Rebirth

10. Beginning Anew

I doubled over on the spot, clutching my head in agony. My entire body cramped and tingled, and my head threatened to explode.

Is this what it feels like to die?

No. Wait. This isn't how fledgling die. Fledglings drown in their own blood and cough quite a bit of it up. This isn't like that at all. Which begs the question: What is it?

Somewhere in my peripheral awareness, I realized that the adults had gathered around me. I felt a pair of strong arms lifting me off the ground as the pain finally began to subside.

"It's not usually that hard…"

"Maybe it's because of the bite…"

"What do we do now?"

Many, many questions and concerns were being voiced as I was carried off. At some point, we entered the school. I don't really remember when. I was more concerned with the monstrous headache/sore throat I now had to contend with.

By the time I opened my eyes, we were in the infirmary. Geez, haven't I spent enough time here as it is?

"Oh dear." Althea breathed. "Someone go to the kitchen and get something for her to eat. And I do mean eat, not drink."

Someone left the room at that point. I didn't really care who it was. I just knew something was going on that they weren't sure of.

"Set her down on the bed." Althea ordered. The man holding me set me down on the cot she'd pointed at. I didn't realize until I was on the makeshift bed that Jephthah had been the one who carried me down here.

"What's going on?" I rasped. My throat felt like it had been scorched and was still burning. Add to that the fact that every muscle in my body ached, and you have a feeling of general unwell-ness. Which is pretty much what I'm feeling now.

"Just rest, Child." Althea said softly. "Let it happen."

Let what happen? The Change? Well, the Change would explain my sudden throat problems, but not the other stuff. Not the aching body and throbbing head. Had something gone wrong when I started to Change? Hundreds of questions started to swim through my head, making my headache even worse.

Relax, dear one. I heard the soft, motherly voice of my Goddess whisper to me. You have nothing to fear. I won't let you fall. Yeah… I still don't quite understand all of this.

What's happening to me? I asked. I don't think the Change is supposed to hurt like this.

I told you, Child, you are a new breed. Nyx replied. I could hear the smile in her voice. I am truly sorry that you must go through this, but it is the only way.

I'm scared. I squeezed my eyes shut, allowing a tear to trickle down the side of my face.

Do not fear, young one. I am with you, and you will be fine. And with that, her presence left me. It served to calm my nerves down quite a bit, but I wasn't sure it had helped my physical pain that much.

But at least the headache wasn't any worse.

I heard the doors open with a whoosh, and turned my head to see what was going on. Cornelius and Jephthah were standing over me, while Mrs. March had returned with a plate full of leftovers from dinner. Tonight it was grilled garlic-herb chicken, veggie medley, and some kind of grape and cream-cheese salad.

Of course by this point, I could have eaten just about anything they offered me. I was famished.

"Drink this first." I heard Althea say as she handed Cornelius a plastic cup with a straw in it. The smell of blood mixed with spiced wine nearly sent me into a frenzy. If I hadn't still felt so sore, I probably would have swiped the cup from my mentor. But instead, I pressed my lips over the straw and began to gulp down the delicious burgundy stuff like a camel slurps up water. I only stopped when there was no longer anything in the cup.

"Good." Althea smiled. "Now eat your dinner."

I'm entirely certain that the faculty bore expressions of shock and disgust as I began tearing into the chicken. I don't' even recall using a fork to eat it with. One minute it was on my plate, the next minute it was gone. The veggies I do remember eating, but only because I had to use a fork to stab the corn kernels. In seconds, the grape salad had mysteriously (okay, not so mysteriously) vanished. I looked up from my meal into the gaze of five pairs of eyes.

"Sorry for my lack of etiquette." I apologized, embarrassment washing over me. "I didn't know how hungry I was."

"Quite all-right, dear." Eliante smiled warmly. "It's not uncommon for newly-changed Vampyres to experience an increase in appetite."

"Is it uncommon for every muscle in your body to ache?" I asked before I could stop myself. The adults all looked at me strangely.

"Yes." Althea said. "But then again, there's never been a shape-changing Vampyre. At least, not to my knowledge."

"Wait. So my whole animal thing is what's making me sore?" I asked. The nurse sighed.

"So far as I can tell, It's your body's way of adapting to the change that's just occurred inside you."

So my wolf-form is messing with the change into my adult self? Lovely.

Hold it. What does my adult-self look like?

"Do any of you have a mirror?" I asked. Normally, I'd have just used my compact, but that was still in my purse. Which was upstairs in my room at the moment. Didn't really matter, though, because Eliante let me use her mirror.

"Oh wow." I breathed. I don't really know what I'd been expecting, but this wasn't it. My tattoo consisted of a bunch of snowflakes strung together, and it wrapped around my cheeks and jawbones before taking over my shoulders and chest area. Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that it was all a bright emerald green. "There's so many snowflakes…" my voice trailed off. A normal Vampyre tattoo isn't this elaborate. Most of them just get masks or half-masks.

"You are very blessed indeed, Amy." Cornelius said. I paused for a bit. Amy. Yeah, I know it's my given name, but it just didn't fit. Not with the new tattoo and whatever kind of wolf-form upgrades I was getting because of the Change. Of course it made sense: new me, new name. But what did I want to be called?

My wolf-self whined pitifully in the back of my mind. I guess that means she had a suggestion. Suddenly, a name popped into my head. Her name. Our name.

"Is it too late to change my name?" I asked, looking at the teachers gathered around me.

"No." Eliante shook her head. "You may change it whenever you feel ready."

"Well, I am ready." I said. The wolf in my head howled in agreement. She was happy to be called by her name. "My last name stays the same, but the rest of it is going to be different now." Not Amelia Marie. Not that it wasn't pretty, but… "From now on, my name is Esarosa Eira MacKiernan."

For those who don't understand either of those names, the literal translation is "White wolf snow" , or "Snow-white Wolf" if you're going to get fancy with it. A perfect fit for what I am now.

The adults nodded and smiled in approval as I yawned. I forgot that I was so tired. Looks like I'm crashing here again. At least until the adults figure out where to put me.

"All-right, all of you out!" Althea ordered to the two males standing by my bedside. "She needs rest! Shoo!"

I laughed as both of them trotted out the door. No one wanted to face the wrath of Althea.

"Oh, Eliante?" I asked as she was walking out. She turned to me and smiled. "Yes, child. What is it?"

"Could you please let Shannon and the others know I'm not dead?" I winced as I said this. Poor Miko must be about four degrees of panicked right now.

"I will." She replied. "And yes, you will still be given the answers you seek tomorrow evening. But for now, you need to sleep. Blessed be, Esarosa." She saluted me. The high priestess just saluted me.

"Blessed be." I replied, saluting her in return. She smiled and left the room as Althea turned the lights down in the infirmary.

I was out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow.