by Ava Frost
"The ball will go all night. Those who wish can leave and you must choose at least five to claim interest. Don't feel rushed in deciding either. You have all night."
I briefly wondered if boredom could turn our eyes red. I had absolutely no interest in hearing these details. I knew the gist, show up, choose a vampire bride eventually get married, continuing ruling the vampire throne as King David Aaron the third should. Eventually, I'd take a human concubine and sire an heir. The end. But it wouldn’t be the end because the circle of life would keep turning, me ruling, facing political nuisances, going on and on until someone decided to stake me or in a fit of depression I burned myself to a crisp in the sun. I could retire once my future son was of age, but I wouldn’t want to force him into his lineage the way I had been forced to take the crown. My grandfather, after 3,000 years of reigning as a King accidently, as the story has been told, was burned to death when a maid left the curtains open in his room. My father reigned 200 years of the Vampire Dynasty, keeping vampire feedings unnoticed and silence those who tried to force our existence into light. After he had been staked, my mother gave me no choice. I had to be king and although I put it off, after 10 years and a newly signed treaty outing vampires and aligning using peace with humans, my time had come. I must take a bride. A King without an heir was an unnecessary danger to the crown and vampire dynasty. Living forever was expected, but not a given, one could not afford to take chances on the passing of the crown.
My mother was being thorough, continuing on a litany of things that must be done and I was close to yanking out my own hair. Merely as a metaphor, Kings do not act in such ways in public. Kings were at all times, polite, approachable and silently dying on the inside.
"Mother, I tire and must rest. Please let your assistant handle the rest. Tomorrow will be everything you dreamed it would be. Go get all your unneeded beauty rest."
A former queen should be dismissed with class and dignity, lesson learned well and applied. With a chaste kiss on the forehead, I opened my office door and escorted her to the guest hall. Finally free of my office-prison though it was spacious, I made my way to my bedroom. I had a 5 bedroom home, three floors, a blood cellar, ballroom, library, indoor and outdoor pool and a pool house. It was modern considering the castle my grandfather ruled from but less drafty. Thankfully with the tech age came sun proof Windows. My windows held the New York skyline. Truly beautiful in all its skyscrapers while holding the silence of solidarity. Tomorrow, hundreds of women would be here vying for my attention and holding me from the solace I crave. But once it was over, everyone would again leave me in peace. Hopefully, my mother included.
My room was in the hall farthest from my mother. Between super hearing and super prying, I wanted to be completely left alone. My room! In comparison to the guest room was bare and understated. I didn't need much for happiness. I had a huge bed and night stands. My walk in closet was the size of most people’s bedroom, with several shelves for my shoes to be seen individually. Rows of pants hung according to color and shirts on the opposite wall the same, organized by shirt style. On the other side was my bathroom. I ran bath water, brushed my teeth, barely glancing at my reflection. I still scoff at human's idiocy believing vampires have no reflection, of course, I have a reflection, light reflexes off me the same as anything else. You can thank my dear great, great, great, great Uncle Vlad for that rumor. He lived in the age of vampires taking the night, terrifying women before pleasuring them with their bite. It was only believable because most homes during that time didn’t have mirrors.
With my bath water ready, I stripped, sliding deep into the huge tub until I sunk to the bottom. I sat there submerged thinking of tomorrow and all that was being asked of me. It was nice laying on the bottom of that tub, the water cushioned all the static noise and even with my super hearing there was a cherished silence. There were no cars honking, trivial arguments occurring on the street or ambulance sirens. There were no babbling about the fine china and the political land mine of his true feelings of the peace treaty the vampires made with the humans.
Ruling was a game of chess, full of politics and hidden agendas. It was exhausting. Some days I just wanted to be free, free from responsibility, free from the legacy of my father and his father’s father’s greatness. Why had the burden of ruling fallen completely on my shoulders? Was it just because I was born the only male, fated to be king? Was it just because no one else could do it.
I sat up, unfazed by the ten minutes I spent underwater. My fingers weren’t pruned and if I could have, I would have laid there forever. But I could not. Tomorrow was waiting and Kings do not run from their responsibility. I covered my body with suds, washing robotically, rinsed and tucked myself into bed.
Chapter 2
As soon as the sun went down, 5:02 pm, I was awake. I could have awakened earlier, but it would have put me in a foul mood. Sounds of scurrying and moving could be heard on every level. First I quenched my thirst. There would be several humans at the party, no need to tempt myself. Thankfully, I had a small refrigerator in my room. Once sated, I dressed in my best penguin suit, donning a royal pin, thinking my crown would be too much. Mother told me to show at 7 pm and I knew being tardy was not an option.
I stepped into the room seeing the labor of Mother’s hard work. There was dancing, socializing and several tables filled with food and drink. In the corner was a blood fountain. I was impressed by my Mother’s tact infusing vampire necessities while remaining opulent. The band was playing Frank Sinatra.
“Good evening King Hansen, lovely party,” said Bill Nye, the humanity ambassador. We’ve met on several occasions signing and amending treaties.
“Thank you, Bill. Mother is due such praise. I had no hands in this.”
He nodded. “Still, I have to say, vampires know how to have a party.”
I laughed. How else would we have fit in for several centuries on this planet? But for risk of seeming rude, I said, “we aim to please.” Humans liked to appear in charge or have others defer to them. It was a battle to give and take at the right time.
“You are looking for a bride tonight as well, right?” he asked, sipping champagne.
“More like my Mother is, but yes, I am expected to choose,” I said appearing jovial.
He laughed and raised his glass, “Cheers to that. There are more than several beautiful choices.” I grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and raised my glass, “thank you.” It was sweet and I appreciated the small bubbles on my tongue.
In the front of the room was a large chair elevated from the floor and presumably for me. I felt sitting above everyone would be pompous and continued walking around introducing myself and entertaining guests. It wasn’t like people didn’t know who I was.
“King David! Hi,” said an Amazon-like woman. Her eyes were gray and her fangs were slightly extended, either she was recently turned or aroused. At six feet, in heels and a tight dress cut in all the right places, she appeared almost naked. She grabbed my hand and slightly curtsied, a feat I would have thought impossible. “I’m Sophie.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” I said.
“I’m 28, newly turned and I work as a real estate agent. You have excellent taste, your interior designer knew their stuff. Is that a real Kandinsky?” She answered herself, “of course it’s real. You’re royalty, why would you have a fake.”
A woman in a gothic-like dress with red accents cut in, “Hello King, my name is Amy.” Her voice reminded me of Barbie and she smelled like a human.
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” I said shaking her hand to the dismay of Sophie. “This is Sophie,” I said, introducing the ladies as diplomatically as possible.
A woman in a mint green dress came up to me, interrupting Amy to discuss the merits of the age of vampires and if one really did get better with time. She had big lips and they were outlined in a loud red. While a woman to my right, dressed in pink, with enormous blue eyes, kept caressing my neck. I didn’t ev
en know her name, yet she was trying to display a false sense of intimacy between us. It was alarming and every step I took away from her put me deeper in the growing pit of women trying to get my attention.
One woman was interesting, she was very petite, no higher than my elbow really but she knew music and engaged me in a debate on why Mozart and Bach were incomparable as composers. Truly interesting. I found myself staring at her in interest and not fighting, trying to find a reason to continue the conversation. She said she was from Washington, D.C. and had flown here courtesy of the President. She lost me after the name drop. I wanted no parts of a woman cavorting with the President of the United States. No, thank you.
I suddenly got the feeling I was in a shark tank with several women circling me ready to sink their teeth into me. As the night went on, my vision blurred with women traipsing themselves in front of me and the merry-go-round of introductions. None of them made an impression and no names stuck out in my head. At my early convenience, I released myself from the torture, citing thirst and ran to the blood fountain. There in the corner was a woman in a one-piece, all black. Her hair was black, her eyes were brown though lined in black and she was writing in a small notebook. She was not dressed to impress though her outfit was form fitting. Her shape was curvy in all the right places. If I had to guess, I'd say C cups and a size six pants. The black did nothing to hide her form, if anything, it made me pay more attention. Someone is not throwing themselves in my way. Even more curious was she was human but standing beside a blood fountain.
“You are most peculiar,” I said, taking a quick bloodshot.
“What makes you say that?” she asked, putting me under her brown gaze.
“You’re in the wrong feeding section,” I said gesturing to the blood.
“How would you know?” she asked, raising her chin in a challenging gesture.
“I can smell you,” I said, stepping into her space. It was not often I was challenged.
“I hope you find it appealing,” she said before turning to walk away.
“Where are you going?” Even more curious, a woman who wanted to get away from me. I wanted to know everything about her.
She didn’t answer me. “What’s in that little notebook?” I asked, walking beside her. She smirked.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I would,” I confirmed I could have ordered my guards to snatch it from her, but I wanted it freely.
“I’m writing a story.”
“So you’re a journalist.”
She nodded, “I am.”
“What’s your angle?” I said.
She stopped walking and raised her eyebrow in question, “angle? Mr. Hansen, I only have one angle and that’s the truth.”
I must have offended her. “I apologize. I meant no offense. It seems most humans are always trying to write things about us that are in most ways exaggerated or intended to be scary. Please forgive me.”
“I want nothing more than the truth of this event and my story will reflect that,” she said, daring me to say another offending thing.
“What do you have so far?” I asked, interested.
She smiled and her eyes lit with excitement. “So far I have described this great hall, the food, and the beautiful prospects.”
“What of me?” I asked, curious that I wasn’t the first thing she mentioned.
“So far I have it looks like the King doesn’t want to be the prince of the ball.”
“What does that mean?” I asked incredulously.
“It means, everyone else might be oblivious to your obvious dislike of this event, but I’m not. You don’t want to be here. So tell me King, where would you rather be?”
She stated every word in confidence and looked at me with a tilt of her head willing me to answer. I could not disappoint her, “my swimming pool.”
“Why?” she asked, pen poised to write.
I became giddy at the thought and took her hand. “Let me show you.”
I pulled her along though she had no strength to stop me, we turned left down a long hallway and went outside.
Chapter 3
I really didn’t want to be here, but I had to be. There were many journalists here to cover the once in a lifetime event, the marrying of King David. Vampires mated for life and this would be the first vampire union made public since the peace treaty. The icing on the cake was the few slots offered to humans a chance as his bride. To say the media was frenzied felt like an understatement. It felt ridiculous to me. Marriage was not a big deal, plenty of people did it, even vampires, what made this vampire so special? He didn’t mean anything special to me.
The air was crisp, not quite the end of the summer, but fall was coming. I was being pulled along by a stranger. Well not a stranger, I knew his name. I was being pulled along by King David Hansen, sounded a lot like handsome and that he was. He was tall, rumor had it he was changed at 25, ignoring family tradition to be turned at 21. He was mysterious, every story I read about him always had a lot to say about his looks, but never too much on his beliefs, his likes or dislikes. We walked past a huge pool with a slide and diving board. It was easy to imagine having huge pool parties out here, there was even a built in grill. We entered what I assumed was the pool house, though it was the size of most people’s home. We stopped at a closet and inside were bathing suits, all types, and colors with tags still on them.
“Choose a suit,” He said.
“What?” I said, “We can’t do this. You’re supposed to be at the party and I’m supposed to be,” I faltered, “getting a story out of you.”
He was in front of an adjacent closet with swimming trunks, unbuttoning his shirt. His gaze was almost pleading, “You asked me why my swimming pool is the place I’d rather be, now let me show you.”
His chest was without any blemishes and he had a small trail of black curls leading into his pants from his belly button. We both entered changing rooms, I came out in a blood red one piece that had triangles cut outs on my sides, back and the tops of my breast. He donned navy blue shorts and extended his hand. I took it without thinking. Walking through the back door, we entered a small paradise. The pool was huge, easily ten feet wide and deep but what made it beautiful was the design. It was built to look like the pool was a natural lake and all around was real foliage. There were even birds singing in the trees. He led me down a small staircase until we were submerged waist deep. The water was warm and I relaxed.
“If you could make a wish, what animal would you be?” he asked, sinking them further into the water.
“A bird. I want to see the world, but I feel trapped in a cage.” This moment begged honesty and although I had never admitted that to anyone, I trusted he would hold my confidence. “And you?”
“A fish, maybe a shark,” he said.
I laughed. “Of course, you’d be king of the underwater jungle too.”
He smirked, “I didn’t choose a shark because they’re predators, and I chose them because they’re mostly left alone. They can travel in packs or alone.”
“Is that what you want? Solitude?”
He nodded, “it is hard to truly be myself when everyone has their own opinion of who that should be.”
“That sounds lonely.”
“Haven’t you heard? I’m currently taking applications for a bride.”
We were neck deep and I wondered how much farther we’d go.
“Well you’re doing a poor job of it, you’re here with me instead of vetting the contestants.”
He shrugged. “There’s no place else I’d rather be.”
I turned to stare at him, no longer distracted by the clear blue water. His green eyes pierced my soul and I knew he was telling the truth. I wanted to ask why, but this was a fairy tale, it would end when this party did. So I broke his gaze.
“Can you swim?” he asked.
“I can,” I said. We were both speaking softly, reverent of this sanctuary and taking in the sounds around us. “Can you?�
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He smiled warmly, “I learned when I was still human off the Gulf of Mexico. It is still one of my fondest memories of my father. He just threw me in the water. He said, ‘don’t die and nature will take care of the rest.’ He was right. I took to the water like I had gills instead of lungs.” There were a few beats of silence and I felt my disdain for this event falling short in comparison to the man. The man in front of me was nothing like what he was portrayed or what I assumed and I wanted to know more.
“Swim with me,” he said, taking my hand and then we were underwater. It was even more beautiful underwater. There were hieroglyphics and different paintings along the floor. There were mermaids and shipwrecks, there were treasure piles painted and women in men’s embrace. There seemed to be no theme, only beautiful artwork and it was wonderful. He glided through the water with powerful strokes, taking no effort to pull me along. We emerged at the far end of the pool, inside a canopy of tree branches. From here, I couldn’t see the entrance and I knew no one would be able to see us.
The water was lower and I could stand on solid ground. His hair was slicked back and the few trails of water detailed the planes of his face. His wide-set eyes and furrowed eyebrows, without thinking I reached out to smooth them down.
“You never smile in pictures.” I said, tracing his cheeks and lips, “I bet you have a beautiful smile.” He dipped his head as if bashful and thanked me. We were face to face, he could probably make out my waterproof mascara and cheap lip-gloss. I could see he had small scars on his shoulders.
“What happened here?” I said skimming the skin. “I thought vampires healed.”
“We do. But not entirely if it’s too bad.”
“How’d you get it?” I asked, stepping completely into his space.
“Fighting for something I loved.”
“What was it?” I whispered leaning in.
“My freedom,” he whispered back. I wanted to keep my humanity as long as possible. Those scars are from the fight I had with my father before he turned me. He decided I had seen enough of the world and I decided I wouldn’t go out without a fight. He broke several ribs and my arm. I only had two choices, death or become a vampire.”
