The next morning*
I stirred, taking in a deep breath into my lungs.
“Urggh,” I mumbled, putting a hand to my throbbing head.
“I hope you’re feeling well because you have a breakfast meeting in less than an hour.”
I opened my eyes, looking over at Corey, who was standing on the opposite of the bed, holding a coffee mug and wearing a faint smirk.
“Uggghh,” I complained, unable to make words, just noises.
My head was killing me.
“I brought you coffee.” He extended the mug to me.
I pulled myself up slightly, taking the coffee. “What time is it?” I asked, my voice thick and raspy.
“7:14. You got back two hours ago and passed out on the bed. Literally, I think you blacked out.”
“Where’s Drake?”
“He passed out downstairs on the kitchen floor, in the process of making coffee I believe.”
I sipped from the mug. “Life is so gross right now.”
He smiled slightly. “Can’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“You didn’t.”
“Wha-yes, I did!” He argued.
“I don’t remember that.”
He blinked, looking bewildered. “I sat there and told you fifteen times that drinking was a bad idea when you were getting ready to leave.”
“Huh. You sure?”
“Yes. I’m sure. Do you not remember last night?”
I thought for a few moments. “…Drawing a blank.”
“Are you kidding me? Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“I’m not kidding.”
“How much did you drink?”
“I don’t remember.” I shrugged.
He put a hand to his forehead. “You’re telling me you don’t remember anything?”
“Nada.” I moved off the bed, feeling stiff as I walked over to the closet with my coffee.
I was wearing the same outfit from last night. Not surprising.
“God only knows what you did.” Corey mumbled.
“I don’t even wanna know.”
“You reek of cigarettes and alcohol.”
“I’m not surprised.” I remarked casually, setting down my coffee so I could slide off my skirt to start getting changed.
There was no time for a shower this morning,
I glanced at my reflection in the mirror, standing in my shirt, and my black curls were a frizzy, knotted mess. “Ugh,” I grimaced, raking my fingers through the disarray.
I saw Corey come up behind me in the mirror as I tried to fix my hair. “My hair is a mess.” I muttered pathetically.
“You’re a mess.” He added.
I rolled my eyes, giving up on my hair for the time being.
Bending down, I grabbed a faded blue band T-shirt from a shelf.
I put a hand to my stomach, my lower abdomen sore.
“Ow.” I muttered, a puzzled expression coloring my features.
“Ow?” Corey questioned.
“Ow.” I repeated weakly, glancing over at him.
He arched an eyebrow, glancing over me. “Don’t wanna know.”
“Neither do I.” I said under my breath, tugging off my shirt.
I glanced down at my stomach, realizing the problem was the silver jewelry in my belly button.
“Are you fucking kidding me? Why would I get my belly button pierced? What would posses me to do that?” I ranted, gazing down at the piercing.
“…It’s kinda hot.”
I looked over at Corey and his eyes met mine.
He grinned.
“Glad you’re happy.” I retorted, tugging on the T-shirt.
“That’s my shirt.”
“So? I paid for it.” I swept my hair back from my face.
“Yeah, whatever.”
“What are you doing up this early anyways?” I questioned skeptically, pulling on a pair of black skinny jeans.
“Who else was going to wake you up? Drake?”
“Good point. I’m just surprised you actually cared enough.”
“Guess that’s what I’m here for. To make you coffee and wake you up after you’ve been out drinking all night.”
“How sweet.”
“Not really. Considering I’d rather not be doing that.”
“Well, you just ruined the moment.” I trudged past him.
“Hey,” He grabbed my arm, stopping me.
I looked back at him, my heart skipping a beat. “Hey,”
He breathed a laugh. “Why do you always say that back?”
“I don’t know.” I admitted sheepishly.
“What I was going to say is, is there a chance we could have some alone time later?”
“Um…” My cheeks warmed. “-maybe.”
He smiled, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me into him.
“You’re not going to start playing hard to get again, are you?”
I paused, almost having to think about that first. “No.”
“You know, we have a little bit of time before you have to leave…” He smirked coyly.
“Like…fifteen minutes. We’re totally not having sex right now though. I haven’t even showered today and I was out all night drinking and…yeah.”
“So? I don’t care.” He leant down and kissed my jaw lightly.
“Really don’t think now’s the right time. I’m hardly even awake. I have to goooo.” I gave him a soft kiss on the lips.
He sighed. “Fine. But later…”
“Lots of hot, sexy sex. Gotcha.” I slipped out of his grip, giving him a thumb’s up before ambling out of the closet.
I heard him chuckling quietly as I grabbed my pair of black Doc Marten boots and tugged them on, hopping back over to the closet entrance.
“Let’s pretend I didn’t say that, okay? It totally ruined my cool factor.” I stood up straight, blowing a curl from my face.
He nodded, trying to hold back a smile. “You’re not gonna live that down.”
“You suck!” I grabbed my sunglasses and a pack of Menthol lights.
“Love you.” He said, standing up against the closet doorframe with his arms crossed.
“Love you too. Keep it real, babe.” I gave him the peace sign before turning and hurrying down the hall to the stairs.
I paused on the first step. Wait. Where am I going?
I turned back around, only to find Corey a few paces behind me.
He smirked at me. “Don’t know where you’re going, do you?”
“Erm…no.” I admitted.
He laughed under his breath. “The police station.”
“Wh-why? Why the police?”
“Don’t worry, they’re not arresting you.” He gave me a sympathetic look. “-I don’t really know what it’s about. Guess you’ll find out.”
“You said I had a breakfast meeting.”
“It is. A meeting at breakfast time.”
“You made it sound so much more pleasant than it actually was.” I grumbled, carrying on down the stairs.
At the police headquarters*
I trudged over to the front desk, wearing my sunglasses and smelling of cigarettes.
“Can I help you?” The receptionist said, not even bothering to glance.
“Uhm, yeah…I had a meeting with someone…”
I had no clue what I was doing here. Wow, I am really unorganized.
“Name?”
“Arabelle Hart.”
Her expression dramatically shifted. “Oh, your majesty. Beg your pardon. Right this way.”
She hurriedly lifted out of her chair, guiding me through a door and down the hall. She stopped at an open door, where a man was standing up, looking at a bulletin board of sticky notes.
“Detective Hallowell. The Queen is here to see you.” The receptionist said, giving me a bright smile.
The detective turned around to face us, his eyes taking me in for a moment.
“Your majesty, please come in.” He gestured me forward.
I stepped into the office, glancing around the small space.
“Some coffee, Sarah?” He spoke to the girl.
She nodded, leaving us for the time being.
“Please, have a seat, my Queen.” Detective Hallowell said to me.
“Thank you. Um, just call me Arabelle.” I settled down into the chair.
“As you wish. And you may call me Kasper. It’s an honor to meet you.”
“The honor is all mine.”
He smiled briefly.
Kasper was tall and thin, dressed in a pair of white slacks and a maroon polo shirt. He had very fair skin and light blonde hair, with wide pale blue eyes and a light dusting of freckles over his nose. He was quite handsome. For a human.
Sarah came back in, holding two Styrofoam cups of coffee. “Your majesty, would you like cream or sugar with yours?” She asked, handing me mine.
“No, that’s fine. Thank you.” I gave her a small smile, taking the coffee.
She handed the other to Kasper and saw herself out of the office, closing the door behind her.
“I was going to speak to your second in command.” Kasper noted, leaning up against his desk. “-instead of having you come all the way out here. I’m sure you’re very busy. But…it seems you don’t have a Vice?”
“Erm, no, not currently.” I responded, glancing down at my hands.
“…Or even an assistant?”
“Uh…”
He smiled slightly. “You’re young.”
“I’m eighteen.”
“Young.” He obliged with a smile.
“What am I here about?” I inquired, changing the subject.
“Yes. It seems there’s been an incident at the auction house on Main Street. A rather…big incident. If you’ve watched the news any today surely you’ve seen the reports.”
“Eh, I haven’t had the time.”
“Well, allow me to fill you in.”
“Please do,” I gestured for him to continue.
“Last night, or rather this morning, at 4:13 there was a report of a fire on Main Street. The fire department was sent out and a dispatch of two police cars. What they found when they got there was the auction house up in flames. They got the fire out after about an hour; by then the place was pretty much rubble. Forensic came in and there was a body count. They’re should’ve been 88 slaves, plus four workers. The only remains that were discovered were that of the workers.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. “Are you saying the slaves escaped?”
“It would appear so. Though, how I’m not entirely sure. Considering they were chained up. What’s even more so interesting is that four of the slaves were found in town, trying to hide in alleyways. Which is also what leads me to believe the slaves had escaped prior to the fire.”
“Where are they now?”
“They’re here now. We’ve tried unsuccessfully to question them.”
Their idea of questioning them was probably beating them until they talked.
“So, what does this mean?” I questioned.
“I don’t know what it means. But it seems something’s going on. I’m assigned to the case, so I’ll keep in contact with you and let you know if any new information comes up.”
“Thank you, I’d appreciate that.”
“What would you like to do about the press?”
“I’d like you only to mention that there was a fire, nothing about the missing slaves.”
He nodded. “Will do.”
“What about the slaves you found? What will you do with them?’
“Well, seeing as there’s no place to put them, I suppose we’ll have to find a place for them in the county jail.”
“Jail?”
“There is no other place, my Queen.”
“Arabelle.” I corrected.
“Arabelle,” He smiled faintly.
I bit my bottom lip, thinking. “I’ll take them with me.”
“I’m sorry?”
“They can stay at my house until we find a better place for them. I have the room.”
“That’s very generous of you.”
I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”
“I’d like to say I’m surprised but with your fondness for vampires, can’t say I am.”
I narrowed my eyes slightly. “It’s not a fondness. It’s respect for another species.”
“You’re kindhearted. Something you don’t see very often in royals.”
“Something that should change.” I inclined my head.
“I couldn’t agree more.” He stated.
I bit my lip, glancing away from his blue-eyed gaze.
“Well, I won’t take up anymore of your time. I’ve gotten you caught up. I’ll call you should anything else pop up.” He set down his coffee on the desk.
“Let me give you my cell phone number. There’s a better chance of reaching me on that.” I stood up, stepping over to his desk.
He smiled softly, a charming gesture on him. “Okay.”
Grabbing a pen from his desk and the first piece of paper I saw, I scribbled down my cell number, putting an A beside it.
I stood up straight, tossing the pen back into its holder. “Um, how old are you, Detective Hallowell?”
“Kasper.”
“Right. You seem young.”
He laughed slightly. “I’m 22. But my dad is Chief. He’s pulled some strings.”
I nodded. “Ah, I see.”
“Let’s keep that our little secret.”
“I’ll take it to the grave.”
He smiled. “Good.”
I bit my lip against a smile. “So, those slaves?”
“Yes, they’re down the hall. Follow me.” He pushed away from his desk, leading us out of the office.
I followed him down the carpeted hall to a bench where four people sat in handcuffs.
“I take it you can handle them?” Kasper inquired, getting a pair of keys from his slack’s pocket.
“Yeah, I can handle them.”
He bent down, unlocking their handcuffs. “You all are going with the Queen. She’ll be taking you into her home for the time being.” He said to them, and they all glanced to me as their hands were freed. “However you all are still witnesses and can be called in anytime for questioning. Other than that, you’re free to go. Are we good?” He stood up, looking over them.
They nodded in unison.
I studied Kasper for a moment. The way he spoke to them, they way he looked at them, with gentleness.
It was amazing to actually see another human treat a vampire with some sort of kindness and not look down on them with disgust.
“Alright then.” Kasper turned to me, wearing a small smile. “They’re all yours, my lady.”
“Thank you for your assistance, Kasper.” I gave him a warm smile.
“You’re very welcome. I’ll be in touch.”
I nodded, and he headed back down the hall to his office.
I turned my gaze back to the vampires.
I took in a steady breath, gathering my thoughts for a moment. “First off, I’m Arabelle. Hi. I can’t believe I’m doing this again…” I muttered to myself. “Um, names? What are your guy’s names?”
At first none of them spoke, but then a girl with bright red hair did. “I’m Florence. That’s Matthew,” She gestured to the boy with long dark brown hair.
He gave me a slight, shy smile, immediately glancing back down.
“-that’s Eris.” Florence looked over to the fair-haired girl beside her.
Eris gave me a wave, and then went back to sulking.
“And that’s Kyle.” The last boy had amber hair and bony features.
Kyle nodded at me.
“And that’s it.” Florence looked back to me.
“Alright, cool. Well, let’s get going then. I’m kinda having caffeine withdrawals.” I turned, glancing back to make sure they were going to follow and they got to their feet and I lead the way out of the police headquarters.
It was weird having to go through this again, inviting vampires into my house.
“Um, three in the back. One up front.” I noted as we came up to my car.
Florence opened the backseat, gesturing for the others to get in.
She got up front with me and I started the car up.
“Okay, just to go over a few things,” I started, pulling out of the parking lot. “-you’re not staying at my house as slaves or prisoners. You are guests and will be treated as such. If you want or need anything, just let me know and I’ll see to it that you get whatever it is. I don’t know how long you all will be staying with me. Indefinitely as of right now. Any questions?”
“…You’re the Queen?” Kyle questioned hesitantly from the backseat.
I glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “Uh, yeah.”
“You’re way hotter in person.”
“Um. Thank you?” I responded awkwardly.
“You’re welcome.”
“Okay. So…anyway. I guess I should stop at the store and get you guy’s some clothes to wear.
“God, please.” Florence uttered. “This outfit is hideous.”
I glanced over her tattered off-white rags. “Definitely getting new clothes.”
“Is it true you had an affair with a vampire?” Kyle asked, leaning up in his seat.
“…I wouldn’t call it an affair.”
“Then what would you call it?”
“A relationship.” I stated.
I realized all of their gazes were on me, with bright curiosity.
“Like? You were together with him?” Kyle pressed.
“Yes. We were very much in love.”
Florence asked, “What happened?”
“It’s complicated. But, um, I still love him. He means the world to me. It just didn’t work out.”
“Did it not work out because he was a vampire?” Eris questioned scathingly.
“No, not at all. I don’t care that he’s a vampire. Actually, really, it’s kind of sexy.” I rambled.
They all looked at me like I was insane. I laughed uncomfortably. “But that’s enough about my love life.”
“Aren’t you engaged?” Florence inquired.
“Yes, I am.”
“But not to the vampire?”
“Isn’t his name Corey?” Kyle added. “You guys are all over the TV.”
“Yeah,” I replied, quickly getting overwhelmed by the conversation.
“So how come you’re marrying another guy and not Corey?” He insisted.
“It’s complicated. And not really something I can get into right now. It’s a story for another time.”
“Aw, man.” Kyle whined, falling back into the seat.
I smiled slightly, grabbing my cigarettes and lighting one up.
Eris leaned forward. “Can I have one of those?”
“Sure,” I handed her the pack and lighter.
First stop was the strip mall, for clothes. Then second was the store, to pick up extra blood.
I’m going to have a house full of vampires. How the hell was I going to keep it under wraps that I was one as well?