Serena

Chapter 1 Adela's

January 14th 1737

Every fiber of my being ached with exhaustion; I swallowed air with my lips chapped and my throat bone dry. The skin under my bound wrists had been rubbed raw from my seat on a horse's back. Each clop of the hooves sent pain rippling up my spine and a fresh pair of tears rolling down my cheeks. My stomach grumbled with hunger, I was desperate for blood, but I felt that if I was able to get to my feet I'd never be able to find a meal quick enough.

I could hear voices but I couldn't discern whom they belong to, my eyes were blurred and tired.

The horse beneath me suddenly came to a halt and I swayed, falling from the horse and to the packed earth as a result. I spat blood and a sob racked from my body.

"Pitiful!" My captor cursed in French. She grabbed me by my hair and hauled me to my bare feet.

My eyes flew wide as she pulled out a knife before cutting the rope binding my wrists behind my back. I used my pink wrists to wipe the blood dripping from my mouth before taking in the scene before me.

There were at least two hundred girls, all of who looked to be of similar age to me. They were being ushered into three lines to meet before women dressed like my captor, in simple flowing white shirts and black shirts. It was an odd combination that would have been considered unbecoming of women in the current time period. But judging by the imposing castle like structure in the background, this was no ordinary event.

"Move." My captor pushed me with the end of her knife and I was quick to move into the third single filed line.

If my heart had of beat I probably would've gone into cardiac arrest. I was terrified, cold despite the heat, tired and hungry. I almost wished I had of died along the way. I knew from the moment I saw them coming for me...Vampire girls were being kidnapped all the time.

The line moved forward and I took a tentative step forward, glancing at my grimy feet as I did so.

"Name." I could now hear what the woman at the head of the line was more commanding rather than asking for.

I stepped forward and turned to the sound of a girl screaming words in Asian. She lashed out at the woman at the head of the line beside me with a knife before trying to run away. The woman returned to taking names as a sword decapitated the poor girl.

Screams of hysteria rung out over the land and I cupped a hand over my mouth, even more scared than I was before.

"Name."

I turned to face the woman at the head of my line. I had moved up to the front without even noticing. The woman had long auburn hair slicked back into a tight bun, her expression stern for a woman not that much older than myself.

"Name." She repeated.

"S-Serena." I stammered.

The woman raised an eyebrow at me.

I looked around, my eyes resting on a kite flying nearby. "Milan." I spoke the French word for kite.

The woman wrote my name down before gesturing for me to move on.

I chewed my lower lip as I followed the girls ahead of me toward the large stone building. It stood out for miles situated on a hill in the French countryside; there must have been some sort of enchantment or glamour to keep the building hidden from mortal eyes. It's shadow fell upon me and I shivered as I ascended the stairs and entered the foyer. I entered a room that had a woman flanking the doorway with brandishing huge swords at their hips and stoic expressions. But what really drew my attention toward them was the fact that they were wearing trousers. Women wearing trousers!