After the events of the night, Francesca tucked me up in my hospital bed and told to go to sleep. I didn't like the babying shit, but after being shot, I didn't have the strength to protest.

I had gone along with it and allowed Francesca to fuss over me, even though, deep down I hated her and Magda for ruining my life.

I had no long-term plans to stay with her and Magda. They could find some other daughter to play happy families with.

But for the short-term, I would need to stick with them until I had the opportunity to recalibrate and figure out what the hell I was.

I was a great believer in knowing how and when to pick your battles - and this battle with my new vampire parents would have to wait.

After Francesca had tucked me up in bed, I fell into a deep sleep where I had a disturbing dream.

I was in a laboratory observation room, watching a couple of scientists experimenting on dogs in metal cages. The scientists were replicating an experiment I recognised from psychology class - Seligmann's Learned Helplessness experiment.

The dogs were put in an electrified metal cage, where they could not escape. The scientists administered shocks to the animal and observed their behaviour. At first, the dogs tried to escape the electric shocks, moving from one end of the cage to the other. But as time progressed, the dogs learnt that no matter what they did, nothing could prevent them from being shocked.

I watched those dogs, silently surrender to their fate. They stopped fighting and simply lay down as the scientist continued to shock them.

I stood behind the observation glass, unable to do a thing. I wanted to help the animals in the cages, but I didn't know how.

I tried banging on the glass, but the scientists ignore me.

Eventually, the metal cages with the dogs were taken away and a new batch of test subjects were brought into the room. This time around the subjects were not animals but men chained down to hospital beds, covered in tubes and needles that were hooked up to angry looking machines.

The men were crying, begging for the scientists to help them. They ignored them and began placing electrodes on their body, preparing them for the electric shocks.

I screamed at them to stop, but they continued. In horror, I watched the men writhed and convulse as the scientists administered shock after shock.

The screaming grew and grew until the dream abruptly ended.

My eyes opened and I was sitting up upright in bed, wide awake covered in sweat. I was breathing so damn hard, I was practically gasping for air.

I pulled my knees into chest and hugged myself.

"It's a stupid dream. You're okay... you're okay," I told myself.

It took a few moments for me to fully calm myself. I'd never had a dream that was so real and vivid. I could still hear those men screaming in their beds.

Pushing back the bed sheets, I got out of bed. The room was dark and fumbled about for a light switch. The floor felt uneven, kind of like a fairground funhouse. I clung to the sides of the walls, trying to keep my balance, but something caught my foot and went crashing into the floor.

"Baby?" Francesca's voice yelled.

A door opened and Francesca switched on the light. She saw me lying on the floor in a heap and leapt to my aid.

"Oh, sweetie. You got all snagged up in your blankets."

"I'm fine," I said swatting her hands away. "Where are we?"

"We're on a boat, crossing the English channel."

"How did we get here?" I asked.

My geography wasn't great, but I had learned last night that Prague was bang smack in the middle of Europe. This meant the nearest ports were hundreds of miles away.

"The idiot who shot you last night, his name is Frank Grayson. He's an agent from the British government who was assigned to oversee and register your awakening as a vampire. After he screwed things up last night, he arranged our passage back to London."

"So, is he like James Bond or something?"

"Good lord no. That man hasn't got the sense God gave to a goose. He's only here to document you as a member of our family or coven. You see, all vampires living in the UK must be registered with the Department for Supernatural Relations. For you to live life as a vampire, you need to have the right papers."

"Kind of like a birth certificate or a social security number?"

"It's more like a green card. The government gives us permission to live and work inside of the UK, but we're not entitled to citizenship. We're considered a dangerous species and so they like to monitor our numbers. Any unregistered vampires are disposed of."

"You mean deported."

"No, I mean they are killed."

"Oh my god, they kill them!"

"Yes, sweetie, but don't go fretting. You are a fully registered vampire, so you have nothing to worry about. No slayer is coming for my baby... and if they did, then I would go Momma bear on their asses."

I didn't know if it was the motion of the boat, or what Francesca had told me, but my insides were churning like a bucket of worms. I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth and asked, "Where's the bathroom?"

Francesca led me to the bathroom and left me to spend the next ten minutes dry heaving into the toilet. Once I'd got my gag reflex back under control, I went back into the bedroom where Francesca was waiting for me with a suitcase of clothes.

With great excitement and enthusiasm, she explained to me all the fashion trends I had missed while I was in the ground. She mentioned styles like emo and prep and I tried to listen, but all I could think about was my stomach.

I let Francesca choose an outfit for me - skinny jeans and sweater. The jeans were ridiculously tight. They were more like a pair of leggings made out of denim, rather than a good old pair of straight legged levis. I had to lay flat on the bed to do the damn zipper up, but once they were on, they looked good.

I went back into the bathroom to sort out my hair and it was there I noticed something odd about my eyes.

Growing up, my family had always told me that I had the same eyes of my father. His eyes were a deep dark brown colour which gave away his Spanish ancestry. My eyes were like his, a dark intense brown that almost appeared black in the shadows... but now, as I looked in the mirror, my eyes were no longer brown. They were ice cold blue.

"Francesca!" I yelled, staring at my reflection in horror.

"What's wrong," she replied, running into the bathroom.

I pointed at the mirror and gasped, "My eyes, they're blue."

"I know, sweetie. You've got Magda's eyes."

"What do you mean I have Magda's eyes?"

"Calm down, sugar. This is perfectly natural. Vampires can pass on certain traits to their progeny. You got my speed and Magda's eye colour - and her eye colour is incredibly rare. Most vampires have very dark eyes, so you should count yourself lucky."

"Are you kidding me? I look like an Australian sheepdog."

"Aw, sweetie, you'll get used to them soon enough - and if you don't, then we can buy some coloured contacts."

She walked out of the bathroom like it was no big deal. I stood in front of the mirror and stared at the stranger looking back at me. It wasn't just my eyes that had changed, my skin had changed too. I used to have laughter lines, blemishes and a little scar above my right eyebrow from a bike accident that I had as a kid. All these imperfections were gone.

I should have been happy - I mean, who didn't want model-perfect skin? I was pretty sure that if my butt wasn't so big, I might have a shot at being a model. However, the longer I stood in front of the mirror, the more unhappy I felt.

This wasn't me. I didn't look like this...

The boat suddenly lurched forward and my stomach started doing its bucket of worms thing.

I left the bathroom and ran into Magda.

"You look green. Vampires should not look green," she remarked.

"It's the sea, it's making me sick."

"In that case, go upstairs and onto the deck. The sea air should help calm your stomach."

I nodded my head and headed up the narrow passageway, clutching my stomach.

*****

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