Blood Bride

Chapter One: Hope

THERE was only one option that she had at her age.

Become a Blood Bride.

To leave her home in Vermont and head over two-thousand miles away to Aberdeen, Washington.

It's been ten years since her mother became ill. Medical expenses were piling up and there were days that Ophelia couldn't afford to put food on the table, let alone pay such outrageous medical bills.

Not many at the age of nineteen would jump into marriage, but she knew that this would be the only way to save her mother from debt. A job at a grocery store did nothing to put a dent in the bills. She had nowhere else to turn.

Becoming a Blood Bride had been her own decision. It was an arranged marriage; a blind pairing. Ophelia had no idea who she would be married to. All she knew was that she was giving her life and chastity up to a vampire in exchange for a large sum of money. Money that would save she and her mother from tremendous debt.

Ophelia had mailed letters to the Cross manor after she had seen the offer online. Sketchy as it may have been, she was desperate. They required information on her financial situation as well as information about herself, none of which was too invasive. Things such as her physical appearance, her age, and other little bits about her personal life.

Once they accepted her offer out of the hundreds of other girls, Ophelia cried tears of happiness as she lied to her mother, telling her that she had gotten accepted to college through a scholarship. If only it were that simple.

College had become a distant thought in Ophelia's life, unable to afford it, even with financial aid. Her education had long been placed on the back burner while she cared for her ailing mother.

Before she left, she promised her mother she would do work-study to help pay the bills. As usual, her mother reassured her, reminding Ophelia how proud she was of her. She told her to enjoy college to its fullest and not to worry about her. How could she not? She loved her mother dearly, her mother being the only person she had left in her family.

So now, Ophelia was seated in a dark car with tinted windows, fiddling with the hem of her lacy, white dress.

Was she afraid to commit to this?

Indeed, she was. Any young woman would be petrified, moving to another state away from her mother, especially knowing this was a vampire she was being married to. A vampire that could torment her and do as they wished. She's heard stories of women who committed to being Blood Brides, and they were enslaved for the remainder of their lives. They became emotionless drones. She prayed to God every night that this wouldn't be the case here.

Whoever she was going to marry, she prayed that they would be merciful. She had left her only family behind and God knows if she'll ever see her again. If she doesn't, she at least hoped she'd never have to worry about money.

Ophelia clutched her gloved hand, exhaling shakily.

She would be okay. She had to believe that. This wasn't about her. This was about her mother and taking care of her, just as she had done for her for the past ten years.

"Miss White, we have arrived." The driver spoke. Ophelia peered around at her surroundings. She gazed through the car window, past the bare trees and shrubs, to the large home in which she would be staying.

Ophelia felt her insides curl and her heart race wildly at the sight of the intimidating beige mansion.
There was no going back now.

The slam of the car door made her flinch, the driver coming around to her side to open her door courteously.