Black and Blue

The invisible girl

11 months earlier

"Clean the rims of the plates with a new cloth each time ladies and gentlemen. Doesn't do much good if it has stains from another plate on it"
I took a tray of fresh plates of steaming food and raw meat into the ball room. Couples of vampires danced while other spectated from round tables with white cloths and white wax candles in golden holsters.
I kept my eyes down, it was a sin against God and Jesus if you made eye contact with any of them. Especially if they weren't talking to you
"It's a challenge to look at them unless they say so" I remembered my dad saying.

I dished out the plates to the table in the order they had been given to me.
Raw, cooked, raw, raw, raw, cooked and another raw.
I wiped my sweaty hands on my apron and walked across the oak floors into the kitchen.
It's was buzzing with maids from my kingdom with a few from the seven others that were visiting for the evening.
We were having a ball for our Kings son Jasper who was having his first child with his now wife.
One of his many that he'll be claiming in public.
One of the many that the people beyond these walls is allowed to know see.
One of the many grandchildren King Carlisle wants anyone to know about.
To everyone else's knowledge, that's Carlisle's "only" grandchild.

That doesn't stop whispering though.
Everyone out there is positive Carlisle has at least one more given Jasper's and his three brother's history of rape and womanizing.
My best friend Lily was Jasper's first victim.
Her daughter Eve will be 3 in August making Lily 14 when she conceived Eve.
I was devastated when she told me but later to find out she was pregnant crushed me. Her youth was gone.
Snatched away at the drop of a dime.
Jasper threatened to kill her if she told but word spreads fast around here. Especially when you have almost 2500 slaves walking around, listening through closed doors.
I helped as much as I could though, taking Eve every other night to every other week sometimes.
It kept Lily rested so I didn't mind.

Two hours passed and all the dishes were cleaned, dried and put away. I peeped through a crack in the door to see master Carlisle giving closing remarks. Thanking everyone for coming and for gifts. He stood tall with grayish black streaks of hair.
He was dressed in a black turtle neck sweater with grey dress pants and black shoes.
He was the kindest man I'd ever known.
I worked closely with him, often bringing him breakfast lunch or dinner. He would let me sit down in his office to talk and pass me a piece of hard peppermint candy.
"You're probably the smartest and wittiest little girl I've ever met" he smiled through crows feet and bags around his eyes.
I took the compliment to heart. Someone with such power and majesty complement's should be taken to heart.
He was very fatherly above all, a warm felling of protection beaming from him every time I saw him. I felt like I had known him all my life every time we talked. I could've told him anything and known that it would've stayed between us for eternity.

The room erupted in chatter, signaling that everyone was leaving.
I headed back out into the dinning room to retrieve some left over plates.
Everyone had pretty much cleared out except for Jasper and Carlisles other boys Bennet, James and Carver.

My body flushed with anxiety. A table of rapists and abusers. That was excluding Carver though who was just a smart ass.
He was a beautiful brown colored man that made you drool. The kind you read about or see on Vogue covers.

I stepped in between Carver and Bennet to collect the plates when suddenly my arm was bumped, sending a plate flying right into Carver's lap.
My heart skipped three beats as I looked at his soiled lap and listened to to sudden gasps from spectating bystanders.
Not only was he notoriously handsome but he was also known for his creative and outrageous punishments. Everyone knew he good at them too. In fact he was so good that he became in charge of punishing slaves in not only our kingdom but the three neighboring ones.
I snatched the plates from the table and his lap then ran back into the kitchen holding back tears.
My cheeks stung with embarrassment and emotion as I looked at every face in the steamy room.
Lily took the plates from my shaking hands and handed me a clean rag.
"I saw him bump you" "I'll still be punished though" I almost shouted.
I turned to leave when suddenly the doors flew open bringing me face to face with rage and pure evil.