Turned

Chapter Forty Nine

I wanted to leave but I was stuck, I needed answers and the two vampires that sat in their offices upstairs were able to give me those answers. I walked back up the stairs, my hands trembling, my legs like jelly, wobbling with every step. I walked into Sapphire's office, her face lit up when she saw me as she sat down.

"What do you know about the hunters?" I asked.

"They've been... aggressive, aggressively hunting our kind" she started.

"Why did they go after Matt?"

"Matt?" she asked.

"My best friend, flatmate" I snapped.

"Someone's rude, I wonder why" Sapphire teased.

"Because they beat up my best friend and I want to find them" I replied rudely.

"Oh, I see. So, my protégé wants revenge? I almost feel... sorry for you. You do realise you need my permission for that?"

"Then give it to me" I ordered.

"Careful, I like you, don't make me change my mind about you"

I shrugged my shoulders. It didn't matter, Matt was hurt, and I wanted to get them back for that displeasure. Matt didn't deserve it, he was a good man, my best friend and I wanted to stop those monsters hurting anyone else. I didn't care about the cost, I didn't care about the worry or the tears, I wanted to look after Matt, I wanted to fix what happened.

I sat down opposite her, biting my lip as I looked at her. I was frightened of losing Matt, my good friend, best friend. Sapphire seemed to understand, she seemed a little... relaxed as she leaned back in her chair, silent as the grave. Finally, I saw her mouth move, she pursed her lips before she opened her mouth.

"I want to stop them" I interrupted.

"You want to help us?" she questioned

"Yes" I replied.

"Why would you want that?"

"Because they hurt Matt, I told you"

"It's revenge... you're hungry for it, thirsty for vengeance. Perhaps you'll survive in this world after all"

I didn't answer her, I didn't want to. I didn't want to survive in that world, I just wanted to get rid of the hunters, I wanted to find them, kill them. I watched her, waiting for her to tell me where they were, where to go, what I could do. She pursed her lips again, leaning forward, I could see the red tinge in her eyes.

"I can't tell you exactly where they are... I'll enquire but... I wouldn't hold your breath"

"Just tell me, I know you know where they are, I'm not stupid, tell me where the hell they are!" I shouted only to meet the cold sting of a slap.

"Don't talk to me like that, I'm not your bitch, you're mine!" she warned.

"I'm trying to help!" I argued.

"You're weak! You wouldn't survive against one hunter alone, let alone a whole organisation, I doubt you're strong enough to walk through the door"

"Let me try!" I begged.

"No, you're not ready, you'd die" she snapped.

I wanted to argue but her glare shut that idea down before I could even really think it. She didn't care about me, I knew that, I wasn't stupid enough to think that she cared, I was just a creation, something and nothing to her. She had Caleb, she had others that she'd made, she didn't need me, yet she wanted to keep me as a pet, probably to show off just how good she was at controlling people. She was the true monster, the vampire that I couldn't stand. I could put with Caleb, like him... to a point but nothing else. Sapphire was different, she made me and yet, she was going to kill me because she made me... because I didn't awaken on time.

I couldn't believe I even went to her, the monstrous bitch, she was evil and cruel, manipulative. She knew how to manipulate, how to use people, own their minds, make them go insane. She got me to drink vampire blood, she knew what would happen, yet she told me to drink then left me to rot. If it wasn't for Caleb, I would've.

"You're like a child, you don't think about consequences. You might feel all tough but trust me, they're worse than you are, much worse. If you want to die, stake yourself in the heart, it'll be painless, compared to what they'll do to you, they'll torture you, letting you heal just in the nick of time, so the torture is long and slow, painful enough for them... you won't want that, would you?"

"You're disgusting" I snapped.

"Agreed but I know when to play and when to watch my back. Can you say the same?"

"I..." I started then shook my head. I couldn't, she was right, I couldn't say the same, I hadn't learnt the art of vampire politics, nor did I try to, I didn't want to play the game, her game.

"You see... you have much to learn but don't fret, I'll teach you, once you understand"

"Understand what?"

"How to behave" she whispered cruelly.

"I know how to, you're being unhelpful" I snapped.

"Enough! I am your superior, you do as I command, if you have a problem with that, I suggest you leave, before there's trouble, before you lose your head and your mind, going after hunters, what do you think will happen? Even if I tell you where they are, they won't stop, they'll just kill all those you love, until there's no one left, nothing but a black heart"

"That won't happen" I replied.

"No? Then perhaps I was wrong... I doubt you'll even survive the five years that it'll take you to become a ranked vampire among us" Sapphire replied cruelly.

When I spoke to her, it felt like a cat playing with a mouse, only I was the mouse, unknown to me at the start and she was bloody great cat, hell bent on killing me, on ripping me apart. She didn't want me to survive the game which made me more determined to.