Broken Soul

It was starting to get dark as Dannie stepped out of her taxi with and her suitcase in hand. She heard the car drive off as she stood in awe at the building in front of her. “A castle…” she uttered in disbelief. “He lives in a castle. Very subtle, Evan.” Whether he lived alone or not, other than his donors, was unknown to her. This place could be crawling with other vampires. She started to feel nervous. She walked toward it until she reached a large black gate. It didn’t have a lock on it so she lifted her hand to it so she could push it open. But before she even touched it, she heard it squeak and she gasped. The gate slowly opened on its own for her like an automatic door. She stared at it peculiarly, and then snapped out of her confused daze and stepped through. The gate also closed itself once she was passed it. This place was spooking her out already.

She couldn’t take her eyes off of the castle as she approached it. The large building looked so eerie, especially now since lightning was starting to flash in the sky. Her fear subsided for a moment as she wondered what it looked like on the inside. She knew it was probably beautiful.

The door was large and black. She approached it cautiously as she wondered what lingered on the other side. Slowly, hesitantly, she lifted her hand to the cold, wooden door. Raindrops started falling from the dark clouds above. Dannie knocked on the door, then watched a few drops of rain slither down it as she waited. Moments later, the door creaked open and Dannie saw a young woman's face without eerie blue eyes. She sighed in relief, knowing this person wasn't a vampire. "Hello," she began introducing herself. "I'm-"

"You're late," the woman informed her, pulling her inside out of the rain. It was Myra. She closed the door and locked it, then said, "Put your suitcase on the floor in the front room, grab the form off of my desk and fill out your information. Then put it back on my desk and wait for the master to interview you."

"All right, thank you," Dannie replied and did as she asked. She entered the front room and saw several other girls sitting throughout the room. Some were filling out their forms, others were just waiting for their turn to be seen. There were probably about 20 other applicants. She wondered if she would even get her chance to see him. She took a closer look at some of the girls who were waiting and could see they were afraid. They probably knew what was in the other room down the hallway. They knew what their purpose was. Dannie wondered if she should be afraid. But to her surprise, she wasn't. At least, not yet.

Dannie took one of the forms off the desk and grabbed a pen and sat down in the last vacant chair. Then, with the pen in hand, she read through the paper she was about to fill out. The contents that were required were:

Name:
Marital status:
Immediate family:
Occupation:
Health status:
Reason for applying:

Dannie knew she had to answer these correctly if she was going to win a meeting with him. So, she tried to think like a vampire. She really didn't want to have to lie, but there wasn't any other option. For her name, she wrote her full birth name. Dannie couldn't give him many clues to her identity, so she had to write her real name which was pretty common. For marital status, she simply put single. And immediate family, she wrote N/A as if she had none. She had a feeling that vampires would want donors with a little known past and a seemingly nonexistent present. If she mentioned she had a family and a job where thousands knew her, it would definitely ruin her chances. For occupation, she wrote unemployed. And health status, she jotted down: good. And her reason for applying, she put: referred. That answer would definitely stir up interest. Once she was done, she set the form back on the desk and returned to her seat. Then the waiting process began. His assistant sat at her desk and read through all of the papers.

Every so often, a name was called. The girls were either dismissed or told to go into the other room.

Dannie noticed as every girl was dismissed from the interview room, they were expressionless almost like they were in some kind of a trance. Evan had wiped their memories. She hoped that wouldn't happen to her.

Nearly 2 hours had passed. Eventually, Dannie was the last one left.

"Saroya, Danielle," Myra called out over the roaring thunder outside. Dannie quickly stood up and followed her to the door her old friend was on the other side of. "Go on in."

Dannie stepped inside the room expecting to see him right away. But she didn't. The room was very dark. There were a few dim lamps and candles illuminating the room, with the aid of the blue lightning flashes shining through the curtained windows. The room looked like some kind of office. There was a desk in the corner and a chair in front of it. She almost sat down, but decided not to if he didn't offer. Dannie just stood in the cold, closed, bleak room waiting for him.

As she stared into the darkness, she saw a pair of glowing blue eyes come into focus. Dannie recognized them immediately.

It was Evan.