Page 14 of Cloak of the Vampire
I’d worked hard to have the life I had before Ragnor Rayne came along, even going so far as to switch my name. I’d built that life with meticulous considerations, learning everything I could in order to improve my physical and mental health. I ate nutritionally sound food, made a couple of friends so my social needs would be met, worked a stable, nonhazardous job (despite one instance of attempted armed robbery), and made sure to pay on time what few bills I had.
Knowing I would most likely keep an emotional distance from whichever friends I made, I chose to suppress and express my feelings by playing video games.
Now I had to work with unknown parameters in this stupid new life I was forced into if I wanted to maintain some semblance of stability.
During lunch, I made a list of what I needed to do. Food wasn’t a problem; the cafeteria’s food fit my criteria. For social needs, I would soon begin this stupid course and might be able to find some superficial friends there. I had to make sure they were as shallow as Skye and as self-involved as Cassidy, though. As for mental stability ... that I would have to figure out.
Those were the first priorities. I had to establish all of the above if I wanted to keep being themeI had worked so hard for.
When I returned to the suite after lunch, there was a woman in the common room. She looked as if she was only a couple of years older than me, and since Margarita said this suite was for newbies, it must’ve been her true age. She had a sandy-brown bob with long fringes, freckles, anda long pointy nose that stood out on her heart-shaped face. She was also taller than me, with a willowy figure and olive skin.
She raised her eyes, and her brown ones met my hazel set. “Hello,” she said in a surprisingly strong voice.
“Hey,” I responded. “I’m Aileen. I’m new.”
She nodded. “Me too. I’m Zoey,” she introduced herself. “I was given the Imprint a week ago. What about you?”
I shrugged, giving her a small smile. With how overwhelmed I’d been, I completely forgot to ask Margarita about it. I would have to find an opportunity to ask her, though.
She frowned. “You don’t know?”
My smile slipped. “You sound surprised.”
She seemed to consider something before shaking her head. “Never mind,” she said, then offered me a grin. “How long have you been on the waiting list?”
Waiting list? “The what?”
“Waiting list,” she repeated. “The list you get on to get the Imprint? I’ve been on it for the last three years, and I started thinking I would never receive the Imprint until our Lord came to my house the other day and told me I was finally through the sorting.”
I tried to process the information and failed. What the hell was she going on about? Neither Ragnor nor Margarita had mentioned a fucking waiting list!
“Oh, yes,” I lied instinctively, nodding as if I knew what she was talking about. “The list. I’ve been on it for a while too.”
Zoey sighed dreamily. “I can’t believe I’m finally here. I was afraid at first, you know? I wanted to be in the Rayne League—it’s the safest, most renowned League, after all—but you can’t choose which League will take you. Thank God I’m not in that creepy, sleazy Lord’s League. I met Renaldi in one of those events, you know? I felt him staring at me, and I meanstaring. I was dressed pretty modestly back then, and yet I felt him looking at me as if he was seeing me naked!” She shuddered.“I heard he had a thing for brunettes, so lucky for both of us, we’re here instead.”
I understood nothing of what she said. Meeting a Lord before getting the Imprint? Attending an event with other vampires? Being in the dark regarding which League you would belong to? What the hell was going on?
“Yeah, lucky,” I murmured.
She perked up. “Anyway, I’m really happy. I just woke up yesterday, five days after my Imprinting, and I feel so great, you know? I’m where I want to be, turned into what I want to be, and it’s like everything is finally falling into place ...”
As she went on about her thoughts and feelings, my mind was racing. Something was off here. Because if there was a waiting list with people signing up of their own volition to become vampires, then why the hell did Ragnor give the Imprint to Cassidy and me without receiving our consent?
Or maybe ... maybe it had been just me?
Thinking back to that awful night, I realized Cassidy had been acting strangely. She’d been agitated, so much so that she picked a fight with Skye, something she’d never done before. Then she’d stormed off without another word—uncharacteristic behavior. Despite how she acted, Cassidy avoided drama at all costs. Then when I found her in that alley, she was held against the wall with Ragnor kissing her ...
It occurred to me that I hadn’t seen what came before then.
Could she have been on that waiting list?
My heart stopped. No way. This couldn’t be possible. Why would she do that? Why would she give up her life in exchange for this ... thisexistence? Did she really hate that life? Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but I thought we understood each other. I thought we were of the same mind when it came to being free!
Don’t jump to conclusions,the voice of reason whispered in my ear.She probably wasn’t on the list. There’s no rational reason for her to be on that list, after all. How could she have learned of vampires’ existence?
“You’re coming to the class tomorrow, too, right?” Zoey’s voice snapped me back to attention, and I released my hands, feeling calmer.Right. Cassidy would’ve never been stupid enough to go out of her way to find some secret society to belong to, let alone be on that list.
When I gave my new roommate a distracted but affirmative nod, she seemed excited. “It’s going to be great. I met some of the other newcomers—a couple of them are really hot too. It’s gonna be a blast!”
