CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

Betsy lay there stunned, staring at the ceiling from her hospital bed. She couldn’t believe the whirlwind that had just stormed through her room. It was as if a beast had just come and gone in minutes, changing her world forever.

The thought of Rob’s talons grabbing her body and scratching her swirled through her mind. Then, his teeth sinking down into her neck, leaving her body shaking and quivering alone in her hospital bed, was all she could think about. She knew it had happened. She’d been turned. Again.

She knew the feeling because she once lived the life of a vampire, but it had been ages ago and it was a lifetime she chose to forget about. She remembered her days at the swamps with her mother and her siblings, wreaking havoc wherever they went. It was a time of extreme remorse and regret for her, and one that she would rather not revisit, but now she had no choice. It was a secret she’d been hiding for her entire life, desperately trying to keep from Rachel and all the others. Her childhood as a vampire. It was only because of the Red Chalice that she had been able to turn herself back to human, a chalice that ever since had been lost forever.

Here she lay, blood oozing from her neck and extremities, and all she wanted to do was to feed. The thought of sinking her teeth into someone’s neck was a feeling she had hoped never to have again in her life but now, it was all she could think about. It was the only thing in the world she needed and she wouldn’t stop until she had her first feed.

Then she had a flashback of the letter her mother had written her in her younger years before she even knew what it meant to be a vampire. She could see it so clearly in her head, as if she were actually holding it and reading it. It was all coming back to her so clearly now as she recited the letter from memory in a whisper:

Dear Betsy,

Now that you are older, I can tell you who you really are and who we really come from. I can tell you the secrets of our family’s past and let you in on our secret life. This information is confidential and must strictly remain within our side of the family. You are never to tell your children or your husband. You have to promise me that you will not share our family’s history with anyone and you will take it to your grave. For I am the only remaining survivor from the time and the only one who holds the secrets. Meet me in the cemetery at the tomb of your grandfather, and I will share with you what I know.

Love, your mother.

She sat up in her bed, waiting for someone to come in. She heard screams coming from the hallway outside of her room but didn’t know what they were screaming about. She stepped out of her bed onto the cold tile floor. Her bare feet felt freezing as she took small unsteady steps toward the doorway. She pulled back the curtain that created privacy from the passersby and peeked her head out. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Everywhere she turned there were puddles of blood and people running and screaming for their lives. The alarms were blaring now in the hallways and patient files and papers were being thrown around in disarray as the nurses and doctors ran away from the scene.

“What’s happening?” she yelled out.

“Are you crazy! You must flee for your life!” a doctor said, ushering her down the hallway.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“There’s no time for questions. This place is a madhouse. It’s doomed,” he said.

“Doomed?” she questioned in fear.

“Don’t ask questions. Just MOVE!” he yelled as he ran down the hall, leaving her in a trail of papers behind him.

“WAIT!” she yelled toward the doctor, but he was long gone.

“Excuse me?” she yelled at all the people running past her, hoping one would stop to help her make sense of this whole thing.

“Excuse me? YOU?” she said, looking at an old lady carrying her ventilator machine next to her.

“Not now!” the old lady blurted out.

“YOU?” She turned the other direction toward a mother running through the halls with her son whose leg was in a blue cast. “Can you please help me?”

“Help you?” she cried out and pointed to her son. “Does it look like I have a free hand to help?” she said as she carried her son down the hall screaming and crying.

In the distance she saw two policemen directing traffic down the hallway and toward the exit of the hospital.

“Officers, please! PLEASE!” she yelled. “What’s going on here?”

“Look at yourself, ma’am,” the officer said.

Betsy looked down at her scratched and bloody body and let out a shriek.

“Did he get you, too?” the officer asked. “Where were you when this happened?”

She didn’t know how to answer him. She knew exactly what he was talking about and realized that everyone was running from Rob. He must have gone into some other patients’ rooms after he left hers and started turning them too. Now, this whole place was turning into one big bloodbath.

“He who?” she asked, trying to play innocent and dumb.

“The cannibal?” the officer said.

“CANNIBAL?” she said, looking him in the eyes.

She was surprised to hear Rob called a cannibal, but she figured to the outside eye, it did look like cannibalism. They couldn’t really think that he was a vampire, especially not having any clue that vampires existed in the world.

“I gotta go!” Betsy said quickly as she ran into the janitor’s closet next to the police officers.

“Ma’am! You can’t go in there!” the officer said, chasing after her.

She continued to run toward the back of the dark closet and sat in the corner, hoping that he wouldn’t find her.

She saw a large flashlight turn on and the officer started shining it around the closet and on all the shelves.

“Where are you?” he yelled in an authoritative voice.

Then the light hit her eyes and the door slammed behind him. She quickly locked it, holding him hostage in the room.

“What are you doing?” the officer said as he dropped his light.

“You should have helped me when I needed it,” Betsy said, as her long sharp talons popped out of the ends of her fingers.

“What’s happening?” the officer said, shrieking. “You’re one of them, too!” he yelled. “HELP!”

Before she could control herself she had dug her talons deep into the side of his face, scratching him to bits, and then she started licking the dripping blood that oozed out of the wounds.

“STOP IT!” he shrieked. “Please! Don’t eat me!”

Betsy couldn’t believe how good it felt to finally taste blood again. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed it all these years. She thought it was a thing of the past that could not resurrect itself, but clearly she was wrong. This was better than any sensation she could ever have. The taste of fresh, raw, warm human blood was something she couldn’t explain. It brought back so many memories of her childhood that she’d thought were gone forever. She could never have imagined revisiting them again, but here she was sucking the blood from the police officer and enjoying every second of it.

As his body lay quivering on the ground, Betsy knew she had to get out of there, and fast, before she was caught. She suddenly felt like a teenager again, running from authority figures and trying to escape punishment.

She pushed his body under a shelf in the janitor’s closet hoping that he wouldn’t be found, at least not anytime soon, and then quickly exited the dark room. As she got back into the hallway she saw the other police officer staring at her with beady eyes, as if he knew what had just happened. Before he could open his mouth to say a word she started running down the hall as fast as she could. She heard loud footsteps coming down the hall after her and feared he was following her. She ran and ran until she was feeling fatigued and out of breath.

Then, all of a sudden, she felt two hands grab onto her shoulders and pull her backwards to a complete stop.

“Let go of me!” she shrieked. “I didn’t do anything! It wasn’t me!”

“What are you talking about?” the man said, standing behind her.

She then felt his arms tighten around her body in an embrace and she couldn’t figure out what was going on. She looked down and tried to pull his arms off of her, but they wouldn’t budge. She couldn’t get free from him no matter how hard she tried.

“What’s wrong?” the man said. “Aren’t you glad to see me?”

Betsy suddenly began to recognize the man’s voice and then looked down and saw the yellow and white gold braided wedding band upon his finger. She knew who it was.

“What are you doing here?” she said, looking her husband in the eyes.

“Aren’t you happy to see me?” he asked, with tears welling up in his eyes.

Betsy stood there silent, not responding to his questions and puzzled by the tears in his eyes.

“Why are you here?” she said finally, after a minute of awkward silence. “Why did you come here?”

“The hospital called and said you were in danger. Everyone is coming to pick up their loved ones and transfer them to the hospital in the city. You have to come with me and we will get you help!” he cried.

“Are you crazy? I’m not going to another hospital! I’m done with this place anyway!” she yelled back.

“Betsy, my love, look at you. You have blood all over you and your body is all scratched up. Do you see that?” he said, looking her body up and down. “What happened to you? Did he get you?”

“Why is everyone asking if he got me?” she yelled. “I’m standing here, right? I’m fine! I’m not dead!” she snapped back with an attitude.

“Listen, honey, you’re acting very strange. I think you’d better come with me and I’ll bring you to the hospital. You should really get checked out,” he said, grabbing her by the hand.

“I’m not going anywhere with you!” Betsy said, pulling her hand away from his in a rage.

She couldn’t understand why she was acting this way, but she couldn’t control her emotions. She knew she loved this guy, but she couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t able to show it or feel that emotion. All she wanted to do was get away from him.

“BETSY! GET OVER HERE NOW!” he yelled, now getting angry with her.

“I’m NOT coming to any hospital! Now get lost!” she yelled back at him.

“I know what happened. I know it was that guy, Rob! He came to our house. He came looking for Rachel and said he wanted to speak to you, too,” he said.

Betsy looked at him and began to worry that he knew her secret. As she saw images of her mother’s letter flashing before her eyes, which specifically stated that he was never to know about her life as a vampire, she began to get scared.

“What do you know?” she asked, fearing that he was in on her secrets. She knew that if he really did know what was going on with her that she’d have to kill him; there would be no other way.

“Trust me, Betsy, I know everything. I’ve known all this time,” he said, looking at her with disappointment.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, then waited a few moments as he looked back at her and began crying.

“I know everything,” he said again.

She had feared this moment would come at some point, but never actually imagined it happening. She looked around the now empty and quiet hallway which was once filled with screams of panic to realize that they were the only two left in the hospital. She didn’t know how it had happened but everyone had evacuated around her, leaving her and her husband standing there with only the loud noise of the ringing alarm bells.

She looked around to be doubly sure that nobody else was in the building and then she looked at him with blood red eyes which sent his eyes spinning in circles in his head. She was putting a spell on him and sending him into a trance that he would never get out of. His eyeballs rolled around and around as his body started to convulse, and he dropped to the ground shaking and screaming. Foam started coming out of his mouth and smoke out of his ears. She felt awful watching this happen, but knew it was the only way to erase his memory for good and to keep him sedated for the rest of his life. She knew it had to happen despite the guilt that was flooding her body.

“I’m sorry!” she whispered in his ear as he lay there practically comatose, with clouds of black smoke around him.

She did not expect him to reply as he lay there quiet and still. The only thing moving now was the rise and fall of his chest which assured her that he was still alive.

She stood to her feet and looked around the hallway, trying to remember its sterile perfection only hours ago. It was hard to imagine this space ever being a hospital hallway and knew that this was all her fault. She knew she had to leave the scene before something bad happened to her.

Then she remembered the last words Rob said to her as he turned her.

I’m going to go get Rachel and make her my bride. Once she vows to love me forever we will be the most powerful vampire duo on the planet and ruin the rest of the covens for good. She will be my slave and I will have her undo any good she’s ever done in the world and make it a miserable, evil place for everyone living in it. Mark my words. SHE WILL BE MINE!

A shiver ran down her spine as she repeated those horrible words over and over. She couldn’t imagine those words coming from anyone’s mouth but then realized that he was part of the evil coven and was one of Violet’s subjects. It was a name she couldn’t believe she had recalled from the past, but knew she was trouble and knew she would be after her if she ever found out that Betsy was a vampire again.

Feeling scared, she knew she had to do something. Then she remembered clearly that she had used her crystal ball to show Rob where Rachel was. She couldn’t believe she’d done this, but he had put her under a trance and made her do whatever he asked.

“I HAVE TO SAVE HER!” she yelled out into the air, hearing her voice echo around her.

She knew she didn’t have much time to find him and rescue her daughter from his evil wrath.