After dinner was served the same night, Heidi was cleaning the used utensils as she heard her father and Daniel speak about witches who were spotted at the perimeter of Woville and Valeria. As if the friction between the humans and the vampires weren’t enough, there were the witches too who were responsible for the missing people in the Empire.

“Oh father please, it won’t be late. Daniel promised to pick us up once it finishes,” she saw Nora plead to her father when she was done with the kitchen work and about to go to her room. She wondered what Nora was asking for this time.

“I don’t think so, young lady. The one you are talking about is of long distance and when did you say it is?” their father, Simeon Curtis questioned her.

“Two weeks from now,” her sister replied quickly.

“I don’t think I will be present in the town that day, Nora. I wouldn’t consider it safe and I know how irresponsible you can get at times. So no.”

“I will have Heidi accompany me. She’s responsible! Please father!” Nora began to wail like a child. Nora wasn’t exactly happy of Heidi tagging with her but if it meant her father would allow her to go to the theater then she could handle it but ignoring her for the night, “Please please!” Her sister’s words made Heidi smile internally, at least she had accepted that she was irresponsible.

Simeon looked at Heidi through his rimmed glasses with a serious expression and then at his daughter.

“Alright but I want you girls straight home from the theater,” he said before going back to reading the newsletter.

“Thank you, father!”

Theater? She had heard of theaters being opened in the vampire lands, to showcase the art through music and dance and drama. Like her sister, she had been keen to see the theater too since the word had spread about it.

Finally, the day came for Nora, her friend Clarence and Heidi to visit the theater. It was evening when they reached the destination and nothing could stop their bubbling excitement once they stepped out of the carriage. The three women were dressed as a good as any other women around the theater to look like they were bred from high-class families. Heidi wore the dark grey dress Nora had given her, her black hair tied at the side and let loose in the ends.

The theater was located at the edge of the Bonelake empire, the building as huge as a castle in the middle of a town. As they got inside Heidi was mesmerized by the structure and space of it. Her brown eyes took in everything that came into view. The large pillars, the curtains that hung from the high ceilings, the people there. Their father had got them a box seating from where they could see the stage clearly. Men and women had already begun taking their seats, and the entire theater went quiet went the theatrics began.

She held her breath, her eyes not once moving away from the stage but having them transfixed as the story rolled. For Heidi, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness something so beautiful. Nora and her friend Clarence had only seen the beginning of it before their eyes wandered to the good-looking man sitting in the next box.

When the show ended, her sister and her acquaintance left her alone in the box asking her to meet them in front of the theater. Not knowing what to do, she made her way down the ground through the large stairs and got outside the theater, waiting for her sister.

While waiting she heard someone speak to her.

“I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Turning to her left she saw it was a man but it took her a while to recognize it was the nameless vampire who was dressed in an expensive looking suite.

“Neither did I,” she replied with a small smile.

“Seems like you have enjoyed the show very much. Is this your first time?” She nodded her head to his question. His hair was styled back neatly and he looked no less than an elite member of the vampire class. Now that she noticed he was a very handsome man, his chiseled features with high cheekbones, straight nose, and dark brows.

“I take it you have been to theater’s many times,” she stated looking at his red eyes that looked no less than looking at an endless tunnel where someone could get lost.

“Not many but enough to be bored,” he replied before his eyes moved across the crowd and settled back at her as she pulled the shawl around her.

“Did your wound heal?”

“It has. Thank you for asking. I see that yours has healed as well.”

“Mine?” She asked him perplexed.

“The last time I saw you, you hurt your forehead.”

“Oh, that one. I forgot about that,” she laughed softly.

“You should be careful when you walk…you don’t know which man might shovel you again.”

Had he witnessed the whole scene that day? She felt embarrassed thinking about it.

“You know, Ms. Curtis,” he then began this time his voice drawling, “If you hold that shawl of yours any tighter like a storm is going to come people will find you suspicious,” he said making her eyes snap at him instantly.

Dread began to slowly fill her mind at his words.

Did he know? No that couldn’t be possible, she thought to herself. She had made sure to cover her upper body with the shawl. To divert her mind she looked around searching for her sister Nora, and upon seeing her she murmured a quick goodnight to the man and left the spot without turning back to look at him.

The man stood there looking at Heidi’s retreating figure along with her sister and another woman. At the same time, his coachman arrived.

“Lord Nicholas, the carriage is ready.”