Over the course of the day, Trish and Melina were able to put their differences aside long enough so Trish can be schooled on being a female vamp. From using her sexuality to manipulate victims to getting a better understanding of blood consumption, Trish slowly began to grasp her fate. While she still wasn't doing cartwheels about killing anyone and drinking blood, she knew over time things will get easier and better.

Melina looked at her watch. She needed to get ready for "work" at the Candy Palace, Rock's new strip joint. She taught Trish just about everything she knew and plus some added things she needed to know in the future. As a promise to Dave and a severe threat from Taker, Melina kept her personal feelings towards Trish in check. "Are we done here, Blondie?"

Trish nodded. After learning everything from Melina—with lessons from Nitro and London to come—Trish finally realized that two weeks wasn't nearly enough. However, the choice to convince Taker to give her more time was absent. "One last question: how did you become a vampire?"

"Um, I was bitten." Melina retorted.

Trish shook her head. She was hoping Melina would give her a little more insight into her life and times but she was sorely mistaken. A bitch will always be a bitch. "I think our lesson is done for the day." She got up and started to leave.

"Taker found us." Melina said, stopping Trish at the door. She turned around and walked back to her. "He found London, Johnny and me on Skid Row."

Trish immediately sensed a pattern. Taker found the trio and he mentored Dave and Rock. But there was a reason why he "found" Trish. "What happened?"

Melina let out a deep sigh as she stared at her pencil. She began fidgeting with it and started to shuffle her feet a little. "To me or to them? We all have our own fucked-up stories."

Trish sat across from Melina. "What happened to you?"

Over the next hour, Melina went into detail about her past. She was a Daddy's girl and loved her father dearly. When he suddenly passed away, Melina's mother remarried a man who was not abusive but a side pimp and drug addict as well. It was an open secret that her mother was into prostitution. It was only a matter of time before Melina began experiencing the same abuse.

"Wow." Trish said quietly. "How…why…um…"

"Trust me, I had a nice little marijuana habit that supported me." Melina hinted.

"But I don't understand," Trish said without trying to sound pretentious. "You were just a baby at the time."

"You know I have thought about it for several years, Trish. Several years of wondering why me; several years wondering why I didn't fight back; several years of wondering what would've happened if I kept the baby…" Melina's voice trailed off.

Trish knew where Melina was going. She wanted to put her arms around her but she also knew that Melina was not telling her all of that to look for a pity party. Melina shook her head violently and wiped away her tears. "I ran away hard and fast from home. I took whatever I could stuff in a backpack and I got the fuck out of there." She then smiled. "And that's where I met Johnny and London. They were on the Row doing their own things. All three of us were the Musketeers. We never left each other's sides and we always stuck together. You wouldn't believe of the mess we've gone through together."

"So how did Taker find you?"

"I turned a trick on some dude who didn't want to pay up. When Johnny and London intervened, the guy pulled out a switchblade and threatened to slice me if we didn't back off." She explained. "And that's when Taker showed up."

"Out of nowhere?"

Melina nodded. "Out of nowhere. He backhanded the guy and killed him before all of us realized what was going on." She sighed. "He saved us."

Trish was blown away. There was a reason behind Taker's protectiveness. Yet, she knew there was more to Taker being the guardian and head master of the Family. He had a purpose for choosing all of the members of the Family—especially her. Interesting.

"Look, Trish, we've all done shit we didn't want to do." Melina started. "We've all done shit that has made us uncomfortable. We've all done shit that we regret. So before you get started on your boohooing about how you're leaving your school and work, don't even try to look for sympathy from me, got it?"

"Understood." Trish replied.

-----------------------------------------

Trish walked out of the study and headed towards the kitchen area. She poured a glass of water and just stared out the window. The sun was going down and soft beams of sunlight still peeked through. She rested her head on her right palm and sighed. What have I gotten myself into?

"Problems, Blondie?" Taker asked.

Taker was a strong presence within the Family. His arms were covered in a plethora of tattoos and Trish couldn't guess how many Taker had exactly. He had sharp and penetrating eyes that always looked like a shade of hazel. Standing near seven feet tall with a mane of deep red hair, there was no mistake who was in charge. Trish thought it was funny when Dave would go from being domineering to a childlike when Taker was around. But when Trish was around him, Taker softened.

Trish was so startled by Taker's presence, she accidentally knocked over her water glass, causing it to break into pieces. "You guys really need to stop with the sneaking up shit you like to do so much." She said as she went to look for a mop.

"Don't worry about it, Blondie. I'll have the boys clean up that mess." He nodded. "How did the lesson go?"

"It went alright. I mean, I have a lot of stuff to learn still." She said.

"Well, you're not going to learn everything in two weeks." He mentioned.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. You know I'm not going to learn everything in two weeks? So why did you tell me that I only had two weeks?"

"You're not going to learn everything about being a vampire in two weeks." He clarified. "You're going to learn everything about the Family in two weeks."

"Melina already told me the story about how you saved her and the boys." Trish said. She hesitated before she asked her next question. "How long have you known about me?"

"I followed you." Taker said, nonchalantly.

"How long?"

"A while."

"Why did you save me now and not then?" She asked.

"Because you weren't ready and neither was he." Taker referred to Dave.

Everything began to make more sense to Trish. Meeting Dave in the library was not accident at all. "You chose me for him?"

"Part of the reason."

"Part of the reason?" She asked. "What's the other reason?"

Taker knew that Dave didn't tell Trish everything about his past. But why would he? The mere thought that Edge was even inches close to Trish stirred up a fire within Dave that Taker hadn't seen in a long while.

Taker took a deep breath and stared out the window. "So he could get over Kimberly."