Something Sweet, Something Sinister; The War Begins (A Vampire Novel)

Chapter 6

I was never going to get used to having purple hair or purple eyes. The chemical smell was still potent and hung around me in my cage. The only thing I had to be thankful for was that Risk had decided to leave me alone and go fuck off to wherever it is that he was. 

Because I was new, I was his favorite toy to play with, and I wanted no part in it. Whenever he was around, Risk treated me like a dog that needed obedience training.

When he had dyed my hair, he had taken my old clothes and made me put on a basic tank top and shorts. While I had changed, there were eyes on me the entire time, and I could feel each one until it was over. Never have I ever experienced such shame and embarrassment before in my life.

During the day it would have been a welcome outfit to stay cool, but last night the temperature dropped enough that I found myself shivering. It wasn't like he supplied blankets or anything either.

The sun began to poke through the edges of the black curtains and for the first time since I had arrived, the girls around me began to make noise and shuffle around. They all rushed back to the far ends of their crates, trying to be as far away from the curtains as possible. Before I really had a chance to consider why, the curtains all began to lift and neon lights and signs sparked to life.

When all the windows were open and the black curtains were tucked away near the ceiling, I realized why the greenhouse was so special to Risk. He had us all change our hair color and wear contacts to resemble flowers. It just hadn't hit me until now, even though it should have been painfully obvious when he decided to change my name to Calla.

Sadly, this decorative shop probably garnered tons of attention.

We all waited in silent horror while Risk returned through the side enterance. He waltzed up to the front humming some unfamiliar tune while he turned the sign on the door. It seemed a little redundant to have an old sign with so many flashing neon ones that also got the job done.

He turned towards us and flashed a sly smile of his fangs. They had blood dripping off them and it made me tense. He must have just fed.

"Well, this may be the last day that I see some of you. I hope that you have all learned how to behave and continue to appear just as delicate next to your new masters. They are paying a premium price for most of you, and I do not disappoint my customers."

No one dared to say anything in return. We all sat in a shared silence while he continued to hum and pace around the room. 

After a few minutes he grabbed another plain sign from a nearby shelf and scribbled something onto it, then placed it on the outside of my cage.

Footsteps came from outside and a sharply dressed man entered, announcing the arrival of Aspea's very own vampire princes. He had a collar around his neck with what appeared to be dog tags attatched. He must have been one of their human servants.

Supposedly, the princes were on a higher level with their vampire abilities than regular vampires because of their blood purity to the original vampires. They were related to the very first ones, and therefore, could harness heightened abilities. They were also well known around my old town for having multiple human servants. Regular vampires had one or two humans at a time, but the royal family housed more than fourty each. That was the rumor, anyway.

Two guys followed behind the man in the tux. One of them smirked and started snooping around the cages excitedly. He spotted Risk and introduced himself as prince Cyrus, the older of the two. His shiney long hair was loose around his shoulders but tied at the end. He seemed regal but far too excited to be here for someone of royal standing, almost like a kid in a candy store rather than a future king of a country.