L O V E ♥ B I T E S

Arranged marriage is never fun - but it's even worse when you have to marry into the undead! It has been a longstanding tradition to "mix the good blood" as it were, and marry the heirs of affluent families to each other to keep the line flourishing. All very well and good, and the tradition has survived well in both the human and vampire races.

Sometimes, however, mix ups occur...Sometimes, when a line has "run dry", a new family has to be brought into the mix. Most of the time, these marriages go off without a hitch, but every once in a while some catastrophes occur.

In this case, two different influential families have come together to plan a marriage between their beloved son and cherished daughter. Both families are distinguished, noble, respected, and most important of all, wealthy. What can go wrong if these two families are so very alike? Well, perhaps they're not the same in every respect...

~ ♥ ~ It is our pleasure to announce the marriage of Siegfried Aloysius Bonne and Arianna Mari Lochardt ~ ♥ ~

Arianna paced around her rather large room. She was taking her time getting ready. Today she was going to meet her future husband. "Why am I this nervous?" she asked herself, "I am just meeting him, it's not like we're getting married today.." she sighed, sitting on the edge of her bed. She looked around. Her room was white, for the most part, she had painted fairies and scenery pictures on two of the walls. Looking towards her balcony, Arianna had painted that wall to make it look like there wasn't even a door leading out, it blended in as an illusion to make it look like the back of her room was the outdoor world. She sighed, and went to take a shower. When she got out, a beautiful white and purple gown was placed on her bed. She smiled and mentally thanked her father for the gift. Arianna put it on over her undergarments and went to her vanity. Her hair was shorter than she used to have it. Pictures on her dresser showed it to be down to the small of her back. Now it was just above her shoulder. She smiled and put a few curls in it and a few clips to make it look nice. Next, make up. Arianna was naturally beautiful, all she would do was put on a little bit of eye shadow, mascara, and eyeliner. She was ready. Just in time too, a car was pulling up into the drive-way.

A sleek, slim black car crunched its way up the elegant gravel driveway of the Lochardt estate. From behind its tinted windows, its occupant could see the expanse of his bride-to-be's wealth. The land owned by the Lochardts was immaculately beautiful - sloping green lawns dotted with beautiful willow trees and man-made ponds. Even he hedges lining the driveway were perfectly scultped into lovely shapes. It made the driver of the black car feel sick to his stomach.

The car pulled to a stop in front of the grand house. With heart pounding, the driver opened the door and stepped out. He was a slim young man who looked like he was in a washed-out photograph. His face, hair, and eyes were all very pale, and contrasted starkly with his fashionable black coat and pants. He had a very elegant face, with curving cheekbones and an aquiline nose. The expression in his blue-gray eyes, however, was not so pleasing to see. His mouth was drawn into a tight line of anxiety, and his eyes flashed with the bitterness of one who has surrendered to his fate.

An eager valet hurried towards him, and the young man handed over his keys without a word. He wandered towards the doors, moving in an indeterminate fashion, as if he were reluctant to enter the house. With tense fingers he pulled out a cigarette and began smoking it, quickly and without much enjoyment. The white smoke coiled around in the cool morning air, twisting about in a manner that echoed the young man's anxiousness. Finally, he flicked the cigarette onto the gravel and ground it in with his heel. It was time to face the music.

The young man entered the house and glanced around. The hallway was beautiful, with a high ceiling and curving staircases. An older man hurried towards him, presumeably the butler. The young man coughed and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Hello...I'm Siegfried Bonne, I'm here to see Miss Arianna."

The butler nodded. "Yes sire, she will be down momentarily. Would you like to sit in the waiting area while I summon her?" he asked in a very polite and well-mannered voice. Arianna heard voices from downstairs and sighed. "Well he's here..." she whispered to her small black kitten. The kitten mewed and pressed up against her leg, purring softly. Arianna smiled and picked her up, "You're so cute." she said with a laugh before she placed her on the bed. The kitten instantly curled up on Arianna's pillow and went to sleep. Arianna quickly took one more glance at herself in the mirror and applied a little bit of shimmery pink lip gloss before she walked out of her room.

Taking a deep breath, Arianna walked down the grand stairway. Her heels clicked softly. Her father always knew what dresses would make her look amazing. The dress he had picked out came low in the front, exposing the tops of her breasts, the back was open just enough that you could see a fairy tattoo on the back of her right shoulder, it also flowed down her body, hugging in all the right places. As she walked, her hips swayed softly, almost in a dancer's fashion. She looked forward and saw a young man standing in the doorway talking to her butler. "There's no need to come get me, Joseph." she told the butler. "Could you get us some drinks? I'm sure Siegfried and I have quite a bit to discuss." she told him as she neared the bottom of the stairs.

"Hello Siegfried, I am Arianna." she said politely, holding out her hand to him.

As soon as he heard the clicking of high-heeled feet on the marble floor above him, Siegfried's eyes flew to Arianna. He had been feeling tense about this whole marriage business all day, but now he thought it mightn't be so bad. Her skin was a little...pinker than the girls he was used to, but she certainly was pretty. He forced a polite smile as she drew nearer, and accepted her outstretched hand.

"A pleasure to meet you, Arianna." He said. His voice was somewhat hoarse, but pleasant. He had a remarkable gift for persuasion, which he had honed through manipulating his voice. He couldn't help but make it a little alluring, but of course it wouldn't affect her much. Vampires were more resistant to the powers of other vampires than humans were.

"I...hope I came at a convenient time," Siegfried said, eying the bright blue sky through one of the large windows. Neither of them were likely to be hurt by the sunshine, but Siegfried always felt more at ease when the sun was down. He wondered why Arianna's family had asked him to come by so early. The bright light was giving him a little bit of a headache...or perhaps it was just nerves.

He tried to smile at Arianna again - normally it wouldn't be difficult, she was quite attractive - but he was having trouble smiling without a lot of effort today. He was, after all, only 22. Why were his parents so intent on him getting married? He'd hoped to get a little more living in before getting chained down to some random, wealthy girl that his parents selected. He sighed.

Arianna smiled politely and led him to the sitting area. Being only human, Arianna fell easily for his power of persuasion. "Oh, you came at a perfect time." she replied. She studied the man sitting infront of her, luckily for him, the sitting area had very high windows, so there wasn't much sunlight coming in. She crossed her legs one over the other. Arianna noticed that he was much paler than any other men she had seen at school and around town. "So, why don't we start off with you telling me about yourself?" she inquired, smiling at him. She was still being polite, Arianna wanted to know about the man she was going to marry, since she couldn't get out of it in anyway. Joseph brought them drinks. "Anything else madam?" he asked. Arianna smiled and shook her head. "Not for me, thank you Joseph. Do you need anything Siegfried?" she asked, turning to him. She took a small drink and turned back towards Siegfried.

Siegfried followed Arianna into the parlor with a feeling of apprehension as he looked around the rooms. These people certainly did live on the edge, with all these grand windows everywhere. He was beginning to feel a little itchy with all the light coming in. He relaxed a bit when they entered the sitting room. Of course the furniture was of the highest style, and Siegfried easily made himself comfortable in one of the fashionable chairs.

"I study languages...I like to fence...I'm not exactly sure what to say." He glanced at Arianna and coughed.

When Joseph arrived with the drinks, Siegfried looked over them bemusedly. Vampires could enjoy human food, but they didn't tend to serve it at home. He picked up a glass and random and took a sip. "Uh, thank you." Siegfried squirmed a little in his chair and set down the glass. It tasted alright, but he was more in the mood for something that would make him relax. He wondered if it would be impolite to ask for something a little bloodier, after Arianna's family had gone through all the trouble to offer him human drinks. He decided not to ask. "No...I'm alright, thanks."

Joseph nodded and bowed slightly before walking away. "Well what languages do you study?" she inquired, setting her drink on a pure crystal coaster. "Do you have any other hobbies? Like.... reading, painting?" she asked, just throwing out some things. She uncrossed and recrossed her legs, the slit that went up the side of her dress slipped off to the side and her toned smooth legs were exposed. She blushed slightly and quickly pulled the dress over to cover them up again. She took another sip and played with her hair gently. She was obviously trying hard to make a good first impression. "Where are you from?" she then asked, smiling at him.

"Oh...all sorts of languages. I can speak German, French and Czech, and a little Russian. I'm working on Italian right now. I do love to read - I read anything I can get my hands on, really." Siegfried watched Arianna fiddle with her hair. In most girls he found the habit annoying, thinking it to be another ploy that they used to get men to pay attention to their hair, but he found it strangely fascinating on Arianna. He forced his eyes back to her face and pulled a quick smile. "My family is originally from Austria. I was born there. We moved just after I turned. But tell me about you; what do you like to do?"

Siegfried picked up his drink and gave it another reluctant sip. It was sweet and cool, and although it did nothing to sate his appetite it made him relax a little. He glanced around the room again. Even though their house was strange, Siegfried thought that he wouldn't mind being married into a family with such elegant manners as the Lochardts.

Arianna smiled at him. "I enjoy reading as well. Would you like to see our library? My father has it filled to the ceiling with all kinds of books. I even have my own section with every book that I like." she asked happily. Arianna then looked at him oddly. "You moved here after you turned what?" she asked not hearing him specify an age. She took a sip again and looked at him again, smiling. She was still playing with her hair absentmindedly. "I personally have lived here all my life. My parents inheirited this estate from my fathers parents. I was born and raised here." she replied. Arianna smoothed out her dress over torso. She was trying to keep from staring at his face too much, not wanting to seem rude. Arianna was completely fascinated with how gorgeous Siegfried was.

.

Siegfried had been intrigued by Arianna before, but now he was truly interested. You could almost see his ears prick up at the mention of the world 'library'. He smiled genuinely then, too distracted by the combination of Arianna's smile and her interest in reading to pay attention to her question about 'turning'. "I would love to see it!" He said, his voice raised with pleasure from its usual tone. He was also curious to see which her favorites were...that would be the true test. If he approved of her choice in books, he would approve of practically every aspect of her. He believed that you should judge people by the covers of their books.

"It is a gorgeous home, Arianna." Siegfried said, settling a little bit. "I was admiring your gardens as I drove in - very beautiful." He caught himself before adding 'just like you', but just in time.

Arianna smiled brightly and stood up. "Well follow me." she said, waiting for him to stand before she started walking down the hall towards the library. Arianna smiled at his comment about her gardens. "Thank you, I usually spend my time out there reading during the daytime." she replied as they walked down the long hallway. "Then I read in here at night." she finished. She looked at him over her right shoulder and opened two large doors on her right. It never occured to her that the tattoo on the back of her right shoulder could be scene.

They walked into the library. It was very large, and quiet. To thier left were rows of books, to their right was a reading area facing a fireplace. She led him towards the back corner of the library. Grinning, Arianna opened a very well hidden door on the wall. She stooped over slightly and walked through, they were led into another large room filled to the ceiling with a variety of books. "This is my personal library." she said smiling happily.

Siegfried grinned as they entered Arianna's personal corner of the library. Without speaking, he headed immediately for the shelves, and ran his fingers over the titles. They were good ones too - Siegfried was pleased. He turned and gave Arianna a shy smile. "These are some of my favorites, too. I'm surprised that you like this author," he tapped a book bound in red leather. "The writing is really dense, but it is well worth the effort."

He folded his arms behind his back and took a stroll down the shelves, pausing every now and then to take a look at a specific title. He was somewhat confused, however, at the absence of anything paranormal - Arianna's tastes were not unlike those of other vampire girls he had met, but there was no sign here of anything but human interests. He turned, head on one side, and considered the young lady for a moment. The light in the library was different from that in the sitting room, and here she seemed to look almost tan. That was definitely something you didn't see every day.

"I hope you don't find this question impertinent," Siegfried said, moving back towards her, "but I'm afraid my parents didn't tell me much about you. They seemed to think it would be better for me to find out myself. I wonder if you would tell me how old you are? I know it's a silly question."

Arianna smiled at him. "Yea, my parent's did not tell me much about you either." she said thoughtfully. "I'm actually 21." She replied. "Born June 26." she then added. Arianna was watching him look through her books, occasionally picking up a title and looking it over. She had them all arranged by genre, a wide section of romance, some about vampires actually. Though she still didn't know that he was one of course. She was quite confused about how he asked how old she was but she let that pass through her mind quickly. "I know some of these books are way before our time but I still like the language of them." she said thoughtfully. Arianna sighed and leaned against one of the shelves, watching him as he continued to look at her book selction.

Siegfried smiled, puzzled, and shook his head. "No, I mean, what's your real age? I don't mean at what age you were turned." He wondered why she had taken his question that way. Nearly any vampire would tell you his precise age if you asked that question. For instance, Siegfried himself was 123; He'd been born in 1886 and turned into a vampire at age 22, in 1908. He still looked as though he were 22, however. His parents as well looked as though they were only 25 or so, even though both of them were well over 300 years old.

Siegfried smiled at the older books Arianna pointed out. He selected one and flipped it open, turning a few pages with careful respect. "These were very popular when I was younger." He said fondly. "These ones by Austen especially."

Arianna looked at him more confused now. "I'm 21." she said again. "I was born June 26, 1988." she added. "What do you mean by real age?" Arianna asked, watching him with interest. She was leaning against the back wall of her library, waiting for him to answer. She played with the material of her dress absent mindedly. "What does he mean by real age?" she thought to herself. Arianna looked up at him, her green eyes that were once sparkling with happiness were now clouded in confused. "How old are you?" she then asked, wondering what he would say.

((I don't think Siegfried said that he was born in 1886 or that he's 123...I was just typing that for context :sweat: But if you want Arianna to have found out we can go with that! Just lemme know :) ))

((OOPS! Crap! Okay I'll retype it. Sorry! :sweat: ))

(( It's okay! I was just confused :P ))

Siegfried's face overclouded with confusion. Why was she misunderstanding him? He was being clear...wasn't he? He set the book he had been holding down and ran a hand through his hair distractedly, mussing it up from its usual sleekness. "I'm 123..." He said, "are you just newly turned? I don't understand."

Siegfried's mind raced with bewilderment. Why was this miscommunication happening? He glanced around the room, noting the windows, the lack of paranormal books...surely not...Arianna couldn't be human, could she?

Arianna looked at him stangely. "How can you be 123?" she asked, "You only look to be my age." she added. "And what do you mean by newly turned? Turned into what?" she asked. She tugged at her hair in distress. "I'm so confused...>" she whispered. She backed away slightly to get a better look at him. 'Pale skin and hair, almost too perfect..' she thought. 'He couldn't be a..' she trailed off in her mind. Her eyes never left his while she was trying to figure this out.

Siegfried couldn't be something not inhuman.....

Siegfried's normally pale face went even whiter. He backed away from Arianna, his eyes wide. "Oh, no!" He cried. "This is awful!" His shocked expression evaporated suddenly to be replaced with anger. "I can't believe my parents! How could they not have noticed that you're human!"

Siegfried began to pace the room agitatedly, running his hand through his hair every now and again distractedly. How could his parents have made this mistake? Arianna's family couldn't be on the register if they weren't vampires...but maybe they had the same name as vampire family? Siegfried's heart thudded in his chest, sending heated blood through his veins as he fumed with anger. "How could this happen to me?" He cried.

Arianna looked at him shocked. "This didn't just happen to you!" she cried out at him. Her eyes were wide. "I can not get married to a vampire...." she whispered, her back against the bookshelf. "No..." she groaned quietly sliding down to a sitting position. She buried her face in her hands sadly. "This can't be happening..." she repeated to herself.

But it could and it would, and neither one of them had any control of it.

Siegfried groaned. "You think this is my fault?" He snapped. "It's not like I wanted to get married to a meal." He collapsed into one of the elegant comfy chairs, his long frame relaxed in a dejected heap. "This is terrible."

Her family name was Lochardt, wasn't it? Perhaps he had the wrong Lochardt! Siegfried ran over the name in his head, trying to remember if there were any prominent vampire families with that name. His desperate investigation yielded nothing. Siegfried's stomach churned as he remembered his mother and sister pouring over invitation designs, each delicately lettered with his name alongside that human's...

Arianna tensed up at the word "meal". "I will not be your meal..." she whispered. She stood up and looked at him, giving a glare before she turned and ran out of the library. Her blood was racing inside her veins, she was fighting back tears as she ran down the hallway. "This can't be happening..." she groaned to herself, collapsing against the hallway wall. Hot tears streamed down her face, she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth in an effort to make them stop.

'Why would they have picked a vampire?' she asked herself. 'Of all things, I'm getting married to a vampire....' Her gaze went to one of the windows, 'I need the sun, I don't know how I can live, being drained by the sun when it gives me happiness now....' she thought to herself as her tears flowed freely down her face.

Siegfried rolled his eyes and sighed as Arianna fled. This was what he didn't like about humans. They were so needy! He wondered what he should do. Arianna had been such a pleasant girl before he learned that she was human. And that was another thing...he must have been so nervous that he didn't detect her scent. Or maybe he was getting a cold...?

Siegfried stood and began to pace the room again, hands clenched into fists. What was he supposed to do? All the arrangements were underway - his parents had already got everything set up! He was sure that the Lochardts were similarly buried in preparation. The wedding was in one week, for god's sake! ((Is that okay? :lol: )) How was he supposed to deal with this? Siegfried stuck his hand in his pocket and felt his cellphone. He could call his parents...tell them to call it off...but weddings were taken so seriously, and besides, Arianna was very upset. Even if she was human.

With much growling and shoulder slumping, Siegfried mooched out into the hallway to try and find Arianna. It would be easy enough, he just had to follow the sobs.