Chapter 8 - Aurora's POV

I wake up to the glow of sunlight streaming into my window. My body is stiff with sleep, but I have no intentions of leaving the comfort of my new bed. I curl up in a ball and revel in the warmth of the sun. I open and close my eyes a few times, getting them used to the light. When the sensation of needing to pee hits me, I prepare to ignore it. Having been allowed only one visit to the bathroom a day for the last year has given me a level of control over my bladder. My eyes shoot to the door across the room when I remember I have my own bathroom now.

Excitement courses through me and I jump out of bed, cross the room in two steps, and wrench open the bathroom door. There she is – a glorious toilet – all for me. Since my appearance sent me into a state of depression last night, I didn’t bother taking in the rest of the bathroom. There’s a small toilet next to the sink, which I immediately sit on to relieve myself. Across from me is a mid-sized washtub, with actual taps, meaning I won’t have to fill it up with buckets of water from the sink.

I haven’t been offered this level of comfort since before my mom left. I wash my hands, feeling the stinging sensation of tears attempting to fall. My eyes blur, but I look in the mirror and force my features to harden. I swallow the lump that had formed in my throat and blink back the tears. 

It’s time for some desperately needed self-care; I get a bath started before rummaging through the cupboard under the sink and finding some toothpaste, a toothbrush, and a shampoo bar. I scrub my teeth furiously three times over, then soak in a hot bath until the water turns cold.

As I’m drying myself off with the only towel I could find, I think seriously about just staying here; giving some blood every few weeks in exchange for comfort and an odd kind of safety, is considerably tempting. As I begin to imagine it, a distant growl makes me jump out of the bathroom and face my room – my empty room.

What the-? I hear it again, even quieter this time but just as angry. I’m either losing my damn mind, or my wolf is growling at me. How she is able to do that, I have no idea. My only guess is, she must be getting stronger as the hours tick down.

I assume she was stating her disagreement with my thoughts of staying here, but I can’t help how tempting the appeal of my own bathroom is. Who knows how long I’ll be on the road for as I make my way back to the empire.

My reasoning for going back however, ceases all thoughts of staying. I have a list, and I’m desperate to cross off all four names. The promise of revenge was my reason for living while I rotted in the dungeons, it was what kept me going everyday, and stopped me from going crazy. I think. Maybe I did go a little crazy.

I hear the rattling of the door compartment opening and a tray appears on the little ledge. “I have your breakfast, miss,” comes a female voice. The hands holding the tray have pink painted nails and bracelets dangling from her wrists. On her left-hand rests the biggest diamond ring I’ve ever seen – not that I’ve seen many.

Wrapping the towel around my body, I make my way over to the door and place my hands on the other side of the tray, she releases it instantly and speaks again, “Just knock on the door when you’re finished.” She closes the little compartment and I look down at the tray in my hands.

Eggs, beans, sausages, and toast are plated next to a glass of some kind of juice I’ve never seen before. I tentatively give it a sniff; it smells like some type of blueberry and pomegranate combination. It literally glistens like snow and has a translucent ivory colour.

I place the tray on my desk, pull out the chair and sit down. I inhale the savoury scent emanating from the food, and barely stop myself from drooling. Immediately, I’m scarfing it down, burning my tongue in the process. When I clear the plate, I pick up the glass of juice. It looks ethereal but smells delicious, so I toss it back and a crisp sweetness explodes over my tongue. Fuck, that’s good.

I change back into my new prison uniform and return the now empty tray to the female guard outside my door. My goal is to spend the day coming up with an escape plan, but I end up lazing in my bed all day, lost in a trance watching the sunlight as it dances across my room.

Sometime in the late afternoon there's a knock at my door. “Come in” I say, sitting up. A vampire walks in, wearing a long, white doctor's coat instead of the guard uniform. He gives me a small smile, spins the desk chair around, and sits in it, staring at me.

“Hello Aurora, I am Doctor Elwood, I’m just here to take a small blood sample. If you don’t mind, please extend your arm.” He looks at me, and although he seems relatively friendly, I can tell that even if I did mind, he would have no issue forcing me.

I watch his face as he sticks a needle in my right arm, searching for any signs of bloodlust, but he looks perfectly composed. I suppose he should be if he’s a doctor.

“How much blood will you take?” I ask. It’s not good that he is taking any right now. As soon as it’s tested, they’ll probably know I’m not human, they might even realize its hybrid blood if they’re smart enough and then I’m truly fucked. I didn’t consider that while I was daydreaming about staying earlier.

“Only about fifteen milliliters right now,” he says, still focused on extracting my blood.

“And next time?” I ask tentatively.

“Maybe a liter or two, more if your body can handle it. They do it twice a season, so you’ll have your blood taken about eight times a year. Your first one will probably be in a week.” He begins packing up his supplies and placing two vials of my blood into a small container. “Any other questions before I move on to the next one?” he asks gruffly.

Ok, he’s being oddly helpful. I make a super snap decision; it had crossed my mind a few times today to attempt to ask someone, but I shot the thought down every time. Now the words come tumbling out of my mouth before I can stop them. “Is there any chance I can speak to one of the vampire’s who brought me here?” His eyes narrow curiously. “Uh, his name is Adrian. I just have something I have to…” I trail off, having absolutely no idea where I’m trying to go with this.

Doctor Elwood stares at me blankly for a second before chuckling. “All the girls have it bad for Hart, but he doesn’t entertain any of them. I don’t think even a human as nice as you could change that.” He looks at me with pity, as I fume inwardly. That’s not where I thought he was going with this.

“That’s not… it's just…” I stutter stupidly, avoiding his amused face. Why did I think this was a good idea? Right. Because I didn’t fucking think, did I?

“It’s ok, I get it. It’s the eyes, right?” He says, as I look at him in disbelief. “Those baby blues have all the female guards swooning after him.” He pauses, and stares at me, I see the contemplation on his face as he decides something. “Look, Adrian and all the guards who brought you are on two weeks paid vacation. I can get a message to him, but I can’t guarantee he’ll show up.”

“Yeah, no, thanks. It’s fine, really if he doesn’t… I didn’t mean I wanted him like… His eyes are really pr-… I mean, I appreciate it, thankyou.” Holy shit Aurora, stop talking.

“You’re welcome,” he replies as he moves towards the door. “Someone will come by with dinner in a few hours.” He smiles at me before he leaves and I attempt to smile back, but it turns into more of a grimace, and I hear a quiet chuckle as he closes the door.

Well, that didn’t go so badly, I guess. I sigh and throw myself back onto the bed. The hours until dinner are spent wondering if it was a good idea to ask for Adrian or not. Soleil told me I could trust him, but I don’t really know if I can trust Soleil. She did give me happy vibes, and her aura felt brighter than the sun itself. Plus, I know she didn’t tell Dimitri about me, if she did, he wouldn’t have kept his frustratingly suspicious eyes on me. So, maybe I can trust her, and by extension, Adrian. Or Hart, as Doctor Elwood called him.

Dinner is delivered on the same tray as breakfast. The smell of it brings a weakness to my knees, and my mouth instantly salivates. Mashed potatoes smothered in gravy, boiled carrots, cabbage, and turnip, crispy green beans, and a large turkey breast are piled on a plate next to a dish of extra gravy, a rich-looking slice of cake, and a glass of that same glistening juice from breakfast.

Instantly picking up the fork and knife, I cut into the turkey breast; it’s stuffed with a bread-crumb filling, with some kind of green herb mixed in. I dip a piece of the stuffed turkey breast into the gravy and eat it. I swear to Selene, this is the best thing I’ve ever tasted. The savoury bread mixture combined with the juicy turkey and rich gravy has to be some kind of divine intervention. I eat ravenously then return my tray through the place in my door.

I suppose the vampires like blood from healthy prisoners rather than half dead prisoners. I won’t complain though, that was the best meal I’ve had in longer than I can remember. 

By the time the sun begins to set, my body starts to feel strange and I blame it on the extremely rare full stomach and sleepiness from the turkey. Before the sun has fully dipped below my window, I’m burrowed under my blanket and succumbing to the sudden heaviness of my eyelids.

***

I wake up sometime in the early hours of dawn, a cool light brightens my room from the rising sun.

I sit up and rub my eyes. My body still feels… odd. A slight tingling sensation courses through me, and then my very bones feel as if they are hardening, turning indestructible. I look at my hands in panic as a shooting pain explodes from my wrists to my fingertips, I watch as my nails begin to extend into claws. They elongate a few inches and curve slightly at the tip, then descend back into my regular nails.

I barely have time to process before the same pain is igniting my gums on fire. I clutch at my mouth, desperately trying to ease the pain, but I feel everything as my teeth shift into fangs and then back to their normal size.

Fucking goddess that hurt. I guess that’s all I can do for now; I won’t be able to fully shift until the next full moon.

I look down at my hands again and study my fingernails. As I’m inspecting them, I realize I’m looking at them through stark white curly hair. What the fu-?

I run to the bathroom and freeze at what is looking back at me. A wild mass of curls surround my face, falling past my shoulders. They’re wild and bouncy and black as night, except for the white streak. It's not my hair that has me standing stunned in front of the mirror though. Peeking through the white curls that hang in front of my face is not the eye colour I expected to see.

I study my right eye; it’s a stormy grey, just as I remember it being and, as my mother always said, an exact replica of my fathers eyes.

My left eye scares me. It used to be bright blue, just like my mothers. My element is water, just as hers was. But this can’t be right.

“It changed” says a voice in my head. I watch as my mismatched eyes widen in the mirror.

“Well, it's about time you woke up. What do you mean it changed? What changed?” I ask the voice impatiently.

There’s silence for a moment and then, “I’ve been awake for hours, you were the one sleeping soundly.”

I pause, waiting for an answer to my other questions, but none comes. “Why didn’t you wake me up?” I ask, kind of hurt she didn’t bother waking me when she first appeared.

“Your body needed sleep to handle the adjustments.” Well, as reasons go, that’s not so bad.

“Fair enough,” I say. “But what changed? You mean my eye colour, cause that’s pretty damn obvious. Look at it!” I exclaim, gesturing at my reflection.

“Your element. It’s not water anymore.”

“I-it’s not… I’m not a water witch anymore?” My heart sinks as disappointment flows through me.

“No, your elemental affinity has changed.”

“To what?” Even in my head, my tone is high-pitched and panic-stricken.

“What do you think?” she answers back like it's obvious.

I stare into the deep red iris of my left eye. No fucking way. “Blood? Seriously?” My mother told me about blood magic – it's how Nyx created vampires – but she never mentioned it was possible to become attuned to the element. She only ever told me to stay away from that type of magic and now its my fucking source of power! “How?”

She ignores me, and I can feel her impatience seeping into my mind. “It doesn’t matter,” she finally says. “We only have a few hours to plan our escape.”

“Only a few hours? Why?” I want to get out of here, but a few more mouth-watering meals, and maybe a couple nights of sleep in my comfy bed won’t hurt.

“Because you look like a different person, if anyone comes in here and sees you, we lose the element of surprise.” She has a point.

“Ok, so what do you suggest? I have no idea the structure of this place or where the guards are stationed.”

“When your breakfast is delivered, ask the guard to come in because you have an issue with the washtub. I’ll do the rest.”

“Can I at least eat the food first?” I ask hopefully.

“No.”

“Fine, well, what are you going to do with the guard?” I have no idea how to use my magic, so she better have a good plan.

“We are going to hold our claws to their neck until they help us. We’ll use them to escape, and we’ll threaten to kill them if they don’t cooperate.” She says it all so confidently, as if nothing can possibly go wrong.

“And what if they still don’t help us? Can we really kill a vampire?” I’m doubtful. They seem so… unkillable.

“Werewolf claws are among some of the only things that can pierce their skin.”

Well, that’s helpful.

The next few hours are spent planning for various situations or obstacles we could face as we try to escape. Eventually, I realize I don’t even know what to call her and apologize profusely for not asking her name.

“Danika. Selene named me Danika. She said it means ‘morning star’.”

“Oh, that’s really prett- Wait. You talk to Selene? Like the actual Moon Goddess?” I’m baffled. I didn’t think that was possible.

“Not anymore. But for the last eighteen years, I’ve sort of drifted between here with you and spending time in Selene’s realm. Now that I’ve fully come forward, I can no longer return there.” She still carries a confident tone, but I can hear the longing when she talks about Selene. She must really love her.

I begin to ask her to describe the Moon Goddess when there is a knock on my door. Panic grips me for a moment but I can feel Danika urging me to answer.

I clear my throat, “Yes?” I call out.

“Aurora?” comes a familiar voice. “I have your breakfast. You wanted to see me?” Oh, my goddess. He actually came!

“That’s Adrian” I tell Danika. “We can’t threaten him, he helped me.” Danika growls angrily in my head, in obvious disagreement. “No. We can’t hurt him. At least not until we have to.” She huffs but doesn’t disagree further.

“Come in” I call out, backing away from the door so I’m not in the line of sight.

Adrian comes into the room, carrying my breakfast tray. The smell distracts me and Danika growls again. I snap my attention back to Adrian who has closed the door and is turning around to face me.

When his eyes meet mine, the tray slips from his hands and my newly acquired reflexes catch it before it hits the floor.

His soft blue eyes are widened in alarm as he takes in my features. My pale skin, sharp cheekbones, thin lips, and face shape are all the same. But I’m definitely taller, and my eyes and hair are probably freaking him out.

After taking me in for several seconds, he finally speaks, “What the fuck are you?”