Alanna opened her eyes to be greeted by the bright light of the sun through the windows. She didn't even know when she slept off yesterday from all the crying and wailing she made but it felt like she had one of the best sleep in ages. Suddenly, the realization hit her and she looked at the door of her room in alarm, remembering what transpired the previous night.
That was right. The introduction...it was today!
She jumped down from her bed, walking towards the window to look through it. Though it had been locked to prevent her from scheming anything stupid, she could still see through it.
Everywhere was bubbling and happiness filled the air as the servants in the mansion decorated and cleaned its surroundings. Justin Flores and his family were coming to her father's mansion for the introduction ceremony and she would get to meet him face-to-face for the first time.
Her eyes closed as she remembered Ethan...her Ethan...how would he feel when he realized she was getting married to someone else and without his consent? She knew her father would not even think to invite the human to the ceremony for reasons she was already aware of.
A sting of pain hit her chest as she held it in despair, imagining what would happen after all this. She would get married to that bloodsucking creature who she heard had no respect for women.
Oh God...the scandals she had heard of that man were more than what her brain could take. Was it the rape allegations laid against him severally that he always found a way out of? Or was it the people he had been accused of killing? Even his servants were extremely scared of him because he sucked people's blood like a hungry cow, showing no regard for how they felt. He didn't even have any regard for human lives and it was part of the reason why some humans had begun to suspect the existence of creatures like her family. He was very careless when it came to hiding his identity and his family always had to clean his mess up. It was no wonder his reputation hadn't been tarnished yet by the media.
And that was the type of person her father wanted her to marry? Had he forgotten that she was human and couldn't put up a fight with a vampire? Justin would probably kill her on their first day together by sucking her dry.
Even her family did better at following the rules and regulations regarding how vampires should live amid humans but The Flores family didn't pay any heed to it and they always surprisingly got away with it.
Her hands clenched in frustration. She didn't want to accept her fate so easily but with the way things were going now and her phone not being with her, there was no way she could carry out any plan to escape or stop this wedding.
'Knock!' Alanna heard a loud knock on her room door, the person behind waiting for her to reply.
Really?! Was that person serious? They locked her room from outside and after opening, they knocked like she was in control for her to tell them to come in?! She would not reply.
The person behind the door waited but when they heard no response, the door finally creaked open and the view of her stylist along with other maidservants came to Alanna.
She turned her face away, anger seething inside of her but she kept a stoic expression. Oh Lord...was this happening to her?
"Good morning, Miss Alanna. How was your night?" The eldest woman among the servants spoke, catching Alanna's attention and making her whip her head to see them already inside her room.
"My father sent you, didn't he?" she said with tears welling her eyes.
The elderly woman looked down as if feeling sad for her before replying, "Sorry, Miss Lana but I am only following orders. Please make my job easy for me." She spoke in a pleading tone, indirectly telling Alanna that she knew what would happen if she didn't make work easier for her or attempted to struggle.
Of course, her father had told her that yesterday. She knew what these women would suffer if she tried any stupid thing.
"What am I supposed to do?" She asked the woman straightforwardly, not wanting to delay her so she didn't get punished.
"Your father, Mr. Vales asked me to doll you up for the introduction ceremony that would be held by 9:00 a.m. this morning so please cooperate with me," the woman said and looked at the other maids who quickly dropped whatever equipment they held and came to dress her up. They too, looked nervous.
Every one of them was human like her so it only made sense that they were scared. They had all signed a contract with her father to never tell anyone about their existence and they also agreed to live a life prone to any harm from the vampires in her family which was why her father could harm them without fear.
How these women managed to bring themselves to sign such a contract when it endangered their lives was something Alanna could never understand. Not just them but the entire flock of servants. It seemed to her they didn't value their lives themselves and what made it ironic was that their aim of risking their lives was to make ends meet and survive the hard economy.
Alanna looked at her clock on the desk. It was 6:35 a.m. at the moment.
Within an hour and a half, the maids did their best to dress Alanna up to the best of their ability. They wore her a blue gown with long sleeves that had shiny stones made of silver and other pearls at the lower ends. The bodice was tight-fitted with a corset worn underneath that almost hitched Alanna's breathing, only worsening her already disastrous condition.
She looked at the time again which was 8:00 a.m. and peeked through the window to see if any of Justin's family had arrived but was greeted by her elder brother's black Mercedes Benz which he carried about like his only asset.
Her elder brother had arrived.
She rolled her eyes when she saw him come out of his car dressed in his usual black outfit- his suit.
Couldn't even wear something different to her wedding introduction, she muttered to herself, judging his poor sense of dressing as she looked at him.
"Ma'am we need to continue with your hair and make-up," one of the girls spoke when Alanna didn't leave the window yet.
"Right," she said and went to sit on the couch in front of her mirror. The women were quick with Alanna's face and hair as they were almost out of the time Mr. Vales had given them.
When they were done, even Alanna seemed a bit taken aback by how good she looked. She was not the type to wear make-up or obsess over her looks so she couldn't remember when last she looked this presentable. Even she admitted that she looked really good.
"Honk! Honk!" The sound of car horns alarmed Alanna as she stood up abruptly to check her window again. This time, she was sure it was them because the next moment, the tall black gates of the Vales' home were opened, showing the lined-up fleets of cars that awaited entry into her house.
Her heart began to beat rapidly again, fear settling in her chest as she saw the cars load into the house until it was the last car. She counted them. There were over ten. It was just an introduction so why were they so showy?! Alanna asked herself in irritation.
She could feel the bitterness in her heart spreading, her thoughts from time to time shifting to Ethan, her lover but she brushed it off. If she was going to get married to someone else, she had better start trying to forget about her past relationship...even though she knew it would be extremely hard because she loved him very much.
"Miss Alanna!" Someone entered the room. It was another servant, a brunette one this time.
"The Groom's family has arrived. They await your presence!" the woman said with intensity, trying to steady her breath. She had perhaps been running.
"Then my lady, I think it is time for you to go downstairs. Please put a smile on your face." the elderly woman, Madam Pamela pleaded.
"Yes, my lady. Your father wants them to have a good first impression." another servant input.
Right, a good first impression for people who had never given others a good impression of themselves, Alanna muttered to herself with sarcasm before taking a deep breath and looking at the women again.
"Fine," she sighed, her heart turning heavy again.