Bitten (Book #3 of the Vampire Legends). Emma Knight

       Chapter Four

      “Over here!” a voice yelled out to Rachel as she walked alone with her head down off the giant and sunlit field.

      She looked up to see Matilda, standing at the bottom of the marble steps, right where she had left her a few hours before. She raised her hand and waived, “Coming!”

      For a moment, she had forgotten that Matilda said she’d meet her after practice, but was now thankful she was there. She had so many unresolved question that she needed to ask her.

      “Hey, Matilda,” she said, looking at her white, hard skin shining in the sunlight.

      “Hi Rachel. How did your first day of training go?”

      “Was fine, I guess,” she said in a quiet tone.

      “What’s wrong?” asked Matilda.

      Letting out a sigh, Rachel said, “I didn’t sign up for this, you know.”

      Matilda looked at her quizzically. “You have no choice. If you want to survive you need to take this training course. How else do you plan to learn everything we do?”

      Rachel looked back at her, suddenly feeling the tension between them. “I mean, I just want to go home. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

      The two of them walked inside as they continued speaking, into an empty sitting room adorned with golden wallpaper.

      “You asked for this. Don’t you remember? You asked Benji to turn you.”

      “Well, had I known I’d end up here, with all of this, I never would have.”

      “You would have died then,” Matilda said, reminding her of that night.

      Rachel stopped speaking and looked around. She saw some old family photos placed around the room in ornate golden frames. She picked one up and looked at it closely. It was a picture of Benji as a small boy, dressed in a suit and tie holding a bouquet of red roses. She could feel herself getting choked up and suddenly a tear started rolling down her cheek.

      Matilda reached out and put her hand on top of hers. “Don’t worry. You will be fine. It just takes some getting used to.”

      “Stop saying that!” Rachel said, as she took her hand away. “I can’t do this alone. I have nobody here. Where’s Benji?”

      “You caused a great rift between the vampire nations and now he’s cleaning up your mess. Thanks to you our entire coven needs to prepare for war. Benji is out there right now, rallying all our fellow covens to come to our aid before it’s too late.”

      “I don’t understand?” Rachel asked. “Where did he go and when will he be back?”

      “We don’t know when he will be back. It depends how much support he is able to rally, if any. You got us into a deep mess here,” Matilda snarled.

      “I feel terrible. I want to go and see him now,” Rachel said.

      Matilda laughed, “You’re kidding right? You’d be killed in an instant if you went out there. You are just going to have to sit and wait here and be patient. Eventually, he will come back. Besides, you need time to train. You don’t even know what it’s like to be a vampire yet. You’re a newbie. If you went out there now, like you are, in this state, I doubt you’d make it very long. You’re just going to have to learn to be patient. You’ll live here with us and you will train and you will wait for Benji. You’re lucky there’s even a room available. A vampire just graduated yesterday.”

      “My room? What are you talking about? I’m not going to live here. Especially without Benji. I want to go home,” Rachel snapped back.

      “And where is home exactly?” Matilda asked. “Everything you once knew was gone. Don’t you get it? You’re not human anymore. All your old friendships, all your old relationships, are all going to be different now. This is your home now and we are your new family.”

      Rachel thought about that and was reeling from the implications. “This place, my home? These people, my family?” It was all too much for her to take at once. It seemed surreal.

      Matilda suddenly stood and began to walk away. Rachel got up and followed her in a daze, unthinking. The two walked single file back through the castle and to the point after the drawbridge where the paths divided. Matilda started walking on the path that said, “North Wing.” The hallway was dark and damp, with a musty old smell in the air. The carpeting that lined the floor looked as if it had been there thousands of years, with hideous emerald green flowers on it.

      This part of the castle didn’t resemble the elegance or lavishness that the other areas did. She couldn’t figure out why Matilda was dragging her down this hallway, which resembled a dingy dormitory. They passed door after door and as she peered inside she saw twin sized beds with metal frames around them. Each room was identical to the next. A group of people passed them in the hallway—they looked to be in their thirties or forties but she couldn’t really tell. All she knew was that they were older than she was. She felt alone and longed for the days at AHS and with her family. She felt her eyes begin to swell up with tears as Matilda pointed to a room at the far end of the hallway.

      “This is your room. Welcome home,” Matilda said, smirking.

      Rachel held in her emotions and walked inside. The smell of the room was anything but fresh, and the walls were painted a deep rust color. She could hardly bare to look at it. There was one window that was covered with a black and white paisley tapestry.

      “I’m going to leave you now,” Matilda said as she turned to walk out.

      Rachel had no words to express what she was feeling inside, but managed to say, “Fine, will I see you soon?”

      “Most likely you will see me tomorrow. It all depends how quickly this war breaks into full force and if they need me elsewhere. If I don’t meet you after practice, you know I have fled the castle.”

      “Well, where will I find you if you leave?” Rachel asked, scared.

      “I can’t say, and to be honest, I don’t have an answer for you. My location can change like the wind, and at any given moment, my coordinates could change if my powers are needed somewhere else. It’s not definite I’m leaving, but I wanted to give you a heads up. You will be fine here. Keep up with the training sessions and you will survive.”

      Feeling a bit overwhelmed and panicked, Rachel said, “Ok. Well, I hope to see you again tomorrow. And maybe you will know more about where your brother is and when I will see him again. I pray that you will have more information.”

      “Perhaps,” Matilda said as she turned to walk out the door. “Goodbye, Rachel.”

      The door creaked shut behind her and Rachel stood there, feeling alone and scared. The tears that had been swelling up suddenly came streaming down her face and she started hysterically crying. She walked over to her bed and put her face in the pillow and sobbed. She hated this place and wished she had never asked to be turned. She knew this was all a big mistake.

      Then, she bolted up and started rummaging around her room for some paper. She cobbled together some scraps she found in the bottom of the small closet and bound them together with a piece of old rusted wire she found sticking out of her bed frame. She knew writing always consoled her, so she began to write in her makeshift diary.