I woke up the first morning with what had happened to Elisa on my mind. The doll had been through a lot, so much but at least she had had the perfect life before. I chased away the bitter thoughts from my mind. Yes, I had gone through worse but I had come to realize that in this world, pain wasn't measured that way. The fact that you went through so much more than others didn't mean that their pain was less or their pain should be underestimated. They did go through pain and that what mattered. And that was enough to try to help them with that pain. WE were all hurting in this world, in one way or the other, though some were more than others but this didn't mean that we shouldn't help others or sympathize with them just because we felt their pain was less.

I was apprehensive about what would happen on my first day as the first day usually determined a lot but surprisingly, it turned out I didn't have much to be apprehensive about.

During breakfast, only few slaves were present, that those whose masters and mistresses had not gone with them for breakfast in the grand dining hall. Even Cezar came much later on when we were almost done with breakfast. Melanie, the fan slave was there though, constantly scowling at me as if it was my fault that her master or mistress hadn't put a collar around her neck and taken her for breakfast. I mostly rolled my eyes and avoided her. The dark haired slave was there though. When I finished my own breakfast and Elisa was still eating, I wanted to go and meet her and talk to her but that just had to be the time that Cezar came in.

While Cezar spoke to me, I tried to keep track of the dark slave but by the time he was done talking, her spot was empty and she had gone. She intrigued me. I wasn't one for making friends but I was very curious about her. Cezar claimed Lady Karayan was busy and would mostly be busy for the rest of the day so chances that we would see her were slim. I was secretly happy for that though. So, he was in charge of showing us around, and giving us directives on what we were going to be doing for Lady Karayan. I expected most of them but some were specific to her. Like how Lady Karayan HATED being interrupted and she preferred mostly silent slaves. It was alright by me. The part that left a sour taste on my tongue was when Cezar told us we were to be the blood sources of our mistress as well. I always hated been fed from.

A vampire's bite could be an aphrodisiac if they chose it to be so but my previous masters and mistresses had preferred the other way. The way where they got the pressure and I only felt raw pain. Some didn't even bother to heal me after. It was one of those things that I dreaded.

According to Cezar, since Elisa and I were slaves to a high ranking official, after our work with our mistress was done, we were free to return to the servants' quarters or the kitchen and do whatever we wanted until our mistress needed us again. That was probably the best thing that he told me. The best part was he said we could even use one of the smaller libraries if we could read as long as we didn't bother anyone and we kept our mistress' tag on us such that another vampire could not feed from us. Our tags were small collars that looked like necklaces with an 'L' engraved on it. I was fine by it. As long as I got to do what I wanted to mostly. Despite this, I knew this was probably as far as the good parts of the job description went. Lady Karayan didn't seem like the easy going type and it may just be me but there was something dark and dangerous about her.

We came across lower slaves. That is slaves of lower officials and it was then that I realized the difference was actually very clear. Many of them looked underfed, beaten and tired. Their eyes were lost and they rarely wore clothes. It made me sick to my stomach. These bloody nobles and their need for slaves. Left to me, there was no need for slaves but I was probably biased because I had been on my entire life. My heart squeezed and I mostly avoided meeting gazes with those other slaves. Maybe they even had it better. I had learnt something very early on. The higher the ranking of your master or mistress, the greater the risk for the slave. Nobles with power were the worst. That was a fact.

By midafternoon, we were mostly done with the tour and my head as swimming with information of the dos and don'ts that Cezar had given Elisa and I and I just wanted to sleep. Luckily, his mistress called for him and he left us back at the kitchen before leaving. I collapsed into my chair with a sigh and Elisa collapsed right next to me. I stiffened at her closeness but let her be. This kid was getting too close and I didn't like it. There were two other slaves in the kitchen but they minded their business and I wasn't particularly keen on talking to them either.

I spent most of the time talking with Elisa, explaining to her how this world that she had been forced into worked and what she was expected to be. The child was far from prepared but she had to be told. Plus, I was supposed to be training her. If she did wrong, I would be punished alongside her as well.

All the day's activities had made me so tired and I was itching to use my magic. It had been a while since I last used it. I wondered if those smaller libraries contained any witch training of some sort. Of course I would have to practice in private but I was excited to build up this part of me that was secret to me and the only thing I had probably gotten from my parents.

Even soon reached and some slaves returned to the kitchen. Reena amongst them. With all the chatter going on, it seemed there was something exciting going on in the mansion. Apparently someone had returned and things were tenser than normal. Even Reena was acting very skittish and wouldn't talk about the black eye that she was now sporting. She isolated herself and wouldn't talk to anyone. My walls came back right up and I was on high alert. I wondered who had returned to the mansion that made everyone so on edge. Probably Lord Kyryaan. I had not heard of his name mentioned all day but now and that piece of information chilled me. I retired to bed that night very worried and on edge. Elisa had more nightmares so against my good sense, I invited her into my bed again. I refused to have a soft spot for the kid but she was making it really really difficult. In a few months, I would be free, no longer a slave. I would leave and never look back. I didn't need to get attached.

And yet why did I feel like even if I were to get everything and I were to be free, something was still lacking in my life?

That night, I had a very troubled sleep full of strange things. On one hand, I felt like someone was trying to find me, on another I felt like there was a gaping hole in my chest and I was dying. And the most troubling of all, the one that made no sense was in one of my dreams, while all these horrible things were happening to me, there was the silhouette of a man in the fog. His presence calmed me but it felt like just as much as I needed him and he calmed the chaos going on around me, he needed me too. It was the strangest dream ever and I was so confused. Every time that I tried getting close to him, the fog would envelop him and he will go away but deep down, deep in my heart, I would know that he was still there and my fear would dissipate.

So close, and yet so far.

I woke up the next morning drenched in sweat and my pulse racing. What could all this mean?