Eden~
I met him on a chilly spring night— The love of my life. His piercing blue eyes bore a hole right through my soul and he consumed me like a raging wildfire, at that moment I knew I would be forever marked by him, forever his.
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"Eden! You are running late already," Ellowen, my twin sister yelled at me. "how many more minutes do you need to shower for?"
I was chosen as the lucky commoner to be invited to the yearly masquerade gala hosted by the Royal family and members of the Elite class. I hated them.
Finally after standing under the shower for about five more minutes, I dried my body with my old white towel and entered into the bedroom.
"Took you long enough," Ellowen stated with a scowl, she was always so serious.
My dress was laid out on the old bed. It was an emerald green dress with expensive beadwork that matched the green of my eyes, it flowed in silky waves to my feet and it hugged and accentuated every single generous curve on my body. I had taken out a considerable amount of my savings to be able to purchase it.
However I knew tonight would only happen once in my lifetime and I would get my money back a hundred fold.
I got dressed quickly and put on my trusty black heels, my gown covered most of it so hopefully the snobby rich people would not notice the peels and scratches that decorated it's surface, my hair bounced as I quickly curled it with a scalding hot curling iron.
My heels clicked loudly against the tiles as I practically ran down the stairs, Ellowen had ordered a ride to the palace for me and I gave her a kiss on the cheek before entering into the car.
I checked my purse once more for my valuables, my phone, credit card, lip gloss, and my invitation.
I was always awed by the splendor of the palace, I had only ever been there once before to apply for a job as a servant back when I was in college. I was rejected, obviously, because I did not belong to a pack. Apparently a person so low in society was not fit to serve royalty.
What they did not know was that I was also a hybrid, mixed with three species, human, vampire and werewolf, an abomination to society.
If they had known I wouldn't even be allowed to cross the gates of the palace.
The outside of the palace was glowing with life and beautiful lights and vibrant trees that glowed in the night it made me feel like I was in one of those fairytale stories, maybe for once I could forget about the troubles of the real world and actually just pretend to be someone else.
I put on my plain black mask.
"Out of my way vermin!" a light feminine voice said as I was violently pushed, I fell to the floor and a sharp piece of granite pierced the skin of my palm.
I cried out in pain before looking up to lay my eyes on the bitch.
Her blood red eyes were practically glowing behind her black feathered mask as she glared down at me, as much as I hated to admit it, she looked breathtaking, she looked like a celebrity that belonged in the red carpet and I should probably feel privileged to be in her presence. From her eye color I could tell she was a vampire, a pure blood to be precise.
I had thought my dress was beautiful, but compared to the black dress she wore, I looked like a servant. That was the moment I realized I would not fit in at this ball, one look at me and they would all know I was the commoner in their midst.
"What sort of creature has purple eyes?" she asked, curiosity laced her voice, "your blood also reeks of abominations," she added, narrowing her eyes at me with suspicion, I couldn't help but feel intimidated.
I looked down at my palm that was now actively bleeding, I would need to wash off the blood before it got on my dress, who knew how many vampires would be in attendance, I did not want to attract the attention of them. For some reason they were madly obsessed with my blood.
"If you will excuse me," I said and walked past her swiftly before she could say anything else to me or be tempted to take a sip of my 'abominable blood'.
Some people were just rude for absolutely no reason.
I managed to hide my bleeding hand as I approached the guards at the door.
"Invitation?" they asked, they stared down at me as if even they knew I did not belong there.
I hoped the purple in my eyes had calmed down, my eyes usually changed from green to a glow of dark purple when I was feeling extremely strong emotions. I knew it had something to do with me being a hybrid. That was the reason Ellowen and I learnt to control our emotions at a very young age so that people would not see our true nature.
I quietly removed the invitation from my purse and handed it to him.
"Is there a restroom I could use close by?" I asked and he reluctantly pointed to a white door down the brightly lit hallway.
I thanked him and stepped into the palace, it had an air of luxury to it and I had a feeling it was one of those places that could change the entire trajectory of my life if I stayed in it for more than a day.
The restroom was bigger than my apartment, and I'm not even trying to over exaggerate. The place was decorated with white gold and white marble, giving the place an aura of purity and minimalism while still maintaining a hint of extravagant wealth.
"You don't need to blend in, just enjoy the free food and drinks and try to steal as much as you can before morning comes, " I said to my reflection on the mirror as I washed out the last remaining streak of blood from my palm.
The cut was deep but it had already regenerated to a considerable extent.
After getting lost like three times in the expansive hallways of the palace, I finally found the ball room.
From the balcony I looked down to see the people mingling, the occasional high pitched laughter of a person that had never lacked in her entire life and the people happily dancing to the music on the dance floor.
They all looked so beautiful, too beautiful, I felt extremely out of place.
I took a deep breath and slowly walked down the stairs, luckily for me, I did not catch the attention of anyone and nobody was looking at me, so my anxiety was somewhat at bay.
I went straight to the bar, a few drinks would make this night much more bearable.
After downing a few shots, my throat burned but I was already feeling light on my feet.
Miss rude, pure blood was approaching the bar, her gloved arm was around the elbow of a gorgeous man, she laughed loudly at something he said.
I excused myself from the bar before she could spot me and make my night even worse.
I found myself at the courtyard of the palace, there was a lake in the distance and it's beautiful waters shimmered under the moonlight.
It was so peaceful, the cool wind carried the sounds of the night creatures, weaving into a calming melody that penetrated my bones.
I let out a loud, calming exhale and walked towards the lake, my shoes sunk into the grass but it was not unpleasant.
Leaning against a tree I stared at the mesmerizing beauty of the lake and I wondered what it would feel like to swim in it, I was quite far away from the revels of the ball so nobody would hear me.
"Tired of the ball?" a deep masculine voice asked and I jerked away from the tree I was leaning on.