• When I woke up, I was in the hospital. I was wearing one of those annoying backless patient gowns, and I was tucked tightly into a hospital bed.
    It all came back to me in a rush, and it took my breath away. I was about to sob when I stopped myself. I had to be strong, and strong women didn’t cry. Or… maybe they did?
    To distract myself, I decided to visually explore my incredibly boring hospital room. The bed was half raised, so I didn’t have to sit up to look around. The bright fluorescents hurt my eyes as I tried to inspect the room, so I blinked a few times, and then looked around all squint eyed.
    The room was standardly spick and span; white walls, white bed, white door, white floor, everything was white! Suffocatingly white! Except for a single red rose in a glass vase.
    That’s when I smelled it: Vampire.
    And then, he spoke.
    “Looks like someone’s awake.”
    I seemed to jump into a crouch as I whirled in the direction of the voice, preparing to attack this vampire (though I’d probably get my a** kicked, I was definitely new to all of this). I half expected it to be Dimitri, claiming he was my guardian now that my parents were dead. But, when I rounded on the source of the voice, it was not Dimitri.
    He had his hands raised in surrender, but I still hissed at him. His eyes widened slightly, “Chill. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
    I didn’t respond to him, I just focused on looking him up and down. He was easily six foot, and tan, for a vampire. His eyes were absolutely ice blue, even with the bright red tinge around his pupil. Said eyes were almost covered by his bangs, which were white-tipped. The rest of his hair was black, and neatly disorganized. Overall, he looked about eighteen or nineteen, and he was wearing hospital scrubs.
    I could see a sort of aura around him; it was a pink outline around his body, and then it turned to gold as it reached its outer limits. It pulsed around him actively, moving as he did. My lips seemed to slowly relax over my bared teeth, and I cocked my head to the side slightly.
    “You’re looking at my aura, aren’t you?” He asked softly, causing me to jump, “Relax, please. I can just tell. You’re an aura reader. That’s a very rare ability.”
    I had no idea what he was talking about; his was the first I’d seen….
    My eyes widened and I gave a small gasp as I realized that I had seen an aura around Dimitri. It had been pitch black in the center, and blood red at its outer limits.
    “So, I’m right?” He asked hesitantly, lowering his hands to his side. “Look, let’s try this again. Hi there; I’m Cray, and you are?”
    I blinked at him, trying to find my voice. When I did, it was scratchy with disuse. “My name is Kara.” I cleared my throat, still not moving from my crouch. Though I did trust him a little more (because his aura was the exact opposite of Dimitri’s), I still wasn’t going to let my guard down.
    “Well, Kara. Could you please calm yourself before another nurse walks in and calls a priest to exorcize you?” He had a small half-smile on his face.
    Did I really look that bad?
    I frowned at him, and then jumped off the bed carefully, heading for the bathroom mirror.
    I yelped in surprise as I saw myself. I had, currently fading, dark bags under my eyes, and my beautiful dark brown eyes were fading from red to brown, only leaving that bright ring of blood red around my pupil. My short, auburn hair was a tangled mess, and my skin was tan still, but it seemed to be under a sort of milky film. What was even more shocking was my aura; it was a pulsating mixture of silver and yellow. It was absolutely beautiful…
    I broke the trance my aura had me in and nervously brushed my hair back, trying to straighten out my bangs. “Christ, what happened to me?!” I asked, not realizing what a stupid question that was until after I’d said it.
    “Looks like you had a run in with a not-so-patient vamp lord.” Cray said, staring intently at my back.
    My face went even paler, and I looked over my shoulder at him. I had turned my back on him… in a backless gown….. I couldn’t help but notice how his eyes slid down from the small of my back to my a**…
    I turned toward him quickly, my face red as a tomato, “Pervert!” I yelled as loudly as I dared.
    He began laughing uncontrollably, and I started toward him with sort of forced reproach (What? He’s adorable!), when I sensed someone at the door. I quickly slapped the back of his head and got back in bed, pretending to be unconscious and taking deep breaths. I heard him clear his throat quickly and then I felt him mess with the many monitors around my bed.
    “Oh, I didn’t know there was someone else assigned to this patient.” I heard a women say.
    I took another deep breath, only to have my nose filled with a delicious odor. My mouth began to water, and I risked a peek at the women. My eyes immediately zeroed in on her throat where her jugular was consistent with blood flow.
    Apparently, Cray sensed my craving to go to the women and rip open her throat, because he put a strong hand on my shoulder. I resisted the urge to hiss as he said, “Oh, yes. I was just checking on the poor girl. She’s been out for a couple of days,” A couple of days?! I thought frantically, “and I thought she might have passed. But, I’m happy to say that she hasn’t.” He squeezed my shoulder ever so slightly, as the women murmured an ‘okay’ and left the room. He released my shoulder slowly as the door closed.
    “A couple of days?!” I burst out in a violent whisper as I quickly sat up.
    “You need to control your blood lust.” He said simply.
    “Okay Mr. I-Know-Everything, teach me how! I’m new to this in case you didn’t notice!” I snapped.
    He honestly looked surprised at this. “You’re a fledgling?” He asked in a soft whisper.
    “Yes!” I said in quiet exasperation.
    “I had no idea. Then, why were you marked?” He seemed to be thinking to himself, because he turned his back to me and stared at the boring white wall. I sighed, and he abruptly turned back to me, “When were you changed?” He asked, completely serious.
    “The same night I came here because of that thing on my back.” I said, annoyed at the thing scarring the small my back.
    He took a sharp intake of breath, and then said, “Mother of God,” in a whisper. His face had gone paler, and his eyes had widened. He was staring at me with badly concealed fear.
    “What?” I demanded, getting a bad feeling in my stomach.
    “This is… so unusual. Who was it that gave you that Lord’s Mark?” He asked, perfectly serious.
    I couldn’t will myself to speak. My mouth opened, but no sound came out. Cray motioned for me to speak, so I tried again. Finally, I got it out, “Di… mi…tri…” I was breathing quickly. Why was it so hard for me to say his name? I said it again, with much more ease, “Dimitri.”
    Cray growled lowly. It was a guttural sound of animal ferocity. “I see. I should have known.” He turned away from me, but not before I saw his clear eyes become tainted with red and dark circles form around them. I could still see his aura as he turned away; it was becoming darker and darker by the second.
    My stomach clenched and I couldn’t breathe as I watched him. I had begun to understand how to read auras. They showed me feelings, intentions. They showed me a person’s true soul, and right now, Cray’s soul was severely pissed. I was truly afraid for my life.