Vanishing Blinds Novels & Stories

Gone from Adrian, gone from this mansion, gone from every lie that had been told in my name and against my will. For the first time in days, the pain in my body dulled. Even the constant ache in my lower abdomen seemed quieter, as if my body itself sensed that the end was near. Hope did strange things. It softened the sharpest edges of fear and convinced me, briefly, that I had already survived. When I spoke to my birth parents on the phone, I told them about the guards—at least thirty vampires stationed around the estate, rotating shifts, watching every entrance. My father laughed.

If they could figure out the monster they’d considered a failure had latched onto one of their loose ends. They wouldn’t wait. Loose ends were problems. Witnesses were made examples. People like Evelina didn’t get second chances when the board changed. They got quietly removed, efficiently scrubbed clean with just enough plausible deniability for everyone involved to sleep at night. And I was standing in her way. Of the blade. Irony was a fire.

Not a promise. Not a plea. Just the fragile truth of being here, now, without knowing if there would be another here, another now. The blinds shifted with another gust of wind, letting in a blade of light that cut across the table. It caught on the two mugs, on the space between them, on the shadows leaning closer. And then the light moved on, leaving the moment exactly where it had been balanced, waiting, already fading.

Carrie Wondell and Evelyn Stevenson each took their places on both sides and pushed the stack of cards they'd already set on the windowsill out the window. White cardstock papers fluttered down from the 16th-floor rooftop in an instant. One of the students in the square exclaimed that it was snowing, and everyone started looking up. They stood on tiptoe, scrambling to grab the cardstock papers just as they were about to land. Emmett, who was at the center of the square, also looked up. His friends shook their heads in wonder as they watched the scene unfolding. Someone exclaimed, "There must be at least 10 thousand cards here! Isla really put a lot of thought into this!"

July seemed enthusiastic about the idea. "Huh?" Really, Argus looks stupid with his current expression. "What do you mean by blind marriage? Will the guests wear blindfolds like a masquerade party or something similar? Or will the entire wedding hall be pitch black?" Whether the thought of a new idea for a marriage concept is too good or her mental health was depressed due to the pressure of the situation, Argus was dubious for a moment.

I wasn’t taking any chances. “I’m blind, dear. I can’t see whatever it is you are trying to hide, and heavens be damned if you think I will let you out of my sight for a split second. If you have every intention to take a shower, you better get to it right now,” I replied, and Vesta sighed in defeat.

Bellona was a bit offended. Yes, she knew she could be cruel at times but only when she was provoked. "If you didn't hurt anyone, how did you manage to get in unharmed?" "Oh, that" she stated lackadaisically "I took your potion to make myself and some other things invisible" "You stole from me?" Nimue gasped "Borrowed" Bellona corrected with a smile earning a glare from Nimue. "Some other things like what?" Nimue asked remembering she said earlier that she made some other things invisible. Nimue didn't want Zephyr to get a trace of her magic, else it would lead him to her and he would come for her head.

Her eyes darted around frantically, as though she was still searching for another excuse. After Zach’s assistant showed him another video, she completely wilted. The video came from my neighbor’s security camera. It clearly showed that I had never touched Ruby. She had thrown herself into the pile of broken glass. Every vicious thing she said to me while Zach was not around was also captured clearly for everyone to hear. Unable to hold back any longer, Zach shoved Ruby away when she tried to throw herself at him again. “Get out!”

Tyron asked, puzzled. Adrian narrowed his eyes. “Something’s off. If we keep walking like this, who knows when we’ll reach the end?” Just as he finished speaking, the tiny white points in the void suddenly vanished, flickering out of sight as quickly as they had appeared. Adrian felt a chill. Whatever those lights were, they moved in and out of existence with a swiftness that was startling.

They were instantly replaced by the heavy, amber-washed dimness of *The Veil*. He could still feel the phantom sensation of the silk blindfold pressing against his skin. It was a sensory ghost, a lingering psychological brand that made the high-thread-count cotton of his luxury shirt feel unbearably abrasive, almost suffocating against his neck. He found himself tugging at his silk tie every few minutes, his chest tightening with a sudden, irrational conviction that the dark fabric was slowly constricting around his throat. *“The marks will fade, Elias. The memory won’t.”*