The next day was a blur of instructions, coupled with the shock of this new world I was pushed into. I honestly still did not understand what was going on. Shane and Irina kept referring to me as Lena. I realized that I had to start thinking of myself that way to avoid questions I had no answers to.
As the academic that I was, I knew that I needed to gain more information about this new life if I was going to survive. I lost my life once, I would not give it up again.
First, I had to meet my supposed sisters.
I wore the dress given to me by Irina and she ushered me out of my small, hidden room. We walked down a long, dim corridor to the main family wing of the manor. The Hale home was large and expensive but it didn't feel like a home. No personal touches or pictures. It was really sad.
We entered a drawing room where two young women were sitting. Alice and Rue. Shane was already there.
Alice looked like the older. She was stunning. She had the perfect blonde hair and high cheekbones that Irina would wish she still possessed. She was wearing a gown meant for the ball which was a shimmering silver thing that hugged her upper torso. How do noble women in this world manage such heavy dresses? It must me torture. Ugh.
When she saw me, her perfect face twisted with disgust. "Father, why is she out here? And why is she wearing one of Rue's rejects?"
"Silence, Alice," Shane snapped. "Rue is incapacitated. Lena will go in her place. No questions."
Alice stood up, her eyes blazing. "You can't be serious! She'll ruin everything! She's been hidden for four years because she's useless. If Lord Alistair sees her..." She trailed off, unable to voice the likely punishment.
"He won't see her," Irina interjected, quickly pulling Alice aside. "She'll wear a thick veil, Alice. She won't speak. She will stand behind you and melt into the crowd. She is simply a required body to satisfy the law. You, my beautiful girl, are the true prize."
Alice crossed her arms, still glaring at me. Her resentment was a serious one and I had no idea why it would be that strong. She had been going to the ball for the past 4 years and she wasn't picked. What makes her think this time would be any different? I guess she must hate that this year, it looked like I was threatening her position.
Then there was Rue. She was sitting on a plush sofa, wrapped in a heavy blanket despite the warm room. She was also very beautiful, though in a softer way than Alice. She had the same rich dark hair I now possessed.
She looked pale, shivering slightly, her eyes hollowed.
"Rue, tell your sister what she must do," Irina commanded.
Rue looked up at me. Her eyes were clouded with sickness.
"Just stand still, Lena," Rue whispered, her voice weak. "Don't attract any attention. If you draw the eye of a vampire, especially the Lord, it's not just you who suffers. They can demand anything. You know this."
I didn't know this but logic lets me understand that it means danger. Here, Vampires have all the power.
"Why was I hidden?" I asked, unable to stop the question.
Shane turned on me instantly. "You dare question us? You were so sickly when you were young. You were small, and frankly a waste of the resources that we should have poured into your sisters. You brought the family nothing but stress. Now you will obey or I will ensure you spend the rest of your definitely short life in the service barracks."
The cruelty was shocking, yet familiar. My parents' emotional neglect had been replaced by this family's open hostility.
Irina grabbed a stack of faded, dusty photograph albums. She opened one and flipped through the pages quickly. "This is how we maintained the façade," she muttered to me. "When people ask, you are an extremely distant cousin who just arrived. You were studying abroad in the outer colonies. Remember the story in case you are asked. You have never lived here."
"But I have memories of being here," I protested, a slight tremor in my voice. The memories were blurry, incomplete and felt faraway but they were there. I remembered the garden, the library.
Irina laughed, a short, humorless sound. "Nonsense. You've been isolated in the west wing since you were sixteen, except for mandatory tutor sessions. We told people you were sent away. You have lived a life of total hiding for four years. No one knows you. That is the only thing saving us now."
This explained the kind of room I woke up in. Lena wasn't just unwanted, she was kept hidden. I looked at Rue again. She caught my eye and there was a strange look in her eyes that looked really similar to pity.
"I'm sorry, Lena," she mumbled, not looking at her parents. It was the first genuinely kind thing anyone had ever said to me in my life…well, my old life.
The rest of the time was spent being fitted. They forced me into a stiff, dark-colored dress, another one of Rue's hand-me-downs that was intentionally plain to make sure I faded into the background. Irina layered my face with makeup and then placed a thick, black lace veil over my head.
"The veil stays on at all times," Irina instructed. "It hides your features. You will just stay behind and let Alice draw all the attention."
As the evening hour approached, Shane delivered his final warning. He emphasized the core structure of this vampire x human society.
"I should remind you because you have been acting muddle-headed since you awoke. The Lord, Alistair Valerius, holds the annual Sanguine Ball to choose a human female whose blood appeals to him. He has never chosen a female since the murder of his father four years ago. His mother, Queen Mother Mira is alive but she has been in perpetual mourning. This is a very unstable time. If you do anything to offend the Valerius line, we will all pay. If he asks you a question, you look at Alice and she answers for you. Just follow her lead."
I nodded my head. I had been thrown into a game I didn't understand but I was going to observe, learn and survive.
I followed Shane and Irina into the large, waiting carriage.
Do not draw the Lord's eye, I repeated in my mind. Be invisible. Survive.