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When I opened my eyes, the others were in a circle staring at me. “Told you she wasn’t dead” Rachel said, smirking at Adam. He responded by rolling his eyes and looking me over. The twins seemed to be frozen in place, not quite sure what to do with me. “Her eyes” Lizzie whispered, her sister shaking her head. “They aren’t the same as ours. Mark, why are her eyes different?” Jade asked, fascinated. I ran to the nearby lake, trying to see what they meant. In the moonlit lake my skin looked even paler than normal and my eyes and hair were the same color as normal. I felt much the same as before, except now my throat felt like it was on fire. I smelled something, it smelled so… salty, yet appetizing at the same time. I looked around and saw a herd of deer close by. For some reason I wanted to attack them, but I felt eyes on me so I restrained. “What’s going on?” I asked, and my own voice shocked me. For some reason my voice had taken on a musical tone, much like the girls who I had despised all my life, the ones whose second nature was to snuggle up to the nearest guy to them, flirty and sexual. “Your new life has begun, my dear sweet Shayla” Mark cooed at me, making me feel childish and small. “You should let instinct take over. It will lead you right where you need to go” he instructed, so I closed my eyes and breathed in, letting the delicious smell take over. I heard muffled screams, but veered away from them, going instead for the easier prey. Murder was a sin, whether I was undead or not. I felt the warm red liquid slide down my throat and was shocked by how much relief even one deer brought me. Mark looked at me, his face a mix of disgust and admiration. “What do you think you’re doing?! You need something stronger than that! Animals are not sufficient means to live anymore! You need strong, healthy HUMAN blood, not the blood of a filthy scavenger!” I shrunk back, scared of the look on his face. All of a sudden, I saw Adam come running in front of me. “Mark! Would you get a hold of yourself?! Not only are you scaring the newborn, but you are also being a real jerk to her! She just gave up EVERYTHING for us and all you’ve done is mocked her and yelled at her!” For the first time, Adam actually looked at me and saw me as a person, which was ironic since I wasn’t a person anymore. He wrapped me in a hug until I pulled away, feeling more relaxed and ready to try talking to Mark. “Why is it so wrong for me to still have a conscience? I haven’t had years to adjust to the idea of humans being meat and I don’t think I ever will adjust to that. I have spent years walking these woods and never once did any of you attack me, and I would hate to be the one to attack some girl or guy who is in exactly the same position I was, lost and alone with nowhere to go, just looking for an escape from the real world. So no, I don’t want human blood. I want to try things this way and if I end up passing out or being too weak, then I will try things your way.” Mark still seemed to be fuming, but he just shook his head. “Fine then, Adam, you think you’re so smart, you teach the newborn to hunt.” He sneered at us, turning around and walking away. The girls had seen everything go down and they all ran to make sure I was ok as soon as he was gone. “I’ve never seen him act that way before” Rachel murmured, hugging me. “And don’t worry Adam, me and the twins will help if you’d like” she said, dragging me away. “Wait! I think I may enjoy teaching her hunting” he said with a smirk. He winked at me behind the girls’ backs, making me laugh. Rachel looked at him and he looked away, acting nonchalant. “Adam, are you trying to flirt with the newborn?” Lizzie asked, barely containing her giggles. They may be hundreds of years old, but the twins were thirteen at heart. “No, Lizzie. I am trying to lighten the mood” he said, sticking his tongue out at her. She was unable to contain her giggles at that and he smiled back. This was a side of the wild kids I had never seen before, being an outsider my whole life. They really were a tight knit little family, complete with laughter and teasing. It suddenly clicked in my mind what Rachel had said yesterday. I wasn’t what Mark was looking for, so what was he looking for? A mother perhaps for the young girls, or maybe something that had nothing to do with the family; whatever it was I knew I wasn’t the answer. “Well, can we get a move on with my first lesson? I am kinda sorta burning over here, or at least I feel like I am” I said, starting to remember the burn in my throat. Adam clapped his hands once and set his attention immediately on me. “Alrighty then, first things first, you don’t want to hunt humans, correct?” he asked, listening intently for my answer. “Right” I said, smiling at the fact that for once someone was listening to me. “Ok, then you’ll need to learn control first. You did amazing today in the woods, I saw. Mark had those humans tied up though; none of them were injured or bleeding, or really panicking too badly. They were screaming for help, but nothing more. My job is going to be to train you not to hunt a bleeding human, something that I’ve not ever done before so we can learn together.” And with that he grabbed my hand and dragged me directly into the middle of the woods, right where the humans were. He quickly untied a middle aged woman who had been pulling at the ropes. Her wrists started bleeding from the rope burns she had given herself and I was almost overtaken right then. I got a whiff of her and she smelled so appetizing that Adam had to hold me back in order to keep me from attacking her. She ran and when she did I started pursuit, only to get a slightly weaker aroma caught in my nostrils. I see a bobcat eyeing her, about to pounce. I change paths, decimating the cat, and giving the human woman a chance to escape. Adam watched on in wonder as I yet again restrained from murder. “I think you’ve tested yourself enough for one day” Adam murmured, looking at me in wonder. I nodded in agreement and let him take my hand again, feeling much safer holding his hand than just following him. We got back to the cave and everything seemed normal. Rachel was reading a story to the twins, who were sitting around a fire braiding each other’s hair. It wasn’t really bright, but it was enough to see that they were happy. Mark was sitting in the corner, watching over his family with loving eyes. Once I walked in the twins saw that we were holding hands and immediately started teasing Adam, making jokes about us, but I couldn’t be bothered by them. For the first time in my life I was happy.
***
(Anna’s POV)
It was cold outside; I didn’t see why Mark insisted I start watching this boy tonight. Shayla certainly didn’t watch the boy at night, why should I have to. Orders were orders though, so there I sat perched in a tree, staring through a bright window. It’s Christmas Eve, yet there is no tree or presents in the house. The boy is doing his homework in the living room when his father stumbles in, drunk. “Matthew, what do you think you’re doing?!” his father slurred, glaring at the boy. “I’m doing my homework, dad, just like you told me to do” he said, shrinking back when his dad bent down eye level to him. “You threatening me, boy?!” the father asked, his beer bottle dangling dangerously close to Matt’s face. “No, sir” the boy responded, right before the beer bottle collided with his skull. I didn’t think Shayla had mentioned that Matt was being abused. Maybe she didn’t know. Mark needed to know about this. I shot off fast as I could all the way to the woods to tell Mark. (Anna’s POV)