C a p t u r e d

20: New Beasts

Chapter Twenty: New Beasts

To turn over a new leaf

1. [This phase] means to start a new life again. If someone turns over a new Leaf [she] starts a new life after recovering from a shock or after an accident or similar cases.

2. Ex: after seeing her friend die, Laurie decided that she would take Tyson down, even if it killed her.

  My Lithium pills tasted like heaven. I resisted the urge to take more than was allocated. I hung the Bipolar medication in a velvet pouch on the doorknob, which was already wrapped by one of Nam Ha's lace bows.

  Sasha had taken over the game room. Hayden was hiding in his old Donor room.

  It was nighttime. Nam Ha was slumbering under her dove-white sheets. I wore a new dress, a borrowed dress from her closet. It was too revealing for me. It had a sloping neckline that revealed what was left of my bosom, and nearly all of my vampire-bites. It was too short, and barely reached past my butt. But at least it had long sleeves. Long, thick sleeves, which I could hide behind. I needed that. I needed the illusion of warmth.

  Earlier that day, Tyson had stayed obsessive and stubborn. After Sasha and Hayden had changed into black clothing, Tyson had teleported us back. I still remembered the way his hand felt against mine.

  The second we reappeared in the mansion, Aubrey and Uzair rushed up to Tyson and began chattering loudly; convincing him to tell them everything. Meanwhile, New Vampires fled to abandoned bits of the house. And Nam Ha rushed up to me.

  I gave her the rundown. When she saw the bitemarks skating up my arms and legs, she cried and screamed at Hayden until he locked himself in the bathroom.

"Hayden! When you first arrived here, I told you! I said that you shouldn't trust Ji, but did you listen? No! You gave Ji the trust that killed you and mutilated Laurie!"

  Of course, it wasn't his trust in Ji that had hurt us. It was just a gateway drug. But why would I say anything?

  Tyson shoved the twins back in the Labyrinth with an extended jail sentence. Apparently, it was so that they didn't fuck up the New Vampires prematurely. By New Vampires, I'm talking about Hayden and Sasha.

   Tyson began using his dangerous voice around us. His "I-mean-business" voice. He ordered us not to leave our rooms tonight, and he ordered us not to talk to or visit the new vampires. Then he retreated to his bedroom, and I saw nothing else from him.

  Nam Ha. Me. Hayden.

  We'd all jumped off the balcony once (or multiple times, as in Nam Ha's case). Tyson never noticed, because he was a fucking idiot.

  Once, Nam Ha helped Paul and Ji, because they gave her cocaine. The twins came five years ago, so when that occurred, Nam Ha had already been drug-free for eleven years. But it didn't matter. They heard about the twins' chemistry, enticed Nam Ha with cocaine, and she agreed to get the twins' recipes for them. What was the harm in it?

  She finally stopped jumping, and stopped helping them, but it was too late. Nam Ha had already stolen too many potion recipes from the twins. And now Ji and Paul had them.

  Even so, I know Nam Ha. She'd never told on Ji; and she'd never mentioned this to Tyson.

  And now, she was begging for the twins to be locked up. What had it taken? My mutilation. Cue the useless applause.

   Tyson viewed the twins as inherently devilish. So when Nam Ha suggested they might cause more trouble with their potions, he was willing to believe her on that.