The water soothes my goosebumps, the mix of dirt and blood running off of my skin and flowing down the shower drain. I hold my arms over my bare chest, rubbing my shoulders as the water runs off my head and over my face. The liquid blocks my ears and makes everything feel silent for once.

No matter how hard I scrub my skin and turn it red, the surface still feels dirty and caked in nightmares. No matter how much Alex's body wash causes my skin to smell of pomegranates, all I can smell is my parents' decaying bodies.

Lifting my hands, I push my hair back from the water, reaching to switch the taps till the water stops running. The numbness doesn't wash away as I exit the shower and wrap a towel around my body, drying my hair and skin. I quickly get dressed, dumping my stuff into Alex's laundry before reaching his living area.

Thomas and Yasmin took off to get blood bags for Leila, Alex tagging along as his first step in training to live in his new form.

Levi looks up at me as I enter, his eyes quickly adverting from me which has become typical since Leila turned. He still feels guilty. I sigh, slouching my shoulders as I drop onto the space beside him and watch the small retro TV in front.

"You still avoiding me, huh?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest as I slouch on the sofa, my eyes stuck to the TV playing some black and white movie. From my peripheral, I see Levi turn to me.

"Maybe," He breathes his reply, crossing his arms in the same way. He turns back to the TV, readjusting his position as he does so, "I don't mean to,"

"Then don't," I shrug, turning to face him as he flicks his eyes back to look down at me, "I already told you it's not your fault,"

"Yeah, I know," He responds, his voice low and filled with sadness. He keeps his eyes on me before continuing, "But, truthfully, I can't get your face out of my head. The way you looked at me, I just-- It's hard to look at you sometimes,"

"Don't pity me, Levi," I shake my head, pushing myself up out of my slouch. "Leila's alive, there's no reason for you to feel bad for me,"

"Michaela," He says my name lowly, turning himself to face me better. He looks down, his hand next to my thigh as he thinks of what to say next, "You don't know this but, my mother was a hunter. I know what that shit does to your mindset and you shouldn't feel guilty for how you feel about her and Alex for a while. You can't unlearn years of rules and beliefs overnight. Don't be so hard on yourself,"

I look him up and down, noting the sadness on his face at the mere mention of his past. Hesitating, I ask, "How did you become a vampire?"

He smiles sadly, looking up into my eyes as he answers, "The same way most of us did. Brutally-- violently. I already had vamp blood in me but, it doesn't sting any less. You're right about most of us, but not all,"

I feel our eyes lock together like a latch on a door, my eyes slipping down to the bottom of his face for a split second without meaning to. By the time I look back up, his irises are already copying mine.

Despite knowing it's a bad idea and the Vampire-hating section of my brain screaming at me, I feel my body move until one of my legs is under the other, pushing myself up and reaching one hand out to cup the side of his face. He leans forward before I have the chance to, meeting me across the distance between us and latching his lips on mine.

I return his affections rather quickly, the rational part of my brain still clouded from all the revelations that have been shoved into it. Maybe this is my brain's way of trying to balance everything out, making one stupid decision to lower all the haze in my skull.

His hand reaches for my waist, taking the opportunity to tug me forward until I'm straddling him, my damp hair fanning down to cover our faces. I detach from him, his lips moving to my neck where I can feel the small points of his fangs dragging against my skin.

Lacing my fingers in the back of his head, he takes this as a sign to continue and digs his sharp canines into my skin. My face squeezes, the sensation of teeth buried in my neck different to that of fangs in my wrist. Thomas wasn't lying when he said it was a whole different ball game.

I close my eyes, trying to push aside everything that's happened and focus on the feeling of my blood slowly leaving the vein in my neck. I push every thought and feeling out of my head, his fingers lightly digging into the skin of my covered thighs.

"Tomm-"

I cut myself off quickly, my eyes snapping open as I feel Levi freeze beneath me. I sit up straight, his fangs leaving my skin and retracting back into his gums. My hand lifts and covers my mouth, my eyes wide as I look at his slightly amused face.

"Can't say I'm surprised but, you really know how to hurt a man's ego," He laughs, shaking his head with his hands still on my thighs.

Shaking my head, I slowly lower my hands with shock still on my face, "I didn't mean that. I was just thinking about what he said about feeding from the neck being different-- y'know what? Just forget it,"

He stops me as I move, halting my attempts to leave.

"Mic," He grins, smiling as he holds eye contact with me, "It's okay, I won't tell him,"

I get off of his lap, running my hands through my damp hair in frustration. Even my attempt at a distraction only adds to the mess in my head. My hands reach for my jacket on the chair beside me, picking it up along with the keys to my bike. It feels like almost an instinct to run away from an awkward situation, a second nature.

Levi attempts to reassure me that it's okay, but it's hard to listen to him. Truthfully, I don't know why accidentally saying Thomas's name has me freaking out so much, but it's hard to stop it once it's started.

Before I even have a chance to get my shoes on, the apartment door swings open and shut behind three figures. Their laughter fades out, all of them looking towards me just as I finish shifting my hair to cover the teeth marks on my neck. Thomas catches my eye first, his smile not fading as he holds up the blood bags beside his face.

"Grubs up. Did you want someone to come with you to wake her-"

"I'll get her," I cut him off, pulling my jacket over my shoulders as I quickly head towards the bedroom door separating me from Leila. The second I enter the bedroom, I become awfully aware of the fact that the jacket I picked up is the one Thomas gave me before heading to the graveyard.

I push that detail to the back of my mind, tucking my hair loosely behind my ear as I reach Leila and gently touch her shoulders. She turns over, peeling her sleepy eyes open to look up at me.

"Looking pale, Lei," I smile at her, watching as he lifts her middle finger up at me. Truthfully, that fact makes my gut tighten in sadness, thinking about how Leila always prided herself in her tan, "We got some food for you,"

"You mean blood?" She corrects, pushing herself up to sit in the bed, her feet tucked under her.

Nodding, I watch as she sighs and brushes off her feelings, leaning to rest her head on my shoulder. Truthfully, seeing how in control Leila seems after such little time only makes me feel sick. Vampires that are born from a Vampire parent find it easier when transitioning, their body is already used to the Vamp venom in their blood and easily welcome the changes. Compared to how Alex was, Leila seems completely normal.

"Hey, where'd your necklace go?" She asks, picking up her jumper to pull over her shoulders. I look down at my neck, feeling the spot where the blood vial used to lie, feeling empty despite the other necklaces on my skin.

"Got rid of it," I shrug, sitting beside her as she pulls her hair from the hoodie. She looks at me for a second, studying me closely. She knows to some extent what that necklace was and what it meant, only she and Alis knew whose blood was really in there.

She sits up straight, reaching her hands behind her neck and fiddling with something. She pulls a golden locket away from her, holding it in her fist and extending it towards me, "Here. A replacement,"

"That's okay, Lei. I don't need a replacement-"

"This is the one time I'm being nice to you, please take it," She cuts me off, smiling as she drops the locket into my open palm. I quickly thread the item around my neck to keep her happy, watching the smile widen on her face in pride.

"C'mon," I nudge her, climbing out of the bed with her at my side.

"I heard you, by the way," She pauses, looking up at me with a cheeky smile. I furrow my eyebrows, waiting for her to continue, "Next time, please remember my advanced hearing before traumatising me for life. Seriously, hearing you all like 'Oh, Tommy-"

I lunge forward, clamping my hand around her mouth and sealing her attempt to mock me. I press a finger to my lips, reminding her about a few others with advanced hearing. I remove my hand, her laughs filtering into the room as he takes me in.

"I swear I could have heard Levi instead, though," She thinks out loud, pulling a hoodie over her head as he gets ready to have her first dose of leech food.

"That's because it was him," I admit, turning my back to her and opening the door, hearing her laughing as she jumps to my side and slings an arm around my shoulders.

"Mic, you sly dog," She mutters, trying to lower her voice to maintain some form of privacy.

"Considering you had a much older, secret boyfriend, I don't wanna hear it from you," I dismiss, watching the way the sparkle in her eyes slightly dulls at the mention of Zeke.

"Hey, sleeping beauty," Yasmin grins at Leila as she enters the room, sliding a cup of red liquid towards her. "Dinner is served,"

Leila slides onto the chair on the opposite side of the dining table, picking up the glass and inspecting the substance with a grimace. "It's sad that my mouth is watering at the sight of this,"

"Well, you need it. Drink," I instruct her, leaning on the dining table. She rolls her eyes at me, muttering something along the lines of 'okay, mum' before lifting the glass to her lips and finishing the glass in one sip. He drops the glass back down to the table, wiping the excess blood from her lips.

"Can everyone stop staring at me, please?" She asks, avoiding eye contact with us all as we intensely stare at her.

"Alex," Thomas calls for my best friend's attention, tossing a blood bog at the blond which he catches easily. Yasmin takes a bag of her own, holding the little tub in her mouth to drink from the bag like a juice box. I cringe at the thought of drinking the liquid, turning to Thomas as he holds a bag towards Levi.

Levi holds his hand out, shaking his head in protest, "I already... ate,"

Thomas snorts, fiddling with the bag to prepare it for himself to drink, "When? You've been here all day,"

On instruct, Levi's eyes move to mine, a small smile on his face as I glare at him. Thomas looks up quickly, flicking between Levi and me with a confused look on his face. Levi loudly clears his throat, standing up straight, "Mic told me to fuck off for half an hour, I went to Rosia's for a bite,"

"Uh, huh," Thomas trails off, still eyeing the both of us suspiciously.

"Man, I haven't been to Rosia's in ages," Yasmin adds, oblivious to the interaction as she takes a seat beside Leila. "We should take the newbies there,"

"Didn't realise this was a sorority all of a sudden," I reply, standing up straight and crossing my arms over my chest.

"Don't be bitter because you're the only human here, Mic," She winks at me, popping the tube back in her mouth to continue drinking her blood bag dry.

"Yeah, yeah, choke on it bitch," I mutter, ignoring her laughs as I turn and walk off towards the bedroom for a moment alone. Before I get the chance to reach the hallway, the sound of painful groans reaches my ear.

I whip around, watching as Alex clutches his head in pain and falls to the ground. I don't waste time before jumping to his side, holding him as he falls to the ground, Thomas on the other side of him to help lower him.

"What's happening?" I ask, inspecting every inch of him for injuries.

"He's getting a memory back. It happens the more you feed," Levi explains, shoving a cushion under his head to stop it hitting the hard floor.

Sometimes, it feels like I know nothing about Vampires. The Hunter lessons only involve information regarding how to kill them and that becomes more apparent every day.

Alex gasps, sucking air deeply into his lungs like he's coming back to life. He sits up straight, looking in between us with wild eyes.

"Are you okay? That was a big one," Yasmin asks, joining us on the floor with deep concern in her eyes. I can't help but look at her, taking note of the way she searches his face for any sign of injury. The amount of concern on her face is strange for her.

"I remembered how I died," He breathes, pushing himself to sit up. He looks at me out of everyone, his face contorted in pain and conflict.

I furrow my eyebrows, feeling nerves climb their way up my throat at the way he's looking at me. I can't bring myself to respond and further the conversation, my subconscious telling me I don't want to know.

"I think it was Alis,"