Chapter 1: The First Taste is Free

If Hell was real, this was it. She had been relocated because of Charlie's job offer in Mystic Falls was much better than in Forks. Of course, that wasn't the only reason for the new relocation. Charlie was under the assumption Bella had become a shut-in due to her breakup with Edward. She had been heartbroken by the revelation and needed time to heal but she was never a social being. Renee had been adamant about turning her into an extrovert in her childhood but ultimately the plan failed. She was a homebody through and through.

Mystic Falls was meant for the extroverts. Parties, festivals, and even fucking balls were always happening in this town. There was no quietness or peace she had grown fond of in Forks. At least here, her being new didn't cause her to be ambushed by students like her first day in Washington.

The town wasn't inherently terrible but its residence sure had a stick up their ass. The classmates she was stuck with were on the assholery and idiocy of the Mean Girls characters. She was just waiting for the day a Burn Book would appear. If she did have to name the Regina George of the school, the title switched between Elena Gilbert and Caroline Forbes. She had AP classes with them and began to wonder which dick they had to suck to get in.

Or maybe I'm a bit of a bitch, Bella chuckled. To be fair, Bella did know she was no saint. She was judgy and had the mouth of a sailor that had no filter. She had terrible qualities. Bella knew that and recognized that immensely but she was a hard worker. Despite hating her classmates, she took her education seriously. After all, Renee (who also had faults) had given up her college education to marry Charlie and raise Bella. Maybe for the other kids, they were raised with a silver spoon so education wasn't important. Why try if Daddy was going to pay your way in? It was me, me, and me. But Bella was raised from sacrifice, education wasn't something either her parents had obtained much of.

Which was why she had made her decision. If she wanted out of this hell, she was going to have to dig her way the fuck out. She knew her scores and grades would take her far but she needed money also. Charlie had taken the new job to help pay for her college tuition but Bella knew she had to find some way to pay for it herself. She knew Charlie would dip into retirement if Bella got into a good university. She wanted her father to retire on time and have the money he had saved up all these years. Renee had also wanted to pay but she knew her mother only had so much. She needed to do this on her own.

"Bella," Dr. Fell spoke softly. "Your arm." Bella laid her arm on the small table beside her chair. Dr. Fell disinfected the area around the vein and then swiftly put a needle into the vein.

It was by mere chance she had run into a bitten Dr. Fell. She had seen the vampire marking as clear as day despite the doctor's best efforts to hide it. Bella was pushy and never liked a case unsolved so of course, she had interrogated the doctor. One thing leads to another and here she was. Donating blood to vampires to pay for college was unconventional at best but Bella was running out of viable options for a job or ways to get money.

"I better receive a paycheck for this." She reminded. This wasn't charity work so she was definitely going to get paid. She needed the money.

"If your blood is as "tasty" as you say then there should be no problem."

"Who are you going to give this to anyway?" Dr. Fell shook her head causing Bella to laugh. She knew she wasn't going to get the answers from the Good Doctor.

"Confidentiality. I can't go telling you who my clients or possible clients are." Dr. Fell smirked. "I'm sure you can figure it out. You are a smart lady."

"You sound like my mother." She bemoaned. "Sometimes, maybe I want the answer handed to me."

"Nope." Dr. Fell said.

"Fine. I'll just make some guesses." Bella wasn't sure who she could guess as a vampire seeing as she rarely left her house.

"Who are you going to guess, your mailman?" She almost glared at Dr. Fell but knew the doctor could make the blood drawing more painful from her smart mouth. She raised an eyebrow as if daring Bella to give a witty remark. Challenging her. Bella smirked knowing full well what would happen if she took the bait.

"He is awfully suspicious...he brings mail to me the exact same time every day except Sundays. Only vampires are that punctual and he must reserve Sundays as the time to have blood orgies."

"Would your father approve of your language?"

"Would your father approve of your language?" Bella tilted her head mockingly. Dr. Fell rolled her eyes.

"That smartass mouth of yours will get you killed in a place like this." Dr. Fell sighed. "You step on their shoes and they have a reason to kill ya."

"If I step on their shoes they shouldn't have been in my way," Bella shrugged. "Not my fault I have no balance."

"You're something else aren't ya?"

"Something like that." Bella winked. Dr. Fell laughed before leaning back in her chair.

"What happened to the vampire that bit you?"

"Dealt with…" Dr. Fell trailed. "This is why I need donors. Vampires here are garnering too much attention by their killings and I need a way to save people from becoming their victims. As well as…" She grabbed a small vial of blood from her pocket. "I have plenty of vampire donors to help with healing my patients but having more is never a bad thing especially with the ones that reside here."

"I am a woman of my word," Dr. Fell put the vial on the metal tray. "You give me blood regularly I get you healed up with vampire blood and hand you a nice paycheck for your willingness…"

"And to keep me quiet?"

"Something like that." She smirked.

"Do you know when I will possibly receive this check?"

"I don't to checks." Dr. Fell said. "Money isn't traceable and it would be suspicious for my name to be written on a check for an 18-year-old girl."

"Good thinking." She complimented.

"Thank you," A little stunned by the compliment but carried on. "I will mail you the money under a fake alias. Does your dad go through your stuff?"

"Nope. Super big on privacy."

"Good. The money will be sent to you that way then." Dr. Fell nodded. "If the clients particularly like your blood, then I will be seeing you frequently. Two pints of blood each session."

"And if they don't?"

"You can still donate. Just not as frequently and seeing as your aim is money for whatever reason… this side job won't be enough if they don't care for the taste."

"Gotchya." Bella leaned back in her chair.

"You'll know in a few days." Dr. Fell reassured. "Until then, my little guinea pig, get some rest. I can't have a sick donor."

"Ya ya." She closed her eyes and was already anxious about the results.

-X-

"Thank you for coming in today," Dr. Fell sternly greeted her two tester clients.

"Is there a particular reason you brought us here, Dr. Fell?" Caroline asked politely. She looked around the empty hospital room.

"Yes, as you know vampires here have been a bit reckless about maintaining their secrecy as well as the attacks and killings of countless people." She continued, "I can't have this permit any longer. My job is to save people and your job is to keep your vampiric nature a secret so I have a deal to make with you."

"We're listening," Damon answered.

"I can willingly hand you a plentiful amount of blood that you no longer have to steal from clinics or hospitals." Caroline sheepishly looked down. "If I do this, you guys have to switch to blood bags and animals."

"No offense, doctor, but blood bags aren't the same thing. It's like tofu to steak."

"Too bad…" Dr. Fell reached for one of the two bags Bella had donated. She cut the top with scissors and she could see the instant dilation of Caroline's eyes. "I had a very special donor for some of the blood bags too. Such as this one…" As she poured some of it into a cup she could tell Caroline was responding to the blood. She had yet to know if it was due to bloodlust or the effect of Bella's blood. "At least have a taste?" She handed the plastic cup to Caroline. Damon watched apprehensively and Meredith was sure he thought she had some trick up her sleeve. Caroline hesitantly held the cup and placed the cup to her lips. As she tilted the cup and the blood rushed into her mouth, Meredith could see the change in her eyes. Her veins even appeared as she drank the cup dry.

"That's," Caroline sighed. She licked the remnants off her lips and Meredith was sure if there was no audience that she would have cut the cup to lick the residue off the inside of the cup. "I have never tasted blood like that before." Dr. Fell smiled. Her plan had worked.

"How much?" Damon asked. "For the blood bags like that one."

"The regular blood bags are at a different rate than the special blood I gave Caroline." Dr. Fell said. "The person that donates that one has special circumstances and if Caroline's reaction is any indication, the donator has to come in regularly. Which takes time, compulsion, and vampire blood so the prices are slightly higher but…" Dr. Fell began to pour the the blood into another cup and handed it to Damon. "The first taste is free."

-X-

Rebekah reluctantly put the blood bags into the fridge and grabbed the plastic cup filled with blood. Matt been the one to give it to her and tell her about Dr. Fell's plan. Drinking from blood bags wasn't the same as the live source and the taste was different but she knew if she was going to be able to be with Matt and maintain this high school girl persona, she had to at least try it.

"Blood bags?" Elijah came into the living room curiously. "I thought you considered only the low of the low to drink from that?" Rebekah rolled her eyes before taking the tin foil of the cup. The scent of the blood hit her like a ton of bricks and never had she bared witness to something so tantalizing and sweet. The aroma had her entranced.

"That doesn't smell like…" Elijah trailed.

"There is a cup for all of us. Dr. Fell is trying to get us to convert to blood bags." She unwrapped the second cup and handed it to Elijah. "Doesn't hurt to try it..." She gulped the entirety of the blood in one gulp and held back no restraint. Savoring the sweet flavor as it trickled down her throat. It was the equivalent of the most expensive wine. The taste, the aroma, and smoothness… As the taste began to disappear from her mouth, she was left with a bloodlust like no other. The craving of more. Not just of blood but this blood.

-X-

"Here," Damon handed a cup to the Ripper as he entered the boardinghouse. Stefan rolled his eyes.

"I am not that easy to drug up with vervain."

"There's no vervain." He sighed. "Dr. Fell wants us all to become good little vampires and drink from bags. This is her some special blood she had. Whatever the hell that means." If this could work, he could get the Ripper tamed slightly. He may still drink human blood but off his killer streak.

"You drink it already?" Damon shook his head. "And you expect me to?"

"Caroline liked it." Damon was unsure if he wanted to try the blood. It tempted him and he began to question if he had ever felt true bloodlust when he had smelled it. "She got a cup to give to Tyler."

"Well," Stefan took the tinfoil off and felt his teeth automatically descend. "It's free blood." Stefan had reasoned. Despite his better judgment that it could be a trick, he wanted to drink it. "Same time?" Damon shrugged and took the tin foil off his cup. They both placed the cups on their lips.

"Bottoms up," Damon grunted. As soon as the blood touched his tongue, Damon knew he was a goner.

-X-

Bella jolted when Charlie opened her door as she was doing her homework late at night. She took an earbud out.

"Yes?"

"Mail," He said. He handed her a stack of mail before walking out and she hurriedly went through it. College...college… makeup...college… She scanned it through the mail and finally came upon an envelope that had some thickness to it. She ripped it open and found a letter from Dr. Fell.

Here's your payment for this session. I need you in the hospital three times a week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after your classes end. Two pints of blood each time. Payment should go up next time because I will be charging per blood pack… You were right. They thought it was "tasty" for a better word. My clients agreed to my terms so I need you to keep donating to keep this pack between me and the vampires going. So all in all, your hired little guinea pig. Keep the blood coming and I will keep the money rolling your way.

Bella gripped the money in her hand. She had received 100 dollars for her blood which was way more than she had anticipated. Her grip shaky and for a moment, it wasn't the money she imagined she was holding but instead, her college diploma. Tears streamed down her face and she cried out in joy. This was her way out.