Chapter 3 A BRIEF RETURN

I am currently in a carriage that is going back to my hometown, Velmoor.  

The past two hours that led up to this point are kind of crazy, and I’m trying to keep my wits about me so that I do not go insane. 

Sitting on the seat in front of me are two vampire guards dressed in their version of casual wear – black shirts with half-cut chainmail, black leather pants paired with boots. A sword is pinned to the waist of the one on my left, who we will call blondie because he’s blonde; and the other guard is a female vampire who has knives strapped to her arms and waist and legs. We'll call her Red.  

“So, is it true that you guys go crazy with bloodlust if you don’t feed in two hour intervals?” Both vampires turned to look at each other, and they turned back to me with a black face.  

That was how they’d been doing for the past thirty minutes. I ask a question; they look at each other and say nothing. The way they were behaving, you’d think they were told not to speak a word to me. But i am nothing if not persistent. 

“Is it true that if you guys go without blood, you’ll shrivel up like raisins and die?” 

“Oh, for the love of the night! Vampires are not bloodlust driven monsters. And no, we do not die if we don’t feed for two hours or even two days. Blood is sustenance. In fact, some older vampires can go with...” Blondie was blabbing away before he was cut off. 

“Syn, shut up and blabbing to the human,” Red hisses at him.  

His face takes on a sheepish look, and it seems so comical on his fanged face. “Sorry Grethel.” 

“Great. Now the human knows our names.” And I am very excited about it too. From the way she’s eyeing Syn, it’s obvious who the older guard is. Once turned, vampires are trapped at whatever age they were turned in, so it would be very easy to mistake their ages. 

“Now that I think of it, you look very much like a Grethel. Red hair and all. Very chic.” 

“Listen human,” she says human the way one would say trash, “We’re just here to guard you to say your final goodbye to your family. Stop trying to engage us in conversation. I don’t know what the council was thinking, but refrain from seeing us as people you can converse with,” And then with a flash of her fangs, she went back into the stoic position she had been holding.  

A sharp retort is on the tip of my tongue, but I push it away. I have a thing for blabbering when I’m scared or nervous, which is exactly what I’m doing, so I shut up.  

The rest of the ride goes by silently, and I fold back the curtains to watch the carriage move closer to Velmoor. The sun has fallen, and Velmoor is less than a mile away from us. The orange mage lights and fire lit torches sparkle in the distance.  

So close to home, the weight of everything starts to fall onto me, and I feel the sting of tears gathering in my eyes. The man the King of all Vampires had referred to as Callum had pulled me into a room and informed me that come ten days, I will be wed to their King.  

Then he thrust me at Grethel and Syn and told them to take me back home to wish my family goodbye.

How so casually cruel it is to uproot me from my home and drop such heavy information on me and expect me to take it. But what choice did I have? 

No one had said it explicitly, but to go against the decree of the King of all Vampires was to spell death for myself. And even though I hated the situation I was in, I wasn’t willing to take my own life.  

The carriage stops suddenly and thrusts me out of my thoughts. I look outside the carriage to find it parked right in front of our bakery. Without conscious thought, I fly out of the carriage and run till I burst open the door of the bakery.  

“Who dares... Annika?” My mother sees me and bursts into tears. No. She is already crying. My appearance just makes it worse.  

I walk towards her and catch her as she falls against me. Thank you, muscles.  

Her crying is so loud that it sends my brother flying downstairs and he stops short when he sees me. Then he pulls both of us into a hug.  

“Annika, how? When he took you, we thought we’d never see you again. How are you here?” 

“Turns out, the vampire king was just looking for a human to bear his heir. And I got the short stick,” I laugh, but my mother looks at me in horror, and my brother lets out a wordless scream.  

“You’re going to be getting married to and bearing children for the king of the monsters? Oh gods. What did I do to deserve this?” 

My mother’s tears start anew, and that is when my father enters inside. He sees me and hugs me without a word.  

My brother fills him in, and he stares at me with such sadness that I finally break down, and he holds me through it all. My cries are heavy and loud, but my father holds me tight and lets me cry. He has always been my rock, while my mother was my water.  

We go to the apartment upstairs and have a final dinner. A meal of soup and flatbread that I devour with no remorse.  

A knock sounds from downstairs, and a voice screams out. “Dawn is approaching. Round up so we can be on our way.” It’s Grethel, and in that moment, I hate who she is and what she stands for, but I shout after her that I heard her.  

I hug my family one by one, and then my mother pulls us into a large group hug.  

“My Annika, you’re the strongest young woman I know. If anyone can survive this, it is you. You will not only survive this, but you will thrive. Keep your wits with you, and remember that we always love you,” My father’s words almost provoke tears out of me again, but I blink them away.  

My mother hands me a sack full of bread and cake and scones, with a gallon of honey-flavored milk. She says goodbyes and hugs me tightly.  

My brother pulls me to the side and hands a knife to me.  

“They can take you by force, but you can also fight back. Thank you. And I’m sorry.”