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Chapter 7:

Not very surprisingly, we didn't have any other training after our run. So instead, we all just went to the dining hall for dinner. Alex and Christina were already sitting at a table and I walked over to sit with them. Alex's brother, Jaxon, was sitting at the table with us again; he and Alex were talking in a hushed tone, huddled together with Christina.

"What's going on?" I asked as I sat down. I didn't bother eating because I knew I wouldn't be able to stomach it. Anything I ate would just come right back up after what I saw, what I experienced.

"Cashile survived a staking?" Jaxon turned to me, bug-eyed.

"Yeah." Alex answered before me. "Straight through his heart, and he just walked away." The way he spoke the lies made me sick. It was almost like he wasn't even there and he was just using this event as an excuse to spread unimaginable lies about Cashile.

"See? This is just proof that he is something more." Jaxon whispered and he hit his hands on the table. Apparently Cashile is the juiciest gossip in the vampire sector; everyone wanted to know his deepest darkest secrets.

"Alex, what the hell are you talking about?" I finally asked. "You were there! He wasn't staked through the heart and you know it."

"So? It doesn't make any difference. There's still something suspicious about this whole thing." Christina added and then placed her hand over Alex's, defending him. Where did this come from? I guess I never really paid attention before, but are they a thing?

"So…don't go around spreading rumors that you know aren't true." I looked at both of them and my anger just grew. Why would they spread rumors? It just doesn't seem right to me, no matter who it was about. And what would they say if they found out Cashile drinks my blood? The whole sector would be buzzing.

Feeling my blood pressure rising, I got up from the table and made my way to the bunks. No one would be there, and right now that appealed to me; I didn't want to see anyone. I just wanted to be alone.

I found my bed and quickly fell asleep; I didn't even hear anyone come in. I thought that meant I would sleep like a log, but I didn't. I tossed and turned as my mind flashed images of that stake going through Cashile's chest and then my name on the blood packet he drank from.

. . .

Our training was postponed for yet another day; so instead, everyone hung out with his or her friends. I didn't feel obligated to spend time with people like that –meaning vampires or mutts—right now; my emotions are still frazzled from everything that happened.

Even though there was a dining hall, a small kitchen was still provided for midnight snacks or other hunger emergencies. Emergencies. I laughed. They don't know what hunger emergencies really are.

I walked into the small kitchen only to find the one person I didn't want to see: Cashile. Of course, he was in perfect condition; at least that's what it looked like from the outside. He was standing next to one of the stainless steel counters and pouring himself a mug of coffee. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a grey v-neck. His hair was wet and messy like he had just gotten out of the shower.

"This is the last place I thought I would see you." I said almost bitterly and walked past him into the kitchen. I told myself that I was going to have to confront him sooner or later, and right now seemed like a better time than talking about with all of the other initiates around.

He set the pot of coffee back onto the warming stand, keeping his eye on his drink. "That is both a racist and sexist comment." He turned to me and took a sip of his coffee.

I laughed a little and he smiled as he took the mug away from his mouth. "I thought vampires couldn't eat or drink regular food." I hopped up onto the counter and sat there.

"We can, most just don't prefer it. The same way you don't prefer drinking blood." He paused. "I just like it for a flavor change." He shrugged.

My eyes found their way back to the counter and I saw a bag of blood. My heart skipped.

"It's O positive. It's not yours." He said. "I used all of that up last night." He took another sip of his blood infused coffee and then he walked closer to me.

Having him in such a close proximity to me made me nervous. "H-How are you, b-by the way?"

He placed his hands on either side of me on the counter. "You tell me. How do I look?" He played.

"Good." I said quietly.

"Thanks to you." He moved closer to me so that his face was inches away from mine.

"What about that other human that came in?" I hurried on.

"What about her?" he asked casually even though his body seemed to stiffen.

"It looked like you two knew each other."

"She's AB negative, the only human in the compound. I've always taken from her" he left the rest of the sentence hanging.

"When you run out of mine." I finished the sentence for him. He nodded slightly.

Acting one fear I rattled on. "Why was I chosen?" I spoke the words quickly, before my mind could register what I was saying.

Cashile cocked his head slightly to the side and raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Did you choose me because of my blood? So you could use me forever, like you use that other woman." Once again, I felt as if I had no control over the words that were coming out of my mouth. Whenever I was around him, I got nervous butterflies in my stomach. I knew he didn't like me, so what was stopping him from taking a bite out of me?

"How could I have chosen you? I wasn't even at the ceremony. Viktor was the one that chose you." Cashile stated.

My back straightened at the use of the vampire's name. "Wait, you know the vampire? Black hair, blue eyes, he was wearing a suit…"

He nodded his head in confirmation. "Viktor."

"Do you know where he is?" I asked, now incredibly intrigued.

A sly smile crept upon Cashile's face. "Maybe."

"So you do?"

"I didn't say that." He said, still smiling. He was acting like a child; he was completely immature, so I decided to try and bargain with him. I always got secrets out of Wes the same way.

"I'll tell you a secret if you tell me where he is." I said.

Cashile finally backed up a little bit and leaned one hand on the counter, intrigued by the proposal. "Fine. You first."

I took a deep breath. "Everyone out there is talking about you; they're spreading lies. They think you came back from the dead after being staked through the heart."

"Good." He said quickly.

"Good? They're spreading lies about you. Don't you care? Don't you want to stop them?" I asked.

"No." he snapped. "Do you know why? Those lies make me into something I'm not and they spread those lies because they fear me and it's because of that fear that they stay away from me, which is the way it should be."

"Why?"

"Because the second people get close, they learn the truth." His two-toned eyes scanned mine, like he just regretted what he said. He hung his head slightly before continuing. "I tried to push you away. The second I saw you I recognized your scent. I didn't want you to find out, but on that run, and throughout training, I slipped up." He looked quickly at the floor and then back at me.

"So that's why you were acting like a jerk to me?" I asked.

His eyes flashed a certain fierceness. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Allison. I need to keep you away."

"You don't have to hide it. We all have secrets. You don't have to keep pushing me away because of that." I laughed a little to try and release the tension. "I think me knowing about the whole blood thing is pretty big. I don't know what could beat that." I tried to reason and he clenched his jaw.

"There are still things that you shouldn't know, that I don't want you to know, at least not yet."

"Yet?" I asked.

"Yet." He turned around and was about to leave, but I called out.

"Wait," he turned around to look at me. "You haven't held up your part of the bargain yet. You never told me where Viktor is."

"He's not here." He said vaguely and then left the room. I walked out to the hallway to try and talk with him more, but he was gone.

Words could not describe how mad I was. Cashile knows where Viktor is, but he isn't here. So, where is he? Doesn't he have to live in the vampire sector? That's the whole point of the three sectors: we all live in our designated ones…don't we?

. . .

Since I didn't have to go to training today, I thought I might pay that human woman a visit. If Cashile wasn't going to tell me what was up, maybe I could get some answers from her.

It wasn't regular eating hours so no one was in the dining hall. The clicking of my training boots echoed throughout the walls as I approached the guarded feeding area. The same guard was posted outside. Why the humans needed a guard was beyond me. Maybe the humans tried to escape. Maybe the vampires broke in too often and needed control. Whatever was true, I needed a good excuse for him to let me through.

"Halt," He ordered. I stopped and looked at him innocently. "You can't go in there." He said.

I stepped forward and placed my hand over his shoulder. I tried to control my heartbeat so he couldn't detect my nervousness. "Are you really going to stop me?" I batted my eyelashes and stood on my tiptoes to whisper in my ear. "Cashile wanted me to meet him in here. Do you really want to disappoint him?" I walked my finger up his chest and he looked at me.

"Go on in." Grudgingly, he pushed a button and the metal door slid open.

"Thanks." I looked at him over my shoulder and I winked at him. His eyes moved down my body and he seemed to like what he saw making the corner of his lips turn into a smile. The door shut. I let out a breath as I rolled my eyes. Were all vampires perverts?

I was in a hallway that had metal doors on either side of me. Sounds of moans came from behind them. It didn't take a genius to figure out this was how mutts were made, through rape and selfish desires.

I swallowed hard and looked through the small glass windows to look for the woman that Cashile drank from. Many of the cells were being occupied and none of the humans fit the description I remembered, but I finally saw a woman with black coarse hair with grey stands. She was sitting alone. This is her.

I twisted the latch and the door creaked open. The woman snapped her head up from a book she had been reading and quickly shoved it under her thin mattress. "Oh." She said when she recognized my face. "What are you doing here?" she asked. The tone in her voice wasn't cruel or demanding, it was concerned and mother-like.

"I need to talk to you." I said, entering the small cell and shitting the door behind me. "I need to talk to you about Cashile."

She shook her head slightly. "There's nothing for me to tell you."

"Please." I sat on the bed next to her and held her hand in mine. It was cool, but not as cold as a vampire's. Her wrist and neck were covered in bite marks.

She sighed and her warm, brown eyes softened. "He comes to see me often, but he doesn't always drink from me. It's not like that for him. Sometimes he just needs someone to talk to." She paused. "He talks about you a lot. It's nice to finally meet you properly." She smiled, making her face wrinkle. I smiled with her. "We are the only family we have left."

"What happened to his family?" I asked harmlessly, but I must have pushed too far because the woman stiffened.

"I-I'm sorry, you can't be here." She stood up now and opened the door for me. Reluctantly, I walked back into the hallway and the woman spoke up again. "If you want to know about Cashile, talk to him about it. He'll let you in when, and if, he wants to."

I sighed. "At least tell me your name."

"Joan." She said and shut the door, leaving me with more questions than answers.

Tomorrow was Visiting Day—our fourth day at the compound—so it was the time that family members gathered together, since it was about halfway through the training. At the end of the day everyone would be happy and laughing and telling stories, while I would be alone. I sighed as I dragged my fingers against the rock wall. I've never felt so…lost before. I prayed that my family would come; I knew they wouldn't, but I prayed they did.

As I walked down the empty hallway I hummed my human lullaby, out of habit, out of comfort.

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