Despite the days of pain, Seraphina did not even whimper. While her body burned, she turned her thoughts to her future. She left her memories behind in the past, although a small part of her knew that they would still haunt her.
Various people visited her while she was in her blazing oblivion. Seraphina could make out hazy words and phrases, but her mind was bleary and out-of-focus. Once or twice, she felt someone touch her hand – Aro. He had been reading her thoughts, presumably.
Heidi also floated in during intervals.
"Her change should be complete soon," she snapped at someone. "She doesn't need humans in the room whilst she's vulnerable and fighting against her blood-lust. Now get out!" She sounded like a very protective older sister.
Suddenly, the pain got worse and Seraphina wanted to shake, tremble even. But her body was paralyzed with fear as her heartbeat became a frantic whirring sound, so much so that she barely hear the individual beats anymore. Just as she was about to scream, her heart stopped.
Silence prevailed. Seraphina opened one eye.
And then she opened the other.
Heidi was hovering near her as Seraphina sat up and marvelled what she could see with her perfect vision. It was wonderful – she could hear conversations many floors below her, and smell hundreds of different scents that she never would have known existed. Her throat burnt as she smelt the scent of human blood.
"Wow," Seraphina whispered, as she leapt gracefully from her bed.
"It can be slightly overwhelming, at first," Heidi assured her, "but you'll get used to it." She seemed a little on edge for some reason... And then Seraphina noticed the little girl in the corner.
She was tiny, but as lovely as an angel. Her face was enchanting to look at, although her hair was rather limp and cut oddly, as if someone had taken scissors and hacked at it. On closer inspection, her features were a mask of rage and her crimson-eyed glower was directed at Seraphina, who cowered back slightly.
The girl stepped forward in a frosty silence.
"Jane," Heidi warned her, glaring. "Be nice – no power usage here, please."
Heidi turned her attention back to a perplexed Seraphina. "Sera, this is Jane."
Jane nodded but left no room for comments as she turned on her heel and stomped back out of the room. Seraphina looked, in the least, a little startled and unnerved.
"Did I do something to upset her?" she asked.
"No," Heidi told her firmly. "Jane is unpleasant to everyone expect her twin brother and the masters. I had to make her promise not to kill you while she was watching you without supervision. She has anger problems."
Jane watched her without supervision? Seraphina shuddered.
She heard footsteps down the corridor, and then Aro entered with another man. He immediately went over to her.
"Hello, Seraphina," he addressed. "You make an extremely beautiful vampire. How do you feel?" He looked concerned.
"Unlike myself," was Seraphina's vague reply. "My throat burns."
"Chelsea will be back with humans to feed on soon," Aro said comfortingly. "Meanwhile, may I introduce you to Eleazar here? He has a talent which allows him to determine the talents of other vampires, and sometimes humans. Elezear, this is Seraphina."
Eleazar smiled at Seraphina. "Nice to meet you, Eleazar," Seraphina said, returning his gentle smile with one of her own.
Aro inclined his head toward Eleazar. "Anything interesting, my friend?" he asked.
"Oh, yes," Eleazar confirmed. Aro's glittering crimson eyes lit up. "She possesses a very interesting gift – mind control. She can read and manipulate people's thoughts and actions."
"Incredibly useful, too," Aro murmured, and he turned back to Eleazar. "Thank you, Eleazar. You are free to go."
"My pleasure, Aro," he replied. He looked at Seraphina. "Use your talent well, young one," he advised, and then he was gone in an instant.
Aro's expression was delighted, and Heidi looked thrilled for her too.
"We knew she would turn out to be precious, did we not, Heidi?" he laughed joyously.
Heidi beamed. "Indeed we did, Aro."
"I shall be off to tell my brothers of the wonderful news," Aro informed her. "Meanwhile, introduce Seraphina to the rest of the guard. Chelsea should be back within the hour."
Seraphina soon found out about the rest of the guard. There were best friends Felix and Demetri – Felix was so tall it was almost intimidating, but he jokingly called her 'Giraffe'. Alec, who was a lot more pleasant than his twin sister Jane, came over to talk to her. Then there were the wives, Sulpicia and Athenodora, who told Seraphina that she looked 'just like a doll'. Other guard introduced themselves too – Afton (Chelsea's mate, she later discovered), Renata, Corin, Santiago and floods more. If she were a human, Seraphina could never have remembered all of their names.
Last of all, she was presented to Marcus and Caius, the other two rulers of the vampire world. Marcus looked incredibly bored and permanently depressed, whereas Caius took slight interest in her. After short conversation, Chelsea arrived with the meal – babbling tourists – and Seraphina's throat burned up with the scent.
Seraphina was a surprisingly neat eater, for a newborn. Maybe she was just too scared of ruining her beautiful clothes, so much so that they didn't even stain. She was also slightly regretful as her victims were two little girls, clutching onto each other in fright as she drained them of blood. Seraphina snapped both of their necks first, just in case being drained was painful, but their terrified faces remained etched into her memory.
Still, she couldn't be guilty for an entire eternity.
Being as she didn't need sleep anymore, Seraphina spent that night in the communal guard room, talking and learning more about her co-workers. They were all genuinely interested her, the newest addition. But Seraphina didn't reveal what her talent was to any of them – she was nervous that they would think she could use her gift to control them.
Seraphina retired back to her chambers for some peaceful time to herself. She was startled by the unforgettably beautiful girl in the mirror that was conveniently placed in her wardrobe – her mousy hair had lightened into a blonde shade and her features were impeccably perfect. Her nose was straight, her eyes were wide and ruby and her lips were plump and cherry-coloured.
"Magical," Seraphina muttered to herself, changing quickly into a new tracksuit.
From the depths of her wardrobe – which one could almost get lost in, Seraphina thought – she heard someone enter. She emerged to find Heidi waiting patiently for her.
"Aro would like to... try out your powers," she said grimly. "He has some volunteers lined up and he wants you to use your powers against them, like we were in battle. It's training time."