Chapter 1

The world had changed long ago, taken over by the vampire race. In order to keep some sort of peace in our land, the Vampire Lords made a consecutive agreement. The rich and powerful humans could survive just as they had been, untouched by the vampires save for the occasional blood collections, or so they thought.

In reality, we were all under their control. Castles spread out throughout our land, one landing in territory that the Vampires fought for centuries ago and established as their own. Each castle varied in the number of vampires residing there, but all of them carried a Lord. The Lords were the ones in charge in every city, whether we liked it or not. Even if the rich were still under their control, their lives were still better than the poor.

The poorest lives held a much worse fate.

The men were to be put to work as slaves, whether that meant serving a specific vampire, or just labor. The women were to be pets.

Pets were the lowest rank you could have. They were forced into cages that were too small to stand in with collars around their necks. They spent their lives in pet shops, just waiting for the dreadful day that they'll be bought. They were treated like animals, trained into what their master wanted, and punished if they misbehaved. Those who were lucky enough to live through that, were to be bred and then slaughtered for their blood at age twenty-five in an act to make sure that our population would stay steady.

I was born into this world. Born into this world full of blood-sucking monsters. Except, I was one of the lucky ones.

Was.

It all ended for me when I was twelve, when I was taken away from the last bit of hope and family that I had left. Ever since then, I've lived in a cage, just rotting away, waiting, dreading for the day that some monster would make me his.

This is my life. I am a pet.

~~~

I leaned forward, trying to ease off the stinging pain on my back, but to no avail. 

Whipped - I had been whipped last night. For what, I didn't have a clue, but I never wanted to experience that again. 

My own dried tears still stuck to my face. The tight pressure of this collar he had put on me made breathing a challenge.

I couldn't breathe quietly even If I wanted to.

Yet I still tried, manually filling my lungs only halfway before forcing out an exhale.

I didn't know what I did to deserve it. I always tried to do what I was told to avoid those types of situations. Well, when it came to the things that I could control, that is. 

The rest of the pets and I flinched as the lights in the shop suddenly turned on and the loud boom of the door told us that the pet master was entering.

Opening time. 

The rest of the girls scooted back in their cage as the pet master walked by, some even whimpering in cowardice. I just sat there silently, not wanting the pain to return. 

My eyes only met his for a brief moment before I looked away in sheer fear. 

The day went on as normal, vampires coming and going as they pleased. Some left with pets while others took supplies instead. 

I tried to make myself look smaller than usual today, letting my red, unbrushed hair hang in front of my eyes as I stared at the bottom of my cage, not even daring to look at the vampires that were examining me. 

The bell rang as a new vampire entered the shop, and for some reason, I decided to see what had just walked in. 

He was tall. He ran his hand through his seemingly naturally waved back, medium length black hair as his eyes scanned the shop.

His eyes were a deep emerald green, a color that I had rarely seen in the other vampires that come in here.

He even had a sharp jawline that nicely framed his face. 

Yet another vampire that could easily show up any human man. 

"What can I interest you in today?" The pet master spoke to him with the line I had already heard 60 times today.

I returned my eyes back to the bottom of my cage, still listening to their conversation.  It was pretty much the only entertainment I had. 

"I'm looking for a pet." the man’s low voice replied.

"Well sir, I can assure you that we have the finest that this city has to offer. Follow me if you would." The pet Master offered. 

Their footsteps steadily got louder as they inched towards us pets. 

"Anything particular that you're looking for?" the pet master asked.

I shifted my eyes up just enough to see the vampire lazily scanning over each cage.  "Not really." 

It didn't sound like he was too eager to be here.

I immediately looked back down as our eyes met, a sense of nervousness suddenly crashing over me. 

His footsteps drew closer to me, making my stomach churn. 

I didn't want to be bought.  I didn't want to be treated like a dog, only to be treated like a snack as soon as he got tired of me. 

But I had made it this long. Even if this vampire was thinking about me, he, like most others would probably change their minds after asking a few questions.

He bent down, meeting my gaze once more. His eyes half lidded as he gazed over my body. 

I immediately squirmed to the back of the cage, letting out an exasperated whimper as the expected pain shot throughout my body. 

The man's eyes widened ever so slightly. 

"What happened to her?" he questioned casually.

The pet master laughed.  "Ah, her. That one tends to be a bit of a crybaby when it comes to most things." he mocked. 

Well, I guess that was one way to put it. 

The man stood back up, my gaze following his as he did. 

I didn't want to risk meeting his eyes again.

"So, what's with the lash marks?" he asked. 

"She wouldn't stop crying and it was starting to get annoying, so I gave her something to cry about instead." the pet master responded, looking very pleased with himself, "It was quite entertaining really. Shut her up nice and quick." 

The man's brow furrowed, but only for a second. 

"Age?" he asked. 

My eyes widened in surprise.  He was actually considering buying me.

"Seventeen."

"Who was her breeder?" he followed up. 

Breeders. The vampires who took in the slaves and pets that couldn't perform their duties. The ones that forced them to conceive a few children before taking the child and killing the parents for their blood. The whole process made me want to curl up in a ball and cry. 

The pet master shook his head.  "She doesn't have one. She's a rogue." 

I was free. 

"I found her and her family roaming the outskirts of the city five years ago, so I captured her myself." he finished. 

He left out the part where he brutally murdered my family and left their bodies to the wolves and vultures. 

I quickly blinked away a sudden wave of threatening tears and shook the memories from my head, not wanting to get whipped again. 

The man was silent, pondering over the information given to him. 

Rogues were a rare case. They were always said to be rebellious, and in some cases, dangerous. Apparently, I was a great exception, but he didn't need to know that.

Usually that fact was what made vampires that had any interest in my change their mind.

"Blood type?" he questioned.  My eyes went wide again.  

He's still interested?

My nerves knotted tighter in my stomach.

"B-negative."  A rarity among blood, so I'd been told.  "And, lucky for her, she's never been bitten." he finished, crossing his arms. 

Pet masters weren't allowed to drink from what they had in the shop. It was considered unfair to the rest of their species.  That was pretty much the only vampiric law that I agreed with. 

The man's eyes widened slightly.  He bent back down, his gaze meeting mine.  It was like those eyes were boring right through my soul, tearing out a vulnerability I didn't realize I had. 

Still, there was one more crucial ‘issue’ I had that should deter him from wanting me.

"Why hasn't anyone bought her yet?" he asked. 

The pet master leaned against the wall, having explained my situation so many times already.

"Anxiety." 

"Anxiety?" The man looked at the pet master, his tone telling me that he found the answer odd.

He nodded. 

"Yep. She hasn't been bought because people don't want to deal with it. She's had it ever since I can remember."

I tossed my head to the side.  He acted like it wasn't his fault. 

"She has these wicked nightmares pretty much every night. It's kind of hilarious once you get used to it. She's even known to start screaming or crying in the middle of her dreams." he finished, laughing silently to himself. 

The man shifted his line of sight back to me. 

"I'll take her," he said. 

I'm pretty sure my heart just stopped then and there, but at the same time, it started racing. 

No… No! I didn't want this!

My breaths began to speed up as well, the tight collar making it sound like I was gasping for air. 

"Wait, really?" the pet master questioned, "Why?" 

The man paused for a second before he stood back up, flashing his fangs with a wicked smirk.

"I like a pet that knows how to scream." 

I thought I was about to throw up, the tightness in my stomach now growing painful.

"Fair enough." the pet master said, grabbing an old leash out of the many that were hanging near the cages. 

I pushed myself impossibly further against the back of the cage, working through the stinging pain as he began to unlock it.

No. This couldn't be happening!

I turned my head away as his hand approached me, hoping that this was just another sick nightmare. 

As soon as he had clipped the leash on, he practically yanked me out. I immediately became a gasping, shaking mess on the floor, trying desperately to get a decent breath through this God forsaken collar.

Every movement caused pain to ring from my back.

"Dammit get up!" he yelled.  A choked gasp ripped from my throat as he pulled upwards on the leash, not even giving me time to obey his order.  I instinctively grabbed and pulled on the leash, trying to situate it so that I wasn't completely choking. 

Bad move. 

The Pet Master hated it when I tried to do something against him. 

"You little..." he mumbled, raising his foot. 

I tucked my head down, bracing for impact.  

What I wasn't expecting was for the man to take a casual step in between us before the pet master could kick me.

"I prefer my belongings to be intact." He said plainly, extending his up-turned hand towards him. 

Both the pet master and I stared at him. 

The pet master sighed, regaining his business composure. His eyes quickly glanced to the sides, making sure that no one else saw what he did. 

"Right, sorry sir." he said, placing my leash in the man's hand, "Please come with me to the front." 

With that, the pet master turned on his heels.  I stayed there on the floor, trying to process everything. 

The world was moving too fast.  I looked up and shrunk back as I was met with those penetrating eyes. 

He gestured with his head in a 'let's go' kind of way and lightly tugged on my leash.  I stood up as quickly as I could, not wanting to be choked if he decided to pull harder next time. 

My legs began to shake as I stood, both from the pain and the speed of which my heart was thumping in my chest.

The man waited until I was steady, noticing my struggle before he started walking. 

This vampire was weird.

The pet master would have just started dragging me if I took that long. 

It made me uncomfortable.

I made my best effort to keep a good amount of distance between us. Enough that the leash had some slack in it, and that there was no question on whether I was walking behind him. 

Though, I did nearly run into him, not realizing that he had stopped. 

"Do you need anything else today?" the pet master said as he gestured to the assortments of collars, leashes, whips, muzzles and countless other things that I wasn't sure I wanted to know the uses of. 

The man looked down at me before looking at the selection. 

I avoided eye contact at all costs. 

"Yeah, I'll take those," he said, pointing at something that I couldn't see. 

"Excellent choice." the pet master said, retrieving whatever the man had asked for. 

The uncertainty made me shift uncomfortably. 

"Are you sure that you don't need any whips? You might need it with that one," he said, pointing to me. 

The man shook his head, making my nerves calm down ever-so-slightly. 

"Nah. I already have one," he said. 

Nevermind.