Chapter Text
“Dearly departed, in conjunction with the Lower Hutt Vampire Witch Club and the Karori Zombie Society invites you to attend the Unholy Masquerade, on the night of the 6th of June, starting at 6pm.” Viago said out loud to his flatmates “It’s in the same place as last year.”
“A good thing, it was pretty close to here.” Deacon commented, a smile on his face.
“Who’s the guest of honour?” Vladislav asked, not really caring about the place.
“It’s someone called (Y/n) (L/n).” Viago stopped for a second, trying to remember if the name was familiar “She must be new, I’ve never heard of her.” the man shrugged.
“Another year and they couldn’t care less about me.” Vladislav said, walking back to his room.
“Maybe next year!” Deacon screamed at him.
“I’m sure it’ll be fun. Don’t be a party pooper, Vlad!” Viago said, a smile still on his face just from knowing that they would enjoy a night with their friends and colleagues.
<->
Some days passed and they were all ready to go, using their best clothes and accessories galore. The party had already started when they got there, Nick had accompanied them (Stu was supposed to go, but was banned since he was a human) and Petyr stayed home as always. The group entered the party, already starting to dance awkwardly just like the people present. Deacon was drinking some alcoholic blood, Viago had started a conversation with Nick and Vlad seemed to be flirting with another vampire.
They all got interrupted when the planner of the masquerade grabbed the microphone and announced the arrival of the guest of honour. The whole party turned to the stage, waiting patiently for the girl to enter.
“Our guest of honour tonight is very special, she got turned last year and is one of the only vampires known in history that can hypnotize another vampire.” the woman waited for the girl, but she never came “(Y/n)?” she noticed the girl shying away at the corner “She’s a little shy right now.” she spoke into the microphone “Come on, it’s all right.” the woman reassured, and the girl finally made her way up the stage.
The girl came out of the darkness, showing her pale face and soft features. She had the eyes of a doe, big shiny (e/c) orbs and her hair was a pure (h/c), flowing behind her back until her waist. She was in a fancy red dress, they could tell it wasn’t from the 1800’s because it lacked some of the features of the era, probably handmade or rented, but it was still an expensive looking dress. It was all made of red velvet, the only detail being the frills on the cleavage and at the end of the long sleeves. The girl looked extremely embarrassed, if she wasn’t a vampire she would’ve been completely red just like her dress.
She grabbed the microphone softly and thanked the woman for presenting her. As she began talking, she got the attention of the whole audience. They seemed like they were in a trance, not exactly hypnose, more like they were on a show watching their favorite singer perform. Viago was enchanted by such an angelic voice, pointing it out to Nick as the man had said right after the girl went on stage that he would try to hook her up. Deacon too was entranced by the voice, his mouth hanging open and his drink long forgotten, almost falling from his hand. Vladislav seemed to be the most smitten of them all, he had completely ignored the woman beside him and had a small silly smile on his face.
“T-thank you for having me. Uh… I hope you all have a wonderful night and… I hope I get a chance to meet you all.” (Y/n) smiled, showing her white fangs.
She was applauded by the little crowd as she got out of stage, she was so accustomed to being the lonely one, and now, being the center of attention was a little too much for her. She could still feel eyes on her, but it sure had died down when she gave away the microphone. Some groups introduced themselves to her, they all seemed kind and all, but she still felt a little left out, being turned just last year made her look like a baby near vampires that were even a hundred years old. What made it even worse was that she was turned with twenty years, she wasn’t experienced even in her human life and now she had to learn all over again about being a vampire.
As she was grabbing some blood a young man came to her, he had a goofy face, but seemed to be nice.
“Hey, how are you doing?” he asked, leaning on the table and smiling at her.
“H-hi!” she said back, not really knowing how to start the conversation.
“So, you’re a new vampire. How are you adapting to it?” he asked, serving himself some blood.
“It wasn’t easy, I had to run away until I found a vampire friend to live with, but she’ll be moving soon and I gotta find another place to stay.” she answered, smiling a little bit while thinking about her problems “Sorry, I didn’t get your name.”
“I’m Nick, I’m actually new to it myself. It’s been some years since I got turned.” he continued, extending his hand and shaking hers, noticing how soft her skin was.
“I’m glad to know I’m not the only one here.” she placed her hand on top of his arm, a friendly gesture, but in Nick’s mind that gesture had another meaning.
“H-hey, Nick. Aren’t you gonna introduce us?” a man with a fur coat approached them, a smile that was obviously fake on his face.
He was followed by a very friendly looking vampire and an angry looking one, though the girl wasn’t sure if his face was just like that or if he was truly angry, nonetheless she still found him pretty attractive, his hairy chest making an appearance with how his shirt was opened.
“Hi, I’m (Y/n). Nice to meet you…” she introduced herself, hoping to get his name in return.
The man seemed to melt at the sound of her voice, his smile now was more realistic and relaxed.
“I-I’m Deacon.” he managed to stutter it out “This is Viago.” he pointed to the taller one, who waved his hand at her “And this is Vladislav.” he pointed to the other man, who now had a silly smile on his face.
“Nice to meet you, (Y/n).” Viago came forward, shaking her extended hand.
Then, it was Vlad’s turn to present himself, and he couldn’t resist but to try to charm her a little.
“Pleasure to meet you, my lady.” he softly grabbed her hand and kissed the top of it, earning a small gasp as the girl wasn’t expecting it.
“T-t-the pleasure is all mine.” she held her other hand to her mouth, in that outfit and that situation she felt like a real lady.
“I heard you’ll have to move out soon.” Viago said, interrupting the moment (Y/n) and Vlad had.
“Y-yes, my friend’s moving and I won’t be able to pay for all of the rent. I’ll have to move somewhere else.” she explained, messing with the frills of her sleeves.
“You could stay with us!” Deacon suddenly seems more enthusiastic.
“I wouldn’t want to be a burden.”
“It’s all right, there’s a vacant room in our house that hasn’t been used for anything in particular.” Viago complemented “The rent will soon rise and we’d be happy to have it split a little more.”
“That’s actually amazing!” she smiled and all four men around her couldn’t help but do it too “I hope I won’t cause any trouble.”
“With that beautiful face, I’d pay for you to live there.” Vlad complimented her, earning a shy glance and a small lip bite, which really got him in a good mood.
“There’s only one problem, and I hope you guys won’t be bothered by it.” she drank a bit of the blood she got earlier.
“Whatever it is I’m sure we’ll be okay with it.” Viago reassured her.
“I can’t control my hypnosis at all.”
“What do you mean?” Deacon asked, not really understanding how that was possible. Nick was just as new as her and he could control it just fine, never having it fail him.
“It’s almost involuntary. Sometimes I say things and vampires get hypnotized for some minutes or some hours, never more than two hours actually.” she sighed, waiting for the guys to freak out, but they seemed quite fascinated by it “I can’t do it willingly, so I have to be careful on what I say or else it might get someone, or even me, stuck in a difficult situation.” the girl pushed some hair out of her face.
“I could help you.” Vlad offered, his smile showing the gap on his front teeth.
“I don’t know, the last vampire that tried to help me didn’t do much.” she widened her eyes, noticing how rude her predicament must have seemed “I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean to offend! I’m sure you’re great with hypnosis, it’s just that… I’m a little insecure about it. All of my other abilities are fine, it’s just this one that bothers me.”
“I wasn’t offended, but I must say that I used to hypnotize full crowds, bigger than this masquerade.” the man said, proud of his accomplishments.
“Then, I’m honoured to become your apprentice.” she bowed, joking on how they kept talking to each other like they were in medieval times.
“So, it’s settled. (Y/n) will be moving in with us!” Deacon sounded almost like a child saying that.
“I’ll give you our phone numbers and I’ll send our address to you. We’ll prepare the room and you bring your things when you feel comfortable.” Viago made the arrangements, making sure to add a note to his notebook about cleaning the room and warning Petyr.
“I’ll have to talk to my friend, but I’ll probably be moving in this week still.” (Y/n) smiled “Thank you, guys. I really would be lost without you, and I just met you!” she laughed, being followed by the other men chuckles.
Their conversation kept going on, completely forgetting about Nick, who now felt like a third wheel, well fifth wheel, and it was supposed to be the other way.