With tears rolling into itself, Charlotte was mourning for her father’s sudden demise. Only her friend’s family was attending the funeral in this untimely rainstorm. Her best friend Ava's arm was wrapped around her tight, holding her close under her umbrella. Even in the flickers of fire in complete darkness, the look in Charlotte’s swollen eyes could break anyone’s heart. The kind where the tears are lifeless and the death of loved one seems surreal. There was no use of crying and wailing, tears were not going to bring life back to her father’s deceased body.
Mostly funerals are sweet sorrow, there are memories of good times that came as blossoming spring meadows. But that wasn’t the case for her. There was endless darkness wherever she looked. With no relative left to support her, Charlotte was on her own now.
As only daughter of the vampire house guard Carl Williams, she paid for her father’s funeral with the saved money of her tuition fee. At least, she was able to afford a proper goodbye to her loving father. Rest could be arranged later.
That 'later' came for her shortly after the funeral, Carl’s boss gave her the notice of loan repayment which was due next week.
“Your father took twenty thousand dollars as loan for your study. He was paying it back with his paycheck as monthly installments. Now, when he is dead and you are not a boy who can take his place, we want our remaining money with ten percent interest.”
Charlotte was heartbroken with the fact that her father was working extra hours to pay for her college.
How ignorant she was!
She could have a part time job but no, her father never let her discover that they were tight on money. All of her life, she lived in a custom made paradise, which shattered with a single blow of reality. Indeed, life is unpredictable.
If Uncle Tadd
Ava’s father
didn’t help her, she would have ended up in prison. He sold her one room flat to repay the debt and Ava found her a cleaning job in the same mansion where she was working. Charlotte was more than thankful to them for saving her sanity.
She left college and started working as a cleaner, as she had no money left to pay for her last semester. Ava suggested her to apply for student’s loan, but when there wasn’t a penny in pocket to buy blood for meals, how could she think about luxury of education.
Days passed and with her continuous hard work, Charlotte got another job at human bar. Pay was more than normal cleaning work, eight hours of night shift solved her residence problem. She shifted from Ava’s house to a rented room, which she shared with three servant girls.
Room was quite comfortable to share but difference of their status was a problem in maintaining good relationship with them. Charlotte was a day walker, because she was born as a vampire and her roommates were sired by some unknown day walker. They were also struggling for living just like her, as rules for human hunt were strict than ever. This brought them closer, she also found an acquaintance to go out at night considering worsening condition on border.
From previous five years, neighboring wolf pack was growing by multiplying both in numbers and lands. Alpha prohibited vampires to hunt freely, ensuring the safe trade of blood. Only Royals were allowed to hunt during full moon night, and pets were a status symbol for rich and respected. As Charlotte didn’t belong to any category, she was surviving on cold blood bags just like sired ones. It wasn’t a favorite method for her, but only affordable way to live on.
It wasn’t that there was no King in vampire kingdom, but last battle didn’t end well for Royal Vampires.
The new head of Werewolf Council
neighbor Alpha
was a ruthless killing machine, he alone was enough for an army of sired vampires. Vampire King lost the battle and his younger brother; a peace treaty with Alpha’s rules saved them from further damage. He was also childless despite of two hundred years of married life, that played a pivotal role in surrendering before classic enemy.
Anyhow, Charlotte’s life was finally back on routine. Although it wasn’t an ideal scenario, but her heart was at peace. She was a brave daughter of her loving father, she was definitely going to survive this hard time.
As for her mother, she died during childbirth, leaving her under Carl’s care. He brought her up like a princess despite of being an ordinary worker. Now, when he also left her at tender age of ninety years old
seventeen years in human life
, this was a huge turning point in her life.
Journey of a carefree girl to someone counting coins before spending was great in terms of self growth.
Working in a bar broadened her horizon, she was introduced to a new way of earning: having a rich boyfriend. Countless girls preyed over spoilt brats, who spent hundreds of dollars per night for their company. Unfortunately, she wasn’t a fit for this opportunity. Vampires were known to be hypnotically beautiful creatures but Charlotte’s chubby body was quite the opposite of folklores.
She had a symmetrical round body, without any distinct curve, as there was lots of fat on her every body part. She was like this from early childhood, her father often joked that her mother merged their bodies at the time of death.
So back to business, this money earning method was out of question. Her midnight black hair and sea green eyes were not impressive even for human boys, this lead to another tension in her mind: will her beloved also dislike her?
Thought of rejection kept startling her in her dreams as well as in reality. Seeing her worsening condition, Ava assured her,
“Don’t worry, believe in the bond of souls. No one can ignore the attraction between two parts of the same soul. Purity of heart matters, focus on good things about future. I am sure your beloved will love you for who you are.”
Both of them were at the age where girls yearn to be loved and appreciated and unlike Charlotte, Ava was hopeful for their happily ever after.
