The Transformed Box Set: Books 1, 2, 3, 3.5

by Stacy Claflin

  As soon as we stood up, people flocked to us. Everyone remembered him vividly from the dance. He was hard to forget.

  When the game was about to start again, everyone gave us some space and headed back to their seats. Everyone that is, except for Tanner, who made a beeline for us as soon as everyone else had left us alone.

  I whispered a warning to Cliff, letting him know that Tanner was headed our way. He had a couple of the other football players with him.

  The other two stood back and Tanner came up to us with an arrogant look on his face. "If it isn't the special couple."

  "Go away, Tanner," I told him.

  "It's a free country," he said with a snarl. He turned to Cliff. "So how long have you known this lovely…lady?"

  "We knew each other as children," he said. "We were reunited the night of the dance."

  "Isn't that sweet?" Tanner asked sarcastically. "So you know about her little secret?"

  My face became red with anger and I knew that light bulbs would be exploding very soon.

  "What little secret would that be?" Cliff asked, daring him to say it out loud in the gym in front of all of our classmates.

  He grinned and rolled his eyes. "Whether you do or you don't doesn't make much difference to me."

  "I told you that he's crazy," I said to Cliff, trying to calm myself down.

  "I'm flattered that you would tell your boyfriend about me," he said. "To think that I didn't think you thought very highly of me."

  I glared at him. "Go to—"

  "Alexis," Cliff interrupted me. "Let's go sit down. It looks like the game is about to start."

  "I can walk with you back to the bleachers," Tanner said as if he was doing us a favor.

  "Super," I muttered.

  As we were walking back to the bleachers, we had to pass by the volleyball court, and as we did, I saw Tanner push a boy walking near us into one of the football players.

  "Hey—watch it." The football player glared at the boy, even though he had seen Tanner push him.

  "He pushed me," the guy said in his own defense.

  I gasped as the football player punched the guy in the nose. It began bleeding profusely.

  "What was that for?" the boy yelled, and punched the football player in his nose. The football player's nose started bleeding just as bad as the other guy's.

  I stared as the blood poured from their noses down toward the ground. I had zoned in on the blood, aware of it and nothing else. Everything else disappeared from my sight.

  I was fascinated by the dark red color and the smooth texture. I could even see it pulsate as it gushed out.

  It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

  My heart began beating rapidly, as if I were about to step onto the most exciting ride at the carnival. My nose came alive with the most sweet and tantalizing scent I had ever had the pleasure to smell.

  I wanted to reach out and touch it, to experience it through all of my five senses. I wanted to roll around in it so that I could feel it all over. I want to eat its glorious goodness and see if it tasted as magical as it smelled.

  I wanted nothing else, except the blood.

  Suddenly, I had the sensation of flying, but I was not going in the direction of the blood. Instead, I was heading away from the blood and began losing sight of it. The smell was barely clinging to my nostrils.

  I reached for it in vain as I flew further and further away from it.

  Once the blood was completely out of my sight and the scent of it out of my nostrils, I realized that there were arms around my stomach and that I was being carried. We went through the gym doors and we were outside.

  I blinked a few times and looked around. Cliff was the one carrying me and Steve was next to him. They were both staring at me.

  I fought my way out of Cliff's grasp. "What are you two doing to me?" I demanded. "Take me back there."

  "Not a chance," Steve told me. "We're going to take you home with us."

  I scowled at them. "I want you to take me back there now. I've never seen anything like that and I want some."

  "No," they both said in unison.

  I pointed to the sky. "What's that?"

  They turned around to look in the direction that I pointed. I ran for the gym door to get back to blood. I was at the door before I blinked and had it opened before they noticed I had bolted.

  Unfortunately, the sound of the door opening alerted them to what I had done and they were at the door grabbing me before I could enter.

  "Let me go." I hollered, squirming to get away from them.

  "We need to get you home NOW," Cliff told me.

  "No." I yelled at the top of my lungs, and started hitting and kicking at them.

  "You've got to help me out here," Cliff told Steve. "She's surprisingly strong."

  Steve grabbed me around my arms. I wasn't able to kick or hit with the two of them holding me.

  "I said to let me go."

  They dragged me into Steve's car and somehow got me buckled in even though I was kicking, hitting and yelling at them. I looked right at Cliff and bit into his neck.

  "What are you doing?" he exclaimed. He pushed me away. "I can't believe you just bit me."

  I jumped for his neck again but was held back by the seat belt. I saw that the bite had already healed.

  "It's not her, Cliff. It's the blood," Steve said.

  The ride home was a blur as I fixated my mind on reliving the experience of seeing and smelling the liquid perfection.

  When we got to their house, they dragged me inside and set me on the couch.

  "I need to get some of that," I told them.

  Cliff ignored me, turned to Steve and said, "Tanner did that on purpose. I saw him shove that guy into the football player."

  "No doubt he wanted to see Alexis' reaction," Steve said. "He got his answer."

  "Did you see her eyes?" Cliff asked. "I've never seen anything like that."

  "Me neither. I don't think there's ever been a vampire before with a blood lust like that. I've never seen a reaction that intense."

  "I am sitting right here, you know," I said and scowled at them. "You don't have to talk about me like I'm somewhere else."

  "What should we do?" Steve asked, ignoring me. "We were not prepared for her to be exposed to blood yet. Especially with the way that she's reacting."

  "It's going to accelerate her transition," Cliff said. "I don't know what that's going to mean for her process now."

  "Should we call my parents and have them come home?" Steve asked. "Or do you want to call your parents a little early?"

  "I'm not sure," Cliff said, irritated. "Let me think."

  "How do I get some blood?" I asked. "You said that you would train me and now I'm asking nicely for some training."

  "You're not ready for this," Cliff said without looking at me. "We haven't even had the blood talk with you yet."

  "The blood talk?" I asked. If my body hadn't been screaming for blood, I would have probably found that funny. "Is that like the sex talk that mortals have with their kids?"

  "Pretty much," Cliff said, not laughing either. "In the blood talk, you learn about how our minds and bodies react to the sight, smell and taste of blood. You also learn how to handle them before you're ever exposed to blood."

  "Now would be a good time for that, don't you think?" I asked.

  "No, actually it isn't a good time," Steve said. "Not while you're in the heat of the moment. We need to get you calmed down."

  "I'm pretty calm," I pointed out. "I'm just sitting here on the couch and I've stopped trying to inflict bodily harm on you two for taking me away from the blood."

  "We can see it in your eyes," Steve said. "You're completely blood crazy right now. It may be getting better, but you could turn on us at any moment."

  I pouted. "Well how do you two deal with blood then? If you were able to react well enough to pull me away, obviously it doesn't have the same effect on you as it does me."

  "T
hat's because we've been trained and we don't react to human blood the same way that you do," Steve told me. "You'll get to this point, but it will take a lot of work now that you've been exposed like this. Once in the transformation process, you are extremely susceptible to human blood. Before you started the transformation, you reacted to blood like a human. You didn't desire it."

  My mind started wandering back to the images of the blood, and I was reminded of the delectable scent and the strong desire for it. I've never desired anything in my entire life the way that I had desired the blood in the gym. The pull was nearly as strong nearly an hour later.

  It wasn't simply a desire like wanting a dessert or a meal, my body hurt for it. My body was screaming at me from everywhere. I thought I might even die if I didn't get to touch or taste it. How would I live without it?

  I was vaguely aware of Cliff and Steve talking to each other. I thought about pretending to go to the bathroom so that I could sneak out of the house. Surely I could find some blood somewhere. I would do anything to get it.

  I stood up slowly and started inching my way toward the bathroom.

  "Where do you think you're going?" Cliff demanded.

  "I'm going to the bathroom, if you don't mind." I glared at him.

  "Oh, no you don't."

  "I have to pee," I lied. "Let me go to the bathroom. I'm fine."

  Steve laughed. "You are certainly not fine. Your eyes give you away."

  "Let me go to the bathroom," I demanded. "I'm royalty, aren't I?"

  "Fine, but one of us is going in there with you," he said.

  "No way. That is so not happening."

  "Then you'll have to hold it."

  "Maybe I'll just leave a puddle on your couch." I glared at him.

  "You know what? I'm going to take you to the bathroom where you can look at your eyes in the mirror. Then you can decide if you want to pee in front of me or not," Steve said. "I'm not letting you out of my sight."

  He grabbed my arm, pulled me to the bathroom, and shoved me in front of the mirror. I was about to object to his rough treatment until I saw my eyes. I forgot all about him.

  My eyes were a glowing red color, not unlike the glorious blood that had been pulsating from the two noses.

  "Why are my eyes so red?"

  "Because you are overwhelmed with the desire for blood," Steve said. "You care about nothing else. It's a vampire's downfall—we can't hide our desire for blood. The more red our eyes are, the more we are overwhelmed with desire."

  "Mine are really red," I said.

  "We've never seen eyes anywhere near as red as that," Steve said. "Not even close. I'm curious to see what my parents will have to say when they get home. They've been around for centuries, so maybe they've seen this before."

  I stared at my eyes. I had never seen that shade of red before, it was almost unreal.

  "Do you know that Cliff can't even look at you?" Steve asked me.

  My face fell. "I'm acting like a lunatic."

  "That's putting it lightly," he said. "But we've all gone crazy when first exposed to blood, so I'm sure he understands. Though not even he went this crazy. You royals really do go through everything to the extreme."

  "I hope this doesn't make him think less of me."

  "Me too," Steve said. "It would be detrimental to our entire kingdom if the two of you weren't in love and ruling together for the sake of vampires everywhere."

  "I'd better pull myself together," I said.

  "That's right," he said. "You can't afford to wallow in your emotions and desires. You are the princess and you need to learn to put your own needs aside for the betterment of the entire kingdom."

  "Okay, let's go back out there," I said and walked to the couch and sat down.

  "I'm sorry, Cliff," I said. "I'm sorry that I acted like that. I'm sorry that you had to see me like that. I've never acted like that before in my life, and I don't intend to again."

  He looked me in the eyes and they were full of kindness. "I don't blame you, princess. You were not prepared for your first encounter with blood. I'm just so glad that we were there to help you out. I can't imagine what would have happened if you had been exposed to blood by yourself."

  "Yeah," Steve said, "you could have killed everyone there."

  My heart sunk. "Is it always like that?" I asked.

  "Usually, we're exposed to only one drop at first. Then two the next time, and then three, and so forth," Cliff said.

  "I've seen royals exposed to large amounts of blood before," Steve said. "It's always a strong reaction. Nothing like yours though. It must have something to do with you being the Sonnast."

  "That has to be the reason," Cliff agreed. "You're going to be the most powerful vampire alive, so your transition and blood lust are going to be magnified, even beyond that of the royals."

  "Can I have just a drop?" I begged. "We can just start over and do it right."

  "There's no starting over now," Steve snapped.

  "I want to discuss this with some more experienced vampires," Cliff told me. "I'm not sure how to handle this."

  I sighed.

  "One thing that I am going to do is to have Steve's parents enroll me into your school," he said. "I need to keep a close eye on you and I need to find out what Tanner knows. Nobody had any idea that another vampire was anywhere near Delphic Cove, and therefore near you."

  "I like the idea of you being at school with me," I said, momentarily distracted from my body's screaming desire for blood.

  The front door opened and Steve and Brooke's parents rushed through the door. "Oh good, you're still here," Mrs. Flemings said to me.

  "We're going to have you spend the night here with us," said Mr. Flemings. "We've already called your parents and told them that you'll be spending the night with Brooke."

  "I need for you two to enroll me in her school tomorrow," Cliff told them.

  "I'll whip up some guardianship papers tonight," Mr. Flemings said.

  "How are you feeling?" Mrs. Flemings asked me.

  "It's excruciating. My body is screaming for that blood, Mrs. Flemings."

  "Alexis, please call us Charles and Rachel," she said. "You are going through the transformation, which means you are soon to be our princess."

  "That seems so weird," I told her.

  "I'm sure it does," Rachel said. "I can't imagine what you've been going through. I am glad, however, that we have been able to keep an eye on you for most of these years."

  "We need to figure out a plan of action," Charles said. "This event is going to speed up the transformation process in ways that we weren't planning on. I do think that it's a good idea that you enroll in her school, Clifford."

  "Someone also needs to move into one of our homes near her house to keep an eye on her over there," Rachel said.

  "Yes, that must happen," Charles said. "One of our homes, which is a block away from her house, is vacant right now."

  "How many homes do you own?" I asked.

  "Quite a few," Rachel said. "We've been buying a lot of foreclosures in this market."

  "I'll move into that home," Cliff said. "She's my fiancée. I would feel a lot better keeping an eye on her house myself."

  "Should we try to get a vampire to stay in her home?" Rachel asked. "I remember her parents talking about wanting a foreign exchange student several years ago. That would provide a good opening."

  "Wait just a minute," I exclaimed. "I don't need a babysitter."

  "It's not a babysitter," Rachel told me. "We don't know how long it's going to take to get you acclimated to blood. When something like this happens, the result is usually as bad as a turned human. Those are the vampires that have given our kind a bad reputation among humans for so many centuries."

  "A vampire who thinks he's killed his victim but has actually turned them and then leaves has essentially created a monster," Steve said.

  "Vampires going through the transformation process need constant guiding and training," Cliff said. "So
meone who has the new desire for blood can do some serious damage without a mentor or two."

  "I've seen entire villages destroyed by one new vampire," Charles said. "It's a horrible sight. You're the Sonnast. Your desires are going to be stronger, your gifts more powerful and you are going to need all of us to help you through the process."

  "Especially now," Cliff said, his voice sounding far away.

  The most terrifying noise I'd ever heard enveloped me. It sounded like hundreds of trucks and trains were all crashing through the house. My head started pounding and it hurt worse than anything I had ever felt.

  I grasped my head with my hands and screamed in pain as loud as my voice would go. Then everything went black.

  ELEVEN

  I woke up in a bed in complete darkness. I had no idea where I was or how long I had been asleep. I remembered the massive headache and blacking out after screaming.

  I felt around me to try to figure out where I was. I thought that I might be in Brooke's room, since I had been at her house. I was in a small twin sized bed, so I knew it wasn't Brooke's room.

  I felt around for a lamp but didn't find anything except an empty nightstand next to the bed. I carefully climbed out of the bed to look for a light switch on the wall. I bumped into a few things before finally finding a light switch.

  It took my eyes a minute to adjust after being in the pitch black. I looked around and didn't recognize the room that I was in. It appeared to be a guest room because it lacked any personality.

  I reached for the door and found it to be locked from the outside. I twisted and turned the knob with all my might. I tried pushing the door open and pulling it.

  Leaning against the door, I tried to figure out my next move. They had locked me in for a reason, so if I started pounding and screaming, which was what I felt like doing, they would probably tie me down or something.

  Desperate to find a way out, I looked through the room for an idea. No ideas came…until I saw the window. Surely they hadn't locked me in from the outside of the window.

  As soon as I thought about the window, I was standing right there. I pulled the lock from the position that it was in and pulled the window to open it. It was as if it was nailed into place. I pushed the lock back into its original position and pulled on the window again and it still wouldn't budge.