NIGHTS OF HALLOW

The journey back to the village of Woodbridge was a quiet and long one. Neither Perdita nor Marco spoke to each other.

Marco leaned on the carriage with his face looking outside the window. He watched as the carriage moved past trees and bushes along the path that was covered by thick dense forest that led to the castle. He had removed his mask when he stepped inside the carriage, and his face now fred from wearing the mask all night was replaced by a vacant look.

He couldn’t tell how he felt at the moment. He knew he shouldn’t be angry with Mark, his sister’s once husband-to-be, but he couldn’t help it. He felt the anger from what happened in the past return to him which made him almost want to punch the man in the face.

Mark and his family humiliated and treated his sister like trash and dumped her because she had no one to support or protect her.

Now Mark is back and was speaking with his sister like nothing happened between them. What did he want? To rub it on their faces that they came from a poor background with no relatives?

Just because he had a rich and supportive family where everything was at their beck and call.

He couldn’t understand how his sister could be this forgiving. But him? He will never forgive them for what they did. They were more pathetic than other people from the higher society he had met.

Once in a while, Perdita will look at Marco who refused to talk or look at her since they started their journey back home.

”Did you enjoy the Hallow ball?” Tired of the silent treatment she was receiving from Marco, Perdita broke the silence.

”I did,” Marco curtly replied without looking away from the window of the carriage.

Perdita stared at Marco for a long while before muttering under her breath ”Okay,”

”What about you? Did you enjoy the Hallow Ball?” Marco returned her question so he wouldn’t appear rude.

Perdita frowned and exhaled with a sigh. She answered, ”Not with you being angry at me”

This finally had Marco turn to look at Perdita with a frown that has been on his face ”I’m not angry with you, sis”

”You’ve been ignoring me since we left the castle” She paused and continued to say ”If you’re not angry with me, tell me who you’re angry with then?”

Marco rubbed his jaw in frustration and sighed ”I’m not angry with you, sis”

”Then why are you giving me that cold shoulders? Is it because of Mark?” Perdita carefully asked with her eyes trained on Marco.

”Yes,” Marco answered ”Yes, I am angry with Mark, but most especially, I’m angry with myself”

”Marco,” Perdita gently called him. She placed her right hand on his and said, ”I won’t ask you to forgive Mark that easily, but you shouldn’t be hard on yourself. It’s not yours or my fault things turned out the way they did”

”I know, sis. I just wish I was able t...to”

”Protect me?” Perdita completed Marco’s statement which he was hesitating to finish and he nodded his head in confirmation.

Perdita chuckled in amusement ”You make me funny, little brother”

”It’s not funny,” Marco said in annoyance.

Perdita stopped laughing but the smile was still on her face ”I know it’s not funny, Marco. I just can’t stop myself from laughing because of the words you utter sometimes”

She playfully ruffled his hair in fondness ”I understand you want to always protect me. And I’m very grateful that you’re trying your best when you’re still this young. What happened in the past, no one would have been able to stop it. Not even someone from an equally rich background as them”

”They suddenly decided to cancel the marriage because of our poor status, and I can’t agree more, that it was a good move that came from them. To tell you the truth, I was beginning to doubt the marriage and somehow I knew I won’t be happy with the marriage with Mark” Perdita stopped speaking and relaxed her back on the carriage’s body.

”Why? Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t want to get married to Mark again? We would have stopped it. What if you ended up marrying into a loveless marriage while I’ll be here thinking you are happy with it?”

Perdita negatively shook her head ”It’s not as you think it is, Marco. It would have been easy to cancel the marriage if we are from the same high background as them, but with us being poor, I can’t and we can’t stop the marriage like that”

”You could have told me, sis. I thought you loved Mark?”

”Yes, I once did,” Perdita nodded her head.

”Then why didn’t you want to continue with marriage if you loved him? Even though I hate to admit it, the man loved you too and still does” Marco probed with his chin resting on the palm he used to support his weight as he listened to Perdita talk.

”Uhm...” Perdita scratched her head with a thoughtful look. She said, ”I loved him, but he’s not the man for me. He might be there for me and will also support me, but he’s not the man for me. I just know it”

”Hmm” Marco hummed in an understanding tone. ”Okay, but what if he comes back to you? You know... to probably ask for forgiveness?”

”Everything that happened is all in the past. No more taking it to the present where both of us know it won’t work again. Things have changed and we’re different and worlds apart now. I don’t think it will be a good idea to go back trying to work out something that will definitely crash”

”Okay, I understand. But I don’t think it’s the same thought he’ll have when it comes to him” Marco replied.

”What do you mean?” Perdita questioned.

Marco shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly ”I mean, the man still loves you. I saw it in the way he looked and spoke with you”

”Hmm. Well... I don’t think I’m the one to control how he feels or still feels about me. We’ve moved on and we agreed to be nothing but friends”

”Alright, that’s good to know because I wouldn’t want him anywhere near you if he had the intention to ask for your forgiveness to come back into your life. He hurt you enough, and don’t also ask me to forgive him, because I won’t until I beat him up”

Perdita chuckled at her brother’s protectiveness ”I won’t ask you to forgive Mark. It’s your choice to make this time. But please be gentle if you’re punching him. He’s quite fragile”

Marco let out a loud laugh ”Oh sis, you have some humor in you. Don’t worry, I won’t kill him but I won’t promise to be gentle with him”

Perdita laughed with her brother ”Don’t you have some big ego there? Don’t also forget he’s a vampire too, and probably higher in rank than us. So be careful not to get your jaws shifted” this made Marco increase his laughter which made his eyes small.

When the laughter died down, Perdita said to Marco, ”I haven’t heard you laugh like this for a while now”

”And I haven’t seen you smile this much, sis. Tell me, what’s the secret” Marco teased her.

Perdita punched Marco on his arm ”This topic is about you. Don’t you dare turn it on me. Did you find any beautiful lady that stunned you with her character and speech? What about the lady that was with you when I returned to the ballroom”

Marco rolled his eyes ”I didn’t find anyone because I only went to enjoy my night. The lady you saw was just some annoying pest clinging to me the whole night. I was trying not to be rude by humoring her”

”Oh,” Perdita muttered. She remembered something and suddenly turned to look at Marco with a judging look.

She pointed her finger at him ”You promised your first dance with me”

”Yes,” Marco nodded in confirmation.

”And? What then happened?”

”Did you forget you were the first to dance with the red-haired vampire? What’s his name again?” Marco asked with a raised eyebrow.

”Sthena” Perdita answered and immediately looked away from Marco. She didn’t want him to see her flushed face when she remembered the dance she had with Sthena.

”So, you see? I’m not at fault. I should be angry with you, you left me to dance with him. And now, you’re looking so flushed. Is it because of the dance or is it because of Sthena?”

”None!” Perdita immediately denied it.

That came out too fast. Marco thought but did not say any other thing.

After a while, Marco said to Perdita ”I’m glad you enjoyed your night. I told you, it won’t be that bad”

Of course, I enjoyed my night with a skeleton chasing me in the castle. Perdita thought to herself. She didn’t want to tell Mark about what happened, maybe tomorrow she will tell him. She didn’t want to ruin the happy moment.

She shook her head to stop the negative thoughts and focus on the positive ones, and her mind drifted to dance with Sthena in the ballroom. The way he spoke and held her was hypnotizing. She won’t lie, she enjoyed it. As crazy and mysterious as Sthena appeared to be, she was slowly getting accustomed to his quirky ways.

Stop it Perdita! You’re at it again. Thinking about him again. Perdita almost slapped her head as she scolded herself.

An hour passed before the siblings finally arrived at their home. Tired because of the hallow ball and the long journey, they wished themselves goodnight and retired to bed.

Perdita started to undress to prepare for the night. As she removed her shoe, she felt something ruffle in her shoe.

Bringing out her leg from the shoe, she saw a piece of paper inside.

She was confused and shocked to find the paper inside. When did it enter there? She questioned herself and hesitantly took out the paper that had a written text inside which read, ’You and your brother should be careful of your environment from now on. Contact me if you find anything or anyone suspicious or if you encounter any problems — Sthena’

”Sthena?” Perdita whispered to herself. What was this all about and how did he put that in her shoe?

Wait! It suddenly clicked on her mind, so he dropped this in her shoe when he fixed her hook. But why the letter and what’s the reason for it? Did anything happen in their village? Were they in trouble?

A/N: Please read the author’s note or check the comment section.