Chapter 1: My fiancé sold me out

Calista

"You are nothing but a waste, a little whore. It's time you repaid the favor," said Lord Evans, my future father-in-law, in a cold and unforgiving voice. The Evans family was the richest in town. They had always looked at me as if I were beneath them.

"What's that supposed to mean? I haven't done anything wrong!" I asked, startled. Lord Evans slapped me so hard that I collapsed on the floor. Greyson, my fiancé, looked at me worriedly, but he didn't move.

"Shut up! Know your place, arrogant little bitch! We have a deal with the people of the hill, and you will go as a sacrifice."

The people of the hill... that could only mean one thing.

"Vampires?" I whispered in horror. I grabbed my aching face, my lip already bleeding.

"We've held you down all these years, but at least now you can make yourself useful."

I had never understood why they had arranged this marriage in the first place. I had known the Evans family since I was a child. I had always had feelings for Greyson, and I was stunned when my brother Robert told me he had arranged a marriage with him. It was my best chance at a decent life. And now they wanted to send me away... to the vampires?

"But the wedding..." I said incredulously. Lord Evans grabbed me by the hair and pulled me up. My headscarf loosened slightly - I had always kept my dark red hair covered because the townsfolk thought it was stained.

"At last she would be of some use to us! Take her away!" he ordered, and the guards seized me.

"Greyson! Greyson!" I shouted. He wouldn't let them take me to the vampires, I was sure of it. As I was dragged away, he stepped forward.

"Father has lost his mind, but I will bring you back. I won't let anyone hurt you," he swore. I was desperate. The vampires were cruel. I just wanted to be his wife. I looked into his beautiful brown eyes - he had always been so kind to me, almost perfect. How could I not love him? " I'll come for you, but you must promise to behave and not cause any trouble. I will see you soon, Calista, and we will be married. Just as you dreamed."

And I believed him.

"I will wait for you," I said quietly. But the servants looked at me as if I were already dead.

"Poor girl, she won't last an hour with the vampires."

"Do you know what they do with human women? They use them, drain them." Their whispers surrounded me as I tried to stay strong. I must be strong, he'll come for me. But the moment the carriage crossed the hills, I knew I was in terrible danger. The castle of the vampires was called Walter House, the most powerful clan in the region. It was dark and full of malice.

"What have we here?" mused a vampire as I was dragged from the carriage. They were the nightmares told to children to keep them in line. This one was grotesque, with piercing red eyes.

"Just a fragile human," another murmured, looking at me with pity as they left me there, stripped of my belongings, alone.

"She's so small and weak," a vampire sneered, pinching my cheek.

"Doesn't matter. She won't survive anyway. Put her with the others," someone barked. I shivered as I was dragged into a filthy dungeon and thrown into a cell with other humans.

"What are you doing here, girl? What crime have you committed?" a burly man asked.

"I... I have done nothing. My family sent me to represent them"

"In other words, they traded you."

"What?"

"Everyone here is a tribute. Criminals, or payment for a debt. The only innocents are the fools who were sold. Now you belong to the vampires. I'm sorry, you're the only human woman here... you won't survive what they'll do to you." I panic.

"No... that can't be. My fiancé will come for me," I whispered. But there, in the darkness of the cell, I feared the truth. Days went by and I never saw the sun. He couldn't have sold me. Maybe I just had to wait in this prison for a while and then they would release me.

Until one day, I see someone approaching my cell. My heart leaped with hope - I thought he was coming to rescue me, and I rushed to the bars.

"Greyson?"

"No, sweetheart, I'm afraid not," a vampire hissed. He grabbed my throat through the bars, and I froze. "A human... but you smell different," he mused. He had long brown hair and the same red eyes. He pulled off my headscarf and stared at me in fascination. "What a surprise we have here... I think I'll have a taste," he whispered, baring his fangs. His hand slid down my neckline until it cupped one of my breasts. His touch was ice-cold and I tried to pull away, but he squeezed roughly as I screamed.

"Leave me alone!"

"I bet you're a virgin... warm and sweet. Maybe I should check right now. Don't worry, I'll only use one finger. It won't hurt - unless you're too tight..." he murmured, his hand slipping up my skirt, and I freaked out. Then another voice interrupted.

"Hans, don't play with the tributes. If their future master finds out you've touched her, you'll pay dearly," another vampire warned. Hans growled.

"Then I'll just have to claim you myself," he sneered. "You will lie in my bed day and night, legs spread. I'll feed on you, fuck you until you're nothing but a broken doll. And when I'm finished, I'll drain you." I screamed in terror and the vampires laughed. I heard more laughter and growling in the distance.

After that, I curled up in a corner, too scared to move. Hans came back several times, trying to touch me, demanding to see my red hair, but I refused to leave my corner. Until one day, when I had almost lost all hope, they took me to the servants' quarters. There I saw more humans.

"Prepare them. Our guests have arrived, and the hunt begins in two moons," a vampire ordered. A young girl approached me, offered me food and led me to a bath.

"My name is Cora. And you... you don't look like a criminal," she remarked, and I told her my story.

"Some families offer their weakest daughters or sons as tribute for the hunt to pay off debts," she explained. My heart pounded. I was innocent. I had trusted Greyson and his family.

"Tributes for what? What is this hunt?" I asked.

"The Blood Hunt. A ceremony in honor of the moon, where vampires from various regions come to hunt down poor victims... and claim them as their slaves, to do as they please for several weeks."