No Regard by Carolyn Barber (e ink epub reader .TXT) 📕

At twelve midnight Adam knocked on my door. "Come in" I told him as I stood in front of the fireplace. Adam opened the door and poked his head in, "Gud eve-aning!" he said in his best Igor impersonation. I laughed, "Good evening Igor, I'm sorry I wasn't expecting you, I'm waiting for Adam" she teased. Adam stuck his head back out and shut the door. He paused for a second and knocked again. "Come in" I said giggling as I rolled my eyes. Adam opened the door, "Avon calling!" he said this time impersonating a woman's voice. "Oh for God's sake Adam! Get your ass in here!" I yelled at him while laughing at the same time. Finally he came in, shut the door and began walking towards me, suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks, "My God, you look absolutely beautiful Silvie!" I had found a long slim, black halter-style evening gown encrusted with tiny sparkling rhinestones all over it. The shoes I wore were a high heel pair of black satin stiletto pumps. I felt like royalty. I had put my hair up in a loose bun and left some strands out in the front that framed my face. I applied a little more make-up than usual, still keeping it simple though. I had applied black liquid eyeliner and mascara. For my lips I chose a deep, rich crimson. Though I would have liked to have seen what I looked like, it was true, vampires can't see their own reflection. I do know that I felt like I looked beautiful. "Thank you Adam" I said as I walked towards him. He took my hand and kissed it, never losing eye contact with me, it was very sexy. Adam wore a classic black tuxedo, with tails. His vest, shirt and tie were a crisp white, his shoes a shiny black. He looked extremely handsome. His brown eyes seemed darker than usual, making his medium brown hair appear lighter. "Adam, you look really handsome tonight" I told him sincerely. "Thank you Silvie" he offered me his arm, "Shall we?" he asked. I hooked my arm around his, "We shall!" I replied, and we were gone.

I looked around me absolutely mesmerized. The room was huge and lit up with hundreds of candles. It appeared to be a ballroom. The floor was an expansive, richly toned hardwood that shined exquisitely, reflecting the light of each candle. The ceiling was two stories high and had three enormous crystal chandeliers hanging from it evenly distributed. One in the center and one on each side all lightly dimmed. There were columns that reached from floor to ceiling placed at the openings of the four double door entrances. One side of the room was predominately glass windows that opened to the veranda. I said nothing for a long time as I stood in awe taking in my surroundings, Adam watching my reactions the whole time. I walked over to the windows and looked out into the night sky. It was exceptionally dark and I could see millions of brilliant stars twinkling. I turned to Adam, "Oh Adam, I've never seen anything so amazing, it's absolutely breath-taking" I said in total astonishment. He smiled gently, "I'm glad you like it because it's yours too. Everything I have is yours. I love you Silvia and I want to share everything with you, including eternity" he said as he lifted my head to kiss me. Oh how we kissed, so lovingly passionate. I was completely lost in the moment when suddenly, a lone violin began to play a haunting melody, soon after a cello joined in and together they created a captivating harmony. Adam and I slowly danced, both of us captured in a melodious trance. As the two instruments came to a crescendo an entire orchestra joined them. "Adam it sounds like they're right here with us" I said to him as we continued to dance. "One day I hope to have a ball in here with a real orchestra, but until then nothing but the best, a top of the line, state of the art, computerized sound system!" he replied. "I wonder what Count Dracula would think of the technology these days?" I asked jokingly. "Actually, he was quite impressed" he said in a serious tone. I stopped dancing for a second and looked up at him, "Nu-uh!" I said hoping he was joking. " I let him check  out the system, he pushed some random button and Queen's song "Another one bites the dust" came on, he didn't like that one too much" he said trying to keep a straight face, but failing miserably. I hit his shoulder, "Stop teasing me, that was terrible!" I said laughing. We danced a little while longer until Adam suggested we go sit out on the veranda and take in some night air. "But aren't you afraid I'll escape?" I asked him. "Nope, you can't, not without my permission. I put a spell on you" he said with confidence. "What, and now I'm yours?" I said in reference to the song. "Yep" was all he said as we walked hand in hand out to the veranda and sat down together in a swinging loveseat and stared into the night sky. We had left the doors open so we could still hear the music, we sat comfortable in the silence between us for a moment, just enjoying our surroundings.

"Adam, why don't you tell me your "rags to riches" story" I said to him curiously. Adam looked at me and said, "Okay, here goes...I was born a man of humble beginnings..." he begun dramatically. "Oh my God Adam! Why don't you just get to the part where you became disgustingly wealthy" I said laughing as I interrupted him. "Oh fine, deprive me of my limelight! Remember when I told you I was attacked by a female vampire?" he asked. "Yes, I remember" I replied. "Well for some reason she took pity on me and took me under her wing. Miranda taught me skills, powers various supernatural abilities. I'm what is referred to as a "Vampire Elite". Anyways, she discovered I had an obsession with chemistry, you know how I always wanted to do something chemistry related. Well she set me up with my own laboratory and anything I needed. It wasn't long before I made an incredible discovery" he paused, "Are you ready for this Sil?" he said keeping me in baited anticipation. "Yes Adam, I'm ready, what did you discover?" I said sitting on the edge of my seat. He leaned over and whispered in my ear "Nitro-infusion" he said proudly as he tried to remain humble. "You're the creator of Nitro-infusion?" I said in disbelief. "Yours Truly!" he said pointing at himself with a smile on his face. "Adam, I always knew you were smart, but I had no idea your brain was this big, I'm impressed" I said blown away. "That's not all, Miranda is the sole owner of Hell's Pit, I gave her exclusive rights to the distribution of Nitro-Infusion, her nightclub is the only place you can purchase it. So you can imagine what this has done for her business, together our business's have made a fortune. I go into Hell's Pit regularly to test for quality control. I also created an antidote that counter-acts the effects so I don't end up addicted. It does happen and the antidote is available for those who let their usage get out of control.  Before you got here I either spent my time in the lab, watching over you or stopping in Hell's Pit for brief periods of time. No one has a clue that I am the owner and creator of Nitro-fusion. "That doesn't surprise me, you've always been very guarded. Do you think I'll meet Miranda some time? Is she gorgeous, should I be jealous?" I asked him, feeling slightly insecure. "Yes, you will definitely meet her, and yes she is very beautiful, but she is not you so you don't need to be worried in the slightest!" he replied.

I threw my arms around him, "Oh Adam, I'm so glad we're back in each others lives, even if you were destitute, it wouldn't matter. I'm just happy we are here in the same place, at the same time. I'm sorry I ever let you go that day, I was afraid we were getting too close. Your ultimatum gave me the chance to bail out and I did because I was too scared to take a risk. I missed you so damn much, I wanted to call you and tell you I changed my mind so many times, but I was too stubborn. When I met Ty, for a long time I just used him to replace your absence. I had so many dreams about you over the years, and now I understand why. They were always wonderful dreams Adam, and now my dreams are coming true, here you are, sitting right next to me. You were right, you said I would come to love you in time, and I have. Thank you Adam for saving me, I love you" I said "Come on love, let's go have one more dance before I take you home" he said and then he laughed, "Wait, you are home". I giggled, took his hand as he led me to the dance floor. We danced a couple more songs and then he took me back to my room. We kissed, said good-night to each other and he left. I changed into a dark blue satin chemise, climbed into bed, reached over and rang the bell.

Ty walked into Hell's Pit, like he had each night since Silvia's abduction. His determination wasn't