The last month of summer came and brought the Blood moon with it. For the month, it will illuminate the planet with its "blessed" lukewarm light. "At least it's not below zero!" noted Mr. Cubic the other day.
The end of summer is painted deep red in our lives. For the vampire kind it is the real... well, blessing. They celebrate the last day of summer with the ritualistic ball, or something like this, paying tribute to the Blood moon.
The magi usually "harvest" the "blessed light" to use it then in different concoctions. I always wanted to see how they're doing it, actually, but I heard they use some kind of a prism.
Merfolk never leave their ocean during this time, something about the light waves giving them headaches... They never explained it properly and I found literally nothing in books in our library on this question... Another confidential information, I suppose.
The Shadows could be seen often during the Blood moon. They usually aimlessly roamed outside. I picked some mushrooms in our garden one day, and one of them floated towards me. I introduced myself, said that it was nice to meet them, and continued the job I was instructed to do. They "looked" at me and... kept "looking" after all my words. Then, after I was done with the mushrooms, I bid them farewell and they floated away. The whole encounter I considered to be amazing.
For us, the help, everything is always the same: you work, then you eat, the you work some more, an after that eat some more, ah... you are also can engage in your hobbies in free time, and at the end of the "day" (because during the Blood moon there is no day or night) you go to sleep. Currently I'm having my time of leisure, writing a letter to my son.
Tom. He is with the ambassador learning his foreseeing. I write him because he rarely has time to properly talk using monitors (starlings's tech, it is a box which opens up revealing a monitor and allowing you to talk with others). I miss him, it's been almost a month. But he seems to be fine, always writing that the ambassador says hello to me... Little rascal is still trying to fix my love life.
I was writing to him to stop playing a Cupid when I heard Medea's shouting behind my door.
"Tamara, there's a big red cardboard here. It has your name on it!"
"What?" I asked while getting the door opened.
Medea came in, holding a big red cardboard, hm, in her hands: "Wow, it's enormous, eh?!"
"Yeah, quite big... Put it down, will you?"
"As you wish, m'lady!"
She carefully got the cardboard on the floor and asked: "So, will you open it???"
"You can do it if you're that excited, ha-ha!" I laughed and she started to ruin the cardboard with her swift hands:
"O'course I am!"
And I, for once, wasn't exited at all.
After the cardboard was destroyed by Medea, we saw a note and some red fabric. I was given the note, and the fabric revealed to be a dress.
"Wow, so fancy! Who sent it???" Medea turned the dress around, then touched the gems on the chest area, imaginary "fit" it to herself, fidgeted it once more and then frowned with little laughter.
"Well, let's read this and answer this question." The note was signed with my name, I turned it and read out loud: "Tamara, this is your dress for the Blood Moon ball. Yours, Yuka."
"Wait... What?! This vampire chick???" Medea's eyes widened.
"They are not a chick, but... yes. Maybe it's a prank or something?" I was in distraught. They? Having me on the ball AND giving me the dress to wear on the occasion? Nah.
"It's another note." Medea handed me a laced card. "Was inside the dress."
I opened it and read, again, so Medea would know: "That night the moon have shined red upon us, they say such nights are blessed. Our intercourse I consider blessed... And I think we can repeat it, to properly secure the blessing. You can't say no to my ORDER, you will BE there on time appointed, because you have already touched the note (check your left wrist). But you still can say no after our dance. I'm looking forward to seeing you bathing in the red moonlight. Yuka."
Even Medea was speechless. Not for long, though.
"Inte... You fucked the... the..."
"It was a one night stand, okay...?"
"YOU FUCKED THE MURDEROUS CHICK!!!"
"I DIDN'T! They fucked me, technically... And, please, they are not the chick."
"What, what, what? Did she rape you?! Drugged you?! Hypnotized you?! HOW COULD YOU?!"
"What do you even mean by that?! So you can fuck Alisha and I cannot have intercourse with the vampire overlord?!"
"Alisha isn't going around killing everybody!"
"Ah... So you don't love her then, or it's not that deep? She's good enough until she'll do some good old killing?"
"Wha...? Tamara?!"
"My point is... You can fuck whoever you want, as do I."
"Your first partner was a vampire whose ball gown was fucking blood and intestines of those they killed before getting to the party."
"I am well aware, thank you."
Medea shut it for a brief moment, then opened her mouth to say something, but closed it and stormed out of my room.
"Damn, why everyone is so fucking fragile these days?!" I looked at the ripped cardboard and the dress lying on the floor, then I looked on my left wrist there was a little mark of a growing crescent, the same moon phase it is right now.
"Oh... For fuck's sake what I got myself into..."
I looked out the window, the red growing crescent "looked" back at me, mocking me and laughing at my misery.