We enter the dining hall. It's a large place to fit all the deviants from different districts. They growl, roar, squeal, laugh and yell, truly a bunch of savages unable to sit quietly. 

Yelen and Annabelle take seats at a long table where vampire prison-keepers are seated. Yelen locates Rufus - a tall young man with black hair, eyes crimson as blood, and black feathery wings - the boss of all bird-vampires in this prison.

I take my tray of food and sit beside Annabelle because I can't see any other free seat where they'd welcome me. 

"Hey, Rufy!" Annabelle cries over the table to our boss, who's already begun fondling Yelen.

"What, Annie?" he replies with the charming smile he carries.

"When is today's hunt?" Annabelle asks.

"Um, at five o'clock, I think?" Rufus says. He cries over at a different table where the bat-vampire gang is sitting: "Hey, Ronald, when's the hunt again?"

"At five!" Ronald, the muscled guy with bat wings and long fangs shouts back. I can see Annabelle's eyes are set on him. Yeah, she'd never look at anyone lesser than that.

"Yup, five!" Rufus turns back to Annabelle. "We'll let you out when the time comes. Don't stress over it!"

"I need to prepare myself," Annabelle answers. "Today's a party at the merpeople's. I want to bring them a trophy!"

"Who said you're allowed in?" Rufus laughs. "You think merpeople would want a vampire like you around?"

"Hey, Anna, today at nine, you remember?" Rachel, a blonde mermaid with azure eyes and a slender physique, shouts at Annabelle. She's surrounded by another mermaid and two mermen, all with long hair and eyes as blue as the depths of the sea. The tints of sea colours are common among merpeople. That's how you recognise them when they're out of water, because, if not exposed to water, their fish-tails turn into legs and you might think they're humans.

Annabelle smirks at Rufus, who's turned so surprised that his hand holding the cup of blood freezes in mid-air. Yeah, Annabelle is popular with all sorts of deviants here.

"I remember, Rachel!" Annabelle cries to the mermaid. "I'll drop in!"

"And make sure to bring your friend!" a black-haired merman next to Rachel adds. His deep blue eyes are fixed on me. I feel awkward, so I turn around and sip my drink. I can still sense the intensity of his look burning me from behind my back.

"Oh? You've got it, Derek!" Annabelle laughs. When they pass by, she turns to me: "How the hell did you do that?"

"Did what?" I ask casually, trying to look like nothing's happened. Yet I vividly remember the intense gaze of that merman.

"Don't play games with me!" Annabelle retorts. She's figured out I'm not as absent-minded as I try to look. "You saw how Derek was looking at you! Do you know who he is?"

"I've no idea," I reply.

"He's the headman of the Merpeople District!" Annabelle says. "He's on the same level as Ronald!"

"Oh, then I guess I'm lucky?" I shrug. 

Rufus is of a higher level than Ronald in our district, but Annabelle's more interested in the bat-vampires and Ronald's athletic body, so she thinks him the best. I won't be destroying her fantasies. Let her dream on! Rufus is taken by Yelen, anyway.

"Hmph, luck is a mild notion! You've hit the jackpot, Theo!" Annabelle says. "Derek has set his eyes on you!"

"I don't want an affair with any monster that resides here," I say.

"Monster?! Come down to earth, you're one of us!" Annabelle snorts. "You have to cope with it, you're never getting out! And you know the best way to live a decent life here? – It's to hook up with an overseer, a headman, or, in the worst case, a guard. Otherwise, you won't survive! Why else do you think Yelen's trying so hard, or me?"

"Yeah, alright... I'll think about it." I shrug. I hope she'll get off my tail. One shouldn't argue with Annabelle, it's hopeless.

"Well, you heard Derek, right?" Annabelle presses on. "You're coming to tonight's party!"

"Okay," I answer.

Finally, she's satisfied. She begins talking with the other vampires now. I eat in silence. I'm still discontent. Just some days ago, I studied at university to graduate and pursue my dream of becoming an artist, and now, it's all brought to nought. I'm locked up here for the rest of my life. What's worse, I've got no materials to pursue my passion for drawing. Instead, I'm chained up in a cell because my bloodlust kicks in stars know when!

Speaking of it... I feel my breathing intensify. The smell of the blood from the bottles draws me in. I can roughly hear Yelen and Annabelle calling out to me, but I don't know what they want. I only know that I want blood. I plunge at the bottles. The vampires stare at me puzzled. They must think I've gone mad. However, Rufus is experienced enough and knows what to do.

"Hold her up before she bites someone!" he shouts.

The vampires dash at me. Annabelle grabs my arms but I struggle to get free. I hear intense growls coming out of my mouth as I push towards the bottles of blood. Unable to get them, I scratch my holders with claws that have grown out of my fingers. 

"Let me go!" I hear myself yelling as if it were someone else. "Let me go!"

"Hold her down!" Annabelle cries as she and the other vampires try to subdue me. 

The guards arrive and put chains on me. 

"I've told her to behave!" Vincent grumbles as they drag me away.

"Chill! It's alright," Rufus says. "She'll come to her senses."

I struggle while being dragged away by the guards. The lust begins to subside, but I feel dizzy. I see a chubby little guy watching me with pity as they take me out of the dining hall. 

"Is she a new one too?" I hear him whispering to a tall black man beside him.

"Yes, Shon," the black man answers. "They say she arrived three days ago."

Shon's deep yellow eyes are set on me as the door closes between us.