The Human Condition

The Way You Bleed | Book 2

It was another two days before I could function without my only motive being based on being able to feed and another three after that before Luke took me out of the apartment. I spoke to my parents over Skype, acting as if nothing was wrong. I had to tell them, I just didn't know how. Luke had 'people' go to their place and clean it up before they returned home and with the threat of Dominik gone everyone's lives went back to normal.

Except for mine.

Curtis and Luke with the help of Owen had practically shifted me from my apartment with Mandy and Cam took my place there as well as my shifts at the store. Mandy was given the keys to my car although the whole process felt more like I was leaving, being taken from their lives as I no longer belonged there. It was something I had always loved, a memory of a simpler time before all of this would have been possible and it was gone. After those first couple of days of moving me, even Owen kept his distance and if he was around, he never managed to look at me and I didn't understand why.

I spoke to Mandy over the phone, all three of the men decided it would be best for me to be kept away from her either until we were all sure I had the control needed to avoid using her as another blood donor. It was the longest we'd be apart, again and we were both struggling with the separation. We knew it was for the best but it didn't make it any easier.

Michael's father was on a rampage, the death of his son had left him raging his own war against us in a bid to find the one who did it. Owen and Luke found someone who matched Dominik's description and Cam with the help of some of the other guys took the newborn down. He matched the CCTV footage and somehow they had managed to lose the rest of what happened before and after his death. The bait the men set took the heat off and no one seemed to ask where I went.

The rejection I felt from what had been my life made dealing with the changes easier. It seemed I didn't belong there and amongst my new vampire family there was a sense of security. Luke was right about coming to help me after a change, only I was sure he wasn't expecting to have been the one to do it.

Mr. Sloan was told I moved home, unable to deal with life here and since I had the incubus, well vampire attack and he accepted it. Cam took my place well. He didn't do as many shifts now with the Watchers. His experience more than he ever had to deal with and civilian life with Mandy was setting them up for some kind of future. I could hear it in her voice when she talked about him and no matter what happened now, I knew she was going to be looked after, loved and that's all I could want for her.

Vampires cling to their human life, the older they get the more they appreciate it. I didn't have a choice in what I clung to as Luke dictated it all but at the same time I was thankful, as I couldn't bring myself to care. The detached feeling of being lost didn't help either.

Three weeks after my changing I could finally see Mandy again and we were going at midday in a bid to make sure the slowly taking over sun had me feeling weaker. Tony came over to make sure I could keep the hunger under control. He came weekly; the others were simply necessary pickings. I don't know where Curtis and Luke found them but I only had one other death since that first night.

Tony helped; a lot.

He had been around our kind for a long time, his vitamin range and transfusions kept him going and with the deal set up he was only building his wealth. If anything he helped me more than Luke and Curtis and he no longer controlled where or how I fed. The fact he showed me trust helped my suddenly lacking confidence.

In those first few times, it started with him slicing into one of his veins, learning how to suck and take what I needed without harming him. Then he instructed me how to bite and where. It was weird being told what to do by a human, he made it easier and with my nerves racing before seeing Mandy he could tell something was off.