Once upon a time, in a faraway land called Court, a young royal Moroi, a spirit user, named Adrian Ivashkov lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, like amazing good looks, unending wit and charm, and all the money he could ever need, he was selfish and unkind, arrogant and bitter at the betrayal of a certain dhampir.

But then, one winter night, an old beggar woman arrived at his doorstep and offered him a single rose in return for shelter for the night against the bitter cold and hungry Strigoi.

Repulsed by her haggard appearance, Adrian sneered at her gift and said, "Like I need any more roses in my life, old lady. You can go find someone else to pamper you; I hear there is an old man down the street who's also looking for a personal feeder. I recommend the job. Oh, and take your precious rose with you."

She warned him not to be deceived by appearances for "beauty is to be found within". But Adrian just shook his head and tried to close the door in her face. Suddenly, the old lady yelled an incantation in Latin and her ugliness changed to reveal a forty-something woman with white-streaked, wiry black hair who looked drained. Her name was Jaclyn Terwilliger and she was a witch.

She said, "Could I have a glass of orange juice?"

Adrian, who had realised his mistake, rushed to do so and tried to apologise to her. After drinking the orange juice in two gulps, Jaclyn shook her head and said, "It's far too late for you to apologise, Adrian, for now I see that you have no love in your heart."

So saying, she ignored all Adrian's protests and punished him by turning him into a terrible beast. She magically transferred him and his castle to a terrible desert, Palm Springs.

He had been turned into an abomination of sorts. He was no longer a Moroi, dhampir or Strigoi. He was a combination of all three. He had the control over feeding which only Moroi possessed, the strength, speed and agility of a dhampir and the cruel and violent nature of a Strigoi. His green, green irises had been changed to blood red, though they still contained a thin ring of green on the outside. His already pale skin had become white as pure snow. He was merely a shadow of his former self.

Ashamed of his hideous appearance, Adrian shut himself away in his castle with only a mirror created with his spirit magic as his window to the outside world. The rose was truly an enchanted rose which would bloom until his twenty-first year. If he could learn to love another and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, the spell would be broken. If not, he would turn into a proper Strigoi at the stroke of midnight on his birthday and be doomed to remain an immortal monster for all time eternity.

As the months passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love a beast?

A/N: so what do you think? Should I continue? If I don't get at least ONE positive response, be it a review, favourite or follow, I'll have to discontinue this story, because I simply can't work without motivation. The fact that this teeny tiny chapter took me two days to complete should be proof of that :P