Chapter Six
Azurdee woke up with a start, her mind jumbled after the strange dream.
She ran her fingers through her long, blonde hair, getting it out of her face. “That was weird…” She whispered to herself. “Why would I dream about them?” She shook her head.
It wasn’t like she was ever going to see them again. They were lesser vampires while she was a member of the nobility. The only reason they met in the first place, was because she had ventured into the woods when she wasn’t supposed to.
Still, she couldn’t get them out of her head. Even now, their handsome faces seemed to haunt her, their seductive smiles making her body yearn for them. She pushed these thoughts away from her mind, knowing it was wrong for her to fantasize in such a way.
Groggily, she rolled out of bed, her body feeling like it was made of lead. Carefully, she pulled back the curtains to find the moon high in the sky. From its position, she could tell that she had slept quite late.
She let go of the curtain, allowing it to fall back into place before she walked up to her closet, picking out something to wear.
Her closet was filled to the brim with beautiful dresses, expensive accessories, and fabulous shoes. The only problem was that she refused to wear most of them. Her mother had picked out most of her wardrobe, forbidding her from wearing the casual clothing she preferred.
Azurdee was not one for elaborate embroidery or complex dresses that took hours to lace in the back. If it was up to her, she would wear V-neck T-shirts and skinny jeans every day of the week.
Rummaging through the back of her closet, she found her last pair of clean pants, only to find that they were ripped at the thigh. She groaned. Sometimes, it sucked being a bigger girl.
She toyed with the hole in her pants for a moment before she pulled out a skirt. It would have to do.
Once she got dressed, she stood in front of the mirror. Just like the vanity in the washroom, this mirror was purely cosmetic, but Azurdee still liked to stand in front of it and act like the humans she read about in her books. They were always standing in front of mirrors, fixing their hair, or checking their makeup.
Azurdee had no such luxury, but as she smoothed out some of the wrinkles in her blouse, she felt exceptionally confident.
She felt beautiful.
Grabbing her bag, she headed out of the room, determined to get out of the house. She tried to convince herself that she needed to grab some tights from the store, but it was obvious she was only going shopping to get away from her mother.
***
The shopping center was filled with young girls. Most of them held numerous bags on their arms, their eyes sparkling any time they saw a cute display in the shop windows.
Azurdee weaved through the crowd of vampires, hoping she wouldn’t bump into anyone she knew. She was certain that news of her outburst last night had already leaked out of the estate. In no time, she would be the laughing stock of the nobility, unless of course, her mother did something to prevent such a thing from happening.
Trying to stop such thoughts, she entered a high-end clothing store. It was rather busy, making it easy for her to blend into the crowd. Quietly, she looked through the racks, tempted to buy a pair of black skinny jeans that were currently on sale.
While pondering the idea, she noticed two men walking past the store window.
It was Kai and Noah.
Quickly, she placed the hanger back on the rack and got out of the store, following them. She didn’t even know why she was going after them. It would be best if she just left them alone. It would cause nothing but trouble if she was seen with them, but despite all that, she couldn’t stop herself.
The need to see them again was overwhelming.
The crowd made following them somewhat difficult. Her only saving grace was the fact that they were both quite tall, making them easy to pick out.
They walked into the central plaza where street performers, cart vendors, and beggars all made it even more difficult to navigate.
Azurdee did her best to keep up. She thought she saw them enter a store, so she followed them.
A door chime rang as she walked inside, but when she scanned the area, there was no one in there except for the jubilant store owner.
“Come in! Come in!” He chimed, rushing up and clasping Azurdee’s hands in his. “I have the best dresses in all the capital. I promise you! Come! Come!” He dragged her toward the back, where there was a tiny section of plus size clothing.
“Uh…” Azurdee didn’t know how to react to his enthusiasm.
“How about… this one! Ah yes! This would look fantastic with your figure!” He tossed a bright yellow dress in her direction.
It was the ugliest dress Azurdee had ever seen. It looked like a sack of potatoes had been dyed yellow.
“Uh… I don’t really think that’s my style.” She said, trying to be polite.
A deep frown painted the store owner’s face. He looked so distraught that Azurdee thought he would start crying.
“I… I don’t mean to offend you, sir.”
“No, no. It’s fine!” He said, suddenly chipper once more, grabbing yet another formless dress, this time in a lime green. It looked identical to the yellow one. “And this one?”
Azurdee just blinked, unsure of what to say. “Uh…”
“Come! Come! You must try it on. I will not take no for an answer!” Before she could protest, the man had dragged her into the dressing room, throwing countless ugly dresses in her direction until she thought she would drown in them.