Ruby didn't know who she was or where she was when she woke. At first, she couldn't open her eyes, too lost within the darkness in her mind to feel the brush of her lashes. A familiar thudding echoed in her head. Thump. Thump. Thump. When at last she pried open her heavy lids, her vision swirled.
A smooth white ceiling. A blank space for her to gather herself.
Ruby. I am Ruby Diaz. She swallowed hard against a sand dry throat. I am 24 and last night I. . . last night I. . . last night. . .
Her brows furrowed. She couldn't remember what she'd done the night before. Thump-thump-thump-thump-
She shot up in a smooth, fluid motion and took in her surroundings. She laid on a twin size, the slate gray cover thrown over her legs. The rest of the room was small with a dark wood desk and chair shoved into the space between the wall and the bed and a dark brown door she assumed led to a bath. The walls were of a dark blue pinstripe wallpaper.
The room was wholly unfamiliar to her. Worry pricked at her heart as she swung her legs over the edge and - paused, staring now at her legs. The black knit tights she'd worn beneath her dress were entirely torn and blood crusted. However, it wasn't the blood that caught her attention but her skin.
Her legs were a warm beige and bound to display the extremely attractive veins beneath her skin. It was something that, although inconvenient, was inevitable and normal to her. The legs she was staring at now were smooth and entirely clear as if she were a porcelain doll. They were so smooth that she had to poke them to make sure they weren't glass. The skin still dipped and squished beneath her finger but she gave herself a sharp pinch to be sure. There was barely any pain for how hard she squeezed. The two red crescents left behind faded almost instantaneously.
She recoiled, suddenly very aware of the feeling of her own flesh. Something was tugging at her mind, begging and screaming for her to remember. But she couldn't. For the life of her, Ruby had no idea what was wrong with her, where she was, or what had happened the night before. Did it have something to do with why her legs were so weird? With why she felt so weird?
A shudder raced through her followed by an intense, discomfortable feeling. The feeling was a mix of both thirst and hunger as if she hadn't drank anything or eaten for days. For a few long moments, she continued to sit there, pondering over her confusing circumstances and this new alien body of her's.
When she realized she wouldn't get any answers sitting alone in some stranger's room, she slipped off the bed. Another shiver passed through her, bones and all, as her bare feet touched the floor.
The hallway made her stop dead as a memory of strong, emotionless men dragging her and someone else through one just like this. Then more images came. The car accident, Halle and her lying on morgue trays, the powerful man whom she'd been both terrified of and drawn to.
Not a man, she remembered, a vampire.
She cringed back, her chest rising and falling fast as everything came back to her in a violent torrent. Talon, Lexi, Rex, and Beau. The Dixie chick. The metal digging into her stomach and the blond vampire drinking from her and then giving her his blood.
"Oh my god," she breathed, doubling over herself. Why had she agreed to his offer?
Would it have mattered if she hadn't? She thought of Halle who'd been turned without giving anyone her permission.
The shimmering, dizzying haze of the night before returned and that feeling, the strange mix of thirst and hunger, slammed into her causing her to jerk straight and freeze. She inhaled deeply. Tentatively, she ran her tongue over her teeth. A vague pain shot through her tongue and blood bloomed in her mouth. She had fangs. Short as kitten teeth but sharper than her pocket knife.
Her hunger and fear rose inside of her like a funnel, swirling and spinning and confusing her until she could no longer take it. Ruby began slinking down the hallway, both hating and relishing how silent she was as she went. Her feet were nothing but a breeze blowing across the runner.
Where was Halle?
"I will take you to him," said a deep, unfamiliar voice behind her. Ruby whirled, the movement quick and smooth. Lethal. It was the vampire who'd dragged her non-too kindly through the halls.
She didn't say anything, too afraid to hear that her voice was also changed. She only nodded.
He didn't try to grab for her but instead walked past her. Wordlessly they went. The halls were filled with soft blue light from the towering mosaic windows. She hadn't realized until now that they'd been walking through patches of sunlight entirely unscathed.
They arrived at the elaborately carved double doors with the wolf's head knocker short minutes later. Not even an entire second passed before they were called in. The guard opened the door and moved to the side to allow her to pass. He left without another word.
"I'll have fresh clothes sent to you both after this."
Ruby turned and found the leader in the same spot as the night before. Today he wore a black, velvet tux. His unique hair styled up on top of his head. Only, today he offered her a slight smile. Halle was there too in the same spot she had been before but along with them was a woman Ruby didn't recognize. She wore all black with a long, flowing coat. Her expression was even more severe than the leader's.
She moved cautiously to Halle's side. Her knees were wobbly at the sight of her kind of, sort of friend. The only familiar face who also happened to be a reminder of the darkest night of each of their lives. Halle looked just as relieved to see her. Her sun kissed skin was richer, her hair glossier, and her eyes glittered.
"I'm glad to see you both decided to complete your transformations," the leader said, drawing both of their attention.
"What happened to us?" Ruby asked.
"You died."
"Again?"
"Again."
She felt Halle stiffen beside her. Ruby's stomach was twisting at the thought. There was nothing she could think to reply to that. She had died twice. But how?
As if reading her thoughts, the leader said, "When you do a blood exchange, in order to turn you need to be on the brink of death. Our blood can save small injuries; papercuts, split lips, surface level stab wounds, but it cannot heal death. Though you have to die it is in the end what we call a fake death. Your soul doesn't truly leave your body but everything on a molecular level begins to shut down and at the same time, new and entirely unheard of DNA is booming into existence inside of you.
"When you wake, your body is in a state of limbo. Hanging by a thread between death and the undead. By drinking blood, you chose between the two. The blood you'd consumed, combined with the ritual of the blood exchange, creates a chemical reaction and kills you. This time, a true death. The human you is gone and you are reborn as a vampire."
"Everything down to a molecular level. Ruby peered at her hands as if she could see into her own DNA. Her mind spun. Even her own cells were changed. What could that mean for her physical abilities? Her day to day life?
"It will take time to adjust," he said, "that is why I have teachers."
"Teachers?" Halle asked, wary.
He nodded, "Teachers. A certain number of my vampires who train younger vampires on how to grow into their new skin. You will be trained in our history and will learn the necessary information to survive. Along with that is physical and power training."
"What is power training and why do we need physical training?" Ruby asked, incredulous, "We're vampires. Quick and deadly."
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly, "You still need to know how to fight to protect yourself and your peers."
"From what?"
"That will all be explained in time. For now," he jerked his chin towards the other vampire beside him, "This is Emelia. She is our Power Adviser."
The woman stepped forward, her thick brown hair swinging at her shoulders, "Today, you two will be tested for any powers along with any other new vampires at the Bell Rite. If you have a power then you will begin training it immediately to protect our people. If not, then you will go on with the others."
Ruby and Halle shared a glance. There was so much they didn't know. This new world was so vast and the information they needed was seemingly endless. Seeing this look between them, Emelia added, "You most likely won't have any power, or if you do, it will be something simple. Air, water, earth, or fire. The usual."
"So. . .magic?" Halle asked, her brows pinched.
The woman's red glossed mouth screwed at this and with obvious distaste she said, "Sure. Just like magic." With a sigh, she crossed the space between them and snatched up Halle's wrist. Halle tried to pull free but it seemed the vampire was too strong. Unbothered, Emelia ran her hand over Halle's whole arm, "Sometimes, I can feel if a vampire has power just by a brief use of my own." She moved away from Halle and reached for Ruby's.
Ruby, being too tired to fight, allowed the creepy woman to grab her. Her purple fingernails danced over Ruby's arm in feather-light touches and other than the woman's skin, Ruby didn't feel anything.
"How does it work? Your power?" She asked.
Emelia didn't so much as look at her as she answered, "I'm like a siren for it. My power is my song, and it lures the connection that the power creates between nature and that specific vampire from the deep, dark surface of their soul."
"As a human," Orpheus joined in, "you cannot access the power nature gifted you. But as a vampire all it takes is the Bell Rite and some training."
"Mhm," Emelia mumbled. The vampire's grip started to leave her arm when she went suddenly still and grasped Ruby's arm tighter. Emelia's eyes, which had been hooded in a bored expression, fluttered over her arm as if she were reading something Ruby couldn't. Then, just as quickly as her strange reaction came on, it was gone and she let Ruby's arm drop unceremoniously.
Ruby vaguely noticed the leader's eyes boring into her as she stared at her arm, hoping to see whatever Emelia had.
"Don will show you back to your rooms," The leader said, "Shower. I'll send someone to give you both a tour afterwards."
She could tell that meant they were dismissed as Emelia and him bent their heads in conversation that even Ruby couldn't pick out with her new hearing. However, she was confused and disoriented and wasn't going to let him decide what pieces of information to share and what not to.
"Excuse me," she said curtly. Both vampires' eyes fell on her. The leader's mouth was tight, a warning in his eyes. Swallowing, she asked, "Are we ever going to get our questions answered?"
His chin rose and those eyes, brown with green, grey, and gold, watched her. Ruby didn't break his gaze. Halle stiffened beside her and Emelia backed a step away. He seemed like a man whose decisions were never questioned, but she couldn't feel completely lost for any longer. As if someone had dumped her in the middle of the ocean and told her to find land with no compass and only her legs to propel her.
That dark chasm inside of her sighed, the air of it's sweet breath sending tingles along her nerves and cold racing through her blood. She'd forgotten all about it and now that she was officially one of the undead, it seemed to have grown ever more apparent. Would she have to live every day with this black icy hole inside of her? Was it her grief threatening to consume her, or something more?
For a brief second, Ruby thought she saw it's dark depths reflected back to her in the leader's eyes. But the feeling was gone before it could form. Finally, his red lips parted and, slowly, he said, "It will all be explained to you today."
Ruby nodded and, not daring to speak more, left the room with Halle.
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