Hot blood started to pulse through me. I felt fear and anger. The new side of me was ready... ready to fight.

I flashed my fangs and looked at Clark. "I don't think this dog would taste very good. C'mon Clark, I expected good stuff." Cocky and darling, everything I'm not. Vampire or not, why am I doing this?

"Oh, I'd love you if you were dead with your head on my wall...next to the other fangers that I kill." Viktor's voice was gruff. We could all hear him restraining himself in his voice. His eyes were dead locked on me.

"Enough," Kai stepped between us but Viktor didn't even place an concern on him.

"Watch out," Viktor snarled, "I can kill you too pretty boy. You baby shits aren't even half the energy to kill a bad vamp. Let me fact check this."

"Viktor leave." Clark seemed annoyed, yet protective.

Viktor glared at me. "Sure, the bitch isn't even-."

I walked around Kai and prepared for an attack. "Fuck you, you pile and dog shit. You smell god awful now that I think of it. Roll in the shit you talk?"

"You brats are all the same. I'd hate to see from what whore you came from."

I dashed forward, inches of him. Glaring with a flared nose and sharpened eyes. "Enough of the talk bitch mutt you gotta set or do you wanna keep crying like a puss? Go ahead mutt, touch me-."

"Get away from me." He shoved me back and I immediately took it as aggression. I grabbed his wrist and my claws shot out and stabbed into the man's thick wrist, drawing blood. "Fucker!"

He jerked his hand back and swiped at me with his other and I dodged. I let go of his wrist and sprang up with enough force and impossible speed to completely tackle him.

I stared into his eyes as he struggled under me. "Enough of the bullshit, how strong are you really?" I felt his heart beat under me and its pulse made me thirsty. "I wonder what you taste like..."

"Case!" Soren snarled moving across the room. He came from behind and nailed down Viktor's right arm, knocking what was in his hand away from him.

"That wasn't necessary Vik," Clark hissed approaching us. "You had all the time to leave."

"Get them off," Viktor hissed as he grabbed my shoulder. He used all force to rip me off of him and once I lost my ground, Soren lept back. Viktor rushed up and glared at me. "The damn thing bit me!"

I froze. Blood. There was only a slight dash that colored my lips. Scary, I never bit him. No, I did...but it...was instinctual.

I watched Viktor saunter toward Clark and the only thing I could focus on was the blood dripping from his wrist. The blood that dripped to the floor smelled rancid and it tasted like sour cheese. Bitter and awful as it was I taunted Viktor. "This taste, seems like it'd go good with some fava beans."

Soren and Kai stood protectively in front of me and Soren snickered at my comment. "It seems like you've overstepped," Kai growled. "I ask that you never do what you did again."

Viktor glared at Kai and smiled before vanishing into the air as a puff of smoke.

"I hate that bastard," Clark growled. "Hold tight Fledglings, your bounty is by the chicken. I'll be back." Clark huffed before leaving the room back from where we came. Well after he was gone, aided by the enhanced hearing bit, we spoke.

"That was bad ass," Soren snickered turning to me. "Like hella bad ass!"

"Guy's a criminal, he's not a vampire nor human," Kai stared at where Viktor was. "I wonder what he is? You don't suppose werewolves exist too?"

I shook my head. "I don't remember Taylor going poof and just gone. I say he's a wizard...like a pissed off angry version of the headmaster."

"Viktor," Kai mumbled.

"Hum? Yes...yes," Soren stroked a non existent beard, "ah! You're a wizard Vik!"

I snickered. "Cheaper version of the dark lord."

"Where's the chicken?" Kai growled breaking up our banter. "I don't smell any blood."

"What do you mean?" I laughed. "You don't smell that?" Kai looked at me along with Soren. With Viktor's stench put aside, I could smell a strong scent of copper coming from somewhere. It had to be blood. No way people toss pennies into secret areas.

I walked around a little and paused once it's direction became clear. "It's right there." Ahead at the end of the room, there was a chicken statue and somewhere behind it...a fake wall, there was a stronger scent of blood now.

I crossed the room and made it to the strange stone statue and observed the bookshelves around it. With a push towards the one on the left, the shelf swung out and revealed a passage way going down. It wasn't lit at all and seemed like a dark tunnel until I kept looking and everything there seemed to straighten and focus. I could see short wooden steps and even crevasses of the stone wall.

"Woa, now I can smell it." Soren and Kai followed behind me as I quickly descended. The smell of the blood was sweet like the scent vanilla dancing in the air.

When I made it to the bottom, I was faced with the blood version of a wine cellar. For about there were rows of long wine bottles sitting on shelves. Amazed, I chased the scent of the sweetest smelling blood to the second to last row. To me, the bottle that smelled the best came from one at the very end. I pulled it from its rack as Soren made it down.

"Score!" Soren shouted and his fangs visibly shown. I touched my teeth to see if I looked as...strange as him. Mine weren't showing.

"An entire cellar?" Kai gasped. "This has to be off limits."

"Next to the statue, far game." Soren snatched a bottle from the shelf on the row I was on. He tore off its top viciously. He cast me a glance as he looked at Kai. "If you wanna go thirsty then head back up. Me and Casey can clear this up by ourselves thank you."

Kai flinched, and his fangs shown for a moment. I watched the two carefully as I fumbled my bottle.

Kai approached a bottle on the rack. "Look stop tryin' to separate me out. I'm like you and her."

"Oh?" Soren took a swig of the bottle and moaned. He laughed as he downed more of the red liquid. "Look, not my fault you seem like to goody goody. How were you turned? I feel like you were doing some errands for someone and got chowed on by a vamp."

Kai took a bottle off the rack and growled lowly. "Leave me alone. It should be private of how I was... turned. How were you killed, huh? Were you beating on a kid and taking the money?"

I grasped my bottle tightly as I looked at Soren. "H-."

"Fuck off, for all I know you could be one of their dogs." Soren continued to drink.

"With ALL you know you don't compare to a dog."

"Fuck off." Soren snarled at Kai and his nails started to grow into claws.

"You started this may I remind. I'd be glad if you walked into sunlight."

"Shove off you kiss ass wannabe!" Soren finished his bottle and pointed to Kai with it. "Your kind- people like you die a lot faster."

I looked down at my bottle and set it back on the rack. "Kai?" Kai looked at me and saw how I put the bottle back. "Soren how did the bottled blood taste?"

Soren looked at me and his anger vanished. "Um...blood? Like...blood? It didn't taste bad. Why did you put the bottle back?"

I looked at the bottle and then Soren. "It's not blood...I mean it smells like it but it's...not. It smells...too sweet and... concentrated."

Kai shifted, "like it's synthetic?"

I nodded as I looked back to the stairway. "Don't trust any of them," I hissed as I turned to go back upstairs. I ascended and heard Clark's voice mumbling to someone.

When I made it to the top I came face to face with Clark. "What type of shit was that?"

Clark smiled as he saw me. "Yay! So how was your first-."

"Blood from a human." I glared at Clark. "That's what we need not watered-down lemonade."

The other person with Clark eyed me with curiosity. The woman was fairly young, or looked it, as she had shoulder length curly red hair pulled back with a green clamp. She wore a blue blouse with ruffled sleeves and simple black jeans. Her shoes caught my attention, name brand Nigel Keaton priced at about one fifty...all black too that's an extra twenty.

"Listen, that blood down there is easy to replicate and is simple to add flavor too. It's what you may resort to in dire situation." Clark looked only half awake.

"Am I in one? Am I in fear from some mystical crap? No, I'm not. I want blood...from a human."

"No humans here missy," the woman spoke with a thick Irish accent. "There's all we got."

"Then I refuse to eat anything."

The red haired woman smiled as she raised her hand to me. "My name's Vera."

I met eyes with Vera and took her hand. When I touched her a shock went through me and I focused in on her wrist- she's strange...there's blood in her.

"Too bad for you, your friends seemed to love the Sanguis de Esper. You're an outlier."

I dropped my handshake with Vera and looked back to the hidden bookcase passage. "I want to leave," I hissed. "When can we leave. I can't not be home; my mother needs me."

Clark's snarky attitude faded. "You're playing for the vamp team now. Then, you're a new blood so blood- sight or scent will trigger a... vicious hunger. You can't go back or anywhere unless you learn to-."

I growled, "that's bullshit!" I could feel myself tearing up. "Bull- that's...No!" I turned away and felt my heart beat faster. "I-I," I took deep breaths.

My hand dropped, and I bit my lip. I fought back the depressing thoughts of never seeing home again and stared at the chicken statue.

"Well little one, no go on that front." Clark shifted slightly, "best make it a long distance relationship."

"Shut your filthy mouth you-," my voice went dark and raspy and evil. I turned back to Clark and Vera. "I'm done here."

"Casey?" Soren was at the mouth of the stairway.

My head snapped toward him. "Fuck off you traitor!"