Royal Blood

The next night, Alexander and I met at his grandmother's monument in the cemetery.

"I think it went well," I said, rushing toward him.

He greeted me with a long kiss. "That was so nice of your parents to invite us. No one in town has reached out to them. It meant a lot."

"My parents really like you.And your family."

Alexander brushed my hair away from my face with his fingers. "But there are things you must know"

"Our dads gotalong " I said, dreaming.

"Constantine's really great. But he doesn't see me as a real artist. He thinks I'm just going through a phase."

"Why do you call him by his first name?"

"I just rarely see him. And when I do, he's always focused on his work.Dad never really fell off my tongue. Raven I have to tell you something. Why I didn't introduce you to them before... It's why I've been distracted." Alexander paused, trying to find the right words.

"They like me, but they don't want me to become your grandmother-an outsider in her own family," I said.

Alexander nodded.

"I can imagine if my parents knew you were a vampire, they might have problems with it. I understand your parents might feel the same way about me being a mortal."

"Well, there is that..."

"But we all get along. Like one big extended happy family. It's just funny. If my parents knew about your parents-and you for that matter..."

"What do you think they'd do?" Alexander asked, pulling me toward him.

"Not let me meet you in a cemetery, on sacred ground. That's for sure."

Dullsville's cemetery was decorated for a wedding. I stood at its entrance wearing a strapless white wedding dress and long white fingerless gloves. My train was as long as a coffin. Chairs, filled with unfamiliar faces, lined the soggy grass.

Mr. and Mrs. Sterling were awaiting me underneath the wrought-iron arch. Becky was standing up there in a pink ill-fitting bridesmaid's dress. Jameson, in his chauffeur's uniform, was standing as a best man. The officiator was cloaked in a grim reaper outfit.

Alexander, beaming in a vintage tuxedo, was waiting for me.

My dad joined my side and held a tight grip on my elbow. For some reason, I felt resistant to go-just as I had as a kid when it came time for swimming lessons.T'he water was always too cold, and my suit was always still damp from the day before. My dad held on tightly. "It's time to swim," he said with a wink.

We walked through the cemetery between the tombstones as raindrops hit my veil.

I tried to find my mother. She was sitting in the front row with her back toward me. When I reached her row, I heard her mumble, "Why did you want to be like her when you could have been like me."

I was appalled by her comment, but my dad still guided me to the altar.

The grim reaper's face was hidden, but Alexander was gorgeous. He took my hand and squeezed it tightly. Becky lifted my veil. My handsome vampire leaned me back and grinned. His fangs flashed. For some reason I wasn't frightened. Two stabs gently pierced the soft flesh of my neck. I became dizzy.

I could smell blood-my own-as it dripped down my neck. It drizzled down the white dress and splattered like paint.

The guests began to clap and cheer in a contagious frenzy. They rose to their feet and smiled. All of them were vampires. Even my best friend, Becky, flashed tiny fangs at me. My father grinned and my mother sneered, both bearing pearly white fangs.

"TheSterlings have come to town!" the guests cheered.

I froze, staring at my parents. This isn't what they had wanted for me-much less for themselves. And it was now too late, for all of us.

I awoke to glares from my classmates. I must have dozed off in English class. Mrs.Naper was tapping her pointer on her desk. "That makes the third time this week, Raven. I'll have to talk to your parents about your sleeping habits."

Trevor glanced back from the front row. He gave me a sexy grin and shook his head. For the first time, I was happy to see him. It was less disturbing to see my nemesis as a nightmare ofrny reality than to see my parents as vampires in a dream.