***Chapter 3***
Ok, I did somewhat expect a huge mansion, but when I actually got a good look at my new "home", I was speechless. Maybe it was because I have never been in a small mansion before, ok ok I never saw a mansion period, so this did shock me. Luckily Turquoise noticed and didn't ask me to comment. "Alright," she touched my shoulder as she said this in order to get my attention, which it did. I hadn't expected such a gentle touch from someone who had been a mercenary. Yes, she had to talk about something didn't she through this huge maze in order to catch my attention? It worked. "This is the wing where Jaguar's guests stay." Giving me a stern look, she continued. "Unless you want to be snack, you stay out of there. Of course you could be fed off anywhere, but I hope they notice that you are too young to be a blood donor." A small smirk played across her pale lips and I nodded in response.
"Turquoise, showing her around are you?" The voice made us both turn around and the smile that had begun forming on Turquoise's lips faded. A few feet in front of us was a young woman about the same age as Turquoise, with burgundy hair and a stern face. Quickly thinking, I added her picture to the Mental Memory index, knowing that Turquoise would have to address her by her name sometime.
"Yes Ravyn I am." Turning to me, she added. "Her name is Nada. Nada, meet Ravyn. Ravyn meet Nada."
"Hmph," was Ravyn's instant response before she looked me over. I guess she acted before the thought, or did she think before she acted? I don't really know, but she smirked when her burgundy eyes met my dirt brown ones "A little normal isn't she?" It took me awhile to comprehend that but when I did I blushed with embarrassment. Turquoise and Ravyn were very beautiful which would explain why their owners had chosen them. But what about me? Why had Adrian wanted me?
"It's Adrian's taste; he doesn't like his slaves drawing attention to themselves." My eyes broke away from Ravyn's finally and looked at the intricate patterns that designed the marble. I admit I am completely average, or even below average. I was just glad that Jaguar had bought me. I had been with Adrian for two hours and was almost beaten to death, but Jaguar had intervened and bought me. I wonder how many slaves Jaguar had gotten this way.
"Right. Well Jaguar is out of his meeting with Gabriel." It seemed that that had been her whole reason to coming, so Ravyn nodded once to Turquoise before turning on her heel and leaving.
"Hmm well I need to go and discuss some issues with some administrators from New Mayhem." Seeing my confused look, she added, "Another vampire city. They don't have slaves. We are trying to get a treaty of mutual peace with them." The name New Mayhem hit my nerves and I know I had heard of it before. But where? Slowly I nodded.
"Where am I going to go then?" My voice had become less hoarse and it had returned to its slightly low tone. The tone always made me older, or that was what my friend had said, who had a rather high pitch voice, much like everyone else back home. The people that made fun of me said I sounded and looked like a hippo. My attitude dampened some more as I remembered.
"A shapeshifter guard is going to show you around more. I would let Eric show you around but you know, he is busy working out in the garden." Actually I didn't know but I nodded again. Just as I did, a girl about a year or two older than me walked down the hallway. With a olive complexion and long deep brown hair, she reminded me of an Egyptian, but then it came to me that she could be Egyptian, with all the slaves origins it wouldn't really surprise me. Her navy blue hip huggers and her black tanktop showed off her flat stomach and a shimmering navel piercing.
"Hola Turquoise," she said with a smooth silky voice, a voice that sounded just like a vampire's. I tensed up instantly, but Turquoise squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.
"Hola Lucia," Turquoise nudged me a bit forward. "Se llama es Nada." Lucia smiled and nodded at me, and when I saw that her eyes were an amethyst color, not black, I relaxed. She wasn't a vampire.
"Hola Nada, me llama es Lucia." I didn't take much Spanish. Well I would be if I hadn't been taken from home. Spanish was my third period class, and we were just introduced to adjectives. I barely knew any different language, and I became nervous. What if Lucia asked me a question?
"Cual es tu direcion?" My eyes widened. Damn thinking.
"Umm no hablo espanol," I muttered as I looked at her. She didn't look Spanish but I never met a Spanish person so I wouldn't know now would I?
"Oh, well then." Lucia spoke English! Praise the Goddess! "I asked you where you lived, and don't worry, I don't always talk in Spanish." She smiled a pearly white smile and I once again felt like dirt. They were all so beautiful and I was the ugly duck of the mansion. Great. Here comes the self esteem boost. Wait, false alarm.
"I don't want to talk about where I live, if that's ok with you." I heard myself tell her, although I wanted to spill out everything. I guess I just didn't want to break down crying like a weakling in front of her. Already it felt as if I knew her all my life.
"That's ok." She sounded sincere and I smiled. Wait a second. Turquoise said a shapeshifter guard was going to show me around. There were shapeshifters too? Oh boy. "Turquoise, Jager is in there waiting for you. Jager and Aubrey's fledgling, Jessica."
"Ash Night?" Turquoise smiled as she saw the look of recognition in my face when she said the name. Ash Night was my favorite fiction writer. I adored her, even though I never saw her. Oh Goddess, hold the phone I thought to myself. Aubrey, Jager? Weren't they....."Yes Nada, Ash Night's books are true." Quickly I thought back to the city Turquoise was going to negotiate with. New Mayhem. Oh crap, no wonder that sounded so familiar!
"Yes, that Jessica. Aubrey didn't want to come since he didn't want to talk to humans, but he sent Ash Night since she might understand human behavior, still." I nodded. That was all I could do. "Well Lucia, show her around a bit, and then get something to eat in about an hour or so. Jaguar rarely sleeps the night away. I don't know why Gabriel insisted that meeting at three in the afternoon, but Jaguar should wake up soon. He wanted to talk to Nada." Patting my head, which I resented, Turquoise turned and left as well.
"So Nada, where do you want to go and see?" I shrugged. I didn't know because I didn't know what was here. My stomach answered for me. Lucia smiled. "You know, I haven't been with you for a long time but I know just by your expressions that you aren't what your name suggests. You are definitely something." Looking up at her, I had to smile. No one had told me that before, not even myself. It felt good to hear that. "Alright, the kitchen it is."
"Lucia, you're a shapeshifter, right?" I must have caught her attention because she stopped and looked at me.
"Yes Nada, I am."
"What can you shapeshift into?" We both started walking again, my barefeet and her graceful walking not making a sound on the marble.
"We'll talk about it over dinner."
"Dinner?!?" Had I slept a day away? "How long was I asleep?"
"Hmm Jaguar kept visiting a room for about four days. And Adrian has been here for five. So I guess about four days. You lost a lot of blood, from what Jaguar told me. You passed out in the bathtub last Thursday. Turquoise took special care of you, Eric bandaged you and I kept watch incase Adrian or Jeshickah decided to pay you a visit. You are the first slave that I have ever met to be taken care of so well." Smiling, she turned a corner and stopped, looking at me. "You are also the only human that I have known to survive Adrian's breaking, let alone not become broken."
"So I guess that's an accomplishment," I sighed as I peeked around the next corner and saw the kitchen. Bacon and eggs reached my nostrils and my stomach jumped for joy. "If this is dinner, why are they cooking breakfast?"
"Nada," Lucia said with a smirk, "Vampires live here."
"Oh," I responded with a stupid grin. Vampires sleep during the day, so when they wake up, it is like breakfast to them. I laughed.
"And yes, your survival is an accomplishment for the humans. Adrian is raged though. He never succeeded in breaking a human, and you're the first living proof." I began feeling a bit embarrassed, so I moved into the kitchen. Who said I wanted to survive it anyway?
Ok, I did somewhat expect a huge mansion, but when I actually got a good look at my new "home", I was speechless. Maybe it was because I have never been in a small mansion before, ok ok I never saw a mansion period, so this did shock me. Luckily Turquoise noticed and didn't ask me to comment. "Alright," she touched my shoulder as she said this in order to get my attention, which it did. I hadn't expected such a gentle touch from someone who had been a mercenary. Yes, she had to talk about something didn't she through this huge maze in order to catch my attention? It worked. "This is the wing where Jaguar's guests stay." Giving me a stern look, she continued. "Unless you want to be snack, you stay out of there. Of course you could be fed off anywhere, but I hope they notice that you are too young to be a blood donor." A small smirk played across her pale lips and I nodded in response.
"Turquoise, showing her around are you?" The voice made us both turn around and the smile that had begun forming on Turquoise's lips faded. A few feet in front of us was a young woman about the same age as Turquoise, with burgundy hair and a stern face. Quickly thinking, I added her picture to the Mental Memory index, knowing that Turquoise would have to address her by her name sometime.
"Yes Ravyn I am." Turning to me, she added. "Her name is Nada. Nada, meet Ravyn. Ravyn meet Nada."
"Hmph," was Ravyn's instant response before she looked me over. I guess she acted before the thought, or did she think before she acted? I don't really know, but she smirked when her burgundy eyes met my dirt brown ones "A little normal isn't she?" It took me awhile to comprehend that but when I did I blushed with embarrassment. Turquoise and Ravyn were very beautiful which would explain why their owners had chosen them. But what about me? Why had Adrian wanted me?
"It's Adrian's taste; he doesn't like his slaves drawing attention to themselves." My eyes broke away from Ravyn's finally and looked at the intricate patterns that designed the marble. I admit I am completely average, or even below average. I was just glad that Jaguar had bought me. I had been with Adrian for two hours and was almost beaten to death, but Jaguar had intervened and bought me. I wonder how many slaves Jaguar had gotten this way.
"Right. Well Jaguar is out of his meeting with Gabriel." It seemed that that had been her whole reason to coming, so Ravyn nodded once to Turquoise before turning on her heel and leaving.
"Hmm well I need to go and discuss some issues with some administrators from New Mayhem." Seeing my confused look, she added, "Another vampire city. They don't have slaves. We are trying to get a treaty of mutual peace with them." The name New Mayhem hit my nerves and I know I had heard of it before. But where? Slowly I nodded.
"Where am I going to go then?" My voice had become less hoarse and it had returned to its slightly low tone. The tone always made me older, or that was what my friend had said, who had a rather high pitch voice, much like everyone else back home. The people that made fun of me said I sounded and looked like a hippo. My attitude dampened some more as I remembered.
"A shapeshifter guard is going to show you around more. I would let Eric show you around but you know, he is busy working out in the garden." Actually I didn't know but I nodded again. Just as I did, a girl about a year or two older than me walked down the hallway. With a olive complexion and long deep brown hair, she reminded me of an Egyptian, but then it came to me that she could be Egyptian, with all the slaves origins it wouldn't really surprise me. Her navy blue hip huggers and her black tanktop showed off her flat stomach and a shimmering navel piercing.
"Hola Turquoise," she said with a smooth silky voice, a voice that sounded just like a vampire's. I tensed up instantly, but Turquoise squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.
"Hola Lucia," Turquoise nudged me a bit forward. "Se llama es Nada." Lucia smiled and nodded at me, and when I saw that her eyes were an amethyst color, not black, I relaxed. She wasn't a vampire.
"Hola Nada, me llama es Lucia." I didn't take much Spanish. Well I would be if I hadn't been taken from home. Spanish was my third period class, and we were just introduced to adjectives. I barely knew any different language, and I became nervous. What if Lucia asked me a question?
"Cual es tu direcion?" My eyes widened. Damn thinking.
"Umm no hablo espanol," I muttered as I looked at her. She didn't look Spanish but I never met a Spanish person so I wouldn't know now would I?
"Oh, well then." Lucia spoke English! Praise the Goddess! "I asked you where you lived, and don't worry, I don't always talk in Spanish." She smiled a pearly white smile and I once again felt like dirt. They were all so beautiful and I was the ugly duck of the mansion. Great. Here comes the self esteem boost. Wait, false alarm.
"I don't want to talk about where I live, if that's ok with you." I heard myself tell her, although I wanted to spill out everything. I guess I just didn't want to break down crying like a weakling in front of her. Already it felt as if I knew her all my life.
"That's ok." She sounded sincere and I smiled. Wait a second. Turquoise said a shapeshifter guard was going to show me around. There were shapeshifters too? Oh boy. "Turquoise, Jager is in there waiting for you. Jager and Aubrey's fledgling, Jessica."
"Ash Night?" Turquoise smiled as she saw the look of recognition in my face when she said the name. Ash Night was my favorite fiction writer. I adored her, even though I never saw her. Oh Goddess, hold the phone I thought to myself. Aubrey, Jager? Weren't they....."Yes Nada, Ash Night's books are true." Quickly I thought back to the city Turquoise was going to negotiate with. New Mayhem. Oh crap, no wonder that sounded so familiar!
"Yes, that Jessica. Aubrey didn't want to come since he didn't want to talk to humans, but he sent Ash Night since she might understand human behavior, still." I nodded. That was all I could do. "Well Lucia, show her around a bit, and then get something to eat in about an hour or so. Jaguar rarely sleeps the night away. I don't know why Gabriel insisted that meeting at three in the afternoon, but Jaguar should wake up soon. He wanted to talk to Nada." Patting my head, which I resented, Turquoise turned and left as well.
"So Nada, where do you want to go and see?" I shrugged. I didn't know because I didn't know what was here. My stomach answered for me. Lucia smiled. "You know, I haven't been with you for a long time but I know just by your expressions that you aren't what your name suggests. You are definitely something." Looking up at her, I had to smile. No one had told me that before, not even myself. It felt good to hear that. "Alright, the kitchen it is."
"Lucia, you're a shapeshifter, right?" I must have caught her attention because she stopped and looked at me.
"Yes Nada, I am."
"What can you shapeshift into?" We both started walking again, my barefeet and her graceful walking not making a sound on the marble.
"We'll talk about it over dinner."
"Dinner?!?" Had I slept a day away? "How long was I asleep?"
"Hmm Jaguar kept visiting a room for about four days. And Adrian has been here for five. So I guess about four days. You lost a lot of blood, from what Jaguar told me. You passed out in the bathtub last Thursday. Turquoise took special care of you, Eric bandaged you and I kept watch incase Adrian or Jeshickah decided to pay you a visit. You are the first slave that I have ever met to be taken care of so well." Smiling, she turned a corner and stopped, looking at me. "You are also the only human that I have known to survive Adrian's breaking, let alone not become broken."
"So I guess that's an accomplishment," I sighed as I peeked around the next corner and saw the kitchen. Bacon and eggs reached my nostrils and my stomach jumped for joy. "If this is dinner, why are they cooking breakfast?"
"Nada," Lucia said with a smirk, "Vampires live here."
"Oh," I responded with a stupid grin. Vampires sleep during the day, so when they wake up, it is like breakfast to them. I laughed.
"And yes, your survival is an accomplishment for the humans. Adrian is raged though. He never succeeded in breaking a human, and you're the first living proof." I began feeling a bit embarrassed, so I moved into the kitchen. Who said I wanted to survive it anyway?