'In mythology, there are many versions of a creature that feasts on and perhaps even covets blood, from the vampires of Eastern Europe to the mananaggal of the Philippines. However, the funny thing about modern monsters is that they don't need to look like evil old hags ( disclaimer, some of the following monsters in question without their overflowing makeup carts may look eerily similar to these evil old hags as described ) or be tall secretive gentlemen who don't eat and feed off of the blood of their unwitting victims. They can look quite nice actually, all pale faces, lily-white hands and ridiculously expensive dresses and accessories. Watch and learn ladies and gentlemen, there may just be blood. '
"I'm a what exactly, Felicity?" Zhao Yingyue, debuted as Selena Yingyue Zhao, said in a calm tone stood face to face with her former best friend of over a decade, Felicity Mengyi Zhang, who was still just as Yingyue remembered: tall, curvy with chestnut streaked black hair and a flair for dramatic eye makeup. Tonight's special was sharply winged eyeliner and a pitch-black eyeshadow.
"Well, you haven't answered my question yet, Selena, still as sly as ever and now that you've grown up, you've learned how to behave cordially in public. Ah, dear lost youth." There was a short pause as the girls around them stared blankly in Felicity's direction, like a troupe of robots waiting for some form of direction. "Girls," she addressed the little posse that formed a loose human circle around the two in an imperious voice like a tyrant addressing her minions. "I do believe that Selena may have forgotten what life is like for a party girl, after all, leopards don't change their spots, at least they don't when they are you, Selena. Girls, show her what high society thinks of wild partying and traitors," with that Felicity turned her heel and marched to the middle of the room where she pulled a bottle of rose wine and a bottle of red wine from the ice and racks respectively, tucked them both under her arm and had her empty prosecco glass topped up before she sashayed her way back to Yingyue and smirked callously and handing the two bottles of wine to Penelope Starks and another woman who Yingyue had not seen since they were all children. Ivy Qing, whose mother and father owned a very successful supermarket chain in China hastily took the bottles from Felicity and averted her eyes from Yingyue's cold gaze.
Felicity folded her arms and stood a step back from the circle and prepared herself for a bloodbath, it was just a shame that she hadn't brought popcorn, this was going to be much better entertainment than any of the films on show in the cinema.
Yingyue knew what was about to happen, she was the one who had invented this particular brand of public humiliation when she first debuted at the age of 16, fresh-faced and eager to impress. Her three years away from the high society scene had humanized her and for the first time in her young life, she truly understood the extent of her thoughtless cruelty when she was younger. Yingyue gritted her teeth and her fingers danced at her side, as they always did when her nerves got the better of her. Felicity notice and laughed, a tinkling laugh which was far from the cute snorts that Yingyue had grown up listening to. When she heard the click of the wine being opened, she gracefully stepped over the sweeping leg that was meant to knock her off her balance before the wine started to pour. Yingyue managed to avoid falling over but she shuddered as she felt a cold stream of liquid run down her back, into her dress and stick the fabric to her skin. While she tried to sort that out, a pair of hands shoved her hard and sent her crashing onto the floor.
While she was crumpled in a heap, the red wind and the rest of the rose wine rained down on her. Yingyue had the sense to pull her arm, which was in utter agony and she grimaced as she did this, up to deflect most of the wine. This only worked temporarily as the sticky liquid soaked through the material and started dripping through to her already soaked hair and her eyes, temporarily blinding her. Although she had learned a lot in her years away from high society, including how to take all of these girls down, there were rigid rules in place and although she was utterly furious, she had no choice but to grind her teeth and admit defeat gracefully.
Yingyue pulled herself together and stayed down as she listened to the room fall silent, and then the eerie ghost whispers, the tell-tale beginnings of rumour forming. She bit her lip so hard that she could taste the distinct bitter iron of blood. Quickly standing upright, she shook her trenchcoat off and watched as dozens of tiny droplets splashed onto the floor. Yingyue reached up to her drippy hair and quickly into a ponytail which was a little lopsided, grabbed her purse which had been stained as well, and had fallen onto the ground.
"Selena, how careless you are, are you alright?" Felicity asked in a sweet, butter-would-melt voice, with a fake smile plastered to her face which up close looked like a shark grin. Yingyue batted away Felicity's arm, tied the belt of her trenchcoat, and stood herself up as tall as she could to address the audience she had managed to accumulate.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you all, on behalf of my late father for your presence at the service earlier today. I'm sure my father would have appreciated it. As I am sure you can all see that I am a little indisposed at the moment so I'm afraid I will be leaving a little earlier than planned. Please feel free to enjoy the rest of the evening and I wish you all a pleasant evening. I did hear a little bird chirp in my ear though, tie-dye is coming back into style, take note ladies."
With that, flanked by a light smattering of laughter and more whispers, Yingyue speed-walked as fast as she could with a sore ankle and in killer heels, only to bump into a tall man in her haste. Before Yingyue had the chance to apologise, he took off his tuxedo jacket and put it around her shoulders and steering her towards the exit of the marquee. Along the way, they were intercepted again by her late father's PA, Elise and she firmly took the man's hand off of Yingyue's shoulders. "Mr. Lee, thank you but I can take over here, I'm sure you understand. Thank you for everything, I'll make sure Miss Selena arrives home safely. Good evening."
"Of course Miss Faulkner," the man smiled and shook her hand before offering Selena a kiss about an inch away from her cheek. "Good evening, ladies."
It wasn't until the two women were in the limo outside of Yingyue's flat did she first utter a word after the wine incident, still clutching the tuxedo jacket. "Who was that gentleman who lent me this?"
Elise let the silence hang in the air for a little while and tried to figure out a way to phrase the news in a less shocking way. "It belongs to Mr. Adrian Lee, your father's most powerful business rival."
Elise helped Yingyue out of the limo and gave her an encouraging shove towards the complex where her upscale apartment was. "I will be in contact in due course, I suggest you get some rest. Good evening Selena."