“You got MARRIED?!” Belle exclaimed. “But you’re promised to the Prince of France!”
“Well, not anymore,” Emory said with a smile. “We’re not going back and I’ll never see him again.”
“And you don’t even know the half of it.” Emory went into the nursery and brought Victoria, who was beginning to get quite big, out to meet Belle.
“Belle, meet your niece, Victoria.” Belle gasped. The child looked just like Emory. She had her mother’s clear blue eyes and reddish brown hair.
“Emory, she’s beautiful! Oh, I can’t believe you have a daughter!” 
Emory did withhold the secret that they had had the child before they were married.
“Now Belle,” Emory said, putting on her “big sister” voice, “you do realize that you are not of age yet, which means, by the laws of these times, you must attend school.” 
“What? What do you mean? What about our tutors?” Belle said with disgust.
“Children of this time always go to school together. Plus, it’ll be a good way to make friends.”
“Oh Emory, you’re not mother! And I’m not even that much younger than you!” Belle had always been more feisty than Emory. 
Belle did eventually give in, however. Her transition to this new way of life was a lot smoother than Emory’s because she was there to help her through it.
Family life was going very well, too. Little Victoria was learning all sorts of new things. Emory taught her to walk…
…and Thomas potty trained her. Soon, she was saying her first words and growing into a healthy toddler.
Thomas had taken up the guitar, inspired by Emory’s skill at the piano.
It wasn’t long before Emory asked if he would join Music Epiphany. She thought it was about time they added a man to their group.
He immediately accepted.
Belle had been attending school for a while when one day, she asked Emory if she could bring a friend home the next day.
“Thomas’ boss is coming over for dinner tomorrow,” Emory said with a bit of unease. “Why don’t you have your friend over the day after that?”
Belle was unhappy with this verdict, but went off to go finish her homework. 
As soon as Thomas’ boss, Reuban, got to their house the next day, Emory knew she had been correct in her assumption about him. His glowing eyes and pale skin gave it away in an instant. She didn’t care if people of this time didn’t believe in them. She knew Reuban was a vampire.
“Thank you so much for inviting me over, Thomas, your wife is lovely,” Reuban said, kissing Emory’s hand. The gesture made her incredibly nervous; her hand was trembling. “And who is this lovely creature?”
“This,” said Emory, swooping in and protectively standing beside Belle, “is my younger sister, Belle.” There was just a hint of ice to her voice.
“It’s a pleasure, Miss Belle.” He spoke smoothly, just as any vampire would, Emory thought. The sooner this dinner was over, the better.
When Reuban turned down the dinner, which had supposedly been why he was here in the first place, and just asked for something to drink, it confirmed to Emory even more what he was. And that was a monster.
Emory noticed that he was giving Belle a lot of attention over the course of the night. Incredibly nervous, she tried to keep an eye on them. At one point, though, Reuban snuck off into the master bedroom, claiming to be “going to the bathroom”. Emory followed him discreetly.
Emory couldn’t believe what she saw. There was a small door leading off of the master bedroom which they hadn’t been able to open since they had moved in. It felt and appeared to be locked, yet there was no keyhole or key anywhere to be found.
Yet Reuban just pressed his hand to the door, turned the handle and slipped inside. 
How could he get in? What was behind that door? And did he know about it before he came to their home?
Emory was relieved when he finally left. She watched him all the way to the elevator, Belle still following him like a little puppy. 
She didn’t know what was going on, and why Reuban had been so interested in Belle, but Emory had a really bad feeling about what was behind the secret locked door.
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