Chapter 4:

In a single file line, we all passed Cashile and entered the training room. The room was similar to the observation room; everything was cement, but this was much smaller.

It was strange that we were starting training right away. We just got here; I just got here. All of this was new to me; I wanted to explore and learn about my new sector (as scary as it was).

I also wanted to eat. I wanted to eat so bad that I could smell food. In the human sector, food was scarce and when we did get it, it wasn't very extravagant. There was only one time I remember getting a full meal, and that was once in school when my class toured the Executive building.

I wanted food so badly that I could smell chicken with some sort of sauce, wild rice, and some sort of cooked coniferous vegetable. My stomach roared at me and I heard other people grumping their complaints as well. Why are they complaining? I was the one hallucinating about food.

Then I saw it. Fifteen platters of steaming chicken thighs covered in creamy gravy sitting on top of wild rice with broccoli. Fifteen. That means there were only enough for half of us. The thought of me not getting food, when others did, made my stomach growl even more.

I watched Cashile stride in behind us and then take his place in front of the podiums that were holding the meals. He clasped his hands behind him again and waited. I could hear nervous whispers come from behind me.

"Aren't you all hungry?" he asked.

Silence.

"If you're hungry, you should fulfill your hunger, should you not?" he asked. The silence still filled the room, but one boy, with hair so blonde it looked white, slowly stepped forward. Cashile stood in his place and smiled at the boy. He raised one arm as if to offer him to the meals. The boy took that as his queue, and he started walking toward the meal, turning his back on Cashile. The boy got his hands around a plate, but as soon as he did, Cashile came at him with inhuman speed and tackled him to the ground, causing the plate to shatter into jagged pieces. The boy never suspected a thing.

Cashile raised an eyebrow as he stood up and laughed at the boy. "I suggest you do not let your hunger distract you so easily." He gave the boy a shove back towards our group. "You will know only three things when you become a vampire: hunger, thirst, and desire. My job is to teach you how to control yourself, teach you how to ignore these feelings and focus on the fight. As soon as one of you beats the distraction of your hunger, you will all be allowed to eat."

I looked at Alex. He looked about as shocked as I was. How are we supposed to beat a vampire?

This is what Alex was talking about on the train. The vampires don't want us eating because they want us to experience the same extreme hunger that they experience. Little did they know, as a human, I was extremely familiar with hunger. I hope no one saw the smug smile appear on my face.

From the back, another boy pushed his way forward to attempt to fight Cashile. He was tall, had dark black hair and tanned skin. A similar looking girl followed behind him but stayed in the crowed. The boy—Ethan, I presume—stepped up to Cashile, bent his knees and put up his fists, ready to fight.

Ethan made the first move, punching at Cashile's head. He effortlessly blocked the punch and quickly returned a blow to Ethan's abdomen. Ethan stumbled backward and coughed to try and regain his breath. Ethan didn't even have time to process what was happening by the time Cashile attacked again, knocking him off of his feet. Ethan's head slammed against the cement floor and he shut his eyes from the pain.

At this point, the dark-haired girl—Jade—ran at Cashile screaming. She swiftly dove to the floor and swiped her leg underneath Cashile causing him to fall. She crawled on top of him and started throwing punches. Suddenly, he grabbed both of her fists, in mid-punch, and rolled on top of her, holding her hands above her head. She struggled under his weight and kicked her legs.

Ethan was now slowly getting up. He was on his feet, but he seemed to wobble back and forth, he eventually resigned to collapsing to his knees.

With the same inhuman speed as before, Cashile stood up and neither Jade nor Ethan tried to fight him again. They hobbled wearily back to the group.

Periodically, people tried to fight Cashile, but they were all easily beat. This isn't fair. I thought. We can't beat him; he has an unfair advantage. That sparked a thought in my head.

After Cashile defeated the last person, I stepped forward. He laughed at me and I could hear other mutts snicker along with him. I knew what they were thinking. They were stronger than me, being half vampire and all, and if they couldn't beat him, nobody could, but they weren't thinking strategically like me. All they cared about was they physicality of this fight; they completely forgot about what Cashile had just told us. Three things control vampires: hunger, thirst, and desire. I don't have to be overly powerful in defense skills to beat him; I have to use my knowledge of his weakness to my advantage. Let's just hope it doesn't blow up in my face.

With my heart beating fast, I tied my brown hair behind my head and walked past Cashile to pick up one of the broken plate pieces. His two-toned eyes looked confused, but only for a second; he quickly figured out my tactic.

I took the ceramic shard and cut the meaty part of my hand. A scarlet line appeared instantly and my hand stung from the cut. Ignoring the pain of the cut and hunger, I dropped the shard and rubbed my hands together, only to wipe them off on my neck, leaving a fresh, bloody smear.

Cashile stood very still and eyed my neck for what seemed like an eternity.

"Now we're even." I called out as I got into a fighting position. At this point, I didn't know if he was going to fight me of kill me. Either one seemed quite possible at the moment.

The entire room held their breath, and finally, through gritted teeth he spoke. "You may all go to the dinning hall now." Cashile spoke the words to the group, but kept staring me down.

Hesitantly, the group made their way into the hallway, and I started to follow them until Cashile grabbed me by the wrist. I sucked in air as he pulled me in, inches away from his face.

"Do you know… how stupid that little stunt was?" he looked from the blood on my neck to my eyes.

"I-I—" I stuttered.

"If you pulled that with anyone else in this sector you would have been dead. Do you understand that? You're lucky they hired me to train because of my control."

Control? He was practically breaking my wrist with his vice-like grip.

I could see him clench his jaw for a moment, when finally, he let go. "Do me a favor, and try not to get yourself killed. Remember, you're the bleeding fish in this tank full of sharks." He said grimly and then ran out of the training room. As soon as he was gone, I let out the breath I had been holding in.

I walked down the hall and looked for a bathroom. I ended up finding one nearby and I washed away the blood on my neck and hands. The cut on my hand seemed to have stopped bleeding, but I shoved some paper towel in my pocket just in case.

I decided it was a good idea to clean of all of the blood from my body because I didn't want to make it easier for the sharks to sniff me out.

. . .

Eventually I found my way into the dining hall. It wasn't that hard to find since I could hear the chatter of conversations from the tunnel.

Inside was almost the entire vampire population. I could tell the vampires from the mutts because the mutts were the ones eating real food, not blood. There were even small mutt children running around. I smiled as I thought of Wes.

I continued to walk deeper into the dining hall and over in the corner I spotted Alex and Cristina sitting with some other people that I didn't recognize. Alex saw me first and waved his hand around to try and flag me down. I nodded at him and got my food.

I grabbed an apple and the lady behind the counter gave me pancakes with sausage and milk. My stomach growled with excitement. Finally, real food.

I walked over to sit down with Alex and Christina.

"I thought we would never see you again." Alex said shaking his head in disbelief. "I thought Cashile was going to kill you." He shoved food into his mouth.

"What happened?" the male next to Alex asked. Now that I looked, this male looked a lot like Alex. He had sandy blonde hair and blue eyes, but he looked a couple years older. He was only holding a silver bottle. I couldn't see its contents.

"Allison cut herself in front of Cashile and it honestly looked like he was going to lose it." Christina informed the man.

"I'll be damned." He leaned back and took a sip out of his silver bottle. He stopped drinking and looked at me. "I wouldn't be pulling that stunt too many times around him. Was he pissed off?"

"Yeah." I said quietly.

He laughed a little. "I'd watch your back; Cashile's crazy powerful." He looked like he was going to continue his story, but then he stopped, most likely from the concerned look on my face. "I'm sorry, I don't think you were ever introduced to me," he eyed Alex. "I'm Jaxon, Alex's brother." He smiled as he held out a hand.

I timidly gave him my uncut hand and he grabbed it. His hand was cool to the touch. He's a vampire. He let go of my hand and leaned his elbows on the table.

"So, what were you saying about Cashile?" I asked, intrigued by his comment.

"Oh," he leaned in more like he was going to spill juicy gossip. "Cashile is insanely strong, stronger than any of us, and he's got powerful friends in high places. No one ever wins a fight with him. You definitely don't want to get on his bad side." Jaxon said. Looks like I already am. I thought.

"Why is he so powerful?" I asked, extremely curious about this Cashile character now.

"Well, there are lots of different theories, but this is the most common one: I think he's a mutt of both vampire and werewolf…like, a vampire mutt and a werewolf mutt got together and had him, so he has less human in him, which equals less weakness." Jaxon finished.

"Wait, wouldn't you know where he came from due to the Choosing Ceremony?"

"No, that's the weirdest part. No one knows where he came from. He was never chosen; he just showed up four years ago with the group, and the head vamp said he wasn't on the list. He showed up already turned too. No one knows what he was originally." Jaxon's facial expressions made him look like he was telling a ghost story. "I'm telling you, there is something suspicious about him. Everyone tries to keep their distance." He shrugged his shoulder.

Jaxon's story confused me. Cashile was never chosen? He just showed up? That doesn't happen. And why was he so powerful?

I tried to ignore all of these confusing thoughts and eat my 'breakfast'. It was easy to let my mind drift since the food was so warm and it tasted so good. I was used to cold and bland food, but this was an explosion of flavor. I had to mentally tell myself to slow down and savor every bite or else I would get sick.

As I was chewing, I just happened to look up and meet eyes with Cashile. He quickly looked away and continued walking in the path he was already taking. I curiously watched him walk up to a guarded door. He said something to the guard and then the guard opened the door to let Cashile enter.

"What's that over there?" I asked my friends. They all shared a look like they didn't want to say anything. "What?" I asked.

"It's where they keep the humans for live feedings." Alex said with a mouthful of food.

My heart sunk. Humans were being tortured in there, and Cashile just went in there. "Looks like your little act wore Cashile a little thin." Jaxon said jokingly. Great, that means my blood makes Cashile hungry, and the only way for him to cure himself is to drink fresh blood. Awesome. Just awesome.

Review PLEASE. i got a ton of reviews before and only like 2 on the last chapter.. i'm not begging for reviews, i just want to make sure you guys still like the story :)