1. First day among the vampires

I'm locked in a room in this big castle. I look at all the surrounding walls, all of them have works of art hanging on. I am not very familiar with the art world and don't know who the artist is, but I can guess that they are very expensive works.

My door suddenly slams open and I am startled. In front of me suddenly stands a large-built man. Afraid I feel him taking my arm and pulling me out of the room to the stair

He takes me to a room downstairs, with more of that expensive art on the walls and a grand piano by the window. I hear crackling wood burning in the fireplace. The sound of the crackling keeps my muscles relaxed for a moment. Until I see the figure standing by the fireplace with his hand on the wooden beam above the fireplace. Leaning against the side of the fireplace he looks at me as if I were some piece of meat that he likes.

"Hello, Cara," the man speaks to me, and I look at him more closely. He is tall and muscular, but not like the one who had brought me here. He has thick black hair and the most spectacular green eyes with little brown specks in them. Not only that, but he also has tanned skin as if he has been sunbathing. The vampire behind me pushes me toward the figure at the fireplace, just barely touching his chest I look up at him. I have to stand on my toes to look into his face. Something inside me tells me it's too dangerous to look into his eyes. But I don't want him to think I'm some weak little woman he can control without a fight.

"That's not very polite of you. Normally someone answers when you greet them. We need to work on that." Is he joking? He had just taken me out of my home and taken me to his big castle away from everyone I love And he was whining about manners. "You stole me from my home and from my husband. I have no desire to talk to you." He laughs, and the other vampires laugh with him. "I like a woman with a sharp tongue. I am Xandros." Yeah, who cares? I'm just as well dead, why don't they let me kill right away? Furthermore, I don't have to suffer and can go in peace. That is what I try to tell myself. I don't want them to find out, how scared I am. "I don't care if you are the king." I spit at him, looking into his eyes. He grins at me and looks better into my eyes, it made me a little uncomfortable. "Cara, I am the vampire king! And you need to respect me more." And then he bows to me and whispers in my ear.

"I like your sharp tongue, but I don't want you talking to me like that with other vampires around, you understand."I smell him, and it's a pleasant perfume he's wearing. As children, we joked that they smelled dead, too, but that's not so true. He smells wonderful. And with his caramel-colored skin color, he didn't even look dead to me, if I hadn't been captured by him, I wouldn't know he was a vampire.

"Why do you call me Cara all the time? My name is not Cara."He stands up straight and waves his arm at his vampires, and they all leave the room."From now on I'll call you Cara, your human name doesn't mean anything to me."How rude, What an awful vampire. I look at him angrily from a greater distance as he grabs a glass with a red liquid in it. He drinks the entire glass empty and breaks the glass between his fingers. Is this to show me how strong he is? Whether I wasn't already scared enough, being here in a strange place with all these vampires, who wouldn't even bother to kill me.

"Tomorrow there will be a dress on your bed, and you are going to have to wear it. "What kind of dress? And why do I have to wear a dress? Doesn't he just want to suck me dry and leave me on the street to die?"What are you talking about, just do it and free me from this nightmare!" I almost cry out but manage to control myself just enough not to let him see my tears. He turns to me again."For our marriage, of course."

My mouth almost fell open. Marriage? I'm already married to a wonderful man with the biggest heart you'll never have. No, I was married. I don't want to forget George, he is the love of my life.

"I'm already married. I don't want to marry you!" I yell at him. He comes closer and grabs my neck. He shows me his fangs which he almost sets in my fragile neck. My heart is racing so much now, I'm afraid to die because of those sharp teeth that almost sink into my skin.

This would be it. Now it would happen. But he only sniffed my perfume and let go of me and stepped back to the bottle of blood and took another glass of the dark blood which he poured down his throat. I could only watch him swallow the red liquid and then lick his red lips with the blood slipping from his glass.

Why is he so handsome? I thought every vampire was Grey-toned and slender. Why don't they tell us that this creature can be so beautiful? Even though he could drop dead right now, and I still wouldn't care."Your life there is over. You'll be my wife and that's it. Go upstairs and go to sleep."How could I sleep with the thought of marrying that creature tomorrow? For what purpose does he want a human woman? What can I give him except my blood? I walk upstairs with the muscular vampire who got me here earlier.

He helps me get back to my room. Which is the first door down the hall. I see Xandros still standing downstairs watching me enter my room.

In my room, I see a nightgown on the bed which is exactly my size and as white as an angel. What a joke. Everything here is white, if this isn't creepy what is? I step out of the bathroom after freshening up from the long ride. Tired I walk to the big bed where I lie tossing and turning. My mind can find no peace in the thought of marrying that vampire, that would be like a death certificate.

When I wake up I look straight into the eyes of the maids who are already standing there at the back of my bed. I scream before they can explain to me that they are there to help me get ready for the wedding. As I get out of bed I see the white lace dress lying on my bed. An anxious feeling creeps into me. This is really going to happen! He really wants to marry me. When I look at the dress in my hands I notice that it is completely white. Who had chosen this dress and why this virginal white?

I had thought I should wear a black dress, something completely different from this dress, that's for sure. Most of all, I would like to walk out of here right now. Next to the dress is a tight bustier and a slip to wear underneath the dress. Why do I have to wear that? It's not like they're having sex with humans, is it? It made me more anxious. Will he leave me alone tonight? Or? No, I don't want to think about it! Although the fear still remains in my body that he does want something more from me than my blood.

When the maids have helped me with the dress, I look at myself in the mirror. My hair is done in a braid and secured on my head. My amber eyes stand out even more because of the black makeup the girls have applied to my eyelids. And that dress makes my body look like an hourglass. The ladies look approvingly at my appearance and leave the room.

All I feel is disgust when I look in the mirror.