CHAPTER Three - First Meeting

　　The few vampires that walked the streets turned their noses up at me and any human that they saw. I ignored them and concentrated on making my way to the castle. Soon, I arrived at the very large, black castle gates. Four vampire guards with two by each side were in front of it in their guard uniform which consisted of white trousers, white shirts and black jackets.

　　They grimaced when they saw me since they hated humans so much. Nevertheless, I smiled at them since I was happy to be joining the competition.

　　"Good morning, Sirs. I am here for the selection." I said even though I was sure that they were aware that was the only reason a female human would come to the castle on that day.

　　They didn't say a word to me, but two of them pulled the castle gates open for me. I glanced at them as I walked in, "Thank you."

　　They ignored me once again, and I walked further into the compound of the castle. I was amazed as I always was whenever we visited the castle. It was so beautiful and mangificent. The very large, white stone building of the castle was sitting at the middle of the compound with a large, equally beautiful garden surrounding it.

　　Flowers of all types; poenies, lillies, red roses, pink roses, white roses and more were designed in squares and circles beside shrubs that were cut into lions and tigers. I made my way to the white front door and pressed the button of the doorbell as I kept looking around the garden. It didn't take long before the door opened, and I moved my gaze to it.

　　A very handsome man was in the doorway dressed in a soldier's uniform with stars and medals pinned to his breast pocket. He smiled when he saw me, his canines were slightly more pointed than normal, and I knew immediately that he was a vampire. Of course, I should have known, humans couldn't be soldiers. We were only allowed to be servants until now.

　　"Hello, there. Are you here for the selection?" He asked, still smiling, and I frowned, confused at why he was acting friendly when he was a vampire. Didn't all of them hate humans?

　　"Hello, yes, Sir. I received a letter and I came as soon as I can."

　　He stepped out of the doorway and strode closer to me as he raised his brows in surprise. "Oh? Are you that excited to have a chance at becoming the King's mate and Queen?"

　　I shook my head, "I am excited, but not because of that. It's because of a personal reason, you see, Sir, and I wouldn't like to trouble you with it."

　　He looked amused as he stared at me which was surprising to me since all vampires I've known have only looked at me with hatred. Even Lady Mary and her husband, Lord Merlin. "No, please trouble me. I would like to know more about you."

　　Confusion coursed through me once more, "But why?"

　　"What do you mean why?"

　　"I mean that you're a vampire and I'm a human-" I started, but was cut off by another figure in the doorway.

　　"Good morning, General Colton." A plump woman greeted him in a grey dress that served as the uniform of all servants.

　　He turned to her, maintaining his smile, "Good morning, Marta."

　　She turned to me, "Hello, you rang the doorbell? You must be here for the selection then."

　　"Yes, Ma'am." I replied with a small smile touching my lips.

　　"Come in, and I'll take you to where you'll be staying." She said with a small smile as well.

　　"Yes, ma'am." I answered and glanced at the vampire that she addressed as General Colton.

　　"Good day, Sir."

　　"Good day…" He trailed off, showing that he wanted me to tell him my name.

　　"Jannah." I replied as I walked past him and stepped inside the castle where Marta was waiting for me as she looked curiously between me and him.

　　"Jannah." I heard him mutter as she led me farther into the castle.

　　I looked over my shoulder to see that he has already left and the door was closed shut. Looking back forward, I saw that Marta was leading me down a hall way. I looked around the room and saw that it has a very high roof with tapestries on the walls. Expensive paintings of several vampires were hung on the wall including the King's and his parents.

　　It has been more than a century since the vampires came and enslaved us. So since then, every few decades, a new King was crowned. After, the selection was done among vampire women to compete against each other and become his mate and Queen. However for this King, Vlad, things were different.

　　His father was killed by demons in a war between vampires and demons, but Vlad made sure to win the war. So he was crowned King a year ago after his father's death. But he did not give the word for the selection to begin until a week ago, and today, he decided to include human women. I wonder what made him change his mind and the vampire culture.

　　Marta turned left and I followed. A very large staircase came into view, and she started climbing it. I followed her lead and started climbing it as well. It was painted cream in color and had stairs split in the middle to go left and right. We were climbing up the left part and almost at the middle where the first floor was.

　　Marta looked over her shoulder at me before looking back to the steps in front of her. "That vampire you were talking to is General Colton and as a slave, you are not allowed to interact with him or any vampire except the King and the other vampire women in the competition. If the King finds out, he might get angry and give you a severe punishment."

　　"I understand, Ma'am. Thank you for telling me." I replied briefly with a slight grimace at the thought of any punishment from the King. It was hanging, beheading or torture in the dungeon if you disobeyed his laws. I did not bothering to explain that General Colton was the one that was trying to interact with me. There was no point since I was the slave, not him, so I should stay away.

　　As we reached the top of the stairs, a blur zipped down from the stairs of the second floor and stopped at the first floor where we had stopped. As soon as the blur stopped moving, I realized that it was the Vampire King himself, Vlad. He was staring at me with an unreadable emotion in his eyes. He glanced at Marta, "Leave us."