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Author's Note: Here's Ch.2 of my crazy vampire story. Everyone is going to finally get to see what's been going on in regards to Wisteria's side of things in the house. In this chapter, we finally get to meet her girls. I think everyone is going to be surprised. I'd like to thank djkauf for the expect editing :)

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2.

I snapped awake again, soaked in more sweat. The covers were thrown about me, tangled around my body like a white snake. I unraveled them quickly, instinctively putting my hand to my chest to feel my heart. It wasn’t thumping though; it was never going to thump again. I ran my fingers through my damp hair and groaned. What the hell was going on with me? Two nights in a row, two nights of waking up in a sweat, scared to death of my dream. Unlike last night though, I actually remembered what scared me so much. There was a girl in the woods, a girl about my age. I’m not sure how she got there but she was scared. She was running from something, running fast and hard to get away. Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest and whatever it was that she was trying to escape from was fast. I couldn’t see it, I couldn’t really see her clearly either but whatever it was, it was something she definitely didn’t want to get her.

Sadly, the dream didn’t end so well for her. I snapped awake before I saw it but I know it got her. There was this feeling inside of me that told me that that poor girl was gone. I sighed heavily thinking about it. The hot, wet feeling of tears rolled slowly down my face. I reached up to wipe them away, not even realizing I was crying. When I brought my hand away from my way, the first thing I noticed was the blood. I smelled it a second later. It was sweet like sugar. It sent my nose into a twitch and made me instinctively lick my lips. I shuddered at the thought. It was my blood, my own blood and yet a small part of me craved it more than anything.

The thought made me cry more. More blood tears ran down my face, I didn’t bother to wipe them away. Instead, I pulled my feet up to my chest, wrapped my arms around my knees and sat there. I sat there for an hour or more, scared of everything. First, it was for the girl in the dream then it was for the thing chasing her. I knew it wasn’t real but it felt real. After a while, I realized the thing I was truly scared for was me and what I might become. I wasn’t even human anymore and I cried blood to prove it.

I’m not sure how long I sat there crying. I tried not to think about it actually. I just know when I finally stopped, I didn’t feel much better. I tried not to think of the dream but it started to haunt my thoughts again. I couldn’t help but wonder if the girl was me---she had my black hair after all. The monster chasing her, could it have been the monster inside of me? I shook my head, that was nonsense. It wasn’t really that kind of dream. It was more like I was watching the incident as it unfolded, not actually as if it were happening to me.

A rapping on the door drew me away from my thoughts. I snapped my head toward it but made no move to leave the bed. A second later, the door opened and Charlotte slipped inside. Her silver eyes shone slightly before she flipped on the light.

“Oh good you’re awake” she said, sauntering into the room.

Ok, so she didn’t really saunter but she might as well have.

“Been up for a while actually.”

Charlotte frowned. “You ok, sugah?”

Her accent was there again. I had a vague recollection of it through Katie’s memories. They were only small flashes really. Strangely enough, I couldn’t remember hearing it yesterday. Almost as if Charlotte could turn it, off at will. How strange was that?

“I’m still a little off.”

Charlotte walked closer to me. “You look a little pale honey. You get anything to eat last night?”

My stomach grumbled but I was repulsed. The idea of chugging blood like some freak made me want to puke. At least in my head anyway. The rest of me though, that was a different story.

“I’m not really hungry.”

Charlotte gave me a look. “That’s not up for debate around here actually. Get dressed then come downstairs, I’ll have something waiting.”

She patted me gently on the cheek before turning and leaving our room. As soon as she was gone, I cursed. How in the hell was I going to pull this off? There was this whole other side of me, a side I only had fragments of. Katie was somewhere locked in the back of my mind now and I was going to keep her there. The idea of trying to pretend to be her though, it was horrifying to say the least. I knew what kind of bitch she was and let’s face it; I didn’t have a mean bone in my body. I shook those thoughts away, deciding it was finally time to get ready to face the day.
I slipped out of bed, slowly stripping off my clothes from the day before.

I made my way over to the dresser before realizing that it might be wiser to shower. Finding a towel, I wrapped it around myself before making my way down the hall to the nearest bathroom. I moved quietly, in hopes that my path would go unnoticed. I dreaded running into someone that Katie was supposed to know and not remembering who they were. That, along with a few others, were some of my biggest worries about this place. While I turned on the water and stepped inside, I tried to think of ways around it. I closed my eyes as the water slowly cascaded over my body. I couldn’t feign amnesia because there was no precedence for that. People just don’t spontaneously forget others out of the blue. I could lie my way through it but I was never a very good liar.

“You’re pathetic you know that” said a cruel voice.

I snapped my eyes open and peeked around the shower curtain, annoyed that someone actually came into the bathroom with me. There was no one there though.

“Hey stupid, you’re not going to find anyone.”

The voice spoke again and I suddenly realized there was something vaguely familiar about it: it was mine. Ok, not fully mine---it was definitely a lot angrier sounding and there was a certain bit of annoyance in it as well. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who was talking.

“Katie?”

“And here I thought I was going to have to shout until I was blue in the face.”

Shit. How was that possible?

“You’re locked away, you can’t be here.”

“And yet I am princess, kind of shocking huh.”

“What do you want?”

“To help you.”

I scoffed at that. She didn’t want to help. She wanted to be free again. The bitch nearly killed me when we fought last time. She was pure evil, a twisted construct of Wisteria’s creation, one that was supposed to take control of my life. But I defeated her. I locked her up in the back of my mind, never to return again. How she was here now, talking to me was a complete mystery.

“I can hear your thoughts you know. I take offense to being called a bitch. As for how I’m talking to you now, I’ll be damned if I know. One minute I was just minding my own business, chained up where you left me and then I felt this tug.”

“I don’t need any help.”

The last thing I needed was to give her power. Even the slightest bit of it and she’d use it against me. I couldn’t have that.

“What if I promised not to fight you anymore?”

“I don’t trust you.”

I shut off the shower, slowly stepping out of it. I grabbed my towel and went to the sink, turning on the water and splashing it in my face. When I shut off the faucet, I looked into the mirror. I jumped, nearly slipping on the puddle of water I left on the floor. My reflection was different. It was still me but I was wearing dark makeup and cruel smile.

“Much better” said my reflection. “Now you and I can talk face to face.”

“Holy shit…how…”

“No clue” she said, stretching.

Strangely enough my own arms didn’t move. I was thankful for that. This only meant she was just a reflection, nothing more.

“Look” she said, picking up where she’d left off. “I wouldn’t trust me either but I don’t’ want to die.”

“Die? No one is going to kill you…I mean me…I mean us…”

Shit that’s confusing.

“Maybe not yet but what’s going to happen when they find out you’re not me. You think they’re going to let you wander free. The Boss Lady tried to suppress you once and thought she succeeded and yet here you are, in charge of my body.”

“It’s my body.”

“Potato, potahto” She smirked, her cruel black lips twisting as she did so. “Regardless of that, as soon as they find you out, they’re going to kill you. I don’t want that to happen. You die, princess, I go with you. So we either work together and I help you be me or you die just like your little ghost friend.”

“You leave her out of this.”

Katie shrugged. “Look, you can’t do this without me, princess. You’re not strong enough.”

“I was strong enough to kick your ass,” I said, getting a little angry.

Katie’s face twisted into anger. “You got lucky.”

I felt her fade slightly. I’m not sure how to describe the feeling. One minute she was pretty strong, I could almost feel her tugging at the chains but now it was clear her strength was waning. Whatever she was doing to talk to me was taking a lot out of her. The fact that I was arguing with her seemed to be taking more from her. I’m sure she was genuine about wanting to help, at least in her own selfish way. I knew the stakes of what might happen if I was found out but there was no way I could trust her. She tried to kill me and she would like nothing more than to be in charge again. I couldn’t let that happen.

“I can do fine all by myself” I said, confidently.

“No you can’t. I know you Kylie” She said my name with contempt. “You’re not strong enough to handle it. Sure, you might be able to fake it for a time but you’ll slip up eventually. When you do, Wisteria will skin you alive and torture you for the hell of it. You wait and see. Without me you’re nothing.”

“I guess I’ll find that out for myself.”

I closed my eyes and pushed at her with my mind. I’m not sure if it was going to work or not but I heard a blood curdling scream. When I reopened my eyes, my reflection---my own face---was staring back at me in the mirror. I let out a huge sigh of relief before quickly leaving the bathroom. I ran into no one in the hall and quickly made it into my room. As I was trying to find something to wear, I couldn’t help but think about what she said. She was partly true. If I didn’t pretend to be her flawlessly then they were going to find out.

I went to the dresser, opening the top drawer. I tried to avoid all her racy, trashy stuff but my hand hovered over them. Without even thinking about it, I grabbed a black thong. I slowly stepped into it before putting on a matching bra. I even adjusted myself, trying to make my boobs stand out more. It was a second or two later before I realized I even did it. I cursed as I looked down at myself. Instead of stripping them off though, I went to the closet and found a pair of pants. They were leather and looked skintight. I knew they were the kind of pants Katie might wear and I also knew that I wanted to wear them as well. I pulled them on without thinking about it, topping off the look with a black t-shirt. When I found myself putting on a pair of her boots, I knew that somehow, some part of her was guiding my hand.

Was this what she meant by helping me?

Finishing with the boots, I sat at the vanity and slowly started to put on my makeup. I did it flawlessly. When I was done, I saw Katie staring back at me. It was the same reflection from the mirror. I smiled then practiced sneering. It took me a few tries but I managed to get her smirk down. Ok so maybe I could at least look like her. I took a deep breath as I stood up and made my way for the door. Now the question was, could I act like her as well?
Time to find out.

I opened the door and went into the hall. I stopped myself before stepping into the hall. A certain part of me told me to sex up my walk, add a sway to my hips but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I knew it was something Katie might do but the thought of it made me sick to my stomach.

According to Degna, I’d been “put away” for nearly two weeks. Knowing today was in fact the sixteenth of November told me that I’d only been Katie for a few days. I kept that in mind as I made my way around the house, hoping no one would notice how lost I really was. It helped thinking about being lost though. If Katie had only truly been here a couple of days, then that meant no one truly knew her, no one except Charlotte and Wisteria of course. That bit of confidence stayed with me as I wandered down the hall. If they truly didn’t know her then that meant I didn’t have to act like her or dress like her. I stopped to look down at myself and suddenly felt really embarrassed. Here I was thinking all these girls would think it weird if I dressed differently. I should have remembered what Degna said two days ago.

I guess my mind had been elsewhere.

Cursing, I seriously thought about turning around and going back to change.

“Katie” said a familiar southern drawl. “There you are.”

Shit, too late now. Charlotte came down the hall. She was dressed normally in a t-shirt and jeans. Why did she get to dress like a human being?

“Darling, you’re going to wear that to breakfast?”

“There wasn’t much else in my closet.”

For a moment, I thought I saw her scowl. It disappeared quickly though, turning into a smile. “Why don’t we go shopping later?”

“Yes please.”

“Well then” said Charlotte, taking me by the hand. “Let’s go meet the girls.”

I let her led me down the hall. I had one of those feelings of dread that went from my head to my toes. Strangely enough, it went back up my body and stayed mostly in the pit of my stomach. I felt like I was going to puke. Of course, I needed food in my stomach for that to truly be possible. I tried not to think about what my body was really craving and thought about what I really wanted. I would kill for some pancakes and sausage like Mom used to make. She made the best breakfast. Thinking about it, I couldn’t help but feel a tear roll down my face.

“Honey” said Charlotte, stopping when she noticed. “You all right?”

I nodded but I knew I was anything but. “Just thinking about my mother.”

She squeezed my hand. “Sometimes it’s hard to forget we were all human once. It’s never easy. I’d like to say it gets better but sadly I’d be lying.”

“Do you miss your family?”

She got a distant look on her face before she said. “All the time.” The look evaporated a second later, replaced by her cheery smile. “That was a long time ago. I know they’re happy, whenever they may be.”

Something about the way she said that last bit made me feel sad.

“Now no more tears” she continued, wiping my face. Then she bit her lip. “You want to skip the meet and greet again?”

Again? Did that mean Katie skipped it before? I shook my head. I wasn’t Katie; I wanted nothing to do with her. I was going to prove myself---especially her---that I could do this without any influence whatsoever. If Katie didn’t want to meet them then I definitely did. Besides, I needed to get to know them, didn’t I? I promised Degna---and Carmilla---that I would find out all of Wisteria’s secrets. What better way to find out about the Mother than through her Children.

“I’m good,” I said, hoping it was sincere sounding.

We started down the hall again. I was surprised when we passed by the dining room though. I thought we were going to eat. Charlotte caught me looking and smiled. We continued on, down another hall before we got to a nondescript looking door. She knocked before opening it. Inside I found a modest size room with lots of furniture and dark drapes. It was an elegant looking boudoir, the furniture was old, looked to be from the turn of the century actually. In fact, it looked a lot like the room from the Halloween party. The room where I…just thinking about that night made me shudder. I forced it from my thoughts and smiled at all the faces that turned to look at us.

There were seven girls present.

Unlike the elegant room though, they were all dressed pretty normally. I looked from one to the other, trying to read them individually. The closest girl to me had long silky black hair and looked vaguely familiar. I couldn’t quite place her though. She smiled and waved. I waved a bit too, before looking to the girl sitting next to her. This one I was bound to remember again---her short, blood red hair a perfect reminder. Next to her was a pair of twins. They were sitting in a chair together, both nearly identical. Their hair was brown and straight, their bangs cut an even length. When they stared at me, it was almost as if one person was looking instead of two. It was kind of creepy. Next to them was a blonde girl, her eyes were a vibrant purple color. Next to her was a girl with a pageboy cut, who seemed less interested in me and very attentive to her long nails, filing them like they were the most important thing in the world. The last girl was African American, she smiled but it looked forced, like she could care one way or another about meeting me.

Seven girls, seven distinct vampires.

“Hi there” said the first girl, the one with the long black hair. She jumped to her feet, a bundle of energy. She took my hand, shaking it happily. “I’m Lucy, you must be Katrina. Charlotte told us all about you.”

“Katie actually” I said, smiling.

“It’s nice to meet you Katie”.

“Same here” I said, meaning it too.

I was expecting fire to spurt out of her mouth at any second now. From what Degna was saying, these girls were all supposed to be the devil.

“Oh where are my manners?” said Lucy, giggling slightly. She pointed to the girls, starting with the one next to her. “That’s Annalyn, the Twins, Reese and Regan, Violet, Cordelia and finally that’s Ronnie over there with the sour face.”

“How many girls does Wisteria have?” I asked, before catching myself.

‘All together, hundreds sugah” said Charlotte, taking over a bit. “In this house, there are eleven of us, you make twelve. Wisteria and Carmilla like to keep the numbers even.”

“Where are the others?” I asked, before catching myself.

That sounded a bit rude.

“Wisteria likes to keep Maxine close to her,” said Charlotte. “Theresa goes where she pleases; she doesn’t socialize well with others and as for Suzanne, well let’s just say she’s not welcome here.”

“I don’t know why Mother just doesn’t replace her” said Violet, annoyed. “I mean she’s not one of us, not really.”

“Mother’s business is her business,” snapped Ronnie.

“I didn’t mean…” Violet acted like a child who was being scolded.

“Yeah, yeah” said Annalyn, getting to her feet. “Is this meet and greet over with?”

Lucy nodded. “But we got some things to talk about.”

“Send me a memo,” said Annalyn, getting to her feet rather quickly.

She pushed past Charlotte and me to leave. When her shoulder brushed against mine, I felt cold. An image flashed in my head, disorienting me slightly. I saw Annalyn standing outside, smoking a cigarette. Then a blonde came up to her, the two of them started to make out. It was there for a moment but disappeared just as quickly. I staggered before righting myself. Thankfully, no one else saw it. What the hell was that? I looked at Annalyn as she started down the hall, watching her as she disappeared out of sight. I turned back to the others but none of them seemed to notice my discomfort.

“Sorry about that” said Lucy, pouting. “Annie is a sour puss. She’s always been that way. She…well…let’s just say she didn’t have a god change and leave it at that.”

Change? Oh yeah, I forgot. Everyone here used to be a guy like me. I couldn’t help but find that a little hard to swallow. All of them were so gorgeous, super model hot in fact. It was hard to fathom that at one point all of them used to be guys. That was Wisteria’s thing though, according to Degna. She took boys who wanted to be girls and granted their wishes. From the way things sounded, she’d been doing it for a long time. Maybe even hundreds of years. Though it would seem I was probably the only one in the whole house who didn’t really want it.

“Hey Bubbles” said Violet, addressing Lucy. “Can we get this over with please?”

Lucy giggled. “Oops sorry” She giggled some more before taking my hands, smiling. “On behalf of Wisteria, I’d like to officially welcome you to Delta Beta Zeta.”

Lucy pulled me into a tight hug. As soon as she did, I got another flash. I saw her sitting in a room, her knees pulled up to her chest, sobbing, repeating the words “She Hates Me” over and over again. The image so was intense and it lasted a lot longer than the one I got from Annalyn. In fact, it lasted as long as Lucy was holding onto me. As soon as she broke the hug, the image disappeared. What in the hell was going on? I pushed away from Lucy quickly, even shoving her slightly. The look of pain on her face was apparent. Shit, now I was being a bitch.

“Sorry” I said, feeling bad.

Lucy nodded but sniffled.

“Are we done now?” asked Ronnie, clearly as annoyed as Annalyn had been a moment before.

“Yes” said Lucy, a bit distant. “You can go.”

“Thank God” gasped Cordelia, getting to her feet just as quickly as Annalyn had. “I know it’s tradition but after you’ve done this over and over again, it gets kind of redundant.” She started for the door, nodding to me before leaving. “Nice meeting you, love the pants.”

She left after that. I turned my body ever so slightly, making sure she didn’t bump into me as she left. I did the same for Ronnie and the Twins. Neither of them said anything as they slipped by me. I watched the Twins out of interest though. They held hands as they walked down the hall together. Something about them creeped me out. Violet and Lucy were the last to leave. I tried to apologize to Lucy again but she brushed me off. Violet gave me a cold look while trying to comfort her friend. As the two of them started down the hall, I couldn’t help but overhear Lucy say, “She Hates Me.”

What the hell?

“You ok?” asked Charlotte, touching my shoulder.

I flinched, expecting another strange image to flash in my head but nothing happened. I sighed before turning toward her. “I’m fine, just a little tired.”

Charlotte nodded. “You gotta be a little wary of Lucy, she’s a bit sensitive.”

“I didn’t mean it, it just…”

“I know” said Charlotte “its rough being her. She’s a nice sweet girl and yet she’s very lonely. She was a bit of an outcast before, very shy and quiet before her Change. It’s not easy for her to make friends so she does a lot of overcompensating for it. That’s why Wisteria made her the greeter. It’s supposed to help her socialize more.”

The Greeter? I suddenly remembered where I’d seen her before. She was the girl at the door, the one greeting people at the Halloween party.

“She’s really nice, should I apologize again?”

“No, she’ll get over it soon.”

I nodded but for some reason I just knew she was crying in her room right now.

“Now then” said Charlotte in a more cheerful tone. “Time for some libations.”

She took me by the hand again, leading me out of the room. Once again, we went down the hall, this time toward what I could only assume was a kitchen. There was no stove though but there was a large walk-in freezer. Charlotte opened the door with ease before stepping inside. I took a step closer, seeing the cold as it escaped the large interior. I was surprised when I couldn’t feel it though. I stuck my head inside but still nothing. Charlotte was in the back, pulling red sacks from the metal shelves.

“You want A or B this morning?”I shrugged. “A it is then.”

She carried two of the sacks---the blood bags---out of the freezer. She slammed the door with her foot before depositing the blood on the counter. My body tingled at the sight of it. That repulsed the hell out of me. I couldn’t help but stare at it though. I knew it was blood, I knew it should have been the most disgusting thing in the world and yet I wanted it more than anything. I couldn’t fight the need for it, no matter how much I tried. As I stared at it, there was a little vein in my neck that kept pulsating and I felt the prick of my fangs as they touched my lips. I reached up, feeling them for the first time. I was wondering where they’d been. Apparently, they must only come out when I was ready to feed.

“Oh you’re hungry, I can see it” said Charlotte, returning with two mugs. One had a kitty on it. “This is Lucy’s but I don’t think she’ll mind.”

Charlotte ripped open the bags, pouring them into the mugs. She tossed the leftovers into the sink before turning and handing me the kitty mug. I took it without comment. I tried to force myself not to drink, it was blood after all. I might have been a vampire but I was human too. Ok so I was human but there was just no way I was going to drink this crap. I felt my hand quiver and shake, the mug rocking gently. My willpower---which had been so strong only moments before---collapsed quickly. I tried to fight, put everything I had into fighting but in the end, it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t stop myself as I brought the mug up to my lips and drank. I felt disgusted by it but couldn’t stop. I was drinking blood. I was drinking blood out of a kitty mug and I was enjoying it.

I sighed in ecstasy as it slowly rolled down my throat. It tasted like red licorice actually, which surprised me. I loved licorice as a kid. I sighed at the memory, grateful for it. I was grateful for the blood too. I’d been a fool to deny it. How could I---a vampire---ever think that this was wrong? It blood, I was meant to drink it.

“Chug it all bitch,” said a voice in my head.

As soon as I heard Katie speak, I knew. I knew that it wasn’t me enjoying it so much, it wasn’t me who yearned for it, who craved for it. It was her. As soon as the realization dawned, I quickly stopped drinking. I set the mug on the counter, surprised to see it empty. I groaned, feeling a pain in my gut as I did so. Ok, so maybe there was no real pain but I felt like there should have been.

“What the matter Princess, can’t hold your liquor.”

Katie started laughing.

“Leave me alone,” I said, louder than I would have liked.

‘What was that?” asked Charlotte.

I completely forgot she was in the room. I inwardly cursed. I opened my mouth to speak but when I did, it wasn’t my voice. Ok it was mine but I wasn’t speaking. “I said that was really good.”

It was her. I’m not sure how but somehow she spoke for me.

“How did you do that?” I asked, with my thoughts.

“It’s the blood, princess,” she said with triumphant. “The more you drink, the more I feed. It’s invigorating and you know the best part, you can’t resist it. Every time you drink, a little more power comes my way. You might be in charge of my body for now, Princess, but I’ll gain ground every time you feed. Remember that the next time you’re hungry.”

She started laughing, her laughter slowly faded away until she was deep into my mind once again.

I clutched my stomach, groaning.

“You sure you’re ok?”

I nodded. “I guess A isn’t really my type after all.”

Charlotte laughed. “Not really mine either. I’ll get us some A Negative tomorrow; it’s a little less spicy.” She gave my shoulder a gently squeeze. “Don’t worry, it gets better from here.”

Easy for her to say. Every time she drank, she didn’t have a psychopath slowly gaining control of her body. I smiled at her encouragement, trying to keep up the charade. Charlotte excused herself after that, told me she’d meet me for dinner. I had the rest of the morning and afternoon free to myself. Katie---I mean me---didn’t have a class until later in the evening. So now, I had to figure out what to do with the rest of the day. The only problem was I had no idea what vampires did. Surely, there was something. I got an idea after that. I’m not sure why I hadn’t thought of it before. I rushed out into the hall, quickly heading back to the room we were in before.

When I opened the door, I found Lucy. She gave me a pleasant look.

“Lucy” I said and sighed. “Look I’m sorry about before. I was…well I’m still a little freaked about all of this vampire stuff.”

She smiled and I quickly got to her. She rushed over and hugged me. I prepared myself this time but no images came. I sighed in relief. I’m not sure what that was before but I was glad that it didn’t happen again. We hugged normally before she pulled away.

“Its ok, it’s not easy.” She giggled. “It took me a whole day to get over the fact that I had boobs.”

I smiled at that, looking down at mine. “I know the feeling.”

“But it’s what we wanted.”

I nodded. “Yep” I lied. “A dream come true.”

“So” she said, running her fingers through my hair. “You wanna braid each other’s hair?”

I smiled. “Maybe some other time. I was actually wondering if there was some place I could go to learn more about vampires.”

Lucy smiled real big. “Of course there is silly. Ravencrest has a library.” She took me by my hand, pulling me to the door. “C’mon, they have the biggest selection of books ever.”

I never met someone so excited to go to the library before. But I let her take me by the hand anyway. Out in the hallway, she let go of it though. I think she finally realized she was being a little overenthusiastic.

“Sorry” she said, blushing.

“It’s ok,” I said, smiling.

We started walking down the hall, side by side.

“I like your pants by the way” she said with a giggle.

I wanted to cry instead I groaned. “A…thanks.”

She laughed as we walked. I tried to keep up with her energy as she practically bounced down the hall. Me, I had a slight swagger to my hips. I didn’t notice it until we got to the front door; as soon as I did, I felt a chill. It scared me that I didn’t notice. Just like the makeup this morning, it was almost as if I did it without thinking. Shit, did that mean what I thought it meant? Was she gaining control again that quickly? I shook it off, promising myself to just fight back harder.

“Everything ok?” asked Lucy, concerned.

“Sure” I said, lying.

Everything was fine.

For now.

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Thanks in advance...EOF