"H-hey, slow down, Bell!" Max said, stumbling after her. "And easy with the grip. You're pulling my arm so hard that you're going to break my bones. Also..."
He stopped talking and glanced over his shoulder. The crowd had closed behind them like water, and he could no longer see the violet gown or the golden hair. He tilted his head left and right, searching between the guests, and kept looking for a full minute. Finally he was sure.
"It seems she isn't following us anymore," Max said. "She was wearing high heels, so maybe she gave up. We can stop here, Bell."
"Yeah... haah... haah... haah..." Bell let go of his arm and bent forward with her hands on her knees. Her chest rose and fell quickly. "Yeah, we should stop. I'm out of breath. Haah!"
Max looked at her and tried very hard not to laugh. A few minutes ago, she had been the quiet girl who gripped his arm in the dark. Now she was gasping for air like she had just finished a marathon. He couldn't help thinking that it suited her better.
They had ended up near the edge of the ballroom, beside a tall window with heavy velvet curtains. The music was softer here, and the crowd was thinner. A waiter in a white uniform was passing nearby, and Max raised his hand to get his attention.
"Excuse me. Could you bring me some water? Two glasses, to be exact."
The waiter bowed at the waist, with one arm across his chest. "Your wish is my command, distinguished guest."
Then he turned and walked away with perfect posture.
Max slowly raised one eyebrow. "Wish is my command?" he muttered. "Distinguished guest?" He lowered his voice even more, so that only Bell could hear. "What the fuck did my aunt do to train these people? Did she send them to a palace?"
Bell, still catching her breath, let out a weak laugh. "Maybe she did."
Max sighed and pressed his palm against his forehead. "Her and her extravagant ways of training her underlings. I guess it's no wonder my dad called her insufferable."
A minute later, the waiter returned. He walked toward them as if he were carrying a crown on a pillow instead of a steel tray. He lowered it slowly in front of them and offered the two glasses of water, bowing his head slightly.
Max took both glasses. He handed one to Bell, who was still panting, and said, "Thank you."
"You are most welcome, distinguished guest," the waiter said. Then he straightened, bowed once more, and left.
Bell took the glass with both hands and drank half of it in one go. The cold water ran down her throat, and she let out a long, relieved breath. "Haah. Thanks for the water, Max."
"You're welcome." Max took a sip of his own. "Anyway, we should stay around here for now. I need to talk to Auntie Julietta later."
Bell lifted her eyebrows and gave him a teasing smile. "Why? Do you want to hear her nagging again? Hahahaha."
Max laughed too. "No, no. It's important. It's about the surprise I have for you on our third and last date."
"Ohhhhh!" Bell's eyes lit up. She held her glass against her chest and bounced a little on her toes, forgetting for a moment that she was in a dress that was supposed to look dignified. "Okay! Alright! I can't wait to find out what this surprise is."
She giggled from the excitement. It was the kind of giggle that people only make when they are truly happy, and Max found himself smiling again before he could stop it.
'She's never done that before,' he thought. 'Not once in the three weeks I've known her.'
He didn't say it out loud. He didn't want to scare the moment away.
***
Meanwhile, one hour earlier, in an apartment on the other side of the city...
A woman lay on a leather sofa with her phone held above her face, and she did not look happy.
It was none other than Irmela. She was Bell's aunt, and she had a head full of messy black hair that looked like she had been running her fingers through it for the last hour. Her eyes did not match. Her left eye was a warm brown, and her right was icy blue. Both of them were moving quickly from line to line as she scrolled through the messages on the screen.
The first message was from two days ago. It was from her brother-in-law, Otto.
Otto:Irmela, ich habe einen meiner Männer dorthin geschickt, keine Sorge.
(Irmela, I sent one of my men there. Don't worry.)
She had not answered that one. She had already known that Otto's men were watching her building, and she had not liked it, but she had not complained either. The message after it was the new one. It had arrived just a few minutes ago, and every line of it looked like it had been typed with angry thumbs.
Otto:Irmela, warum zur Hölle ist Lauren hier?! Auf Juliettas gottverdammtem Jubiläumsball??? Antworte mir!
(Irmela, why in the living hell is Lauren here?! At Julietta's goddamn anniversary ball??? Answer me!)
Irmela blinked at the screen. Then she sat up so fast that her phone almost slipped out of her hand.
"Julietta's party?" she said to the empty room. "What party?"
She typed back with quick, furious fingers.
Irmela:Ich wusste nicht mal, dass es Juliettas Party ist, und ich weiß auch erst jetzt, dass dieser Max, der übrigens ein Hoffman war, mir nicht mal gesagt hat, dass sie zu ihrer verdammten Party gehen!
(I didn't even know it was Julietta's party. And I'm only finding out now that this Max, who was a Hoffman, by the way, didn't tell me they were going to her fucking party!)
The reply came almost at once.
Otto:Du hast also keine Hintergrundüberprüfung von ihm gemacht?!!!
(So you didn't do a background check on him?!!!)
Irmela stared at the screen for three whole seconds. A vein appeared on her forehead.
Irmela:Woher soll ich das wissen, wenn ich diese Wohnung nur gekauft habe, um mich vor diesen gottverdammten Hexenjägern zu verstecken!
(How am I supposed to know that when I only bought this apartment to hide from those goddamn Witch Hunters!)
She didn't wait for him to answer. She kept typing, and the more she typed, the faster her thumbs moved.
Irmela:Und merk dir das: Ich habe diese ganze Wohnung nur gekauft, damit ich ein Auge auf meine Nichte haben kann, deine verdammte Tochter, um die du dich bestimmt nicht mal einen Scheißdreck gekümmert hast! Du und meine Schwester habt echt eine verdammt beschissene Arbeit als Eltern gemacht, was?
(And remember this: I only bought this whole apartment so I could keep an eye on my niece, your fucking daughter, whom I bet you never gave a damn about! You and my sister did a really fucking horrible job as parents, didn't you?)
She pressed Send and threw the phone onto the cushion beside her. For a moment, nothing happened. She breathed heavily, with her arms crossed and her jaw set.
The phone buzzed. She picked it up again.
Otto:Scheiße... SCHEISSE! Verdammt, ich habe schon genug Probleme wegen dieser Hexenorganisation namens Morgana-Kult! Und jetzt datet ein verdammter Hoffman meine eigene Tochter? VEEEEEERDAAAAMMT!
(Shit... SHIT! Damn it, I already have enough problems because of that witch organization called the Morgana Cult! And now a fucking Hoffman is dating my own daughter? FUUUUCCCKKK!)
Irmela read the message once. Then she let out a short, dry laugh.
Irmela:Hah! Du bist wirklich zum Lachen.
(Hah! You really are laughable.)
Otto:Wie bitte?!
(Excuse me?!)
She smiled thinly. It was not a kind smile. She typed her last message slowly this time, one word at a time, so that every word would hurt.
Irmela:Tschüss, du verdammt verantwortungsloser Vater. Und außerdem hast du kein Recht zu bestimmen, mit wem meine Nichte daten soll. Sie ist nicht mehr deine Tochter, wenn du einfach zugelassen hast, dass sie gemobbt wurde.
(Bye, you fucking irresponsible father. And you have no right to decide who my niece should date. She's no longer your daughter if you just let her be bullied.)
She hit Send.
Otto:...
Three dots. Nothing else.
Irmela looked at them for a moment, and then she closed the messaging app and turned off her phone. The screen went black. In the dark glass, she saw her own tired face looking back at her.
"Sigh. Fucking bastard," she said. "He really hasn't changed at all."
She lay back and stared at the ceiling. The apartment was quiet, with only the faint sound of traffic from far below. She had chosen this place carefully, with thick walls, good locks, and two exits. It was a hiding place, but it was also a watchtower, and she had never admitted to anyone that the second reason mattered more.
"And he has no right to act like a father anymore," she said softly. "Not toward Lauren. She's already an adult. She knows what's right and what's wrong. She doesn't need him to tell her anything."
Irmela rolled off the sofa and walked to her bedroom. She dropped her whole body onto the huge, soft luxury bed and let her arms fall to the sides. The mattress sank under her. She closed her eyes and let out another long breath.
"Problems after problems after problems," she muttered into the pillow. "Fuck. I hope I can really trust you, Max."
She thought about the young man she had met only a few weeks ago. His amber eyes, his careless smile, and the strange, steady way he looked at Bell. He had come into her niece's life like a storm, and Irmela had spent every night since then wondering if he was a good storm or a bad one.
"At the very least," she said, "I know he's capable. He's a quarter vampire, after all. If something happens to her, he can protect her."
She did not sound completely convinced, but she did not say any more. The room was quiet again, and eventually her breathing slowed.
***
Back in the ballroom, Max suddenly turned his head to the side.
"HAACHOOO!"
The sneeze was so loud that two guests nearby looked over. Max rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.
"Umm... are you all right?" Bell asked with a worried look.
"Nah, I'm fine, Bell. It's probably the air conditioning in this place. That's why I sneezed."
He tried to say it casually, but a shiver ran across his shoulders, and his whole body gave a little tremble. He folded his arms and rubbed them. "Geez. They really need to tone down the humidity in here."
"I agree," Bell said. She had been holding her own elbows for the last few minutes without realizing it. "It really is cold. I thought it was just me."
"Looks like both of you aren't used to this kind of humidity," a voice said.
They turned around.
A young man was standing beside them with a polite smile on his face. He had black hair, and there was a large streak of bright blue running through the front of it, as if someone had dipped a brush in the sea and dragged it across his head. His eyes were sapphire. He wore a fine noble-style suit with silver buttons, and the cut of it was so perfect that anyone could have mistaken him for a rich brat who had never worked a day in his life.
"Sorry," he said, lifting both hands in a gentle gesture. "It seems I cut into your private time. How rude of me."
He bowed his head slightly, then raised it again with a friendly look.
"Ahh, sorry again. Let me introduce myself."
Max's eyes widened.
It was not a big movement. It was just a small tightening around the eyes and the muscles in his jaw, so brief that anyone else would have missed it. The glass in his hand creaked. He stopped breathing for a moment, as if the man in front of him were a ghost that had walked out of a locked room.
"My name is Jake Bellovictor," the young man said, smiling. "You can just call me Jake, if you like."
Bell raised an eyebrow and folded her arms. She was still cold, still out of breath, and a little irritated. "Of course we'll call you Jake. It's literally your first name. And it's rude to cut into our conversation when we don't even know you. We're complete strangers."
Jake did not look offended. He bowed again, a little deeper this time. "You're right, and I apologize. I only thought both of you could use some company. You looked like you were having a long night. How terribly rude of me."
"Jake!" A woman's voice rang out somewhere in the crowd. "Jake, where the fuck are you?!"
Jake flinched. His polite smile became a little more nervous. "Ah, sorry. It seems my partner is calling me." He looked at them with an awkward expression. "I realize I forgot to ask. What are your names?"
"Hmph." Bell lifted her chin. Even though she was annoyed, she was too well-mannered to ignore a direct question. "Fine. I'm Bellatrix Laurentina Ahlgrymm. And this is my boyfriend, Max Theo Hoffman."
She turned to Max to complete the introduction and noticed something odd. His mouth was slightly open. His amber eyes were fixed on the stranger in front of him, and they were not blinking.
"Ah... Max?" she said softly. "Is there anything wrong?"
Max did not answer.
"Max."
He gave a small jerk, as though someone had pulled him out of cold water. "Ah! Sorry. How rude of me." He gave a quick, awkward smile. "Please forgive me. I was just thinking about something."
"It's all right," Jake said, waving his hand lightly. "Don't worry about it."
Before anyone could say more, a woman came hurrying through the crowd, holding up the skirt of her gown with one hand. "Ahh, Jake! There you are."
She was a black woman with warm brown skin and a calm, confident face. She was also wearing an elegant dress, deep emerald with gold embroidery, though Bell, who had already beaten most of the young ladies and the older ones in the room when it came to fashion, noticed at once that it was not quite on the same level as hers. It was still beautiful, though, and she wore it with grace.
"Desiree," Jake said, turning to her with a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I wanted to introduce myself, since it looks like this gentleman, Sir Max, is close to Madame Julietta."
"Still," Desiree said, sighing through her nose. "You should have told me before disappearing from my sight. It's really rude of you, Jake. I was looking everywhere."
"Yeah, sorry." Jake rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, right. I forgot the introductions. Miss Bell, Sir Max, this is my partner, and also my girlfriend, Desiree Jane Crooks. Desiree, this is Miss Ahlgrymm and Sir Hoffman."
When she heard the name Ahlgrymm, Desiree straightened her back at once. Her eyes brightened, and she offered her hand with a polite smile.
"Ahh, it's very good to meet you, Miss Ahlgrymm," she said. "I'm a fan of your chemistry experiments. And your father's work too."
Bell blinked. For a moment, she looked surprised. Very few people knew her work, and almost nobody told her they admired it. Then she accepted the offered hand and shook it firmly.
"I see. Thank you very much. And it's also nice to meet you, Miss Crooks."
Then she nudged Max with her elbow.
"Ah!" Max said quickly, as if he had just remembered where he was. "Sorry, how rude of me. It's also good to meet you, Miss Crooks."
"Likewise," Desiree said with a nod. Then she turned to her boyfriend and tapped his arm. "Jake, we should go now. We don't want to be late for Madame Julietta's meeting. She's giving us this opportunity because we're both CGI animators, and she wants us to animate her next site in China. We can't waste it."
"Right, right," Jake said. "All right, then. Goodbye to both of you. And sorry again for intruding on your private time."
Bell and Max only nodded in reply. Jake and Desiree walked away together, shoulder to shoulder, and the crowd quickly swallowed them.
Silence fell between the two of them.
"Max," Bell said at last. She turned to face him with a frown. "Why did you stare at him like that? You looked like you had seen a ghost. And your face turned really pale for a second."
Max didn't reply right away. His right hand had curled into a tight fist at his side, and his knuckles were turning white. He stared in the direction where Jake had gone, and for a moment, his amber eyes looked like they belonged to somebody much older.
"I'll tell you later," he said quietly. "For now, let's just enjoy the party. All right?"
Bell looked at his clenched fist. She wanted to ask. The question was right there on her tongue. But something in his voice told her that this was not the right time, and she had learned, in her own life, how much it hurt to be pushed to talk before she was ready.
She let out a small breath and nodded. "All right."
She did not say anything else. She only moved a little closer to his side.
Max kept looking at the place where Jake had disappeared.
'Jake,' he thought. 'No. Dmitri Masckarov.'
His heart pounded in his chest. He had not expected this at all.
'How is he still alive? In my original life, before my transmigration, and before I went through those nightmarish 30,000 regressions, he was supposed to die today. That's how it happened. It was revealed that he was the one who killed those thugs who raped his best friend's girlfriend, and those same thugs killed his best friend too. And as far as I remember, the one who killed him was the sister of one of those thugs.'
He shut his eyes for a second and tried to steady his breathing.
'Honestly, his crash out was justified. I'm not angry about that, and it's not why my hand is clenched right now. I couldn't care less who he kills, unless it's someone important to me, like Bell or Auntie Julietta.'
His fingers tightened until the knuckles were completely white.
'It's because of what his sister did. That girl approached me when I was a kid, when I was only eight years old. She was kind to me. She made me trust her. She manipulated me, and then, only a few days later...'
His throat closed up, and for a second he couldn't think at all.
'Only a few days later, she killed my parents. She's the one who killed them. I swear...'
Max sighed slowly and loosened his hand. He forced himself to breathe in through his nose and out through his mouth.
'No. Relax now, Max. Don't ruin this party because of the brother of the girl who killed your parents. She only did it just because Dad killed her parents too. They fucking deserved it! They had crimes tied to their Russian Mafia operations, and they even trafficked children illegally. Dad was a hero to those people they trafficked.'
Thinking about it made his blood boil all over again. The Masckarov Massacre was a dish served cold, and nobody who knew the truth ever thought it was undeserved. His father, Dietrich, had wiped them out for a reason. They had kidnapped a child. And it was not just any child. It was a pure-blooded vampire child. That was why Dietrich had slaughtered them.
Max sighed again, and this time he exhaled until there was no air left in his lungs.
'For now, let's just enjoy this party. Later, I'll meet that guy again, and maybe I can find out where his sister is hiding now.'