A quiet morning settles over a modest middle-class home in a kingdom ruled by powerful vampires.
Mallory, a young woman of striking beauty and quiet defiance, adjusts the folds of her finely pressed dress. Her dark hair is styled into an elegant bun, neat yet soft, revealing the delicate lines of her face.
Her expression is calm… but her eyes carry resistance.
From downstairs, her aunt's voice calls sharply.
"Mallory! Come to the sitting room."
Mallory exhales slowly,already knowing what awaits her.
The sitting room is formal, slightly tense.
A man sits waiting.
Well-dressed. Polite. Smiling.
Mallory steps in gracefully, her posture perfect.She curtsies lightly.
Mallory said softly"Good morning, sir. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Though her lips smile… her eyes do not.
Her aunt Rosemary and her husband Micheal exchange satisfied looks before excusing themselves, leaving the two alone.
A quiet tension fills the room.
The suitor Mr James Whitemore said "I've heard you are well-mannered… and obedient. Qualities I admire in a future wife."
" I've also heard you are…experienced in marriage," Mallory said folding her hands neatly in her lap.
Mr Whitemore chuckles lightly and said " life does not always go as planned"
Mallory tilted her head slightly. "…Yes," Mallory said calmly, her tone sharp. "I heard both your wives passed away rather suddenly."The air shifted.Mr Whitemore smiled tightly and said "Tragic circumstances."
Mallory leans forward just slightly.She looked calm and piercing."And you had no hand in those tragedies?"
Silence.
His expression darkens, and said "You speak out of turn."
Mallory sat still calm and said"I prefer truth over comfort."
The man stands abruptly, anger flashing across his face.He then said "This arrangement is an insult."and stormed out.
⸻
Moments later, her cousin Lucy and her fiancé entered.
Lucy looks confused.
Mallory doesn't stay.
She turns and walks away, her composure cracking into anger.
Mallory's room. Quiet. Safe… for now.She sits, frustrated.Her maid Eve enters gently with tea and biscuits.But Eve is more than a maid—she is Mallory's closest friend.
Eve said softly
"You refused again, didn't you?"
Mallory exhales and said "They don't want a wife for me… they want a transaction."
They share a quiet understanding.
The door bursts open.
Aunt Rosemary storms in, furious and shouted"That was your FOURTH suitor, Mallory!"
Mallory shouted back frustrated "Then stop offering me to men like I'm something to be sold!"
Rosemary eyes grew cold "You have no choice."
Mallory then said "I would rather remain unmarried than be handed to a murderer."
A sharp silence cut through the room
Rosemary's face tightened with fury. "Ungrateful girl," she hissed " After everything we've done for you, this is how you repay us?"
Mallory met her gaze steadily, unshaken.
The tension explodes.
Her aunt, furious, storms out.
⸻
Deep night. Silence.Mallory wakes.A sound.A scream.
She rushes out.
The parlor is chaos.
Her aunt and uncle lie dead.Blood.Stillness.
Lucy is on the floor beside them—crying, shaking.Then she sees Mallory.She stands suddenly..
SLAP.
Lucy screamed "YOU! You heard them and did nothing!"
Mallory stumbles back, stunned, confused and whispered
"I—what are you talking about?!"Lucy continued "They were forcing you to marry to pay their debt! You hated them!"
Mallory's eyes widen and said "What debt…?"