Courting A Vampire 3

By StormHerald

Chapter 3

The next morning was spent out on the patio, a large umbrella

protecting my Aunt's vampire skin from the morning light and me

sitting face to the sun absorbing it. My aunt set a photo in front of me

on top of my coffee and pointed to it. The photo was split into three

sections, each holding a photo of three very beautiful vampire girls, all

my age or close to.

The first had long black hair, very much like my mothers, except it was

cut with razor bangs and she was pale with almond eyes. All vampires

had the same sort of angular look about them, there were small

differences, like the first vampires nose was smaller than the other

three with the almond eyes, the middle had a longer narrow nose, and

the third had a very petite pointed nose. The first had lips that were

very narrow, the second had a fuller lower lip with a very narrow top lip

and the third had the most balanced mouth with long slender lips that

matched each other perfectly.

The first had long black hair, with razor bangs, the second had short

blood red hair that was cut in a way that styled to be spiked all over,

and the third had very beautiful ice white hair. All three had the typical

vampy black eyes with the last two having wider eyes, the thirds eyes

looking very severe and quite frightening to be honest.

"That is your competition. Their body types are the typical, lithe,

willowy, harsh, jagged body type. The third, Desmond, she has a bit

more body than a typical vampire. The first Yuki, is from Japan, so she's

very quiet and proper, the second is Elizabeth, she's British, as if you

couldn't tell from that hair. And Desmond is from North America as

well."

"Does Elizabeth's hair grow that color?"

My Aunt scoffed, "No, but Desmond's does, as does Yuki's. Lilly?"

I looked up from the picture, "Yeah?"

"Is that your natural hair color?"

I tugged on a chestnut curl and frowned, "Yeah."

My aunt mused with a small smile on her face, "It gets quite red in the

sunlight. Alright, enough with the competition. When you are

introduced to the Prince, as well as the council you must be wearing

something entirely revealing."

I choked on my coffee, spending a few minutes coughing before I could

croak out, "What?"

My Aunt sighed and looked down as if asking for assistance, "The

council and the Prince will have to see your body, it used to be that you

four would be naked. But thanks to wonderful designers see through

lingerie is in fashion."

"B..but why?"

"Well it is mostly to see if you have any defects on your body. Most

Vampires are perfect, but there are a few vampires that keep relations

a little too close to the family and they have some birth defects that

being a vampire cannot cure. There will be other things to happen at

this event but there's nothing to worry about now." My Aunt stood up

and ushered me back into my room to quickly change into a light dress

of black that she must have bought last night while I slept, and we were

out.

There is something to be said for Paris when it comes to the local

population accepting a black dress wearing, tall, pale, black satin

umbrella holding woman, with a great deal of grace. Our first stop

happened to be a shop that sold vintage, couture dresses and much to

my horror and my Aunts fury we were quickly told that my size was not

available. If it had not been for the pure look of murder in my aunts

eyes I'm sure a snippy comment about a thrift store would have exited

the woman's mouth.

I was suddenly starting to feel very Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman as my

Aunt strode down the street, no longer gracefully dancing around the

people, but plowing them over. She was a vampire on a mission and

that mission brought us to a ridiculous jewelry store. She slammed the

door open with force causing everyone in the store to freeze and stare

at her.

A young woman quickly walked up to my Aunt greeting her warmly if

not cautiously, "Isadora, we haven't seen you in ages. Are you alright

dear, do you need a bit of the vintage?"

My Aunt closed her umbrella and nodded, "yes, this is my niece, she's

to go with you for a moment, and I need to speak with Armand."

The lady bowed and motioned for me to follow her as she briskly

walked past the counters into the back room. She got on the phone and

quickly dialed the number and tapped the phones edge waiting.

"Armand? Yes, its Rebecca, Lady Isadora is here and she is demanding

to speak with you...yes she seems very upset...yes I already offered and

am going to do that as soon as I get off the phone...yes...thank you sir."

She hung up and looked at me warily, "Are you..."

She left the question unanswered but I smiled having already been on

the receiving end of that particular question all my life, "Human, and

yes that is my Aunt. Don't be worried though, she's upset because we

had a very...80's movie moment at a local dress store."

The woman turned and silently walked to a vault, then proceeded to

spin the combination and had to pull with most of her body to move

the door. Once inside I saw a large collection of different precious

stones, all loose but I didn't get to look for too long before Rebecca was

opening a door that had looked like just another stack of shelves and

began to descend a flight of stairs. I followed behind her and watched

as she picked up a black goblet and pointed to different bottles until

finally finding the one she wanted. With a pop I watched the dark red

liquid pour into the goblet realizing what the "vintage" was.

She looked at me for a moment, "Do you get queasy at the sight of

blood?"

I made a face, "No, my family are vampires, wouldn't be the first black

goblet that I have seen."

Rebecca smiled and corked the bottle putting it back and grabbing the

goblet she strode past me. She was halfway up the stairs when she

stopped and began to laugh. I looked at her curiously before she

turned, "I finally got it, the 80's movie moment. Pretty woman?'

I nodded and pointed at myself. The woman laughed, "No wonder

Isadora is in such a foul mood. I bet the woman didn't even realize who

she was speaking to."

"I don't think she cared really. She took one look at me and laughed and

said there was nothing in my size. Jeeze, I'm not even that big a size

eight is a respectable size."

Rebecca nodded and closed the vault behind her carefully grabbing a

silver tray to set the goblet on before continuing back into the main

lobby. The store had been cleared out and a man with grey hair

peppered through his black hair was sitting in front of my Aunt smiling

and laughing.

He turned and looked at Rebecca then to me and his smile disappeared

as he turned to my Aunt, "I am sorry Isadora, Rebecca usually never

takes this long, and I am unsure of who is with her..."

My Aunt raised her hand to stop him, "It is alright Armand that young

lady is my niece, and Rebecca was very punctual."

Rebecca smiled and held the tray to my aunt who grabbed the goblet

and sipped it delicately, "Ah, that is wonderful. Now to business, I will

not be embarrassed again by the fact I have a voluptuous niece, that

being said, I think a bit of sparkle on my niece will illustrate how serious

we are about shopping."

Armand stood quickly and with my aunts permission grabbed my hand

lightly and led me to the jewelry counter. Rebecca stayed with my aunt

speaking softly to her, and my aunt listening intently to the young

woman. Armand released my hand and went around the counter

looking through the glass.

"Lady Isadora, what were we thinking about for the young lady? Black

diamonds perhaps?"

My aunt was at my side instantly, causing Armand to wince but I was so

used to my father doing that, that it just made me feel a bit homesick,

"No black diamonds, a common fancy among my kind. As you can see,

my niece is rare, and we must emphasize that difference."

Armand nodded and looked at me closely before going into the back

and returning with a stack of different black satin boxes. He opened the

first box to a large yellow diamond in a bright yellow gold set. My aunt

hissed "No yellow!!!"

I chuckled as Armand quickly disposed of three of the boxes behind the

counter and opened another. My aunt quickly dismissed one after

another until Armand opened a small box with a beautiful blue stone

set in a white gold setting, what was beautiful was the chain was so thin

that it looked invisible. My aunt dismissed it but I stopped her.

"Wait, can I try it on, please." My aunt’s eyebrows rose and she looked

at the stone again.

"It is blue Lilly."

"I know, and I know blue isn't exactly an appropriate color, but you said

you wanted to play up my differences. It’s such a pretty sapphire."

"Blue diamond." Armand corrected me, "It is a very rare blue diamond.

In fact to find one this size and clarity is also very rare." He lifted it out

and put it on me quickly lifting a mirror so I could see it.

I was in love, it was beautiful, and it looked like the deep, dark, blue

blankets I had left home, "It’s my favorite color." I sighed before taking

it off already knowing my aunt would give it a resounding no.

"Alright then Lilly." She smiled at my surprised face and grabbed the

necklace putting it back on me.

"We are celebrating your differences my darling." She turned to

Armand, "I want every single blue diamond you have here, and ones

that you can get here by tomorrow."

Armand nodded and he and Rebecca began to spread out and grab

different things from the back, the vault, and throughout the store. The

presented different items and my aunt vetoed or approved different

jewelry. I sat down on the couch and let my aunt do the work.

Eventually we left with a lot of bags from the jewelry store.

"How much did you spend?"

My aunt winked at me as she handed me a few more bags and opened

her umbrella, "Rebecca told me of some wonderful stores that would

carry your size, off the beaten track. Care to explore?"

I smiled and nodded holding up the bags, "Without being a neon sign

saying, rob me I have millions of dollars in jewelry in my bags."

My aunt smiled, "Oh, it wasn't millions, and you are right lets go to the

car."

We dropped the jewelry off and then she grabbed my hand and we

quickly made our way down a few side streets before stopping at a very

crowded dress shop. My aunt pursed her lips but shrugged and walked

in, the door tingling as we opened it. A very feminine man greeted us

and my aunt got straight to work.

It felt weird having a man take my measurements then say something

to my aunt in French, who in turn smiled at me triumphantly, "He says

you have a very beautiful body."

The man went into the back and began to pile dress after dress after

dress onto the counter. My aunt and he spoke to one another in French

and quickly the yellow, pink, lavender, and other offensive colors

disappeared, all but dark blue, that color remained. I had one dress

after another shoved onto me, pinned then pulled off and eventually

money exchanged hands and we were out of the store.

My aunt looked completely satisfied as we made our way back to the

main streets, "Need to eat Lilly?"

I nodded and we stopped at a café where I ate a sandwich and my aunt

struck up conversation with a woman next to her. Eventually we

managed to get to all the stores on the list Rebecca has made for us

and I was dizzy from the overabundance of outfits I had just explored. It

was close to the end of the day and my aunt grabbed my hand and with

a reassuring squeeze walked me into a very risqué lingerie store.

I tried not to panic as see through bras and crotch less underwear

assaulted my sense of propriety. I again had a tape measure around my

body and the lady relayed the measurements to a pair of very eager

women who quickly asked my aunt many questions and began to pile

one see through outfit after another, all in black.

I tried on one after another, my aunt sitting with me in the dressing

room. Her face went from happy to frustrated after three different

outfits. She flung the door open, "You look like shit in black!! How is

that even possible?!?!"

She began to yell at the women at the counter and finally one of them

stood up and said something back to her. My aunt froze and looked at

me then at the woman and nodded consent. Suddenly white was being

thrust to me and the rest of the day was spent matching one see

through thing with another.

I made it to bed shortly after diner and slept solidly only to be woken

up early by a perky aunt who took shopping way to seriously. The next

day was almost identical to the previous and by the end of the lingerie

store I was tired of shopping, of dresses, and of Paris.