A Vampire's Game

IV

Once we reached the city we were immediately taken to the holding center. Each floor was for a different species so we would be closer to the top floor. I was met with a prep-team that would clean me up and get me ready before my stylist would place me in my outfit, do my makeup, and style my hair. My prep-team didn't address me as the waxed my legs and hosed me down, I couldn't help but wince at the pain every time they pulled one of the strips off my legs or arms. They finished up with me quickly and took me to another holding area to wait for my stylist. I sat in there for twenty minutes before the window tinted signaling a vampire was about to enter the room. When the door opened I immediately looked down at the floor, as was customary when a vampire entered. "You don't have to do that you know." I heard a women's voice tell me.
"We have always been told to not look the vampires in the eye." I still was looking at the floor. I felt her hand gently urge my head up to meet her gaze, she had green eyes that were ringed in red like most vampires who refused to drink magic blood and her hair was a golden blonde.
"I'm Kellee, you're the girl who volunteered right?" I nodded "That was a very brave thing you did. I'm so sorry you are here."
"So what's the plan? You have to make me look pretty right?"
"In a way, I am here to make you stand out to the royalty. At the end of each level, your rankings will be released and royalty will be given the choice of if they want to fund an advantage, more advantages you have the better your chances are at winning. If a royal decides they like you they will fund you, but keep in mind you can't have more than three advantages per round." I nodded as she motioned for me to stand. She walked around me to examine everything. "So I have an idea for your dress but first let's get your makeup done." I nodded and followed her over to the chair in the corner of the room where she had her mirror placed I sat down facing the mirror and playing with my pendent. "That's a lovely necklace, is it from your province?"
"Yes, it was my mother's. My brother found it going through her things looking for a book to read." I smiled at the thought of Evan holding on to this, it reminded me why I was here.
"How big is your family?" She gently applied a base on me that actually evened out my skin then highlighted my cheeks.
"I have four siblings, My older brother Ryder, my older sister Chelsea my younger siblings Kara and Evan. My mother died of black lung three years ago so my dad cares for us by himself."
"I lost my mother around your age as well. She was working in a shop when it caught on fire, she couldn't get out." I felt sympathy for Kellee, losing my own mother was hard so I could imagine her pain. "I know how many of the provinces view us but not all of us are cruel." I truly believed her when she said it, she was a vampire but she seemed genuinely interested in getting to know me. We continued to talk as she put makeup on my eyes and lips to make them pop. Once she finally finished she let me look as she styled my hair. Thankfully she agreed to leave it down but she had to add something to make it look different so she curled it and waterfall braided it. I looked at myself in shock, I looked like I was the daughter of someone in power, not simply an elemental farm girl. She ushered me over to a rack of dresses in an array of colors and styles, she looked back at me as if to confirm her choice then turned back to the gowns and pulled out a deep red dress. At her command, I took off the paper robe I was in and stepped into the gown. when she turned me to face the mirror I was floored. The dress hugged me and flared out at my natural waistline and looked as though it was covered in tiny rubies the sleeves were three quarters in length but they wear so see-through that it looked as if my arms were coated in tiny rubies as well. I looked amazing. "Perfect. Now its time for you to face the royalty." I nodded and followed her out of the room. I was lead to the lineup, every other Chosen Two pair was there and their outfits were all coordinated with each other. I turned to look for William and found him easily we were the only pair in red. We were placed at the back of the elemental section of the line Ilian was the poorest of the elemental provinces so the pairs behind us were human. I turned my head back to see if my biggest fear was realized, thankfully it wasn't. Jerad was not chosen so he would still be able to help my family. I felt us being pushed forward as each pair went forward. Once we were in front of the door I felt my pulse pick up, I hated the thought of being there for the royalty ogle but this wasn't about me now, it was about getting home. The door opened and we were ushered into the room.
"The Chosen Two from the province of Ilian, William Holbrook and Sarabeth Corter" As our names were announced we walked down the aisle leading to the throne. All the royalty watched us and whispered since they received copies of our scores I figured they were talking about me. A perfect score really happened and almost never happened in the poorest provinces so I was truly a rarity among my fellow elementals. When we reached the end of the aisle and bowed before His Majesty and turned to leave once we reached the door we were handed back to Clarissa and Jakob's care.
"Nice you two come on let's take you to your room and explain how this will work." We nodded and followed the two of them. Our room on the floor was huge it had a smaller room in each of us. We were instructed to go to our private rooms and get changed for dinner. I entered my room to find a clean pair of clothes on the bed, I quickly changed and went back out into the main area, William was already back out there so I took the seat next to him while Clarissa and Jakob sat across from us. "So the biggest thing you need to know is most of the trials you will face will be individual. The only time you will interact with competitors will be during the combat portion. The whole thing is divided into three sections, the first is focused on the things gone over in the testing, that will have the separated by race. The second is the combat section, that will have you all in the arena against each other. The final section is individual survival, you will be placed in an individual simulation chamber and forced to experience different situations based on how well you do in the first two, needless to say, the first one to complete their sim is the winner." We both nodded
"What happens to the others?" I shocked William had to ask.
"Well everyone knows what happens to the ten who fail the first round. The second round fights to the death, the bodies of those ten are taken to their home provinces and laid to rest. Then the nineteen who fail the third round stay here, some are enrolled in the army and others become servants or feeders." We both nodded, although I thought I knew everything that was a shock to me.
"Well looks like I have some work I need to do. Sarabeth is in the best position out of all of the elementals because of her father's advice." I sat in silence I hated thinking about it like that.
"This is true but answer me this sweetheart have you ever used it to fight?"
"Once but not a human." I had a day when I was hunting that a coyote came at me and Jared, without thinking I used my powers to deal with it.
"Was it alive?" I nodded "Close enough then." I finished my meal in silence "The first section will start in two days, during that time you will be undergoing blood tests and medical exams. I recommend you both get some rest you are going to need it." We nodded and went toward our private rooms.
"Hey, Sarabeth." I turned to William "I'm sorry your sister was chosen if she hadn't of been you would be home with them now."
"Yeah. I didn't even realize what I had done, all I have ever wanted was to keep her safe from this unfortunately like the rest of us Evan and Kara are far too bright. I pray that Evan won't be chosen but I have no way of protecting him." William nodded sadly, I had more to fight for than him.
"I hope you win. They need you." With that William entered his room. I entered my mine but couldn't sleep, as much as I wanted to win I couldn't handle the thought of William losing for some reason. He was always kind to me in school and like me, he knew what it was like to lose his parent. I eventually was able to fall asleep by imagining I was back home with my family, not in a faraway city about to enter the fight of my life.