“You haven’t seen him recently, have you?” Pru asked.
“No,” the woman said.
“And you have no idea where we might be able to find him?” Christine questioned.
“No…” the woman murmured. Something flashed in her eyes. “Only –”
“Yes?” Pru demanded. “What?”
“We thought we heard someone singing in that part of the maze this morning. We had to fetch a ladder and see who was behind there.”
“And? Who was it?”
“No one,” the lady shrugged. “It mustn’t have been coming from there. But when we looked the singing stopped so … maybe he has been around?”
“Can I leave you my number?” Pru asked. “To give to him if he ever shows up?”
The lady sighed. “I guess it wouldn’t cause any harm.”
Pru read it out to her and the lady punched it in her phone. Then they said goodbye and walked back through the archway.
“Did you buy all that?” Christine asked. “People singing but there’s no one there?”
“I think it was him,” Pru said. “He’s still around here. Somewhere.”
Christine checked the time. “We’ve been gone an hour. Do you really want worry them any further?”
“I don’t care,” Pru said. “Let’s … let’s go back to the old garden.”
“But Prudence, we’ve already looked there!”
“Just one last time,” Pru whispered. “Please.”
“What can I say?” Christine murmured. “It’s your special day.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
After a few minutes of waiting beside the dead end in silence, Prudence knew Christine’s patience was wearing thin. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was hoping to happen, other than for Bastian to just appear around the corner and say hello, but still she couldn’t give up. This could be her last chance to meet him and she wanted to give it her all.
“How much longer?” Christine muttered.
“Don’t know.”
She stood up. “Maybe he’ll only say hello if you’re alone.”
“Are you being sarcastic?”
“I don’t know,” Christine shrugged. “But we can’t sit around here forever. The novelty’s worn out.”
“Oh,” Pru said sadly. “Well… I showed up at least. I was here to see him. He can’t take that away. If he wants to stand me up, that’s his affair.”
A worried look crossed Christine’s face. “You don’t know this guy. You met him twice at the most and the last time you saw him was two years ago. The odds of him being here to see you are just…”
“But he was there, after all those years. He was there that night waiting for me. Michael scared him away.”
“Or you just imagined he was there.”
“Perhaps.”
Pru got up off the ground. “Well, it was something being here anyway. With you that is.”
“So are you gonna marry this guy, or what?”
Pru smiled. “I guess that’s the plan.”
Christine turned to leave and Pru’s feet went with her … only she reached out to touch the leaves one last time…
“Oh shit,” Pru whispered.
“What is it?” Christine asked.
Her hand descended further.
“There’s no wall.”
“What?”
Pru’s arm disappeared into the hedge. “The wall is gone!”
“No, that can’t be – let me try –”
Christine moved towards her, but before she got there, someone grabbed a hold of Prudence’s hand.
And pulled her all the way in.
CHAPTER TWENTY
On the other side of the hedge Prudence fell into Bastian’s embrace, with him catching her, then setting her upright. She looked at him, first stunned, then alarmed. The background behind him was moving with shapes and colors she could not comprehend.
“Christine,” Pru murmured. “Christine!”
She felt the leaves of the hedge behind her.
“You left her behind,” Bastian said. “Don’t worry. She’ll be okay.”
Pru pressed herself against the hedge again but there was no way through.
The wall had sealed shut.
“I’m dreaming,” Pru stammered. “I’m – I’m hallucinating. This isn’t real.”
“This is absolutely and perfectly real,” Bastian assured her. “Just allow me to explain before you begin to panic.”
“Explain.”
“I shall,” Bastian said quietly. “But first let’s sit down together.”
Bastian snapped his fingers and a red carpet rolled out along the ground beside them.
Pru’s eyes followed it and saw that she was no longer in the maze she’d had just been in. She was somewhere else entirely.
“Let’s get you into something more appropriate,” Bastian said, snapping his fingers again.
Pru’s wedding dress disappeared and was replaced by a silky red one.
Then he took her hand and led her down the steps before them.
“You’re not crazy,” he said as they walked. “And you’re not delusional. What you’re experiencing is an interaction with the paranormal. Or as I might prefer to say, an adventure.”
Pru was too scared to speak. There were a million things she could see on the horizon that had no basis for where’d she’d come from. To the right there was sand, the shoreline, the beach. In the distance, hills with grey clouds hovering over them.
The sky was dark but it was still day time. Purple traces ran within it.
On the pavement before them they were greeted by a waiter and waitress, who offered them chairs at a large dining table. She was seated opposite Bastian, while a tray of drinks and appetizers was placed in the centre by another member of his staff.
“Does it feel like such a long time since we saw each other?” Bastian asked, plucking a glass of red wine from the tray.
“No,” Pru replied.
“When you live to be as old as I am, a few years is nothing. I would have waited a century for the right woman to come along.”
“Right woman?”
“Someone I’m compatible with.”
“But… How do you get that from the few minutes we’ve spent together? I … I dreamt of you. But I don’t know you.”
“You found the garden, Prudence,” he said seriously. “You happened to be there at that exact moment when I was there. It’s not our preferences or choosing. It’s fate.”
“But … you can just go and find anyone. It doesn’t have to be me because I was in the maze that day. I’m not special.”
“We’re all a number of things. All unique in our own ways. Love is special, yes? And if I were to love you, wouldn’t that make you special? To me at least?”
“But you don’t love me.”
“Yes, but I think I’m going to.”
Pru shifted in her chair. The waiter offered her a glass of white wine, to which she accepted it.
“So what is all this then?” she asked. “How is it possible … and what do you want from me ultimately?”
“Well, I’m a vampire, Prudence,” Bastian said casually. “That doesn’t make me immortal, but it does mean I don’t age. Time has stopped. And in my endless days I long to share them with someone. For I have no one here.”
Pru glanced around at the servants. “It seems you have a lot of people here.”
Bastian leaned forward. “They’re slaves. Cattle gifted to me so I haven’t a reason to venture beyond this realm. Though, I very much yearn to. Which I guess is also where you come in.”
“How’s that?”
“I need a connection to the human world. Only through marriage can I enter for longer than a day. Such are the rules set out for me.”
“Who makes them? The rules?”
“That’s a very good question,” Bastian said. “But I can’t really get into all that. What’s important is for us to come to an understanding.”
“W
hat sort of understanding?”
“If you’re going to be mine, then there will be sacrifices.”
“Look…” Pru said uneasily. “I’m … I’m marrying someone else.”
“Michael?”
“Yes. You … know his name?”
“Of course. And I know you love him.”
“So … why would you think I would want to marry you?”
“Because if you don’t, you know you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
Pru swallowed. “I think I need some time to process this.”
“Of course.”
“I hope you won’t get upset if I reject you.”
“You mean you hope I won’t hurt you.”
Pru nodded.
Bastian stood up and walked over to her. He took her hand and lifted her from the chair.
“Walk with me,” he said.
They walked.
When they arrived at their destination they were at the edge of the platform, staring out into the jungle forest.
Pru followed his gaze out into the hills.
“You see that castle there?”
“Where?”
“Behind the mountains. I’ll show you.”
He waved his hand and the mountains seemed to momentarily dissolve, revealing a striking medieval castle, shining with purple light.
“Do you see it now?”
Pru nodded.
“If you want to be with me, then the next time you come here, look for it.”
Pru turned to look into his eyes. “How on earth will I ever get here again?”
“You’ll find a way,” Bastian whispered.
Pru looked back to the table where the servants were, their heads titled downward.
“I don’t have to give you an answer now?”
“No,” Bastian said. “But I would ask one thing of you.”
“What’s that?”
He smiled and handed her a rose. “Will you be my valentine?”
THANKS FOR READING. IF YOU ENJOYED THIS STORY, PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING ROSETTE OUT AND LEAVING A REVIEW.
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VAMPIRE’S WEDDING
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C5X7N22
Today was the day Prudence and Michael were supposed to get married. While she has briefly crossed over into Bastian's world, to have him profess his love for her, the real world behind them is constantly moving. The wedding is going ahead and everyone expects Prudence to be there.
Sensing there might be trouble, Michael sends his step-sister Millie to spy on Pru and find out what she's up to. Before long it is all out in the open - Pru's uncertainty about her commitment to Michael, Bastian's proposal, and the fantasy world she has been living in.
She must now choose not only between her two suitors, but how she will spend the rest of her life. Whether that be fifty more years, or an eternity.
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