Tainted

Chapter 2: The Hive

“Melissa, stop it!” The other woman ordered while pulling Melissa off of me.

“What?” Melissa questioned.

“You know that we need her alive.” The woman reminded her.

“Jessica, you are no fun.” Melissa claims.

Jessica bends down to my level. My eyes are widened as I try my best to catch my breath. Why won’t they kill me? She moves my hair to the side, exposing my neck. Jessica smiles. She grabs my arm aggressively and pulls me up.

“She’s pure. You know what to do.” Jessica reports.

Before I can react, the side of my face meets a solid fist. I instantly blackout.

I wake up in a surprisingly bight room. Finding that I lay on the cold wooden ground, I stand up. The room has mirrors with round lights bordering them. Two clothes racks sit at the very back of the room. The door opens to reveal an unexpected friendly smile. Her hair is a strong red, so are her eyes. She’s one of them too. I slowly step back as a precaution.

“It’s going to be okay. I won’t hurt you.” She claims in a soft, sweet tone.

There’s something that makes me want to believe her. But all of them are the same, all they do is kill and feed. She steps closer to me and grabs a pair of scissors that laid on the desk. With one quick motion she makes a line across her wrist with the scissors. 

Blood. How can one of them bleed?

“See? I’m just like you.” She reminds.

“But, how?” I question in utter shock.

“When I was in my mother’s stomach, she became infected. I was born this way, not bitten.” She pauses. “But  enough of my story. We have to get you ready.”

“Ready for what?” I ask.

“The showcase. It’s where all Human Trackers show what they collected when they were out hunting.” She explains.  “Now put this dress on.”

“Right here?” I question.

She nods her head.

“Right in front of you?” I ask.

She sighs and turns around. “I don’t see why it matters, they have cameras everywhere.”

As I slip off my clothing I look around the room, she’s right. There’s a camera on every wall that surrounds the room. After putting the dress on, I look at myself in the mirror. The white ruffles on the bottom gently drape over my knees.

“Perfect!” She says while basically jumping into the air. “Now, it’s your hair that’s a mess…”

“The dress is pretty and all but why a white dress?” I question.

“Because you haven’t been bitten. In the showcase, people wearing white show that they are pure in that manner.” She pauses to look at my figure. “And honey, no one can wear that dress like you can!”

“I’m sorry; I haven’t caught your name.” I remind.

“Oh, my name is Tatiana. Sorry that I didn’t mention it earlier. Come sit over here.” She announces while patting on a smooth leather chair.

Tatiana grabs a curling iron and begins to add delicate curls to my hair. While I sit, I notice red speckles on the dress. Blood? I do my best not to examine it and go back to focusing on my appearance on the mirror.

“Volla!” Tatiana shouts while placing the iron on the table.

I look at the mirror to see a beautiful girl. I’m saddened by the fact that it doesn’t show what I’ve been through. All it does is so just a girl. I glance at Tatiana’s reaction to my face expression.