Chapter Thirty-One
Sherese
I open the door and close it quickly behind me.
Ajax and another vampire I don’t recognize lead me down the long hallway.
When we get close to the main room where they do all their experimenting, I take a steadying breath.
I’m not sure what to expect. When I lived here before, Rizo was pretty lenient with me.
He provided blood for me and pretty much let me do what I wanted.
I had to help out here and there, but mostly he let me be.
Well, after a few years of testing me and finally deciding I wasn’t a healer, but that’s all beside the point.
When Ava came along, I was in charge of watching her, but I still had my freedom.
I was pretty much their “miracle turn,” and they let me be.
I have no idea what he’s going to want from me now.
When we get to the heavy metal double doors, Ajax puts his thumb in the scanner.
Once it turns green, the doors open before us, and I follow them inside.
The scent of blood hits me hard as soon as we enter, and I’m glad it no longer has a hold over me.
In the early days, I couldn’t contain my bloodlust, but it’s gotten much better over the years.
As long as I don’t get to the starving stage, I’m fine.
For as much control as I’ve developed over the years, I don’t know what would happen if I got really hungry.
I certainly don’t want to find out. “This way,” Ajax says.
As we walk, I try not to look into the small glass enclosures to see the wolves they’ve given healer blood and energy to turn them into shifter/vampires.
But it’s hard not to, because I can see them everywhere I look.
Right now, they’re all in shut-down mode, meaning they’re in a comatose state.
Each one I see reminds me of Ava’s brother, and I feel sick.
I force my gaze to remain on Ajax’s back, so I don’t have to see any more of them.
He stops, and I wait, wondering what it is we’re doing.
Rizo steps out of one of the glass enclosures and pulls off gloves.
I try not to think about why he would need gloves.
“Good. You're here.” Without a word, he starts walking, and we follow. We walk back through the room, out the double doors, and over to the elevators. Once inside, I take a deep breath and make myself focus on every detail. So far, every entrance and exit needs a thumb scan from either Rizo or Ajax. That’s all new since I was here last. I wonder if it’s programmed to other vampires, or just the two of them.
When the doors open, Rizo leads the way down the hallway and stops at a door. He opens the door, and we step inside.
“What’s going on?” a terrified voice asks.
My stomach bottoms out as I take in the terrified girl strapped to the table. I don’t have to be told what’s happening here. I’ve heard Ava’s stories. There’s no doubt in my mind that this girl is a healer. Rizo turns to Ajax. “Explain and let her get to work.”
“W-what?” the girl on the table asks.
I don’t look at her. Rizo stops in front of me. “You want to earn our trust? Prove yourself.” Without another word, he disappears. I feel like I’m going to be sick.
Ajax walks over to the girl. “Hey, Princess, don’t cry. We haven’t even gotten to the fun part yet.”
The girl starts to whimper, and I can’t breathe. Ajax turns to me. “Strap her down.”
I stare at him. He simply lifts an eyebrow. I don’t look at the girl who’s crying louder now. “You don’t give me orders, Ajax,” I remind him.
“No. I don’t, but Rizo does. And this here is your new job.
Better get really good at it. Now watch closely because I’m only going to show you this once.
” He straps the girl’s arms and legs to the table and then puts a mask over her nose.
“You turn this switch here, and that starts pulling her energy. It will also put her to sleep, which makes it easier to do the next part.” I watch as the girl goes limp.
“There’s a port in her arm. She just got it in today, so you’ll be the first to see if it works.
” He shows me how to inject a needle into the port.
I watch as blood begins to flow through a small line.
I watch every step meticulously, so that I might be able to undo it at some point.
“When that alarm sounds, that means you have enough blood for today. Don’t want to drain her too much that she can’t recover.
” He shows me how to remove the needle and cover the site with a bandage.
“So, it doesn’t get infected.” He steps back.
“Once you’re done with that, turn down the dial all the way to zero.
That stops the energy pull. Then you just wait for her to wake up and transport her back to her room.
Room seventeen. It could take a while; this is her first time.
” He shrugs. “Sometimes they can walk; sometimes they can’t.
” He points up to the corner of the room where there’s a camera.
“Don’t forget. Somebody’s always watching,” he says with a cruel smile.
He walks over to the door. “Oh, and Sherese,” I turn to him out of habit.
“Remember what’s at stake.” My mind flashes to Hunter, but that’s not where he goes.
He pulls out his phone and taps on it. When he shows it to me, I go still.
It’s a picture of Ava standing at her kitchen sink.
I don’t see Bryce anywhere. “She’s what?
A few weeks along.” He shakes his head. “It would be such a shame if something happened to her and the baby.” His eyes go hard.
“Remember that every time you step into this room.” And then he’s gone, and the other vampire leaves with him.
I stagger a moment before I catch myself and remind myself that they’re watching.
I try to catch my breath, even as panic races through me.
I feel my pockets, but remember I left my cell phone in my room.
As soon as I get back, I’ll call Bryce and tell him there’s a vampire watching Ava.
I don’t know how there’s a vampire on pack land, and they don’t know.
But it’s happened before. Anger burns through me, but I force it back.
I can’t lose control right now. I turn to look at the girl on the bed.
She looks young; I’m not sure how young.
I’m really bad at telling ages. For all I know, she could be fourteen or just a year younger than me.
I don’t really know. I’m sure the terror on her face makes her look younger, too.
I watch the blood travel through the small, clear line, and I force every emotion from my mind.
I can process this all later; right now, I have to get through this next little bit and focus on making sure I don’t kill this poor girl.
It’s not long before the alarm sounds. I go through the steps exactly as Ajax showed me, grateful for my instant recall.
I turn the dial to zero on the wall for the healer energy it’s pulling from her body, and remove the face mask.
Then I stand and wait for her to wake up.
I pace for what seems like forever, waiting for her to wake.
Finally, I begin to see signs of life. Her hand twitches, and her breathing starts to pick up.
Finally, her eyes shoot open. I undid the straps keeping her held down while I was waiting for her to wake up, so when she sits up, she leaps right off the table, startling me.
She’s weaker than she realized, though, and her legs crumple under her.
I catch her before she can hit the ground.
“Just take a minute; you’re still—” She jerks away from me and swings a fist. She surprises me, but I immobilize her in less than a second.
She fights like a hellcat, though, and she’s hard to contain without hurting her. “Stop fighting me,” I tell her.
“Never!” she says fiercely.
I manage to get her arms trapped at her sides.
“I’m not the enemy here.” But she’s too far gone in her rage.
The door to the room crashes open, and two vampires enter.
They grab her arms and drag her from the room.
“Stop!” I yell after them. “I had it!” I watch helplessly as they drag the girl, still kicking and screaming, down the hallway.
I take a deep breath, but it does nothing to calm my anger.
I stride in the direction they went. “Hey,” I call after both of them.
I watch as they all but throw her into the room and close the door.
They blur down the hallway, out of sight.
I walk down the hallway slowly. I can hear the girl yelling from here.
She bangs on the door repeatedly and calls out for help.
I stand there for a few seconds until I can’t take it anymore.
I walk away from her, her screams following me.
I don’t stop moving until I get to the elevator.
It’s times like these I wish I could take the stairs, but they’re locked.
Everyone travels by way of these elevators.
The elevators open to my floor, and I step out.
I can still hear the girl’s screams ringing in my head.
I walk faster. As soon as I get to our room, I put my thumb on the scanner.
It blinks red, and I stare at it. I put my thumb on the pad again.
It beeps this time, still showing red. “Stupid piece of junk!” I yell at it, hitting it.
The door opens, and Hunter’s there. I don’t look at him.
I can’t. I walk right over to the end table where I left my phone.
When I don‘t see it there, I whirl around, searching the rest of the room. “Where is it?” I demand.
“What?” he asks.
“My phone. Where’s my phone?” I nearly yell.
“They took them.”
“What?” I stare at him as everything comes crashing down around me.
I push past him and stride for the bathroom.
I’m going to be sick. I drop to the floor and heave over the toilet.
Nothing comes up, but my stomach cramps painfully.
I hear the girl’s screams in my head, and a sob works its way up my chest. I feel Hunter’s presence.
“Leave me alone. I don’t want you in here. ”
“Tough.” He sits next to me on the floor.
“Get out!” I tell him with all the anger that’s coursing through my system.
When he doesn’t move, I lash out. “Can’t you just listen?
I don’t want you in here!” He still doesn’t move, and I can’t take it anymore.
My stomach cramps hard, and I cry out in a mix of anger and frustration.
“Ahhhhh!” I kick the ground and then kick it again.
“It wasn’t supposed to be this way!” I shake my head.
“I can’t...I can’t do this.” The last word doesn’t even fully form.
I drop my head, wishing I knew how to cry.
I lost the ability after the vampires captured me, and I’ve never been able to since then.
I put my head against the wall and close my eyes.
I’ve never felt so helpless and hopeless in my life.
Well, except for when I was first taken.
I remember those feelings then. I remember standing in the bathroom with the blade I’d stolen.
I remember thinking I’d end it all, spare myself the pain and trauma.
I hadn’t been able to do that that day because I was weak.
I’ve always been grateful I didn’t end my life that day.
Always...until today. Today, I wish I had been strong enough because then I couldn’t be used by the vampires.
I see the girl’s face in my mind’s eye and see her fear.
Knowing that I’m the one who put that fear there guts me.
I never wanted this, any of it. And now, I’m the enemy. I’m the thing people fear.