This is a one-part short story inspired by the song My Nocturnal Serenade (Tr: Gece Serenadım) by Yohio. It was written for the June Contest (2023) in @biki048 's book "Stories Dedicated to Songs" and won. The parts where I put the lyrics are in italic. Enjoy reading.
~Potato...
■ MY NOCTURNAL SERENADE~ GECE SERENADIM ■
As I got out of the car, my eyes were fixated on the mansion where the ball would be held. I had never seen such a magnificent place in my life, and I hadn’t even been inside yet. Buttoning up the front of my suit jacket, I began walking down the illuminated road, despite the pitch black mansion and the tarry night sky.
Mine had left as another car stopped to let its passenger out behind me. I was sure I was gaping at the mansion, but I didn’t care because I wasn’t alone in this. There were a lot of people standing in the grounds, examining the structure. It shouldn’t have been surprising, given that the royal family was hosting a ball for their only daughter, but it did seem like a slightly creepy option.
I had never been to a ball like this before. In fact, I had never been in a ball before. Still, I could tell the differences. There were wild roses in the garden, burgundy and black, with thorns as long as my finger, and they kept up with the light breeze with the black tulle thrown over them. The mansion had an interesting path paved with broken marble that had been cleaned and polished well.
When I reached the end, two attendants were standing in front of the huge double-winged door and were admitting the guests.
When my turn came, I took the black and gold invitation from the inside pocket of my jacket and handed it to the attendant. After checking my name on the list, he directed me inside. There were two attendants, a male and a female, standing at the entrance and searching people who came. After making sure I wasn't carrying a weapon or anything similar, the male attendant directed me into the ballroom. Although the mansion was quite large, the attendants everywhere kept you from getting lost.
Everyone was so darkly serious. Even the hallways were covered in black and white marble tiles, like a chessboard. On the walls hung unusual paintings. In one, a woman in a ball gown posed with the bloody head of a man lying on the floor under her arm. In another, a woman smiling widely as maggots crawled out of her mouth. I wanted to leave this place without further examination, where you felt like bats were going to fly over your head at any moment, but I was also like under a spell.
The moment I saw the living room through the open door, I took a deep breath. It was bright and shiny inside, a place that felt completely separate from the rest of the mansion.
The invitation card that remained in my hand was soaked from my sweaty palm. You would go down the stairs to enter the ballroom. Here, the ceiling between the two floors had been removed, creating a rather magnificent hall. Huge chandeliers with crystal stones hung from the ceilings; wallpapers, curtains, carpets and furniture practically screamed their splendor. There were busts and precious vases in front of the walls.
I walked down the stairs and stepped onto the marble floor of the hall. It was quite crowded inside, everyone was talking about the mansion and the princess who hadn't come to the ball yet. I found an empty table for myself as the sound of high heels mixed with the soft violin playing in the background. I leaned my elbow on the table and began to examine the people around me.
Since it was a masquerade ball, everyone had masks of various shapes, sizes, and colors covering their faces. Mine was black, matching my suit, and it went all the way up to my cheeks, covering my eyes and nose. As I looked around at the people, I realized that I was dressed pretty casually, but I wasn't trying to dance with the princess, I was just here to have fun.
Two girls in colorful, puffy dresses giggled at me from under their masks and turned to each other as they passed me. I straightened my back and smiled at them, turning my head in a different direction. In the meantime, I bumped into someone as I walked back away from the table.
"I'm sorry." I said as I reflexively grabbed the elbow of the person I bumped into.
"It's okay, I should apologize for not looking ahead." she said and took a step back.
Her green eyes under her dark purple satin mask were shining in the golden lights of the hall. While everything I know is a life without light there was a huge light in her eyes. Her eyelashes were in the shadow created by the mask. When our eyes met, my knees started to shake. It wasn't normal for me to be so impressed by a girl whose whole face I hadn't even seen.
"Isn't it a beautiful place?" I asked, avoiding her gaze because she still hadn't left my side, but she could do it at any moment, and I didn't want her to.
"Yes," she agreed. "The king had it furnished especially for his daughter's 18th birthday."
I had to keep myself from looking at her lips as she spoke. Although her mask drew all the attention to her beautiful eyes, her exposed red lips were enough to make me dizzy.
"What is your name?"
"I think there's a reason why people wear masks at prom." she said, and I was terrified I'd scare her away.
"You're right..." I said and extended my hand to her. When she placed her hand in mine, I left a small kiss on her soft pale skin. "Nice to meet you, mysterious lady."
"I'm the same, gentleman." she said, and I noticed that the room had slowly fallen into silence, and I looked at the stairs I had come up from.
The king took his daughter by the hand and brought her to the top of the stairs and wished her a happy birthday. He said that he was happy for her to be with her peers and to be away from the palace and royal affairs for a day, the princess thanked him and watched her behind as she descendedthe stairs.
As the music started again, all eyes were on the princess. She was wearing a green dress with a full skirt. The glitter and stones sparkled with every movement of the fabric. Her mask covered almost her entire face, and it was obvious that it had been prepared with great care as the princess passed me and went to the dancing area in the middle of the hall. Her blond hair was tied in a neat bun at the nape of her neck. She had a corset that tightly tightened her thin waist. I knew that all the guests at the ball would be lining up to talk to her and dance with her. She didn’t even have any rest on her own birthday.
Finally, I turned to the lady next to me. When it began to play a version of one of my favorite symphonies, adapted for dancing, I held out my hand to her again. "Would you honor me by dancing with me?" I asked. When the princess began dancing with a young man who I assumed was a nobleman and probably wanted to be married off, I held my own princess's hand and we came to the middle.
Her cold hand seemed to disappear in my warm one and we take a step into the night.
When I turned to her, our eyes met. I put one hand on her waist and pulled her towards me, and she put one hand on my shoulder. Our other hands were hanging from each other.
When we started dancing, I could tell from the first steps how talented she was. When her eyes slid over my shoulder, I wanted to say, "Look into my eyes and tell me what‘s inside." Then she actually looked into my eyes. "How old are you?" she asked to me.
"Do you want me to shed my secret identity? So how old are you?" I asked, happy and relieved that we were done formal talking. She bowed her head and smiled. Her blond curls fell over her shoulders and covered her exposed chin. When her scent, reminiscent of olive blossoms, hit my nose, I almost registered my mind. I wanted to caress her hair and push it back.
“Hundreds…” I didn’t understand what she meant, but I didn’t care. “Maybe by the end of tonight. Where time is but a scenery, I’ll be waiting for you and your name.”
As she spoke like this and our faces approached each other like the two opposite poles of a magnet, everything I know is the melodies and symphonies. It was floating in the air and changing. We were involuntarily keeping up with the rhythm of the changing music and continuing our dance. At one point, when I looked in the direction of the princess, I saw that many people, including the princess, were now looking in our direction. When she squeezed her hand on my shoulder, I understood that my dance partner and maybe my soulmate had noticed this and was upset.
When my body moved away from her, the air between us literally chilled my heart. All I ever knew was that she and me were meant to be. When I said, "Should we go somewhere else," I saw her lips part hesitantly and then she bit them lightly. She was hesitant because I asked the question from the wrong angle. "I mean, to dance more comfortably." I said, drawing out my sentence.
She nodded her head in agreement. Was she having a hard time speaking like I did, or was there something else that made her keep quiet? Had I found the mirror of my eyes with love at first sight, which I had never believed in before, at a ostentatious masked ball that I had come to without purpose?
The mirror of the eyes... My grandmother preferred this to the term soul mate. She said that the soul hits the eyes and when the eyes reflect each other, the souls are paired. And I must always stay away from red eyes. I used to listen to her with boredom back then, but now she had managed to reach my mind even at a ball.
This time she went first, and together we left the hall. Her slender fingers were tightly intertwined with mine, and this time the dark and creepy corridor did not bother me. She led us through a few doors into a small hall where no one was there. "Will no one say anything?"
I glanced around the room. It looked more like the rest of the mansion than a ballroom.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine." she said, and closed the door behind her. None of the guards had questioned what we were doing, so neither would I.
The loud music was still touching our ears from afar, caressing the air inside with all its grace. This time, she put both of her arms on my shoulders, and I put both of my hands on her waist. The nose parts of our masks touched each other. "I... I have to say something," I said, taking a deep breath, as if the air I was breathing in wasn't enough to clear my foggy mind.
“Shh,” she said, breathing into my lips. “Truth be told my dear, you don't know what it's like, I don’t know,” she corrected herself. Her sharp-edged mask traced a long, thin path across my face as she moved her nose down my cheek and down my neck. I could feel my blood burning into my skin. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t want this spell to be broken.”
Love was the most powerful magic.
"I want to dance through the echoes of time until the morning comes to steal you away.” I said.
She smiled, her teeth glistening with the little light they caught. Since it was dark inside, her dress was now a dark shadow whose color I could barely distinguish, but I was sure it wasn't lavender like before. Every time her breasts rose and fell through the fabric of her dress and touched my chest through my shirt, I shivered with the coldness I felt.
When she raised her head towards me and started to close her eyes, I slowly leaned in, prolonging the moment. My lips touched her cold and soft lips for a brief moment, and then I left the rest to her. When she parted her lips and deepened our kiss, all I ever knew was the taste of her lips against mine. Opening my eyes slightly, I whispered to her lips, "You are mine. You must be mine." and kissed her again. This time, deeper and more passionate.
It was as if we had been there forever. At that moment, the hours had frozen and the dust particles were suspended in the air. We were discovering each other, not even knowing our names. I barely heard her say, "You are mine too," She sucked the blood that flowed when she bit my lips. The metallic smell filled my nose. I couldn't make sense of it when she said, "You looked into my eyes and brought me back to life." Until she slid down next to the door with her back against it and walked away from me.
She took off her mask in one move and threw it on the floor. She wrapped her arms around her chest as if she were cold. The moonlight seeping through the window hit her smooth, marble-like skin; my eyes followed her jawline, the curve of her nose, and her high cheekbones in the dim light. My hand reached for the door handle as I was filled with terror. I didn’t know how, but somehow I knew that the person in front of me was a princess.
"How is that possible?" I said mostly to myself. That unattainable and enchantingly beautiful face I had seen in the newspapers was right there in front of me. I had danced with her and even kissed her. In a lustful way.
"I'm dying. You don't have the slightest idea about leaving everything behind..." she said, coming to me and holding my hands."I told my father that on this birthday I wanted to stay away from everything and just be a free young girl like him when he was young. Even if it was just for one night. He found someone who looked like me and organized this masquerade ball for me. I'd never kissed anyone before. I'd never loved anyone. I hoped that something would change at this ball, and it did."
"Did you use me?" I asked, feeling terribly offended.
"No, no," she said quickly. "I didn't expect this much either. I... I don't know what to say to you. I'm sorry. Would you believe me if I said I fell in love with you?"
I moved away from her, as if the spell had broken and the truth had come to light.
Before I even realized what was happening, my back was leaned against the door I was pressed her against a moment ago. She was lifting my chin with one hand and making room for herself on my neck. I groaned when she pressed her lips against my neck and sank her sharp teeth into it. She was licking and sucking my neck as my bloodflowed from the holes her two teeth made. My heart felt like it was beating in my neck and its sound echoed in my ears.
It was so disgusting and horrible. She... she was a vampire, like the ones in the books. The princess of the kingdom, the gentle lady in the lavender dress, the girl dancing in my arms... Yet I wasn't disgusted or afraid of her, I just wanted her to taste more of my blood.
"I'm sorry I lied to you. You brought me back to life. I hadn't drunk human blood for so long I had even forgotten what it tasted like, I thought I would die, but now I'm more alive than ever. Thank you." She pulled her fingers away from my mouth and pressed them against my neck, then brought the blood on her fingers to her lips, licked them off, and closed her eyes.
My hands flew to my neck, and I was out of breath. I could do nothing but babble, "You... you!" Her eyes were burning like red rubies, and I couldn't make sense of it.
My mind was confused as I shook involuntarily, and although her voice was getting quieter, I heard her last words. "I will still think of you in the dark of the night. I will be waiting here. My nocturnal serenade til the end of all days." She reached out to me as if to hold me, but I slipped out of her arms and became a vapor of hot blood.
When I was forcibly woken up from my dream, I saw my little sister shaking me. "Mom says you'll be late for school if you don't get up right away," she said, jumped off my bed and ran out of my room.
I kicked the blanket off my legs and stared at the ceiling, thinking about the incredible dream I had. I couldn't remember ever being so affected by a dream before. I washed my face with cold water. Even as I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom, I could see the princess in the mirror, looking over my shoulder and licking her bloody lips. I pointed at the mirror and said, "You've been reading too many fantasy books lately, and they've all been royal and vampire-themed. That's why it'salways happening, boy. Come to your senses." and I was convinced of it.
It would be good if I started reading the classics again. Although if I read a book like "Pride and Prejudice", I would inevitably find myself dreaming of going to balls again. And I definitely wouldn't have "Dracula" waiting to be read on my bookshelf.
I got dressed, took my bag, kissed my mother and sister who were having breakfast and left the house. After putting on my shoes, I held my breath when I bumped into someone while I was turning towards the elevator behind me. I couldn't describe what was going through my mind at that moment, but I was sure that it hadn't burned even during a physics exam.
"I'm sorry." I said and turned to the girl I bumped into.
"It's okay, I should apologize for not looking ahead," she said, and I finally found the courage to look at her. I couldn't stop my hands from shaking. She had curly blonde hair, the ends of which were dyedpurple. Her big green eyes were smiling at me. She had one of the black masks we've gotten used to wearing during the pandemic on her face.
It was her.
When the elevator arrived, she got in, and while I was staring at the gap that opened up when she left, she reached out her arm to hold the elevator door that was about to close. It was only when she said, "Are you coming?" that I came to my senses and, although I was hesitant, I got in the elevator.
"I've never seen you before." I said.
"It's quite normal, I was actually studying out of town but had to return to my family due to health problems." So that was why she was still wearing a mask. I knew that our neighbor across the street had a daughter who was a senior in high school out of town. She had to be the same age as me.
"Get well soon." I said, unsure whether to ask what happened or not, and at the same time, I was speechless.
"Thank you. A person should be with their loved ones before they die, right?" and when she laughed out loud, the music playing in the elevator almost gave me a nervous breakdown. Everything couldn't have been this coincidental.
When the elevator stopped, we got off together, but when I looked back before the elevator door closed, I couldn't see her reflection next to mine. The door closed before I could look more carefully. When we got to the garden gate, I realized we were going in different directions. "What's your name?" I asked before she left.
I didn't understand what she said at first over the noise of the traffic. She opened her mask and said, "Gece Seren,” She held out her hand. I told her my name when I took her cold hand and shook it. But my eyes were fixated on her canine teeth that were sharper than they should be. As if she understood what I was thinking, she smiled and said, "Then we'll see each other moreoften from now on. At least as long as my date with the dance with death is postponed. Anyway, what am I saying in the morning, have a good lesson." She winked at me as she put her mask back on.
I wasn't sure whether to say good lessons afterwards or not because the surname of our neighbor across the street was ringing in my mind like a silent lullaby.
Adım.
Gece Seren Adım.*
● THE END ●
*Author's note: This story has been translated from Turkish to English. First of all, I apologize for any errors. "Gece Seren Adım" is actually made up of three Turkish names and I could not translate it into English because it would lose its meaning. The real issue here is that the meaning of "Gece Serenadım" is the name of the song, My Nocturnal Serenad.
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