I spent another hour at the party, avoiding Damian, before heading up to bed. I was exhausted by then. A bunch of other Heirs came my way and tried to talk to me. I had shrugged them all off. Tonight had been enough already.

I collapsed into my bed. I felt so tired. My feet hurt and my body ached. I hated these balls. They wore me out.

My dreams that night were full of Damian. They were more like nightmares. He turned into an actual Vampire every time and killed me. His warning wrung out in my head.

“I look forward to driving you insane.”

I shivered at the thought. What had he meant? What was his plan? What was he up to?

I woke up the next day feeling just as stressed. My nightmares about Damian had brought no help. It had only terrified me more. Now, I was tired and nervous. Wonderful.

I slowly got up and had my maid help me dress. I dressed in a basic white dress with white stickings and black flats. I pulled my blonde hair into a bun. I didn’t look the best that I could. I just coated my lips in a bit of gloss and called it a day.

My maid followed me to breakfast. All the families were there. Everyone was talking and discussing the ball last night and the days to come. This was normal. It was lovely.

I sat down at the table next to two Heirs. They were both these annoying boys. They were both handsome though. The first one was the Heir to the House of Lords. He had light brown hair and tan skin. He had boring brown eyes though.

The second boy was the Heir to the House of Waterwren. He had blonde hair and fair skin. I only caught of glimpse of his eyes, but I knew they were just as boring as the first boy’s.

I loved eyes. They were the windows to the soul. Attractive eyes were beautiful. They could make me weak at the knees.

“Good morning, princess.” The Lords Heir said.

“Morning.” I replied. I sat down and grabbed a biscuit to start eating.

“I can’t believe those monsters actually showed up.” The Waterwren Heir said.

“Who?” I asked, tired.

“The Vampires.”

Oh yeah. Damian. I almost said, “Trust me, it’s worse than just that. He’s haunted my dreams.” But I didn’t. I had to be good. Father would kill me if I spoke badly about our guests.

“My princess, it has come to my attention that you’re of age.” The Waterwren Heir said.

Crap. “Age for what?” I tried to play it dumb. Maybe he’d stop if I did.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Well…marriage.”

Someone scoffed behind them. They turned to see Adrielle Vampire there. “Beat it, Waterwren, she doesn’t even know your name.” She hissed. Then she did the thing where vampires would bare their fangs, except she didn’t have fangs to bear.

The poor guy paled and ran off with his friend. Adrielle nodded approvingly and sat down next to me. She smiled at me and grabbed a biscuit.

“Thank you.” I said.

“No problem. I know the feeling of unwanted guys.”

“You have your own at home?”

She smirked at me. “Nah. They’ve all learned not to mess with me.”

“Thank you, Adrielle.” I laughed.

“Call me Elle. Adrielle is so formal. It’s awful, really.”

“Thank you, Elle.”

She gave me a friendly smile. It was nothing like the demonic smile she gave the boys. She was genuinely being kind to me. It felt nice.

“Hey, would you like to have tea with me?” I asked.

Elle stared at me for a second. “Actually?” She asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. I’m having tea today and I haven’t had actual tea with a friend in years. It’d be nice to have some company.”

She thought about this for a second. “I’d love to.”

I smiled. “I’ll see you at tea time then.” Then I walked off.

At tea time, I had my maid set up tea for Elle and I. I examined myself in my mirror. I looked nice. I just hoped that tea would go well. I liked Elle. She seemed friendly. She obviously wasn’t as mean as she tried to appear.

I had my maid set up tea in the garden. I loved to have tea there. Usually, it was just me, but not today. I had her get a few different foods. I even had her get a few things from Elle’s home. I wanted to make a good impression.

I sat down at the table. I twiddled with my thumbs for a minute. I watched a few people pass by. They gave me polite smiles and a few bows, but none of them approached me. It was nice. I hated being approached in public.

“Sunshine, are you waiting for me?”

I didn’t need to turn around to know who stood behind me. That demon was following me. I could feel it. He was a monster.

“Actually, I’m waiting for your sister.” I replied.

Damian sat down next to me. “I can promise that she isn’t nearly as fun as I am.” He gave me a dashing smile.

I rolled my eyes. “Well, she can scare of the other guys here so she’s fine in my book.”

“Is that all it takes to get on your good side?”

I glared at him. “Don’t you have another maiden to torment?”

“Sorry to disappoint you, sunshine, but I’m here to give you my undivided attention. I’m free all afternoon.” He smirked.

“Good, now if you could go and find some other friend of mine to bother, that would be greatly appreciated, brother.” Elle said as she approached. She sat down next to me. “Sorry to keep you waiting. My other brother needed some help with something.”

“Which brother?” I asked.

“The favorite.” She smirked and I knew what she meant.

Aspen then.

We both turned to Damian. “Now, if you could leave, that would be appreciated.” I said.

He smirked and nodded to us both. “See you later, sunshine.” He winked at me and left.

Screw him.

Elle turned to me. “I’m sorry about him. He just doesn’t know when to quit.” She said.

“It’s fine. He’ll get over it. They all do once I don’t show them any interest.” I explained.

She shook her head. “You don’t know my brother then.”

“No, I don’t. I might like to one day though.” I didn’t know what I was saying anymore. I hated that boy.

“That’ll be the worst mistake you’ve ever made, wanting to know my brother.”

I nodded in agreement. “Then I’ll just ignore the heck out of him.”

She nodded approvingly.

Then we sat and drank our tea.