5: I COULD TALK

EVE

A MONTH AFTER

I jolted awake urgently as I remembered how important today was.

News had reached us yesterday that some important guest was arriving, and we, the servants, had a mountain of work ahead.

A month had come and gone in the blink of an eye. Everyone now called me ‘Sacrred Vamp’ and I’d grown used to it.

If not peace, at least I found survival here as my body healed slowly and my healing abilities were temporarily useless.

It had been hard at first, being a vampire amongst werewolves, but I wasn't the only one.

I still couldn’t talk. My face remained deformed, a constant reminder of Sheila's cruelty and the gash on my belly of Mike's betrayal.

I'd stopped checking the news of their engagement on social media because I don't care. Watching his career and so-called 'best doctor' title crumble is enough of a revenge.

I'd seen Alpha Lucian only once this past month, and it was brief because he was traveling for some urgent pack business and I couldn't thank him for saving me and apologize for what I'd done in my blood-crazed state.

After bathing, I pulled on the new uniform that I couldn't refuse, despite being so short and small, because I got the last one.

I stepped out of my room to face the day. My neighbor gasped, her hand flying to her mouth when she saw me. "Eve!!" She squealed. “Anyone seeing you will think you’re the lady of the house, not a maid, you look..."

She trailed off, but I understood because the dress was so small that it showcased the hourglass I'd been hiding in the old, big uniform.

"You're so curvy" she whispered. "I wish I were this..."

“The entourage is almost here!" Madam Bella's sharp voice cut through the corridor, interrupting our conversation. “Everyone line up for your work assignments!”

~

I was assigned to the cleaning crew for the grand banquet hall, alongside three other maids. We loaded our arms with mops, brooms, and other cleaning equipment, then headed down the marble corridor.

But as we approached the hall, something changed.

My throat began to burn.

I dismissed the symptoms. It may be dust or maybe nerves.

But with each step closer, the burning intensified. By the time we reached the hallway leading to the banquet hall, I was struggling to breathe.

"Cough—" the sound tore from my throat, harsh and painful.

My companion raised her eyebrow. "Is that a cold?"

I waved my hand, but my eyes were watering now. The burn spread deeper, like something was clawing its way up from my lungs.

What is happening to me?

Another cough ripped free, and this time I couldn't hold back. I dropped the broomsticks I was carrying and clutched my throat with both hands.

My companion dropped her own supplies and frantically searched through the cleaning kit for water.

Before she'd be done, I bent over and spat a thick, dark clot of phlegm.

The burning stopped after this, and I felt lighter and freer.

The heaviness that had sat in my vocal cords for months seemed to be gone.

“What’s happening here?” A hard and commanding voice questioned behind us, cutting through the chaos.

We turned around, and a dignified man and his entourage were standing behind us with Madam Bella as their escort.

We bowed immediately, Madam Bella quickly pulled me out of the way. “What are you doing? Get out of the way"

I hurriedly picked up the broomstick and mopped “I…” the word came out.

My eyes widened.

"I...I'm sorry," I continued, the words flowing like water, like magic, like a miracle.

I looked at Madam Bella, whose jaw had gone slack. Then at my companion who stood frozen, staring at me like I'd grown a second head.

“Eve" my companion tapped me. "Did you just....talk?”

"Yes," the word, barely a whisper, came out again.

Tears rushed from my eyes quickly. After all these days in silence, of being trapped in my own head and screaming with sound...Could I speak?

“I… I… Can you talk?” I heard my own voice again, testing it and terrified it would vanish. "I can actually talk"

My companion grabbed my shoulders, her eyes wide. "Eve...your face, look at your face"

"What?" I touched my cheek, and my fingers met smooth skin.

I looked down at my hands, the burn marks that had scarred them, the wounds that refused to heal were fading too.

"What is happening to me?" I breathed.

"Today is your lucky day, my girl," Madam Bella celebrated with me, also shocked, but her face looked as if she'd expected this to happen.

Before I could ask if she knew about this, the man cleared his throat impatiently. “Maidservant Bella what’s happening here!!”

She instantly bowed, “Apologies Beta. Just a minor incident, but I would have them clean it immediately"

"Lead me to my room," He commanded and walked away, glaring at me meaningfully.

As they walked away, my companion was still admiring my face. "You're so beautiful" she drooled.

I smiled happily. My scars, which are a reminder of the past I wanted to forget badly, are gone.

I turned towards the banquet hall. "Let's get work done first"

~

By the time we finished preparing the banquet hall, what had spread.

Everyone who passed me did a double-take. Song gasped, others whispered, and a few looked at me with barely concealed jealousy, but I don't care.

I looked like myself again. Myself before Mike and Sheila. Like the Eve that I was before the nightmare.

Madam Bella came to the maid's quarters again to give us the final instructions. “Hey, girls. Get your head up, the banquet is starting soon”

“Is the Alpha here now?” someone asked.

She smiled, “He’s been around since morning. He went for a pack inspection. But the banquet is starting now”

The girls giggled excitedly and quickly rushed to start adorning themselves again.

"Eve," Madam Bella's voice cut through my thoughts of who this Alpha Adam was. "You'll be serving at the high table"

My head snapped up. "What? But Madam, I'm..."

"New, right?"

I nodded urgently. My habits from when I was mute haven't faded.

"Consider it an honor" she said with a knowing glance and left the room.

Or a test. My mind whispered.

The others resumed envying my body, but my mood had changed.... I felt something was going to happen today...

Something big and perhaps deadly