Chapter 3

The clinking of my new heels echoed down the hall as I walked toward the front door. The brisk February air invigorated me. The sun was bright as it was already approaching noon, but the sun couldn't compete with winter's touch.

I took a deep breath before grabbing the handle of my dad's white and black Infiniti QX80. I could see my bag in the back seat as I climbed into the passenger's side. My father barely allowed me to close the door before he started driving off. I was sure he was just eager to rid himself of the burden that he was ashamed to call his daughter.

We had driven south on I-79 for at least an hour, not a single word spoken between us. I glanced at him for a second before opening my mouth to speak. He had a stern look on his face while concentrating on the drive.

"Can I ask where we are going?" I looked timidly at him. He glared in my direction, "Just a little over six hours away." I accepted his ambiguous statement, even though it didn't really answer the question that I had asked. Sitting in silence, I found myself lost in thought as I gazed blankly out the window, watching the scenery pass me by.

I was thankful when my father had to stop for fuel close to the four-hour mark. I had been holding it for quite some time. We had stopped in a town called Wytheville. I practically leaped out of the vehicle and burst through the doors of the Speedway. I made eye contact with the clerk, and there was urgency in my eyes. "Bathroom?" I asked. He pointed toward the back left corner of the convenience store before helping the next customer in line.

Why hadn't anyone told me that trying to pee in a wedding dress was so difficult before? I knew that my father's mood was going to be waspish upon my return. "Ten minutes to take a fucking piss, get in the car, you insignificant flea.", he growled. I quickly climbed into the SUV and muttered, "I'm sorry."

Another hour into the drive and I could see signs for North Carolina. I guess my father required at least two States to separate us. "Did he really despise me that immensely?", I thought to myself. I squirmed in my seat, starting to feel antsy. "About an hour and a half to go.", he said, as if he could sense my desire to stretch. The time couldn't pass quickly enough. Calculating the time, we should be arriving by 7:15 p.m.

"Who schedules a wedding so late in the evening?", I pondered. It's not like this was Vegas, we weren't a young couple eloping or anything. We pulled off in Asheville and drove for a while before stopping in front of a white brick building. The sign above the front door said S & W Cafeteria. The confusion was apparent by the look on my face.

My father cut the engine and waved his hand as if to say get your bag and follow me. I reached over the center console to retrieve my bag from the back. I got out of the SUV and shuffled behind my father as we walked through the building's front door. My head was bowed as we entered, but I still managed to glance around. "Were we in a speakeasy?", I had only read about them in one of my favorite books, The Great Gatsby.

The hair on the nape of my neck rose as I heard a hissing sound coming from the back left corner of the room. My gaze instinctively rose to determine what danger was lurking there. I let out a gasp as a pair of glowing red eyes stared into the depths of my soul. My skin felt as though it had been set ablaze. "A vampire.", I whispered.

My head spun, thoughts forming a whirlwind in my mind, "What did I do for my father to betray me, my mother's memory, the pack, like this?" "Vampires and werewolves were sworn enemies." "What was going to happen to me?" "It smells like death in here." "Should I try to make a run for it?" Consumed by the whirlwind, my vision was plagued by black specks creeping in from the edges of my eyes.

...

I awoke a few moments later, lightheaded, to the conversation my father was having with this Vampire. I was lying in a booth not far away from them. Keeping my eyes closed, I eavesdropped. I needed something to make sense of this new reality.

"That wasn't the agreement.", my father's voice boomed. I heard a disapproving hiss as the other voice said, "I suggest that you take this briefcase and leave, don't forget you are in our territory Alpha." I was in awe; as long as I knew my father, he had never submitted to anyone. I heard the briefcase slide off the table and my father's footsteps fading away into the distance. The engine of the Infinity revved, and tires squealed as he left me behind. "Did he truly value me that little?", I thought to myself as I withheld the tears.

The voice hissed again, "You can stop pretending now." How did he know? I sat upright as he snapped his fingers, commanding others to emerge from the shadows. There was no escape; the room was swarming with too many enemies. "Have a seat with me, young wolf.", he ordered. I obeyed, in a trancelike state, I had no other choice.

He was older, with more gray in his hair than my father had, pale, and a few more wrinkles, too. I knew that vampires were immortal, so aside from looking much older than my dad, he was probably actually older than a century's worth of my ancestors before me. Disgust swept across my face. I couldn't believe my father could do this to me. Despite the lack of love that he had for me, I would have never imagined that he would sell me off to be a walking blood bag for some crusty vampire. 

"Don't worry.", he said as if reading my mind, "You aren't for me." His cell phone rang a second later. He took the call, lasting for only a few breaths; he returned the phone back to his jacket pocket without uttering a word. "My son should be arriving soon.", He hissed. Thinking to myself, "I suppose that I am for his son." Ten minutes passed before I heard the front door opening. Goosebumps encased my body as I waited to see my future.