Bitten (The Vampire Legends #3)(13)
Author: Emma Knight

She tried to tune out the loud noises, but one kept getting louder and louder as it crept up behind her. Suddenly feeling scared; she turned her body to see what it was, as the large black creature came into view. Its wings were protruded as it flew in and then she watched as the wings retract as it landed right in front of her.

“Benji?” Rachel asked.

“Rachel! I’ve missed you,” Benji said as he leaned in to kiss her.

“No!” she said, as she pushed his body away from hers.

“What’s wrong, Rach?” he asked concerned. “It’s really me, Benji.”

Feeling abandoned and betrayed, Rachel asked the question she’d been dwelling on: “Where have you been?”

Benji stepped back and said, “Rachel, don’t you understand? I was trying to protect you.”

“You left me here. ALONE. With all these people—or should I say vampires. I had to fend for myself, it hasn’t been easy,” Rachel said angrily.

“Rachel, love, I’m back now. I had to leave to protect you,” Benji said, trying to soothe her.

“Where did you go?” Rachel asked.

“I had to leave right away to find it,” Benji said.

“Find what?” Rachel asked, annoyed as if she was really supposed to know what “it” meant.

“The Blue Tablet. It’s our only shot at protection against the Greslin Empire. If I didn’t find that, we would probably be dead by now. It is our protection from the evil vampires,” Benji said, reaching into his bag as if searching for it.

Not really caring so much about the Blue Tablet, or the Greslins, or the war in general, Rachel said, “Yeah? Well I’m sure you’re going to leave again.”

“I will leave again. I have to, but not because I want to. Because if I don’t our people will die. We will all be exterminated,” Benji said.

“Our people?” she asked snidely.

“Yes! Our people. You are one of us now, Rachel,” Benji said looking confused. “I thought you’d be happy about that?”

“Yeah? Well, I’m not happy about this. I’m not happy about anything that’s happened to me since that night at Lyndvia Castle. In fact, I wish I’d never met you, then none of this would have happened,” Rachel said, feeling her anger surge.

“What are you saying, Rachel?” Benji asked, sounding hurt. “You asked for this. You asked to be turned.”

“Well, I didn’t mean it. I want to be turned back. I don’t want to do this anymore,” Rachel snapped.

“Rachel, please don’t forget what we have. We have something so special, you can’t run away from it. And besides, you are not the same person you once were. You’re a vampire now and you can never go back to your old life,” Benji said, trying to persuade her.

“I want to leave, I don’t want to stay here anymore. I don’t want to do any more of this stupid training and I don’t want to stay in this sucky castle!” Rachel yelled.

She was beginning to feel bad about how she was treating Benji. She had really missed him this whole time and she couldn’t understand why she was being so rude and mean to him. She was letting out all her pent up anger and aggression out on him, and she knew he didn’t deserve it. She wanted to be happy that he was finally here with her, she wanted to respark the passion between them, but for some reason her body wasn’t letting her. Instead she was set into this rage that she couldn’t get out of.

“Listen Rachel. I understand this is a hard transition for you, but I promise you, you will grow to love it here. These people will become your family, you have to give them a chance,” Benji said.

“I won’t! These people are not my family. My family is back in Westchester. Remember them? Those are the people I love, not these VAMPIRES!” Rachel yelled. “Please turn me back, I can’t do this anymore.”

“I can’t turn you back. It isn’t possible. If I hadn’t turned you in the first place you would have died from the bullet wound. Don’t you remember? Your life was ending and I brought you back,” Benji pleaded.

“I wouldn’t have died. You’re being dramatic,” Rachel said knowing very well that she could have died that night.

“Listen, you need to calm down. I love you, Rachel, and I need you. I need you more now than ever,” Benji said.

Rachel looked at him and waited. She didn’t know what to say to that. She loved him, too, but wasn’t ready to say it again.

“I need you for a mission. We need to go at this together, it’s our only shot,” Benji said.

“I don’t want to go anywhere. I just want to go home,” Rachel said.

“You can’t go home, Rachel. You are not the same person,” Benji replied.

“Yes, I am. I will be fine. As long as I am not here at this castle, things will be fine,” Rachel said.

“I can’t believe you are saying this,” Benji said. “This castle is providing you a great protection. Without it and the people inside, you would be dead!”

“I just want to go home. Please let me go,” Rachel begged. “I need to see my family again. I can only imagine they’re worried sick.”

“You don’t understand. You CANT go back home. This is your new home,” Benji repeated. “You are not the same person, you’ve changed. And besides, it’s way too dangerous out there for you anyway.”

“Stop saying that!” Rachel yelled.

“I promise, when this is all over things will calm down. They will go back to normal and it will be just us again. The way it was before all of this happened. We can be together, with no worries or fears. Our lives will be perfect together,” Benji begged.

“NO! I don’t want any part of it,” Rachel retorted.

“Please, Rachel. Come with me, I need you,” Benji said as he held his hand out for her to grab.

Rachel looked down at his outstretched hand and quickly weighed her options. She knew if she left, she’d be leaving the one man she truly loved, but if she stayed, she’d be saying goodbye to her family forever.

“I can’t. I’m sorry,” Rachel said.

With that, she picked up her satchel off the rampart, turned her body and without thinking, jumped off the peaked roof into the nighttime sky. Her wings opened smoothly as she sailed off towards home without looking back.

Chapter Eight

In what felt like minutes, Rachel was circling above her town of Bedford, New York looking down, trying to zero in on her house. She could not believe it: she was really flying. At first it had been rocky, and she was afraid she would fall again. But then her wings stabilized, and since then, she had been OK.