Today was the day, today I was going to be meeting my husband. I hear two knocks on my bedroom door and watch my mother walk in. "Ella why aren't you out of bed yet? You have to get ready for lunch!" I look at her from under my blankets and decide to finally get up. I look at the clock on my nightstand. "Crap! I have 30 minutes to get ready and shower!" My mother roles her eyes at me and pushes me to the bathroom and I watch her walk to my closet. No doubt to go pick out a dress for this evening.
This evening I was going to be meeting Noah. I've heard all kinds of stories about him being strong and a great warrior. I suppose this makes this whole arranged marriage thing not to bad if he's as great as they say. Although I had always dreamt about a marriage with someone I actually loved. We were due to get married in one week and I had nervous butterflies every time I thought about it.
Arraigned marriages have been something vampires have done the last few centuries to help strengthen our species. Vampires have been at war with casters for over 5 centuries now and they had almost wiped us out. The thought of a caster makes my blood begin to boil. I lost my father and older brother Samuel in the war. Now it is just my mother, younger sister and I.
As I stood in the shower letting the burning water sooth me I hear my mom open the door. "Ella get out of the shower! We still need to do your hair and make you look presentable! Noah is a handsome young man you need to impress him!" My mom was always hung up on looks, my dad and mother have been always ranked higher class in our community. My dad was a loved warrior and lead many men and women into battle. Before getting myself down from thinking of my father I hop out of the shower. My moms already holding a blow dryer and hair brush ready to attack me and make me look presentable in her eyes.
After 15 minutes my mom was quick to make me look beautiful. My long black hair hung in nice waves down to my waste. My eye makeup was subtle but made my green eyes pop against my pale skin. I smile at myself in the mirror and walk back into my room and look at the long red dress that my mom had laid out for me. She helps me get into the dress and steps back and takes a look at her masterpiece.
"Krystal get your butt in here and come look at your sister!" A few minutes later Krystal walks in with a smug look on her face. She was the only one who knew I didn't actually want to get married. For being 15 she was incredibly mature and was basically my best friend. "Oh Ella you look like something he could sink his teeth into!" I hear a loud slap and I turn around and see my mom scolding her and krystal rubbing her arm but she still had that smirk on her face. "Thanks little sis, don't worry when you turn 20 you'll get to live through this wonderful experience!" I say while winking at her. "No thanks, I plan on running away and marrying some lone wolf somewhere." She has always had an obsession with werewolves which I cannot comprehend because to me they are nothing but a lousy big dog that sheds extra on your carpet. My mother looks at her disapprovingly "honey you know it's against our law to marry anything other than a pure blood vampire. We have to help build our race back to its formal glory! And any mix breeds are just going to continue to weaken us."
My sister and I look at each other with boredom because we've heard this speech a thousand times over. Krystal walks up to me and runs her hand through my hair. "You really do look so beautiful Ella and this Noah guy better treat you like the queen you are." I turn around and give her a big hug. She was the perfect sister with her short brown bob and deep brown eyes. She looked identical to my father and brother while I looked like my mother. To this day I think it hurts my mother to look at Krystal and I have always hoped that she would never notice. "I promise I would never let any man treat me less than what I am worth." Giving her a wink and kissing her on the forehead I begin to feel those nervous butterflies in my stomach again.
"You know honey, your father was very fond of Noah. They fought alongside together in many battles and he had gained his trust." She smiled at me with warm eyes and understanding. "I just hope for my sake and future dad knew what he was doing when he picked Noah as my husband." My mom walks over and gently grips my shoulder as to reassure me everything will be okay. My mother and father had an arranged marriage and they both loved each other very much. I had always admired how much they loved and took care of one another. My mother could never bring herself to remarry so instead she works all her free time away at the clinic in our town. She's one of the top nurses and always getting called in during her off hours. I hoped one day I could be as ambitious as her when I found my calling. Instead I help out at the clinic with the younger children when my mom is working on their parents. Luckily for us vampires heal very quickly and truly don't have to go to the clinic very often. One of the main reasons any vampire would have to go to the clinic would be that they ran into a caster.
"Okay mom, I think I've built up all the courage I'm going to build up so let's get this over with." My mom smiles and starts to walk me out into the hall. "Ella trust me your father wouldn't of picked him if he didn't believe you wouldn't of made a great fit." I smile at her trying to let her know I'm okay. "Thanks mom, I really am fine. I'm just nervous is all but I know this is to make us stronger and I will do anything to help us defeat the casters." "Yes, well sweetie you make me so proud of the women you have become. Noah is going to be a very lucky man." I give her one last smile because we had arrived to our dinning room. I watch as servants go in and out and I hear talking and laughter in the room. I take one deep breathe and try to calm my nerves. I open the door and search the room for who I would assume Noah would be. That's when I felt it, I felt this electricity soar through me. I instantly lock eyes with the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen.
