I almost choke at the stench of the cloth draped over my face, I panic when I realize I'm blindfolded. The jolting of my body and the piercing sound of an engine made me conclude that I was being kidnapped in some kind of a car.

Voices -faint at first- start speaking, I chose to stay as limp as possible not wanting to get caught eavesdropping.

"This year's batch is rather lame." A familiar voice complained, "seems like we'll be training idiots for the next three years."

"Except the one who broke your nose, eh?" An older voice taunts. "That one's got some fight in her."

"Being impulsive," a colder voice cut in, "is the reason half of those who face them leeches, end up dead." I freeze when the eerie feeling of a stare leaves me unsettled.

"We're here!" A loud voice boomed as the vehicle -I remembered someone mentioning a truck- halted abruptly.

I heard the door slam open, a freezing cold breeze making its way through the space. There was the faint aroma of wet earth and I couldn't help imagine a lush green forest...

I gasped, sitting up abruptly when ice cold water splashed over me. By the screams and cries I heard, I think all the others had been subjected to the same.

The cloth wrapped over my mouth was ripped off rather harshly before I was dumped onto the ground, the blindfold was taken off soon after. I squinted, trying to blink out the blur in my vision. I shivered as the breeze picked up, the fact that I was drenched making me shiver terribly.

"Alright!" A man who looked like he was in his twenties shouted, his voice echoing, "Newbies shall be divided into squads later today. Take them to the Roost."

"Get up you pack of slaws!" The cold voiced guy spoke up.

I couldn't help but stare at the place we were in. It looked like we were inside a cave, but seemed to be infested with trees...

"I'd suggest you get up unless you want your ass whipped." A guy tells me, lending his hand. I take it, trying to stand up when he pulls away, causing me to tumble back to the rocky ground. "Lesson one, learn to help yourself."

I scowl at his back, standing up gingerly, rushing to follow the dozen of teens that had been brought along with me. My heart thrummed loudly, as we entered a dark corridor, I could hear everyone scuffling around, their breathing, their scent filled my nostrils, teasing me. Someone brushed past me in the dark making me flinch, scratching myself against the cave wall. I brush the minor skin wound off, knowing that I had more pressing issues to fret about...

Like how I was going to restrain myself from lunging at anyone in front of me.

We stepped out into a larger lair than before, it was lit up with lights, so much so that it didn't feel like we were underground.

"This way." The boy who'd tricked me called, leading us higher up. As we climbed, the scents I smelled reduced, but the thirst didn't.

How am I supposed to feed when I'm in the midst of people who strive to kill my kind?

"You've been allotted your rooms," He says, as we reach some kind of a platform. "Check the board."

He's gone before we can say anything else. The room is filled with a soft murmur as we trudge around, finding our names and the rooms. A blonde girl smiles at me as I enter my room, I mentally wince. A roommate is something I'd never wanted, even more so now that I was thirsting and her scent was that of cream and shea butter...

Quite alluring...

I snap out of my daze, digging my nails into my palm to help distract me from her presence.

"Guess we're roomies." She grins. Thank you, miss obvious. "What do you think we're going to do next?"

I don't understand why she's so excited about the whole ordeal...

"Not much of a talker, are you?"

I stare at her blankly.

Not when I know that if I open my mouth, I'm going to end up sinking my teeth into your flesh and then be killed by the people I'm currently surrounded by.

I shrug.

I gasp slightly as a shrieking alarm burns my ears, "What?!..."

"That's the training call!" She exclaims excitedly, running out before I could ask her what that meant.

I drag myself behind the crowd now walking towards the supposed 'training ground'.

"You really are dumb logs we'd to haul here, aren't you?" The boy from before mocked. "You're five minutes twenty-three seconds late. All of you. That's a new record."

"Enough with the delay, Theodore." The cold-voiced guy from before walked up to him, glaring at each one of us as if we were making his life miserable by merely breathing. Speaking of which, I'm trying to keep my erratic breathing under control as a number of scents hit me hard.

If I stay here for longer, I'm going to turn insane or end up feeding on someone; either way, it means I'd be dead by the end of the day.

"Let's start with the riffraff then." Theodore shrugs, making the guy beside him glare heatedly. "I'm Theodore, Head Guardian. I could spend the next five minutes telling you who I am, but we don't have time for that.

"You will be here every day for the rest of your training. As a Guardian, it's your job to kill any and all vampires." He announces.

That earned a few gasps from a few people making him smirk, "Yes, there are vampires still among us. They mock humanity, and kill us." I looked around at everyone's faces. Shocked and disgusted.

Do you ever get that feeling where you really want to hit someone? That's how I felt right now towards Theodore.

Mock humanity? How about I give you an example right now?

I seethe mentally as he goes on to announcing basic rules before leading us away from the place we'd assembled. I was hoping we'd be sent back to our rooms and maybe then I'd be able to think of something about my thirst...

I gape at the training grounds Theodore had brought us to. A few other guardians stood beside the rails that looked over the massive obstacle course. I felt weak and crazed when he said we had to complete the course to get a night's rest.

A boy stepped up ahead, volunteering to plunge into what I thought as a death-trap. He climbed down and we were stared down into following. He was pushed onto the course, catching him off-guard, he stumbled the first few steps before regaining his footing, he swung through the course as if he'd done it a few times before.

It struck me when the blonde girl a.k.a my roommate went next, these were the children of Guardians...

This wasn't fair! They had an advantage over us just because of the family they were born in... And I had an extreme disadvantage considering that I was starving...

I ended up last on the course and I don't remember anything that I did except for some taunts and laughs that I'd heard every time I'd failed. Theodore told me that I'd done the worst among my group. Lemon in the wound.

Since everyone one had left after they'd finished the course, and Theodore was too impatient to wait till I finished mine, I was dismissed without much effort. I was dragging my aching body up to my room when I sniffed the air like a dog would.

I smelt spilled blood.

I was so desperate to feed by then, I blindly ran to the source, sniffing my way to it like a primitive animal. I swallowed loudly when I found my prize: a fresh slice of steak.

I returned to my room feeling rather content, even more so relieved when I saw that the blonde girl had fallen asleep already.

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Hey everyone!

Shruti: The book's reached 52 in #vampire!!! *dances around joyfully* Thanks for your love and support!! <3

Bri: Let's get this story rolling! Thanks for reading.

Shruti: *cartwheeling around the room* Oh, btw slaws is a slang :D

ext-decoRa^