Authors notes deleted 12/01/13

Chapter 9

I was transferred to a new room after Didyme had managed to get me to calm down and act appropriately; I hadn't been able to move by myself. After Felix left I began crying in frustration at being weak around the Major. Then I began screaming in horror when the pieces of Carlisle began wiggling and bouncing along the grass on their way to each other. I had never been told that would happen or that vampires could even be put back together.

A dismembered Carlisle seemed to mean the whole castle ran to his aid-though it did take five minutes-but me, bleeding to death and begging for help, well, no one even batted an eyelid. It wasn't until I was in my new room did I realise that my door had been torn open and I could've just walked out. I wouldn't have known where to go though, and the Major would've caught me I'm sure.

Felix had come back and managed to keep Carlisle's gnashing head from gnawing on my leg when I hadn't even realized it had gotten anywhere near me. And then Didyme had to be called when Esme needed restraining because she tried to rip me apart. There was definitely no love lost between us too. Apparently, because my mate tore her mate apart, it meant that by law she was allowed to tear me apart. That wouldn't have gone down very well, and they would've never gotten my blood out of the stone walls.

I was left shaking, clinging to Didyme and begging for the Major to come and protect me like he was supposed to. Only in my head though, I made sure to not scream it out loud. I would never admit that I needed him to anyone, for anything, that was something I had promised myself shortly after my first lesson here.

My new room was the mirror image of my old one, everything was the same, except the carpet didn't have the blood stains, and I couldn't see the courtyard and the door. Instead I had a view of a square fountain, and the tourists that sat on it to eat lunch and take photographs. This room was higher than my old one, so there was no chance of me climbing out of the window without killing myself, though the idea had tempting merit. There was no corridor outside of this room, for which I was thankful, instead I was at the top of a small staircase, and I had a new door guard. I never thought I would feel better knowing there was an ultra alert vampire outside my door, but I did.

Since that eventful day when I had attempted to escape, hurt myself, spoke to the Major and witnessed a man torn apart, I had done nothing except what I was told or expected to do. I even watched my feet as I walked. My wrist was sprained so I had to wear a weird glove type support to stop it hurting when I used it. My nose was thisclose to broken, so I had bruising under my eyes and a swollen nose that needed cold then warm compresses for days on and off, even with the venom treatment.

I knew my teachers had heard what the Major had done to Carlisle. They were extra nice to me and praised me at all opportunities. 'Your handwriting is so neat, Isabella.' 'Well done, Isabella.' Blah, blah, blah, Isabella'. It was ridiculous; they also tried to teach me from across the room, not moving more than the step it would take to close the door.

I had a theory as to why that was. At night I knew the Major sat outside my door, there would be hissing, and quiet growls as the immortals argues outside my door. When it had quietened down there would be an odd rumbling against the wood that would increase in volume the closer I got to the door. He was purring for me. I didn't want to feel comforted by that sound, or by knowing that he was mere inches away from me every night. But come morning the sound would have stopped because he would be gone and I found myself incredibly angry that I missed him. The teachers must have smelt him or sensed his lingering presence and not wanted to upset him.

The tower was behind me, so I couldn't see Charlotte's room at all, there was no window on that side of the room. Any fighting spirit I had seemed to have gone, I couldn't even ask Esme -who was the only person ever likely to answer me- how my only family was. I hadn't seen Carlisle or Esme in weeks, I didn't know how long it took for a vampire to be fused back together, but I was positive it couldn't take this long. I also didn't know how long a female vampire would hold a grudge, I wouldn't have held a grudge if she had ripped the Major apart for hurting Carlisle. My thoughts on what would happen to me if that scenario played out with me being set free into the wild, to me being eaten and the coming out ball. Neither idea really appealed to me, so I just stopped thinking about it.

000

I now had one month before I would be leaving with the Major. Four weeks and two days, three hundred and sixty hours, twenty one thousand and six hundred minutes. It wasn't that long at all.

A new vampire started visiting me, the dress maker. She would make me stand on a podium for hours at a time as she measured me and adjusted notes, and I would have to do it again when she wanted to pin fabric around me. The most annoying thing about her was that she did everything at a human speed. It might have been because she was as old as dirt when she was turned though, and not some cruel way to torture me.

I couldn't deny the finished gown was beautiful. It felt amazing on even with the corset and looked even better, because of the corset. It was heavy though, made from a mix of the finest reddest velvets and the deepest golden silks. The dress was so well constructed, and of so many layers, that it fell from my hips in beautiful rivers of fabric that flowed like water over river stones. The bulk of the dress was red, the bodice covered in golden thread made to look like flowers and swirls. Two golden roses pulled the skirt apart and were fixed about were my thighs were hidden, to reveal the golden silk under the blood red of the dress. The sleeves billowed from the shoulders and became more fitted towards my wrists, where they were cuffed. A loop of fabric came over my middle finger, to bring the sleeves to a sharp point on the back of my hand. Wearing the corset made it hard to breathe, but gave me an amazing waistline and thrust my small breasts up to the square neckline of the gown, making them seem full and round as they sat bellow my collar bones.

When I had complained that the dress was too hot and heavy, it was pointed out to me that I wasn't going to be wearing it very long anyway, and the many layers were to make the Major take his time with me. I didn't complain after that.

The red and gold were Carlisle's colours, and I knew him, Esme, and Charlotte would be wearing the same. This was a moment where Char and I should have been able to complement each other and giggle, but all I had a silent vampire that hissed when my breath was taken too deep and mussed up her stitching.

000

With the dress came the dance lessons and another unfamiliar face. One, step, one, two, step. Basically I just had to let the Major drag me across a dance floor- that is if he could control himself long enough for the handing over dance. The music was played over an old record player with a big horn shaped thing attached to it. It was ugly and I had no name for it, I detested the scratchy music it emitted.

It was explained to me that there would be a staircase for me to walk down, when my name was announced, and then Carlisle would take my hand and walk me down another staircase and hand me over to the Major. It was essentially a wedding, the mask my veil, this gown my dress, Carlisle the one offering my hand to my groom, the Major. We would share one dance, he would claim me in front of an audience and offer me his venom, I would have to drink it, and then he would take my blood. Blood. I had never really liked blood and had a feeling I was going to pass out when it happened; I hoped he was a clean drinker.

After the ceremony all his plans were unknown to me. I hoped he didn't keep me human and expect me to live as a nomad, I despised spiders and dirt, and how was I supposed to be able to keep a forest, a cave or a hovel clean? It was damn near impossible.

Now I was getting hysterical, I was laughing so hard I was sobbing, the dress maker snatched the dress away from my body and stormed out, slamming the door behind her. I was left standing on a little box in front of a full length mirror in my fancy underwear.

My hands ran over the shape of the corset and rested on my hips. I clearly wasn't a little girl anymore, it was time for me to let go of little girl fantasies, and grow up.

It was safe to say Charlotte was now lost to me. She was only on the other side of the castle, but she might as well have been on the other side of the world. Soon she probably would be. I had to learn to cope on my own. I couldn't be dependent on her when the Major came for me. It was him I was supposed to go to for every little thing, which was of course the point of this school. To separate us, make us desperate to leave, so that when the vampire in shiny white skin came to rescue us, he could give us the world. We would be oh-so thankful and solely dependent on him because we didn't have any skills, or street smarts, we wouldn't be able to survive without him. If we escaped we had no proof of our identities, we wouldn't be able to drive, and we wouldn't know where to run to, to hide from him. For animals in human clothing, vampires were very manipulative and smart creatures, I could give them that.

There was no way in hell I could get out of a corset by myself, so I left in on and sat by the window to watch the water trickle out of the fountain, it was my new hobby. It made me want to pee a lot, but it gave me something to do.

000

When the maid came with dinner -still no Esme- she helped me out of the corset without a word and tucked the wooden box that held all my new fancy things under the bed. She stayed till I had eaten everything, casually dusting and moving things around till I was done, then took my dishes and left.

The Major kept sending me little things. I no longer burnt them, there was no point, and it would only serve to anger him. He had taken to sending me odd little Italian sweets, a type of chocolate that tasted like hazelnuts. I liked it, a lot in fact, which was probably way I only received little pieces at a time, or else I might have gorged myself on it. I always had a vase of fresh flowers too, wild flowers. I liked them better then the perfect roses I used to get before. These flowers even wilted nicely, instead of turning brown and falling apart petal by petal, they simply dried out as they were...staying beautiful as they became frozen in time.

000

There was only two weeks left and I had begun having vivid dreams. I think I saw a vampire film sometime before I was taken, because the Major in my dream wasn't visible in mirrors, wore a cape and had fangs. He would twirl me around, to music I couldn't hear, and would dance us past a mirror and made it look as though I was flying as he threw me up into the air before catching me. It was magical, but horrific, the empty hall would fill with other dancing couples, spinning faster and faster and faster, making me dizzy and feel lightheaded. Fangs were suddenly sunk into my neck and I woke screaming, to vicious growling and banging on the door.

000

One week left. My dress was finished, perfect, and folded away in the wooden trunk, along with a pair of golden slippers with a small heel that had been made to the same specifications as my everyday shoes. Instead of watching the fountain outside, I traced the carved lines on the trunk with my eyes while I lay across my bed at night.

000

Four days to go, and I had thrown up every morning for the last week, the nerves were getting to me. The maid brought me a pill, I stopped being sick.

000

Three days to go, the vampire in charge of hair removal came to make sure I was smooth all over. I held a pillow over my face as I cried when she left. I couldn't hear the purring from underneath the covers and didn't sleep at all that night.

000

Two days to go, another new vampire came, this one to decorate my mask. The lips were redder, as were the cheeks. The eyelashes became darker and more defined. It sat on a head shaped bust to dry. It watched me all day...and night. At gone midnight I had to get up to turn it around and then hid back under my covers. There was no purring outside my door and I didn't sleep again.

000

Today was the day. The very walls of the castle seemed to hold their breath the second the sun came up. The air was charged with something, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My heart rate skyrocketed when the knock came at my door and then vampires were swarming around me in excitement.

They seemed to be moving faster than ever, as they washed me, and rubbed me all over with sweet smelling oil. They complained about my dark eyes and sallow skin and made me close my eyes whilst they worked on me in a bid to get rid of the redness. My hair was dried and curled perfectly; all piled on top of my head, with a few loose, framing my face.

The sun began to go down. My corset went on. I couldn't breathe anymore, and not just because of the underwear. Layer after layer of my dress went on. My ring was removed from its chain and put on my ring finger.

"No gloves today." I commented, my first words of the week, the brace was gone too. I was also presented with ruby earrings set in gold and an ornate necklace that matched; they were a gift from the Major. I was less than impressed, they were very garish and over the top. Everyone stopped to look at me but I had nothing more to say. They went back to work.

When it was time, all four vampire women just stood there, looking at me, beaming smiles on their perfect faces. I took a quick cursory glance at my reflection. The heavy blood red and gold gown fitted tightly over the bodice. The golden thread glittered in the lamp light. I traced the fabric of my skirt as it fell to the ground in the shape of an upturned champagne flute, stopping just as it hit the floor. My silk slippers were hidden behind the folds of fabric. It was a masterpiece; more ornate than any wedding gown I had ever envisaged myself in when I was younger. I looked like a princess, albeit a sulking princess who hadn't gotten her own way, but a princess none the less.

I had no colour to my face. One of the women gave me a sugary drink, and another added the barest of make-up. I wanted to scrub my face clean, crawl into bed and sleep for the rest of my life, pretend everything was a dream I would be able to wake up from. After sternly reminding myself that this was my life, I turned to the vampire women.

I was sure the vampires waiting for my approval had told me their names at some point, and I knew I was expected to thank them, but I didn't say a word. Clasping my hands in front of me and nodding with a non-committal hum, I looked past them, straight at the wooden door. It was the last time I would be seeing it. It wasn't my door, we hadn't been together long enough for an emotional attachment, but it had protected me for a few short weeks and deserved its dues. After all I could very well die this night, I thought as I was lead through the wooden archway and down the stairs.