The Vampire's Harvest

2

You shake your head before grabbing your lush formalwear.

You can understand why Gianette wants to leave town. She's been with a vamp. She was taken care of, treated well, and lived a life without fear or want. To come back to this little town after all that, only to be told she'd be spending the next couple of decades as a breeder before returning to the immortal life as a drone...you can understand just how disheartening that could be. However, that doesn't mean you need to join her. You still have a chance to have the life you've been raised to enter. You wish your sister the best of luck in her new life, just as you hope she is doing for you.

You slip on the outfit and check your hair while you think about Ferris. It's him that you are worried about. He's one of your best friends and you think it's great that he's become such an adept mage, but you can't agree with his viewpoint. You know Ferris has a history with the vamps. Him and his love, Kinley, applied to be breeders, but then Kinley, who is a few years older than the two of you, was taken by a vamp once she was old enough to attend the ball. You don't know what happened there, but you do know that doesn't mean the town's entire way of life should be destroyed.

You finish sprucing yourself up and smile at your reflection in the mirror. You won't let Ferris and his coven worry you. A life of wonder awaits you and there's nothing Ferris could possibly do to ruin that.

You head down the street, waving to friends and old classmates as they join you on their way to the ball. Once you reach the grand hall, you find Ailisa standing at the bottom of the steps with eagerness vibrating through her lithe form. She's curled her long hair and has pinned it so the lush circlets frame her round face. Her dress is tailored to perfection and hugs her skin as if it had been sown directly on to her. She sparkles beneath the flickering street lamps, with gems of red dotting her hair and glittering in the light.

"Micah, finally!" She manages to run towards you, hooking her arm in yours before dragging you up the steps. "I've been scoping the competition. There's definitely some competitors, but not enough to really hurt our chances."

At the door, you find a drone dressed in a lavish outfit of burgundy and gold, his white hair capped with an ornate top hat. His light blue eyes stare into the distance until the two of you reach him, he then turns his gaze to you.

"Names," he asks, his pale, colorless lips moving with artful elegance.

"Ailisa Gladimere and Micah Dupree," answers Ailisa, whose normal voice is now tinged with a bit of superfluous inflection.

"Come in," he replies after a brief consultation of a lengthy scroll. Along with another drone at the opposite end of the entrance, the two open the doors for you and you step into what appears to be a dream.

Chandeliers dripping with crystal light the cavernous hall a warm gold, while ornate candelabra's flicker on top of long tables dressed in ivory damask. Jack-o-lanterns carved out of pumpkins, squashes, and gourds decorate the tables amongst twisting branches decked with colorful fall leaves. Drones weave in and out, handing off drinks and hors d'oeuvres as humans and vamps alike mingle along the outskirts of the dance floor. A lucky few, though, are already being guided on to the floor, in order to swing and sway to the melodic sounds of an all drone chamber orchestra playing on top of a raised stage in the back corner.

"Oh Micah, where do we even begin?" asks Ailisa with a sigh, though her eyes don't fall on you as she voices her concern. Instead she looks to a few handsome faces, batting her eyes and turning her head just right so that the large red quartz around her neck catches the light and points any viewer towards her ample chest.

"I guess we should find a target and do all we can to get notice." How exactly you'll get noticed in a swarm of people all hoping for the same thing, is beyond you, but you figure you at least should start with finding a vamp first before figuring that part out.

"Fine enough plan," says Ailisa, who clearly seems to already have a vamp in mind as she still won't turn to talk to you. "I suggest you start with the vamp that's heading your way then." With that she gives you a wink from over her shoulder before darting after her own prey. You on the other hand are left dumbfounded.

After blinking a few times to clear your eyes and your head, you try to find the vampire your friend referred to, and it doesn't take long before you find, striding towards you...

- A handsome man: ch 61

- A gorgeous vampire: ch 62

- A beautiful woman: ch 63

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Please note this selection does not affect the story line at all. All that it does is present the same story line but adjusts the vampire to meet your personal preference in a romantic interest.