When Raven woke the next morning, she was extremely sick. Her entire body ached and she felt like someone was stabbing her with a thousand hot knives. She rolled over and threw up into a garbage basket that was placed beside the bed. "Ohmigod," she moaned. Raven rolled back over onto her back and found that the whole room was spinning. She sat up and placed a foot on the floor. That stopped the bed. Reaching out, she touched the wall and almost everything was still
"Raven?" someone called outside the door. "Are you up?"
"Mmmmmhhh!" she moaned and flopped back down on the bed.
The door opened and Malorie entered. "Oh, you look like shit," she said sympathetically. "I'm so glad that nobody was with me when my organs rearranged themselves."
"What?" Raven asked, holding her head. Malorie then proceeded to explain the process that her body went through while the blood and organs were rearranging themselves. "Jesus Christ," Raven muttered.
"How do you feel?" Malorie asked.
"Mal, how did you feel?" Raven snapped. She bit her tongue. Why am I being so short with her? She didn't do anything to me. She looked down and found that she was in a silk nightgown and her dress was gone. "How long is this going to last?" she demanded.
"Oh, another ten minutes," Malorie said looking at her nails. "You've been out for four days."
"FOUR DAYS?!!!" Raven yelped. She regretted it as she threw up again in the garbage basket. Slowly, the room stopped spinning and she felt almost normal, except for the undying thirst she felt.
Malorie stood. "Come with me. We'll get you some new clothes and I'll take you to the mentor room." Raven looked confused but followed the Amazon woman who was now wearing a black mini-skirt and a white tank top. Malorie led Raven to her new suite of rooms and Raven found a new wardrobe. "Now, you don't have to live here at the House of Blud, but most of the time it's easier." Raven pulled on a pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt. "But you do have to have a mentor. That's where we're going now. You may get lucky, maybe not."
Raven was led down more halls, but this time, she knew where she was going so she walked with Mal rather than behind her. They entered another big room, but the people here were dressed causally. Raven sat down at one of the tables as Malorie left her. She'd been sitting for some time and talked to a few others looking for mentors when she heard someone clear their throat behind her. Again, she turned around to find Richard standing there, but this time, he was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt.
"Need a mentor?" he asked with a grin. In the past twenty-four hours, he'd completely turned around from the no-emotion head of the House to this guy who grinned all the time. "Malorie found me."
"Did she now?" Raven asked. His grin got even bigger. "And yes, I do need a mentor." She stood and they walked out, all eyes on them. Again.
Richard led her out toward the front door. Before they reached their escape into the nightlife of Gothom, he stopped. "You have to promise me that you won't try to run." She bit her lip. How could she promise that? "Raven, promise me that I won't have to give my men the order to take you out."
"I promise," she whispered. That there was the end of her planning to escape. Or so he thought.
He smirked. "Good. Come on. I have a surprise for you." He took her hand and led her out to the dark parking lot. Raven gasped as they turned down row of cars. Her own little black Supra was speeding toward them. It came to a screeching halt and Roy got out.
He grinned. "Nice wheels for a chick," he said running his fingers through his hair.
"You should see me behind the wheel," she said with a smirk. She opened the driver's side door and lifted the seat for Roy. He climbed in the back and sat down in the middle seat. Richard sat in the passenger seat and Raven sat behind the wheel with an audible sigh. She was happy to be back behind the wheel.
"Let's go to the Twilight Crossing," Roy offered.
"Alright," Rich sighed. "Pull out and take a left."
Raven did so and she drove at breakneck speed. Roy was sitting in the back, wincing every time they passed a car. "Relax," she grinned in the rearview mirror. Richard was sitting silently in his seat, his pale face paler than usual. "Fine, I'll slow down."
When they got to the club, Raven grinned. She could feel the throb of the music from across the street. She could smell the blood. Without warning, her fangs grew and she went to step across the street. "Whoa," Rich said grabbing her hand. "Not so fast. You need to drink vampire blood before you go off and drink human blood."
"Why?" she demanded licking her lips.
"Because you have to get some of our blood flowing through you first or you'll end dying." She let Richard lead her into the club. It was hot, loud and dark. The ceiling was painted to look like the night sky with glow in the dark paint. The strobe lights made Raven dizzy, but she got used to them fast. The music was techno-pop and it made her want to dance. Richard grabbed her arm and led her back to the bar, warding off all the vampires that looked at her as if she were a tasty morsel. "Don't look at them," he said over the music. Raven kept her eyes focused on the back of Richard's neck.
By the time they reached the bar, Raven's need for blood was stronger than anything she'd ever felt. She grasped Richard's arm and looked up into his eyes. "Just a little bit longer," he said with a smile. She knew that he was waiting for someone to come and meet them at the bar. Raven knew that she needed to drink now. She turned to Roy who was on her left and looked at him, eyes pleading.
"I can't," he said, tucking a strand of hair back from her face. "He'll be here-ah, there he is." Raven turned and looked at her vampire donor.
It was Caine.
"Richard, I can't," she said abruptly. "He was one of my best friends."
"That's why," he said with a small smile. "You have to get used to preying on anyone willing and when I asked Caine, he agreed eagerly. I'll leave you to alone for a little bit." He and Roy went to find a couple females for them to prey on.
Raven turned to Caine. "Caine, I-" she began.
"Do it," he said, pulling away the collar of his black t-shirt. She could see the pulse in his neck. She couldn't resist. Her fangs slid out of their sheathes and she stepped forward. Swiftly piercing his flesh, she filled her mouth with the tang of his blood. She realized that there was a certain spice to it that made her skin prickle. When, she'd had her fill, she pulled back and wiped the corners of her mouth on her hand. "Well?"
"I feel better," she replied with a sheepish grin. "Thank you."
"Wanna dance?"
Raven felt an odd, inhuman presence behind her. She turned around and saw a guy with silver hair standing behind her. His eyes were a deep navy. "Just a sec," she replied. He nodded. She turned to thank Caine, but he'd disappeared. She turned back to the stranger and offered him her hand. He helped her off the barstool and onto the dance floor.
"I'm Damon," he said once they'd began to dance.
"Raven," she replied. He smiled at her and Raven knew he wasn't a vampire. He placed his hands on her hips and drew her close to him. Raven draped her arms around his neck and swayed with the music.
"So, where did the lucky guy find you?" Damon asked.
"Excuse me?"
"Where did you come from and who turned you?" he laughed.
Raven grinned. "Another club, and it was Richard." Damon froze and looked down at her. "What?"
"You're one of Richard's girls?" He nodded. "Awww, hell." He let her go and stepped back. Raven grabbed his arm and looked at him, a silent question in her eyes. "We've got bad blood between us. Literally. There was a blood feud a few centuries back."
"Centuries?" she breathed.
"Yeah, we age at one twentieth the mortal rate. If he catches me with you, there'll be hell to pay. From both clans."
Raven pulled him back to her. She looked up at him. "No there won't," she stated. "What he doesn't know is that he never broke me. If I didn't depend on him to help me survive as a knew vampire, he'd be dead in the blink of an eye." So would you if I could figure out what the hell you are, she thought
"Ah," Damon smirked. "You're one of his hunter girls. This could be interesting."
"Raven?" Raven turned around and grinned at Richard. "Damon," he said with a snarl. "What the hell are you doing with one of mine?"
"Hey, I tried to back off, dammit," Damon growled back. "It's her this time."
Richard looked down at Raven with a cold look. "Raven?"
"Richard." She looked back with just as cold a look. "I dance with who I please."
He took a breath to say something and thought better of it. "Fine," he breathed. He glared at Damon. "If you so much as breath in her direction after this, I'll have you staked."
"Well, someone's grumpy," Damon grinned a malicious grin. Richard sneered at him and walked away. Damon turned back to Raven. "You've gotta have balls to the walls to stand up to Richard like that," he laughed.
"No, I just don't like the feeling of being owned." Raven smiled evilly at him. "I'm only twenty-three. I can still have some fun."
Damon laughed and they danced on.
Richard came for Raven around three. She laughed as he pulled her away from the bar. "How many drinks have you had tonight?" he asked as he threw her arm around his shoulder and held her up by the waist. "You do know that it takes roughly fifty bottles of beer to get plastered?"
"Yeah," she slurred. "I had waaaaaayyyyyyy more than that." She laughed as he helped her into her car. Roy was passed out in the back seat. "Wow," she grinned. "He looks like I'm gonna in a minute."
"God I hope not," Richard grumbled. "Roy can get pretty ugly when he's-" He sighed as Raven passed out against the window. "Great, two of them," he muttered. He drove them home and called Roy's latest girl to come and get him. He carried Raven up to her suite of rooms and gently set her down on the bed. Richard removed her boots from her feet and tucked her under her covers.
With a sigh, he stood. It was going to be a long hundred years. He looked out the window and saw that the sky was beginning to lighten up. He walked over to the door and yelled down the hall, "Sunrise!"
There was more shouting and the clang of the metal shutters closing out all sunlight. Yawning, he went over and closed the curtains that hid the ugly metal shutters and crawled into bed next to Raven.