Chapter 16

Escape From It All…

"You have ESP." The psychologist told me. I stared blankly at her. What the hell was ESP? As if reading my mind, she sighed and explained, "ESP stands for extrasensory perception. It's commonly known as a sixth sense."

This psychologist was an old friend of Claude's, and she was also a daywalker. Claude ended up calling her after finding out what had happened with my father. My nightwalker father. I mean, what was up with that? Had Jakobi, the recent nightwalker I'd escaped from, changed him somehow? I shuddered at that thought. What would he want with my father?

"Thank you, Rory." Claude said, standing from his chair beside me. The others were waiting outside. Rory lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Would you like me to teach her how to use it more effectively on her own time?"

Claude looked over at me and I shrugged. The dreams randomly came. "How could I control my dreams?" I inquired in a smartass tone. Rory seemed unfazed and smiled her ruby-red lips at me.

"I could feed you vampire blood, and then give you emotion tips and meditation exercises to do before bed." she replied.

I nodded, and then stopped midway in a nod, my eyes widening. "V-vampire blood?" I choked. It shocked me so much I had to suck in a deep breath to start breathing again. Claude hid a smile behind his hand.

Rory let a smirk on her face. "Yes, vampire blood, dear. We do bleed. Remember, we're alive?"

"B-but, wouldn't that m-make me -I don't want to be a bloodsucker!" I gasped.

Rory laughed. Claude looked offended for a moment, and then joined in the laughter. I looked between them in annoyance.

"I'm serious, you guys!" I hissed.

"Dear, you can't become a daywalker. We're born. The only way you'd become a vampire is if you became a nightwalker. Drinking daywalker blood everyday, however, can elongate your life and heighten your senses. It's also good for your skin and hair."

I raised an eyebrow, relieved at this statement. "So, vampire blood is like drinking vitamin C orange juice and taking daily minerals?"

"Yep. Exactly so. But you only have to take it every night until you become a master at your visions." Rory told me.

I bit my lip as I thought about it. I could become prettier. My hair too! Oh -wait, this wasn't about the looks. Damn. "Okay, I guess I'll do it."

Claude smiled brightly at me. Rory nodded. "Excellent!" She stood up then, and put together all the papers she'd been scribbling on the whole time. "I'll message my friends hospital and begin having blood sent in-"

"No. Each of us men can take turns." Claude interrupted. I paled. Oh gosh. I'd have to start drinking from them?!

"Uh -eh, no, it's okay, I-"

"Less money, less work." Claude said, smiling brightly at me. I groaned. This was going to get awkward. As Rory walked us out of the building, a thought suddenly came to mind.

"Does vampire blood taste bad?"

They all had agreed, with an exception of an annoyed Alec, that they would allow me to drink each of their blood a little bit. "Take a look at this." Brent slid a newspaper over to me, and I grabbed it and flipped it open.

We were currently at the dinner table; nobody else was eating except me. Cassy was chilling next to Claude far away from my chair, and I couldn't help but think she despised me. Lukas sat on my left and Rylan on my right. Alec and Brent sat across from us.

When I flipped to the second page of the paper, my eyes widened. Another murder had happened. It had the picture of the man with just his face, but it was covering the part of his neck which had been gashed out. The mans eyes were widened and glazed over in motionless horror. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach.

I pushed the food away and chucked the newspaper behind me, near the garbage can. "I can't believe that Jakobi… How could somebody be so cruel?" I asked bitterly. Brent leaned his elbows onto the table.

"It's a nightwalkers nature. Due to once being dead, since their mind has succumbed to darkness, their actions only follow. It's all about death to them."

I gave him a pure look of terror. "T-then why did he want me as a bride? Would he eventually kill me too?"

Brent shrugged. Alec answered with, "Of course he would. First he'd feed you a bunch of his blood, snap your neck, and minutes later you'd come back as one of them."

I stood up abruptly. "I don't feel good. I'm going to bed. I'll see you guys in the morning for school." Then I turned and pretty much sprinted to my room. I collapsed onto my large bed, satisfied that my red netting was back up, and buried my face into the fluffy pillow.

My head was spinning miraculously fast.

One, there was a nightwalker on the loose. Two, he wanted to turn me into his bride. Three, my father was a caged, young nightwalker. Four, people were getting killed. And five? I had to drink vampire blood to enhance my dream visions.

I groaned, though it was muffled by the fluff. Why would Jakobi want me? Just because I had escaped him? Because I was hard-to-get, thanks to the other vamps around me? No matter what conclusion I came to, it still didn't make sense.

My father was vicious. Seeing him come at me like that was worse than the old days. Those memories came back tenfold. I shut my eyes tightly to will my stomachache to go away.

Suddenly, there was a knock on my door. "Come in." I mumbled. I knew it was a vampire, so of course he'd be able to hear me. Sure enough, my door opened and closed. The side of my bed indented a bit, signaling the person sat down. I turned a bit to peek out of the corner of my eye.

Rylan sat there.

I gasped and sat upright faster than anybody could blink. I almost received whiplash. Heh. "What are you doing in here?" I demanded. I winced. My voice sounded kind of harsh. I hadn't expected him though. I learned being alone with him was dangerous…mentally.

He merely raised an eyebrow. "You need to drink tonight. Rory said afterwards you need to clear your mind of everything and then sleep."

I grimaced. That was right. I had to drink tonight. "Um…okay…" I muttered, brushing a hand though my hair. How weird could this get?

Rylan lifted a wrist to his mouth and before my eyes, flashed fangs and bit deep into his veins. So deep, I heard the crunch of tendons.

Things just got way weird.

I stared at him in shock. He held his wrist out to me, and I saw the welling, dark, almost black blood begin dripping down his arm.

"Y-you want me to drink that?!" I cried out. Rylan lifted his eyebrows.

"I really would prefer you hurry up and drink before it heals." he told me. I gulped the bile rising in my throat and shut my eyes tightly. I didn't open my mouth until I felt the cool blood against my mouth. It felt like melted butter. Until I tasted it, that is.

When I tasted it, my body went instantly cold, and then it numbed. Their blood didn't exactly have a taste. It was sweet at the same time it was bitter and metallic-y. It was as if every brain cell in my mind began working at top speed and repairing themselves. My body was tingling, and I realized I was taking gulps of his blood.

That was when the images began happening.

Rylan was on top of me in my mind, and we were kissing. Not gentle kissing, but fierce, bruising kissing, and I enjoyed it. Oh God, it sent tingles harder through my nerve system just by seeing the image. His hands were kneading my breasts, not worrying about tenderness. I moaned, and I realized that I did it out loud. When I did, I yanked backwards and sucked in a shaky breath. The images in my mind stopped instantly.

Quickly, I wiped my mouth and looked at Rylan. There was no blood or mark left over on his arm. It had already healed, and I had finished up all the blood. He was staring at me. I blushed when I remembered the images he had inserted into my mind.

"I hate it when you do that…" I murmured into my hands as I hid my blush. Rylan looked at me in confusion.

"Do what?"

I looked at him in surprise. "When you put…images into my mind…?" I reminded him. He frowned.

"I didn't. When you're drinking my blood, I can't use my powers." He said honestly.

I froze. "Then…that means…" That meant I had a vision about it. How could I though, when I was wide awake? Or had I been? No…I wasn't wide awake. Oh God… Rylan studied me for a moment and then stood up.

"I should leave." he stated. I nodded furiously.

"Y-yeah, of course."

He turned and began walking toward my door. That was when Lukas burst into my room in a hurry that shocked both me and Rylan. He obviously hadn't sensed his speedy brother.

"Y-you guys need to get downstairs and look at the news! Quick!" Lukas gasped. His wide eyes were on me. I immediately knew something was wrong. I raced past them both and shot down the stairs and into the living room. Everyone else sat perfectly still and tense on the edge of their seats, staring wide-eyed at the TV.

"Earlier tonight, a man escaped from jail, killing four men in his way. He has said to be jailed for several years until today, for the abuse of his daughter. Until we can find this man and throw him back into prison, please spread the word that everybody in this state and the next, needs to stay safe. Here is a picture of the man to look out for;" The newswoman explained loudly on the news channel. I stared in horror at the picture that popped up in the woman's place.

My father had escaped from jail.