Bloomed from blood

Chapter One

Every night Nikolai closed her eyes, the heavy memory of that night came back to her.

A vague and painful memory of the worst night for anyone who had been there at that moment.

“Prom Night, Four Years Ago... Saturday, May 18.”

She was standing beside a window with a glass in her hand and her golden hair swept away from her face for the first time.

The sound of music could be heard from behind the hall doors. The students twirling across the dance floor were dressed in formal clothes, and blue and purple lights moved around the hall.

She was wearing a formal jacket with a white shirt underneath, and her tall boots made her simple outfit stand out.

That night, Nikolai was more striking than ever.

“No princess is waiting for you outside the window.”

A voice distracted her.

“Are you always such a buzzkill?!”

“No. Sometimes I’m worse.”

Lexi was leaning against the wall opposite Nikolai, playing with her delicate pearl bracelet.

Her white dress was so eye-catching that Nikolai thought to herself that she was wearing a piece of the moon.

Nikolai’s attention was on her short brown hair when she noticed something in Lexi’s eyes.

It wasn't happiness, or even anything good, or even something Nikolai could put a name to. Lexi’s chin was trembling, and her eyes were slowly turning red, as if she were desperately holding back her tears.

“Lexi, is something wrong?”

Lexi let out a shaky breath.

“Nikolai, I need to tell you something.”

The music made her voice get lost in the noise of the crowd.

“I can’t hear you, Lexi.”

“Nikolai, listen to me.”

“Nikolai Orly.”

The blood in Nikolai’s veins froze.

Emma’s loud voice spread through the hall, causing everyone who had been dancing just moments ago to stop moving, one after another.

With every step Emma took closer, the clicking of her heels swallowed the surrounding sounds. Holding a megaphone in her hand, she moved closer and closer to Lexi and Nikolai.

Emma Bennett.

Without a doubt, she was the most promiscuous and trashiest person anyone in that crowd knew.

Nikolai thought it was going to be another tasteless joke, or perhaps one of Emma’s usual bullying remarks.

But Emma looked more determined than ever.

The music could still be heard, but no one paid attention to it anymore.

Emma’s stunning blue dress made the confrontation even more eye-catching.

Yet her innocent face, long hair, and the dress that looked like a piece of that very night’s sky made the line between fantasy and reality grow thinner.

Emma brought the megaphone closer to her lips.

“You know what’s really interesting about Nikolai?!”

The sound of the doors opening and Henry, Emma’s boyfriend, rushing in caught everyone’s attention, but Emma continued.

“And no, it’s not the fact that she’s a lesbian.”

Henry grabbed Emma’s hand and pulled her, but Emma didn’t stop talking.

“Nikolai’s mother pretends to be a respectable, grown woman... but what’s interesting is that Nikolai has no idea what her mother does with Mr. Beaumont, Henry’s father, on her own bed, behind her bedroom door.”

Nikolai’s eyes were fixed on the floor, filled with rage and hatred.

Now, after Emma’s words, the murmurs of the crowd could be heard.

“Liar.”

“Her mother?!”

“Of course, only someone like Nikolai’s mother would do that.”

Emma continued.

“But poor Nikolai has no idea...”

Nikolai’s socket shattered.

“Emma, shut up!”

“Who her real father is.”

Those words were enough to make Nikolai lose control and attack Emma.