Page 105 of The Awakening
“Asao and Sydney are handling and orchestrating the waitstaff. First, Nino and Haru will welcome everyone with greetings as they enter the balcony, then Nino is standing with Haru while he reads the confirmation certificate, yes?”
Nino nods. “Yes.”
Cellina faces me and Jun. “Will the two of you stand as witnesses to our bond with our friends—Matteo, Mia and Sergio, and my brother, Cosimo? Our parents will be there too. You’ll all be sitting together in the first and second rows. You’ll only have to stand up and say ‘we do’ when the officiator turns to you. He’ll tell you when. Super easy.”
I blink, taken aback that I have even the smallest role in this massive, fancy ordeal. Jun finds my hand and gives my palm a soft squeeze. “Are you comfortable with that?”
“Of course! Sure.”
Cellina beams. “Perfect.”
Giovanni takes hold of Cellina’s waist from behind and leans over her shoulder as he addresses me. “You don’t need to be worried today. Just observe and try to have fun. There are a lot of purebreds at this ceremony from all over the world, and nobody is expecting to find a British one. They’d only know if you spoke, and even then, by the time everyone is drinking, I’m sure nobody will notice. So relax.”
Nino frowns. “Now you want him to relax? But you were rude as hell the second he walked in.”
“That’s because he walked in here looking like a skittish deer—that was ajoke.”
“How was that ‘joke’ supposed to help?”
“Neitherof you are helping right now.” Cellina is shaking her head again, and they both quiet down. Haruka clears his throat, and we all look at him.
“Shall we go?”
Still holding my hand, Jun pulls me toward the door as Asao holds it open for us.
Forty-Seven
Jae
The ceremony took place on a large balcony overlooking the lake and mountains. Everyone was so poised and attentive, and their clothing reminded me of a scene from some classic film—back when everyone cared a great deal more about how they looked and dressed when they walked out of the house.The Great GatsbyorThe Age of Innocence.
Giovanni and Cellina sparkled (not literally), and their love and commitment to one another as they read their vows genuinely made my heart flutter. Haruka’s reading of the bond certificate was fascinating. The document outlined generations of Cellina’s and Giovanni’s respective families starting from the eighteenth century and leading up to today, creating a winding, storied path of how these two unique families came to be forever entwined. His rich voice was spellbinding, and it was as if everyone were frozen in time, not even breathing as we hung on to his every word.
By sunset, food has been served and devoured, drinks filled and refilled. I’m sitting out under the atrium with Haruka, but we’re alone. Junichi is popular. I had a sense of this when I searched for him on the Internet, way back before our first real date. And again when I went to his shop and saw him beautifully posed on multiple magazine covers. But seeing it in person—having vampires call out to him from across the room or interrupt conversations to pull him away, gushing about the latest celebrity or icon he’s dressed—it becomes quite tangible, doesn’t it?
But he’s stayed with me this whole time. He’s never once left me alone, and when someone has taken hold of his arm and pulled him along, he’s immediately grabbed my hand and pulled me right with him. Only when Haruka has found us and assures Jun that we won’t go far does he separate from me.
Haruka and I are out on the balcony again, sitting in the front row of empty seats that overlook the now darkened water. It moves silently in the fading light, the sun setting behind the shadowed mountains. Little white and yellow lights from houses set in the hills are flickering on, their reflections dancing brightly within the water. The sky is a cool gradient of deep blue and soft yellow.
I inhale a breath, trying to feel the tranquility and beauty of this scene both inside my body and out. Maybe if I breathe in deep enough, I’ll hold on to it and be able to use this feeling again later on when I need it.
“How is life in the English countryside?” Haruka asks, his voice somehow perfectly in tune with the calm atmosphere. Like a lullaby.
“It’s alright. I don’t have any complaints.”
Haruka sits back to make himself comfortable, crossing his leg and clasping his hands in his lap. “I, too, lived in the English countryside for several years.”
“Yes, I remember. Sidmouth, right? You told me that first time I had dinner at your house.”
“Correct. I lived that life, but when I think back on my experience, I was far from ‘alright.’ In fact, it was, frankly, a subpar existence. But perhaps your circumstance is much different than mine was.”
I pause, letting that sink in for a moment. Contemplating how I spend my days—working, not eating, drinking factory-made synthetic blood, then working some more. Sometimes crying in the attic. Those are the worst days, of course. On better days, I walk out to the lake… But then sometimes, I sit there, staring at the glassy surface and wondering what it would be like to walk into it and maybe never come back out.
“I was miserable,” Haruka continues in my silence. “I did not realize how miserable I was, though, until someone befriended me. It was like sitting alone in a dark room but then having the light turned on. Suddenly I could see, and it was impossible to sit there and alone again.”
I smile. “Nino?”
Haruka returns the gesture, his ruby eyes sparkling in the ambient darkness. “Yes. It was unintentional on his part, but he showed me something important. Well, many things. But primarily, that I should not be alone—isolating myself, drinking blood unfit for my biological needs and living a generally malnourished life. I told myself for years that I was content existing this way, but when I reminisce and allow my mind to wander back to that time… I would not wish that life on anyone.”
