Raven's P•O•V

This was it. This was my last night as a human.

I sat at the stool as Piper prepped me for the ceremony. I tried to keep a straight face although I felt nerves gripping my mind.

I truly looked magnificent as Piper did my hair and makeup. My dress looked like someone had glue a million diamonds onto my skin. A cloak similar to the dress was lain on my shoulders, draping over me. Although, the dress was a little too revealing for my taste, but Piper insisted that the eccentric look fit me. For my last night, I might as well go with a bang.

Piper sighed contently and placed the ruby tiara on my head. The red shone in between diamonds set in the metal of the tiara. Come tomorrow, my eyes would match the rubies. The simple thought sent shivers down my spine.

"You look stunning." Piper marveled at her work. I blushed and looked down, feeling out of place like I had the night I was introduced to the kingdom.

I sighed and turned to Piper, looking away from the mirror.

"What's going to happen tonight?" I asked, still not knowing the full plan.

"You're going to be faced with the entire Vampire race," Irina clarified as she walked into my closet. "Alec will be at the front of the aisle. Dimitri will speak over you two and will ask you both to vow your agreement to being each others' Soulmate." She came over and straightened my tiara a tad. Piper had grabbed a set of diamond earrings and put them in as her mother talked.

"And as for after the ceremony...?" I asked quietly.

"After the ceremony, you will return to your room for your final hour, before you will be escorted to Alec's private chambers on the west wing of the castle." Irina concluded. Her words sent a chill through me.

Instead of replying, I simply nodded, unable to bring words to my thoughts.

I stood and faced the two women. The sun was a dark orange as it set its last rays over Romania. Their pale skin reflected the setting sun as I looking to them.

I pulled them in for a hug, trying my best not to let tears fall and ruin Piper's beautiful makeup job. I pulled away from them and gave a weak smile.

Piper was called downstairs, leaving Irina and I in my closet. I went to leave my closet, only to be stopped by Irina grabbing my hand. I turned to her and could see the pitiful expression on her face.

She took my hand in both of hers and held it. She looked as if she may cry.

"I'm so sorry Raven." Irina murmured, meeting my eyes. I instantly knew she meant it.

"I was you once. And I know this is going to be hard as you say goodbye to your humanity. And I'm so sorry you have to..." She sighed, her eyes glassy. I felt my heart sink into my stomach.

I had been so strong the past few days. But seeing Irina like this broke my courage.

"I don't want to die Irina." I murmured, my voice cracking. I couldn't look to her, knowing that that would make the tears fall over the edge.

"I know sweetheart. I know..." She said and gripped me in her embrace.

She was like me once. She was the only one that once shared my humanity. Knowing this made me hold her close as if she was my own mother...

"It has to be done. It just has to." Irina murmured and I nodded, parting from her.

She studied my pained eyes with care then said,

"We better get going. Everyone is waiting." An assuring smile came to her face, and I followed her down to the main hall.

It felt like the night of my introduction. The memories of that day came back to me. Part of me wished that Alec was there beside me...

Irina went in before me and told me to wait outside of the immense doors. I let out a deep sigh and faced the wooden doors. I was told to walk in alone. And every single Vampire was going to be watching me.

I heard Dimitri's voice muffled slightly behind the doors although it was loud and clear.

"Thank you everyone for coming from all nations to celebrate with us tonight the turning of my heir's Mortal Bride. Please, let us stand for the procession." Dimitri's voice boomed over the hall of Vampires, although they could hear him just fine. He sounded proper, like a true King. I wondered if that's how Alec would be one day.

The doors opened and everyone faced me. A symphony played as my train of glittering jewels followed behind me like a sea of diamonds. I swallowed hard, trying not to quiver under the critical gaze of the entirety of the Vampire race.

I stood tall, my heels clicking against the floor like a clatter of thunder in the symphony of instruments. I held my gaze on Alec. I swallowed hard, seeing him there at the end of the aisle, dressed in his tux. I gave him a light smile and couldn't help but feel a blush rise to my face as he raked his eyes over my body.

I could see Dimitri standing at the head of the hall like a minister would at a wedding. Now I could see the resemblance of this ceremony and a wedding. Part of me wished I didn't have to lose my humanity. If it came done to it, I'd much rather be arranged married to the Vampire I was already falling for.

I approached them and Alec smiled at me. I held up my hand and he took it properly, helping me up the two stairs up to the pedestal. I blushed harder as his hand left mine and rested on the small of my back. Although they told me I would be bound to Alec after I was turned and felt the Soulmate bond, part of me wondered if I already was.

Alec's P•O•V

Raven was gorgeous. Seeing her standing in the doors and catching the gaze of over a thousand people made me realize the seriously enchanting woman was truly mine. And to be honest, that's all I ever wanted her to be.

Her heart may be getting accustomed to falling for a man like me, but my own was drenched in pure admiration since the first moment I saw her. She wouldn't understand that feeling until tonight, and I couldn't possibly bear to wait for her to feel the same as I had for the past two months.

She approached me and I held her hand as she stepped up to the pedestal. Her heels made her slightly taller, although I would always tower over her. I held the small of her back, lightly feeling the curve of her spine.

"Please sit." My father called over the people as the symphony ended with a shrill note. Everyone sat and watched. I dropped my hand forcibly from her body, ripping away from the heat coming from her skin underneath that thin dress of jewels.

I cleared my throat and held my hands to myself even though that dress admittedly could drive any man wild.

"Today we are here to institute the turning of Raven Selene Carmichael by the bite of my son, your next King, Alec Dimitri Morgenstern." He announced. I glanced at Raven from the corner of my eye and saw her standing confident and courageous. Seeing her like that still sparked my undeniable attraction to her. I could feel it fill me.

"Please bow your heads." My father murmured to Raven and I. We did as he said. He placed his hand on my right shoulder and the other on her left shoulder.

He started speaking in ancient Romanian that most of us could understand fluently. The words followed the ones of a kind of blessing. They spoke of love and unbreakable bond that would come not only from I being Raven's sire, but also from Raven coming to know her feelings as my Soulmate.

Raven seemed rigid underneath my father's palm. I almost didn't want him touching her after forcing me to turn her, but I blew it off, knowing that soon enough she'd be comforted in my hold.

Her heart was the loudest out of all the dull pounding of our Vampire hearts. So pure and rebellious. Not weighed down by the many, many immortal years. I focused on her heart beat as my father spoke in English now.

"Alec Dimitri Morgernstern, do you vow to take Raven Selene Carmichael as your sired Soulmate, as of tonight and for the rest of your immortal days?" He asked me. I stood tall and spoke with conviction,

"I, Alec Dimitri Morgenstern, vow to take Raven Selene Carmichael as my sired Soulmate, as of tonight and for the rest of our immortal days."

My father looked to Raven and asked the same of her,

"Raven Selene Carmichael, do you vow to take Alec Dimitri Morgenstern as your sire and as your Soulmate, as of tonight and for the rest of your immortal days?"

Raven took my hand and held her head high, repeating my words to the perfect point.

"I, Raven Selene Carmichael, vow to take Alec Dimitri Morgenstern as my sire and as my Soulmate, as of tonight and for the rest of my immortal days."

Dimitri nodded to both of us, knowing what we said was now vowed and true.

"Let this be to the will of all Vampires and of fate, as Raven journeys to her last moments of humanity." Dimitri said firmly and we met eyes. He gave me a stern look and I nodded to him, knowing that this time I wouldn't get away with leaving her unturned.

Raven's heart clenched and fluttered as the words sunk in. I didn't dare to look at her as people rose their glasses to cheer.

♱

Raven's P•O•V

I stood on my balcony, breathing in the cool, night air. The moon was held high above the trees, shining over the quiet night that now immersed Romania in a blanket of darkness. It was beautiful with the stars glistening by the millions in the sky above.

I had no doubt that this was the perfect last view of the countryside before I was turned. I wondered if it would be different once I woke.

I sighed and turned around to go back into my room. I closed the balcony doors behind me and looked over my room.

I had an hour. One final hour as a human and then I was to be escorted to Alec's chambers. I shivered at the thought.

I shook my head and went over to my closet. Piper told me the outfit I was to change into was in there. Draped over the makeup chair, she had said. I walked over to the chair and cringed, picking up the completely see-through, white lace nightgown.

I grabbed it and walked out of my closet, ready to go over to her room and ask her what the hell this piece of lace was doing in the form of a night gown. Did she expect me to wear this in front of Alec?

I stopped in my closet doors and felt a chilled gust of wind fly through my room. The lights flickered and went out. My balcony doors were swung open and the drapes swept around them. I gasped and could see the silhouette of a man standing in the doorway of my balcony.

Nothing but the moon illuminated him, causing him to resemble a mere shadow. I stepped back, dropping the lace nightgown. I could tell he was looking at me by the way his head cocked in my direction.

"Who's there?" I stammered in a firm voice. Without an answer, someone started to chant behind me in a language I didn't recognize. By the sound of it, it didn't sound like anything good...

I felt my throat tighten. Gripping at my throat, I fell to my knees. My blood ran cold inside my body, nearly freezing as it iced my body with a still paralysis.

All of this happened within seconds, before I even had time to scream.

My pleas for help were dry as the silhouette now stood before me. I looked up at the man, his black cloak looming over him like a shadow of death. He pulled back the hood, my twitching body froze by my own blood as the deathly familiar face came to my vision.

"DeMalo." I growled, but his name caught in my throat, coming out as a hoarse rasp. DeMalo squatted down before me, his midnight cloak pooling before him as he reached out to caress my cheek.

His touch was as cold as I was. DeMalo tsked at me like a child.

"There's no use my love. He couldn't hear you even if you could scream." DeMalo informed me with a sick smirk.

An icy huff came from my mouth before he snatched me up and I blacked out to the sound of those chants.

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