The Heart Of A Vampire

chapter one: a new life

Authors Notes:
1. You should probably read the summary of the book for a prelude of what happens to explain why she's not in france anymore
2. My god this chapter was boring. Don't worry. It's gonna get interesting later. Just introducing the characters and the setting and all that.

Evangeline DeCarmille grimaced as her carriage rolled up the dusty and rocky lane leading to a tiny stone cottage. A single closet in her families estate, back in France, was bigger than this entire building. She sighed as she remembered her closet- all the beautiful gowns- now she found herself dressed in the garb of a peasant, a dusty shawl around her shoulders, looking hardly like the daughter of a Duke.

The carriage rolled to a stop and she hesitantly stepped out, the driver not even bothering to help her out as he would have just a week ago. Before she had even properly gotten out, it was driving away, sending her toppling down to the ground, splashing the hem of her gown with mud. "Ugh!" She muttered to herself as she straightened back up, watching the carriage disappear into the distance.

She was now entirely alone.

Two years.

Two years before she could return to France.

She sighed and began making her way to the doors of the cottage, grumbling to herself. Pushing them open, she strode inside, immediately getting slammed with the smell of stale air. Cobwebs were everywhere and she doubted that there was a single object in the cottage that wasn't covered in dust. Coughing, she opened a few windows to get some fresh air inside her new home.

The cottage was dark, so she lit one of the candles, revealing two rooms- a living room with a kitchen, and a bedroom. On the small table near her was a small bag of coins that her father had given her to begin her new life with. She walked over to them and counted them. It was just enough to buy food that would last her for the week- after that she would have to journey into the nearby village and find employment as a seamstress or perhaps a healer.

•••••••••••••• Time Skip- Later that night

Asleep on her makeshift bed- really a plank of wood she covered in a blanket- Evangeline tossed and turned, unable to seem to fall asleep due to how uncomfortable she was. Eventually, 2 am rolled around and she sat up in "bed". The moment that she stood up to grab a glass of milk- a drink she expected would help her fall asleep- she felt a powerful shudder run through her cottage, the ground shaking beneath her.

For a moment her vision went white- a shockwave slammed into her, sending her flying against the wall, her vision blurry and spotty due to the impact of her head hitting the cold stone that her cottage was made up of.

And then, as quickly as it happened, it was over. Shakily getting on her feet, Evangeline staggered to the window to see what had happened, if she was the only one who had experienced that. Squinting in the darkness, she suddenly saw a building off in the distance.

A castle.