THE VAMPIRE'S FATED BRIDE

THE MAN IN WHITE

LISA

The weird note and the death of my cat had left me terribly shaken. I tried to think of someone who would want to do that to me but unfortunately, a ton of names showed up. I had offended a lot of bad people during my career, and it seemed like they wanted a pound of my flesh. Fortunately, Brenda was away when the incident happened. I did not know what I would have done if she was hurt. Pedro and I had been able to secure an invitation to Reagan's exclusive party later that night. it was perhaps our only chance to investigate him closely and get what we needed.

Pedro parked at the station and I quickly went inside. I saw Brenda sitting on a chair at the entrance and typing something with her phone. She was so engrossed in it but when I came closer, she stopped typing and got up to give me a hug.

"Oh my God Lisa." She hugged me tightly as she wept. I tried to comfort her. Even if I was the target, she would have been the victim if she was the one they found in the house. She was visibly terrified.

"Do they know who did it?" She asked again as we pulled away from the embrace.

"Not yet. But Pedro is working on it." I said to her. She sighed

"This can be the Bronze. Who else would go through such lengths to send you a message? Maybe they know you are after them."

"Maybe. But we can never be sure unless we confirm it. Speaking of which, I need your help in getting ready for a party. Like right now."

She gasped.

"You are a target and you still think about partying?"

"It's not for pleasure, it's for work." I said to her.

"That is what they always say. Anyways, let's go. There is no way I'm letting you go to a party alone."

"I am so sorry Brenda. It's invite only and plus ones are not allowed.", I then whispered into her ears. "It's the Bronze's Party."

Her eyes opened wide and she nodded. Just then, Pedro came inside and walked towards us. He gave Brenda a quick hug and then nodded to me. I took Brenda's hand and we walked towards her car. We got in and she drove off.

Brenda has always been a fast driver and in no time, she was already parking in front of our house. We both came out of the car and quickly looked around incase someone was waiting for us. There were two police men standing guard at our house. I guessed they were the men Pedro had told to keep watch. We quickly exchanged pleasantries and Brenda and I went inside.

The horrid sight of my cat laying dead on the ground still sent shivers down my spine. I forced myself to look away and Brenda placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I will burry him while you are gone.", She said to me and I nodded. I headed straight for my room and without wasting time, I dashed into the bathroom. A cold shower was exactly what I needed at that moment. I tried as much as possible not to think about the events of the evening while the waters ran down on my body. I knew I was almost behind time for the party so I quickly rounded up in the bathroom and headed to my wardrobe. My room was still messed up and I hoped I still had something good to wear. My eyes ran across the dresses I had in the wardrobe and one caught my attention. I took out the black dress which was mostly see through on the upper part. It was short and did not hug my body. That was exactly what I needed for incase things went sideways, I should be able to run without discomfort. I wore the dress and applied some make-up. I let my hair fall all over my shoulders and it covered some of the exposed part of my upper body. I wore heels and took a purse which contained the phone I use for purposes such as this. The phone had no files in it. I looked at myself in the mirror and realised how much I looked like my sister. She was an icon of beauty. Little wonder she wanted to be a beauty queen.

I stepped out of the room and found Brenda sitting on the couch. When she saw me, she was in awe of how good I looked. I could not help but smile and she grinned excitedly.

"I have never seen you wear that dress. You always said it's too sexy for your own good. What made you change your mind?" She asked me.

"Well, my life was threatened today and so I plan to get to the bottom of it by using whatever means necessary. Besides, it's free on the legs. Very appropriate should I need to run very quickly."

"Promise me you will be careful. Please."

"I promise."

I Said to her and hugged her. Just then, I heard a car honking outside my house. Brenda and I exchanged looks and then we went outside. Pedro was still in his car honking so I hurried and got in. He looked at me and I saw his eyes follow the dress I was wearing. I know. It's a lot to take in.

"Focus Pedro. This distraction is not meant for you." I said to him and he cleared his throat. He gave me an earpiece which I wore in my ear.

"We will always be in touch. When you get inside, tell me everything you see." He said to me.

"Don't worry. I can handle this. You have to trust me. I will be careful." I said to him and without saying anything else, he drove off.

The drive to the Grand Hall was quite a long one and along the way, I fed my eyes with the beautiful things the city had to offer. My favorite place in the entire city was the Maradona waterfalls. They say it is about two hundred years old and it was constructed by the very first families to settle in the city. The waterfall has always been a wonder to me and when I was younger, I used to sneak out just to see it. Camille would follow me. She wasn't so fond of the waterfalls but she did it because she loved me.

Pedro suddenly slowed down and I looked ahead and I saw the grand hall. Lots of cars were parked in front of it and wealthy people trooped out like flies. I saw them head towards the bouncer at the door and give him their cards. Afterwards, they collected a mask and headed inside. The garage man did not tell us it was a mask party. That just made everything easier.

"Remember, avoid all security cameras. They must never know we were here." Pedro said and I nodded.

I stepped out of the car and he drove off to a safe distance. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves which were all surging at that moment and I headed towards the bouncer. I saw his eyes on me and I knew I was having the effect I desired already. I smiled and gave him the card. He looked at it and said in a husky voice.

"Marianna Leonardo?"

"Yes." I said to him. That was the make I used whenever I did things like that. I coined it from my favorite TV characters from a show I watched as a child. The bouncer took a mask and gave it to me. I smiled again and wore it and then I went inside.

The grand hall was indeed as grand as they say. The lighting in the hall was impressive and the whole room was filled with people of extreme wealth all dressed in black, like me. I was beginning to think that the lanky man had left out such little details on purpose as a way of telling the Bronze Gang that I was an intruder. Not following the dress code would definitely be a red light. I did not expect the entire hall to fix their gaze on me as I walked by. I suddenly became nervous. Did I have something on my face? I did not expect so much attention. I knew I was beautiful but what they did was like gazing at a princess. I raised my head up high like I have experienced this form of attention a billion times before and headed straight for the bar. I sat down and ordered for a drink.

"What's going on in there?" Pedro suddenly asked over the earpiece.

"Well, I seemed to get the attention of the entire room." I replied as descreet as I could. People still stole glances at me.

"Why am I not surprised? With a dress like that, you will be stealing people's hearts tonight." He said to me.

"Don't flatter me. We are here on a mission remember. I know who my target is."

The bartender gave me my drink and that was when I saw the whole hall freeze again. They seemed to be looking at someone else. I took a sip from the cup and looked as well. There he was, dressed on a white suit that fitted perfectly to his frame. He looked like a sculpture and as he walked by, it seemed like he had a mystic aura around him. His attire was even more daring, and he walked like the only angel in a room full of demons. His hair was well cut and his beards were well shaved. The mask he wore looked more like a spectacle and it hung perfectly on his perfect face which had full red lips. His cheek bones were high and I seemed to see his eyes glitter. No man had the right to be that good-looking. And when he turned and looked at me, I felt my entire body heat up. I felt an overwhelming passion consider me and it was strange, for the only time I felt such passion was if I was having my lucid dreams. I felt like I was suddenly dreaming and my hands went numb and before I knew it, the glass dropped from my hand and shattered on the ground. The room's attention was suddenly turned to me and I seemed to recollect myself. Cleaners rushed to where I was and began to take care of the mess. I looked around for the strange man but it seemed like he had disappeared.

Just then, the orchestra began to play a tune and the host of the party came out. The whole room turned to Reagan as he stood there, without an ounce of truth and joy in his face. He disgusted me even when I looked at him at that moment and he hastily gave a speech I barely listened to. All the while, I tried to find a way to get to him but it seemed impossible. There were bodyguards at every inch of the hall and after Reagan's speech, he retreated straight up into the back of the hall. I saw a door open that led to another part of the building. A few other men then slowly followed him and at the door, they gave some sort of pass to the bodyguard there. I needed to see what was happening inside that place but I did not have the pass. So I decided to take my chances and headed for the bathroom.

"What's going on?" Pedro asked.

"Something is about to go down. I need to check it out." I said to him and quickly got into one of the toilets. I opened the air vent and climbed inside but as I did, the earpiece fell down.

"s**t!"

I cursed as I continued to crawl. I did not know exactly what I was doing but I just followed my instinct. The air duct was grandly constructed but I soon found an opening and climbed down. I found myself in another part of the building that reeked of alcohol as weed. I took out my phone and began to snap as much pictures as I could. I walked carefully and I soon got to a room where drugs were being packaged. I took quick photographs and tried as much as possible to avoid being seen. Luckily, I wasn't. I went on ahead and the next room bore horrors. A dead woman was hanging by the neck and her organs were being harvested by a man dressed in a butcher apparel. I nearly puked from the sight but I decided to pull myself together and take more pictures. I went on further and just then, I heard Reagan's voice. I quickly tried to locate the room and I did after a while. He was talking to the men that had followed him inside earlier and they seemed to be making a deal. I took out my phone and took some pictures and then I began to do a video of the scene. That was jackpot. Everything I needed to coerce him into giving his confession was right in my hands. But then he saw me and called out to his guards to kill me.

I began to run. Body guards flooded in from every angle and I did not even know where to run to. I had no idea where I was at the moment but I wanted to locate the door that led to the Grand hall and make my escape. But then, the bodyguards came and opened fire on me. I screamed as I tried to take cover and in the process, my phone fell to the ground. As I tried to pick it up, the guards shot again and I had to run away lest I got killed. I could no longer run when another set of bodyguards blocked my way up ahead. They opened fire on me and just as I thought that was the end, I felt a strong hand yank me away and I fell to the ground. In the process, I hit the phone and kicked it inside a room whose door was locked. I looked at my savior. It was that man in white. He attacked the guards and beat them all up with little or no difficulty. He was obviously shot several times but I did not see him fall in pain. His clothes were bloodstained from the bullet piercing his skin but he moved like he had no injury. And to be honest, I do not think I have ever seen a man move so fast. He looked like a superhero of some sort. When the guards were all down, he took my hand and before I could react, he led the way and soon burst open the door that led to the Grand hall. Once again, all eyes were on us but he dashed passed them all in so little time that I thought perhaps we flied. Body guards poured out after us but we were already outside. The man in white had easily flung the bouncer at the door and headed straight for a car which looked like a Porsche. He opened the door and helped me in and by the time I looked at the driver's seat, he was already sitting and he zoomed off. I was so confused that I did not even know what to say. The whole thing happened so fast. Then he remove his mask from his face and looked at me. He was too gorgeous. He then proceeded to remove mine and when he saw my face, it was like he had seen a ghost.