Chapter 13

Jake

"What!" I exclaimed.

"It's true Jake…She just told me. I guess cause of my 'close encounter with the weird kind' made me the expert. I'm surprised she didn't go see Cassie or Tobias or- anyone but me."

I laughed into the phone, but then became serious again. "So.. Do we know who this 'secret admirer' of Rachel's is?"

"No. But I'll tell you one thing: Tobias is going to be jealous, hehe."

"Come on Marco. This is serious."

"Alright, alright. But let me tell you: life keeps getting worse. We finally defeat that girl-er….better not say it, but, we finally defeat her, and we have the…them disabled for awhile, and we don't even get a break! I mean, come on!" I could just picture Marco shaking his head.

I sighed. "Well. Anyway, let's have a meeting. We need to go check out…you know… for anything else. I'll call Rachel and Cassie; you go find Ax and Tobias. C-ya in a few!" I hung up before I could here his objections.

I called Rachel and Cassie and told them about the meeting. I then went into my room, closed the door, shed my outer clothing down to my morphing outfit, and focused on becoming a peregrine falcon.

I felt an itching and feathers popped out. My hands and arms became wings, my feet and legs scaly with talons.

My nose and mouth became a beak.

I felt the morph stop, and the falcon's mind emerge. I flew out the window to the spot where Cassandra had stayed.

It was going to be a long day…

I arrived at the spot, and demorphed.

"Well, its about time O fearless leader," Marco said, smirking.

"Yeah, we've been here for at least twenty minutes." Rachel told me.

[Are you guys ready, or are we going to talk about Jake this whole time?] Asked Tobias.

"Ready…Umm… I don't see how you get in."

[It's really hard to see. If I hadn't been here before, I'd never have found it…]

Tobias guided Marco and I to the 'door', which turned out to be a rotten piece of wood covered in dirt and dead leaves.

We hefted off the lid, and, carefully dropped into the deep pit.

I landed on my butt onto the dirty floor. I looked up.

"Did anyone bring a flashlight?"

"Yeah, I came prepared," Cassie told us. She handed a flashlight to me, and I clicked it on. I looked around the room.

Everywhere there were dead leaves and cobwebs, and other things of desolation.

"Wow."

"Cassandra must not have been a very tidy person," Marco muttered.

The dirt covered every inch of the pit. It was like being in a large tomb. If ever, now was the time to become claustrophobic.

"Sheesh. Well, where's that inscription?" I asked nervously.

[Over there.]

Again, Tobias guided us. We finally found the markings on the floor, the claw marks, and the mark from Ax's tail. But the odd thing was…

Cassie bent over the writing. "Guys, I don't know if you noticed… But this inscription is only about six months old."

We stared at Cassie.

[Six months? It looks like five years. Besides… Cassandra didn't awaken 'til later, remember?]

"Just because Cassandra wasn't awake doesn't mean someone couldn't visit her." Cassie pointed out.

"Who would want to visit her?" Marco asked.

"People who realized she was decent inside and not some kind of freak show or monster," Cassie retorted. "Not everyone is a complete Visser Three. And remember how she acted in the end? She wasn't actually evil."

"But… I don't know… Really. Who would want visit her?"

"I would." Said an angry voice behind us. Suddenly I heard a gasp. "Cassandra! She is… gone!"

Chapter 14

Cassandra

"Ohhh.." I moaned. I sat up.

The first thing I noticed, the room wasn't so cold anymore. And, the carpet was white, with a black ceiling. And I was on a bed…

"Good. You're awake. I've been waiting."

I wasn't so startled to see him, this time. I felt calmer, now that I had adjusted to his comings-and-goings.

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. "Why don't you ever tell me anything but bad news?" I questioned.

He smiled. "I brought you some food. I figured you'd be hungry. You've been asleep for a day now."

My eyes widened in surprise.

"And, after you've eaten, I have a surprise for you…"

He handed me a plate that had some chicken on it. I tore into it eagerly, my hunger fading with each bite.

I finished the chicken, and placed the plate on a small nearby table.

"Now, if you'll come with me…" He held out his hand.

I took it, for some reason. I followed him out of the room into an amazing array of corridors and hallways.

All were painted white, and it reflected in my eyes, a burning white light.

"Bright? I know… But it protects us from our enemies," He told me.
"Enemies? What is this place, anyway?" I inquired.

"A place for refugees. Scapegoats. Tortured souls," He replied. "People unappreciated in this world." He seemed to be at a struggle for words. "They come here, or we find them."

"I don't get it," I said, as we continued walking.

He shrugged. "People who want or need protection come here. People who get picked on just because of their race or something. My job is to find people to help them."

I looked at him questionably, but he ignored me.

"Here we are," He informed me.

I wondered how he could tell one door apart from any others, but I kept it to myself. I still didn't completely trust him.

"We're about a few weeks away from where you live," He explained. "I had to keep knocking you unconscious so you couldn't see where we were headed."

Weeks away from where I used to live? That thought thrilled me. I had lived in that nowheresville for all my life. I hated it.

I stared in awe around the room we were in. Unlike the others, this was painted a light pink with blue, and the carpet was mixed colors. It was a lot nicer than where I had stayed.

"But why were you so…weird to me?" I whispered to him.

"Shh… I'll explain later. This is much more important."

Now that I knew him (even though I didn't know his name, which was really weird), he seemed a lot nicer.

This room had a long table in the middle, and sitting in various places around it were other people. All of them were deathly pale and they seemed to have an unearthly beauty about them. A lot like the guy standing next to me.

I stared at them, and somewhere inside of me, I felt recognition to them, just like him.

Everything about this room reminded me of…something. It sent a chill up my spine.

One of the men motioned for me to sit down in a chair.

I did.

"Ah, Damon. You have returned…"

"Yes," He uttered. Then he sat down in a chair next to mine.

"Is she willing?" asked another.

"Willing for what?!" I cried out.

A girl glared at Damon. "You didn't tell her the purpose of the initiation?"

That smile appeared on his face again. "No."

One of them cleared their throats. "It's rude of us to talk of…what's your name?"

"Cassandra," I responded.

"Thank you. As I was saying, it's rude of us to talk of Cassandra as though she isn't here with us. I suggest you tell her our intents, Rachael."

The girl who had first spoken about the initiation cleared her throat and began.

"The purpose of the initiation is to see if the person chosen is worthy," She told me. "If the person is chosen, they can still decide whether or not they want to join. If the person agrees, he or she will be made an official member…." She smiled mysteriously. "If they disagree, they can never leave, as they might tell other humans or vampires of our whereabouts."

My eyes must've widened, because several people stared at me oddly.

"Sorry," I told them, embarrassed.

Some of them looked like they would laugh, but they held their tongues.

Rachael stared at me. "Would you like to join?"

I wanted to say no…but I felt myself opening my mouth and saying: "What do I have to do?"

Chapter 15

Marco

We all turned.

"It's him," growled Rachel. "That's the guy."

Ax hid behind us, keeping low.

"What have you done with her?" he snarled.

"Done with who?" asked Jake.

"Cassandra, of course." The boy's eyes were glowing red. "I'm only going to ask you one more time… Where. Is. She?!"

"We don't know!" I said.

His eyes flashed. "LIAR!"

"No, that's the truth!" Jake backed me up.

The boy reached over, and picked Jake up by the collar, lifting him into the air. He said in a menacing voice, his face close to Jake's. "Where is Cassandra?"

Jake struggled without any effect. "We told you! We don't know!"

"Fine… Then how did you get here?"

No one answered. The boy threw Jake into a wall. "Fine," he said in a calm voice. "If you won't tell me, then I'll simply have to kill you."

Jake had crumpled to the floor, barely conscious.

"Look," he said weakly. "We don't know where Cassandra is. We came to find out where she went, if there were any clues here. Obviously, there aren't. We'll go now…"

"I think not. That still doesn't answer how you know Cassandra."

"We fought her." Rachel answered. "We fought her, won, and then she disappeared."

"No…she wouldn't have fought…not Cassandra…She would have been too weak from her sleep…She would've told me she was awake."

The boy sank to the floor, the anger in his eyes gone. "What…why.." He began, but stopped trying to speak after a minute or two.
Cassie walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. She spoke into his ear, probably telling him exactly what had happened. The boys eyes widened when she got near the end, probably wondering who the Ellimist and Crayak were.

Cassie stood up, but kept a hand on his shoulder.

"I… Cassandra…She…" He seemed to think it unreal, and ignored everyone else. Suddenly he turned, his eyes glowing red again. "It's your faults she isn't here!"

"No! We had to fight her!" Jake said.

The boy grabbed Rachel. "It isn't an issue anymore." He told us. Then, turning to Rachel he spoke. "You're coming with me, Rachel."

Rachel seemed to start to concentrate.

Of course, I thought. She's morphing

Coarse fur sprouted from her skin, and her fingers changed into black claws. She grew to a full eight feet.

"HWRRROOOOAAARRRR!!!!" She roared.

She flung a fist at him, but he dodged easily. He seemed to grow a few more feet himself, but then shrank down to the form of a wolf.

Snarling, he clawed and bit her, dodging most of her blows. Most of her blows. I began to morph Gorilla, and I saw tiger stripes on Jake, and Cassie was becoming a wolf.

Tobias let out a hawk cry, and dived at the wolf that was the boy, raking his fur with his talons.

Bloody spots were appearing on Rachel and the wolf. He finally managed to claw her eyes, drawing blood.

[AAAAhhh!] Screamed Rachel. She started clawing the air around her, blinded.

I went after the wolf, throwing punches.

He got knocked into a wall several times, and Rachel eventually demorphed and then remorphed.

Suddenly, he was cornered. He was snarling, and raking the air ahead with his paws, but he was badly injured, an ear missing, bloody spots on his fur.

Ax whipped his tail at the wolf, and somehow, he managed to duck under the blade.

With new fighting stamina, he attacked.

I was overwhelmed when suddenly I felt intense pain from my arm. It had been bitten and clawed into pieces.

The wolf became a human as Jake, Cassie, and I did. I noticed he had the same injuries on his body he had had when he was a wolf as well. He glared at us, and, in one smooth motion, opened the door and leaped out.

We got out as well, but as we looked around, we saw he was already gone. Even Tobias couldn't see him.

I was amazed at how he had managed to hold us all at bay, and how he could turn into a wolf…

Chapter 16

Cassandra

After the initiation had been explained, I sat, biting my lip. I didn't know what to do. I was confused about everything.

They postponed the meeting to two days later so I could have time to decide, and Damon returned me to my room. He explained why he had frightened me and taken me here in the first place.

"I had to frighten you so you wouldn't go off telling everyone in the village about me," He said. "I brought you here because we need more staff assistance. We only have about twenty people to help, and we need more."

"I still don't get it. And why would you have enemies?" I asked.

"People who don't like vampires, or the people we save. People who just don't like us. Weirdo's like that," he informed me.

"Vampires?" I laughed. "Vampires aren't real. They're only myths."

Damon looked at me. "Don't you remember when I first showed myself to you?"

I moved uncomfortably. "That was just a dream. I first met you when I was taking the milk to market."

"Oh really?" He smiled, and I saw fangs. "Is this a dream then?"

"Yes," I said, stubbornly. "You don't have fangs. And," I said, looking at his fingers. "You don't have huge claws."

Damon shook his head. "You are stubborn, aren't you? Maybe this will prove it to you."

He brought me closer to him, gently, and then I felt a prick on my neck.

"Oh!" I began to struggle, and suddenly I felt intense pain, as though my soul were being sucked out. I continued to fight until he let go of me.

I stood against the wall, my face white. Damon didn't seem so pale as usual, and then I noticed a tinge of blood on his mouth. He licked his lips.

"You see?"

"Keep away from me!" I screamed. I backed away, still facing him.

He shrugged. "You can't leave. Not anymore… You're stuck here, whether you want to be or not. All the staff are vampires; that way we live longer, and it helps us find people easier. I can see and hear, even smell better than a human. That's why most of our enemies are vampire hunters. They think we're using this facility for getting more people to become vampires, or something. But we aren't. We simply help others."

I continued backing away, until I got to the door to my room. I opened it, and then slammed it shut. I noticed there wasn't a lock on it, and I went to my bed.

I put my face into my hands, and began to cry. It was a nightmare ever since…

I struggled to remember. Some part of me held pictures up of a bird, some kind of mutant thing with eyestalks and no mouth, and several people. I remembered a blue light, and then ending up on my farm, but nothing else.

I don't know if I fell asleep, or what, but I remembered being shaken awake, and hearing an urgent voice.

Chapter 17

Jake