TRI-BLOOD

Chapter 3 - Awakening - Luca POV

“Where am I?” I thought to myself as I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar room.

I looked around, trying to get my bearings. Where am I and how did I get here?

Aside from that, my throat felt dry and itchy, and I felt an excruciating pang of hunger.

I looked around the room- it was empty except for the bed on which I lay. The room was devoid of any colour.

Everywhere I looked was white, including the bed sheets and my clothes. There seemed to be no window or door either.

Where am I? Am I in a mental facility or something?

Then I tried to get up from the bed, but white-painted chains held me fast to the bed.

“What…what..what… what is going on?” I stammered out loud as panic began to set in.

“Somebody help! Please let me go!!” I shouted at the top of my voice as I tried to free myself from the chains.

But then, the chains snapped without too much resistance. “What the hell!” I thought.

But before I could ponder this mystery, I heard the sound of a lock turning. I turned towards the source of the sound and waited, holding on to the chains as weapons.

A portion of the white wall slid open and someone walked in smiling.

“Sam, is that you?” I asked in surprise.

My friend smiled and crossed the room to hug me.

I remained stiff in his hug, my hands still gripping the chains as I waited for my friend to get himself together.

“You are finally awake,” Sam said. “What took you so long? I was really scared.”

“What do you mean,” I asked confused. “Wait, don't answer that, where are we and how did we get here?”

“Oh, this is the werewolves' lair,” he answered. “You remember what happened the other night, don't you?”

The word werewolf seemed to turn on a switch in my mind as memories from the other night began to pour in. In a flash, I remembered everything until the moment when I collapsed.

“Yes I do,” I replied. “But what did you mean by I was finally awake and that you were scared?”

“You have been unconscious for the past three days, and they said that if it goes beyond three days, your soul will be lost forever.”

“What does that even mean?” I was confused.

“I don't know, but one thing I do know is that we are not the same anymore. At least I am not” My friend said, sounding serious.

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously.

“I am now a vampire,” He said.

I stared at him, dumbstruck. “What! How… How is that even possible? How did it happen?” I asked, flabbergasted.

“Remember when that sneer-face guy bit me?” He asked and I nodded.

“So, the fact that he bit me, but didn't drink my blood was a ritual for creating vampires, so I was told. So now I am one of them.”

I was shocked and worried for my friend but then a realisation dawned on me.

“But I remember that he didn't get to bite me as the beautiful lady saved me,”

“Amin, her name is Amin.” Sam interrupted.

“Yes, Amin.” I answered, rolling my eyes. “So Amin saved me and I wasn't bitten, so that means I couldn't have turned into a vampire. Right?” I asked him expectantly.

“Right.” He answered.

“Then where did this power come from?” I said, showing him the broken chains still attached to my wrists. “I broke these when I regained consciousness as if they were made from twigs. So please tell me what is going on.”

“So yes. The consensus around here is that you would wake up a werewolf, caused by the scars on your shoulder.”

Immediately he mentioned it, I pulled the neckline of the shirt I wore to the side and stared at the top right side of my chest, and yes, four long scars stared back at me. They looked healed, but stood out prominently on my chest. Four red angry lines.

“So what's their explanation for this then? Do werewolves go about stabbing humans with their claws and boom they turn into werewolves?” I asked, frustration sipping into my voice.

“Well, that is not usually the case.” Answered a female voice.

Amin walked in, looking as beautiful as always. In place of her military-like uniform, she wore a black body-hugging suit that accentuated her body curves.

Beside her stood a tall man in a similar fit as Amin, who looked to be in his late forties. He had dark hair and blue eyes just like Amin’s and they seemed to share the same swagger and self-confidence.

I glared at the two as they stood facing me, not knowing what to say.

“Hello there, I’m Pax Centri, popularly known as Lord Pax around here, the district leader of the werewolves, and commander of SRB unit 5. Nice meeting you.” The man said, introducing himself but I remained silent.

“And this is my lovely daughter, Amin, I am sure you two have met already.” He said, gesturing at Amin.

Amin, instead of being welcoming, stared daggers at me. I didn't understand the reason behind the hostility, but I wasn't going to allow a spoiled princess who ruined my life by turning me into a monster to beat me in a staring contest.

So she and I glared at each other.

“Er… So, your friend here has told us a lot about you and we are glad to have you as one of us.” Lord Pax said, hoping to get my attention.

“I know you have a lot of questions, I know you are wondering what is going on. Give us some time and we will fill you in on everything that you need to know.”

The subtle stress on the word “need” didn't go unnoticed. That means they were only going to tell me what they felt I needed, not the whole truth.

Well fine by me, that would mean that I won't be wasting my time on a lengthy conversation, and then Sam and I could get the f**k out of here as soon as possible.

As if reading my mind, Lord Pax said, “Since you would be living here, we would like to know some things about you also.”

“Wait what, who told you that I wanted to live here?” I asked confused, finally regarding him and ignoring his daughter.

“Well, you have to, as you are part of us now. That is the rule. As newly turned, you have to stay in Aetheria until you have mastered your powers and learnt the law that governs us before being allowed back in the mundane world.” Lord Pax explained.

“I… We still have school, we have friends and our lives to get back to.” I spoke out.

“We know that,” he replied. “And we know that you two are orphans and your only real ties are the orphanage, so that makes it easy.”

“Well, that doesn't mean that we will not be missed or that we don't have people who would be worried if we disappeared. So I don't understand why you think we would want to upend our lives and move in with you in your Ithiria or whatever you call it. But I won’t.” I argued.

It might be grumpiness from waking up and finding myself in a different world entirely, or the realisation that my life was changing before my eyes and I could do nothing about it, or probably it was the hostile energy coming off Amin as she continued to glare at me, I just didn't want to agree with anything they said.

The room went silent as everyone stared at me except Sam who was trying to avoid my gaze.

Then Sam faced the father and daughter, “I told you two to give me time to talk to him, I know how stubborn he can be, and all this is too sudden. He needs some time.”

“Well, we wish we could give him all the time in the world but unfortunately, we are running out of time. Marco and the rest are here again and you know what that means, especially for you.” Amin said, finally getting herself in the conversation.

Sam, although looking pissed, answered anyway, “Please give us five minutes to talk, no, ten. Allow us to talk, just the two of us, we will be out with you all when we are done.”

Amin looked like she was about to disagree when her father cut in. “We will give you twenty minutes. Take your time to discuss this. We will be waiting outside.” He turned around and pulled his daughter behind him.