The darkness fades from black to grey, then back to black again. Red swirls with the black now as grey begins to predominate. Something spins fuzzily as the grey slowly begins to whiten, morphing into lights and shadows. The shadows are motionless, time seeming to freeze.

Something begins to gradually reconnect as a numb feeling settles down around me. Feathery, light wisps of nothingness are now gently tugging at my subconscious. Too soon, nothingness turns into pain as sensors reignite my body awake.

Eyes snap open, head jerking upright. Hands and arms pull against rough restraints and legs separate themselves in attempts at freedom the cognizant mind was not yet aware of. In my small reprieve from the intense pain I had endured, I had forgotten the ropes keeping me secure.

"Don't you dare defy me like that, Cecil. You know who that is?" a loud female voice reaches my ears.

My mind was slowly beginning to wake up now as my gaze settles once more upon the familiar woman. Who was she and why is it that I recognized her so well? And why on earth was she defending me as if she knew me?

My peripherals notice Cecil as he steps closer, crossing his arms as he now stands in the center of the room. "You think you can make demands like that, having just gotten here?"

"She's awake," my right ear picks up Tyler's voice as I feel him approach me.

Slowly, I turn to face Tyler as he kneels beside my chair. I don't even notice the blood until it's on his hands as he put pressure on my leg. Then I feel the pain. I grunt as my instincts force my mouth open in a silent scream, releasing air from my lungs, attempting to breathe through the pain. But sucking in another breath brought attention to my temporarily forgotten shoulder wound. The pain would not stop. I could barely think through the fog it was creating.

"Help her," the commanding female voice speaks up again.

"Why on earth would I help her? I didn't just use the blade on her so I could go back and help her!" Cecil is almost laughing as I turn my head to glare at him, as menacing as I could manage. With my pain I was having to bear I was pretty sure it looked more as if I would throw up.

"Fine. If you won't, I will." A breeze blows softly against my leg as I cherish the cold feeling it leaves on the painfully hot wound. "Here," Tyler had left and been back within seconds. I feel a slight pinch in my bicep as it creates a tingling sensation that warms first my arm then my chest as it spreads out to my leg and shoulder. I let out a deep breath, grateful the pain had lessened immensely.

"What do you think you're doing?" I register Cecil's shocked and exasperated voice but I can't, don't listen. Still, he wouldn't stop shouting.

Cecil's shouts at Tyler melt into the background as I study the woman who had been here the whole time. The woman whose appearance alone had triggered something in my memory. Now as I was able to see her fully with a much more aware mind, I notice the details. Her aging features were not enough for me to miss the connections in her graying blonde hair and pale blue eyes. She smiles at me briefly, her eyes displaying affection before turning away.

"My dear Cecil," She is still smiling as she turns to him but something changes as her voice takes on a threatening tone. "Do not dare treat me as one of your slaves!" She turns to me now, her expression showing reluctance and a hint of disappointment before turning back to Cecil. "She is my family, my great great granddaughter." She tentatively turns back to me, her proud smile fading.

A myriad of questions run through my mind as both Cecil and Tyler shout questions at her simultaneously. But one stands out from the rest: how. Yes, how?

"She," Cecil said maliciously pointing a finger at me, "is of your bloodline? That's not possible!"

"That would make you... centuries old..." I hear Tyler whisper.

"Just let her go." She continues to look at me.

"How... is any, of this possible?!" I ask.

She bends down in front of me, as I feel myself lean away from her. "I can explain later sweetie." Her hand is on my thigh in endearment but her eyes show hurt.

"How were you able to create a, a family? After everything that had happened..." Cecil seemed confused. More was going on here and I had to know what it all meant in relation to me.

"That's not of your concern. Let her go, Cecil. Now," she continued directing demands at Cecil. Her eyes began exploring mine for something, approval maybe? I was still trying to process how it was possible I could look into the eyes of my great great grandmother.

"Did you not hear me the first time? You cannot make demands here!" Behind her, Cecil was beginning to get upset again.

Pursing her lips, she stood back up and turned to face him. "We do not need to discuss this now. Nor am I asking why or how you got my family involved in your ridiculous brigade. I am asking you to let her go."

"I can't just let her out of this place..." he spoke quieter now, beginning to lose his tenacity from before.

"I'm not asking you to release her. Just let her go back to her room. Let her out of here."

"I can't do that. You know it!"

"Cecil," not being able to see her face, I could hear the firmness and threats hidden in her words. "I'm not interested in repeating myself."

Silence. No one moved and no one spoke as her and Cecil stared one another down. Finally, she broke the silence. "You and I both know there is only one way out of this. She finds out about her family history either way. She isn't just some recruit that heard too much about your past. Cecil, stop being selfish. This is my history and I can choose to share it if I want."

"Fine," Cecil took his time in answering her as he waves his hand dismissively. I look at my great great grandmother once more, a million questions swarming in my eyes. She does not turn her face towards me even as Tyler has me halfway through the exit door. Rejected, I sag into Tyler's arms as he leads me further away.

Descending the stairs, I realize my body had not fully healed when I lean completely on to Tyler for support. He holds me up, wrapping an arm around my waist. He whispers softly into my ear, "I've got you." I bite my lip to keep the tears away and look up at him, showing gratefulness in my eyes.

The walk back was silent minus the few times I made Tyler stop or slow down so I could catch my breath. An hour later, the normally 20 minute walk was over as I turned to thank him and say goodbye.

His sympathetic looks were enough to break me. I felt myself on the verge of collapse. Having been tortured, I was physically reeling from the blood loss. But apart from that, my emotional side was, for loss of a better word, screwed.

I was confused, annoyed, hurt, sad, angry, and surprised. But above all, I was mad, crazy, completely vexed that someone in my family, someone from home, had lied. And now I wasn't even with them. I was, of all places, in a vampire run prison that was training young adults, like me, to kill werewolves. The egregious idea was that somehow all of this was now a part of me. I was involved because of my family, because of who I am. Which, I had never before thought, would have anything remotely to do with any of this.

My mind wouldn't shut down. For the first time since my first night here, I struggled to fall asleep as even the tears wouldn't allow me the escape. The whole time I'd been here I only saw one end, just to get out. To escape somehow. But now I found myself wondering if I ever really could. If the reason this place existed had something to do with my family history. My own family. Did this mean I had something to do with Jasha's death? Did it intermittently have something to do with how her father died? And how did my mother or father fit into this? Was it through my mom's line or my dad's? This was exhausting. What did all of this mean?

I stuffed a pillow into my face and screamed until my lungs screamed back at me. I curled into a ball and cried until tears turned into dry coughs and hiccups. I stared out the window for eternity. Time was an endless eclipse, ticking by at an infinitely slow place, forcing me to confront my own horrific thoughts and outlandish conspiracies. Throughout my seemingly endless emotional ups and downs I found that one thing repeated. A resounding feeling of invincibility. Cecil couldn't hurt me, Tyler couldn't hurt me, and now, even my own family couldn't hurt me. Nothing could hurt me anymore, because nothing could hurt more than this right now, right?

*

The alarm rang through my ears as I began to waken my mind. Sleep had come and went in what felt like a blink of an eye. Opening my eyes once more immediately started the influx of emotions stemming from the paralyzing news of last night.

I tried again and again to distract myself, shake the memory off but nothing worked. I went to run with the longest group, listened in to the meaningless conversations at breakfast, even entertained the archery targets for a little, and finally felt some distraction in the ring. Only problem was, every opponent I faced was knocked out in a few minutes, sometimes even seconds. It wasn't until I was forcefully pulled out of the ring that I realized what I had been doing.

"Jesus, Alexis! Open your eyes!" Chase held my shoulders, shaking them forcefully.

"Wh-what's wrong?" I blinked, looking around. My eyes settle on the blood on not only my gloves, but my arms and legs as well.

I was still looking down, "Do you realize what you've done?" He slowly releases me, stepping back and raising his arms in incredulity as he points out the injured kids surrounding the ring.

It was as if a light at been turned on. A haze had lifted from my vision, and I was finally able to see. How was it that I didn't even know what I had been doing? I was beginning to scare myself. It was like I had blacked out without even realizing it.

My hands were shaking as I tried to remove the Velcro strap of my gloves. Steady, feminine, yet strong hands helped me to remove first the gloves, then the hand wraps. I survey my knuckles that had somehow bled even under all the padding.

"Need some help?" It was a soft feminine voice that sparked some repressed, recent memory.

"No," I instinctively tell her.

"Please."

Taking a deep breath, I look up attempting to be brave. Her blue eyes are a mirror image of my own as I see a motherly tenderness in them that would reflect one of my mother's gazes. With the memory of her, I find myself frowning, looking at the ground briefly before meeting her gaze once more, this time with more resolve. "No," I turn around and throw the gloves aside, walking away.

"W-wait," it was the first time I had heard her nervous. With Cecil she had been firm, confident, commanding. Now she had something to lose. "I'd like you to hear me out."

Hear what out? How she had kept this monstrous secret from the rest of her family? How she lied to everyone she should have cared about? I wasn't interested in answers anymore. She didn't even understand what all of this meant. What it did to my life here. "You don't have to say anything, I just want you to listen." I don't believe it. She was still talking.

I stop in my tracks, jutting out my hip as an impatient look creeps on my face before turning around. She doesn't look afraid of me, only worried. I raise my eyebrows at her. "Well?"

Now she has the impatient look, "Don't do that." She says with a finality that once again reminds me of my mother. "After what you've been pulling this morning, I could be much worse. Don't think because were family I'll be patient with you. Just the opposite, I'll hold you accountable." When I didn't respond; didn't know how to, she raised her eyebrows at me and continued. "Right. Well, let's get away from here, shall we? Someplace a little more, private. What do you say?" She was being sarcastic with me now.

She walks right by me, not even bothering to turn around and make sure I'm following her. I wouldn't have if it wasn't for her spunk that I see in myself repeatedly. Evidently she really was family.