Turned

Chapter Seven

I lay there like a log, my eyes shut but I couldn't drift off... my mind wouldn't let me drift off to sleep.

I lay awake, my eyes shut as I thought about Matt, about my worries and fears now I'd begun a new life entirely.

I admit, part of me wanted to run, convinced I couldn't keep my friends or the façade of being something I wasn't anymore. I'd accepted I was beyond the help of a cure, that I was a vampire, proven to me the moment I drank the blood.

I sat up in my bed, throwing the cheap navy-blue bed covers off me, pulling myself out of bed. For some reason, I couldn't sleep, my mind was too awake, it wouldn't let me rest.

I pulled myself up, struggling to my feet as I got changed, not bothering about what it looked like. I threw on a pair of dark pants and a grey t-shirt.

"Jack?" Matt asked as I walked into the living room.

"Matt... I'm just going out"

"Alone?"

"You were asleep" I pointed out.

I grabbed my leather jacket from the coat rack and put it on quickly, grabbing my keys as I headed for the front door. Matt didn't say a word but I could feel his eyes on me but I didn't say anything to him, I didn't know what to say, I just wanted to go, to find that place and see why I was being called there.

I followed the directions I'd kept in my head, not that I needed them, I could get to the place without them, if I just listened to the call, stopped resisting it, blocking it out of my head, attempting to keep myself sane, hoping it would improve my sleeping patterns but that didn't seem to work as well as I had expected, hoped. I was a fool for hoping, vampires in the films were monsters, I wasn't likely to be any different.

I made a deal with myself, if I was going to turn into a monster, if I was going to become like the vampires in the films, I'd have to leave, I'd leave before I harmed Matt, I wasn't going to hurt him, not my best friend.

I stood outside the door, before I was too timid to knock, this time, I didn't knock, I slammed my fist into the door, glaring as the man looked at me, the fear in his eyes was apparent, he unlocked the door quickly, as if his life depended on it. I didn't say anything, I didn't need to, he was already frightened, I'd done what I had to, I'd gotten in.

It was what I expected, a club, I could hear the beat of some song, people cheering and dancing, their feet on the floor, stomping like elephants. I shrugged it off and followed the corridor down, realising I was directly above those people, looking down at them.

I kept walking, heading towards a door, an old door, black but some of it had split, splintered, practically breaking off the door itself. I tried the handle, surprised when I could open the door. A bunch of eyes looked at me, many eyes of different colours, belonging to men and women of various ages and races. For a moment, I was worried, I thought I'd entered a staff meeting or something but there was something strange about them, they didn't feel right, something didn't feel right to me. 

"Who is this?" a man asked, glaring at me, jumping up to look closer at me.

"I don't know" another man admitted as he sat in his chair, nursing his whiskey.

"I don't recognise him" the first man stated as he grabbed me by the throat.

I grabbed his hand, squeezing his wrist with all my strength. "Get off me" I ordered as I peeled his fingers off and gasped quickly, taking in unnecessary air. 

"You little shit" the man snapped as he tried to grab me again.

"Let him go" a woman ordered as another door opened, a beautiful woman with mocha skin, deep chocolate eyes, small yet delicate and long black hair, allowed to flow freely down her back, down her body. I could smell the lavender and jasmine but she was nothing like I imagined, she was beautiful, not the pale monstrosity I thought she'd be.

"This newly turned comes to our home and stirs up trouble, he's begging for a stake" the man snapped.

"I said enough, let him go" the woman ordered with a glare of disgust.

"Yes, Sapphire, you have my... apologises"

"Save it for someone who cares, Caleb, you are becoming more and more of a problem for us" she replied, her eyes never leaving him, like a lion and its prey. Her eyes moved to me, I could feel myself shaking. "Do not fear me, come with me" she requested in a lighter tone.

"I... who..."

"Come" she whispered, leading me into the back where it was just her and a couple of men. "Do not be intimidated by the likes of Caleb, he is just angry by nature"

I didn't say anything to her as she sat down in her biker leathers, her leather pants and jacket hid a near blood red top that exposed a little cleavage.

"Where am I?" I asked. "Where is this place?"

"You were drawn here? Good. We call it home but its name is Nightshade, after our coven of the same name"

"Did you... I... did you... did you make me?" I forced out.

"I passed on my gift, yes, I made you what you are"

"And Caleb?"

"Most that sit downstairs, I made, with the exception of one" she admitted, her eyes never once leaving mine. "Does that surprise you?" she asked.

"No... I... I just... I thought you'd abandoned me"

"No, not at all. I can see why you'd believe it but I never intended to leave my creation, I thought you were dead, you didn't wake after your turning, I began to believe you didn't make it back, so many can become lost, it's a way of keeping our population down" she explained. She saw the look of horror on my face, a smile spread across it and she silenced it with words. "Don't worry about that, you've come back and come to me, I am happy to see my new protégé, I'm sure you'll be of great use to us here, much better than Caleb, my last living creation"

"No wonder he dislikes me" I muttered, forgetting she could hear me.

She laughed gently, smiling even brighter. "Caleb is just an angry little boy, stomping his feet. You see, the problem with Caleb is that I didn't set out to turn him, he had to beg me for it whereas you didn't even have to ask and it was yours"

"So, what now?"

"Now you shall learn" she promised.