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BOUND TO YOU

Chapter 1: Escape(1)

Making her way around the town of Rhimweald, she clutched her bag containing her clothes as she made her way to the carriage station looking back and forth warily with worry marred on her face. Her outfit which was similar to that of a male contrasted deeply with her face which she tried to hide with a piece of clothing draped over her head, though her aunt had let her move out of the house, she doubted the woman's words and couldn't take chances of her sending people after her which was why she had to disguise immediately she stepped foot out of the mansion.

Annalise, her popular name being Anna, digged her hands into her pocket to pull out some coins which she handed over the the coachman, the carriage which carried 6 passengers had 5 passengers already seated waiting for the 6th passenger for the carriage to depart, she looked around again before mounting the carriage. She sat quietly and held onto her bag tightly as she ignored the looks and time to time glance from the other passengers and rather focused her gaze on her palm wondering when the carriage would reach Lenoria, one of the northern lands known for high standing families mainly vampires. It was a distant town from what she had heard, she had never been there but the thought of her mother working there made her heart skip in both fear and excitement and now that she thought of it, she wondered if any of the passengers in this carriage was a vampire, her heart hitched at the thought of it. Her hands made way into her side pocket to reveal a fumbled written letter which came from her mother as she had signed it with her name, the words written there reassured her as her thought went back to the past few months where she and her mother had been exchanging letters ever since she came across a pile of letter in the dumpster behind the mansion.

Anna remembered that day vividly as she had volunteered to help the elderly worker take the trash out to be disposed later. She turned curious when she saw the letter head bearing the family name, Quinton, because from the best of her knowledge, it was only her father and connectively, his nuclear family which included her, who bear the name and then her aunt, who is yet to be married, not excluded. Perhaps, there was a distant relative she never knew of she thought as she opened the letter to go through the contents. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw her mother's name clearly written below her signature, she opened the others in haste to find the same sender. She quickly emptied the trash, took the letters up to her room and turned the lock. She tried sorting them according to the time which they were sent, the first one contained information about her mother getting her designated job which they had talked about before she left her in the care of her aunt. Her eyes glistened as she went through the letters one by one, tears came to drop as she came across one where her mother had mentioned about her not writing back.

"I am not sure why you aren't replying to my letters yet but I sincerely hope you are well. I had enquired from your aunt, I wanted to visit but she said she had you enrolled in an academy far away so I shouldn't bother. I am glad, your brother, Tristan, is well too. I won't stop writing though, I love you.."

She read the lines over and over again before reading the last ones. She was angry at herself for believing that her mother had cared less and had failed to write to her, she was angry at Aunt Camille, how could she be this cruel?. She packed the letters into a box and moved to go confront her aunt but on second thought, she decided to keep mute and write back to her mother first before scheming her next move.

She made sure to be there to receive the mail delivery man whenever he came around after writing to her mother. She had already explained in the letter to her mother how she was tutored in the mansion and how she had not been receiving the letters sent to her which was undoubtedly Aunt Camille's doing. She was ecstatic when her mother wrote back and she went on to quickly request to move in with her.

The next letter from her mother which contained the supposed reply to her request came in a month later when Anna had already began to fear that she had probably missed the letter and had somehow reached her aunt's possession. Her mother had approved of her coming and had written down the details and address on the letter. All she had to do now was instigate her aunt to let her leave the house, this she had done successfully when she opposed the idea of marrying the man her aunt had suggested who she had met at one of the soirées. Her aunt Camille had taken her in two years ago when she had lost her father leaving her with just her mother and her younger brother. Her father, Sir Quinton, was a prominent man in the society as a councilman, he was decent despite his high status and had married her mother, ignoring the difference in skin colour which had led to disputes between his sister, Camille and himself. Camille had insisted on him tying the knot with people like them instead, vampires. Her mother, Merina , had a delicate brown skin which shined under the sunlight, and she herself, Anna, had inherited the trait though her skin a little fairer but the similarity was there. In contrast to her skin, the jade like eyes which she had gotten from her father stood out and enhanced her features more.

Unlike many of her peers, she was tall but rather lean where her female features were moderate. Her womanly features made her seem younger as they appeared as that of an early teenage girl whereas she had already clocked 20 which seemed to bother her aunt as no suitor had asked for her hand yet since she came of age. Her aunt had always been a woman who disliked the people she referred to as lower class. She had only agreed to harbour her niece because she was a girl and she had taken it upon herself to raise her according to the society.

"Annalise quit slouching when seated"

"Tip your chin Annalise, it's a sign of confidence"

Her words were nothing less to punishments to Anna because she wasn't raised this way from the beginning. Her parents were free with her and had allowed her to stay back during soirées and house parties since she never fancied those and she was grateful. In the circle of the high society, parents never miss the opportunity to showcase their offspring. Mothers showcasing their girls from a young age while fathers brag about their sons, teaching them one or two to make them eligible for the council.

Anna stayed home alone with her younger brother on those kind of days. She preferred reading parchments concerning history or taking naps rather than soirées but within the years she had stayed Aunt Camille, she had attended more balls and house parties than she would have ever imagined. The dress she wore to them were nothing less to a compressor to her lungs as she couldn't breathe well in them and she had angrily stormed out of one of the balls going home on foot when her Aunt introduced her to a man who Camille termed her future partner.

She had blatantly told her aunt that she would rather leave the house than marry the buff looking man.

"Do as you wish but if you wish to continue to live with me, then you must comply to my wishes" Camille said after confronting her on leaving the ball abruptly.

Anna nodded, "then so be it".

And that was what she needed to be out of the house, she knew her aunt would be pegging on her to return as she had no other place to stay in this town but she was wrong and she planned to move fast and farther before Aunt Camille notices a flaw.

Back to the present, she gazed out of the little window counting the trees and stalls in view. Four hours had passed already and she was getting tired and hungry, she didn't sleep a wink in fear of the possibility of one or some of the passengers being vampires if not all. While in haste, she had forgotten to bring an edible with her and she sighed in frustration.

The carriage came to a halt 30 minutes later and the coachman announced their arrival, Anna was the one to get down first as she was curious about the town riddled also with the excitement of meeting her mother. She smiled.