Amaryllis watched the King walk closer to the line of girls out of the corner of her eye. Amaryllis wasn't one of the girls crying, and she wasn't one of the girls trying their best to look pretty. She appeared indifferent about the whole situation. On the inside though, she was a mess. She wanted to run away with her family and never look back, but she knew she would be killed.

As the King grew closer, Amaryllis felt the hair on her body stand straight in the air and it was as if the King had completely taken over all of her senses. She wanted to turn her head to get a better look at the powerful man, but she didn't want to risk getting caught.

The king stopped a few feet back from the line and soon another vampire walked over to where the king was standing. Compared to the King, he looked like a mouse.

"Attention!" The little man said. "The all mighty Vampire King is here today to chose from you lucky few women. If the King deems you fit enough, you will have the opportunity to serve the King in any way he sees fit." After the vampire's little spiel, he quickly sped off to stand by the guards and the King was left to do his picking.

He started at the front of the line which wasn't far away from me because there were only about thirty young women here. One of the crying girls got picked and as he wrapped his large hand around her arm to pull her out of the line, she continued to cry and thrash around, but the king did not care. He did not show a single amount of mercy. He flung her out of the line to one of the guards standing a few feet behind him.

Soon, one of the girls that tried to look as pretty and dressed up as possible was picked. As the king pulled her from the line, she shot him a seductive smile, but once again he did not care. He flung her from the line to a different guard standing behind him. The girl he picked, Kayla, was one of the kids that bullied Amaryllis at school. She was an awful girl, she spread rumors about Amaryllis and picked on her for every little thing. She would often get her little group of goons to gang up on Amaryllis and corner her in hallways or in bathrooms. Amaryllis never knew what she did to deserve such awful treatment, but she had accepted it because there was no use fighting the inevitable.

Soon, the King was almost to Amaryllis. She did not want to be picked. She wanted to leave the town square and go back to her home with her family. She looked down, hoping that her long hair would cover her face and make her appear invisible to the King. However, she felt the King's presence stop in front of her. Her heartbeat sped up and her eyes grew wide with fear.

While she did not want the King to pick her, and while she was beyond afraid of what would happen if she were to be picked, she wanted the King to touch her. She wanted to feel what his touch would be like.

She saw the King's hand rise and swipe the hair out of her face. He gently lifted Amaryllis' chin until she was looking into his beautiful multicolored eyes. She felt sparks travel through her body at his contact. She wanted to close her eyes and lean her head back in bliss, but she refrained. His eyes soon shined a silver color, and he roughly gripped Amaryllis' hair in his hand and yanked her head back.

"Why are you trying to hide from me, you pathetic little human?" He sneered. His voice was deep and masculine, sending shivers throughout her body.

What is happening to me, Amaryllis thought. No man has ever made me feel such feelings before, not that any man has even noticed me before though. Not that I cared, I liked being alone. Besides, boys my age weren't ones you would want to build your life with.

Amaryllis quickly shook her head, trying her hardest not to combust into tears. "I-I'm not, y-your maj-jesty." She stuttered out, fear completely overtaking her. She still felt tingles from where the King touched her chin. She could not figure out why the man was making her feel so overwhelmed. She never had a boyfriend, or a first kiss even, so why was she so taken aback by this man?

"Oh, you're not trying to hide from me? That explains why you were looking down with your hair covering your face. Don't lie to me!" The King boomed. He yanked Amaryllis' hair even farther back, eliciting a squeal of pain from her.

"For that, I will take you with me." The King said with a sinister smirk gracing his face. A smirk that caused Amaryllis to shake with fear as he aggressively grabbed her arm and threw her out of the line onto the hard concrete ground. She groaned in pain once again as her elbow scraped along the concrete. Some of her skin was cut, but thankfully no blood was spilled. Amaryllis was beyond grateful that she did not have a bloody elbow in an area full of blood-thirsty vampires.

She dragged herself back into a standing position and was grabbed by another guard. She watched as the King carried on down the line. Thankfully, he skipped over Amaryllis' two best friends. She watched her friends as they noticed that Amaryllis was picked. They both started to cry and looked so heartbroken. Amaryllis wanted to cry with them, but she had to appear strong in front of such dangerous creatures.

Amaryllis could tell Nicole was going to step out of the line and protest, but Amaryllis quickly shook her head at her. She did not want one of her best friends to get hurt or even killed because of her.

Danielle was also one of the girls picked. Amaryllis could not tell if it was a blessing or a curse, for if she wasn't picked she would be killed for trying to escape.

After a few more minutes, the King was done the picking. Many families were heard screaming and crying, while the vampire soldiers just looked at them with smirks on their faces. Amaryllis wondered how such heartless and merciless creatures such as vampires could exist. Families were torn apart and the vampires laughed at their sorrow.

All in all, six girls were picked to leave with the king to his castle. Six families mercilessly torn apart by the King.

"This ends the ceremony. Everyone return to your homes. If you are not in your house by eight tonight, you will be killed on sight!" The King boomed. The crowd slowly started to leave the town square, however, many families stayed behind, wanting to see the girls for the last time.

The King walked away back to his limo, leaving the girls in the custody of the guards. Each woman was held onto by a vampire, and then led to a limousine, but a different one than the King. Amaryllis' guard was the same one that brought her to the square, and once again he roughly gripped her arm, making her wince in pain. While she was too reserved to make such a move, as well as too intelligent to not punch a vampire, she badly wanted to send a right hook to his smug face.

As Amaryllis passed by toward the limo, she heard her family calling out to her. She looked at them one last time. Though she tried her best, a small tear slipped out of her eye and rolled down her cheek as she gave her family a short little wave. She smiled a small smile, trying to tell her family that she would be okay, but Amaryllis herself didn't even believe the smile. She knew she was as good as dead.

Her view of her family was soon cut off as she was aggressively shoved into the limo. The door slammed closed and she was met with familiar faces of young women she had seen around the town or at school. They were all so beautiful. Amaryllis wondered why the King picked her to sit among all of these gorgeous women.

Her thoughts were soon cut off as the car started up and pulled away from the only home she had known for the past ten years.