me, so it had to have something to do with Marcy. I hope she was okay.
"Cora, I have some bad news. Marcy had a stroke last night and is in the hospital. She'll be there for awhile for supervision, and they wanna run tests. I hope she's going to be okay but they don't know what caused it. It could be awhile before she's out and even longer before the store opens again. I'm so sorry, I'm not firing you but it would probably be best if you look for another job for right now." He tells me grimly.
"Oh my God! I'm so sorry to hear that! I really hope she's going to be okay! That's tragic Harold. I'll be keeping her in my thoughts. Please if there's anything I can do, you just let me know okay?" I tell him sincerely.
My heart broke for them. I really hope she was going to be okay. She was a sweet and kind lady with a lot of people who loved her.
"Of course, dear. Thank you. You take care of yourself alright? When she is out of the hospital I'll let you know." He tells me.
"Please do. Take care of yourself as well Harold." I tell him before hanging up.
Poor Marcy. I knew something wasn't right. She had been acting strange for the last couple of days but I didn't see this coming. I really hope she pulled through. She had many more years a head of her.
Looks like I'll be needing to find a temporary job until she gets better. In the meantime however I was going to cook brownies because all this depressing shit made me need lots of chocolate. Then I'd get to work on the wedding dresses.
Getting the brownies in the over I go into the living room to finish working on Harper's dress. Then I'd do the bridesmaids and then Starla's and Quichea's dresses.
Harper still needed to figure out her maid of honor so I could get to work on that one too. I was going to set it off Harper's dress but make it a bit similar to the bridesmaids as well. Being the maid of honor's dress it should be more special than the bridesmaids dresses but not more outstanding than Harper's.
After a few hours I needed a break so I grab the brownies and a glass of milk and relax on the couch for a little bit. I only had a couple more sketches to do and then I'd be done.
My phone rings. Seeing it's Harper I answer it, I hope it was just about the wedding because I wasn't really feeling chatty right now.
"Hey chica what's up?" I ask her.
"So I know who I want to be my maid of honor." She tells me excitedly.
"Who?" I ask her feeling a bit relieved. At least now I would know before I started the bridesmaids dresses.
"YOU!" She squeals through the phone.
"Seriously?" I asked. I was surprised she wanted me to be her maid of honor but it did warm my heart too. Definitely lifted my spirits as well.
"Yesss! Will you be my maid of honor Cora Davis? Please say yes!" She pleads to me like I'm going to tell her no. I laugh at her.
"Of course I will be! It would be my honor." I tell her with a giggle.
"Goddess, you're so cheesy!" She says with a laugh. "Thank you babes! I gotta go now though, I'll call you later to check in on how the dresses are coming along, love you, bye." She says in a rush.
Smiling I hang up the phone and place it on the coffee table. Seeing the empty plate I'm a little shocked at myself for not realizing I ate all the brownies. I get to work on finishing Harper's dress and then start on the bridesmaids.
By the time I headed to bed I had one bridesmaid dress done as well as Harper's. I was half asleep before I realized I didn't even eat anything for lunch or dinner. I didn't have an appetite for food though. My last thought before I fall into oblivion was how much I hoped I didn't dream of Marcellus tonight.
Thankfully I didn't. Not that night or any other night for the rest of the week. Not even the week after that.
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*I deleted this chapter twice and I'm still not happy with it!!!! 🤦♀️😭🤦♀️😭*