Chapter 2 Two

It's been three weeks since my introduction to my new family. Tia had told me everything I needed to know about the house; she said they had been living in it for forty years, but she was brought here twenty years ago. At first it was just Jereum and Jhan before Jhan impurified her sixty-one years ago and lastly Leya,who was impurified just nine months ago. She also told me that vampires found it very hard to express emotions as love, care or affection but some found it easier, and these vampires were called living vampires but they have been dubbed Abnormals. They were also visibly less pale than other vampires. We could also recover from grave injuries and could grow back entire limbs. Today was a Saturday, Jhan and Jereum were not at home when I woke up and Leya was at the back of the house—tending to a small garden she took pleasure in.

I was sitting on one of the sofas, waiting for Jhan to come back from wherever he went to so I could bombard him with the mountain of questions I had piled up. I was still in pyjamas, the light blue colour of the material it was made of was gave a nice contrast to my dark skin.

I was still thinking about what Jhan said about me being a Supreme and whatever he meant by that. I hadn't eaten since the day of my introduction, although during the first month I stayed in that attic, (which was now officially my bedroom) Jhan had given me a large jug of thick blood that I drank in less than three seconds. If being a Supreme meant that I didn't need to eat for long periods of time then... No, I hadn't seen any of them eat anything either.

Something touched my shoulders, or someone, startling me. I jut my head to my left where I saw a figure behind me. Tia walked from where she had mysteriously appeared to other side of the sofa and helped herself. She was also still in pyjamas. I looked at her at first, then turned my head to the small table that was in the middle of the three sofas. An ornate vase was set upon it with bunch of fresh flowers I assumed Leya had put there.

"I don't sleep, these are just very comfy," She said, brushing her hands over the silky material of the pyjamas she wore and I completely ignored her.

"How are you doing?" Her voice was soft and caring. I didn't know how to answer the question; the fact that I could not remember anything from my past except for the fact that I was a cancer patient would trouble anybody. Nobody gave me any answers and when I had tried asking Leya, she said Jhan would be able to help me. Now someone asks how 'I'm doing'? 'Well if you must know I think I'm great actually! Yippee!!!'

"I can take you to the playground later... It's this place where many vampires meet to test our strength levels and other abilities."

I pretended not to hear her although I did like the idea.

She heaved out a breath. "You must have a lot of questions... I can help you." I turned to meet her blue orbs. She gave a small smile which I did not return.

But I did have some questions.

"So you—we cannot tolerate sunlight?" I asked, I remembered Leya had told me something like that. She did not answer instead she stood up and headed for the windows. 'What is she doing?' I asked myself.

On reaching the closed windows she turned around and looked at me. I looked at her, we just stared at each other for about five seconds—she was beautiful. I had almost gotten lost in her pretty blue eyes when she very suddenly pried apart the curtains. Rays of golden sunlight kissed her skin and for a second nothing happened. 'Hmm,' I thought. But before I could think any further she let out an ear defending shriek.

I was entered panic mode; her skin seemed to be evaporating off into the air as some kind of whitish steam.

I rushed to her, skipping over the chair, and dragging her away from the sunlight towards the staircase where I sat her down on the first step. The skin on the side of her face and left arms was burnt away. I looked at the wounds carefully; they were only superficial. She seemed dazed and she rested her head on my chest. I watched the scorched skin start to heal, at first a thin translucent layer of membrane stretched from the sides of her undamaged skin and covering the open injury. Then the translucent membrane started to grow and thicken, taking the colour of her skin as it grew, until it had grew back into mature skin. Not a single drop of blood, I noticed.

"That's what happens when we go into sunlight," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry Tia. I shouldn't have asked that question—"

"No it's okay." She was refilled with energy as she popped her head back up with a very wide smile. "You see? I'm fine."

"The sap from a specific herb prevents the sunlight from damaging our skin, although it only works to a minimal extent."

'Well that explains a lot—I mean a factor like sunlight limiting their movements will be inevitable to escape, except they'd go around wearing five layers of thick cotton under the hot sunlight.'

She rested her head back onto my chest, I hesitated at first but then I put my arm around her to keep myself from falling backwards—only if that was my reason.

"Who was I?" I asked after a few seconds of awkward silence.

'I knew it' I thought. She wouldn't tell me she'd just like the others—wants to keep me here for God knows how long. I turned my gaze back to the ornate vase accepting my defeat when she spoke up.

"If I tell you this, you cannot let anyone know, promise?"

I nodded without even thinking twice and felt a cool draught rush through the windows. She raised her head from my chest and I watched her glanced furtively to either side of the room. She looked back at me. "You were dying of a cancer when Jereum found you," I was about to ask her how he found me when I was in a hospital but she continued, "It's how we keep up the population, we vampires don't just impurify anyone. You see, we give people a choice," Her voice had dropped even lower than a whisper and I was surprised that I could still hear every word she said, clearly.

"So he was there on purpose..." I reasoned to myself.

"But I don't understand—"

She raised a finger to her lips, clearly telling me to keep my voice down.

"Oh, I'm sorry. So, you ask people before impurifying them?"

"Not just anyone, people who are dying—who want so desperately to live." She said.

"But how could you tell?" I asked her.

"The mind's-eye," She said it as if those three words had magically endowed me with all the knowledge I needed to know.

"Jhan is gifted, he has an ability only very few vampires possess; the ability to read and manipulate someone's mind and memories." She said.

I was still as confused as the time she said 'the mind's-eye' so I licked my lips and darted my eyes to either side of the room. She sighed out a low breath, clearly seeing that I had not understood a word she said.

"He can read emotions?" I asked her, hoping that it had something to do with that. "Well... Yes. But it's more than that. It's actually very complicated we, without it, can never really understand it," She said.

At this point I was actually beginning to understand a little of it. "So what you are saying is that, 'I' decided to be impurified?"

She nodded stiffly with a small smile of contentment.

"But why?" I asked myself.

"That's what you have to figure out." I wanted to tell her that the question was meant for myself but I rather did not bother.

"You know..." She drew closer to me, "I can help you figure out what you want to know."

'Even if I wanted to leave this house to figure it out, Jhan will never let me, unless I sneak out, the thought was satisfying. I will sneak out this night and go to the hospital... I don't remember which hospital it was.'

My heart skipped a beat, and I remembered suffocating on that hospital bed which made me wonder; how did I get to that hospital in the first place? 'Didn't I have a family? Parents? Siblings? A whole life probably? School, friends? Places I loved visiting, foods I loved eating, TV shows I loved watching. Or was my life always hooked up to a life supporter, had I always had cancer throughout my life?' The thoughts came crashing into my head and I shrunk at the possibility. My mind was racing and I had a sinking feeling in my chest as if a void had opened in me and was swallowing me from the inside out.

"If you want I could ask Jhanabout—,"

"No, it's okay I'll ask him myself." I couldn't risk anyone figuring out that I wanted to know about my life, because then, they'll keep a closer eye on me. I needed to gain their trust so I could sneak away and figure it out myself.

I glanced at her, clearly reluctant to ask the question but desperate for a change of topic, "So... Tell me about yourself?" She seemed stunned by the question.

"You want to know about me?" She asked, smiling brightly. 'Please don't make this weird,' I thought.

"Well, when Jhan found me I was a victim of a car crash, a trailer from the opposite direction hit our SUV"—okay, I was beginning to regret asking the question now—"and didn't stop, we were going on a family vacation... My family was killed. I had to watched my sister bleed to death." Her voice had dropped to a very low whisper and she didn't try to hide the sadness in her voice but I wasn't going to start to pat her on the shoulders no matter how sad I felt for her—the last thing I wanted was any form of physical contact what so ever between us—I mean, I had to pull her from those sunbeams, so I can be excused there and I had to put my arm around her when she was resting her head on my chest so I can also be excused there also. "And I couldn't do anything because both my legs were crushed."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked I—,"

"It's okay." She locked her fingers together and rested them on her thighs.

"I was in so much pain and I knew I was losing a lot blood. I was at the verge of death when all the pain I was feeling vanished and I saw myself looking at my bloody form that was dying on the road. I was so confused and that's when I saw Jhan beside me. By then I didn't know who he was but my first instinct was to ask him for help. He told me that I was dying and that I had less than five minutes to choose life as an impurified vampire or I could die peacefully. He made it so clear that I choose life, I would become a demonic creature and that dying now would even be better than living like that."

She paused and I saw the glistening light of tears at the corners of her eyes—I still wasn't going to pat her shoulders though.

"At that very moment I wanted to die with my family, but then I realized that if I died, I wouldn't be able to remember them. And that trailer that hit us," She hissed the last words, "I needed to get revenge for my family, so I decided to live. And right after I made my choice I woke up in this house; in my room." She finished and there was a long pause. Silence fell between us, I wanted to apologize again but then I decided to ask her another question.

"Did you get your revenge?" I asked her slowly.

She straightened her back, frowning, "Of course I did, Jhan helped me locate him. It was an eye for an eye; he took away the ones I loved, I took away his family and left a note on their bodies," She said.

"What did the note say?" I asked.

She looked at me carefully before answering "I wrote; they really loved you, just as my family loved me."

A tear, that had taken it's time to roll slowly down her face, dropped to her thighs. Was she crying? I thought we couldn't feel love of care, unless she was a living vampire... No, if she was Leya would have told me.

She heaved out a low breath and wiped away a tear.

"I'm so sorry Tia," I said, truly feeling a little hurt for her.

She looked at me. "Do you know what pains me the most? The bastard did not even call for our aid, he just left us to die!"

I did not know which surprised and shocked me more; her clear expression of deep pain and emotion for or the cruel dark nature of what she did to that trailers driver family. I mean, they didn't deserve what came to them, although the trailers driver did. I was confused on the thought of to which side would her actions be justified; killing the trailers driver and putting his innocent family in pain, or killing his innocent family and enacting an eye for an eye justice on him, I knew I wasn't going to figure out the answer.

"I'm sorry Tia." The voice came from in front of us, it scared the colour out of me—I didn't know someone had stepped into the room but Tia did not even jerk. It was Jhan's voice, he stepped into view and then a second person came as well—Jereum.

"I'm sorry." Jereum's voice was rougher. I knew the amount of points of hatred I was earning from Jereum for this. I knew he liked Tia in a way not of love of affection but just of the sake of people liking people—if that made any sense. I knew he was hate glaring at me so intensely so I tried my best not to look at him.

She stood up and climbed up the stairs without another word. Her steps fading as she went higher.

Leya bustled in through the supposed back door holding a wet dripping shrub in left, yellow rubber gloved, hand. Her long blonde hair was dripping water and she was still in a light-blue night dress. She stopped short at the sight of us. I looked at Jereum, whose face was contorted with a mixture of anger and disgust. Seizing the distraction, I stood up quickly to make up the stairs.

"Kaldar."

'Hell!'

I stopped and turned around to face them. They were both dressed in brown leather jackets, black denim jeans and black boots.

"We need to introduce you to the higher court."

I raised an eyebrow, mimicking what he does, and saw the annoyance start to build up in Jereum's face as he contorted his face in the same way he did with Leya. Leya was still standing at the spot she had been, her big brown eyes looked even bigger today.

Taking advantage of the distraction, (something I had failed in doing) she brushed past me, scurrying up the stairs with the dripping shrub still in her left hand.

"Now? Or..." I asked, hoping that he'd say 'No, tomorrow I was just informing you'.

"Of course now! Or do you have something better to do?" Jereum spat.

'I do you moron!' The thought was satisfying.

"No, no. We could go when the sun's down," Jhan said, offering a small smile which I happily returned. Jereum just looked pissed all the way. He looked at Jhan with disbelief in his eyes as if Jhan had just decided to kick him out of the clan for me.

"Oh, thank you." I tried to sound as uninterested as I could but it was impossible to hide the contentment in my voice. And Jereum's face at the moment was a sight to see, I wish I had... My phone! Coming to think of it I don't have a phone, I'll ask Jhan about it later.

"It doesn't matter when we go anyway," Jereum said begrudgingly. "Follow me; I'll give you the threads." Jereum approached the stairs and I jumped out of the way in order to avoid him hitting, and knocking me down.

I tramped up the stairs, catching up to Jereum who was already lolling his back against his room door.

At seeing me he twisted the knob and stepped in. I stepped in after him to view a well arranged minimalistic living space. A single wooden table and a chair at the corner, neatly dressed bed, three drawer wooden cabinets with a reading lamp on top. All too arranged for a person like Jereum.

He walked around his bed to the wall mounted wardrobe that was facing us. Pulled the doors open and pulled out identical clothes to the one he and Jhan were wearing.

Tossing the clothes to me he said, "Put those on once it's time." I caught the clothes. He approached the door and I followed him out. I was already on my way to the attic door when he called.

"Oh, and Kaldra."

"It's Kaldar." I corrected. He didn't answer to the correction he just narrowed his gaze on me. "Do NOT be late."

He speed walked past me and started down the stairs.

"Use the bathroom there," He said over the distance. Indeed there was a small door just right beside the main door of his room which I guessed was the door to the bathroom.

Right after that I went back to my attic-room and took a short nap. However, sleeping was not like how it used to be—or how I thought it to be given the fact that I was a dying cancer patient. It was more like shutting down all the muscles in my body, while my brain is still fully active. I could do it for a specific amount of time; an hour or two give or take a few twenty minutes. Leya had honed this skill over time (given the fact that she was the most active sleeper in the house); she could stare at a wall clock, digital alarm clock, watch etc. While in this sleep mode and wait till a specific time to wake up (which of course means that she sleeps with her eyes open... Creepy)

I went into sleep mode for eight hours and when I woke up it was already dark. 'What is the time?... Oh, no. The meet, if I'm late Jereum will finally have a legit reason to scorn me!'

My attic-room was dark but I had realized—some nights ago—that I no longer necessarily needed light to navigate around the house. I could see almost perfectly at dark. I sprinted to Jereum's door and twisted the knob, good, it's unlocked.