Page 28 of Afflicted

My mind races, trying to think. I didn’t want to eat the eggs this morning, but that was because I hate them. Not because I was sick. Have I been more tired? Are my breasts sore?

The feeder waits patiently, and I stutter out a response, something like,I don’t think so.

“Best to be sure.” She retrieves a plastic strip with a pink cap on it from the drawer in front of her, and my stomach lurches.Oh god. Oh fuck. If I’m pregnant they’ll haul me away to a breeding farm. It’ll break Matt’s heart. They’ll take our baby away from me when it’s weaned, and I’ll never see them again. I’ll never see Matt again.

My eyes sting with tears as I’m escorted to a bathroom to take the test. She leaves me alone, the cubicle door slamming shut behind me sounding like a gavel, determining my fate. My hands are shaking so bad as I try to pee on it and not all over my hand.Please be negative. Please please please.

I put the pink cap back on, and watch as the dye travels through the strip. One pink line glows. Just one.Please just stay like that.

There’s a sharp rap on the door, and I nearly drop the test.

“If you’re done, you can come out.” The feeder says.

I clutch the test in my sweaty hand, as though I can somehow control it if I squeeze hard enough. Back behind the blue curtain, she holds out her hand, placing the strip that’s about to decide my fate on the metal trolley, casting a quick glance up at the clock.

She fills out some paperwork as the second hand glides past the numbers, counting down the minutes until I find out whether or not I’m truly fucked. I clasp my hands over my stomach, protectively, out of nothing other than instinct. If there’s a little person in there, I need to keep them safe from all of this shit.

After three minutes, which feel like years, the feeder looks at the test and gives a brief nod. “Negative. Good.”

I nearly collapse with relief. Thank god. Thank everything. Tears spring to my eyes again.

She administers the depo shot, and if she notices my emotions she doesn’t say anything. She just goes about her business, and then puts the needle in my arm. My blood runs into the bag, as it always does.

The curtain pushes aside, and I half expect Silas to saunter in. But when I look, it’s another feeder, a really big one. He has long reddish hair, pulled back from his face. His eyes are bright red, and he leers at me as I sit in the chair.

“I thought I smelled you,” he says, licking his lips. He takes my chart from the cart. “4211487. Your blood is incredible, did you know?”

“I had no idea.”

He picks up the depo needle, and twirls it in his fingers. “Did you know that vamps can get humans pregnant?”

I balk a little. “No.”

He nods, putting the needle back down. “Yeah. It can happen. The baby isn’t immortal, but it will live a much longer life than a bloodbag.”

“Great.” I just want him to go away. I want them all to go away. But when I look up at him he’s leering at me.

“I got to taste some of your exquisite blood the other day,” he says, grinning widely. “It had us all very excited, I gotta tell you.” He leans down over me, caging me in, and terror twists my lungs. “We all had to go and see to ourselves to relieve the tension. Especially Silas.” He laughs, and the other feeder shifts in her chair. “Oh yeah, you should have seen his eyes.”

“OK that’s enough,” the other feeder says. “Braun, out.”

“Oh come on, Simpson, we’re just having a little fun.” He reaches out and runs his fingers down my cheek, laughing again when I flinch.

“Braun, I said out,” she orders sternly. “This isn’t appropriate.”

He straightens up and grins. “I’ll be seeing you later,” he says, before leaving the cubicle.

My hands tremble, and I turn my face away from the feeder so she doesn’t see the tears in my eyes. I almost wish it had been Silas who walked in. With him there’s a boundary, there’s a line he won’t cross. Whatever his deal is, he seems to at least not want to hurt me.

But these other feeders, they’re an unknown quantity. And these attacks from the Afflicted seem to have everyone on edge, and scared people - well, I know exactly how people react when they’re afraid.

I just want Matt now, I want to crawl into his arms and cry. I need comfort, and I won’t get it here.

Finally, the draining is done and I choke down that fucking donut and some of the milkshake. Nausea washes over me, and the feeder wants me to stay put because I’m so pale. I can’t stop shaking and I just want out of there.

She leaves to check about getting me some medication, I don’t listen to her so I don’t know what for, it doesn’t matter anyway. I keep looking out the window, not looking back as the curtain opens. They’ll just give me whatever, I have no say.

“You alright?”

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