Slave to the Vampire Prince

Chapter 1: Preparing for the Ball

Today isn't a normal day. You could tell it wasn't by the way the village was so quiet, how most of the teenage girls were crying or fidgeting, how people were dressed or carrying themselves. You could tell that today was the day of the Prince's ball.
Most girls were dreading this day, because it was the day that one of us wouldn't come back. When most of us did, instead of celebrating, we mourned the loss of the girl who lost her life.

No, by lost her life I don't mean that she died. I mean that she became the Prince's slave, and that her life will never be her own anymore.
That's a life I don't intend to have. I was always taught that we were entitled to say what we want, to be who we want to be. Believe me when I say that being a slave is not one of them.

As I woke up that morning and started doing some of my chores, I thought about my plan for tonight. I'm going to stick around for the ball and the slave choosing, just like everyone else is required. If the Prince even thinks about picking me, I'm going to be my usual, defiant self. After that I'm going to sneak off and search the castle to find Conner. My family and I have been barely holding on to our sanity, let alone our money, since he got arrested.
Tonight is the perfect night to get my brother back.
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Around four in the afternoon, my mother came out and told me to start getting ready.

"Why?" I asked, "I'm not gonna get picked, what's the point in even trying to look nice?"

"There's nothing wrong with getting dressed up for no reason," my mother said "Besides, it's a palace requirement that every girl at least make an attempt to look nice. This year, they're going to take you aside, and doll you up themselves if you don't or can't afford to."

"But what about the rest of my chores?" I don't know if I told you this, but I really hate getting dressed up really fancy. I'm somehow good at it... but I still hate it none the less.

"You need the time to get ready more," my mother said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It's a one hour ride from here to the palace, the ball lasts from seven till midnight, and when you get home you need to get ready for bed. Trust me when I say you'll need the energy."

I let out a small giggle, and started carrying my sack of crops back to the house "Besides," my mother called after me "I will not have my daughter going to the palace looking like a homeless girl." My mother everyone!

As I sat my sack down, I ran into my dad coming downstairs. "I went into town the other night and got something for you." He said.

"Dad," I said, annoyed "You know I hate getting dressed up, especially if it's only for one night."

"Trust me when I say you'll like it."

With that ominous sentence, I went up stairs and went to the bathroom to clean myself off. Before you ask- no, we don't have a working bath or shower. The only form of indoor plumbing we have is the toilet (thank goodness for that). We do, however have a working kitchen sink downstairs.

After three minutes of hauling buckets of water up the stairs, the wooden tub was full. I got undressed, and slowly lowered myself into the tub, getting used to the cold water. After about fifteen seconds of getting used to the temperature, I started scrubbing. I made sure that I got my arms, my chest, and of course my face, seeing as those would be the only body parts of mine I know anyone will be paying some attention to.

Once I was done cleaning up, I looked down both sides of the hall to make sure my dad wasn't there. As soon as the coast was clear, I krept from the bathroom to my room, closing the door behind me.
As I closed the door, I slowly took in my room. It was very small compared to the ones from the girls at school. I had a small bed on the one side of the room, and a dresser on the other. My bed was made, as usual, and the dresser only had my best clothes in the top drawer and the rest in the others. Not kidding when I say that was all that was in my room.

As I looked at my bed, I noticed a small package sitting on it. It didn't have anything fancy on it, it was just a regular box. We couldn't afford anything fancy, we haven't really been able to get anything nicer for our house or ourselves than what we already have.

I opened the box and saw the most beautiful dress. As I've already said, I hate dressing up, but I was looking forward to wearing this dress, for some reason. The dress was dark blue and strapless, with silver gewls coming down between the my breasts and around the waist like a belt.
I put on a strapless, black, lace bra and matching thong. I know no one's going to see it, and I hate dressing up, but tonight's a night to feel hot. If I'm gonna look hot on top, I wanna feel hot under my clothes too.

After I got dressed, I brushed my hair and let it curl naturally. I had long dark brown hair that fell all the way down to my waist.

I heard from a lot of people that it accented my blue eyes and tan skin, that it made me look beautiful, but that was only when I was actually able to bathe. I often had to go to school looking like a mess compared to the other girls, because my family couldn't afford to buy me nice clothes.

I didn't put on any makeup (like I said, we couldn't afford it). When I went downstairs, I saw my mom and dad sitting at the dining room table, waiting for me. Dad's eyes lit up the moment they saw me, mom's started tearing up.
"Oh sweetie," mom said, "You look so beautiful. You look just as beautiful as Conner looked handsome when he..." She trailed on. She turned to face my dad and hid her face on his shoulder.

"Mom," I said soothingly, putting an arm on her shoulder. "I'm going to be coming back, and I'm also going to bring a little surprise too."

"Honey," my dad said, "We don't need or want a surprise, we just want you to come home."

"I will," I said, determined "I promise, but I'm still bringing home that surprise." My parents just smiled.
Suddenly, we got a knock at the door. We all knew what that meant, we didn't say anything. We just hugged and I walked away. Not even looking back. If there was ever a time when I was more depended on than now, it was as far away from my mind as possible.