BPOV

It was the chains that always frightened me the most. Not the dirt and grime caked on their perfect faces, nor the knowledge that at any moment they could strike and would gladly kill me, nor the bloodlust, fear, and hatred that shone in their eyes; it was always the chains that held my gaze.

"Happy birthday!" my mother exclaimed, gesturing towards the frightening creature before me. He was clean, at least, but he was barely clothed, wearing crude cloth trousers that appeared to have been torn off around his knees.

"Mother, I told you I didn't want one." I whispered, trying not to seem too graceless.

"Now Bella," my father intervened, "Your mother and I know that you're a little apprehensive, but they're really quite popular, perhaps it'll grow on you. They're extremely useful to have around, and especially with…" my father trailed off with a mischievous smile, obviously having let on something I was not meant to know.

"Especially with what?" I asked

"Well, I guess now is as good a time as any!" My mother practically squealed. Despite her ladylike grace befitting one of her position, she had always been easily excitable. "You're eighteen now, and, well, your father and I feel that it's time you were given some independence, so… you're welcome to move into the West guest house, if you'd like."

I have always been one to maintain my composure, but honestly, I could have squealed with delight. The West guest house held our library, in which I had spent most of my days pouring over the books. Of course, as it was a guest house, I could not spend as much time as I would have liked, but now I would have it to myself and it would be wonderful. I had had no desire to move away from my parents' estate after returning from the Academy, but the prospect of living on my own and being treated as more of an adult, without having to leave the comfort of home was so exciting that I almost forgot about the topaz eyes that followed my movements.

"I can't thank you enough!" I exclaimed, embracing each of my parents, "But I really don't need a vampire."

"Don't be silly," my mother said smiling, "I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with him." She winked before leaning in to whisper in my ear, "Besides, do you have any idea how long it took us to track down a male, virgin, vampire?"

I gasped, looking at my mother's sly smile. I had so hoped that the gift was meant solely for such work as would be necessary in a home unfit for a lady to perform. I realized I was sadly mistaken, and chastised myself for forgetting that any yard work or manual labor that I would need done would still be taken care of by my parents' grounds staff. This vampire was meant for the same terrible purposes I had always heard about: violence and sex.

"We'll have him taken to your new room. Alice and Angela will be moving with you, of course. You'll find it's all been taken care of." My mother assured me. "Now, let's get back to your party!"

She took my arm and I reluctantly followed her back into the banquet hall to meet my guests. Most of them were my father's business associates and their families, but there were a few faces that I was happy to see. Jacob stood beside his father, whose spine had been recently repaired with a new drug derived from vampire venom, holding a glass of champagne and chatting lightly with a couple I did not recognize. When he saw me, his eyes lit up, and he excused himself from his conversation. We walked towards each other as quickly as proper etiquette would allow and embraced each other fondly.

"Congratulations, Bella! Your dad told mine you'd be moving out! I can't wait to see your new place!" Jacob beamed. I smiled at his colloquial speech, and easy smile. That was something I loved about Jacob. Although his family was of no lower social standing than mine, he was always able to keep his easy going and relaxed demeanor. When it mattered, he could be the pinnacle of propriety, but with me he was always so warm. In all the pomp and circumstance of events such as this, where laughing too loudly was a criminal offence, and everyone's small talk had a certain chill, Jacob was my personal sun.

"And I can't wait to have you over to see it! It will seem so big and empty now… but I think it will be nice to start off on my own." I said honestly.

"Hey," Jacob leaned in and whispered, "Is it true that your parents put you in charge of sector nine?"

"Where did you hear that?" I asked nervously. My father hadn't yet made the press release about my new job, and he'd asked me not to mention it until then.

"It's just a rumor going around. Holy shit, it is true, isn't it?"

"Jacob!" I said sternly, "This is hardly the time or place for that kind of language!"

"Of course you're right," He said, annoyed, "My deepest apologies Miss Isabella. It was not my place to speak as such in front of a lady." He used the slight southern accent that usually only slipped through when he was distracted or trying to prove himself a gentleman. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, come on. You know you don't have to do that with me… just, what if someone overheard?" I said, embarrassed.

"Alright, alright. But seriously though, can you blame me?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at me.

I laughed nervously, trying to sound nonchalant as I said, "It's not as if it's breaking news."

Jacob looked at me as if I had grown a second head. "Not breaking news? Are you kidding me? Man! I wish I was in the kind of position that managing 23 billion dollars worth of industry was 'not breaking news!' I mean, come on! This is kind of a big deal, even for you."

"I know, I know." I said in an urgent whisper, trying to quiet him, "But I'm not supposed to be drawing attention to it until after the press conference."

"Fine." Jacob sighed, gesturing that his lips were sealed. "But we'll talk about this later." He slipped away into the crowd just as dinner was announced to be served. I made light conversation with those around me over the next seven courses, and excused myself as soon as etiquette allowed.

As I made my way towards my new home in the West building, I considered what would await me there. I knew that my belongings would all have been transferred to my new bedroom over the course of the party. Alice and Angela, my ladies in waiting, would of course be joining me at my new abode. Presumably my driver would have been informed of my move, and would be ready for me in the morning, and a cook would have been either hired or transferred from the main house to my new residence, though perhaps I would have to hire my own cook. When I entered, I quickly checked the kitchen and found that there was no one there waiting to make me my evening tea. Rather than disappointed, I was invigorated at my first task as owner of my new home. I contemplated where one would look to find a cook, realizing that I had never bothered to ask about the process of acquiring staff before now. Despite my extensive experience in the family business, I had never taken much interest in the managing of our household. I was beginning to think that this experience would be even more beneficial than I had anticipated.

But back to the subject of my cook conundrum, despite the fact that I was fully capable of making my own evening tea, I knew for a fact that if my mother ever found out that I'd made it myself, she would have a heart attack. I wondered if this was what my father had meant when he said that my gift would come in handy. This seemed silly though. Everyone knew that vampires didn't eat, it stood to reason that they wouldn't know how to cook. Still, this one might have been taught. I had no idea what his background was like.

Vampires had been slaves almost ever since they came out of the coffin. First they tried to blend with us. A great number of them had taken to drinking animal blood, and thus sought to join our society. Shortly after, synthetic blood was developed as it eased the bloodlust so many of them still felt drinking animal blood. It was only a few months before things began to change. Sangenite was discovered: a metallic alloy used to control the vampires. It was initially used only for law enforcement purposes, but it soon became the weapon of choice for any and all slave owners in the western world. The Sangenite burns them like acid, and makes them vulnerable. That is the only way that they can be controlled, and enslaved. It has always been the Sangenite chains that frightened me the most about vampires.

I had grown up with servants, whom I had been taught were somehow beneath me. I never really accepted this, as Alice and Angela were two of my very best friends. They were not any less of people, they were just unlucky people. That is to say, less lucky than I happened to be, as the daughter of one of the most wealthy and influential businessmen of the century. Still, this was only their job. If they were unhappy, there was always the understanding that they could leave at any time. I did not know exactly how much we paid our wait staff, but I knew that it was a fair amount more than they would get working the same job for most families. My father is a generous man, and he has much more respect for the working class than most of his affiliates. The servants had little cause to want to leave, but if they wished to, they were always free to do so.

This was not true for a vampire. This person up in my room… no, not person, I corrected myself, vampire. My mother had taught me from a young age that vampires were not people, that they were savage animals that hated humans and wanted nothing more than to suck our blood and kill us. Still, it seemed to me that if someone put me in chains that burned me like acid, beat me with clubs of the same material, and used me as a slave for both labor and pleasure, that I would be quite tempted to hat those people too. Regardless, this vampire up in my room was in horrible, metallic, terrifying chains, and he could not leave. He was held here against his will, and that frightened me.

I opened the door of my new bedroom slowly, and was surprised to find it empty. My eyes combed over the extravagant king sized four poster bed with the golden lace duvet and sheer gold curtains hung around it tied back with white ribbons. My gaze passed to my vanity, complete with makeup that I seldom wore, despite my mother's insistence, and trinkets from my parents and friends exactly as I'd left them in my previous room. In fact, this room had been set up as a virtually identical replica of my old room, with only two differences that I noticed. The first was that this room was noticeably larger than my old room, with an en suite bathroom full of marble and gold. The second was a door in the corner, presumably a closet of some description, that seemed superfluous with my walk-in closed adjacent to it, and of course my ladies in waiting to choose my clothes and dress me. I approached the door slowly, about to open it out of curiosity, when I heard a footstep behind me.

A door creaked and I watched as a large shadow crept up the door in front of me. A hand touched my shoulder and I screamed.

"Bella! Bella, calm down, it's just me!" Alice soothed, surprised at my outburst. As was I, to be completely honest. I had no idea why I was so jumpy all of a sudden. It probably had to do with the fact that I was virtually alone in my new house. Only my two servants, and my vampire were here to accompany me, a stark contrast to the thirty or so inhabitants of the main house.

"Sorry, Alice, I don't know what got into me tonight." I said, blushing, as always.

"Don't worry Bella, I just came to help you into your nightgown. I must admit, it's kind of nice to be off on our own don't you think?" She asked cheerfully, having my corset unlaced before I even knew what she was doing.

"Yeah. I can't wait to get my hands on all those books!" Alice laughed at me in reply an proceeded to help me out of my dress, which was a huge and difficult mess. It was at times like these that I couldn't help but miss the time before the Great Nostalgia when people wore sensible clothes. What I wouldn't give to be able to wear my old sweater and blue jeans again. Of course, I would be all but lynched if I was seen wearing such a thing in public these days. Another renaissance, a rerenaissance, as it were, had come about in the United States since the vampires had exposed themselves. It seemed that the country as a whole was having difficulty coping with change. Fashions and trends of everything from clothing to architecture seemed to revert to a time before our modern technology and our modern understanding of the world. Although both of these continued to progress, and technology was driving the economy more than ever, aesthetically at least, Americans seemed to yearn for the good old days of our civilization. I had heard that the dress code was still quite liberal in Canada, and I had often considered a vacation, just to be able to wear my old sweatpants again. I never really bothered to follow through, though.

"Did you hear me, Bella?" Alice asked, as I realized she had gotten me down to my underwear.

"Oh, no, sorry. I guess I kind of spaced out, what did you say?" I asked, embarrassed and blushing, but enjoying being able to use slang without disapproving looks.

"I said that it's nice not to always have to look over my shoulder for your mother when I don't call you 'Miss Isabella.'" She said smiling.

I pulled a face in response to the title that my mother always insisted upon for the sake of propriety. I was struck by the irony that she was so hell bent on propriety and yet gave me a living sex toy for my birthday. Not that I was likely to use him for that. I wasn't quite so old fashioned as to wait for marriage, but I certainly intended to be in love when I lost my virginity.

Reminded of the vampire that was supposed to be in my room, I decided to ask Alice, "By the way… my mother told me that my… umm… gift would be waiting in my room?"

Alice giggled, inferring a meaning that I hadn't intended before saying, "Oh, he is."

I looked around me, confused, and she giggled again.

"He's in his room. You see the door in the corner?" She gestured to the unnecessary closet as she helped me into my black satin nightgown and began pulling bobby pins out of my hair and letting it fall around my shoulders.

"Yes?"

"That's where he sleeps." She replied.

"Oh. Has he already taken the pills then?" I asked, knowing that vampires didn't sleep naturally. Still, they were expected to take pills that sedated them during the night for the safety of their masters.

"I expect so, but you could wake him, if you wanted." She said, winking.

"Oh… but… well, wouldn't he be still sleepy? You know… from the sedatives?" I asked, blushing.

"They're not like humans, Bella. The sedatives put them out so that they can't wake themselves, but you can wake him up whenever you'd like, and he'll be completely alert and ready." She said suggestively, and I blushed even redder than before.

"Thank you, Alice." I said as she removed the last piece of metal from my hair.

"You're more than welcome," Alice replied, feigning an exaggerated yawn, "I think I'll be off to bed now… in my room… three floors away, so… don't worry about any… disturbances or anything!" She giggles before dancing out of the room like the pixie that I'm convinced she secretly is.

She closed the door, and I turned towards the closet door. Cautiously I opened it, not sure what I expected to find, but what I saw was not it.

The vampire, only a boy, looked to be about my age. I reminded myself that he was probably hundreds of years old, but he still looked so young. There were Sangenite chains in the corner, with shackles for his wrists and ankles, but he was not currently bound. He lay on the floor on what looked like a dog bed, curled up in the fetal position. He had bronze hair that was terribly disheveled, but handsome as it fell on his beautiful face. Of course, I knew, that all vampires were beautiful, but he was so breathtaking with his sharp, angular features, relaxed in such a peaceful expression. My eyes raked over his muscular chest, which would put Michelangelo's David to shame, but I was too quickly distracted by the painful looking burns that spotted it. These burns made me feel uncomfortable for some reason, so I looked away.

There was a small sink in the corner with a toothbrush on it, and, I noticed, my favorite brand of toothpaste. There were also several small cardboard boxes. Curious, and knowing that he could not wake up, I stepped over him to the sink to examine the boxes. I soon realized that there were only two types of pills, but there were several boxes of each. One was the night pills. It had instructions for use, and warnings that they could cause nightmares, dizziness, vomiting, and haemolacria, whatever that is. The other appeared to be a kind of sterilization pill for vampires. They were to be taken before intimacy with a human so that they would not get pregnant. I vaguely wondered what a half vampire baby would be like, but quickly dismissed the thought. I began to feel guilty for invading the vampires privacy, although the concept of a vampire needing privacy seemed silly, and turned to creep out of his room. As I opened the door, however, I froze, because it made a sound.

It was just a small sound, and I relaxed, realizing it was probably just talking in its sleep. Suddenly, it began to yell. First it was just screams, it sounded like it was scared or in pain, and I almost screamed with it, I was so frightened.

"No! No! Please! Have mercy! Please! Please!" It screamed, and my heart wrenched for the poor thing. Without thinking, I rushed over, kneeling next to him and shook him lightly by the shoulders.

"Wake up. Wake up, it's okay, it's just a dream. Shhhh… it's okay. It's just a dream." I whispered, as the screaming quieted and ceased. Suddenly, the boy tensed next to me, going completely still, not even breathing. Then, faster than I could register, the beautiful vampire boy was across the room, with his back against the wall crouched down in an aggressive looking posture. My breath caught in my throat as the most terrifying snarl I had ever heard escaped from his lips.

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