Poison: Origin

Everything was silent. I was aware of being awake before I opened my eyes. I could feel the soothing satin beneath me. I spread out and noticed I was on a bed. Where was I? What happened? Suddenly everything came flashing back.

I remembered what Leon told me and what happened shortly after. I remembered Snake taking me away. I remembered that all the men had very calmly left the scene. Leon was nowhere to be seen after the incident.

"Leon!" I yelled quickly sitting up in a sudden worry. My head throbbed at the sudden movement. I put my hands over my head as if to soothe the pain. When my hands reached my head, I realized that I couldn't move them. Looking down at them I saw them wrapped in a hard bandage.

"We had to cast them, like we did to your ankle. Any movement will cause the wounds to open again." I heard a voice. I turned to the sound. There by the balcony doors stood a man. It was dark out already. How long was I out? The man was old - or at least compared to the other guys I saw earlier - somewhere around his early thirties. He looked sophisticated in casual jeans, a striped dress shirt, and a black blazer. "May I ask who this Leon is?"

These people were trying to kill him, but I heard them call him Poison so maybe they only knew him by that. But if I told them that Leon was actually Poison would they be able to track him using his name?

"Nobody. . ." I whispered. Hopefully he wouldn't ask anymore. "Where am I!"

"I can't tell you much now but you were hurt horribly my squad, which at the time of the incident was under Marauder." he explained. He could explain all he wanted but I still wouldn't understand. "I can offer you nothing for the events of today but my forgiveness. As an innocent you are welcome here under our protection. You may still be in danger so you cannot leave just yet." He turned to leave. This gave me an opportunity to study the room I was in.

It was as big as my living room, which was pretty big. To the left of the bed was the door, and on the right side there were the balcony doors, which led to a balcony. In front of the bed on the opposite wall was a fireplace, next to which was a door. I figured it led to a bathroom, but there was another door on the other side of the fireplace. I didn't know why.

I had so many question I wanted to ask. Some many things I wanted answers for. Like the squad thing, and the whole innocent thing. All those could wait, though. There was one thing I wanted to know right now.

"Excuse me," I said. I was surprised at how tired my voice sounded. The man stopped at the door and turned around with a kind smile. "Where can I take a shower?"

"Through the door on the left. I'll send someone to bring you some spare clothing. I'm Arthur by the way." he introduced.

"Eliana," I told him. He smiled as he opened the door and walked away. As soon as he left I pulled the covers off me. There was a cast on my ankle, like he said. My knees were wrapped in bandages too. I didn't even notice I had damaged them. I was still wearing the same clothes but my jeans were cut right above the knees so they could bandage them. My shirt was fine, with the exception of a few scratches here and there. I didn't even know where I left my jacket.

Slowly I stepped out of the bed. When I stood up there was a shock that went up from my damaged ankle. I bit my lip to keep from making any noise. For all I knew everyone else could already be sleeping. With effort, I limped to the door on the left. When I opened it had to stare in awe.

There was a shower made of glass. That didn't interest me as much too what was next to it; a big marble white bathtub. Now there was somewhere where I could relive my stress. Almost immediately I turned the water on. It took a while with my casted hands. I poured some of the unopened bottles of who knows what into the filling tub. While it filled I decided to explore my room some more.

I walked out of the bathroom and into the room. On top of the fireplace there was a clock on the mantle. 6:23 it read. So it was still early. I decided to head to the balcony instead of the other door first. I opened the doors to where Arthur had been standing. Once outside I was amazed my the huge semi-circle shaped balcony. I didn't even notice the cold. I could have a small party on one of these.

It looked like almost every room had one. No one was out though, probably because of the weather. It was winter, I was sure of it. I heard a door in my room open. Cautiously I limped back to the room. By the door there was a little girl with light brunette hair. She was carrying a clothes bundle in her hands.

She was wearing some kind of ancient Chinese outfit, which didn't make sense since she wasn't Chinese. The top was a green shirt with real wide sleeves. On the tips of the sleeves there were red-orange flower designs. Where the red-orange designs were supposed to touch the green of the shirt, there was a golden line separating them both. She had an a weird red-orange and yellow plate like collar that covered parts of her chest and top.

For her bottom she had baggy red-orange shorts. Between both the shorts and shirt was a small corset-like thing that rested from the bottom of her chest, to the bottom of the stomach. In the middle of this corset thing there was a red ribbon. On her legs were what looked like baggy leg warmers that were only tight at the top. Under these leg warmers she had on white boots. Overall, it looked over-sized on her. On her head she had an elaborate hairpin that turned her hair into a looped and twisted ponytail.

"Hello! I'm Eleanor Hellion, but everyone just calls me Elle," she said cheerfully, her icy blue eyes twinkling.

"I'm Eliana, just call me Eli. . ." I trailed off. I was still a little weirded out by her outfit.

"You're probably a little curious about my clothes," she said happily. A little curious? "My master likes all her students to dress like this. I still don't know why. I think it's because she's Chinese too, but sometimes I think the old hag just wants to make me suffer. I love my master by the way. She teaches me a lot of stuff like how to write, read, do arithmetics. . ." and she rambled on about what her teacher taught her. At some point I decided to stop her.

"Eleanor!" I said annoyed. This kid just knows how to talk.

"Oh, call me Elle, but you can call me Eleanor if you want, but I really do prefer Elle. It's much shorter. . ." and there she went again. This time I stopped her before she could get to distracted.

"Elle, could you give me the clothes?" I asked interrupting her.

"Here you go Eli!" she said cheerfully handing me my clothes. I swear this kid's on something, or needs Ritalin.

"Thank you," I said limping to the bathroom.

The tub was near the top and covered with bubbles as I turned off the water faucet. Elle followed me into the bathroom. I handed her my new clothes as I started to take off my dirty clothes. I couldn't a grip on my shirt. The cast covered my hand and most of my upper arm, only my the tips of my fingers stood out. I growled in frustration when I noticed her, sitting on one of the cushioned stools. Her legs couldn't really reach the floor so she resorted to swinging her feet back and forth.

"Do you need help?" she asked. I couldn't get my shirt off myself, not with this cast. It was weird for a little girl to help undress me.

"Uh. . ." I said fumbling with the bottom of the shirt. She jumped up from the stool and came up to me.

"I take care my master. She's old and sometimes needs help climbing into the bath. Could you bend down for me?" She asked. She was too short to take of my shirt. Awkwardly I crouched down. She quickly pulled it off. I quickly covered my chest. "Don't worry everything you have, I'll probably have bigger!" she said cockily. She came up behind me and unhooked my bra. How old was this girl and what the hell were they teaching her!

"Sure. . ." I said weirded out by this little girl. She also helped me with my jean's buttons. I managed to pull them off myself.

"I'll turn around now, until you get in the tub," true to her word she put her hands over her eyes and turned around. I slipped off the remaining clothes and climbed in the tub. Laying down, the warm water made me feel as though I were melting. "Oh, and I forgot to tell you, don't get your casts too wet." I pulled my left ankle out of the water and my hands out of the water. "Are in the water yet?" Elle asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Are your bubbles arranged?" she asked.

"Yeah," I laughed. She turned quickly and smiled.

"I see you got carried away with the bubbles," she smiled. The bubbles reached all the way just below my chin. I smiled in relaxation. I wished I had my iPod right now. "Just yell out if you need anything," Elle said walking out of the room.

I studied the bathroom closer. The wall opposite to the tub had two sinks which I found a little weird. Why would I need two sinks? Above the sinks the wall was literally made of glass. There was a small t.v. on the wall next to the sinks. The whole room like something out an expensive resort brochure. For some reason, there were three other doors in here. I'd have to ask Elle about it.

What was going on? I knew these people were after Leon but how were they so nice? You would expect someone who was trying to kill your friend to be evil. What if they were just pretending to be nice to me, so they could gain my trust. Then when I would I least expect it they would try to kill me! But a child like Eleanor couldn't fake something like that.

What if I had everything backwards and Leon was the bad guy? He was after all a vampire, a supposed creature of darkness. He told me, though, not to believe everything I read in books. What if he was a good vampire?

I stayed in the tub pondering until the water turned cold. Careful not to wet the casts as much, I climbed out of the shower. Looking in the mirror I noticed a bandage on the side of my temple. I didn't even notice that one before. Upon closer inspection I saw it slightly tinted with red. It must've happened during the first collision. When Leon. . .

Where did Elle leave that clothes bundle?

I looked at the sink counter and on the floor. When I couldn't find it I grabbed one of the bathrobes near the shower and, with some difficulty I put it on. I didn't want to think about Leon, or his possible fate. I went out to the room.

Elle was jumping on the bed, when I came out she quickly pulled her legs out and landed on her butt on the bed. She smiled innocently at me.

"Elle, do you know when I can take these off?" I said lifting up my casted hands. "I didn't even break anything!" I added.

"Some of your cuts were pretty deep on your hands and ankle." she explained.

"That doesn't mean you have to put casts on them!" I immediately shut up after that. I didn't want to scream at a little girl for no reason - she couldn't be older than twelve.

"Actually, our research showed that deep wounds heal faster when you're not reopening the scabs by moving too much." She said in her childish voice. "It hurts and itches more but it's worth it when you can take them off tomorrow morning." she added. Hurts and itches? I didn't feel anything but stiffness!

"But I don't feel anything," I snapped trying not to raise my voice at her. Her smile grew wide.

"Thats because we drugged you up with morphine!" she sang. Morphine!? I've never in my life taken any drugs, besides the ones prescribed by my doctor.

"You drugged me with morphine!" Not even bothering to keep silent. Elle cheerfully nodded her head. "Why?!"

"It's just to numb the pain, medic ordered it, or would you rather be suffering in pain?" she said as though it were the most logical answer.

"Well I guess not." I murmured. Well, I guess if it meant I was skipping the painful part then it was okay. A doctor, or medic, whatever they're calling it here, ordered it.

"Don't worry they only give it too you at the beginning when it hurts the most," she said. It found it weird that she knew all this. Did she take care of other people besides me?

"How do you know?" I asked

"Well, I've been to the medic with much worse cuts than you. Yours are like babies compared to the ones I've already had," she said proudly. A little girl with worse cuts than these? I think someone was stretching the truth a little bit.

"Elle how old are you?" I said out of the blue.

"I'm only ten but I'm so much better than all the other guys here," she said proudly. Elle seemed to be a very proud girl. "They're not a lot of girls my age here, most of them are like thirty, you're the closest to my age so far."

"Elle what is here?" I asked. Arthur wouldn't tell me, so maybe I could trick Elle into telling me.

"Here is a room," she said simply. Great they probably told her not to tell me. I started to feel cold in the bathrobe. I remembered why I wanted the casts off.

"Where did you leave the clothes?" I asked her. She pondered for a seconded before gasping and running over to the desk. She grabbed the clothes from the chair.

"I'm sorry I took them with me when I came out." She said handing me the clothes. "They don't have any buttons so you can put them on on your own."

"Thank you," I said walking into the bathroom. I opened the bundle to reveal some baggy black cotton shorts, an over sized white t-shirt that reached to my thighs, and a pair of underwear. I guess I would have to go bra less for a while. At least my breasts wouldn't be noticeable in this huge shirt. I didn't even want to know how they knew my underwear size.

It was a puzzle trying to get in the shirt, but I figured it out. The trick was to get your arms in first, then moving them up and the shirt just slides on. For the underwear I just threw them on the floor and stepped into them. With the little movement in my fingers, I pulled them up. I did the same to the shorts.

Proudly I stepped out of the room. Eleanor was lying the bed, but there were three other people inside the room by the door. One of them was Arthur. The other two were the people I knew as Marauder and Desperado.

"I'm sure you already know these two?" Arthur said motioning to the two of them. Desperado smiled but Marauder, who was a few steps in front of him, scoffed. I nodded at Arthur's question. Desperado stepped up and stuck out his hand.

"I'm Nathan Hawk." he said kindly, his honey eyes still looked sad. I looked at his hand cautiously. After what I saw today it was hard to believe that someone who fought so ferociously could be so kind. . . Unless he was faking it! He pulled his hand back. "I didn't know they were going to cast them. . ." he mumbled rubbing the back of his neck. Desperado, or Nathan now, stepped back and looked expectantly at Marauder. When Marauder didn't do anything Arthur pushed him forward.

"Ez Ba-" Arthur smacked him hard on the back of the head. "Ezekiel," he corrected, throwing a scornful look at Arthur. "Barlow," he finished with a scowl. Nobody said anything. They were just looking at me.

"Oh, Eliana. . ." I paused. Should I tell them my full name? I hardly knew these people, what if they were psychopaths. I laughed inwardly. I thought the same thing about Leon. I wonder what he was doing right now? Was he even looking for me? "Arwin," I lied. If things went sour it would be that much harder for them to find me.

"She likes to called Eli though!" Elle shouted excitedly from the bed. Please don't start ranting, I thought to myself.

"Now that we all know each other, lets give Elia-"

"Eli!" Elle interrupted Arthur.

"Eli," Arthur corrected. "Some explanations." Finally they were going to tell me what was going on! "That man you were with, is a vampire," he said it bluntly. No shock whatsoever. He just confirmed what Leon had already told me. I sighed in relief. Leon wasn't a psychopath, just a vampire. Not that that was any better. "whatever name it gave you is fake." he said. So Leon wasn't really Leon? But he told me he was born Leon Barzahd. And why was Arthur calling Leon an it! "It probably told you the name of a man he's already killed."

Killed. . .

"The name given to it by it's master, it's creator, is Poison. It's customary for newborn vampires to be renamed, symbolic to leaving their humanity behind." So Leon's real name was Poison? Or at least his new name. But then, what was he before? "We've been hunting Poison for 43 years now, and now we had it within reach but Ezekiel, here, let it get away," Arthur said calmly. Ezekiel rolled his blue eyes. He made some sense but if they were after Leon, Poison, then why was I here?

"Why am I here, then?" I asked. I didn't want to spend a night here. My mom must be worried sick about me.

"It's mostly for your protection. Once a vampire like Poison choses it's meal, it doesn't like it taken away from it. You'll only be here for a short while Poison decides to get another meal," he said. Is that all I was? A meal? But he didn't come off that way. He was nice to me and he even told me what he was! I wasn't going to tell these guys that though. "Don't worry I'll give it a couple days or a week at the most." he said. He turned to the door. "I have some matters to attend to but I think my second in commands can explain any questions you have." Arthur left the room. I walked over to the bed and sat down next to Elle. There was silence after.

"You got any questions?" Ezekiel said annoyed. As a matter a fact I did.

"So who are you guys?" I asked. Nathan and Ezekiel looked at each other and nodded.

"We're a top secret organization founded to eliminate the threat from the homo sapien sub species." Nathan said professionally. And I wanted a simple answer.

"So who are you guys?" I asked again. Ezekiel scowled. Is that all he could do?

"Well it's kinda hard to explain," Nathan said.

"We kill vampires!" Elle elaborated.

"That pretty much explains everything," Ezekiel said to Nathan.

"We kill werewolves and demons too!" Elle said proudly. And I hard a hard time with vampires. Now they were telling me demons and werewolves existed too!

"Yeah but we chased the demons away, and most of the werewolves are closely monitored. It's the vampires we're having most trouble with," Nathan said. So they killed mythical creatures.

"Are these monsters only American?" I asked. There was no possible way that they could kill off an entire race, or species from the planet if there were only here in Olympia.

"Nope!" Elle answered.

"They exist all over the world. To counter this we have establishments all over the world." Nathan said. So there were more places like this? "There's 124 total right now."

"What is this place?" I asked.

"It's a Hunter's Den, thats what we call them. They are our bases of operation." He explained. "Each one has a specific name. This one is called Ouroboros Manor. It's a mansion modeled after Harlaxton Manor in Lincolnshire,"

"Look this is our mascot!" Elle said climbing off the bed and coming to me. She pulled up her sleeve to show me her wrist. There was a gold snake bracelet wrapped around her small wrist. "Isn't it pretty!" she showed off.

The snake's mouth was the bracelet's clasp, and closed down tightly on the other end of the bracelet. It gave the impression the snake eating it's tail. The snake's eyes were made of emeralds. The snake itself looked astonishingly life like. The whole piece was beautiful.

"And look!" she pressed on a small lever that made the snake's mouth open. She pulled it off and showed it to me. If I let this thing on the floor in my house my mom would probably think it was real. I turned it and looked at the snake's belly. Engraved on the bottom was: Eleanore Hellion, 1998 (Reckoning) 12/31/1998.

"Whats this?" I asked.

"Oh every member gets one. It has your full name, the year you were born, your codename and the date you joined The Company." Ezekiel said. His bad attitude seemed to fading. Elle's bracelet had the same year for birth and joined. She was born into this life, she knows nothing of any other life but this one of bloodshed.

"Do you guys have one?" I asked them.

"Yeah," Nathan pulled off a ring. Nathan's was similar to Elle's except smaller. Engraved in tiny letters, so small I could hardly read it, was: Nathan Hawk, 1986 (Desperado) 5/04/1999. Nathan joined when he was 13 and he was 22 now. He's been hunting these creatures for 9 years now.

I handed Nathan his ring back. Nathan looked at Ezekiel. Ezekiel sighed, reached for his neck and pulled something over his head. He handed me a silver chain. Attached to it was a silver pendant the size of a half dollar. The snake coiled on the edge. This snake ate it's tail and the clasp that connected it to the chain.

Engraved in the center was: Marauder. Then right under it was the date: 7/13/2001. So he's been in the organization for seven years. I turned the pendant over. On the back was: Ezekiel Barlow, then under it read: 1991. He was a year older than me, seventeen or turning it pretty soon.

"That's kinda girly you know?" I said indicating to the pendant. He scowled and snatched from my hand. I laughed. "So what's this organization called?"

"It doesn't really have a name. We just call it The Company." he said.

To summarize, these three worked for an organization called The Company, that hunts evil mythological creatures, like Poison. They had Hunter Dens all over the world to fight off the threat. They used codenames and medieval weapons?

"You fight using swords?" I asked from what I saw earlier.

"It's the only way to kill a vampire. You have cut off it's head, or pierce it's heart." Ezekiel finally joined the conversation.

"Why don't you just use bullets?"

"For some reason that we have yet to uncover gold is dangerous to vampires. They can't even touch it. Gold is the only thing that can pierce vampire bone." Nathan explained.

"Then make bullets made of gold," I said. How hard was that?

"We can but bullets are only a one time use thing. A single golden bullet costs over a $75. So you see the financial problem with that," Nathan said.

"How much do your weapons cost?"

"The most expensive one we've made cost 5,000." Ezekiel said bluntly. With 5,000 they could get 66 bullets. I could see why they chose the weapons they did.

"Besides guns aren't reliable. Sometimes you don't hit the heart and they manage to pull out the bullet and they get away. I just chop of their head it's much easier," Elle said as though it were nothing. Now I believed her that she had had bigger wounds than me.

"Eleanor is a bred hunter. She's part of the breeding program." Nathan explained, not that it made much sense as to why this little girl was killing vampires. "In order to fight against seemingly perfect adversaries, we're working on creating the perfect hunter. We already had a perfect hunter but she left The Company. She owed her life to The Company so she gave us some of her embryos that we planted on surrogates."

"I'm an a freak!" Elle said happily. Did she even know what that meant? The Company created her. They molded her the way they wanted her to look and fight. "My mom was the perfect hunter, but I never knew her. She's around 25 now. My master trained her, which is the only reason she's training me. She hardly takes in any students anymore."

"What time it?" Ezekiel asked. The clock over the mantle read 9:43. It's only been more than three hours since I last checked it.

"It's about to be ten. . ." Elle said. "The old lady won't happy that I stayed this late!" she stormed out of the room.

"I never know if all that energy comes from being bred, or if she's just always hyper," Nathan said shaking his head slowly. "I'm going to head to bed. My room is adjoined to yours through the bathroom." he said walking out of the room. So thats why there was three doors in the bathroom. One for my room, one for his, and one that I guessed led to the toilet.

It was only me and Ezekiel in the room. We didn't say anything. He just stood by the door. I pulled the covers over me. I wasn't sleepy though. If only I hadn't slept though the whole day. I laid on my side looking at Ezekiel.

"Don't you have to go too?" I asked. Both Elle and Nathan left, so why was he still here?

"Cause you're sleeping on my bed," he said his bad attitude returning. What! I woke up and he wasn't even here.

"I don't think so," I said. How could it be his room. The bathroom had a bath! And he had the bubble powder! It wasn't open but still he had it!

"This is my bed and my room. Arthur made me move while you stay here because according to him it's my fault you were hurt because I was in charge of the squad and I let it happen." He scowled. So he didn't like me because I took his room? "Now I have to take care of you till you leave, so get better," he spat.

There was a knock on the door. Ezekiel turned towards toward it. A man came in. He looked to be in his late forties and had a bald head. He had a kind face.

"Hello, Eliana, Arthur told me." he said. He was carrying a case with a red cross on it. "My name is Medic," I slapped my self mentally. So thats who everyone was talking about.

"Call me Eli," I said politely. "Is Medic your real name?"

"No but everyone just calls me Medic." he said as he came over to me. Ezekiel stood by the door. Was he going to stand there all night?

"Whats your real name?" I asked.

"Horace," he said. No wonder everyone called him Medic.

"Medic it is then," I said. He laughed as he sat on the bed next to me.

"Now, I'm here to remove your casts." he said. Really that quickly! I smiled. Elle wouldn't have to help me take showers anymore. He opened his small case and pulled out huge scissors. Ezekiel came closer to the bed, probably to get a closer look at my pain. "I have some good news and some bad news. If your cuts are scabbed then I won't put another cast. But the bad news is, the morphine is probably wearing off by now so you're going to feel this,"

Ezekiel smiled. I could tell he was going to enjoy this. Medic put the scissors in a small gap in the cast. He then began to cut. This part didn't hurt, or maybe the morphine hadn't worn out yet. When he removed the cast there was a bandage around my hand. The bandage was soaked in blood. He left it and removed the other cast.

Slowly he unwrapped the bandages, this part was when it started to hurt. With each layer he removed the pain would increase. When there was only one last layer he quickly pulled it off. I cried out. I didn't expect the sudden pain. On my left hand there was a huge gash on my palm. There was a small scab around my wrist.

"Everything looks good on this hand. I think you won't need the cast anymore." I smiled over the pain. He then rubbed a light blue goo on my hand. "This is a special ointment we invented here at Ouroboros Manor. It helps the scabs heal faster and prevent scaring. I like to call it Medic's Magic!" he laughed. I would have laughed with him if the pain from the ointment didn't hurt as much. It stung as though he were spraying alcohol over it.

When he was done he wrapped a fresh bandage over my hand. He did the same thing to my other had. My hands burned when he moved onto my knees and ankle. He put some of the ointment on my knees and rebandaged it. He removed my cast on my ankle and did the same. This time he recast it.

"I don't think your ankle is that far along. Besides it's the part of your body you move the most." he explained when I asked why he recast it. He then changed the bandage on my head. He used his ointment on it too. When he was done, all my wounds stung.

"A lot of people are allergic to my ointment so I'll give you some benadryl to help prevent it." he said. He dug in his case and pulled out a syringe. "Don't worry, this one only hurts when the needle goes in." he said. He filled the syringe with a clear liquid, then looked at my arm for a vein. I tensed when I saw him go near my arm with the syringe. "Hey Ez, could you distract her for me?"

"How?" Ezekiel asked. Ezekiel had a nickname?

"Just talk to her," Medic said. I pulled away when the needle came close to my skin.

"Hey Eli, right?" I didn't turn to him. I was too distracted by the huge needle about to go into my arm. "Eli!" he shouted trying to get my attention. I moved away from the needle again.

"Ez, I can't lose the vein!" Medic said. I felt bad for making him struggle, but he wasn't going to stick me with anything!

"Eli, I love you!" What did he say?!

"What!" I said. I felt a small prick on my arm. Medic shoved the liquid in less than a second and pulled out the needle. He was right, I didn't even feel it!

Medic put the used syringe in a small container that had a biohazard sign on it. I saw these needle when I went with my sister to the hospitals. It was where all the used needles were put to prevent anyone form using them again.

"Benadryl will make you sleepy very quickly," Medic warned. He cleaned his hands on a sanitizer he had in his case. When he was done he put it back and stood up. "So just stay in bed. I have to go now, some of my other patients are crying for morphine, but I was taught not give too much. That stuff's addicting. I'll just have to give them some placebos. Goodnight, Eliana, Ez," he said nodding to each of us. He left the room.

Wow, he wasn't kidding. I felt as though I was falling through clouds, but my eyes were still open. I moved around the bed into a comfortable position. I felt my eyes heavy. I was so relaxed I didn't even fight it when my eyes closed.

"Hey Eli, about what I said," I heard Ezekiel. He was still here? Who cares, I'll be asleep pretty soon anyway.

"hum," I was all that came out of my mouth.

"You know I said I loved you so you would stop moving right?" Why wouldn't he just shut up? I should just pretend to sleep and maybe he'll shut up. I miss Leon. What was he doing right now? I imagined him getting ready for bed, if vampires slept at all. "You know didn't mean. ." his voice drifted off.

"Ha um," I said sleepily. At least it was some kind of response right? What would Leon say if he saw me all drugged up? I wanted to see him. Why did he make me feel the way I did. Why did I have to crush on they guy who wanted to kill me, maybe.

"I love you. .?. ."

"Yeah, I love you too," I mumbled before drifting off to sleep.

_______________________________________________________________________

I woke up the next morning, refreshed laying on my side. The balcony doors were open, and the cold air came in from outside. It was cold, but I felt warm, even with only a satin sheet covering me. I didn't want to move, if I did the warmth would go away. Or at least thats what I thought. I also didn't want to move because I knew my would hurt. Wondering what time it was, I though if it was early I could go back to sleep. Slowly I closed my eyes. As soon they closed the door slammed open.

"Did I wake you?" Elle said in her usual cheery voice. She was wearing the same exact thing as yesterday.

"No," I said. I didn't want to get up.

"So thats where Ez is!" Elle said putting her arms angerily at her sides.

"Huh?" I turned on the bed to discover the source of the warmth. Ezekiel was laying next to me, his arm draped around me. I jumped out of bed and took a few steps back next to Elle. I ignored the pain on my ankle. Why the hell was he with me on the bed!? Ezekiel took a deep breath and shifted on the bed, still sleeping. He was wearing the same thing he was yesterday.

"What a fuck up, I'm doing his chores cause nobody could find him!" Elle complained. I looked at her oddly. Are kids supposed to cuss? She was only ten, right? "Oh, he'll pay," she said. She walked to the door on the right and opened it. It turned out to be a walkin closet. Inside, there were men's clothes. I guess Ezekiel wasn't lying. He had a lot of duplicates of the green jacket. Elle grabbed a random hanger and pulled off the shirt on it. Carelessly she dropped the shirt on the floor.

Elle slowly crept next to the bed. When she was right next to the bed she brought the hanger over her head. A smile slowly form on her little lips. She brought the hanger down hard on Ezekiel's back. The hanger broke on his back from the force. His scream broke the silence that the place had. It echoed off the walls and escaped through windows.

"WHAT THE HELL!!" Ezekiel yelled trying to rub the spot where Elle hit him. I felt bad for him, a blow like that could kill a small animal.

"Thats what you get for slacking off! Lover boy!" she yelled back at him. Immediately, Nathan entered from the bathroom, wearing only boxers. He was carrying what looked like a shotgun.

"What going on?!" he yelled cocking the forend ready to shoot. I wasn't looking at the gun buy his body. Argh, I feel like a pervert. But if you were here you wouldn't be able to look anything else either. He had a full abs that looked hard like rocks. He had every single muscle you could think of in perfect shape.

"This asshole didn't get up this morning to bring Eli her breakfast!" She said pointing what was left of the hanger accusingly. "Now I have to skip lunch and to come all the way up here to take care of Eli! My job is to help her with girl stuff!" she said. Nathan exhaled. He brought the gun down and put the safety. I don't think he noticed I was staring.

"What's happened?" Arthur said coming in from the door. Elle restated the last sentence.

"Eli go eat lunch. Ez, can take over for now," Arthur instructed. Elle huffed and left. At the door she turned to me and smiled.

"I'll see you later, Eli!" she said cheerfully again. All traces of her former anger were gone. Elle skipped out of the room.

"I swear that girl has problems," Nathan mumbled.

"Problems? She's fucking insane!" Ezekiel said trying to unsuccessfully rub his back. Looks like Elle chose just the right spot to hit him, where it was just out of arms reach.

"Good job on staying alert Nathan," Arthur congratulated. "Ezekiel, for your neglect of your duties, you'll take care of Eliana and do whatever she demands." Nathan put his head on his hands and growled. "Anymore disobedience, and you'll be Eleanor's babysitter," Arthur said with authority. He let the room rubbing his temple.

"Are you hungry Eli?" Nathan asked. He had the shotgun at his side.

"Yeah," I responded. When was the last time I ate? I didn't eat anything yesterday, the day before I was to emo to eat lunch at school. I had a piece of toast on the way to school two days ago. Just thinking about it made me hungry.

"Ez will take you. I'll meet with you over there. I have to take a shower first," he said turning into the bathroom. I forgot the rooms were connected through the bathroom. It was only me and Ezekiel again. There was an awkward silence.

"Ezekiel can you,"

"Ez,"

"What?" I didn't hear him because he talked when I did.

"Call me Ez, Ezekiel is too long," he said. He liked Ez kinda like I preferred Eli to Eliana.

"okay, but can you take me to go eat. I'm starving," I said. For the first time since I met him, he smiled.

"Yeah but wait here." He walked to the door and grabbed something just outside the door. "Medic recommended it. He said your ankle was worse than he thought. He doesn't want you to move your ankle at all." He came in with a wheel chair.

"I can walk," I said. Even as I said that my ankle sent a knew jolt of pain. I wasn't about to be pushed around by someone. I didn't need anybody to help me get around.

"Are you going to get in it willingly or am I going to use force." he warned. I sighed and sat on the chair. It was nice and plushy. Ez grabbed my injured ankle gently and placed it on the foot plate. "Lets go get some food!"

_______________________________________________________________________

Ouroboros Manor was beautiful. Ez told me it was one of the oldest buildings on the west coast. The building had a mix of Elizabethan and Jacobean architecture, Ez told me, I didn't wasn't even sure what that meant but I knew it was beautiful.

As Ez pushed me around the, seemingly endless corridors, I noticed everyone kept looking at me oddly. I also noticed that there were no girls here. . .

We arrived at two huge double doors. He stopped right before, and opened them for me. He then pushed me inside. There were four rows of rectangular tables set horizontally. Each row had ten tables and each table sat ten people. At the very end there was a very long table, where the food was kept in metal trays. It was mostly empty though. I could spot some girls here and there, but there wasn't many.

"This is the grand mess hall. It's only open three times a day, during breakfast from 5:00am to 7:00am, lunch from 11:00am to 1:00pm, and dinner from 6:00pm to 8:00pm." he said. A few people stared as Ez pushed me all the way to the front.

I saw the front was similar to a buffet. There were several trays right next to each other with different foods. I saw these trays before when my dad took me to his company parties. They used boiling water that was under the tray to keep the food warm. I could already smell the food.

"There are two other smaller halls like this one that are open at all times. Just in case anyone wants a snack or something." Ez said grabbing me a small plate.

"Get me some chicken," I said as I saw some good looking BBQ. Ez grabbed the tongs and put a leg on my plate. We moved down the food table with me pointed at the food I wanted and Ez making small talk.

When my plate was a small mountain Ez put the plate on my lap. He then pushed me into the closest table. Ez grabbed the plate and put on the table. The wheelchair was just the right height so that he could just put me on the end of the table and I didn't have to get up. Ez got up and went back to the food end. He came back with a fork, knife, and some napkins.

"So how do you live here?" I asked looking at the people around me. Most of them were young, a few of the older ones, like Nathan, had sad eyes.

"It's not very hard. Those who come here when they're still in school are taught here. We're allowed to leave the grounds every weekend. Seventeen year-olds like me can leave whenever we want, as long as we come back a night. The Company basically pays us to be here and we pay no rent," he said.

"Like a boarding school?" I asked. My cousin went to a boarding school for the last years of middle school. She came back a snob.

"Pretty much, but free." Ez commented stressing the 'free'. I laughed, everyone's a cheapskate. I tried to pick up a fork but every time I would bend my and it would hurt. I guess the scabs weren't fully healed yet.

"Here, let me help," Ez said, seeing me struggle. He took the fork and stuck it on my plate. He dipped it in the macaroni and brought it close to my lips. I was hesitant at first but if it was the only way to eat pain free, then I guess it would have to do.

Each time he would feed me he would get closer. For some reason my cheeks started to burn. He kept feeding me until I finished the macaroni, the chicken, the parts of the spaghetti, the pizza slice, most of the pork chops and the salad.

Hey I said it was a small mountain and I haven't eaten in two days!

"Thank you," I mumbled embarrassed.

"Your welcome." He said. He looked up at me and laughed.

"What?" I smiled.

"You have something right here," he said pointing his finger right next to his lips. He reached to get a napkin.

"I got it!" I said quickly. I rubbed the back of my arm against my mouth. It was very unladylike buy it was weird with him so close to me. We stayed silent.

"Was it just me, or was that a little awkward?" he asked.

"You felt it too!?" I said. Why was it awkward though?

"Eli!!" I heard a child's voice. I turned to see Elle running down the hall. Behind her was a giant leopard. I wasn't kidding. "The old lady barely let me out till now," Elle said. She sat on the opposite of Ez. The lion came and sat on the floor between me and Elle. "Cool, they gave you a wheelchair. There's a nice hill just outside the grounds it's awesome," she said. I wasn't really paying attention to her.

"Wh- Wha- What the hell is that?" I said pointing a shaky finger at the tiger. Elle followed my finger with her eyes while Ez had to look under the table.

"Oh, I forgot." Elle patted her lap. The cougar obediently pounced on her lap. "This is Luxuria."

"She's a Savannah cat," Ez said boredly fixing his dark hair.

"She's a hybrid cat, mixed from a serval and a normal cat, but she's perfectly legal!" Elle petted Luxuria's head. The cat lifted it's head in enjoyment.

"But she's huge!" I exclaimed.

"She's a bit smaller than a Labrador," Ez said as though it were nothing. I guess I was over exaggerating. Luxuria was the size of a dog. The end of her mouth was white, with a pink little nose. Her fur was a soft golden color. She spots all over her body, similar to a cheetah. Thats what she looked like! A miniature cheetah!

"Can I pet her?" I asked. Elle nodded her head excitedly. I pet Luxuria with the tips of my fingers. Luxuria purred. Just then a voice came from the loudspeaker.

The mess hall will be closing in five minutes. Please report to your classes or masters.

"Ugh," Elle sighed. "I have to go, come Luxuria!" she said as she ran out of the mess hall before everyone else crowded the room. Luxuria followed closely behind her.

"Don't you have classes?" I asked turning to Ez.

"Nope, I'm a prodigy," Ez said proudly. I laughed. We stayed in our spot until everyone had left.

"So what now?" I asked.

"Arthur told me Artemis, the manor leader, wanted to see you,"