Chapter 1: Destined

Mariette P.O.V

I was born and raised like the normal vampire typically would. My parents raised me to know that we were the only supernaturals in the world. Werewolves, warlocks, and witches were just fairytales and the humans were the bad guys in the real world. That is what my world has been about, until about six months ago. Now ... now my knowledge of the world out there is completely unknown. Let me take you back.

My name is Mariette Dermusk. If you haven't already noticed what I am. I am a vampire. A complete fool to believe everything my parents tell me. I was always raised to be the best in everything that came my way. I was always best in class when it came to my school work, I was always best in class during sports and I was always a daddy's girl, a "Goody two shoes" as my cousins would refer to. Whatever, they were just jealous since I beat them at literally everything.

I was a good seventeen and eleven months old, and I would turn eighteen years old soon. Usually, at the age of eighteen, our parents will finally let us go and allow us to see the real world for what it is ... a 'blissful' place. I laid there in bed, thinking about everything that I had planned for the day. I saw the rays of sunshine start to peep through the window and realized that I had taken off my ring last night and never put it back on again. I sighed as I knew what needed to be done in order to live. I never really questioned where we got the rings from. My parents told me that each family had a set of rings and that it was passed down the generations. The one that I got belonged to my great-great-great-great grandmother ... or was it five greats?

The rings protect us from the curse of the sun. I made the mistake once of not wearing my ring when the sun was out and I was literally almost roasted meat.

Ever since that happened, I always made sure that I had my ring on my finger whenever the sun was out, even if the curtains were closed. A knock on the door brought me from my thoughts. A few seconds later, my mother came into my room. I smiled as I looked up at her. "Honey, I just wanted to make sure that you were up. How did you sleep?" my mother asked. I always admired her beauty. My father denied the fact that he married her for her good looks but he rather married her for her kindness. He always said that in a world full of darkness, she was always the ray of sunlight to him. I admired their relationship and hoped that when I meet my destined, we would be exactly like my parents are.

"Yeah, I slept fine that you" I said, smiling up at her before quickly putting on my ring. "You know, I had a dream about you" my mother said as she came to sit down next to me on the bed. I looked at her questioningly, waiting for her to tell me what she dream about. We always had a close relationship and it felt like she was more my best friend than my mother. We could talk about literally anything in the world, except boys ... my parents didn't want me to date and said that I have to save all of my experiences for my destined.

"In my dreams, it was today and you met your future destined" my mother said excitedly as she took my hands in hers. I loved the way she got so excited when it came to my life. Usually, her dreams were quite on point and accurate, so I knew for a fact that I would definitely be meeting him today. "Exciting!!" I squealed as I literally jumped out of bed and ran over to my closet, looking back at my mother. "What do you think I should wear?! How about blue, it makes my green eyes pop!" I said excitedly and my mother just laughed at my giddiness.

"Calm down, my love. How about you wear a black dress? Vampires love looking at women that wear black. You can say that it is some kind of pulling power" my mother said, laughing as she stood up and left me alone with all my excitement. I looked back at my cupboard and took my favorite black dress. It looked like a small upside down tulip on me. I quickly showered before getting dressed and blowdrying my hair, making my red locks fall down my shoulders.

***

I decided to quickly grab a cup of coffee before heading to school. I was thankful that I was in a small private school only for vampires. I knew that the humans were scared of us, but honestly ... I was scared shitless of them. Our rings not only protected us from roasting in the sun, but they also made us appear more like humans. I walked into the coffee shop and almost moaned at the scent of freshly ground coffee infiltrating my senses.

I smiled at Marie, the lady who was behind the cash register every morning when I was here. "Hi Marie!" I greeted her. Even though she was a human, I still found her to be nice. Everything about her completely contradicted everything that I was taught to believe about humans. "Hi Mariette! Let me guess, the usual Double Espresso Cafe Late?" Marie said, repeating the order that I took every morning.

"As always! Here you go, and then keep the change!" I said with a smile as I paid and gave her a huge tip. Money was never really a problem for us as our whole clan basically sat on a landmine of dollars. I waited for my coffee until my order was finally called out. I walked over to the counter and got my coffee and started sipping on it. As soon as I swallowed, I almost threw up from how sweet it was. I looked up at the barista behind the counter.

"Why would you put sugar in this?!" I said as I looked at the cup and then back at the barista.

"I believe that it was mine, you were sipping on" I heard a deep voice say. I spun around and looked up at a well built, tanned guy. He had the most beautiful blond hair I had ever seen with blue eyes that pierced right through my soul. I visibly gawked at him. He wasn't a human, he didn't have the scent of a human, but he also didn't have the scent of a vampire. I looked at him confused before looking down at the cup, and seeing the name "Aries" written on it. I looked up and had to blink about five times as I saw two more of him standing behind him.

"Aries?" I whispered, my voice barely above my breath. "Aries, as I live and breathe" he said with a chuckle which I found so incredibly cute. The other two of him also started laughing and it made me want to go weak right at the knees.

"Mariette?" the barista said as he handed me the cup. I stood there like a total idiot with two cups in my hands. I looked up at them, still completely at a loss for words about what to say and what to do.

"Mariette, would you mind if I can get my coffee back? You know ... the one with the sugar in?" Aries said with a chuckle. I passed him his cup, still not saying anything and just looking up at him.

"I ... I, uhm ... I need to go" I said as I quickly lowered my gaze and stormed out of there. I couldn't handle all of that electricity and uncertainty anymore!