Pallido

Prologue

Prologue

The alarm clock beside my bed turned from 4:59 to 5:00 and a soft beeping went off. I stared at the red numbers for a few seconds before I turned the clock off and got out of bed. The floor boards creaked under my feet and I heard a door shut down the hallway.

I changed into my white sundress and walked over to the mirror that hung from the door. My long, brown hair was a complete mess. Quickly, I brushed it out, wincing at all the tangles I combed through.

I hated rushing but if I was late, I'd be punished. I'd seen it happen too many times to want it to happen to me.

I slipped my feet into my shoes and left my room, heading down the steps. Standing in the hallway were Chloe, Emily, and Mya. Mya looked like she was about to fall asleep and Emily was gasping for air, having just run down the steps before me.

I fell into line beside them and waited. None of us said anything.

Peter stepped out of his office with a manila folder in his hands. He didn't look happy at all. "You may be wondering what's in here."

My hands, folded in front of me, tightened.

He opened it and pulled out four white envelopes. He held them up for us to see. On each of the envelopes held one of our names. I was afraid of what was in them.

"The royal court has summoned the four of you to their office in the capitol."

Chloe spoke up first. She was the oldest of the four of us and had been with Peter the longest. She was also his favorite. "What does this mean, sir?"

He took a deep, though unnecessary, breath. "It means that royal families want slaves."

"A-all of us?" Mya asked, her eyes wide. Her curly hair hung at her shoulders, haloing her face. She was pretty as she was, no make up or fancy clothes needed.

"Yes. And they'd like to see you tomorrow as soon as the sun is down."

"Does this mean you won't be our master anymore?" Chloe asked.

Peter sighed and put the envelopes back into the folder. "Yes."

Chloe started crying, her face in her hands. I said nothing. This could either be a really good thing or a really bad thing. And my situation wasn't any good in the first place.

Peter had taken me in just months into the 'take over.' The vampires were taking over the world, basically. They started with small numbers, kidnapping slaves here and there. They tried to keep it on the down-low as long as they could. Then things got worse and their numbers increased. Vampires went to schools all over the world and kidnapped girls to make them slaves. I was one of them. Emily was also. We were all divided up, the older vampires getting more because of their status in the vampire government. Peter, being younger, only got the two of us. It's coming up on a year that we'd been with him.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen my parents. But I knew without a doubt that they were dead.

Peter walked past us into the dinning room and poured himself a drink. Not surprising, it was alcohol. He downed it before taking another. "I knew this would happen sooner or later but I didn't think they'd target me."

None of us said anything. I was too afraid of making him mad. When he was mad, he was violent.

He walked over to us and grabbed Chloe's hand, dragging her along with him. "Come on. I'm hungry."

The three of us waited until he was out of earshot before we went to the dinning room, took two bottles of wine, then went back to our rooms.

We sat on the floor in Mya's room, passing the wine between us. The air was heavy and silent. Our thoughts were obvious.

"They're going to separate us." Emily said, staring at the floor.

"Even if they weren't planning on it, they'd do it once they got in our heads." Mya said.

"They wouldn't give us what we wanted." I said, taking a sip of the drink.

"Don't you think there'd be enough girls for them to take elsewhere? I mean, they've taken over everywhere. We can't be the only living girls left."

"What if we are?" Emily asked, her eyes widening.

"There's no way." I said, though I was scared. What if we were? What if the vampires had killed everyone else and we were some of the only girls, human girls, left?

"I'm scared." Mya whispered.

"What if these new ones just torture us?" Emily asked.

"We have to do what they say. See how it turned out with Peter? They'll trust us once we do what they want us to." I said.

"You think so?"

I nodded. It was the only plan I had.

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Writerandreader/Tawney