Tainted Soul {Formerly Fallen} (Book 3) (Completed)

Chapter 13

Kait POV

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When Melanie awoke, I somehow scared her again. She looked around the room and jumped when she saw me in the chair in the corner.

"How do you always scare me?" She panicked.

"You should expect me to be here. I have nothing better to do." I replied.

"It's really hard to get used to seeing you like this."

"It doesn't have to be. I can Awaken you and we could be equals again." I said, trying to persuade her to take my offer.

"Not an option. I refuse to become a monster. I'm already immortal, I don't need to be evil along with it." She said.

"It has it's perks. You won't be touched by Spirit's madness, all your senses are enhanced, the high you'll get from drinking blood is unreal, and you'll never be weak again."

"I'm scared." She replied.

"It won't hurt. I can have it done in less than ten minutes. The most you'll feel is this." I said, biting into her neck and taking some blood.

I watched her eyes go wide from the short pain of the bite, then relax as the endorphins in my saliva took the pain away and gave her an intense high.

"I-I thought you said it'd be my choice." she said through the high, flopping onto the bed.

"A bite like this won't Awaken you, Mels. This, well this is just for fun." I said, wiping the blood off of my lips.

"How long do I have to decide?" she asked.

"You have two more weeks to make the right decision, then I'll be forced to choose for you." I answered.

"What's the right decision?"

"This." I said "All of this, being best friends forever, immortality without worrying about Spirit's madness or any of that other garbage. We can own a facility like this, Mels. After we get rid of Jordi, of course. All our own, people bowing down and responding to us, obeying our every word. How could someone not want that?" I said, exiting her room.

Melanie POV

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The pleasure of her bite was better than anything I'd ever felt. The pain of the bite itself lasted only a few seconds before the flood of pleasure came. I could see how feeders could become addicted to vampire bites. It was better than sex, better than anything I'd ever felt. If that was what being Awakened felt like, and I didn't know about the evils of Strigoi, I'd have accepted Rosa's offer in heartbeat. There was no way I was going to let her see that I was even beginning to consider it. I'd rather actually be dead than live as a Strigoi. It's not even life, it's dark magic giving an illusion of life. Arguing with Rosa about all of this was like arguing with an addict about their addiction. It wasn't worth it and would wind up bringing more harm than good.

As soon as the high wore off and I came back to my senses, I began to feel violated and dirty. I took a glance at the bite on my neck in the mirror and saw it was bruised and caked with dried blood. I dug in the cabinet under the sink and found a wash cloth that I soaked with water. I began scrubbing at the bite-wound on my neck to at least get the blood off, if nothing else. I found myself scrubbing until it was red, trying to remove any memory of her bite as well. It was right then when I began to curse the day I thought it was a good idea to have short hair. If I somehow managed to escape the terror of Rosa's Strigoi pen, people would have full view of my neck, thus having full view of the bite. I knew I had to find a way to stay here until the bite healed.

Rosa hadn't returned for some time after she bit me. I lost track of how long she'd been gone. The maid lady, Rosa called her Esperanza I think, came into my room with a pile of clothes and a few pairs of shoes.

"Kait quería que yo se doy estos." She said, setting the clothes down on a chair.

"Gracias por su ayuda. Se lo agradezco mucho." I told her, thanking her for her help.

All of the clothes were beautiful, they were mostly dresses, though. They were made out of only the best material. Silk, cashmere, lace, etc. I wasn't stupid. I knew why Rosa got all dresses. She wanted me to be comfortable, but not so comfortable as to be able to easily fight people off. The shoes were gorgeous as well. She got a pair of stiletto boots similar to the ones Rosa wore, a pair of pumps, and a pair of flats, all for the same reasons as the clothes. Comfortable, but not too comfortable. There was no way I was going to wear either of the heels. Not because I didn't like heels, but because they were too much like Rosa's and there was no way I was going to resort to the things that she now wore.

"Looks like you're sticking to flats, Melanie." I mumbled to myself, tossing the heels into a corner.

A few minutes later, Esperanza came back in with a tray of food. Today it was a popular Spanish dish called Paella. I'd had it quite often and it was one of my favorites. For desert was a churro, another favorite of mine. Right as I finished, I heard the door open and the telltale click of heels on the tile floor to tell me who was there. It had been almost a day since Rosa had visited last, and it was the longest time so far since her last visit. I'd missed her, but another part of me didn't.

"Did you enjoy the paella and churro?" She asked, sitting down.

"They were really good. I just wish you'd feed me three meals a day like most people. Some blood would be nice as well." I said, not expecting to get either.

Suddenly, Rosa peered down the hall and yelled for Esperanza. Esperanza came running faster than I thought possible for a human.

"¿S-Sí?" She said, stuttering.

"Melanie necesita sangre. ¿Puedes darle un poquito?" Rosa told her, asking if she could give me some blood.

Esperanza then walked up to me, moved her hair back, and bore her neck to me as if to say she was allowing me to drink from her.

"¿Esta segura?" I asked her, making sure it was okay.

"Go ahead. More often than not, if one of us needs a snack we take some from her or the other Humans working for Jordi." Rosa said.

"Uh, okay." I said, hesitantly biting into her neck.

She cried out in pain when I bit her, then that quickly changed to a gentle sigh as the endorphins in my saliva entered her bloodstream. I made sure to restrict the venom, simply because I didn't want to change her over to Viu. She was a tall girl for a human. She was about as tall as I was, roughly 5ft. 8in. tall. It was no struggle for me at all to bite into her neck. I took a little more blood than I should have, seeing as I'd been without for at least three days, but it wasn't enough to kill her. She would just be extremely weak for a few days. After I was finished, Rosa sent her on her way to do whatever other tasks she had to do.

"Thank you." I said, suddenly in a better mood.

"You had the opportunity to willingly Awaken yourself. Why didn't you take it?" She replied.

"It didn't seem right. It's wrong killing innocent people simply because of their blood."

"It's the natural way of life. Predator and Prey. You couldn't do it, not because it's wrong, but because you're weak! You're too weak to see the benefits of Strigoi!" Rosa yelled.

"You've really changed." I mumbled, not meaning for Rosa to hear me.

"If I've changed so much, why am I giving you a choice on whether or not you're Awakened? Why am I not just Awakening you?" She replied, walking out the door.

As much as I didn't want to admit it, that statement made me think. How much had she really changed?