Trinity

Two: The Price

"I'm sorry, there must be something in my ears," I laughed nervously. I couldn't force myself to look at the man next to me. "Did you say my betrothed? As in wedding bells? As in marriage?!"

Mrs. Deveraux's eyes widened at my outburst. Her eyes turned to daggers as she accused my parents. "You haven't told her."

My parents gazed into each other's eyes, a silent conversation passing. Finally, it was my father who spoke up. "We just... wanted her to have a normal childhood. You know, before-"

"That wasn't a part of the agreement," she hissed. "This transition is now going to be even more difficult for her."

Mrs. Deveraux looked me over, taking me in as if seeing me with new eyes. "Does she know anything?"

"N-no. She doesn't," my father breathed out.

Everyone was talking about me. There was still no food. Everything was weird and crazy and I was at the end of my rope. I slammed my fists on the table as I stood. My legs suddenly too restless. "What don't I know?!"

More, more agonizing silence.

The silent man next to me also stood. Adder Deveraux. He brought his face close to mine, his lips just a breath away from my ear as he spoke for the first time all evening, "This." I didn't even have a moment to process the way his voice made me feel before he disappeared. I blinked rapidly, shaking my head. Where did he go?

A scream. Unlike anything I've ever heard came from behind me. I twisted around to see Adder with his mouth clamped down on my father's throat. Was this some kink thing?

But then came the blood. So, so much blood. Gushing and pouring down and out. Some of it spraying my mother.

I reacted. I flung myself over to them, grabbing onto Adder's arm as I tried to yank him off of my father. "What are you doing? You're going to kill him!"

He was so strong. I knew this was a lost cause, but I had to keep trying. I couldn't stand by and let this happen to him. Yes, we weren't close, but he was still my father. He was still my blood. My mother's still frame caught my eye. "Why are you just sitting there? What's wrong with you?!"

"Enough." Mrs. Deveraux didn't yell, but her voice held power, commanding even the air particles in the room.

Adder unlatched himself from my father, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. I realized I was still wrapped around his arm and let go, stepping toward my father to see the damage. I was no doctor, but he didn't look good. The tears came and I couldn't stop them. I let out barely a whisper, "What is wrong with you people?"

"Trinity," Mrs. Deveraux spoke, a more kinder and calming tone. "This is what your parents wanted. I am sorry you are finding out this way."

"They wanted to be murdered?" I sneered. My mother was still frozen beside me, and my father lay limp in my arms.

She laughed as if I made a joke. "No. They wanted a chance at our way of life." Way of life? As wannabe vampire murdering cultists? "Trinity, think. We are more than we appear. You can feel it, can't you?"

"I-" Not wannabe vampires. Real vampires. Adder really drank my father's blood like he needed it. The strange clothes. The strange behavior. The way my body has been screaming at me ever since they arrived. It all fit.

"They have paid the price. This is what they want." She repeated.

Price? "What price?"

I swore I saw fleeting sadness in her eyes as she said, "You."

Oh, right. The arranged marriage thing. I glanced up at Adder, who now leaned against the wall behind me. If they were vampires, did that mean they were immortal? Adder only looked a couple years older than me, but could he possibly be much, much older? Am I betrothed to an old man? My head was spinning.

A dawning anger overtook me. I stood up and faced my mother. The woman who was supposed to care for me and love me. Who was supposed to be the person I could go to for guidance. "You. You are vile. How could you treat a child like this? How could you treat your own child like this?"

My mother finally broke out of her comatose state. She sobbed and sobbed and I held no pity for her. "Trinity, please! You don't understand. Your father and I... we had nothing. We had no one. This was the only way."

I looked around at this big house, the expensive furniture, and the luxurious lifestyle that I hated. These giant, open rooms that only seemed to represent the space between my parents and I. And now I truly realized why I hated it so much. Because I was the payment for it. I was the cost. My life. My choices. Gone before I ever really had them.

My father was still unconscious. Ignoring my mother's pleas, I addressed the four vampires. "What's going to happen to him?"

"Adder's venom has entered your father's system. Your father's body will now either begin the transition or he will die." The other woman spoke, seemingly tired of tonight's events.

I looked down on my poor, pathetic parents. "So, you knew there was always a chance you'd die? And you sold me anyway?"

My mother hung her head in shame. After so many years of silence, I knew she didn't have anymore to say.

"So, what now?" Not even bothering to hide the venom in my tone.

"Now, you finish high school."

"You've got to be kidding me." High school was the furthest thing from my mind after tonight. The idea of going back. Acting normal? It was a joke.

Mrs. Deveraux finally stood from the table and approached me.  Her henchmen right on her heels. She placed a cold hand on my cheek, forcing me to look at her. "Yes. You finish high school. You say goodbye to your friends and family. You make peace with your mortal life. We will be back after your graduation to collect you. There is no running from this. Do you understand?"

The threat was not lost on me. I nodded my head.

"Excellent," she removed her hand and turned to my mother. "We can either do this now or when we return. Your choice."

My mother didn't look up. "I will wait. I need to see." She wanted to see what happens to her husband first. Not possibly leave me as an orphan for the remainder of my high school career. Always thinking of herself first.

"Very well," Mrs. Deveraux agreed. "We must make our leave now. Trinity, remember. The day after you graduate, your life will never be the same. Be prepared."

And then they were gone. As if they were never here at all. Maybe now I will wake up in my bed. And this was all a dream. And vampires don't exist. But I knew in my heart that this was my new reality. And that both terrified me and excited me.

The house took on its familiar stillness. I couldn't bare to be around the two people that sold their only child to vampires in order to become them.

Not bothering to give them another glance, I fled for the sanctity of my room. Slamming the door shut behind me, I took a private moment. Everything hurt. I'd always thought my parents were just too busy to parent. But this was much worse. I was nothing more than a prize cow they raised.

I couldn't help but feel like I was less than nothing. I cried. In anger. In sadness. I let it all out until there was nothing left. I was no longer going to be the sad child of two workaholics. A re-branding was in order.

I took the longest, hottest shower of my life. Scrubbing away at my father's now dried blood from every inch of my skin. Resolving that the dress I had been wearing was now trash. Was being clean even an option for me anymore?

Was my life going to be dark red forever?