Free Bride of Blood:: First Kiss by Anthony E. Ventrello Page B

stared out into the dark basement.   He looked over at Alexander’s coffin and could hear his friend beginning to stir.
                              He knew at that moment what he had to do.   He would start by waking Alexander and then call Rick.   It was time to find Velara.

  Chapter 5 The Ceremony
     
                              Rick, his wife Marcy, and their daughter Chelsea stood in the basement of Anton and Alexander’s home.   The room was filled with candles for the Coming of Age Ceremony for Chelsea.   Each of them were dressed in white robes with the symbol of Nephthys on them.   Chelsea was about to take over the role as Anton and Alexander’s familiar.
                              Anton, Alexander, and Rachael entered into the light of the candles.   They also wore similar robes, but Anton’s had a sash that designated his rank of Master Vampire.   Alexander and Rachael each wore golden cords around their waists which showed their rank of Acolyte.
                              Anton handed Rachael a large gold-embossed book because she was the Mistress of Ceremony.   Alexander looked at her, and he was taken aback by how beautiful she was in the candlelight.   Anton’s mind was not on the ceremony as his thoughts kept returning to Velara.
                              Why had she suddenly returned to his thoughts?   Was she trying to get in touch with him?   Was she going to come back to him?   More questions than answers dominated his mind.
                              “…and this is not a task to be taken lightly,” continued Rachael as Anton attention suddenly returned to the ceremony.   “It is a life-long commitment that could very well result in your death and the death of those you hold so dear…”
                              Anton began to think back to the night he discovered that she had left him.   He woke to find that she was not lying next to him.   He rubbed his eyes, feeling a great hunger.   Perhaps she had simply awakened early and slipped out as to not wake him.
                              After he emerged from the coffin, they shared he noticed that the house was dark.   He could not feel her presence or her scent.   He rushed to the kitchen table and found a note next to a half-finished candle.   He picked up the note and read it with trembling hands:
    Dear Anton,
    Though I love you and always will, I feel that I have to leave you.   There are things that I want to do that I cannot do with you.   Please try to understand.   For what it’s worth, I love you very much and I hope that our paths cross again, someday.
    Always Yours,
    Velara
                              Anton collapsed to the floor and buried his face in his hands.   He wept.   For the first time in a very long time, he wept… tears of blood.
                              “Anton, are you alright?” Rachael asked.   He was standing next to her with big red tears running down his face.
      He quickly wiped them away and said, “Yes, I’m fine.   Where were we?”
                              “It’s time for the Chalice of Truth,” she explained.
                              Anton nodded as Alexander approached them with a large crystal chalice in one hand and a dagger in the other.   Chelsea looked at them nervously while her parents on either side of her gently squeezed her shoulders.
                              Anton took the chalice from Alexander and said, “Now, Chelsea, drink from this chalice and let your blood be sealed with ours.   This symbolizes your devotion and loyalty to us and ours to you.   May no secrets or lies come between us.”
                              After Chelsea drank, she would be bound to them for the remainder of her life, or until she chose to retire as her parents did.   She would have a