1. Roseanna

The chapters switch back and forth between her Point of view, and Vasile Zelkos point of view. Enjoy :)

I never knew how complicated being a teenage girl could be until I met some very interesting people.

   When I turned seventeen my whole life seemed to spiral out of control like a twister"blowing away every hope, every dream, and every sense in my mind, I thought I’d gone crazy.  Making sense of things seemed like a waste of my time.

   Oh, not that I had any, of course. I was being prepared to be a bride to a group of men that I’ve never met before! Insane people at that! They went against everything I’ve ever believed in. What about all my teen dating books, had they been read to be completely forgotten?  

   My world, my precious life, MY SANITY!!! Why couldn’t all this happen to someone who actually wanted it to happen to him or her? It all seemed so unfair.

   I couldn’t help but to give in sometimes. I mean the life of a princess did seem to have its benefits…even if it was being a vampire princess. Maybe dating in my own species would be safer…for the human boys…and even though I had about ten different young male vampires to choose from, I wasn’t ready to rule a vampire alliance, I wasn’t even ready to go to my high school senior prom!

   I would never forget the day that my life changed so abruptly that my heart stopped. Figuratively speaking (of course vampires still have a heartbeat!). It was a normal busy day in New York, the streets buzzing with traffic, the loud roar of music and honking. Never a boring day in the city….

 

I woke up super late for school that morning; I could tell my day was going to go in one possible way. Bad. So I ran around the house, like a complete maniac. I almost forgot to take my medication, which would have lead to a civil war among me and my dad, Dr. Loco hot cocoa. My clothes were all messy and my hair look like a tornado ripped through the nest of curls at night. I combed out my tangled mess of unruly curls and slapped a red headband on. There was no time to work on my face, but you couldn’t help what was already doomed by fate.  So I just shrugged on an old black sweater and slipped into my shoes before I shot out of the door of the apartment and flew down nine flights of stairs.

   I plugged my iPod into my ear, setting it to the highest volume it would allow me to go. I set it to my ‘Hardcore to go’ play list. That consisted of a lot of screaming and bree’s. Music the closed-minded people usually shunned as satanic.

   I knew I could slow down because walking beside me was a group of girls wearing the same awful uniform. So I wasn’t too late.

   “YOU are sooo clueless Linica, like, seriously.” I heard Denise scream unnecessarily loud. She was across the street, stuck in a death glare with a pale faced, black haired, beautiful girl named Linica Zelkos. My best friend.  If I could hear her over the ear-achingly loud honks of taxi’s and a Drop Dead Gorgeous song blasting in my ear, that was way out line. I cringed a bit, taken aback by the tone of her voice. I saw Linica face and ran full sprint between cars across the busy street and placed my hand on her shoulder"I shuddered slightly.

   Lili was a sensitive thing, always worrying about nonsense, always letting people bully her into anything they wanted. I sort of took the job of her full time body guard aside from being her best friend in the world. And by the look of things she needed me. “Ha, even your name sounds like something a crack baby would be named.”

   “Hey, how about you CHILL Denise, what the hell did Lili do to you?”  I asked, pushing forward so the Lili was completely behind me now, she clutched my uniform shirt and that did it"I was completely pissed. No amount of explanatory power would be able to stop me from punching that half-wit blond in her mouth. Of course, I would get some self satisfactory from that action. I’ve only wanted to kill Denise James since we were in the second grade when she cut my hair with a pair of nasty old scissors the teacher had left on the table. Her only response had been ‘I was trying to take out that nasty nap’ I mean REALLY. Who does something like that unless they were the spawn of Satan himself?

   I pulled my fist back and as soon as I let it snap forward"with all the force I could muster up in that half a second"it was caught by an unknown force. I heard Lili gasp and then I felt the electricity run through my body. It was a sensation like no other, my body felt charged and sensitive. I knew the reason to the feeling, my skin was extremely sensitized and most contact with people would cause electric jolts that ran through my body. It…it was almost like the charges I got with Lili, with her it was more than what I got from any other person. More active and more alert. Whenever I touched Lili it made my body shudder.

 Standing there completely dazed I noticed my arm was starting to go numb and though I couldn’t feel it, I could see my arm shake intensely. I looked up at the hand that held it in the air above my head; it seemed to capture my entire forearm.

   Then I heard his deep growling voice, “Linica, you sure do keep proper company.” His accent was rich and creamy, Like Lili’s. He pulled my arm down and behind my back, his body pressing slightly against me. “I am sure that your parents would love to hear about you"their heir"Princess Sofia, ready to pound a commoner to a pulp.”

   “Brother…let Roseanna go…” Linica whispered inaudibly.

   “Yeah, let me GO!” I struggled against his strong hands and managed to yank myself away. I started to rub my forearm, trying to make the feeling come back. “Who the hell do you think you are!? What the hell did you call me? My name is Roseanna! Not Sophie or whatever the hell you just said.”

   “Ah, well yes, of course,” He said and I looked up to see his face…he was the most…beautiful person I’d ever laid eyes on. He looked like Lili in a way. He was a slightly more tan color than her, and he was tall, like, NBA kind of tall. His hair was the same silky black color that seemed to shin even without shine from the sunless sky. And his eyes were so…BLACK. They looked like he could see into me…I could see his lips moving but no sound came out, until I forced my ears to work. I heard “using such profanity is ghastly for a future ruler of the alliances.” he looked me up and down with a small smirk pulling at his lips, I shuddered.”And then “...perhaps you may consider using proper manners when addressing situations such as these, yes?”

   “As for you Linica, come, we have much to discuss.”

   As she turned to follow him I caught her arm, worried, “Lili we have school, you can’t just go off with…him.”

   He turned around looking almost appalled, “Excuse me, but what did you just call my sister?”

   “Ahh…Lili?”

   He turned to look at Lili, his eyes open with disbelief, and she smiled lightly, “I am sure that you know that pet names are not appropriate when addressing a Vamp--"”

   “Brother!” Lili interrupted, “You said we have matters to discuss, and doing so in front of company is rude. Rose, I do apologize but I have to miss school today.”

   “But"”

   “Family Issues” she whispered in my ear and I understood perfectly. She never told me the details but she was born and raised in Romania. She’d recently moved to America about freshman year. She told me about how Europe has been going through political problems, and her older brothers sent her to stay in a safer environment. “I promise I will call you, in fact…” she looked up at her brother who’d been staring at me the whole time. “Can I go to her house later on? I’m sure Demetrius has already arrived there and is speaking to Dr. Patterson now…it’s only a matter of time before date is set…”

   What date? What are they talking about…? I looked at Lili and I guess she could see the confusion in my eyes.

   “I’m sorry about this Rose; I tried my best to let you know earlier…”

   “Linica, venit,” He said firmly in some language in his weird euro accent and Lili grimaced. “Toate lucrurile vor întruni în timp.” He said, his eyes still holding me in their darkness, he was grinning, and then he grabbed Lili’s hand and towed her to a black expensive looking car. Then they drove off.

 

  

School seemed to drag on like a boring movie you paid nine-ninety-five for at the local cinema. I only had four classes each school day, split into A and B days. ‘A’ days are usually classes like Language arts, Calculus, Physics, and United States history. ‘B’ days were my artistic and physical classes, Art 3, Music Keyboarding,  Physical Education, and then my favorite class Theater Arts.

   I was in PE waiting for the teacher to take roll, so we could go and change. I looked around seeing the male students eagerly talking about some basketball game, and the female students pretending to understand what they were talking about.

   The class was big, really big. We took up the entire gym and the bleachers were filled up on both of the walls.

   My gym teacher was Mrs. Holland; she was also my volleyball coach.  She was a small woman, even smaller than me, not more than 4’11 or 4’12. I stood happily at a good five foot two inches. Not too tall, not too short. She looked at me to confirm that I was there and then she strolled off getting the other people in the roll book.

   “Wassup Wilson?” I heard a familiar deep voice call from behind me; I looked up to see Donald Smith looking down from the bleacher above me, his smile stretching across his face.

   “Nothing much, what’s up with you?” I asked, shrugging. He hopped down so he could sit next to me; his dark skin seemed extra dark next to me.

   “S’okay I guess.” He looked around, “Where’s Li?” he asked, a small frown playing about his face. Donald had the biggest crush on Lili since she got here. But who didn’t? Lili was the most gorgeous girl in the school, not to mention foreign.

   “She had some family issues to take care of.” I sighed, “Her brothers are in town,” I added remembering the rude man that pulled her away.

   “You don’t think they takin’ her away, right?”

   “Not a chance.” I said trying to reassure him, as well as myself.

   “You seem pretty damn sure about that.” He chuckled.

   “’Cause I’ll drag her back if I have too.” I pulled my knees to my chest so I can wrap my arms around them. I sighed deeply and Donald shook his head.

   “You know…I remember when Li first came, it was crazy man, like” he looked like he was struggling to find the right words, “you didn’t talk to no one. Always isolated yourself. But when Li came along its like ya’ll connected, and you’ve been talking to people ever since…” he was frowning and then our gym teachers called us to stretch.

   “What are you getting at Don?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest, he backed up holding his hands out.

   “Hey, man, no disrespect!” he chuckled and then sighed, “I just want you to know that you do have friends. I dunno if their as good of a friend as Li, but that’s S’okay. ‘Cause we’ll be there for you. Aight?” he smiled his goofy smile.

   “’Kay, thanks.” I smiled some and ran towards the middle of the gym and started my stretching.

 

 

   After school finished, I decided to go home instead of going to volleyball practice, my head was still jammed with a bunch of crap from earlier. All I wanted to do was call Lili and ask her what the hell was going on, and what she was talking about when she tried to tell me sooner. Everything was making my head spin in circles.

   “Dadddd I’m home…” I called out dryly, draping my sweater over a chair and taking of my shoes. I pulled off my head band and dragged myself into the kitchen, humming to myself, with my eyes closed and opened the fridge.

   “I’m…uh…glad you came home, dear please sit.” I opened my eyes and saw my dad seated at the table with five very interesting men. I recognized one, That BULLY who took Lili that morning.

   “Err…okay.” I hesitated but took the only seat that was empty which was in-between a blond haired man with blue eyes and Lili’s Brother. “What’s this all about dad?”

   “Ha! The child has no idea does she?” One man gave a harsh laugh and I looked to see a man with russet colored skin, and black long hair.

   “Of course not, I was hoping this would all pass…that maybe her parents would"”

   Whoa, excuse me? “I’m sorry, can you repeat what you’d just said…my PARENTS?” I could feel my chest tighten and my heart went in to double time.

   “Yes, Rose, YOU are not biologically my child. I am technically your uncle.” He sighed, his eyes were searching my face, waiting for my outburst, but I calmed myself for the sake of five sets of eyes that burned my face with their intense stares.

   “Alright then, may I ask who these men are? And you"” I pointed to my neighbor, “where is Lili?”

   “Actually, she is right in your room, we thought that you would need someone to…talk to after we’ve talked with you.”

   “Alright. Now, who ARE you people?” I asked looking in the circle of handsome faces, excluding my dad. (Not that he wasn’t handsome it was just weird.)

   One man stood up, he was wearing faded jeans and a loose fitting t-shirt that read ‘I Love New York’. It figured. “I’m Leander Knightly.” His voice had a thick British accent and he smiled brightly showing a perfect set of teeth. “I come representing the England Clan; I am the youngest son of Queen Abigail and King Edgar.” As he sat another one stood, my other neighbor.

   “I am Frederick Bedeau.” He was French, couldn’t miss that. He sounded bored with the whole thing; he was wearing an ivory turtle neck with a pair of loose khaki’s, “I am the youngest son of King Percival and Queen Crescent. I represent The France Clan.”

   “I am Vasile Zelkos,” the man I hated stated matter-of-factly, his face was amused, “I’m the youngest brother of the Romanian Clan. Though I do believe that I’m much older than all of you here.” That’s all he said, as he sat back down.

   There were more introductions but I didn’t really pay attention because I just wanted to know what they were all doing there. “Umm…again…who are you people?”

   “Rose, dear, these are you matrimonial choices. Each of these young men have traveled here to…I guess…woo you.” He chuckled.

   “So…I’m supposed to pick someone to marry?” I asked as my pulse picked up again.

   “Ahh, how her heart sings.” The French man Frederick whispered softly.

   “Sorry to ‘burst your bubble’ as you Americans say,” The dark skinned Spanish man said, “but I do believe there are several more that have yet to show…”

   “M-More? I-I-I…” I couldn’t find the words, “Dad! Why do I have to get married?” my cheeks were burning red and I saw most of the men shift slightly away from me, “I-I mean I’m only seventeen for heavens sake!”

   “Your ignorance is exasperating Sofia.” Vasile said and I winced at that name, that wasn’t my name.

   “Who the hell is Sofia?” I asked perplexed, I looked over to my dad who was frowning.

   “I don’t call her that Vasile, so please refrain yourself as well.” My dad said inaudibly.

   Vasile raised his delicate eyebrows, “Why not, Sofia is her name, yes?”

   “Yes…”

   “WHAT!?” I screamed, slamming my hands on the table as I rose to my feet, “My name is SOFIA?” I was hyperventilating, “and you KNEW my name was SOFIA for SEVENTEEN YEARS!”

   “Roseanna calm down, we have a lot of things that we have to discuss.”

   “Like what? What could you possibly have to tell me that can ruin my life anymore?”

   “How about the fact that you’re a Vampire Princess.” Vasile laughed, “Not a very good one I may add.”

   “Brother.” I heard Lili’s voice from behind me and it made me jump. “Hey Rose.”

   “Not you too Linica. Her name is Sofia…”

   “Excuse me but my name is ROSEANNA, R-o-s-e-a-n-n-a.” I sneered, “Its not a very hard name to say.” My mind was so busy with burning from the inside out that, I ignored the fact that he had just called me a vampire princess.

    “Did you learn how to spell that on your own?” Vasile teased, I was fuming when Lili touched my cheek to calm me down.

   “Rose"ehh Sofia,” Lili corrected herself and I let out an overly dramatic sigh, throwing my hands in the air. “I think its best that you sit and listen to what Dr. Wilson has to say, remember the political issues that my family had in Romania?”

   “Yeah…I guess.”

   “Well, these are representatives of each of the Clans that represent a certain group of Vampires.” She smiled. “I believe that there is also a Mr. O’Brien from the Irish Clan, a Mr. Lewis from the American Clan, and a Mr. Takahashi from the Japanese Clan.” She counted on her fingers looking confused.

   “Don’t forget Rafael De La Rose.” My father raised his hand, “From the Spanish Clan. Also he is Ros"Sofia’s cousin.”

   “Ugh! Why would I marry him then?” I asked horrified, didn’t babies end up having birth defects from that? Not that I was planning on having babies with any of these men.

   “Consanguinity is very common among Vampire Clans. It helps to keep the blood lineage strong.” 

   “Oh.” Was all I can say, my mind was still spinning. “Umm, can I ask you a question?”

   “Of course.”

   “Who exactly are my parents?”

   “Ah, well, my sister, your mother is Queen Antoinetta De La Rose, and your father is Leonardo De Le Rose. You are so"”

   “Sofia De La Rose?” I asked.

   “Yes.”

   “HEY!” I heard a loud man greet as he walked into the kitchen, a tall man with russet colored skin smiled brightly and then stopped, “Am I interrupting? I mean, the door was open so I kinda let myself in…”

   “You’re late.” Vasile grumbled, “And who are you?”

   “Elliott Lewis…”

   “The American,” Lili greeted him with a hand shake, “I’m sorry but we started without you…we were just informing Sofia here about her parents.”

    “What took you so long to get here?” Frederick asked in his bored voice.

    “Flight was delayed, and my parents couldn’t get their hands on our privet jet…” he sighed as he propped himself against the kitchen counter. “Now, please continue whatever it was that you were saying to our lovely princess here.”

    I blushed brightly again and returned my attention to my father, “You also have a brother, Prince Antonio de la Rose.”

    “How old is he?” I asked curiously.

    “I believe he just celebrated his one hundred and tenth birthday last summer…”

    “O-one hundred and ten years old…?”

    “More or less.” My father shrugged.

    “And how old are you people.” the answers ranged from fifty years old to one hundred and forty. GREAT. I was getting married to a bunch of old men. “Umm I recall most of you saying you were the youngest in your clan…”

   “It takes a male vampire about two hundred years to mature fully, so technically these men here are teenagers.” Lili answered.

   I raised my eyebrows and turned to look at her, “You?”

   “Oh, ha-ha, I’m only seventeen.” She chuckled.

   “Okay.” I was somewhat relieved, but I had to admit Lili did act like she was much older than her age, maybe it was the way she was raised… “So…I know that I have to pick a husband…and I know that I’m a v-vampire princess…but what I don’t know is"why is all this happening now? What’s the rush? I mean I’ve been alive for seventeen years and no contact from them.”

   “The political issues Sofia,” Lili explained, “Since the Spanish Clan is the largest of our kind they are the only ones able to bestow laws. They must keep order among us.” She smiled lightly.

   “And this has to do with me how?” I asked, still confused.

   “Ugh! You"” Vasile pointed at me, his eyes black with irritation, “Are the only daughter to the Spanish Clan, and since there are not enough females being born, your brother has no one to become his consort. So YOU have to take responsibility and become ruler with one of the eligible bachelors that have been provided by Clans around the world.”

   “So…I’m going to rule a Vampire Nation?” I asked, my chest clenching in anticipation.

   Frederick spoke in his bored French accent, “Yes, Basically.”

   All I remember after that was that the room was spinning, my eyes blacked out and I heard Lili’s high pitched scream.

Reviews

[Daydreamer54]

A vampire princess? Um, IDK wat to say about that.... anyway I like ur dialougue and i guess this could b intresting... When lii's brother mentions the word "Vamp", I suprised Rose didn't think anything of it. I also thinks she accepting her new identity a little too fast. Shouldn't she think they r all crazy first? The pnly emotipn I get from her is shock. Anyway this book has promise.