K*H*W* (go to my profile :)

Chapter Thirteen

I looked at my face in the mirror and saw that my skin and hair looked shinier. Nina had taken off the bandages, and I knew I would need to wash my hair soon. My pearly white teeth seemed brighter, and I even felt more awake.

This was terrible.

I teleported into the kitchen, grabbing a cooling cup of tea. "I hope this wasn't someone's." I announced as I sipped.

Eve was rocking in her rocker and Nina was making eggs. She looked over at me. "No, it's fine."

George and Hal were sitting down eating next to Mitchell. They all looked at me and paused.

I blinked hard. "What?" Nina was staring at me, the hot eggs on a plate.

"How do you feel?" George asked, his eyes evaluating my reaction.

"Fine," I gulped down more tea and teleported onto the counter. I sat there with my eyes closed, holding the cup. I tried not to think of little Eve rocking.

"Annie?" Mitchell's voice was nearby and I felt his breath on my forehead. "You okay?"

"Just resting." I said, trying harder. Eve wasn't here. She wasn't. "Nina, where are you?" I opened my eyes.

"I'm in the living room, Annie." I sighed in relief and got off the counter.

A rush of longing made my feet wobble. Eve was still here. Her blood, what would it taste like? I felt my feet take me into the living room.

I gasped and it came out as a feral growl. I felt my fangs bite into my lip and winced. I hissed as Mitchell grabbed my shoulder, starting to struggle when he and Hal forced me upstairs.

Blood. Such a beautiful word-

Mitchell's hand went flying across my face and the bloodlust trickled away. I struggled to regain my composure and sank against the wall. I opened my eyes to see Tom holding a stake. He pointed it at me, and I almost wanted to growl again.

Jonas was standing in my room with them, glaring at me. I stood up straight, wincing as the bloodlust swept over me again-

I teleported into the living room, the longing choking my throat. Mitchell yelled, "Nina!"

Nina held Eve in one hand and George took a protective stance in front of them. I growled and tried to maneuver my way around him.

Jonas yanked at my waist and pulled me to him, while I kept growling. I could almost feel the darkness in my eyes. I teleported behind George, and Mitchell was suddenly there, throwing me away. Hal backed me up into Tom, who still had his stake. I was growling loudly now, the vampire in me crying and struggling to feed.

I could only see red. Such a beautiful red, the color of blood. I hissed louder, losing it now. What if I just let the vampire go?

I was out of control, dying to have a taste. My throat was burning! I teleported in front of Nina, and I slipped. I nearly ripped Eve of her hands, but took a wild step back. A smile was on my face, though it twisted into a grimace of pain. My throat hurt so much!

They weren't my friends. If they were, they would let me suck the blood out of Eve-

I realized what I was doing.

The struggle left me in a flood, and I fell onto the floor. I felt my eyes return to normal as my heartbeat sped up. I had been trying to kill Eve. Tears spring to my eyes when I realized that if Nina hadn't been downstairs, I would have succeeded.

"Oh my God," I pulled myself to my feet. The others clustered around Nina and Eve, while Tom grabbed me in a headlock with the stake pointed at my heart.

"Let me go, Tom." I struggled to say.

"Annie, no." Tom's voice was serious. "You were about to-"

My voice was hoarse. "I've got it now. I'm okay."

"Annie-"

"Do it!" Mitchell snapped from where he was.

Tom released me and I looked at Nina and George with horrorstruck eyes. "Guys, I'm-"

"It's okay, Annie." George interrupted me. Nina's eyes were unforgiving, as they should be.

I looked at the faces of my friends and had to teleported outside of the house.

I shuffled down the sidewalk to the park. I sank down onto the bench, feeling very alone.

Blood was very nice.

I pushed the thought away, mentally stunned. I had been so close; I had teleported right behind George!

I stood up, my throat burning again when I thought of how close I had been. Her blood would have tasted so good-

Someone touched my shoulder. A human. "Are you okay? You look sick."

"I'm fine." I didn't want to look at them. It was a female. Blood, oh God.

I walked hurriedly from the park, then when I was free from curious eyes, I teleported back home.

I kept to myself, not looking at anyone. When I got to my room, I couldn't help myself. I bit my wrist, and fed.

I could suddenly see what Dale had meant. Vampire blood wouldn't work, but my blood tasted human. It was fresh and with every breath, flavor burst from it.

It was so good. The pain in my throat was numbed. Something longed for the blood to be a stranger's. To hear them scream-

When I finished, I felt unsteady on my feet and very light. Blood spotted the corners of my lips and I licked at them. So good.

I walked downstairs, swaying on my feet with a smile plastered on my face. I hadn't killed anyone. I drank my own blood. Did that make me still clean?

Mitchell and Hal looked up at me. "Annie?" Mitchell's voice barely concealed shock.

Jonas and Nina stared at me. Tom, still holding his stake, gripped it tighter.

"Annie," Mitchell's voice grabbed my attention again. "Whose blood is that?"

Should I tell them I drank my own blood? "Does it matter?"

"Yes." Hal's voice was serious. "We might have to do some cleaning up."

"I didn't go around killing someone. This is my blood." I snapped. Crap.

Mitchell's eyes flew wide and I realized that I was suddenly a stranger to all of them. I sighed. "I'm going to go."

"Where?" Jonas demanded. George, Nina, and Tom had been silent the whole time. I tried not to think about the fact that Eve was in Nina's arms.

"Someplace where I won't kill someone!" I teleported out of the room, not really caring where I went. So I was surprised when I found myself at Kate's house.

"Annie? Jesus!" A very unmusical sound echoed throughout the house and I saw that my sudden appearance had made her drop a plate. Kate's blue eyes were wide and I winced.

"Sorry, Kate." I helped her sweep up the glass.

"Nothing was on it." I smiled at her when she spoke, realizing that I was in the kitchen.

"Jonas made it, by the way." I said, looking around the empty house. "Where's Dale?"

"Need help with the feeding?" Kate asked.

I gaped. "How did you know?"

"You have blood on your mouth." Kate pointed out. She poured me a cup of tea and I sat down.

"Let me tell you everything." Would Kate understand? I hoped as everything spilled out. Mitchell's return, Dale biting me, the struggle, nearly killing Eve this morning.

"That's hard." Kate sympathized. "The deal with Lia was something good, but it's got negative effects."

I nodded and sighed, sipping more of my tea. "I can't go back, or I might hurt Eve."

"You can stay here." Kate amended, the afternoon light making her hair glow whenever she moved her head. "It's gotten a bit lonely without Jonas around."

I smiled brightly. "Thanks, Kate."

"No problem." Kate stood up. "I can help you with the bloodlust, if you like."

"That would be lovely."

I bit at my wrist again, smiling. I missed the taste already.

Kate watched me, and her eyes turned black. "Allow me." She tore a gash in her wrist and handed it to me. I gave her mine, and then we fed.

"We get fresh blood, though." She gently pulled her hand back. She went into the fridge, and pulled out a pitcher.

I couldn't grab my tea cup fast enough.

My head didn't ache when I woke up.

"Awake?" Dale shook me. "I saw the pitcher." He sounded angry.

I sat up, and felt very awake. "Sorry."

"It's fine. It's just that for you to drink from the pitcher, you're not handling it well." Dale helped me sit up. Where was I?

"And you fell asleep on the table next to it." Dale groaned. "I had to clean up."

"Saved me any?"

"Annie, listen to yourself!" Dale's green eyes were abruptly angry. "What about your friends?"

"I had to leave. I fell down the stairs, I told you that, and they gave me a donation from the hospital in an effort to help me heal fast. Then I got hooked." It was terrible explaining. I felt remorseful, and of course the thought of blood made the remorse vanish. Damn it.

"Where's Jonas?" Dale handed me a glass of water. He didn't flinch when I poured it on my head. God, I needed to calm down. I was looking for the pitcher with my eyes already.

"Probably looking for her," Kate walked into the room. "Sorry, Dale. I've been meaning to go to the pitcher for a while, but when Annie showed up, I got loose."

"Don't worry, Kate." Dale waved it off. "I can get more."

"H-how do you get more blood anyway?" I asked, wanting to go home but wanting to get a fresh cup.

"I only hunt one a year. We have good self-control." Dale spoke, and then cringed. "No offense!"

"It's fine, I'm new to this, remember?" I had to get out of there.

"You're leaving?" Dale and Kate watched me go to the door. I nodded, and flinched.

"I need to go and think things through." I said, and then they smiled tiny identical smiles. I closed the door, and instantly wanted blood. This was going to be hard.

I sat down at an unfamiliar park. I was unprepared when Collin's cologne flooded over me and I was locked in a headlock.

"Come with me, darling."

Then I was hit over the head. Again.

When I woke up, blood was in my mouth. I instantly swallowed it and looked for more. Damn it!

"Thirsty?" Collin handed me something. It was in a water bottle, and it swished to the sides. I unscrewed the cap and gulped it down, the remaining human in me being locked in a cage. "Good girl. We can get you more."

Oh, they could? "You can?" The blood dribbled down my chin and I could feel the darkness in my eyes.

"Of course, for a price."

At the moment, I was willing to pay anything. "What?"

"You kill Eve."

I felt all of my humanity return to me, and then I was throwing the bottle. The vampire in me wanted to lunge for it, but I slammed myself backwards. It took this to bring me back to my senses? God, I was awful.

"No way in hell." I backed away from Collin, feeling iron behind me. I was in the cage again.

"Fine, but no blood."

"Take your stupid blood! It's not fresh anyways-" I closed my mouth, appalled. God, I was awful.

Collin laughed at me, and then he went to the open cage door. He gestured for me to leave, and as I walked to the entrance, I pictured myself in the house again.

I felt my control slip. I could tell by scent that no one was in the house.

Something clicked in my mind.

Lamps crashed to the ground on their bottoms, thankfully. Glasses and teacups hit the floor and the chairs were tumbling down. One broke in half and I was smiling. Better this than drinking blood.

I went to the kitchen and all the forks and spoon and knives were spinning around. They hit me and cut at my skin, and I was wishing for more pain. I went into the living room, not flinching when lights flickered around me.

I felt rage twist my face and I was pushing down things myself. I knocked over the TV and books off the shelves. I toppled over one of the loveseats while I mentally knocked down things in the kitchen. I teleported to my room and I pushed over my dresser and ripped my pillow in half. I was enraged at what had happened to me, enraged at myself for agreeing to the deal with Lia. Why had I let myself become part vampire? Why?

When I calmed down a tad, I was throwing down towels in the bathroom and punching walls. I froze when I heard the door open.

"Good God, what happened here?" George asked.

"What?" Nina and the others were filing in. Jonas stopped in the living room and stared around.

"I think we've been robbed." Hal said, disapproval in his tone. "Tom, did you leave the house door unlocked?"

Another surge of uncontrollable rage had me screaming and punching the wall. I punched a different spot so I wouldn't put a hole in the wall.

Downstairs, everything was quiet. "Who is upstairs?" Mitchell demanded, and I could hear him walking up the stairs.

He opened the door, but then I was screaming in the basement. I banged on the cage, cutting my knuckles. I stopped screaming. Just to let the pain out-

"It's Annie, I think." Hal was quiet.

"Why would Annie do all this?" Jonas asked, confusion in his voice.

"Ask her," Hal said drily. He knocked on the basement door. "Annie?"

I couldn't trust myself to speak.

"Annie?" Nina opened the door a bit. She saw me: cut up and teary eyed. "We've been looking all over for you."

My knees buckled, and then I had to teleport into the living room. I pictured the room how it was, and though things littered the floor, the house was set to right. I walked to the door, and a hand on my shoulder stopped me.

"Where are you going?" Mitchell asked me. He turned me to him.

"You guys want me gone, don't you? I'm leaving so you guys don't have to say it." I tried to hold in strange sobs.

"Of course not," George was pulling me from the door, stepping on glass and pillow stuffing.

He made me sit down on the loveseat, and then Hal was looking at me. "Annie, it'll be fine."

I shook my head. Nothing would be fine again.

When I woke up, the first thing I did was pour myself a cup of tea. No one other than Hal was up yet. "Morning, Annie."

I tried to smile. "Hey, Hal."

"It'll be okay."

"That's what people say before these sort of things get worse."

Hal smiled, and refilled my cup. "Any ideas?" He looked at the stairs. I glanced too to see Mitchell and George walking down. Mitchell got himself a bowl of cereal.

George looked at me. "Any ideas, Annie?"

"For what?" For the blood? I had no clue what he meant.

"Never mind." George made himself break feast. I got up and teleported to my room. No one was telling me I couldn't walk anymore. Maybe I could wash my hair.

I went into the bathroom, found my shampoo and conditioner. I looked in the mirror as I took the bandage off. My hair was still there, and though it was pressed to my head in bloody curls, it was there.

I got the water ready, and gently rinsed my hair. Blood went down the drain, and I bit my lip to distract myself. When I conditioned it, I was startled when I looked at the wall and saw stars. I stared at my hands and stifled a scream. My hands were covered in blood.

I rinsed out my hair quickly, not sure what to do. I sat on the toilet with the lid closed, in a towel. Every time I touched my head, blood came away on my hands.

I teleported to my room, struggling to keep my breathing even. If I started panicking, I'd be bleeding all over the floor. My head was beginning to hurt. I managed to change clothes, and then I was back on my bed.

I put my towel to my head once I was dressed, wincing at the pressure. I moaned when I pressed harder to staunch the blood that I felt dripping down my neck. Oh God, I should have waited.

"Annie?" Nina?

"Oh, um. Oh." I could feel myself sinking into the water. I had lost too much blood probably, moving around. "Nina. . ."

I tried to catch my balance when I walked to the door, but I could feel my knees shaking. I reached for the knob, and then I thought of a vase. My little alarm clock exploded on my nightstand, the glass shattering. I screamed when a shard entered the back of my arm, and then I was tumbling to the ground.

"Annie!" Tom? I wanted to speak but the pain in my arm and in my head made me mute. "Annie, open the door."

I was struggling to sit up, reaching for my head with my hands, the towel was gone. My dresser drawers opened and closed, slamming. I crawled over to the dresser to close them, but they flew right open. One accidentally crashed into the wall. I wasn't doing this!

Someone hit the door and it flew open. I couldn't see who it was. They took me in, and then screamed for Nina.

"Annie, what have you done?" Mitchell was pulling me off the floor. I could feel the darkness in his eyes, and I felt guilty. It was a simple thing.

"I washed my hair."

The stitches didn't hurt. I looked up at Tom, wincing slightly when he met my eyes. Hal rubbed my shoulder soothingly as the doctor worked. Mitchell was too busy glaring at me, and I tried my hardest to ignore him.

"All done," the doctor said cheerfully. Her blond hair tickled my nose as she peered at my stitches. She looked at me. "Do you need more pain medicine?"

I shook my head. "I'm fine. Thank you."

When we got home, I went to my room to clean up. Hal helped me, and I remembered then that he almost enjoyed cleaning. I put the drawers back in place while Hal vacuumed up the glass from my alarm clock. I fell asleep right on my bed when we were done, the smell of bleach making my head ache.

In the morning, the stitches were hurting, but I ignored them as well. I "forgot" to take my pain medicine for my head, and sat around the house all day while they went to work. Jonas was there with me, and he smiled at me whenever I glanced at him.

"You're not mad?" I finally asked. "At all?"

"No," Jonas said, sitting down at one of the kitchen chairs. "Why would I be mad? It's not like you did it on purpose."

I looked at Jonas and tried my hardest to smile.

When were things going to go back to normal? I had no idea.

My thoughts went to Mitchell and I frowned.

Maybe they weren't going back to normal. Maybe this was part of the deal with Lia somehow. Maybe this little bit had been hidden in fine print.

Maybe, just maybe, I had cursed myself when I brought back my friends.