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

by Stacy Claflin

  After a little while, the adults called us to eat dinner. During dinner, I surprised myself by eating a lot, but then I realized how hungry I was for blood. That was when it clicked—why I was looking so bad so fast—and why my parents and Mr. Foley all gave me that same concerned, adult look, and why Amanda was always trying to shove food down my throat.

  My body needed blood, but for some reason I hadn't realized it. Most likely because my other needs were being ignored as well. But now that they were filled, I had a craving that was growing stronger by the moment. The heartbeats around me were getting louder and smell of blood was dancing around my nose. I could feel my eyes turning red.

  Keeping my gaze on my plate, I weighed out my options. I could get up and run out the door, making a huge scene. Then my parents would be angry with me, forcing me to sit through a lecture when I got back. I knew that I'd put them through enough with my abduction and then leaving so soon after that for my 'foreign exchange trip to Europe' when I was really spending time with my vampire family.

  No. I would have to sneak out unseen. Even though I was full, I kept taking small bites, hoping to stay off the radar. What I needed was an excuse to get up. I could fake an upset stomach, run to the bathroom, sneak out and feed, and then return before anyone was the wiser.

  My mouth started watering and my fangs extended as the heartbeats got louder, pounding in a rhythmic beat, practically calling my name. The scent of everyone's blood was teasing me. The last thing I wanted was to lose control and feed on my family. There was no way that could end well. But it had been so long since I'd had any blood—far too long, in fact—and I needed to get some fast.

  I couldn't hear any of the discussion over the noise of their hearts pumping blood so loudly. If my fangs extended any further, there would be no hiding them. My eyes were sure to turn deep red if I didn't act soon.

  My Uncle Tom stood up, nearly knocking his chair over. It was enough of a distraction that I could feel my fangs retract and the redness of my eyes decrease. He put his hand on his stomach. "Something isn't sitting right with me. I'm going to have to take up residence in your bathroom. I wouldn't go in there for a while after I get done, if you know what I mean." Without another word, he ran out of the kitchen.

  "I hope no one else needs to use the bathroom," Tom's son, Calvin, said, and laughed nervously. His face was flushed, obviously embarrassed by his dad's announcement. "You know how he is."

  "Oh, sure," my dad said. "No worries, Cal. I bought lots of air freshener just in case."

  Everyone else around the table, now extended five times longer, laughed.

  I looked around and then said, "Speaking of bathroom breaks, I need one of my own."

  "You don't think you're getting out of helping with the dishes, do you?" asked my mom.

  Still keeping my eyes down, I said, "I'm not trying to get out of anything. I need to use the bathroom."

  "I think you can wait until the dishes are done."

  I could feel my eyes flash their deepest shade of red. Not only was I experiencing a strong wave of craving blood, but the anger at her was making it worse. "I'll only be a few minutes," I said, practically growling, and still looking down. I was clutching the sides of my chair with all my strength. I could feel the wood about to buckle.

  Why had my mom chosen this moment to get controlling? Sure, I knew that her image in front of people was the most important thing to her, but I wasn't trying to defy her. I was only stating my need to use the bathroom. My fangs grew again, and I knew that I needed to get out of the house immediately.

  "Just help me with the sink first," she said, getting louder with each word.

  Against my better judgment, I looked up and made eye contact, knowing that my eyes were such a deep red that it scared even other vampires. Only ten of us could reach this shade of red: I and the other nine Fyrsturae, the original vampires. I was one of them, born three thousand years late and raised by humans. If I didn't get out the house, I would lose control and could easily take out everyone before even one could escape.

  My mom gasped when she saw my eyes, which caused everyone else to look at me. A chorus of "what's wrong with your eyes?" ran across the table. Squeezing the chair even harder, I was surprised that I hadn't broken it. Maybe I still had a little more self-control than I thought. "I'm fine. I just need to use the bathroom."

  "Holy cow, Aunt Janet. Let her go!" said one of my cousins, but I couldn't tell which one.

  "Alexis, what's wrong with you?" my mom asked again.

  "Just let me help you with the dishes after I go to the bathroom and I'll be fine."

  "Bathroom? I think we need to take you to the hospital. Something is seriously wrong with you!"

  I thought quickly. "It's just a reaction to something I ate. After I get it out of my system, I'll be fine. When I come out of the bathroom, my eyes will be normal. You'll see. If they're not, then take me to the hospital." I didn't know how much longer I could control myself. I had to get out of there.

  "How do you know? This hasn't happened before. I'm calling 911."

  "What?" I exclaimed. "Yes, this has happened before. When I was a foreign exchange student." That wasn't a lie. My eyes turned red plenty of times while I had been away living with my own kind.

  "Are you serious?" she asked, as the hearts around the table were becoming louder and louder.

  "Give me ten minutes and you'll see."

  She said something, but I couldn't hear over the sound of the beating. I couldn't take it anymore and I jumped up from the table and ran upstairs to my and Natalie's bathroom. I locked the door and rolled up a towel, putting it at the base of the door, further preventing it from being opened. I turned on the sink full blast so that hopefully no one would try to talk to me while I was gone.

  I stood in the tub next to the wall leading outside to go through the wall. That's when I remembered that since I had returned to the house, I couldn't go through walls anymore. Along with my vampire friends and family, that ability had been taken from me too. Out of frustration, I swore. I had to get outside and feed before I went on a rampage. There was no getting around it.

  I opened the window and looked out. I could squeeze through it, barely, if I tried. It wouldn't be easy, though. It was my only choice, so I had to do it. I climbed onto the sill, careful not to slip. The wall still had moisture from the earlier showers. I squeezed the window sill and pulled myself up, balancing carefully. If I hadn't had supernatural strength and agility, I couldn't have pulled it off. The window was five and a half feet high.

  Squeezing myself through the small window, I looked around and saw a tree about six feet away. I had jumped further distances to trees in the woods before, so I could do this. I had to. I took a deep breath, pushing aside the blood lust for a moment, and then jumped. I landed gracefully on one branch. I looked around to make sure that no one was looking and I jumped down, landing soundlessly.

  Feeling the warm sun on my skin, I was grateful that the sun blessing hadn't been taken away from me, along with my ability to go through walls. I'd been down that road when I was abducted and I didn't want to deal with that ever again. The pain had been like no other. Why had I said ten minutes? I'd be forced to feed nearby and I preferred to go as far away as possible.

  Not that it mattered at that point. I needed to feed and it didn't really matter where as long as it wasn't at home. I burst into a run, glad to be able to run faster than a human eye could see. I let my thirst fuel my speed as I ran for the edge of Delphic Cove. As I went through a run-down area, I slowed and took in the surroundings.

  Everything was dilapidated and garbage was all over the place. There were several dirty people sleeping in corners under muddy blankets and coats. Thick moss covered the buildings and every window I saw was broken. The air smelled of urine, tobacco, and rotten fruit.

  I could hear people close by. I was able to make out several conversations, all of which sounded like drug deals. One conversation sounded like it invol
ved a kid. I walked closer, listening intently. I looked around the corner and saw a messed up looking guy talking with a kid who didn't even look like he was eleven years old.

  As soon as the kid was out of sight, I ran up to the guy. "What do you think you're doing?"

  He looked up in surprise and let out a string of profanities. "You're a cop."

  I laughed. "You wish, pal."

  Giving me a funny look, he asked, "I wish? No, chick. I'm on probation. If I get caught, I ain't gettin' out anytime soon."

  Looking around, I made sure that no one was watching from around any corners. "Trust me. You'd prefer the police over me any day. Now you'll never be able to sell drugs to a kid again."

  "You got your story down all wrong, yo. I wasn't selling to him. He was selling to me."

  "I stand corrected. You'll never again be able to enable a kid to sell drugs again."

  "How you gonna stop me, chick?"

  "Like this," I said and showed him my pearly white fangs.

  He looked at me like I was crazy and opened his mouth to say something, but I bit into his neck before a sound came. My body relaxed as the blood flowed into my mouth and I drank it up in record time. I had dried him out completely. Holding the limp body, I looked around for a place to hide it. I saw a pile of dogs sleeping by a rusty dumpster. They looked hungry enough to eat anything.

  I flung the guy on top of the dogs and ran off as they started fighting each other and biting into him. There would be no evidence of a vampire by the time they were done with him. I wanted to feed on another person, but I knew that I had to get back. I'd already been gone long enough. My mom probably would have the door broken down by then.

  Normally draining an adult would be enough to keep me full for a while, but with how long it had been since I'd last fed, I knew that it would barely be enough. If I was lucky, I would be good through the weekend, but that might be a stretch.

  Four

  As I climbed back into the bathroom, I could hear someone banging on the door.

  "I'm almost done!" I shouted as I carefully slid my feet into the still slippery tub. "Can't I have some privacy? I'm already feeling better."

  "What's taking you so long?" demanded my mom.

  "Something didn't sit right me. That's all," I said, and then flushed the toilet. "Just give me a minute."

  Looking in the mirror, I made sure that I didn't have any blood on me. I was clean and had figured as much. It didn't take much practice to be able to feed without getting messy. When I opened the door, my mom was standing in the hall with her face redder than I'd ever seen it. "What's going on?"

  "I just had to get it out of my system. I'm fine now. See?" I opened my eyes wide and gave her a smile. "Let's get those dishes cleaned."

  She narrowed her eyes, looking into mine. "They look normal again, but I don't buy that you had to get it out of your system. It takes longer than a few minutes to get something out of your system."

  "What about Uncle Tom? He does it every time."

  "Alexis, why didn't you ever tell us about that happening? Your exchange family should have let us know right away when it happened over there. But even so, how could you keep it from us?"

  "I wasn't trying to keep it from you, Mom. I guess I just forgot about it. I don't know. It's not like it happens every day. I've been here for three months and this is the first time, right?"

  She folded her arms. "Is there anything else that I need to know about my daughter?"

  I sighed. "Nothing comes to mind. What about the table? Shouldn't we get that cleared?"

  "Your sister and cousins have everything taken care of. Everyone's going to play a game of charades. Do you think you can handle it?"

  "Can I handle charades? You know I win every time. This won't be any different."

  She actually smiled. "Good. I'm glad to hear it. Let's get downstairs. The guys are getting the living room set up."

  "Perfect."

  As we walked down the stairs, I started to feel a little funny. I grabbed the railing to balance myself.

  "Sure you're okay?"

  "Couldn't be better," I said. When we got to the bottom of the stairs, I noticed birds flying around the living room singing some song from the 1960's. I rubbed my eyes to see if they'd go away, but then I saw a polka-dotted hippo sitting on the couch. He put a cigar into his mouth and smiled at me as a bird landed on his head.

  I made a mental note to avoid drinking from druggies in the future. That hadn't been my brightest idea. Everyone was looking at me and asking how I was doing, but I couldn't look away from that hippo. He had a weird look in his eye that I didn't trust.

  My dad stood up and looked me in the eye. "Are you okay, dear?"

  I turned from the hippo to look at him. "See? My eyes are fine."

  "Your pupils look a little funny now. Did that happen before too?"

  That must have been from the drugged up blood. "They'll go back to normal soon."

  "Here, darling, sit down," he said, pointing to the spot on the couch where smoking hippo was.

  I looked back and forth between my dad and the animal. The hippo took a drag from his cigar and blew smoke rings. "Sit on my lap, baby. We'll have a great time."

  "Can I sit somewhere else?" I asked my dad.

  "What's wrong with that spot?"

  I looked at the hippo, who winked at me and then patted his lap. I took a step back. "I just want to sit somewhere else. That's all."

  Uncle Tom stood up from a recliner. "Sit here. It's the best seat in the house."

  That seat was safe, so I took it and thanked him. The hippo was still making lewd faces at me.

  I tried to listen as one of my uncles went over the rules to the game, even though we always played charades at every gathering. Somehow I made it through the game acting normal despite the hippo, birds, and the 60's music playing over the Christmas music coming through the speakers.

  When the game was over, the kids all headed for the rec room, and I pretended to go with them but then sneaked up to my room. Thankfully there were no zoo animals in there. A few singing birds slipped in with me, but they weren't too bad. I climbed into my bed, pulling my covers up around me tightly and I closed my eyes, as the world around me spun out of control. I hoped to be able to sleep this off before Amanda came by wanting to shop all night. What had I been thinking when I agreed to that?

  My dreams were far more psychedelic than the animals downstairs. They were full of spiraling colors, more decade music, popping bubbles, nearly every animal from the zoo, and some things I couldn't even recognize. At some point I heard voices, but I wasn't sure if they came from my dreams or if someone was in my room. I tried to focus on what they were saying.

  "Have you seen anything like this before? What's going on with her?"

  "I haven't a clue, hon. I've never seen anything like the red eyes, though. I can't even begin to imagine what caused that."

  "You don't think she picked something up while she was in Europe, do you, Jack?"

  "Anything's possible. But it went away; that's the good thing. Even though she was acting skittish after she came out of the bathroom, I think overall she's doing better. Not only did the redness go away, but her coloring looked better than it has in at least a month."

  My mom sighed. "I suppose you're right. We'll just have to keep her focused on all of our Christmas traditions. It's her favorite time of the year. We've got to pull her out of her depression before she goes back into hibernation mode. I just don't understand it. She was always so level headed and on top of things until about this time last year. You don't think that there's something wrong with her, do you? I mean, we don't know her whole genetic history."

  "Janet, I think you're over-thinking everything. True, we know nothing about her mother, but her dad is your distant relative and there's nothing to worry about genetically. As far as her depressions and snaps from reality, this is what I think: she's off-the-charts smart. We've known that since she came to live with us. Be
ing gifted like that tends to come with a price. Many of the great ones have had to deal with these types of issues. She'll fight through it, and she'll come out stronger."

  There was a silence and I wanted to peek and see what they were doing, but I was worried that if they noticed I was awake, they would make me get up. I figured they were probably having one of their silent conversations. Not like the silent conversations that we vampires have, hearing each other's thoughts, but rather communicating with their eyes. They had been doing that for as long as I could remember.

  I heard my door close and I let out a sigh and then rolled over, keeping my eyes closed. I could hear car doors opening and closing outside. Everyone must have been leaving. My parents must have been worried about me since they didn't have me get up and say goodbye to everyone. I drifted back to sleep, once again greeted with trippy scenes.

  "Psst. Psssst!"

  I rolled over and saw Amanda standing next to my bed. It was pitch black, meaning that it must have been pretty late. The only light was from the hallway coming in through the door which was cracked open. I moaned.

  "You okay?" she asked.

  Rubbing my eyes, I said, "I'm just tired."

  "Your parents said…you might not be feeling well."

  It sounded like they probably said more than that. "I wasn't feeling my best earlier, but I think I might have slept it off."

  She smiled. "Good. So you think you're up for some shopping?" she asked, saying shopping with an extra syllable for emphasis.

  I sat up and stretched. "That might just be what the doctor ordered. Should I bother getting out of these wrinkled clothes?"

  "Nah," she said, shaking her head. "It's really cold out there. The ground is already frosted over and it's only ten. Just wear a jacket and throw a hat over your hair."

  Swinging my legs off the bed, I said, "Sounds good to me. Where are we going first?"