The first thing I become aware of is a smell. There's a pungent aroma of sweat and it's so strong that I instantly start gagging. After a few moments of trying to breathe from my mouth, the smell becomes slightly less disgusting and I manage to open my eyes. Only to close them again when the bright lights blind me.
I sharp jab at my side causes me to slight over and hit something hard. I open my eyes as I sit up, blinking several times, looking around the room. Something looks... different. But I can't quite put my finger on what.
A face comes into view above me and I jump a bit in surprise.
"Mr. Masters?" What is he doing here? He doesn't say anything, just grabs my face and shoves his fingers in my mouth. He uses fingers to pull my lips apart. What the hell? I attempt to bite him but he pulls away too quickly. Unceremoniously he grabs me by my hair and pulls me from the couch.
"Go shower." What? No? I'm not doing anything until I know why Mr. Masters is here, in my living room. The blanket covering me falls to the floor and I shiver at the sudden chill. Why the hell am I naked?!
"What happened? Why are you here?" His hand is still my hair and he pulls, dragging me after as he starts walking to the shower. The smell of sweat seems to be following us.
"What is that smell?" I gag, attempting to pull away from him. Despite the grip on my hair, he's not hurting me. Which is odd, I've always had a sensitive scalp. I reach up and grab his wrist, attempting to pry him away from my hair. I feel his wrist snap beneath my fingers and he lets out a small hiss before tossing me away. I lose my balance and fall to the floor.
"Shower. Now. You stink." He growls, staring at me blankly. Ugh. I'm not getting anywhere with him. I stand up and storm the last three steps to the bathroom. I slam the door behind me but freeze when I hear a smash. I turn on my heel to see the door broken off its hinges, the jam shattered and part of the wall crumbling. What. The. Fuck? I just stand there gaping at it until Mr. Masters walks through what used to be the door frame and pushes me into the shower. Halfway in the shower, I catch my reflection in the mirror. That's not me. I freeze and pull away from Mr. Masters, pausing to note how easy it was. I step closer to the sink to get a better view in the mirror. My once champagne blonde hair is now a striking platinum, almost white. It also looks a whole lot fuller and healthier, which is ridiculous. I take wonderful care of my hair, I've never even colored it! The pimple that was starting on the tip of my nose is gone and it seems my ginormous pores have closed. My blackheads are gone and my skin just seems overall more even and clearer. How... odd. My eye color has changed as well. They're no longer the dark blue-grey they were, now they're a turquoise to match Mr. Maker's. He's done something to me. How else would I manage to snap his wrist so easily? Or smash the door?
"What did you do to me?" I demand.
"Shower."
I let out a loud, overdramatic sigh. "Fine. Get out." He's already seen me naked but I refuse to let him see me shower. He pointedly looks from me, to the broken wall. Point taken, him leaving the room won't stop him from being able to peek. I still want him in the other room though. He walks out the room and I hop into the shower.
After my shower, where I managed to not break anything but still squeezed the cold tap a little too hard and turned it into a misshapen blob, I attempt to sneak past Mr. Masters to my bedroom to get clothes. He somehow senses me despite my super ninja skills but doesn't stop me. Instead he follows closely on my heels. I tighten the towel wrapped around me before reaching for the door handle only to have Mr. Masters knock my hand out of the way and open it himself. Guess he thinks I'll break that too. Makes sense. I might. I pull underwear out of my dresser, didn't break it, and head to my closet. Luckily, I left the door open earlier.
I dress myself in comfortable clothing since I have no idea what's happening or what will happen next. So, shorts and tank top it is. As soon as I'm dressed I leave the closet and stare at Mr. Masters. He has some explaining to do.
He just stares back. Ugh.
"Well? What the hell happened? Why did I black out like that? Where's Jace? Why are you here? And why the fuck was I NAKED?"
"You died."
I deadpan. "What?" He blinks at me. I DIED?! How? I'm obviously still alive. I'm TALKING to him! I close my eyes and let out a slow, deep breath. Why can't he just be honest and just tell me what's going on?
"Sir. Obviously, I'm not dead."
"No. You're Undead." Undead? Like a zombie? His eyes narrow at me when I think that. Can he hear me?
"Do I look like a reanimated corpse to you?" I look him up and down. No, he certainly does not. What else is considered Undead? Ghouls?
"You're a Vampire." Vampire? Like the bloodsucker? How? In all the movies, they need to get bitten first.
He just blinks at me.
I hear the front door open and decide to go see who it is. I am apparently not going to get answers out of Mr. Masters. He trails close behind me as I walk down the hall to the door. I wonder how hard it would be to get him to leave?
"Mr. Masters, is she awake yet?" I hear Jace call seconds before he comes into view. He stops when he sees me. He looks me up and down, and then seems to notice the broken bathroom door.
"What happened there?"
"Jace! Will you please tell me what the hell is going on?"
"He didn't tell you?"
"He's not explaining anything."
He glances past me at Mr. Masters and then back at me. "Come let's sit down." He places a hand on my arm and guides me back to the couch. His touch his warm. I sit down next to him.
"Do you remember what happened at the club Wednesday?"
"Yes. I had a drink and danced with you."
"What happened after that?" I shrug, "You went to the back with Mr. Masters and he fed from you. He also fed from you the next night, when we went with Clari. And that dream about him wasn't a dream. Legend has it that it takes three bites for a Human to be Turned."
"Legend?"
"There hasn't been a turned Vampire in several thousand years."
"If that's true then where do the non-turned vampires come from?"
"They can breed just like Humans they just age a lot slower."
"So, I'm just supposed to believe that my English substitute is a Vampyre and that he's bit me three times and now I'm one too? This sounds like bullshit." I stand up and turn away from Jace. This is fucking ridiculous. Everyone knows Vampires don't exist.
"Bullshit or not, Ana, it's the truth."
Something occurs to me. I cross my arms and back to my best friend.
"Where do you fit into this?"
He smiles sheepishly. "I'm a Witch."
"Like a Wiccan?"
"No. Wicca is made up by Humans who think they know what real magic is. I'm an actual Witch."
Ugh. I can't believe this. Done with this prank, I take off to my room. I'm stopped at the door by an unreadable Mr. Masters. I blink at him.
"Move."
His eyes flash red and his hand is suddenly at my neck, cutting off my air supply. I meet his glowing eyes and gasp.
Suddenly I'm remembering. I remember grinding on him, following him to the back. I remember him telling me that I'll be fun. I remember him touching me. And most importantly, I remember him biting me.
He releases me with a shove and I crumple to the floor. I really am... dead. Why doesn't this bother me more? I mean, I'm dead. At the very young age of eighteen. Something doesn't feel right about this.
"You said I'm the first turned thousands of years? Why me?"
"Mr. Masters had no way of knowing why he was drawn to you like he was, but he was. Probably still is. If he wasn't I suspect he'd have hit the trail by now. You're special, Ana. It's why I've been assigned to you."
I sit up at that. I notice Mr. Masters shift slightly as well. Does he not know?
"Assigned to me?"
"Yes. I'm not going to get into details right now, there's not time. But there's two sides to the Van Helsings. The coven that I belong to, and the Hunters. The Hunters hunt Vampyres and to make up for the that, the Coven offers certain services to the Vampyres. More specifically, the King. They can choose to appoint a Guardian to an individual. Usually it's a Vamp, but when your birth was predicted, the King at the time made a deal with the Crone.
So. Jace isn't my friend because he wants to be? He's only here because he was assigned to me?
"Oh Ana, no! I'm your friend because wanted to be. Guardians aren't supposed to get to know their charge like I do. Especially not as close as we are."
"Still doesn't answer my question, Jace. Why me?"
"To get all of the info, it'd be easier to speak the Crone."
"What's that?"
"Every coven has 3 figureheads, or leaders. A Mother, a Maiden, and a Crone. The Crone is my grandmother."
I open my mouth to ask my next question, who the other two are, but I'm stopped by a gurgle sound coming from my stomach. How... odd.
Mr. Masters pushes away from the wall he was leaning on and strides closer to me. Grabbing a fistful of my hair, he pulls me to my feet.
"Quit pulling my hair!" I screech at him, freeing myself. Can't he just ask me to stand like a normal person? He just stares at me, unblinking. What...? And then I'm doubled over with a stomach cramp. This has got to be the most intense stomach cramp that I've ever have. I grab onto the closest solid object to keep from falling over as another wave hits me. Oh. My God. The pain lets up and I straighten up a bit. I realize the object I had grabbed for balance was Mr. Masters' arm. I look into his glowing eyes and am mildly perturbed by the smirk he's giving me. I intend to yell at him, but everything goes black as I lose consciousness. This must be some kind of power he has...