Kathryn

6

When the hissing started I scrunched myself between the floor and my mattress, trying to get away from the truth. The truth that I had been those girls a little over an hour ago.

Monsters.

Driven by thirst.

My humanity stripped away and the only thing left was the basest urge to feed, to quench the bone-dry thirst that consumed me.

I was a monster.

I might not be right now, but I was.

And I didn't know how to deal with that.

So I hide.

I hide from them and me.

Mostly me.

Bastien looked to my cell as soon as he entered the room and he frowned. I shrank farther against the wall. I didn't understand this reaction I was having. I was a fighter. I didn't hide from things. My daddy told me to face my fears head on, but I still couldn't pull myself out from under this bed. Maybe it was a combination of grief, shock, and all the changes going on physically.

But I was stuck under this bed.

He went about feeding the other girls and I notice he didn't take the same care with them as he did with me. Even though I couldn't see him, I heard every single movement. My hearing was so sharp, I heard the buzzing of wings right outside the door. A fly or mosquito maybe.

"Wha' be wrong wit' dis one?"

I made myself as tiny as I could when I heard Henry's voice.

"I don't know. I'll deal with her when I finish with the others. Dominic wants to inspect them after they've fed."

"I can..."

"No," Bastien barked. "You are not to touch any of them unless given my express permission or they break the rules. Those are our master's orders. Even Dom cannot supersede them."

"DIs one be damaged," Henry argued.

"Did she break the rules?"

"No."

"Did I say you could touch her?"

"No." He sounded like a sullen four-year-old who had just been told no chocolate before dinner.

Bastien stalked toward him and he seemed to grow in stature. Power rolled off him in waves and all of the girls, including me, flinched away from it.

"There is a reason our master put me in charge of the new acquisitions. The turn is different for each one. They go through phases of change. Her mind is most likely trying to come to grips with her new reality and she'll be fine in another hour. You can't assume she's damaged until I invade her thoughts and see if she succumbed to the madness that can sometimes overtake them."

Madness? Was that what this was? Was I going mad?

"No, Kathryn. You are not. You just need to sleep. Go to sleep."

And that was the last thought I had for a very long time.

***

The next time I woke up, I heard the sound of a television in the background. The news was on. They were talking about record highs with the heat wave rolling through.

This time I was sleepy when I woke up.

Maybe it was all just a horrible dream and I'm back at university. Neely's watching CNN for her journalism class project.

"You're not at home, Kathryn."

My head swiveled to see Bastien leaning against the doorframe watching me like a creeper.