I was being tortured.

Forget about iron maidens and being drawn and quartered, what was going was much, much worse.

It was a fancy dinner.

I stared down at the silver tray that supposedly held the food. A lid, glistening with small water droplets, covered the contents of the plate. Everyone around the table jabbered and laughed, smiling, all talking each other. It seemed like one person kept four different conversations going at the same time.

As for me, my hands were the most interesting items of the face of the earth. My feet swung back and forth, not fully touching the floor, but brushing against it with each swing.

I scratched my shoulder, still eyeing the supposed food. White lace from the dress shoved onto me scraped against skin, pushed my ribs closer, kept breaths from coming out or in correctly. The blue was supposed to be "pretty," according to Mom, at least. The twisted hair with clips snatching strands away from my scalp one by one meant the fourteen year old was one of the adults.

While it was nice to be considered responsible enough, couldn't I act the right way without the pain?

And honestly. No matter how many people told me I looked good, I was me. 'Looking good' just didn't happen.

I sighed and nudged Raoul, who sat to my left. "When do you think we can eat?"

He stared at his covered food with the all to familiar forlorn look in his eyes. "I don't know, but it better be soon. I'm about to starve."

As he said that, my stomach roared loudly enough that he and Dad heard. Raoul snorted, trying to stop his laughter. My father didn't even bother. He stopped pretending to talk and burst into uncontrollable, quiet laughs.

At that moment, Dad was just as much, if not more, of a kid than we were.

The light-haired woman across the table my mother was talking to raised an eyebrow. Immediately, we straightened and swallowed the rest of our laughs to the point pain welled up in my stomach from not letting the explosion of giggles out.

Prissy much?

I sighed and grabbed one of my straw-colored ringlets, then started to twirl it around my fingers.

I swear, if we don't get the okay to eat soon, I'm going to explode.

A rustling from the entrance way made me jump. I turned around in my seat, trying to see what or who made the noise.

The good news was, it wasn't monster like the one from a recently read book that jumped to my mind. A taller man, though he wasn't as tall as my father, clothed in a black tuxedo pranced into the room. He made his way over to me and maneuvered his arm in the space between my shoulder and Dad's arm. Something clinked lightly as he set it on the table.

The closeness of the man sent chills crawling up my spine. Why couldn't people understand what personal space was? What on the world was so interesting about being too close to another human being?

I turned around to tell him just that, with a little more tact, but the words died in my mouth.

His eyes were as black as pitch.

Fear rose up in my throat. The butler's small, beady eyes met mine coolly, staring me down with no feeling only... emptiness. His thin, gaunt face was flat, no ounce of energy or life and no inkling of death. He was alive, but living in motions.

Vampyre.

Immediately, I brought my shoulders up to my ears and leaned toward Raoul. No vampyre could eat me.

"Clair?"

I bolted away from Raoul. "Yes, Dad?"

My father tilted his head to the side. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. The butler just freaked me out."

While there should've been at least a little bit of shame on my end about insulting a person who was so near, the stubborn side of me refused to acknowledge it. It was his own fault for getting so close.

Still, I turned my head for a quick apology. No one deserved to be hurt because of my words, no matter how much a point needed to be made.

The ghost man stood at the doorway, surveying the room.

He was just behind me. How'd that happen?

Something cold touched my hand. I jumped and yanked my arm away from whatever it was, startled.

"Clair?" Dad repeated. "What butler?"

The fear in his eyes screamed for an answer. His left hand was up, hovering over the place mine had been.

Great. I'd scared myself and my father.

My hand shot out to where the butler was last.  "The one over th--"

He wasn't there.

Of course, he wasn't there. Why not.

I slowly lowered my finger that I pointed with. My breaths quickened, throat constricted. "You mean, you didn't see him?"

My father shook his head. "No, didn't see anything." He placed his hand on top of my head. "Are you okay?"

I pulled back and forced a smile on my face. "Yeah, Dad. I'm fine."

Just seeing things nobody else does.

Dad nodded. "Okay."

But it is wasn't okay. He knew that. We both did. Either insanity was creeping up, or a man could vanish and reappear whenever he wished.

The not-a-vampyre-vampyre man put something in the table. What was it?

My eyes fell on a blood-red stone near my glass of water. Light from the candles bounced off it, giving the round stone an unearthly glow. Heat from it warmed my fingers. Energy bolted through my arm and pulsed through my veins. It was power. Sparks to a greater flame.

"What do you have, Clair?"

Raoul turned his head to the side, staring at my hand with a strange curiousity. Holding the rock between my thumb and middle finger, I let him see. "This thing. It was on the table, where the creepy invisible butler put it."

Brother dearest snatched the thing from my hand and held it in front of his eyes. "That's weird," he mused. "It looks like it's glowing or something."

"Yeah." I took it back from him and nudged my father gently. "Dad, look at this."

He turned away from the person he'd been speaking to and grinned. "What is it?"

No doubt thinking about the 'invisible' butler.

The smile faded once he saw the stone. "Clair, where did you get that?"

My response was the truth, although probably not what he wanted to hear. "The creepy invisible butler guy that only I can see put it on the table."

My father sighed and shook his head the smallest bit. He didn't get it. Of course he didn't.

In all honesty, I wouldn't believe me either.

Why did people do that? Someone say something and others would not believe a word they said, or even worse, make fun of what was said. Get frustrated at someone before the truth was even known.

Dad held out his hand. "May I see the stone, Clair?"

The aggravated thoughts flew from my head as I passed the rock to my father. Our fingers brushed as it changed hands; immediately, the stone burned into my skin. On reflex, I let go, letting the thing fall into Dad's palm. The fire which me to let go so quickly didn't seem to bother him.
He hand clamped around the small thing tightly.

Weird.

I glanced across the table. Apparently, I had missed the prayer due to staring down a magic stone and everyone had already started to eat.

The horror.

The lid over the tray that held my food may as well have flown across the room. Steamy vegetables and some type of meat met my eyes.

Cue chorus of angels.

My stomach nearly jumped out of my body and ate the meal before my hand was even on my fork.

Through a mouthful of food, I asked,  "When did everyone start eating?"

No answer.

He probably thought the wuestion was aimed at Raoul. I swallowed, then turned to look at him. "Dad?"

What I saw made my blood run cold. A vein bulged out against the side of my father's forehead. A thin trail of crimson trickled down the side of his hand that clenched around the stone. His arms shook with the force that his hand was shut. A bead of perspiration ran down his pale face.

And his eyes were pitch black.

A rush of adrenaline bolted through my body. I touched his arm.

"Dad?"

It was what he needed. His fist opened, dropping the blood-red stone to the floor. The scarlet in his eyes faded away, leaving only chocolate brown. A small gasp came from his mouth.

The gasp was a storm.

Dad examined his palm, where four fingernail marks cut into his skin. "Must've held my knife too tight," he breathed. He turned his head to me and grinned.

It didn't reach his eyes.

Dad stood. "I'm going to go wipe this off, okay?" He patted the top of my head, then beelined toward the exit.

I swallowed, my heart still pounding. The food that I wanted so badly didn't look good anymore.

What was that? What happened?

Slowly, I moved my foot so it was on top of the stone. I slid it over so it laid underneath my chair.

I'll get it when it's time to go.

You know what? I'll get it now.

I grabbed a small piece of food from my plate and "accidentally" slid it over so it fell off the edge.

"Oops," I mumbled. I ducked my head under the table and felt around for the piece of food. The scarlet gem glowed orange from the floor, lighting up the bottom of the table with the brightness of a million lights.

How does no one notice this?

I slid the stone over with my fingertips. The smooth surface burned my hand.

Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.

Even though it burned, I put it into my pocket. The heat seemed to die down once I hid it.

The lights definitely did.

At least I'm not glowing. That's always good.

I sat up and over-dramatically held up the piece of food I threw on the floor. "Got it!"

No one paid a bit of attention.

I rolled my eyes and dug into the meat on my plate. The juices from the food burst in my mouth, attacking me with flavor.

Oh my gosh that's good.

It was all I could do to not close my eyes and drool. Raoul nudged me.

"Try not to be weird," he whispered.

I snorted. "Me? Weird? Never."

When Raoul turned his head, I went cross-eyed and stuck out my tongue.

My calmness was interrupted, however. The vampyre-man from before stood behind the king.

My breaths the caught in my throat. I kept my head facing my plate, eating at the same speed I'd been eating at, but my gaze focused solely on the man.

He touched the king's shoulder gently and whispered in his ear.

The king didn't move. He didn't act like he saw the man.

But he's touching him! He should notice!

The vampyre-man waved his hand. With his other one, he touched the king's chest. His lips moved, mumbling a word so softly I couldn't catch it.

He looked up and met my eyes. I looked away quickly, but it was too late.

If he hadn't known I could see him, he did now.

I breathed in and looked back in his direction.

He was gone.

Why do I just see him? What's so special about me?

And what did he give the king?

________________________________________

Hello!

I have no author's note this time.

This is embarrassing.