Paradigm Shift [On-going]

Adapt and overcome

* * *
Jasmine

The spare bedroom had become my new prison. The old one had been inside the warehouse. Admittedly, I'd imprisoned myself this time, but I had done so because I'm scared. I'm scared to leave the room because I know downstairs were three vampires. The same creatures as the ones that had tortured and fed off me. I'm so tired of being analysed and interviewed. Of being talked about just out of earshot. Of repeating myself, of being the object of pitying glances and knitted brows. Dr. Nyle had suggested anti-anxiety pills, and I accepted, but now I felt disconnected from the world around me. The plus side to the pills was that as the weeks passed, I wasn't as scared anymore. I finally felt ready to leave the room. So after nearly a month, I went downstairs.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When Jasmine suddenly appeared at the bottom of the stairs one morning, all three men were shocked but kept calm and didn't make any sudden movements. Dr. Nyle had advised them on how to act around her and they allowed her space as she walked into the kitchen to get herself a glass of water. She made her way into the living room and sat down on a chair opposite the sofa where they were sitting.

"How are you feeling?" Seth eventually asked after a moment of silence.

"Numb" Jasmine replied with a shrug. "We're you ever going to tell me you were vampires?"

"We wanted too" Roman answered "but we were worried about how you'd react."

"I have some questions" Jasmine continued

"Go ahead" Roman encouraged

"Who is Frederick?" Jasmine asked. "Alast...he kept asking me where Frederick was."

"Around a year and a half ago I got injured, and I didn't follow doctor's orders" Dean explained. "My injury got worse, and I turned to alcohol to cope with the pain. Eventually, the alcohol didn't take the pain away anymore, so I turned to drugs. One night, I passed out and almost died. When I woke up. I was in this house and this weird guy was staring at me. He introduced himself as Frederick and told me he was a vampire and that he had made me one, too."

"So, did he change all of you into a vampire?" Jasmine asked.

"No, just me" Dean replied

"Dean changed me" Seth added. "Well...actually i stole his venom and changed myself but that's a story for another time"

"Seth changed me" Roman commented

"Also a story for another time" Seth added.

Jasmine's head was spinning from all the new information she was receiving but she was curious "Why was Alast...Alastor so interested in Frederick?"

"They used to be friends" Dean answered "They used to live in this house together but as Alastor grew more evil, they fell out and Alastor moved out. In Alastor's mind you're either with him or against him. By not following Alastor's lead. Frederick automatically became a threat"

"He asked me what powers the three of you possess. What did he mean?" Jasmine asked

"Some vampires develop a power. Some don't" Dean answered. "The power usually reflects their strongest trait as a human"

"Do you have a power?" Jasmine asked

"I do" Dean confirmed

"I do too" Seth added

"I don't" Roman mumbled

"What are they?" Jasmine asked.

"I can identify and feel people's emotions" Dean explained

"I have visions of the future" Seth says proudly. "I can't control when it happens or how the visions come through. Sometimes they even have double endings"

Jasmine was getting a headache. There was so much to take in. "Was I ever in danger when I was around the three of you?"

"I found it the most difficult to be near you" Dean answered honestly "but I dealt with it the best way I could."

"We never wanted to hurt you or harm you in any way. That was never our intension" Roman confirmed

"I'm sorry I failed to protect you" Dean said sadly. "I honestly believed you would be safe in the hideout"

"It wasn't your fault" Jasmine replied. "I don't blame any of you for what happened"

"I'm sorry it took us so long to rescue you" Roman said. "We didn't know where you were"

"I lost all track of time by day three" Jasmine admitted. "Every day was the same. I was constantly waiting, but I never knew what was going to happen next. I was waiting for the unknown. I felt like an animal. Caged. Scared and waiting. I remember thinking. How can someone do this to another human being? And then I realised. They aren't human"

As Roman listened to Jasmine, his hands tingled, and he formed a fist with his hand, entwining his fingers together as he attempted to stop the tingling sensation.

"The sick bastards burnt me" Jasmine voiced. "They handcuffed me to the radiator, turned it all the way up and burnt my back."

Roman's hands heated, and he had no idea what was happening. Jasmine stood up and showed them the burn on her back. It was in the distinct shape of radiator bars

"They fed off me" Jasmine continued. "Left me with bite marks all over my legs and arms."

"Can I...can i take a closer look?" Roman asked.

He wasn't sure why, but Roman felt the urge to touch Jasmine's wounds. Jasmine was reluctant, but eventually she moved towards him and held her arm out. Roman visually examined the bite marks on her arm.

She pointed to a deep wound on the inside of her arm, just above her elbow. "This seemed to be one of their favourite places to bite me. It hasn't faded like the other ones"

"Is it OK if I touch you?" Roman asked

Jasmine pulled her arm away and took a step back. "Why?"

"I'm not sure why but my hands are tingling and burning" Roman explained. "I feel like it has something to do with the marks on your skin"

Jasmine extended her arm back out, and Roman slowly moved his hands towards her arm. Jasmine jumped as Roman's hand made contact with her skin, so Roman pulled back and touched her with a single finger instead. He traced the shape of the bite mark she'd mentioned on the inside of her arm and, to his amazement, and hers the skin healed.

"No way" Jasmine whispered

Roman's hands stopped tingling, but the burning remained

"Did you just heal me?" Jasmine asked in amazement

"I didn't know I could" Roman replied. "I didn't think I had a power"

"Looks like Frederick was right after all" Seth commented. "It needed to be triggered"

Jasmine grew tired, so she made her way back upstairs to lie down. This time, she left the door open.