Cinderella, Her Untold Story

"My name is Cinderella, and I am 17 Your Highness." That was the sentence that changed my life forever. Now let's get this clear right now. My name is Cinderella, I am 115, and I am a vampire in the year 1829.

Let's go over some common misconceptions about vampires. They do not burn in the sun, it just hurts our eyes. Also, they do not sleep in coffins, or underground, or anything like that, they don't sleep at all. It can really be a nuisance, because you have all of that extra time, and almost nothing to do with it. There are some diseases that vampires can get, but very few, and the ones we can get can kill us. We can also die if we are burnt or stabbed with a wooden stake in a vital spot.

I was changed by my step-mother Merrie. She was my killer bee. She had hoped I would live like a caged animal until I died. At first I traveled a lot, but now I live on the periphery of Trent, the city where I was born. Merrie lived in the home I now live in until she died of a disease while in France. In the past 98 years since changing, I have gone to a ball every year. I am quite prosperous, but wear rags everyday, except at balls, so that no one notices me.

At the last ball, I met the handsome and kind prince of Trent. Unwillingly, I fell in love with him there. I ran away from the palace, hoping to never see him again, because loving a human is dangerous for all vampires. Unfortunately, I had dropped my glass shoe, and since my feet are unusually small, the prince found me. So he professed his love for me, in private, after he took me away from my home to the royal palace. Here I am now, in the royal palace in the middle of the city of Trent, with only two days until my wedding to the human Prince Andrew Charming, heir to the kingdom of Trent.

I truly love Andrew, and I really do want to marry him. But I am afraid to marry him, because once I do, my secret will come out after a few years, due to the fact that I do not age. If I tell Andrew that I am a vampire, I may be killed if he doesn't love me as much as he says he does. The other, much preferable reaction, is that he could say that nothing matters and that he will always love me and elope with me. I could also run away and go into hiding, away from Trent, for about 50 years. I think that I like the running and hiding.

It is time to tell Andrew that my mother needs my help, and I must go to France. I shall tell him that there is no need for him to marry me, and that I would not care if he had wed some other girl by the time I came back. Oh! Here he comes now.

"Darling, I know you said that your father left you the house you were living in, but the records say that the last man to own that house was Sir Garret Adams," Prince Andrew seems distressed.

"Yes, and what would the problem be?" I ask. Sir Garret Adams was my father.

"Well, he died in 1731, and the house was empty until 1798 when a 17 year-old woman named Cindy Adams moved in. She has lived there since, according to the records. Are you related to her?"

So much for running. I can't lie to him, not anymore. I can always run after I tell him.

"Well, I suppose you could say that. You see, Garret Adams was my father. It may seem impossible, but it is not. I am a vampire. I was born in 1714, and became a vampire shortly after my 17th birthday. I am Cindy Adams." I take a breath. "Andrew, I understand if you don't want to marry me." I start to run towards the exit, going at a human speed because I was so distressed. (When a vampire is extremely upset or distressed, they often can't focus enough to use their powers.) There were footsteps behind me though, and Andrew caught up to me before I could leave, grabbing my arm and turning me around.

"Ella," Andrew says. He never did like 'Cinderella'. "Ella, I love you, and want to marry you. If you are a vampire, I want to be one too!"

I take a shuddering breath to help keep my tears from falling. "Andrew, do you even know what you are saying?" I ask, panicky. I had thought that he would order me thrown out of the palace or something.

"Of course I do. I will love you even after you stop loving me."

My tears are flowing freely now. "If that is true," I sniffle, "I hope you will have no regrets later. But can it wait until after the wedding?" I ask.

"Of course love. Whatever you wish," was my prince's reply before he kissed me.