The Bloodmaid's Tale

Chapter 9

June walked with Fredrick to the limo and sat beside him as they started to move forward. It seemed like hours to June but it was probably minutes as the car halted slowly to a stop before Fredrick moved forward towards her.

 "I'm sorry to have to do this but you need to get down on the floor" Fredrick suddenly said pushing June down. June began to shake, not knowing what was going on until she saw the flashing lights.

It was an Angel troupe, guarding off sectors of the city of what was once Chicago. " Just going out for some fresh air Sergeant " Fredrick said smoothly as he pressed the button to allow the window to roll down to the guards outside. 

"Let the Commander by!" one of the Angel's shouted and waved them past the guard post. If they had seen June, the Angels might have attacked. There had been stories of the Angels taking over cars with human slaves, leaving no survivors to actually confirm or deny. The blood lust was getting worse day by day from the way Cora had talked to June. Vampires were becoming weak from hunger and those with Bloodmaids had to protect them.

June sat back up and smoothed out her dress. "That looks lovely on you by the way" Fredrick said pouring some champagne into a glass. June politely nodded, trying to keep her head down so she wouldn't have to look at him for a long period of time. 

 "Here, take this" he said handing her the glass. June gladly took it and drank up, her nerves were beginning to break and she was going to need a lot of courage to go through with this. She hadn't tasted alcohol in years, her days of high school parties and some frat boy celebrations far behind her it seemed. The drink was strong and it dulled her senses enough to breathe deeply. 

They drove into the city, the lights flashing by June so fast she could barely make out where they were coming from. The skyscrapers seemed like monoliths, gods of their own nature standing high above all the chaos below. The streets, once filled with people, seemed nearly empty compared to before. There were still people walking along the sides, but they weren't actually people. They were the undead. June had to keep reminding herself that they were not like her, that they never would be. Soon they pulled up and she could hear the sound of music playing outside the streets. It was an orchestra outside of a grand theater with lights pulsating around the marquee.

"This was one of the first opera houses I went to when I came to this country. I was just a fledgling back then, entrapped within the culture of America and all it's wonders" Fredrick said as the door opened "We are going to see one of my favorite opera's,I hope you will enjoy it." He extended his hand to her and she placed it there gently. June couldn't help but feel curious. She had never been to a real opera before, her experience in the performing arts very limited from times spent studying. She had wanted to be a therapist at one point, and tried to focus on that goal while everyone else had lived in the few free years that they had. She looked over at Fredrick for a moment, and wished she was attending such an event with anyone else except the thing that was currently enslaving her.

He looked so tall and grand to her, that she lowered her eyes away from the crowd around the theater doors. Everyone knew who Fredrick was apparently by their stares, he after all had to be a prominent figure in the government to achieve such luxuries of life,  but nobody knew her. They must have wondered what he was doing at the theater without his Wifemate, and June began to panic. What if Serena found out? What if she was taken away from Fredrick and used at some other household? How could she get away? Would Nicholiah come looking for her if she did go missing?

Suddenly she looked up and saw that all the men were vampires, their reflective eyes shining in the dim lamplight inside the opera house, in yet all the women at their side were not. Some of them were Daywives, as their two colored eyes stared at her and the other were just normal human girls, like her. This wasn't an ordinary event, this was something special. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach, knowing now that the vampires were using the female women not only for food, but for much more sinister needs. She felt dirty being beside Fredrick, like a whore of Babylon parading around with a king.