NIGHTS OF HALLOW

’Loving you for a while was like loving you for a lifetime’ — Amzy_Bella

—★

Perdita watched Mark through the eye-opening of her black feathered mask. His hair was still the same as she remembered it to be. Simple yet stylishly combed to the back leaving some strands that fell across his right eyebrow reaching his right cheek.

His pointed nose which was not covered by his mask down to his thin red lips was still the same. Nothing changed in him except his body had fully developed and matured into a well-bodied young man. He was handsome. She knew. She had once loved him and he could have been her husband. Which was a failed truth. But somehow, she felt at peace with the way things turned out to be.

It seemed like forever Perdita and Mark were stunned by the beauty of each other. Two ex’s still accessing and processing the if’s of their past relationship.

Finally, Mark broke the silence between them with a gentle smile on his lips. He walked forward and stood in front of her.

”It has been a while” Mark spoke staring at the woman who stole his heart and was still the only thief holding the key to his heart. If only things were different and easy, he wouldn’t have minded or waited to make Perdita his. But the situation was difficult. His family did not and will never approve of their union together. He had been sad and heartbroken when things strangely turned around between them. One time, he was happy to be getting married and the next, he was forced to cancel the marriage. And the worst was that he couldn’t console or tell Perdita his part of the story. But then, it was better left that way. Telling her won’t make any difference, rather it will make her still hold onto him which he didn’t want. He can only smile and wish her luck from the sideline.

”Yes,” Perdita replied suddenly short of words to converse with him.

”May I have a dance with you?” Mark asked in his gentle voice as he stretched out his hand toward her.

Perdita slowly nodded her head before placing her hand on Mark’s large palms.

Mark clasped her hand in his. With his other hand, he motioned for her to take lead and step forward before he led her to the dance floor.

On another side of the ballroom stood Sthena who held a frown on his face as he spoke with Daemon. After leaving the dance floor, he had come to find Daemon so he could discuss something with him. It was related to the shadow Perdita said she saw.

They have been standing here talking among themselves in a low voice only to their hearing. Even though he was with Daemon, his eyes had been on Perdita. His eyes followed her everywhere not leaving her out of sight for a minute.

”You said she was chased by a shadow or should I say ghost? Do you think he was the one that came here?” Daemon inquired from Sthena whose ears were listening to him and his eyes were watching Perdita.

”I’m not sure yet, but he is the only that could have sent something like that. That is if it is not him in particular that came” Sthena answered. When Perdita told him what was chasing her, he had a hunch it was the same pureblooded vampire he was looking for.

From the information he got from Clayton that their master was back after decades of going on hiatus, he knew he will get a visit from him because he had one of his men hostage. What he was not expecting was the man coming to the castle when the hallow ball was still going on or even chasing Perdita.

Pureblooded vampires were different and more powerful than average vampires. Some of them have special and powerful abilities, unlike the low-ranked ones who only had their fangs and claws as their weapon and protection. Like how he also was blessed with some special abilities, he knew that only that pureblooded vampire could camouflage and turn into anything he wished. But turning into a skeleton and chasing Perdita had him wondering what the man was up to.

Daemon nodded and adjusted the spectacle on his face. Unlike others who wore masks that covered most of their faces, Daemon only wore his dark spectacle and a mask that covered only his mouth. In a way, it made him look more inconspicuous than everyone in the hallow ball. His dark black hair was combed to the side and it covered one of the ears leaving the other one bare. Looking at him in his all-black attire, he even looked more devilish than Sthena himself.

”What are you going to do now you know he’s back and has started making his presence known by chasing the green-eyed lady” Daemon tuck his hands inside his trouser pocket with a blank expression on his face.

Sthena narrowed his eyes but not because of Daemon or what he said, but because he saw when Perdita was stopped by a man. It looked as if they knew each other very well with the way they were looking at each other and he couldn’t stop himself from eavesdropping on their conversation.

”Nothing yet,” Sthena answered Daemon’s question ”Leave him to play around first. But since he’s after Perdita, I don’t think the siblings will be safe again considering they are the ones that have been buying and taking the pills he was producing” he was not sure of this, but because they were one of the people taking the pills, he believed that the pureblooded vampire was after Perdita probably to capture her or use her as an experiment for his pills.

But how did he know it was Perdita? Unless he finally caught that old Malphus. Tsk, Sthena clicked his tongue in annoyance. Even after he gave the old fool money to run away with his family, he was still caught. He had imagined something like this would happen in the future, and also he didn’t want to kill the man which was why he helped him to run away with his family to the north, but now, his money and effort have gone to waste.

”Excuse me. Enjoy the rest of the evening” Sthena suddenly said and walked away leaving Daemon all by himself not that he minded.

What was there not to enjoy? Daemon smirked. There was wine, food, and then food again. The type women and girls were ready and willing to give in their decked expensive clothes and jewelry they wore to impress the men. He was sure Sthena must have found himself some beautiful butterfly to fly and play around with.

Sthena who just left Daemon stopped one of the ladies and asked her to dance with him. The lady gleefully smiled and accepted his hand.

Sthena initially didn’t want to dance. But after seeing Perdita being led to the dance floor by the man who confirmed his suspicions of both of them knowing each other, he stopped a lady and asked her to dance with him.

Sthena took the lady to the dance floor and stopped directly opposite where Perdita and Mark were dancing. His eyes and ears open to see and hear their every interaction. He was simply acting weird this night, but he didn’t care.

Mark held Perdita in his arms reminiscing how it felt to hold her. Though in their past relationship, the only intimate act they did was only hold hands and sometimes hug, he never forgot the warm feeling he experienced in the short time he got to know her.

Looking into her green orbs that seemed to have shone more than they did since he left her, he saw himself and his emotions swirl inside her eyes. They continued moving according to the beats of the music playing in the background as they accompanied each other in silence which was slowly starting to feel uncomfortable.

Perdita felt this moment was surreal and was lost for words. She had no feelings left for the man, but a tiny piece of her heart still belonged to him. Maybe it was his gentle demeanor and the way he spoke that made her still attached to him or maybe not. Either way, she didn’t want to know and she also didn’t want to complicate and confuse her feelings anymore. She will just enjoy this night with him. Probably, it will be their last encounter with each other.

”How have you been, Perdita?” Mark broke the silence between them.

Perdita stared back at him ”I’ve been good Mark. How about you?”

Mark smiled at her ”Same as always. I’ve been good too”

She returned the smile and an awkward silence fell between them again. It has been so long since they last saw each other, and the normal and simple things which they usually talked about were things they couldn’t discuss now they were worlds apart from each other.

”Ahem,” Mark cleared his throat and spoke, ”I know I shouldn’t probe into your personal life but I just want to know if you have been doing well and also if there’s someone in your life now since we couldn’t...”

”No, it’s okay Mark. I’ve been good and there’s no one in my life now” Perdita cut him off from completing his sentence. Her voice almost sounded strained. It was then she saw Sthena dancing with a lady who looked like she wanted to smuggle inside him. But why was he looking at her? This strange man.

A/N: Good day dear readers. From next week, I’ll be uploading two Chapters a day. So please, help me achieve this goal with your votes and comments. Thank you for reading this far. It means a lot to me. I love you guys. Happy Reading!