Sabrina's Dress to the side

Chapter 14

It's been a couple of months since I've told Layton, Maybelle, and the twins my secret, and surprisingly my life here has gotten better. I hate that I was wrong about them, but at least having them know makes being here a little more easier.

They sneak me some animal blood when their parents aren't looking so I don't starve myself, and I'm proud to say that I'm starting to convince them to go vegan and drink animal blood. Braydon complained the most during it but he still drank it which is more than enough for me.

Whenever I have to go out to hunt, sometimes they would join me. Of course I never catch anything since none of them can hunt to save their lives, but it was fun to have company around. We also would have races per Braydon's request and I would win each time.

The situation with Drew is also getting a little bit better. Layton would steer me away whenever Drew or Karla were near me so I wouldn't have to interact with any of them. It makes it a little easier considering that Braydon is also the only one who constantly requests that I join in everywhere but as long as it's not Drew then I'm okay.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Now it's the day that the castle is holding the ball to celebrate Drew's birthday and his coming of age. All the guys and Maybelle are in their rooms to get ready so I was left by myself in my room, twirling a dagger around in my hand.

Suddenly someone barges into the room making me yelp in surprise. My eyes widen seeing Maybelle and I give her a thumbs-up. Her sleeveless gown is in a rich, purple color that reaches down to the floor with a sweetheart neckline. Pleated beads wrap around the waist of the dress separating the soft fabric from the chest and the ruffled fabric of the skirt. In one hand, she's holding a purple mask that matches.

"Wow," I breathe out, "You look-"

"Breathtaking," Brandon cuts in, kissing Maybelle on the cheek. I smile at the interaction between the two. They're so in love with each other!

"Thanks! Oh and Sabrina, I got you something too!" she squeals, making my eyes widen.

"What?"

"You're going to the ball," she says, before Layton comes inside with a bag in his hand. She wants me to go to the ball?

The ball where Drew is supposed to find his soulmate? Vampires from all around the world are coming just to see if they're lucky enough to be his soulmate. I know that she has no idea what it's like between Drew and I, but no! I'm not going to a place to watch Drew get worshiped by girls prettier and better than me, my pride won't allow it.

"Slaves aren't allowed to go," I blurt out, hoping that it was actually the case. The king and queen hate my guts so I know that they would never let me there and for once, I'm okay with the decision that they made.

Maybelle digs around in her bag before taking out multiple bottles with a clear liquid inside. It looks really familiar but I can't remember where I've seen it before. "That's why I got you this! It's a scent disguise. It'll mask your scent to match a basic vampire one. It won't change your natural scent though."

"Natural scent?" I repeat in confusion, catching one of the bottles that she tosses at me.

"Everyone has one. Yours kind of reminds me of...dirt?"

"Thanks Maybelle," I say, rolling my eyes as Layton and Brandon both chuckle from their spot against the wall. I don't know why they're just standing there.

Also, where's Braydon? I usually never see Brandon and Layton by themselves without Braydon. Maybe he went ahead to the ballroom already. It's easy to forget that he actually works here since he's always so carefree and laidback. I can't imagine him ever having a serious job or have a job and take it seriously. Is that mean?

"I meant it's an earthy smell," Maybelle rewords, "probably from the amount of time you spend outdoors. Anyways, this will cover your human scent so you pass off as a vampire. And it's masquerade ball so you'll be wearing a mask. You'll look like any normal vampire lady who's there to enjoy life."

But I'm not a normal vampire lady. And I don't enjoy my life. I hate this.

"Fine," I grumble, standing to my feet. "But I'm not staying there forever. I'll go in, stay a couple hours, then leave. In and out, quick and fast. No trouble whatsoever."

"Good enough," Maybelle says, shrugging at me. "Now go take a bath. When was the last time you've washed yourself?" she asks.

This is going to be embarrassing. "The interview dinner..."

"That was months ago!"

"I hate it!"

"Sabrina!"

"Fine," I grumble, forcing myself to drag myself towards the bathroom. Without turning around, I close the door and lean against it, blowing out a sigh and rubbing my forehead.

This is going to be a pain.

***

"Stupid bathing and water and being wet," I grit out, wiping myself down as much as possible with the cloth Maybelle gave me. I say more curses before walking out and feeling slight relief seeing only Maybelle in the room. I'm not sure how comfortable I would be if anyone else was inside the room with us.

She looks up at me before standing up with a small smile. "Took you long enough. Ready to see your dress?" she asks, already making her way towards the bag and delicately pulls out a dress. A sharp exhale escapes me as I take in the absolutely beautiful article of clothing in front of my eyes.

It's a blood red, sleeveless dress that's tight from the waist-up and flares out from the waist-down. Sequins cover the chest area and is delicately sprinkled further down the dress. With my height, the bottom of the dress would barely touch the floor.

"It's so beautiful," I whisper, touching the soft fabric.

"It's yours. Put it on while I get your makeup ready," she tells me before turning around. I drop the wrap around me and carefully slip the dress on as to not accidentally rip any part of it. No doubt Maybelle wouldn't appreciate it coming back to her in worst shape when I return the dress.

After voicing out that the dress was on, Maybelle turns around and smiles at me before motioning me to sit down. I take a sit on the bed before feeling her start to do something to my hair, pulling and moving the strands in multiple directions. Occasionally I find myself slapping her hand away when she pulled a little too hard before apologizing immediately after.

"Your hair is so pretty so I'm just going to leave it down rather than pinned up. Besides, it'll definitely make you stand out from the others around here," she says.

I frown at her comment. "You do realize that I'm more interested in blending in than standing out, right?"

"Yeah I know, but there's exceptions to everything, believe me," she sighs. "Anyways, I took the liberty of getting you shoes that I know you would be comfortable with." I turn around just as she hands me a pair of flat shoes.

"Thanks," I tell her, putting them on. I'm not sure how she found out what size my shoes are, but I'm glad that they fit well. Plus, the fact that they're flat means that I'm not going to tower over the others and I can more or less blend in.

"Oh good, they fit. Okay now, stand up and close your eyes. I'm going to spray this all over you," she says. I stand up and close my eyes before I hear the sound of something being sprayed all around my body, even directly on my face. I hear her spray something else with the perfume before something light is placed in my hand.

Opening my eyes, I look down and notice a red and black mask that goes along well with the dress perfectly. "Let me put it on," she says. I turn my back towards her once more before I feel the mask slide down my face. She wraps the cloth tightly around the back of my head and smooths my hair down over it.

The mask feels tight but I'm not going to try and loosen it. The tighter it is, the less likely it'll fall off. "Sneak out your window and enter through the front gates. Meet us in the ballroom once you're inside. Brandon told me earlier that the line was long so it might take you a while. Be patient though," she tells me, giving me a hug before walking away.

I wait for her to leave before climbing out the window. I decide to keep the window open and place a small twig between so that I can open it again before walking about a mile away from the castle. I then walk back to see that there is a long line stretching from outside the castle.

Taking a deep breath, I walk all the way to the end and stand behind a couple.

This is it. This is actually happening. I'm about to socialize with vampires and act like one of them. I've pretended to be full human before, but never full vampire.

I wipe my sweaty hands on the dress and groan silently when I see how fast the line is moving. I thought the line was going to move slow? In almost no time at all, I find myself standing in front of the gates. My eyes widen when I notice that the guard is the same one that told the family about the deer and prisoner incident.

Please fate, for once be on my side and don't have him recognize me.

Once I'm at the front, I smile at him and freak out a little when he doesn't return the gesture. Does he recognize me? It's hard to tell, his face stays neutral the entire time. "Fangs," he grunts out, looking like he's enjoying this situation just as much as I am.

I hesitantly relieve the pressure in my gums and let my fangs out before he nods for me to go inside. Immediately I walk past him and follow those in front of me to go towards the direction of the ballroom.

Is it really that easy to get inside? Just show my fangs? I thought you had to be invited to a ball, especially one that the royal family is throwing. Maybe they just wanted to make sure the size of the ball would be huge.

When I walk inside the ballroom, I immediately feel suffocated. The entire place is filled to every corner with vampires. Couples are dancing on the floor, others were drinking, and some were having conversations with each other towards the side.

There's a staircase that leads to the royal family rooms and that's where I know that the family will be emerging from. There's a small stage at the bottom of the staircase so I'm assuming that's where they will probably do the speeches and announcements.

I sigh and make my way over towards the side. It'll do me good to just watch and see how everyone interacts with each other. Along the way, I see some girls with gowns that look like years were taken to make them giggling excitedly. "He's so handsome. Oh I'm definitely sure that I'm going to be his queen," one of them says, giving out a confident smile.

I nearly snort in amusement and gently push past them. Nice try but no one in that group is going to be. No one in the entire ballroom is going to be.

There's no way I can say that though. Not when I'm not going to admit anything. I look around and see a table with refreshments. Surely they have to have some animal blood in there, right? I start pushing my way past vampires and hear a few rude comments for bumping into them but I try my hardest to ignore their words.

My arm brushes against someone else's and I feel tingles shoot all over my body. I freeze on the spot and close my eyes. Tell me I did not just...

I slowly turn around and feel fear mixed with a few other emotions creep into my core when I see who's staring back at me.

He also appears to be frozen on the spot. But unlike me, he isn't frozen in fear. Instead, he might have been frozen in shock.

Suddenly his lips curl up and he grins the widest I have ever seen him grin and steps close towards me. I gulp at his closeness but my body wouldn't move. My body couldn't move. Not from him.

"Hi there. I'm Drew. Drew King," he introduces, holding his hand out for me to shake.

Oh I know exactly who you are.

I purse my lips and place my hand in his. Those annoying tingles spread throughout my body again and that's when I start to scream in my head that I am dead if he ever finds out who I really am. 

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Next chapter is going to be an extremely long one so it'll take a longer while for me to update it.

Anywho, leave your thoughts on the story down below