1 - EMMA

PRESENT DAY - Nearly 11 Years Later

EMMA

**Memory**

It's my birthday. My twin brother Samuel and I turn 7 today and we are all having fun playing the birthday games my mother planned for our pack party. I stop as Marcus changes direction and chases someone else; I scan the yard and see my mother sitting in one of my father's laps with my new brothers and sister sleeping in a port-a-cot nearby. My other fathers are not that far away from them either, always protective, always alert and always watching, but playing with us at the same time.

All of a sudden, the alarms all go off, making everyone, including me, jump. Everyone else scatters, but I freeze as I see hundreds of smelly wolves run out of the trees. Just as a wolf slides to a stop in front of me, I let out a slight scream at the sight of the stinky wild wolf so close. I am then grabbed from behind and let out another small surprised scream, but I then smell something sweet as a rag covers my mouth and nose. I struggle and hear a familiar soft female's voice in my ear,

"Sorry Em, but I have no choice..."

My eyes go wide, but it's not long before the darkness swallows me.

**End Memory**

I wake up from the darkness of sleep to open my eyes to another type of darkness. I take a deep breath and rub my eyes removing the tears that want to fall, my nightmares are always the same portraying something I no longer remember and can only wish was true, a loving family...

It's dark and cold, it is always dark and cold, where I am now. The only light I ever see is when my master calls me to serve him blood and do my studies, but then that is usually only at night. I haven't seen the sun since I woke up in my dark cell but the night can be beautiful too, I occasionally can see the stars and moon if my Master is in a good mood, otherwise, the only light I know is the candles my Master has lit all the time in his room...

I don't know how long I have been here and whatever life I had before seems like a distant dream, like my nightmares. I occasionally feel a pull at my heart telling me someone else out there is feeling as sad and lonely as me, and like my nightmare, I get flashes of what I dreamed my life was before the dark and cold.

Getting a loving, warm hug from my mother and then playing Big Bad Wolf with my fathers, brothers and sister. And then there is my twin, the one who seems to haunt me. He hated me but we were inseparable, always connected. When that happens, I am swamped by sadness and cry endlessly in the dark.

Lately, I have also felt someone other than my Master in my head. I haven't said anything to my Master yet, as I am only allowed to talk when he tells me I can. Which isn't very often and when he does, it's only for me to answer a question he asks about what I am learning or I am to say, 'Yes, Sir!' or 'Yes, Master!' He prefers Master.

I lay in the dark until the door of my cell opened. I always dread when the Master calls on me. What he does hurts and leaves me dizzy for hours after. Only one other knows that I am here and that is a female like me, except she is a full servant. Her name is Ali. I smile a little as she pokes her head into the darkness and whispers,

"Em... Master wants you..."

"Ali..."

I sigh and get to my feet from my makeshift bed in the corner and nearly fall to the floor once again. Ali throws out her hand and catches me. She looks at me, worried. I just give her a weak smile, straighten and then slowly make my way to the Master's chambers. Ali keeps her arm around me as we walk and whispers,

"I can have a word with him, see if he will give you some more food and water..."

The Master takes reasonable care of me and as long as I do as I am told; I get enough rations to keep my blood levels high. So, for a slave, I am rather healthy. I am slim but not underweight. I shake my head.

"No, I can't let you do that. He will take your rations and give them to me... Besides, it's my fault. I broke the rules again." 

"Oh Em, when are you going to learn..."

She sighs, knowing I speak the truth, but I giggle a little at her scolding me. Once we reach my entry door, I open it. Before I step inside the Master's chambers, Ali steps back a little, letting me go. I then quickly ran my hands down my body, wanting to get the grim from my little cell off of my slave dress. 

Which was a thin one-piece slip-on dress that stopped just above the knees. The sleeves stopped just over the top of the shoulder on the upper arm and the neckline sat tight into the junction between the neck and shoulder, still allowing access to the neck but covering the shoulders, descending in a slight v shape at the front.

Once I am at least a little confident that my dress is presentable, I move over into the middle of the room and stand with my arms by my sides and my hands resting on my thighs, as Ali then returns to her duties. I mentally slapped myself as I forgot to close the door behind me.

I jump a little as the Master closes the door instead and then walks up behind me. I wait for him to wrap his arms around my arms and sink his fangs into my neck, but this time is different. He makes a shiver run through me as he runs the tips of his cold fingers down my neck, over my shoulders and down the outside of my arms.

Master has never done anything like this before and I am surprised when he leans close to my ear and whispers,

"I want you to go and shower. There will be a dress lying on the bed and food on the small table. Dress and have something to eat. I will return in an hour..."

He then disappears from behind me. I let out the breath I was holding and can't stop as my whole body shakes. I chance a look around and find the Master is no longer in the room. I walk slowly into the bathroom and turn on the shower. I hold my hand under the water until it gets hot and steam starts to fill the room.

I add a little cold so I don't actually burn myself, strip off the slave dress he always has me wear and step under the water. I sigh as warmth seeps into my cold muscles and bones, caused by sleeping in my cold and dark cell.

As soon as I can move a little freer and the warmth seeps more and more into my body, I turn off the water and step out of the shower. I grab the towel hanging on the wall next to the shower and as I wipe my face; I take a deep breath. I shiver a little as I smell my Master's scent on it. I am surprised when a strange feeling I have never felt before skims through my body, seeming to wake up.

I can't help but take another deep breath enjoying the Master's scent, but then I wonder if I should actually be using it. Unfortunately, there are no other towels in here. I finish drying myself and then move into the bedroom where he has laid out some red sexy underwear next to a beautiful sparkly burgundy knee-length, short-sleeved evening dress.

I have a little trouble with the top of the underwear, as he has never given me anything like it before and it takes me a moment or two to work it out. I then slip on the dress, move over to the tray of food and pick up a small piece of fruit before carefully walking into the closet and stopping in front of the enormous mirror inside.

I am surprised when I see a very pale but very beautiful female looking back at me, instead of the young female I used to be. It is hard to believe with how often the Master sinks his fangs into my skin that my skin is actually flawless. He never leaves a single mark.

As I look down at the beautiful dress the Master has given me to wear; I start to wonder what the occasion is as this is so out of character for my Master. No one but him and Ali knows that I am here,

"What makes today different from any of the others?"

I ask myself out loud, still looking in the mirror. I then shake my head and shrug my shoulders in answer to my question, as I really don't know. I then make my way back out of the closet and take a seat at the small table. I slowly eat some of the food and drink some of the ice-cold water.

I don't hear the door or anyone entering the room, but as I rise slightly off of the chair to reach another piece of fruit, I see a shadow and as I look to the side; I see a pair of well-shined shoes. I freeze, then drop the piece of orange I had picked up back on the plate I got it from. I know I am not allowed to talk, but I slowly rise to my feet with my eyes still down and whisper,

"Sorry, Master... I know I shouldn't have..."

I go to move back into the middle of the room when he grabs my arm and pulls me back into him. When I am flush up against his chest, he whispers into my ear,

"It is okay, my pet. I told you to eat. Please, if you can sit and eat a little more..."

When I don't move, I feel him sigh against my back. He steps back from me and turns me around to face him. I don't lift my eyes as he takes my hand and guides me back over to the table and gets me to sit down in the chair I was just in. When he releases my hand, I place both in my lap; I don't look up and I don't move.

He seems to sigh again as he pulls over the other chair, stops it in front of me, and then sits down on it. I watch out of the corner of my eye as he reaches over and picks up the slice of orange I was going to eat before I notice he had entered.

He takes the peel off and then holds it to my lips. I hesitate as he says softly,

"Open..."