"Lorna, time to get up..." 

The high pitched voice cut through the dreams and I opened my eyes.

Francesca was sitting on the edge of my bed, dressed in black, and staring at me through red puffy eyes. She reminded me of a Victorian lady in mourning, she looked beautiful but so sad.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," I said.

She smiled back at me and choked, "I'll be okay, darling star."

She drew a deep breathe in and gestured towards the doorway where a young girl with large brown eyes and a mop of thick brown hair stood. 

"This is your cousin, Natasha. She's going to look after you today," Francesca explained.

Natasha weakly lifted her hand and gave me a small wave.

"I'm afraid with the tragic passing of your cousin Emma, I need to attend to other matters. Natasha has kindly agreed to be your chaperone for night. She'll introduce you to your cousins and other members of the family," Francesca explained, getting to her feet. "I hope we can spend a little more time together in the upcoming days, but for now, Natasha will keep an eye on you."

"Really? I was kinda of hoping to meet up with someone else tonight, you know the person who was looking after me yesterday," I hinted.

Francesca shook her head, "That will not be possible as that person is unavailable."

"What do you mean?" I replied, my heart dropping.

"Exactly what I said. That person is unavailable," Francesca said dismissively. "Now, be good and behave for Tasha and I will see you tomorrow night."

"No, wait," I called out after her, scrambling out of bed. 

Natasha stopped me. "Cousin, it's best to leave your mother alone. Her mind is heavy with the passing of our mutual cousin, Emma."

I paused and looked down at this kid who was trying to stop me. Francesca couldn't be serious. This girl was no older than fourteen - how was she supposed to look after me.

Natasha gently took hold of my wrist and pulled me towards the wardrobe, "Come, I will help you dress. There is a soiree tonight in the main lobby. My brother has returned from the America's with his band. They have been on tour the past eighteen months and there is an enormous celebration planned. Everyone will be there."

"That sounds great, but I was kinda of hoping for a quiet evening by myself," I lied. 

"Oh, you wouldn't dare deny us the pleasure of your company. Cousin, please, you must come," Natasha pleaded, her giant brown eyes boring into my soul.

"Look, I'm struggling to adjust. I've been out of sync with the world for the past decade and I need sometime to recalibrate and adjust," I explained.

"Oh, I completely understand. This world is filled with technological marvels and wizardry, that leaves one feeling quite out of touch with the modern world... but do not fear, I will help you, Cousin. I will be your guide," she said.

She rifled through my wardrobe and picked out a simple black dress and a pair of black shoes.

"The simplest fashions are the best. Forever timeless and elegant," she sighed.

"I have no idea what is in fashion now," I replied.

"I do and this is 'on fleek' as the youngsters say," Natasha smiled.

"On fleek?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, there are many things you will need to catch up with. Hashtags, twitter, Instagram, Facebook - oh my goodness, you have missed out on the whole social media revolution."

"I'm completely lost. What's a hashtag?"

"It's a curious thing that help users identify relevant content. For example my favourite hashtag is 'Caturday' as it combines the joy of Saturday with amusing pictures of felines."

"It sounds like something that I need to see to understand."

"Quite so, which is why you must come to the party. There is no substitute for experience in this world, Cousin."

I had to admit, my curiosity was piqued and so I relented and agreed to go the party - just to see what it was like.

I slipped into the dress Natasha had chosen for me and we headed upstairs. Natasha looped her arm around mine and held onto me tightly as we stepped out into the hotel foyer. The place was buzzing with guests and vampires.

We weaved in out of the groups of people and headed towards the bar.

"I've never seen it so busy," Natasha remarked. "Reminds me of the twenties - now that was a fun decade."

"You lived through the twenties?" I asked, surprised.

"Oh yes, I was born in Iberia during the Napoleonic wars. I've seen many great changes through the years, some good, some bad... and some terrible."

"You were alive at the same time as Napoleon?" 

"I was indeed. My father, well vampire father, served in his militia until he defected to the London coven. We've been British ever since."

"So, how old are you?"

"Oh I stopped counting long ago, but I must be nearing two hundred years old."

"That's insane."

"I know. Mind blow."

We moved into the bar area which was packed out with people. Natasha held my hand as we pushed our way through the crowd to the VIP lounge. Natasha waved at two bouncers who quickly helped shepherd us into the less crowded VIP area.

"You'll never need to stand amongst the common riff-raff, here," Natasha said, straightening her dress. "The VIP areas are exclusively for coven members."

 I glanced around the bar and noticed the number of pale perfect faces staring back at me - but I also noticed that there were humans in the bar too. 

There was one familiar face I recognised, sitting next to human man, laughing casually at his jokes.

"Keira," I breathed.

"Oh dear, have you met Keira?"

"Oh yes," I replied coolly.

"Ah - I was hoping to leave her introduction until last. She has a reputation for being-"

"A rude condescending bitch?"

"Those are not the exact words I would have chosen, but you are right. Keira has a very high opinion of herself. Her father, Duncan owns the hotel."

"So she treats everyone like shit because her Daddy owns the hotel."

"Yes, that about sums it up."

I thought crossed my mind and I paused.

"Wait, isn't Duncan, Emma's father?" I asked.

"Well observed. He is and that makes Keira, Emma's sister."

"She doesn't seem very upset."

"That's just Keira, I'm afraid. There is no rhyme nor reason for that's girl's behaviour."

I watched Keira laughing as the man she was with ran his hands over her thigh. She leaned against him, opening her legs slightly to allow his hand to wander further up her skirt. I looked away in disgust - had she no shame.

Natasha shook her head in disapproval. "The slayers will not like that."

My ears pricked up and I saw Natasha point towards a large built man, standing in the corner of the room, holding an assault rifle. The man was huge, like a body builder, and stood against the wall, scanning the room.

"Who is that?" I asked.

"Take no notice of him, he's with the slayers. He's a -" she paused and lowered her voice, "He's a franken-vamp."

"A franken-vamp?" I repeated.

"An abomination and insult to our kind. The slayers use them as guard dogs to moderate and control our behaviour. They are supposed to protect us, but their true purpose is to spy on us. That big one over there is Uriel, Gabriel and Michael should be lurking around too."

My eyes widened at the mention of Michael's name.

"Oh yes," Natasha tutted disapprovingly, "Gabriel and Michael are indeed loitering at the bar."

I looked up and saw Michael staring straight back at me. Our eyes met and felt the need to go to him. I took a step forward and paused as he subtly shook his head and looked away from me.

Frustration and anger burst through me - he was mine, he had no right to deny me.

"I need a drink," I said, trying to make an excuse to go over to the bar.

"You're right. Let us go and find Sasha," she said grabbing my arm and dragging me past Uriel.

As we passed him, I couldn't help noticing the the letters,  'ARCHANGELS- V-O'  printed on his uniform.

"Do you know much about archangels?" I probed.

"I'm afraid not. Cousin Stephen seems to know a bit about them - he was the one who coined the term franken-vamps. He's such a wit. Personally, I avoid them like the Black Death. Are you bothered by them? I can have them sent away if you wish."

I shook my head, "No, I'm fine."

Natasha led me away from the bar to a cornered off area where a group of men dressed in black were sitting at a table, drinking and laughing. 

We approached their table and not one of them acknowledge us. Instead they just carried on talking while Natasha fluttered around the table, waving her arms, trying to grab of the man sitting in the far corner.

"Sasha? Sasha, dear?" she chirped.

Her brother, ignored her.

"Sasha, I have someone very special to introduce you to, this is Lorna" she said, gauging no reaction. "She is Magda's daughter."

Sasha looked up and locked eyes on me. "Magda's daughter, you say?"

He stood up and waved for me to come and sit by him. "Cousin Lorna," he beamed, "What a delight to finally meet you."

I smiled politely and took a seat next to him. He snapped his fingers at the waiter, who quickly placed a cocktail down in front of me.

"Now, let me see those eyes," he murmured.

He leaned forward, getting a little too close for comfort and whispered, "You have Magda's eyes. What a delight."

Leaning back, he straightened up and said, "So, tell me, Lorna. When did you arrive here?"

"Yesterday," I replied.

"You weren't due back for months, I thought your parents wanted to keep you in Prague all for themselves."

"They decided to comeback when they heard about Emma."

"I thought it would be an incentive to stay away from London with all the missing vamp-" Sasha glanced at around at the human company and corrected himself, "-missing people."

"People are missing?" I asked, curiously.

"Yes, it's a terrible business, but I don't want you to fret. I promise to offer you my full protection, my dearest cousin."

There was something about his voice that made me feel sick. He was looking at me in a way that didn't feel very cousinly. He inched his body closer to mine and nodded to the opposite alcove. Keira was there, sprawled across the table, dancing for a couple of guys.

"That one loves to dance," he remarked. "Do you like to dance, Lorna."

"I don't know, I've never done much dancing."

"I could teach you. I know all the dances, waltz, Charleston, foxtrot, and even some of the new ones."

"I'm okay," I replied.

He suddenly leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "I bet you could dance like that, just for me."

My whole body cringed in revulsion and I stood up. Sasha's fingers wrapped around my wrist and he growled, "Where are you going?"

"I need to go to the bathroom," I excused myself.

Sasha let go of my wrist and smiled, "Fine, but I need you back here in the next ten minutes. We have a photoshoot and I want you to be the girl seen next to me."

I retreated away from the table, rubbing my wrist. Natasha quickly followed me. 

"Well, I think he is rather taken by you," she clapped her hand excitedly.

"I need to get out of here," I said. 

"Why? Didn't you hear Sasha, we're staging a paparazzi shoot and he wants you to be the girl he is pictured with. You, my dear, are going to be the envy of every teenage girl."

"Why would I want that! He's my cousin!"

Natasha grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop and look at her.

"Cousin Lorna, vampires are not like humans, we pair with our cousins to keep our bloodline strong. This might be hard to digest, but it is the deepest wish of our coven that you should take Sasha, as your chosen mate."

"Look, I don't know how to tell you this, but...I'd rather eat shit and die."

Natasha's mouth dropped opened and before she could say another word, I retreated back into the crowd. 

Pushing my way through the bodies, I found a fire exit at the back of the bar. I pushed through the door and jogged down a dusty old corridor, hoping to find another exit.

Behind me, the fire door suddenly opened and slammed shut. I panicked thinking that Sasha had followed me, but my anxiety evaporated the moment I turned and saw Michael, standing in front of me. 

"You smell of him," he growled

"I couldn't shake him off, I tried-"

I was cut off mid sentence as Michael bent his head down and sank his teeth right into my neck.

I gasped out loud as hot white electricity burst through me. My knees buckled under me and quickly had to grab onto Michael's shoulder's to stop myself from falling to the ground.

He held me there, for a few seconds and let go.

I staggered backwards, completely bewildered.

Michael proudly stared at the mark on my neck and murmured, "There, he will now know that you are mine."