The Blister Exists.

The nurse who examined me, took my vitals, checked my temperature, and helped my wash myself and dress, was also less than chatty. “So, where are my things?” I asked her as I pulled a large black t-shirt over my head. It was long enough to be a dress. Then again, I was only 5'1'' and about 115 lbs, so a large men's t-shirt wasn't going to exactly fit. I didn't mind though. I only had a pair of gym shorts to wear with it. I was lucky they had a draw string.

“They had to be disposed of.” She said almost as though she were a programed robot. “Come now, it's best not to keep them waiting.”

“Them?” I asked already knowing the answer. She didn't answer me. She only looked at me with an irritated expression. My face hurt from the grin I was wearing. Other than being attacked, and almost dying, I was living every fangirl's dream at the moment. Meeting Slipknot.

She took my arm and led me out into the hallway. I was still attached to the IV, so I couldn't walk to far ahead of her. Not to mention, I had no idea where I was going. “Here.” She stopped infront of a door and pressed a button so they'd open.

“Of course there'd be an elevator.” I meant to only think that, but since she wasn't exactly acting like a person, I didn't bother to look at her expression.

When the doors opened again, we walked out into a huge room that resembled a hotel lobby. I looked up and saw a huge crystal chandelier with candle stick lights holding manufactured flames. “Come.” The nurse pulled at me nearly causing me to fall. We walked to the other end of the room when we reached a doorway into a smaller lounge area furnished with a wrap around couch, a fireplace, and a smaller version of the chandelier I was so fixed on before.

As we stepped in, nine men stood up in unison. I needed no introduction, I'd have to be living under a rock not to know who they were. Shawn Crahan, Paul Gray, Sid Wilson, Chris Fehn, Jim Root, Craig Jones, Mick Thompson, Joey Jordison, and of course, Corey Taylor.

The nurse was dismissed, and I was left standing there completely star stuck. I didn't know what to do, so I curtsied. The men took their seats again, except for Joey. He walked over to me and lifted my chin with his hand and looked into my eyes as though he was searching for something.

“Have a seat, Connie” Shawn said patting the open seat between him and Paul. I nodded and pushed my IV stand with me, and took my seat.
“So. What the fuck?” I asked looking to Corey.

At first, he said nothing. He didn't even look at me. I could tell though, that he was looking for the right words to say. I knew whatever it was he was going to tell me, was delicate.

“Rip it off like a band-aid, man.” Sid said pantomiming the action.

Corey did not look amused, but he took a breath and looked at me. “Constance. I need you to keep an open mind.”

I nodded.

“No, you don't understand. This isn't something.. this isn't something you're prepared for.” He said standing up and turning his back to me.

“Well, how do you know that? Just say it already, shit.” I might have been a huge fan, but I was starting to snap out of the fangirl mentality and was growing worried. Worried was a more appropriate reaction considering what I had been through.

He turned back towards me and with great speed and strength he flipped the coffee table and bent down with his nose nearly touching mine. His eyes were more gray than blue. He put his hand on the back of neck as if he were holding me there. I didn't know why, I wasn't planning on leaving yet. He opened his mouth and growled as his canines grew. I now understood why he had to hold me in place. I yelped and tried to wriggle away. I had no idea what I was supposed to make of this.

His grip grew tighter and I heard a voice behind me. It was Joey. “Back off, Corey. Give her a second to deal!” He demanded. Corey let go and backed off as he was instructed.

“I-I-I umm.. what?!” I couldn't piece a full sentence together.

“It's exactly what it looks like.” Sid said confirming that I wasn't crazy.

“Are you scared?” Paul asked. I nodded. “Don't be.” He placed his hand on my shaking legs in an attempt to calm me down.

I sat for a minute in silence before looking sporadically around the room. “Where are the cameras?” I asked laughing thinking I had figured it out.

“Cameras?” Sid questioned looking at Corey.

“This is not a TV show, Constance.” Corey grunted.

“Bull shit. Who set me up?” I was in denial.

“Who would go through this amount of trouble just to play a joke on.. you!?” Corey replied impatient.

I realized he was right. And the scar on my belly was very real. So, again I sat in silence. After a few moments I turned my attention back to Corey. “So, what does this mean for me?”

“The guy who attacked you. He's also a vampire. However, he's not of our clan. We first noticed him at our show last month. After wards, Paul and Chris followed him to see what he was doing, but he gave them the slip.” Joey began to explain.

“In our defense, we hadn't eaten in a few nights.” Chris chimed in.

“Anyway, once we caught up to him, he was.. well, he was drinking you like a bottle of water in the desert.” Paul continued.

I put my hand over my scar and traced it down. The memories were a tad foggy, but they were beginning to come back to me. “Why didn't you guys finish me off?” I asked hesitantly.

“We don't eat human.” Corey replied with a small grin.

“What he means is, we've been on an all animal diet since '96. Mostly chicken, and small mammals. It isn't as good, takes more to quench our thirst, and leaves us a tad weaker than human, but it gets the job done.” Sid explained.

“Wait, you said last month” I turned to Joey “have I been here an entire month?!”

“Don't sound so ungrateful.” Corey's grin faded.

“I'm not, I mean, I'm sorry. I'm just, ya'know, shocked.” I apologized.

“You're fine, don't apologize. He's just cranky because he hasn't eaten in three days.” Craig sneered.

“Hold on. If you're all 'vampires' How the hell do you play festivals during the day?” I asked.

Corey rolled his eyes and let out an exhausted sigh. “I suppose you think garlic hurts us, crosses and holy water burn us, we have no reflection, and we turn into little bats and fly away?”

“Do you?” I honestly didn't know.

“N-no, we don't. The only thing Hollywood really got right was staking us through the heart.” Joey said. “The sun only weakens us. If we stay in the sun for too long, we run the risk of blacking out, which for a vampire, is a very bad thing. Especially for those like us. If we were to black out, we'd go on a frenzy. Every human in sight would be like a buffet for us. The blood lust would be too much for us to hold back.”

“I see.” I replied as I scratched at the area the IV was entering. “So, why are you telling me this? Aren't you afraid of me telling you're secrets?”

“Constance. When we found you, you were nearly dead. We couldn't leave you there, and the blood lust for us was beginning to be too much..” Paul confessed.

“We didn't really have any other choice..” Chris said.

“You could have disposed of her.” Corey muttered under his breath but still loud enough for me to hear.

I looked back to Paul. “What are you saying?” I already knew the answer but had to have it confirmed.

“We turned you.” He answered looking down.

“Wait, if the other vampire dude bit me first, didn't he turn me?” I asked scratching at the IV more.

“No. See, if a vampire bites you, essentially nothing happens. We'd have to feed you some of our blood as well as release a sort of venom into you. The venom alone would kill you. But mixed with our own blood, the reaction would.. change you.” Shawn explained.

“Constance, this is not a game. This is not a TV show, and this is not a fucking nightmare. This is reality. Your reality.” Corey's voice was harsh and stern.

Shawn noticed I was scratching at the IV more and held my arm out extended in front of him. I only watched. “It looks like you're body is taking the blood well. You should be able to drink it, meaning we can remove the IV.” He observed.

“Sid, can you please fetch the nurse and have her take Constance back to her room so she can prepare for a feeding.” Corey directed. He then looked to Shawn who appeared to be drooling a little. “Shawn, forget it.”

I pulled my arm back. “What's going on?” I asked Corey but kept my gaze on Shawn.

“You're being fed human blood through the IV. However, now that your body is strong enough, you're going to need to ingest it.. orally.” He answered.

“This is somebody's blood?!” I jumped up.

“Calm down. It's from a blood bank we hit up just after you came to us.” Craig responded.

It wasn't long before the pudgy nurse made her way back into the room. She took my arm again and led me out. I looked back to the guys before allowing her to completely take me away.