Midnight After Midnight - Nanowrimo 2022

Chapter 2 - Youthful Affections

For years and years, without Simon's knowledge, Adelaide kept dancing in the woods at midnight, proud of her little secret. She danced and danced until her feet hurt, doing it as gracefully as a fairy, which she would have been too humble to admit if someone told her such a thing in person. Her eyes, which were blue as the ocean, sparkled with joy and passion at the mere thought of doing what she loved the most, especially when she would forget the mockery she had been receiving over it since forever and focus on nothing more than the activity itself, letting herself be wild and free. 

She often remembered how she wasn't the best in the beginning and how, despite all her follies and mistakes, she stayed motivated at every turn, happy to dance without thought or care the same way her parents did, which helped her become better and better until she had reached where she was now. Even though her technique still wasn't perfect, she would dance as passionately and calmly as she did before, which would make her an even better dancer. It was the same in every art, every sport, every hobby, thus she had gotten used to it long ago.

Still, she was already great, no matter what she said about herself. She liked to imagine playing for a crowd on a stage, people cheering and clapping after every song, bouquets of red roses being thrown in her direction as she smiled widely and bowed humbly, but it was already happening without her knowledge, although a pine forest was hardly a stage, and one man was hardly a crowd. To Lionel, it was enough so far, and he would do everything in his power to improve upon it shortly.

For him, it all started on an otherwise mundane night, on which he was walking through those Ravenseye woods for a while around midnight, during the peak of his vampiric powers, wondering if he would come upon someone to eat. He stalked quietly among the tall black trees, flinching at every crack of the fallen branches, staring at the horizon thoroughly to see if he'd scared a potential victim away. The cold November breeze played with his long blond hair, placing streaks of it over his misty eyes, which he removed hurriedly and irritatedly. After he was done with that, he saw the woman who would change his life forevermore.

He'd heard the footsteps of a lone individual right before that, his lips curling into a smirk as he'd noticed that stellar opportunity for a meal, but when he saw her, he had lost himself, his jaw dropping in awe. She was a divine creature whose eyes glistened like stars, whose radiant smile could warm even the coldest of icebergs, whose hair was red as the most beautiful of roses, whose steps of a waltz were smooth as silk and gentle as a glove caressing one's cheek, whose pure and rich blood gave off a scent that could rival any pastry in the world, its sweetness invading his nostrils and utterly hypnotizing him. Without even knowing her name, he knew that she was the most invaluable person that he had ever met, and he had met a lot of people.

For that entire week, he would seek her out at midnight, not telling a soul about it because he believed that it was too early. His parents, the vampire king and queen, would sometimes ask him about it, for he had started to come home a while later than usual, but he gave no answer. He felt that he had come upon a blessing that was not meant for him, but was still his and his alone, smiling into the distance with the utmost warmth, dancing in a manner that he could only dream of while her eyes shone with unwavering determination. It was his little secret, which made the emotions that engulfed his otherwise cold and unmoving heart all the more sacred. He had begun to live merely for that time of day, and he wouldn't trade it for anything.

On the eighth night since he'd met her, he heard two beings walking right behind him numerous times over the course of his walk towards the spot where she always danced, in front of a particularly small cottage that was covered in ivies, its doors and windows barricaded with planks of wood. Alert, he occasionally turned around to see who was following him, but they were already gone every time. Letting out a deep sigh, he hid behind the nearest pine tree the moment he saw her preparing for yet another dance.