"What?" I asked my eyes widened in pure shock.
"Well you see it's a very long story that goes from a few years before your birth up until...well...today." Rick said scratching the back of his head.
"Tell me now!" I growled.
"April, it's too long for me to tell you right now." Rick said looking at me with a serious look I've never saw on his face.
"Promise me you'll make a book about it and give it to me as a birthday gift!" I demanded.
"I will. I promise." Rick said solemnly.
I sighed and laid back down. What could he know about my family that I didn't? Did he abduct them for Drake's and Trace's experiments? Was I a result of the birth of two experiments who had survived? Was I not the first Tiger-human?
"April, I can tell you one thing. Your real father I had to kill. He's the reason you're like this." Rick said as he held my right hand.
"How can I trust you're telling the truth?" I asked him.
I could see the weariness in his eyes as he leaned back in his seat and sighed. He placed his feet on the bed and looked at the ceiling as if contemplating his answer. I grew weary of his silence after about Twenty minutes and finally yelled at him.
"How can I trust you when you can't even answer a simple question? You've been sitting there for the past twenty minutes staring at the ceiling! You and the other vampires are so untrustworthy! You all lie, manipulate, and steal from those you find inferior! Well guess what? I'm not a weak inferior child! I'm a woman now, who, mind you, has grown irksome with your insufferable silence!" I yelled at him.
I was sitting there glaring at him as he turned to me to say something. Unfortunately, he couldn't say anything since the door flew open to reveal Peter. Peter was grinning like Cheshire Cat, and I shivered noticing his pearly white teeth were stained with what smelled like human blood. His eyes were a livid blood red, and he was overjoyed for some reason.
"Martha has declared that she'll spare April..." Peter was saying.
Rick stood up and walked over to Peter in a few swift strides. I sat there watching them curiously as Rick studied Peter's eyes and smiled. His smile unnerved me as if he planned to keep me here forever. Then Peter looked at me and that smile he had when he entered faded into deep unsettling frown. I gulped as he opened his mouth to speak knowing something bad would come from this.
"But April has to fight creatures in the arena every day. She can't leave the new compound and she will be transported in a dog carrier like the animal she I-" Peter spoke.
Before I knew it, Rick had his hand around Peter's fragile throat and was squeezing it with a menacing look in his eyes. I shivered and watched them trying to calculate the result of this before they could. Unfortunately, Rick sat Peter down after a few moments and dusted off his black turtleneck's sleeves.
"I'm sorry, but I do believe you were just trying to insult her, and it will not fly anymore. Tell Martha fine, but only if April is allowed to train beforehand with me." Rick said.
"Do I not get a say? I am right here!" I screamed as I tried to stand up.
"No! Lay back down and shut up." Peter snapped at me.
I rolled my eyes and forced myself to stand. The pain was still there, but I was able to stand on my own now. I took a step forward towards them with a snarl on my face. I would rather go back home to where everyone in my family was rather than stay here.
"April, it's better than dying by her hands." Rick said as Peter glared at Rick.
"Oh, forgot to tell you. First match is at sundown. All the vampires will come, and they'll be expecting to see her die." Peter said.
Just like that he was off. I sat back down on my bed and stared at the floor. Tonight? I was too injured to fight or do anything. How the hell was I supposed to fight off anything when I couldn't fight for the life of me?
"April, I think you should know something. It's fight or die. You don't get a chance to choose to spare the person you fight. If they throw me into the ring, I'll gladly kill myself, so you don't have to." Rick said sitting down next to me.
"I have a question." I mumbled as worry overtook me.
What if Luke didn't escape with the others? What if they were my enemies? I couldn't kill them. I just couldn't! I felt like there was a deep connection running through those of us who weren't brutally murdered. Like we had grown into a remarkably close family over that short time. I couldn't kill them even if I had to or wanted to.
"What's the question?" He asked me.
"D-Did the others get out alive?" I asked.
"Did who?" He asked.
"My friends, goddamn it!" I screamed standing up to avoid the pain in my side.
"April, I can't answer that. I had no idea they were here." He said as he ran his fingers through his black hair.
Growling, I paced around the room. I hadn't realized Rick was grabbing me clothes until his hand was on my shoulder and he forced me to look at him. I glared down at the clothes he held out. It was a black tank top with a black vest and a pair of black pants. There was a black sport's bracelet there too and a belt that had a loop as if a sword sheath belonged there. A pair of black combat boots sat near the bedframe, and I couldn't help wonder how they got there.
"Wear this. It will make it easier for you to move around. We'll start your training after you're done." Rick said before handing me the clothes and leaving the room.
I waited for his footsteps to recede, but instead I heard the familiar click of a lock locking into place. Sighing, I sat down against the door and placed my head on my knees. The clothes I had placed on the bed and I could feel tears swelling up and threatening to spill over as if my eyes were dam and my tears were nothing more than the water waiting impatiently to overflow and wipe out everything in its path.
I closed my eyes and bit my lip to stop myself from sobbing. There was no way out of this. I was going to die or end up having to murder another person. I didn't mean to ever kill that one vampire, but now I was being told to do that same thing again. I simply could not bring myself to do so. I could not kill another person whether they were vampire or not. It would change me even more so than the first one. I could not and would not kill again, even if it was just to save my own hide.
"April, are you done getting changed?" Rick called out to me from the other side of the door.
"Leave me alone!" I screamed.
My voice shook with absolute sadness, and I could hear the pain in my voice. I sounded like I was crying, but who could blame me? I was being forced to kill someone otherwise I'd die and for the sake of what? My life? My freedom? My friends? All I wanted to do in life was graduate from high school and go to college. Probably get married, move to the suburbs, have kids, and grow old feeling accomplished, but no. I was stuck here, and I was going to be forced to kill someone else.
"Why...Why are you forcing me to do this, Rick?" I asked my voice still shaking.
"I'm not...The council of Old are." Rick said as I heard him sit down on the other side of the door.
"T-The council of Old?" I asked as I stared over my shoulder at the door.
"There is so much you don't know and so little time...I guess I'll have to include everything revolving around the supernatural world for you in that book I'm getting on your birthday." Rick said.
I could almost hear the worry and sadness in his voice. He didn't think I'd make it. He thought I would die before I even got to learn anything about this world. Thinking back, I really didn't feel like I belonged to the world I grew up believing in, but here, I felt more like who I truly was meant to be. I never accomplished a thing as a human and now that I was a Tiger-human, I can say, I did accomplish one thing. I cared for my species by naming them and now I'm even protecting them.
If I had to fight someone to survive, I'd do it for them. I rather die than fail miserably to protect them. I'll kill whoever I have to in order to return to Alex, Luke, James, Logan, and Arthur. They were my family, and I would be damned if I gave up before giving off a good fight. I would fight to keep them alive no matter my injuries. The training would be useless since my plan now is to turn to my tiger form and rip my opponent apart in order to return to my family.
"April? Are you okay in there?" Rick asked breaking my mental concentration.
"Yes, I am. I'll be out in a few minutes." I said before standing.
I grabbed the blasted clothes I was given and quickly changed into it. The black vest was a little over excessive, but it wouldn't hurt to wear it. Shrugging on the black vest, I sighed and placed my hair in a ponytail to keep it out of my face. I bent down and quickly got the black combat boots on my feet. As I tied the shoelaces, I felt a small stir from inside me. It was as if my brain was shutting down and my body was refusing to listen.
Horrified, I watched unable to stop myself as Rick walked into the room to be greeted with a growling me that was at the same time not me. I would never growl at him. Something felt off within me and I couldn't stop my body from lunging towards him. I inwardly screamed at myself as I pinned a shocked Rick to the ground. My hands were on his throat in an instant and I watched as my own tears streamed down my face. My fingernails were sharper than normal, and I had a very feral way of growling that sounded like a tiger.
"April...c-calm down..." Rick tried to reason as my body refused by tightening its hold on his neck.
I watched in shock as he took out a needle filled with something and injected it into my left arm. My left arm within seconds became weak and I could feel my body becoming limp. The force that was controlling my every move, forced out a growl and within seconds I was on the floor limp, but with my body back.
"Damn it. Didn't expect you to get a side effect that the others don't have..." Rick cursed silently as he lifted me up.
He placed me gently back onto my bed and before I knew it, I was able to move my own head to face him. Not a single word was passed between us as my body began to not feel numb anymore. I watched him, instead, as he began to reach through a few dresser drawers before grabbing a thing of pills. He sat them down beside me and I glanced at him quizzically. Why were the pills a golden yellow color? Was it some sort of gold he was going to shove down my throat?
"Take these pills every time you feel something like that. Your tiger form is restless and wants to hunt vampires rather than lay around inside you, being dormant. It's not good if you suddenly change to your tiger form and kill me. Especially when I'm trying to keep you and that tiger form alive." Rick said as he opened my hand and made me hold the bottle in my hand.
"What if I run out?" I asked.
"Don't worry. We always have more." Rick said as he patted my head.
"T-Thanks...I guess..." I mumbled as I closed my eyes.
So, my tiger form had its own mind set upon destroying the vampires. Mine was set upon protecting my family even if I had to destroy the vampires in the process. The pills would suppress my tiger form's control over my human body, but do I really need these pills? Couldn't I just trust that my tiger form and I would get along and make a compromise with each other?
Highly unlikely...
My eyes shot open in alarm as the feeling came over me again. I needed to hold firm and stand my ground. This body was mine. Not the tiger's.
No... They're our bodies, not just one or the other...
"Get out of my head!" I screamed as my hands laced through my hair which was already in a ponytail. "Rick isn't like the other vampires! He is kinder and cares about me!"
No... He is just as bad. He kills humans for his own sinful needs. They are pathetic creatures who need blood and shadows to hide. He killed our father and he needs to pay...
"No, no, no! I will not harm him no matter how many times you tell me to!" Opening the bottle, I grabbed three pills out just as Rick grabbed my hand worriedly.
Kill him...he's a bloodsucking monster...kill him...
"You only have to take one at a time, April." Rick said.
Liar. Always lying to us... He's untrustworthy...Kill him...
I nodded to Rick and swallowed the pill before taking a deep breath. I couldn't be tempted to kill my only living relative who knows who I am and who my parents are. That would just be giving into my tiger form.
Sighing, I swung my legs off of the bed and sat up. I placed the pills in Rick's hand before getting off the bed. I walked towards the door only for a confused Rick to turn me around. He's eyes were confused and his face itself looked rather upset. Was he upset I gave him the pills instead of keeping them?
"Promise me, that you won't die." Rick whispered.
"I won't die." I promised.
He sighed with relief as he placed his hands into her pocket he pulled out a small little tablet looking pill and swallowed it. Unlike mine, it wasn't golden yellow, but more like blood red. I went towards him and he immediately opened his mouth to expose his fangs. I blinked and backed up as I remembered. He's a vampire. I'm a Tiger-human. We were once related, but now we were two separate species.
"Why don't we go about training now?" I asked my hand almost on the doorknob.
"Yeah, let's go." He said opening the door.
I couldn't shake the feeling something horridwould happen soon. What if he attacked me while we trained and ended up harmingme? What if I harmed him? What if even with all this training, I still don'tmake it out alive? Will I ever see Luke, Logan, Alex, and James ever again?