章 2: Ribboned gift- Part 1

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The year 1766

Vivian's small hands pressed against the cold windows of the quiet room she was locked in. Her once red eyes which had gradually turned black in a few weeks of time now stared at the guests outside the room who chattered merrily with each other while she had none as a company. The window the little girl stood in front was a custom made with a black tint that made it difficult for a person who was outside to see what was inside the room.

Spending some more minutes with the hope that either her mother or father would let her out she stood by the window waiting for them except as minutes turned to hours no one came to let her out of the room.

Little Vivian had the least idea of why she had been locked away in the room which had never happened before. Her family loved her. Her father dotted her as she was her their firstborn child before her younger brother Gregorie who was a couple of years younger compared to her vampire age that was if she was still a vampire like the rest of her family. The party in the Harlow manor continued without her.

The door burst open after some time. Not far behind him stood a woman at the door who didn't dare to step her foot inside the room.

"Abel, wait. Emmanuel said not to open-"

"That's enough, Elaine!" The man stopped her from spluttering any more nonsense. Picking up the girl in his arms, he walked out of the room, taking her to her own bedroom and tucking her in the bed. Stepping out, he locked the room behind him before sending a glare towards the woman.

"I cannot believe what you have done to your own child!"

"I merely asked her to stay in the room," the woman was none other than Vivian's mother who spoke in a worried tone now at the thought of what her husband would say, "Emmanuel isn't going to be happy if he finds she is back in her room. We need to protect ourselves, Abel."

"Protect from what sister?" scoffed Abel disbelievingly.

Hearing this, Elaine whispered, "She isn't us, don't you see it?! She is a human. There has to be some sort of witchery if it isn't it would only mean someone tricked us and she isn't our child."

"Hell, can you hear yourself speak? She is your daughter, Elaine. Why is it so hard for you to believe it?" Abel argued with his elder sister.

"Because she's a human. No vampire turns to a human out of nowhere. We are vampires, Abel. When was the last time you heard one of our family members turned into a human? When did that happen?" she questioned him and then shook her head, "We don't even know what she is and where to go looking for answers," she was ashamed to think about it.

Being born to a vampire family and married into one, Elaine along with her husband strongly believed that vampires had to marry vampires and that humans were nothing but dirt under their feet. There were rare cases where vampiress bore a human child who was shunned mostly by society and in turn by their own family. Fortunately, unlike his sister Abel spent more time outside and in the council than in their house to pick up those foolish ideas. He was well aware that it was hard to change his sister's mind once she had set it. It wasn't exactly his house affairs but the little girl was his niece. She didn't deserve to be locked in the room for something she had no control over. It wasn't that he hadn't noticed it. With weeks, the girl had lost her appetite when it came to drinking blood. The last time he had seen her, her eyes had swapped between red and black for a fleeting moment. When he had first arrived at the manor, he hadn't given her absence much of a thought until Gregorie, his nephew took him there when the owners of the manor went to bid their guests outside.

"We don't know why she turned to a human but that doesn't mean you keep her in a room at the fear of being discovered by the people that you have a human for a daughter now. She's barely even seven. After being loved all these years if both her parents suddenly behave distant with her, it's going to break that child's heart."

He then continued, "She's a child, Elaine. Don't forget that and above all your daughter," hearing no response from his sibling he sighed, "I will take my leave now and visit you in the morning when your mind is much clearer," he stated before walking past her to reach the stairs to meet his brother-in-law Emmanuel on his way. Bowing his head, he left the manor. Sadly, what Abel didn't know was that his sister and her husband had decided to give up their daughter. The next day, before dawn broke in their empire, the girl was sent with a maid from another land. With the black sheep gone, there would be nothing to be ashamed of in their society who thrived to have nothing but vampires.

Vivian was sent to another empire where the sun rarely graced its light and warmth on the land, the land which was infamously told to be built and made of bones, known to many as Bonelake. She crossed towns along with the woman her parents had sent her within the carriage. She had cried, tears streaming down her eyes and begging her parents to not send her wherever they were sending her before they left the manor and the empire of Valeria. Her father hadn't bothered in staying out to bid her and her mother whom she was attached to had refused to meet her eye.

Getting down from the carriage, Martha, the old woman who had brought her here looked at the mansion in front of them before looking down at the little girl next to her. The woman didn't work for the Harlow's but knew one of the maids who worked there by which the Harlow's had contacted her as she was in the town to take the girl with her while giving her enough money to keep the girl's lineage a secret and to be forgotten. She pitied the girl.

"Vivian," she called the girl who had been looking at the massive mansion in front of them. The little girl turned her head, her black eyes looking at her and she gave the girl an encouraging smile, "This is where we will be living from now," hearing this the girl's eyes welled up with tears.

"I want to go back to mama," Vivan pleaded, hoping she would take her back. She wasn't used to staying away from her parents. The woman was a kind-hearted person and if she could, she could have dropped the girl elsewhere on her way here to avoid any troubles but instead, she had comforted the little one in the carriage.

Bending down, she squeezed Vivian's hand, "I am sure you're mama will come to see you in a few days. You will have to be a good girl for that Vivian," not knowing what else to say she lied about her mother visiting her, "Until your mama comes you have to listen to what I say, dear because if you won't she might not come. You don't want that now do you?" she asked her softly, the girl shook her head vigorously before wiping her eyes and nose with the handkerchief the woman had given her.

Taking the girl by her hand, the old woman stepped into the mansion and its wide doors. The Carmichael's were one of the few good pureblooded families in Bonelake and the maid knew it would be safe to bring up the girl here. It wasn't that they were tolerant of humans misbehaving with them to show who was the higher creatures but compared to the rest of the pure-blooded vampires one could say they were bearable. By the time of night, Vivian was given a room in the basement of the mansion which wasn't far from Martha who had spoken to Mr Carmichael about Vivian, introducing her as her niece who was here to learn about a maid's work.

So began the life of Vivian at the Carmichael's mansion.

Being the youngest maid in the Carmichael's mansion, she was told what to do and what not to do. Martha, the oldest maid of the household made sure to repeat it every night to make sure the little girl learned about the house rules. The first one was not to be in the presence of any family members. The second one was if she by mistake did end up presenting herself in front of them by mistake, she was not to speak to them but only nod her head. The third rule was to listen to every word when the Carmichael's spoke to them and not to misbehave. Many other things followed the rules but one of the most important ones was to stay away from red-eyed people as she was a human. Vivian was given a simple task like helping in sorting and cleaning the vegetables, watering the plants or picking them, following Martha around sometimes until the woman asked her to stay in the kitchen.

During the first week of one afternoon , as Martha minced the meat on the table, she spoke to Vivian who had been staring into the fire, seeing the fire crackle and boil the pot, "Dear, why don't you go fetch Paul for me," the girl nodded her head before going in search of Paul who was one of the servants who worked in the mansion.

Looking around carefully while peeping from the walls and pillars that were built, she searched for Paul as if she were a mouse. Before she could walk across the hall, she heard footsteps and voices approaching her making her freeze behind one of the pillars. Surely, when the old maid had advised her not to be in the presence of the Carmichael's what she had actually meant was to steer clear from them of causing suspicion as Vivian previously belonged to a vampire family. The girl had taken Martha's words literally due to which she hid behind the wall when she could have walked out of there without behaving like a thief.

Peeking slowly to see who it was from afar, she saw it was Mr and Mrs Carmichael who had guests today. She caught sight of two children, a boy an a girl from afar. She hadn't seen children of her age here and she missed her brother, Gregorie, wishing he was here with her now. Before she could take a longer look at them, she felt someone tap her shoulder.

Turning around, her eyes went wide at the sight of a blonde boy who looked a little older compared to her with red eyes that stared at her. His blonde hair fell past on his forehead, holding an expressionless stare that was fixed on her face that made her fidget as she stood unsure of what to do.

"Leo!" someone called to which the boy stepped away from her, not sparing another glance he walked towards the children who had arrived.

With the intense gaze that left her face, she bolted back to the kitchen.

"Did you find Paul?" she shook her head to Martha's question, "He must have gone out to the market. But it's too early for him to be out already. Here take these, make sure you don't throw the small ones out this time," the woman gave her a pointed look. Yesterday when one of the maids had made her sit in front of the peapods to pick out the peas, she had thrown half of it until Martha found it and taught her how to remove all of them before throwing the outer skin. The girl hadn't spoken a word since they had stepped inside the mansion, she didn't push the girl to speak because she didn't have the heart to do it. She hoped that one day in the near future, the girl could let go of her former family as it was clear as the day in Valeria that her family wanted to get rid of her and wanted nothing from her.