The trembles in my hands didn't seem ready to stop anytime soon. I'd come home from an outing with a few friends and decided to check the mail on the way in. It had been a few days and I highly doubted Mother even thought about looking in the box. She could run a social event like a general but anything outside of fine wine and the latest gossip was lost in a sea of disinterest.
Nestled among bills and the usual junk was creme-colored envelop, my name and address scrawled across the front in elegant script. A red wax seal, pressed in the shape of an R, kept it closed. Just from the feel of the paper, I could tell whoever had sent it was rather well off, for lack of a better term. I didn't know anyone that would send me an actual letter, let alone one on such fine stationery. Figuring it wouldn't open itself, I trotted into the kitchen to get a knife.
We didn't own a letter opener and the thought of just ripping the top off felt wrong somehow. Besides, the last thing I wanted to do was potentially damage the letter's contents in case it was from someone important. Trying to keep a steady hand, I lightly slid the sharp point across the envelope, a relieved breath escaping when I managed the task without harm coming to anyone involved.
Dropping the knife back in the block Mother had to spend an insane amount of money on just for "decoration", I pulled out the letter inside, and after scanning the first few lines, it felt like my world stopped.
Dr. Ms. Hemmings,
We are pleased to write you as you have formally been accepted into Rigryce Academy. This is an opportunity given to very few and one we know you worked hard to earn. Becoming a pet is a prestigious honor and Rigryce prides itself on helping its students achieve such a goal. It will be challenging but you have proven to be up to the task. The faculty and headmistress Moreau hope you accept the invitation to become a student and join them in education.
Inclosed is a list of locations where we have trains departing from. If you are interested, please be at one on the marked date. Students must arrive at the school by one of the designated trains. Rigryce has no formal uniform. However, it is highly encouraged girls wear proper feminine attire to reflect their status. This includes skirts, no low cut tops, and shirts and dresses must have sleeves.
Sincerely, Rigryce Academy
It felt like my heart would burst and my damned hands couldn't seem to quit shaking. Dropping onto one of the stools by the counter, I stared at the piece of paper in my hands like it was magic. It was from a school that trained vampire pets, so that might not have been far off the mark.
I can't believe I forgot. The thought filtered through the mess in my head and if I could have, I would have kicked my ass for being such a dunce.
Last summer hadn't been the greatest, with my brother River trying to get his band off the ground and my mother in a nastier mood than normal thanks to his sudden decision. Those two didn't see eye to eye on the best of days and the house practically vibrated with tension when River was getting ready to pack up and go. Needing something to do to get away from the chaos, the part of me that's a little crazy and wild suggested I try getting into the one place I'd dreamed about for years.
I never thought it would happen. Applying Rigryce was only scratching the surface of what it took to get accepted. If they were interested, there was then a series of interviews you had to attend where they could gauge if your intentions were pure and see if you were a good fit for the school. Despite my mother's best attempts to make me into a proper socialite, I could be a hot mess when it came to other people. Especially when I was nervous and I don't think I had room for any other emotion as I got approved to move through each stage of the trial.
The fear of saying something wrong, of making a fool of myself, had held me in a chokehold every time I sat in front of the desk of a new interviewer. Trying to answer their questions as clearly as possible while keeping down my lunch had seemed impossible at the time. One room had a decorative potted plant I thought I would have to borrow. It was one of the final interviews and the person asking the questions had been a stern, tough as nails woman that could have just as easily been a bouncer for a nightclub the way she stared me down from her seat.
She fired questions at me one after the other and I could feel myself getting jumbled up. Exactly what she wanted I'm sure. Easy things like why I wanted to be a pet or what I thought of vampires had me grasping for answers like runaway birthday balloons, there but just out of reach. I couldn't help but wipe my sweaty palms across the fabric of the A-line skirt I'd worn once she moved into the harder stuff like what I knew about vampires and their society. The desire to say something decent and not fall into stereotypes had weighed on my shoulders as she watched me, pen poised to mark down what I said.
Vampires had been out for about a hundred years and while the initial shock had fallen away to quiet acceptance, there were still a few factions that wanted to see them die off. Mostly religious organizations that felt vampires were creations of the devil sent to lead us into ruin but some people were simply scared of how much stronger and just better vamps were than humans. Fear is always a hard emotion to break, especially when it's clung to like a security blanket.
Most of the interviews were just to make sure I wasn't a wolf in sheep's clothing. I lost count of the number of background checks and other information they had me do to put in my file before moving on to discussions about what to expect if accepted and just to gauge how much I already knew about vampire society in general.
I honestly didn't know much since vampires kept most of it to themselves. I knew that after the Reveal, most big cities gave up small portions of land to the vamps so that they could build their own, safe communities and a few vampires-only cities were constructed globally. They were supposed to be super modern with high-tech equipment helping monitor the walls within. Nothing less should be expected, vampires having a vast amount of wealth thanks to their long lives.
The governments gladly gave it to them as long as no human deaths occurred in vampire territory. They wanted proof that vampires could be trusted; that we wouldn't find ourselves in the middle of extinction. It was an easy agreement as one of the main reasons vampires ousted themselves was to have an easier time feeding. Having humans willingly donate blood was preferable to feeding off an unwilling person and making them forget.
According to the American vampire President, the old way was "Simply barbaric."
When they came out, they did it intending to live peacefully among the human population. While they did run off of instinct, they could also use their head and think before acting. The constant hiding got the better of them and they felt it would benefit both species for them to reveal their existence. They handled the human blowout that came afterward well, choosing to ride it out instead of engaging in a war they could have easily won in days.
While much calmer now, there were still the occasional scuffles on the streets as someone stupid attached a passing vampire for whatever reason. The vampires, usually, just fended their attacker off until authorities could intervene. Not as bad as the first few years after the Reveal when mobs would storm the streets and riots became a daily thing but it was understandable why they would want a space they could control.
I think that's what finally sold people that they didn't want to be a threat to us. Despite all the advantages they had over humans, super strength and speed the most obvious, they never once used them. They sat back and watched us the way a parent would with a toddler throwing a tantrum, and let us ride it out.
The Internet was full of speculation on what other abilities vampires might be hiding. As fascinating as I found them, I spent too much time searching through blogs and websites dedicated to the topic without getting a whole lot in return. Vampires always had a smaller population compared to humans, their women were less fertile and they had a harder time carrying babies to full term. This meant that there weren't a whole lot of vampires worldwide, let alone living outside of their territory, and they were incredibly careful with the humans they let inside. Nothing would get slipped that they didn't want to be known.
That went for every aspect of their world. Trying to look up anything about Rigryce popped up frustratingly little. All that was publicly available was that it was one of four vampire-run academies in the United States and the only one focused on training pets. No information on where it was located or images of the school itself. It was like trying to grab onto a ghost, the wispy tendrils slipping through my fingers. To even get an application, I'd had to go to my local embassy office and return it for them to mail when I was done.
That might have been another test, to see who would willingly jump in feet first without fear of getting wet. I had always been drawn to them, their predatory nature and unnatural grace appealing to me where it made other humans nervous. I could never put my finger on it, the sense that their world held something for me was just always present. Their world felt more like home than the one I grew up in, despite never meeting a vamp in person before. I watched coverage of their events, the feeling of knowing some of the guests stuck like a bone in my throat as they posed for pictures, smiles all sharp fangs and deadly beauty. Mother thought it was weird and tried everything to break it but I was stubborn.
From a young age, I could sit and watch films about vampires for hours, from raunchy romances to the likes of Dracula. From the time I learned to read I was devouring books about them, some written after the Reveal but most from before. Vampires had always been a fascinating topic and a woman's wet dream as far as perfect lovers went. Most writing, current and old, seemed to think they were fierce, primal creatures not far removed from their wild roots. Beasts that needed a soft female's touch to tame them. It was fun to see how old authors pictured them and to try and guess what was true and what was only the work of a creative mind.
The one thing that everyone seemed to agree on was how breathtakingly beautiful they were. Born, or more known as Pureblood, vampires tended to be the holy grail of appearances, their lineage unmarked by human blood. From the rare interviews some of the more famous vampire elite did, you could tell they were everything human, just built upon. Any flaws or imperfections are wiped out of their genetic makeup to create the perfect predators. No need to get your hands dirty when your prey was drawn in like a moth to a flame. Knowing that they only looked so pretty to hunt ruined the effect for a lot of people. It only made me more intrigued.
I read somewhere that the T.V screen didn't do them justice, making me wonder just how gorgeous they were face to face. I guess I'll find out.
After almost a year without getting anything in response to my application, I just assumed it wasn't meant to be and put it in the foreground of my brain. I did it originally just to give myself something to do but a part of me wanted things to work out as the process moved further along. Putting in all that effort ignited a desire in me I didn't fully realize I had until I was done, waiting for a response. It was the one thing I'd pictured doing for years without actually believing I'd follow through so to be able to say I'd taken that step was huge for me. The thought that I wasn't good enough sent shards of hurt and rejection piercing through my heart.
Life moved on and as months passed, I got distracted and forgot what was deemed a stupid mistake. As much as I would have liked to have mourned what could have been, I had to keep going and there was plenty to keep me busy. River's band found a following and took off quickly after that. I was happy for him, helping him pack and get ready to leave when he found out they were going on tour. Mom tried setting me up on a few dates with "up and coming businessmen" after River was gone. I think she just wanted one child to do what she wanted for once. As if I would ever go for the self-absorbed, egos as big as the state of Texas types she seemed fond of.
It wasn't a stupid mistake, though. The letter in my hand made that overly clear. The shock at finding the key to a dream I'd almost let go of fell away to waves of elation. Heart beating faster, a stupid smile forced itself onto my face as the reality of the situation sunk in. My fingers traced over the words, again and again, proving that this wasn't just a vivid hallucination. I could do it. I could pack my stuff up come September and get on a train for wherever. I wanted to dance a jig, scream at the top of my lungs, and tell someone the good news.
I was going to train to be a Pet. I was going to attend Rigryce Academy and meet my very first vampires. They wouldn't be behind a screen or grainy photos. No, they would be real flesh and blood people. If it worked out well, at the end of the school year, a vampire would select me to bond with and I'd wear his mark and live out the rest of my life in his company. I would be a treasured companion. That type of connection is what I'd been craving for the longest time and having it so in reach was mind-boggling.
But as much as I wanted to say something, have someone share in my joy, it would be a kiss of death.
Everyone I knew, everyone my mother associated with, was bigoted towards vampires. They were evil, buying our trust, luring us into a false sense of security. It didn't matter that not once in the time since the Reveal, no vampire-related deaths had been reported. They wouldn't understand, wouldn't care why I did it. Would assume I had somehow been compromised. Any attempt at an explanation would fall on deaf ears. They had it in their heads that they were right and anyone else that didn't agree with them was wrong. All they would see is a girl betraying her kind. I would get dragged away, be forced to try and convert to their views in a sick attempt to "cure" me.
Crazy, wacko, better suited for a mental hospital. Those were some of the nicer terms I'd heard used for people like me. People that wanted to be bonded to vampires become a part of their world. There was such a that would never happen to me mentality around my mom's circle of friends that it was hard to determine exactly what their reaction would be other than bad.
That made leaving even harder. As much as I would have liked to, I couldn't just up and leave without some sort of explanation. Mom would have every authority under the sun looking for me if I did that, although I was twenty-one and fully capable of making my own decisions. As much as I disappointed her, I was still a tool she could polish and use, even if I broke not long after. The last thing anyone needed was her storming the grounds of Rigryce, thinking they'd kidnapped me or something. Highly unlikely, since no one knew where it was, but my mother could make the impossible happen. In her head, the world was here to serve her and she wasn't a speck in a vast, expanding universe.
Thank the gods she was out with a few friends having a late lunch. They would drink until they couldn't anymore and she would go straight to her room to sleep the alcohol off. I wouldn't see her again for a few days, giving me the much-needed time to make a plan. Hell would be a paradise compared to her reaction if she found the letter before I did. I needed to break it to her gently, somewhere where the chances of her killing me were minimal.
Her reaction would suck but then again, it would suck no matter what. All I could hope for was to reduce the damage done. I was going against everything she believed in and showing her that I couldn't be controlled for the rest of my life. My stomach soured at just the thought of the unavoidable conversation I needed to have.
Grabbing my phone, my fingers flew across the keyboard as I sent a text to the one person I knew I would be able to talk to without being judged.
Eden: Call me when you have time. Have something important to tell you.
A/N: This is a really short chapter compared to what I usually write so please don't worry about the whole thing being this way! This was more of a setup chapter to introduce the story's world and our main gal. That's why it's so minimal. Hope to see you next time :)