Roses From Rosalyn

s old the day

es. It was something I’d done a thousand times over, and shouldn’t have been a problem, but this time, there was a man. I usually wouldn’t speak to strangers, but he told me that he kne

p I was in the dark with the muffled so

nd waking up here s

tled on the top of a grassy hill in the middle of nowhere some place in Ireland. I’m sure to onlookers, it’s beautiful, or it would be, if the

girls. They gave us a few days to cry it out and to get used to

ampir

ist only in the shadows, but in the real world. We get the speech every week now in our chapel meetings. Life as we knew it is over, the vampires have taken over, and we have been brought here for our protection and to preserve human lives. Our keepers love to remind us

m about the boy’s school and what it will be like to go there an

meet a boy and fall in love?” They ask me

to point out to them that they both died in the end. Plus, I don’t think finding true love is really in th

g them here. Our groups that we came in with are the groups that we stay in during our entire stay at Drighten. When w

epressing and oppressive place. Eight years here sure has tried it’s hardest to drive me insane, but knowing I’m going to be l

ows and it’s on the third floor. The light in this room is what makes me like it so much. Even though it has a slight smell of mildew, the bright abundance of sunlight that dances in through the three big windows makes it a perfect place to sit and re

and space were in good order. The keepers come around every morning

as our main guard, Ms. Riess, stomped through with her clipboard.

ard underneath her bulky arm. “All girls under the mark of eighteen, please move on to breakfast and then mo

heart sk

w I wasn’t supposed to speak out of turn,

r breakfast.” She grumbled unenthusias

g breakfast, but I knew it wasn’t an option. I don’t need to get into trouble on my last day. They take our meals very seriously. We eat three good meals a day, and all of our foods are grown in the garde

my bunk. “Can you believe this is really happening?” She gushed. “I’m so

nds ever since. I hugged her quickly and we giggled to ourselves as

were practically glowing. “Do you think we will get to meet the boys on t

I told her. “Honestly, I don’t even care abou

ously, but then her face split around a giant smile again. “But I am still pr

“Get to the dining hall!” Ms. Riess yelled when she stuck he

will be take

and held off on our celebrations until we knew she was gone ag

ont entrance of Drighten where a large bus was waiting for us. Everyone was si

ew school. It took hours of utter boredom in the darkness of the bus before we could finally see lights on the horizon. We pulled into a deep valley and the tiny city became visible up ahead. The bus winded through the narrow s

tain, most of them with their backs to the bus. The other girl’s began to whisper quietly about how beautiful the water was as it sprayed high up into the sky, but I wasn’t that interest

t inside and whispered something to our driver, before he turned to look down the rows of

derly line please, girls.” He yelled and

I could hear girls start to cry or screaming ‘no’. I instantly knew something was

ck wavy hair, and I tried unsuccessfully to get it out of my mouth with my shackled hands. I had momentarily been distracted by the annoyance, but then, beyond my belief, people start yelling out numbers. I

th. “The auction will begin shortly, but first, we have a representative of the royal family

gain. After making his rounds four times he went over to the man in the uniform and whispered something in his ear before giving him a charming smile

I could hear the cries of the girls on either side of me, but I was too stunned by what the heck was going on to even show any type of actual emoti

e tops of my shoulders a

cky day, you’v

l beneath my feet turned into something smooth and even. I jumped a little when I heard the door close behind me, but we kept moving forward and I could hear the sniffles of other girls near me.

use an escalator or just take stairs. Even now the thought of being on one made my skin crawl. After a couple of minutes though, I begin to wonder if it is an elevator at all. If it was it must be