Slave to Destiny

“What’s your problem Cole?” I growled at him under my breath. Every slave in the castle had been called upon to learn how to serve guests in the grand dining hall. It had been going great, nobody had even noticed me until Cole decided to start bugging me.

Cole smirked down at me earning stares from the slaves around us. Roland looked homicidal as his angry brown eyes stared Cole down. Mistress Abigail was currently distracted screaming orders at a slave who had made a mistake. If this kept up I was no longer going to blend into the background. “My my Gabby, is something wrong?” innocence was laced in his word. Asshole.

Daniel who stood next to him laughed out loud. Cole glanced back and forth between us trying to figure out what had occurred. “Come on Cole leave the poor girl alone,” Daniel muttered grasping his friends arm and dragging him off towards the exit just as Mistress Abigail began yet another wild rant on proper serving technique. It was a well known fact that the woman was completely insane when it came to doing things properly.

It was well past bed time when we were finally released. We left in a flood all headed towards the slave quarters. Tina and Roland stood on either side of me chatting happily about the upcoming festivals.

“I heard the festivals are amazing,” Tina chirped a smile beaming on her lips, “I’m so excited. I wish I could attend them instead of hosting it. It would be like a fairy tale.” Even after all the things we’d been through I could still see the traces of innocence in my dear friend. I would have to tell her the truth one day. Perhaps tonight?

Roland grumbled beside me. Nothing ever got him excited. In my past life as a princess he was completely devoted to my safety. Now it would appear he really hadn’t adjusted to the change of pace as smoothly as I had. Of course that could be expected. After seeing the Night Mother I was even more devoted to solving this out. It would probably take years, but when I was finished we would have peace.

“They can’t be that great if the royal snobs are there,” Roland muttered.

Quickly I glanced around making sure no one would hear us. “Roland don’t say stuff like that. You’re going to get in trouble. Besides Edmund is a very pleasant child. Plus Cole can be okay when he feels like it,” I defended.

“What the hell Gabby? You’re defending them? Cole was the entire reason you got branded! Are you sick in the head?” Roland roared at me. His face was turning scarlet from anger. Perhaps I was insane, but it was far easier to cope knowing that they did posses some good qualities.

“Roland you don’t know what you’re talking about,” I whispered departing from the group. Wandering the corridors had become a nightly ritual for me over the past few days. It was probably against the rules, but to be perfectly frank I didn’t give a crap.

When I was little I couldn’t wait to grow up. I wanted to be a queen. No I didn’t want the power or the money, I just wanted to make a difference for my people. Seeing poverty stricken people was devastating for me. My father used to ban me from walking the street hidden in cloaks because when I came back I was riled up for social change. I wanted to help them. He said I didn’t understand the situation, but I just think he didn’t understand. He was looking in the past. Corban, Henry, Abigail, all of them are looking in the past, but not I. I was the future whether they liked it or not.

The paintings that lined the walls of countless vampires still bothered me. They appeared to be made to portray vampires as some heartless creatures. Each set of eyes were cold and red. It was disturbing.

“Hello Gabby,” a familiar jolly voice called out from behind. I’d been staring so intently at the portraits I hadn’t noticed anyone coming. Of course perhaps he had not wanted to be noticed. I held my breath as I turned around to see Gregory standing there wearing his usual attire of a nice suit and red tie.

A fake smile adorned my face in a flash. “Hello Mister Smitten. Are you in need of something this evening?” I asked him as politely as I possibly could. He seemed like a perfect gentleman, but my wolf thrashed inside of me. It commanded me to run. I didn’t listen. As I stared into his hungry scarlet eyes I began to realize something was off. He was a wealthy noble. There was loads of blood in the castle. Why was he still hungry?

Something clicked in my head. Fear began to consume in a wave. He was one of those psychos that had a thing for werewolf blood. I took a step backwards. As the realization appeared on my face, a wicked grin appeared on his. “Don’t be so nervous my dear girl, it will only hurt a little,” he whispered in a husky voice.

My wolf tried to break free. Violent shocks were sent down my spine. I was repulsed by the very situation. In my shocked state he came at me smashing me into the wall. It nearly bounced a portrait right off. His teeth were jagged and terrifying. I could see his fangs plain as day. As if to prove I was no longer a princess that was going to get saved by a knight in shining armor, he bit down on my neck without a second thought. My flesh felt like it was on fire.

Nauseating shocks could be felt everywhere. “Stop,” I whispered feeling lightheaded. My wolf was my last line of defense. It didn’t seem to care about the pain. It wanted to kill Gregory. My body attempted to phase again and again. I was reaching my breaking point when something extraordinary happened. My entire right hand became furry with sharp ebony claws. I swiped at his face leaving bloody claw marks all the way down his cheek. Those wouldn’t go away until he got ahold of the proper antidote.

Gregory was staring at me in shock as I darted off down the hallway. Partial transformations were unheard of. Plus no one had ever broken a collar. As I ran tears sliding down my face I looked down at my hand. It had five fingers and looked as normal as ever.

“Gabby!”