1. Slave

I jerked awake and frantically looked around. For some reason, I couldn't shake the sickening feeling that I wasn't alone in my room. I felt a tingling sensation in my body and there were goosebumps all over my skin. My stomach knotted with desire. Desire of the unknown. There was a trail from the valley of my breasts down to my navel that burned like someone had touched me.

I looked around in panic fearing for my safety. Thankfully, I was all alone which made sense since I locked my door when I went to sleep every night. Always. I put my hand on my chest in an effort to calm my rapidly beating heart.

Although I was alone, there was a faint masculine scent that was metallic and musky. There was no way someone could have entered my room so I chalked it up to paranoia.

My room wasn't much. It was a small cube-shaped room with no windows. The bed was pushed to the wall and it occupied three quarters of the room. Adjacent to the bed was a small drawer where I kept my uniform. I know what you're thinking. If you think I was in a school then you're wrong. Very wrong.

I was in a prison. I lived in the servant quarters of a castle but it was no different from being locked in a cage. I was a casual laborer, minus the salary. A slave if you must. If someone had told me six months ago that vampires and werewolves existed, I would have laughed in their face. Now, I was paying the price for my ignorance.

The gruesome details of how I ended up in an unknown place that was most probably in the middle of nowhere came to me. I was walking from my late night shift at a bar near where I lived when I was grabbed and thrown into a van with many people like me. Innocent unsuspecting people who didn't know what was awaiting them in this castle we called hell.

That was how we ended up as blood banks for vampires and slaves for both vampires and werewolves. A bang on the door pulled me from my thoughts and I got out of bed immediately. I couldn't afford to be late for the morning roll call before we began our duties. In that place, our lives were dispensable; a small mistake could cost you your life.

When I was dressed in my long white flimsy uniform, I got out of my room and stood outside the door with my head bowed down, just like everyone else. Madam Athena's footsteps echoed as she strutted towards us. Each of us kneeled with our heads still bowed down, as a sign of submission.

" Today we have a busy schedule ahead of us. This castle needs to be cleaned from top to bottom until it's so shiny that I can see my own reflection. Some of you may be asking yourselves why all this is happening. Mind your own business. You're only servants here who don't deserve to know anything. On your doors are the duties assigned to you. I expect your work to be done by the end of the day. " She concluded and left.

We stood up from our kneeling positions and each faced our doors to read. There was banter all over the corridor. I was a quiet and shy person so I didn't have any friends. It was better that way anyways. You could make friends with a person and they wouldn't be alive the next day. There, we were happy to just get through the day.

The vampire race was superior to ours in the castle so we had to kneel whenever a high-ranking vampire entered the room. We also had to keep our heads bowed down. Whenever a high-ranking vampire asked you to tilt your neck so they could have a taste of your blood, you were obligated to do so. Guards didn't count as high-ranking vampires.

If you were caught outside past the bedtime hours, the guards had permission to do whatever they wanted to you. If you were caught not doing your duties properly, you were handed to the guards to be a sex slave. Very few survived the night, let alone the week.

I shook my head at the bad thoughts and concentrated on looking at the schedule. Usually, the castle had no permanent residents. Only guests frequented from time to time but looking at the schedule, it indicated that from that day there would be permanent guests.

I was assigned to clean the ballroom, dust the library, change the sheets in the master bedroom, and clean it. I sighed and followed the other slaves to the kitchen to have our breakfast. Other slaves had already prepared it. They were those that solely worked in the kitchen. It was a coveted position since you had very few run-ins with vampires.

However, it was very tedious and compromising when there were guests since the quality of the food had to be top-notch. We sat down in our seats to eat. I avoided looking at anyone at the table and concentrated on my food. My quiet nature made me almost invisible. I wanted to stay alive because I clinging on to the hope that I would get out someday.

Fifty of us had arrived in the van but only thirty-five of us were left. I had a feeling that if our numbers decreased, we would be replaced. Our country was largely populated with no shortage of human beings. Fifty didn't cover any percentage of the population.

Us slaves were divided into groups. There were those that were well fed and well clothed because they served as blood blanks for when guests came in and also mistresses and misters. There were those of us who solely worked in the kitchen and I fell under the category of those who served as maids that ensured the place was clean.

" I heard the king of vampires is coming back, " someone said while looking around to make sure no one was watching her.

" Where did you hear that from? " Someone else asked in reply.

" I have my sources, " the girl replied with a shrug.

She had long auburn hair and striking green eyes. Her pink full lips looked inviting and rosy. I noticed how she kept fidgeting with her spoon and occasionally bringing her hand to her neck which was covered by her uniform. It didn't take a genius to know she was giving special favors to guards in exchange for information.

No, it wasn't that. She wasn't that smart because if she was, she would have kept her mouth shut. She was probably doing it for enjoyment or to stay alive. Could've been both.

" Where was he? " Someone else asked.

" Apparently, he was forging alliances for something big. Vampires and werewolves are planning something big. "

I looked around and saw she had piqued the interests of many. Others started leaving the table, probably afraid that if they stayed longer, they would get in trouble for having access to information that they shouldn't have.

I, too, got up and left. I preferred to keep my nose out of their business. I took a bucket and a mop and started cleaning the ballroom. It was very very spacious. I wondered how I was going to manage all that on my own. The ballroom had an archaic design. The floors were brown marble and it had a very high ceiling that was transparent. The walls were adorned with white wallpaper that had golden patterns on it.

There were chairs arranged to face the center of the room, one being bigger than all the rest. It probably belonged to the King of Vampires. Weirdly enough, I had never heard a mention of him. I wanted to see him, just to see what made him the king.

As I was wiping the chairs, a blood-curdling scream reverberated through the walls of the ballroom in an echo.