The vampire's Fated Beloved

Ready to Eat

My entire body feels paralyzed. I see a shadow in the corner of the room. I try as hard as I can to look, but my head won’t move, and my vision gets blurry. I see a figure standing beside me, and my heart begins to race. Why can’t I move? I managed to close my eyes but quickly realized that was worse and opened them back up. My alarm goes off, and the shadow figure looks at it. I shoot out of bed and look around the room. No one is there. I turn off my alarm, and my heart is still racing. That must have been a sleep paralysis demon people talk about. I sit back down and take a few deep breaths. That was the scariest dream I ever had.

I look at the time, and it is just five minutes past one. It's time to get the front yard looking good. I get back up and put my yard clothes on and rush outside. I love yard work the most. The fresh air feels good on my lungs after being in the basement for so long. I get to work mowing and weeding and washing the windows. I give the sidewalk one last sweep, and it looks really good out here. I put everything away and go back into the house.

I grab the list and check it again. That is almost all of it. I just need to clean up the living room and get myself ready. I have another 2 hours before everyone else gets home. I think I will get this living room done and then hit the shower before they get back. I take out the duster and hit every spot I could think of. Then vacuum the couch and carpet. I fluff up the throw pillows, and the room looks perfect. I go in the laundry room and grab my dress. I head down to the basement, but I still feel a little scared, so I walk slowly, checking my surroundings. That dream really got to me. This is ridiculous. I take a deep breath and force myself to just walk down with confidence. I look around and am kind of laughing to myself. There is nothing here.

I hang the dress on a pipe and start getting undressed. I turn on the water, and it is amazing. I scrub my fingernails, knowing she would check them first. I wash my hair with my bar of soap since that is all I have. Nancy hates my hair because it is such a light blond that it is practically white. She says I stick out like a sore thumb, so she started making me color my hair dark brown to match all of their hair colors. I am going to have a dress on, so I grab a cheap razor that they gave me and started shaving my legs. I decided to just shave everywhere since I have a reason to shave at all. I rinse off my body and turn off the water. I grab a towel and start drying off my body. I try to dry my hair the best I can with the towel since I don’t have a blow dryer. I grab the mirror I keep in a box and take a look. I am going to have to do something with my hair. I grab my brush and gently try to brush through it. I pull it up and make a tight bun. That should work even if it is still a little wet.

I put on my dress. It is nothing to be special, just a bland light gray silk dress with thin straps. I look in the mirror, but it looks a lot different than I remember it. I hadn’t gone through puberty yet last time I wore it. I have hips now and large breasts. Now that I have curves, the dress hugs me and feels more like a second skin than a tent. I hear the doorbell ring and look at the time. 4:30 The catering service must be here early to set up. I go to the door and let them him. One of the guys stops and glances at me up and down, licking his lips. I feel kind of sick and cross my arms over my chest. He walks up to me, and I internally scream for him to go away.

“Could you show us the set up.” I feel a little relieved he didn’t do something that would bother me.

“Sure have everyone follow me to the kitchen.” I show them the kitchen and showed them how the stove worked. I then showed them the dining room since they will be serving the food. I let them do what they needed, and I spent the rest of my time making sure everything was absolutely perfect in the dining room. Sure enough, the family walks in. The twins went out after school to get their hair done and got new clothes to wear. Bob and Nancy just got out of work, so they are on edge. Nancy makes a fuss over how adorable her kids are. She looks at me, and she looks pissed. What did I do. The rest of the family is staring as well. Nancy comes up and slaps me across the face. It stings, but I know she held back so it wouldn’t leave a mark for the guest to see.

“What are you wearing? You look like a street whore.”

“ I swear it is the dress you keep for me. I just grew into it.”

Nancy walks around me trying to decide if I am telling the truth.

“So that is the dress. Well you outgrown it you will just have to wear something of mine. Follow me.”

“Yes mam”

She walks up to her room fast and I keep up so she does get more mad me.

“Sit on the bed while I look around for something more suitable for you to wear.”

“Yes mam” I sit on the corner of the bed nervous.

She digs through her closet stopping here and there to look at something.

“Here we are! You will look like a true upstanding girl in this dress.” She pulls out a dress she wore for the churches Christmas party. It is puke green with a turtle neck and long sleeves. I guess I should be lucky it doesn’t have shoulder pads.

“Thank you mam.” I say despite my hate for her. I should just be lucky to have a full plate of food today.

“Now hurry and get dressed.” She checks her watch.

“ Mr. Carlos will be here soon. Oh don’t forget to speak very little and call us mom and dad.”

“Yes mam.” I grab the barf worthy garment and head all the way down to the basement. I take off the old dress and put the green one on. Ugh this is so foul. The dress is boxy and a little to long for me. I hear the door open and Nancy yell down in a sickly sweet voice. She is so two faced when others are around.

“Jane are you dressed yet?”

“Yes mam.” I look down disgusted with myself.

“Well hurry and come up here. Bring your old dress so I can get rid of it.” I feel a ping in my heart. That dress was the first thing that made me feel like a woman. I know she will donate it to the church or burn it. I grab the dress and rush up the stairs the best I can. It is hard when I keep tripping on this ugly dress.

“Here you go mam.”

She grabs the dress like it is garbage.

“ Let me look at you.” She looks down and sees how long it is. “Wait here don’t move.” She runs out. I feel my nerves getting to me. I see her coming back through the door. “Here put on these.” She hands me old brown grandma heels. I put them on immediately not wanted to p*** her off.

“Look at you all grown up. That dress makes you look so mature. Now our guest is in the living room. Introduce yourself and make our family proud.” She walks with her arm around me. I want to scream and rip it off, but I am a day away from being 18, and that's my ticket to getting out of here. We make it into the living room, and a rather classy man is sitting in a chair by the fireplace. He is holding a scotch in his hand, laughing at a joke Bob must have told. He looks up at me, and it almost looks like he is feeling sad for me.

“This is our oldest daughter, Jane.” Nancy says, trying to act like a loving mother.

“Nice to me you Jane.”

“Nice to meet you, sir.” I say, bowing my head slightly. Dave looks at me with disgust, and Shelly looks at me with a smirk. She must really enjoy me looking like an old hag. She is always acting jealous of me even though her brother was the only one trying to go after me. Sometimes, I wonder if she has a crush on her own brother. I smile but suppress my laughter at my own joke in my head. This seems to bother Shelly despite the fact that it shouldn’t. It's not like she can read my mind.

“Jane dear, why don’t you check to see if they are ready to serve us yet.”

“Yes mmmom.” I rush out of the room and head to the kitchen. I open the door.

“Excuse me, how much longer until we can be served?” The man I saw earlier turned around and looked at me. At first, he says nothing he just has disappointment in his eyes. “You can all take a seat. We are ready for you.” I walk out ready to get this over with. I step into the living room and wait till Nancy talks first. That is the key to survival tonight. Speak only when spoken, too.

“Well Jane what did they say?”

“We may be seated now, mother.”