Valley of Dust (10 page)

T
HE WEDDING PLANNING was going without a problem. It was going to be truly a spectacular event. Lucian had outdone himself with sparing no expense. Carla was my maid of honor, and Alexander was Lucian’s best man. The wedding was going to be extremely small, but it would be decorated for much more. Lucian had invited four of my family members, and only Alexander, his wife, and children were invited from Lucian’s side. Alexander had quite a few children, and they all were sons. I wondered if that was the normal for strigoi. Lucian had explained that it was only natural since in his knowledge of over a thousand years strigoi boys were born, not girls. I wondered why. I remembered so vividly in my dreams of having a daughter. I wondered if I was meant to one day break the mold that held the strigoi for centuries. I knew I was getting ahead of myself. Thankfully Carla had brought the hair dresser and wedding dress to remind me of my big day today. My heart beat so fast as I got into my Grecian white gown with a gorgeous train. Carla let me borrow her pearl bracelet to accompany the necklace Lucian had gotten me.

I stared into the mirror and felt lost. Was this right? I hadn’t known Lucian for long, but I felt like I had always known him. Carla chimed in to remind me we had forgotten something blue; that’s when it hit me. My charm was blue. I never brought it anywhere because it was the only thing left of my grandfather. Even though he couldn’t be with me, I knew carrying this would make it feel like he was here. I opened my small wooden jewelry box and found the light blue charm. “Selene, you do know that’s a keychain?” Carla said. “Carla, it’s not just any keychain, it’s special,” I replied. “Please explain, Selene, because it will not go well anywhere on you.” Carla laughed. “When I was a little girl, I was very lonely and often sad, but when summer came I would see my grandfather and all that sadness and loneliness was gone. I was very special to him, and he was very special to me. It took two summers until he finally decided to part with this charm and give it to me. It had meant a lot to him, but he gave it to me and I knew I meant a lot more to him. Carla, this charm in essence is my deceased grandfather’s and I feel if I wear it part of him will be with me. Do you think it still wrong?” I said. I could see tears running down Carla’s face, which slowly took with them her mascara. “No, Selene, it’s not wrong, it is perfect,” Carla said. She started going through her purse and pulled out two safety pins. “What is that for?” I asked. “It is for your charm. I think it should be pinned in between your dress and skin right over your heart,” Carla answered. As she pinned it in, beautiful memories surfaced from the past of me running to hug my grandfather. Tears fell down my face as I felt his presence with me. “There, it’s done now, let’s fix our faces before we go out there looking like raccoons,” Carla joked. I laughed. Carla always knew how to bring that out in people; she was indeed the perfect maid of honor.

“Knock, knock, are you girls ready?” a man said. “That voice, it can’t be my father?” I said. Carla opened the door, and I was in shock seeing my father here in my room before the wedding. “Sorry to intrude, but Lucian said it would be best if I gave you away,” my father said. I stood in disbelief that he would even listen to such a request. In my whole life this was the first time he ever really did something for me. “Well, are you ready?” he said. Carla intercepted his question and stated, “Yes, I will go first, please follow after me in two minutes.” I stood bewildered as I was left alone in a room with someone who I believed did not love me. Two minutes felt like hours going by standing in the room with my father. Then my father took my hand and inquired, “Shall we go?” “Yes,” I said. As we walked down the stairs and out to the garden, I saw Lucian, and my heart skipped a beat. He was smiling so much as I walked down the aisle hand in hand with my father. Right before we approached the altar, my father’s footsteps stopped. He put his hand on my cheek and said, “You look beautiful, Selene. I love you.” My heart stopped beating upon hearing those wonderful words come for the first time from my father’s mouth. The inner child in me, always needing to hear those words, cried as I held it together. Within seconds I replied like I had always wanted to. “I love you too, Dad.” We hugged, and then he gave my hand to Lucian and said, “Please protect my daughter and love her as I have loved her.” My father said this with a meaningful smile, letting go of our hands. Lucian smiled and responded, “Thank you, I will.”

As the priest started his speech, I was left in shock by what had just occurred. Thankfully I kept being brought back to reality by the warmth of Lucian’s hand. We started to exchange rings; as he slid the ring on my finger, Lucian said, “Selene, with this ring, I bear you my heart, body, and soul. I am yours forever, and I pledge here now in front of all the ones we love that I will love you in sickness and in health, may death never tear us apart.” I cried as he spoke those words. I truly knew Lucian meant every word he spoke. “Lucian, with this ring I give you all that is me. I have dreamed of you ever since I can remember, and now that I have you, let us never be apart,” I said as I put the ring ever so carefully on Lucian’s finger. “If anyone objects, please speak now,” the priest instructed. I cringed thinking Anton might come crashing through in the garden causing destruction to a day that was truly glorious, but then the priest concluded, “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.” With that last word, I grabbed Lucian and passionately kissed him. When our eyes met, I let go; he simply smiled at my excessively enthusiastic kiss. “Ladies and gentlemen, I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Balan,” the priest announced. Everyone was clapping as we walked down the aisle thanking everyone. I saw tears rolling down my mother’s cheeks and I hugged her for the first time in such a long time. Lucian and I headed out of the garden toward the kitchen; as we went to step in our house, I threw my bouquet, and it landed perfectly into the hands of my best friend Carla. I winked at her as I walked into our house. That’s when Jacques popped in to tell us how happy he was for us and that the food would be ready buffet style in the room that was once Anton’s bedroom but now was a very large living room. I thanked Jacques for the wonderful food and kissed him good-bye. I knew asking him to stay would only hurt him since he had difficulties being around mortals.

As Lucian and I entered the living room, it had been completely rearranged to be a banquet room for our guests. I smiled and asked Lucian a question that had been bugging me for a while. “Lucian, why exactly do we eat food like regular mortals but still need energy to survive?” Lucian smiled at my question. “We don’t need to eat, Selene, but just because we don’t need to doesn’t mean we don’t want to,” Lucian replied. “That makes a lot of sense, Lucian.” I laughed. Then he looked a bit serious and said, “Food brings us comfort from when we were born till we found out that we were more than mortals.” I smiled and kissed him and said, “Well, let’s eat.”

Everyone arrived into the room soon after us and chose their seats. Carla sat down next to a man that I just became familiar with. The man’s name was James, and he was Alexander’s third son. Lucian didn’t look at all happy as he saw Carla and James flirt, but every time I glanced at Lucian he was nothing but smiles for me.

The night was coming to an end, especially for the child in my belly. I was extremely fatigued, and I asked Lucian if we could go. When he said yes, I saw Carla exchanging business cards with James. Lucian stood up and pulled my chair out for me, offering to help me get up, and we kindly excused ourselves. Right before we left, we graciously thanked our guests and I slyly winked at Carla as she blushed at my gesture. Today was an amazing experience for me, one that would stay imprinted in my memory forever.

That night in bed, I asked Lucian what would happen if Carla fell in love with a live male strigoi. He looked taken aback from my question, but he told me that it would be a sad union. There was no guarantee that Carla would become an undead strigoi. When mortals died, it was very rare for one to become an undead. It wasn’t as easy as the traditional vampire legends had made it seem. Lucian said it was more complicated. He had told me that the Gypsies were close to finding out how to prevent it but eventually decided to just safeguard all their families’ bodies by ritually protecting them from returning from the grave. That is when I asked if they could have children at least. Lucian looked sad at hearing this. In the cases he had known, all the people born from a mortal and a live strigoi were not fertile, and when they died they would become an undead. I felt sad for Carla, moreover for the people who had those fates handed to them.

A
FEW MONTHS HAD gone by and I had not heard any news from the detective. I hoped he was okay. Carla and James continued to see each other, which was fantastic I thought at first, but then somehow I was worried how this union might play out badly for her in the long run. Lucian had a midwife move in with us since the baby was due soon. I wondered what my baby would look like. I hoped the child would take after me. Lucian had already chosen a name. It was an old name, Marcus Alexandros. Marcus had been Lucian’s birth father’s name, and Alexandros was the olden version of Alexander’s name. Lucian felt that Alexander was a second father to him when he needed one the most and wanted to give something back to Alexander. The name brought tears to my eyes. He really thought hard and gave this child a strong name of people Lucian loved dearly. I knew in my heart that Lucian would love this child as his own.

Carla decided to help the midwife with the delivery. She had taken classes for weeks preparing for this. She wanted to be there just in case anything supernatural happened to scare the midwife. Carla had also realized how much she wanted a child. I was all for this union and especially for her to have a child, but Lucian told her it was impossible with James. This depressed Carla even though I knew she secretly held out hope. Lucian had told us that nothing would go wrong in the delivery. He had explained to us why we needed a mortal midwife to deliver the baby since he was worried about how the council and undead had been acting lately. Lucian even had Carla instructed on how to not give any information to her current boyfriend James, who was on the council. We just could not trust anyone with the secrets we were keeping.

Lucian had to keep assuring Carla that nothing would happen during the birth. He had told her he was present at many of Alexander’s children’s births, including James, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. He told us, if anything, the child was usually weaker than the immortal parents. The only truly strong strigoi were born from mortals. Carla and I were somewhat relieved about this news, but I was also worried at how my child would turn out. Would he take energy from the earth like I did, or would he need energy through killing people? This was something even Lucian did not know since I was the first of my kind. Most offspring start to develop their powers at puberty and become more aware by the time they are adults. I hoped as much for this child that he would be elemental. I didn’t want him to bear the pain of killing someone. I kept thinking of how much I wanted to meet him and show him the world even if I was still trapped in this mansion. I knew when I could control my emotions I would be able to go out freely, or that’s what I hoped.

Carla and I decided to enjoy lunch outside. It was beautiful, and since I was rounder than I had ever been before, I thought it would be good to relax with fresh air. Carla was in baby fever mode, always touching my belly to see if he kicked. Normally I would be annoyed by such gestures, but she had become a true friend and I knew she wanted a baby with James even though it was impossible. Jacques came out with our lunches in a basket with a beautiful fabric. Carla then asked Jacques something that I thought would never come from her mouth. “Jacques, how did you become an undead?” Carla said. Jacques was taken aback by the question and calmly stated, “Sadly by chance, Ms. Carla.” He explained to us where he grew up in Normandy, France. It was about 150 years ago. He was born after the Napoleonic wars and the economy was doing well around the coast. His family was well to do and had many houses on the coast. It was there at the age of twenty-one he fell in love with a woman named Madeline. She came from a well-established family like himself, and the coupling was perfect. Madeline was eighteen and had stunning long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. She was his masterpiece, and with their parents’ permission they were engaged. The day before the wedding, Jacques went to the jewelry store to pick up the rings when out of the blue he was struck by an automobile. Jacques’s last memory was wishing he could see his beloved Madeline again. When Jacques awoke, he told us it was very dark, and that is when he knew he was buried alive, or so he thought. It took him two days to crawl out of his grave. Jacques was covered in dirt, but that didn’t faze him; all he could think about was seeing Madeline again. The sun had just set when he arrived at her family’s house only to find his love being courted by another man. Jealousy took over, and when the suitor was leaving her house, he jumped him and beat him to death. Sadly, however, killing this man gave Jacques no satisfaction, so he crept into Madeline’s room. There he saw her undressing into her night gown. His body and mind wanted her. He crept closer until she heard a creak from the floor boards and turned around to see him standing there right next to her. She begged him for forgiveness, telling him she was devastated about his death but her parents had another suitor lined up and she had to do what she was told. He told us that he forgave her and went to give her a kiss when he realized she was no longer kissing him but crumbling into dust in his hand. Finding out that he was cursed set Jacques on fire, so he murdered her parents to take out his anger on them and afterward burned down their house to hide what he had done. Shortly thereafter he was found by police, and that is when he met Lucian. Lucian took pity on Jacques and offered him a place forever with him. Jacques told us how he regretted becoming an undead and what he had done to his beloved Madeline, and ever since has been trying to make amends by working under Lucian. Carla and I were in tears when Jacques had finished and had gone to prepare dinner. “Selene, please don’t ever let me become an undead. I don’t want to suffer like Jacques,” Carla said. “I know, Carla, we will figure something out.” After that discussion, lunch felt unappetizing and the day went slow for both of us.
Poor Jacques
, I thought.