Chapter 10: Karissa

The plans were going well, I assumed. Zoey's little human consort was held hostage, and soon, she and Marla would be here to save him. And they wouldn't succeed. Kalona and I would be sure of it.

"Karissa!" Kalona called me from the kitchen. I walked in there to see what exactly he wanted. When I did, he wasn't making anything. He just sat there at the large table, and motioned me to sit. I sat at the opposite end of the table, which was really far from him.

"Kalona? You called me?" I asked after a long period of silence.

"I did." he nodded.

"And? What do you want? Not that I'm trying to be rude or anything-"

"Karissa, I want you to do me a special favor."

"Yes?"

"I want you to-actually-I need you to make certain that the human Heath Imprints with you, and not Zoey." What the hell? How could he ask that? Heath was madly in love with Zoey, and I didn't even want him to be part of my life. And why the hell would Kalona want Heath to Imprint with me?

"What is this about?" I gasped.

"You'll find out soon enough. Please," he stood up and walked over to where I sat. "please just do what I requested. It would make our victory much easier to achieve." He bent down and kissed me, and then suddenly disappeared right before my eyes.

Marla had her three little boyfriends for nearly two weeks. They all followed her, but everyone could sense that only one guy was eyed by her. Jon. Everyone could tell they were in love. Even her other little boyfriends. They sometimes got really pissed and they'd say a whole bunch of random shit just to make sure they wouldn't even glance at each other. They both were head-over-heels for Marla, also. Well, at least she didn't hit on all three of them like Zoey. But I still hated them both.

I wasn't jealous or anything! I had Kalona attracted to me! Or whatever...

I finally stood up from the table after my daze from Kalona's kiss and walked downstairs to the basement. It was huge. It was completely underground, of course, and it stretched far from the upper part of the house. The basement was like another building. I walked toward the lamplight that indicated Heath's location in the basement. What was weird was that I could no longer smell his human blood. It had gone from wrong, Imprinted-scenting blood (from his Imprint with Zoey) to the sweet, regular human blood, and now it was nothing. In replacement of his human blood, I sensed the presence of a fledgling.

"Who's here?!" I shouted. My voice echoed off the walls. Nobody replied. "I know you're here! I sense you!" I called again. "Heath?!"

"What...what the hell do you want?" a weak voice called from across the light. I looked to the direction of his weak voice. He sat there in the light, looking very gross and sweaty and weak.

"There you are. Listen, Heath..." his head was bent down, his hair covering his forehead and eyes. "...Heath."

"What?" he whispered.

"You look weak."

"So? Of course I am. You tied me up here. What the hell do you expect?" His voice became more and more fierce.

"I-I need something from you, Heath."

"I'm not giving you anything!" He suddenly shouted. He never lifted his head up, or even looked at me. I was starting to get pissed, but yelling back at him wouldn't help.

"Heath. It's for a purpose. I-I need your blood. I know, it's dumb, but Kalona wants it, and he says if you don't give it, then Zoey dies."

"He's not going to do shit to Zoey!" He shouted once more.

"Well, he is a powerful immortal, Heath. He can do just about anything. Zoey is powerful, too, but...Kalona has outsmarted her way too many times in order for someone to think that she would have any chance against him."

"Bull sh-"

"You do what she says, Heath..." Kalona stepped out from the darkness. "Share your blood with Karissa."

"No!"

"You dare reject my demand?!" Kalona stepped right up to him and grabbed his head with both his hands. He tilted Heath's head up so his whole face showed in the light. "Just as I thought. A fledgling. Nyx has, indeed, blessed you."

"And?" I asked.

"...and that means she knows of my actions. She knows I'm still against her. This could slow everything down, Karissa." He pulled a sharp, silver knife from his pocket. "But...this needs to be done..." he lightly traced the knife along Heath's jaw, until he found a vein below it. Kalona sliced the knife lightly along the vein and liquid scarlet oozed out of the fresh cut. The scent of the fledgling from before hit me right there. How could I have been so stupid. "Drink it, Karissa." He demanded.

"I-I-"

"It has to be done!" he roared. He tilted Heath's head up just a little more as the blood flowed down his neck and onto his shirt. I was too afraid to deny Kalona, so I bent down and pressed my lips to the wound. I didn't want any of the sexual shit that came from this. But I began to drink from the wound, and it happened, but somehow, I resisted to acting like a ho. So I just drank, and Heath was too busy feeling angry that he didn't...wait...

Heath was angry...I could feel it...

It happened! I was Imprinted with Heath!

"It has happened, Karissa." I managed to step away from Heath; as did Kalona. "You are now Imprinted with him. But he cannot leave now, for he is still of use to us." Kalona walked back into the darkness of the basement, and suddenly, pressure was lifted.

"So...we're Imprinted...this is what Kalona wanted."

"I don't care. Just...go."

"You won't demand anything of me, Heath!" I suddenly shouted. "I hate this, too! Deal with it! If I even had a chance of fighting off Kalona, I wouldn't have fed from you at all!"

"I don't care!" I could feel his rage. His rage made me angry. I was just as angry as he was. "This is your first time being Imprinted. I was Imprinted with Zoey twice! I hate being Imprinted with anyone other than her!"

"Whatever. I can keep going about how much I hate this, too all damn night, but I don't have all night to sit here and argue with you. I would be wasting my time." I walked away from there and stomped back up the stairs to go to sleep.