Chapter 8

Mia's pov

I had been locked in the cell now for 4 days. Master sometimes visited but whenever he did he looked angry or scared. I suppose if I had been told that a pet almost killed 3 vampires and I was a vampire then I'd be a bit scared too. I didn't mind too much because I had Dalton for company. We'd talk all day and night. It was interesting to hear life though his experience as he had always been in my head. Since he was in my head it made sense that we were the same age and had the same birthday. Dalton could remember things that I couldn't though such as the day we were taken from the breeding farm to the training hut. I couldn't as I was only a baby but Dalton could. He told me that a woman with dark hair had been carrying us and then a man snatached us from her. It had been the pet shop owner.

I knew that the pet shop owners got to pick which pets they displayed and sold but I didnt know that they choose us from birth. I always thought it was after we were trained up.
*It can't have been our mother holding us* Dalton said as we sat on the floor playing with some string that had come off of the hospital gown.
"Why not? Everyone knows that the pets are taken from their mother's."
*Well for starters the woman carrying us had dark hair. We have bright orange hair.*
"Yes but we could have taken after the slave thar got our mother pregnant." I pointed out. All women pets that are sent to the breeding grounds are left with 5 to 8 male slaves just to be sure that she gets pregnant. I remember someone at the training hut once said that in the old days before vampires human women were pregnant for nearly a year and only have 1 person. I didn't believe them. Everyone knows that you are only pregnant for 3 months. How else are you supposed to repopulate if you are pregnant for a year?

Before Dalton could respond to me the door opened and Master walked in accompanied by a nurse. I lowered my head so I was looking at his feet. Just because I'm in a padded room talking to a voice in my head doesn't mean that I can't be polite and remember my rules.
*Hey I'm not just some voice in your head* Dalton complained and I couldn't help but smile and made a mental apology to him.

Unfortunately I had been listening to Dalton instead of Master and I had missed what he had said. I didn't even realise he had spoken until I felt a sharp sting on my face and red hot pain spread across my face. "For the 3rd time pet I said stand up!" Master shouted and I quickly stood up feeling a bit dizzy at first as I hadn't moved in days. I kept my eyes down at his feet and my flaming hair created a curtain between my face and Master. I didn't say anything or apologise to Master I just stood there waiting.

Derrick's pov

I walked into her padded room with a nurse behind me. I didn't want that nurse to follow me in but after the incident they can't take any risks of me being alone with Mia. I had been watching the cameras for the last couple of days. She doesn't seem like the same pet I brought only 2 weeks ago. She is no longer quiet and shy but instead I've watched her challenge a nurse that brought her food, she talks to herself and laughs as if she's just heard a funny joke but there is no one else in the room. I myself havent been sleeping well and I've been going through blood bags like crazy. Every night I sit and watch the video footage from the electroshock room. I still wince when I see my pet being strapped down and the painful cry that comes out when they shock her. Then almost as if a switch is flipped she goes from being the pet I knew to a completely different person.

I shook my head clear of those thoughts and beckoned Mia over to me and to stand up. I watched as her eyes seem to glaze over slightly making the white of her eyes stand out more than the rest of her pupils. I called out again. "Come here and stand up pet." I said even louder and I felt my anger rise when yet again she ignored me and instead sat on the floor smiling. Was she really smiling and laughing at the fact that I had given her an order? She was mocking me. I stormed over and slapped the smile from off her face. She looked as if she hadn't a clue what was going on. "For the 3rd time pet I said stand up." I shouted in her face and this time she stood trembling. I expected to hear her apologise like she always did when something was wrong but she didn't say a word. She just hung her head in silence and her hair spilt forward in a flowing river of fire. I reached out and stroked her hair and I felt her flinch beneath my touch but I continued to stroke her head. I could feel a lump in my throat that I couldn't seem to swallow as my hands ran through her delicate hair and I cupped her chin lifting her face up to mine. She kept her eyes down which I was thankful for as I didn't want her to see me right now. My fingers traced the swollen red patch on her cheek from where I struck her and I felt my throat close.

I can't believe I had hit her. I had never raised my hand to her and now she was marked with my hand print. I placed my hand gently on the mark and when Mia pulled away it felt as if she had hit me too. I just stood in front of her watching until a movement from behind reminded me why I had come in the first place. I cleared my throat and turned to the nurse who held a small white dress and Mia's collar and leash. "We are going home today pet. While we can't figure out why you have changed personality, the night terrors have stopped which is why I booked you in. Besides I've been away from work for almost a week and things are getting too hectic to stay here much longer. So hurry up and get dressed. I'm going to sign your papers and when I return I expect to see you ready."

I could feel my voice crack when i said that and I knew Mia must have heard it but instead I just walked out the room and went to the desk to sign the papers for her release. It felt like I had been waiting ages before she came out into the waiting room with a nurse in front dragging her by the collar. I growled at the nurse as she handed me the leash. Who does she think she is dragging my pet down the corridors like that. I instantly loosened Mia's collar and heard her gasp for breath muttering a small thank you. Aware that other people with their pets were staring at me like I had grown 3 heads for helping my pet to breathe. Though as soon as they saw the faint bite marks and the now purple bruise on her face they seemed to smirk and not pay much attention. Probably assuming that the way I was acting towards the nurse over Mia was because I wanted to punish her instead rather than the idea that I couldn't stand to see her in pain.

My car was waiting outside the doors and we were walking towards it when I suddenly felt Mia tugging at her leash and I turned around and saw that she was curled up on the floor holding her head. Her mouth open like she was silently screaming and suddenly her eyes rolled back and turned fully black. Just as I was about to call for a nurse her eyes returned to their usual green and she looked up at me straight in my eyes. I saw her smile but not in a sweet way. It reminded me of a wolf when it stalked its prey and then in a deep voice she said "Your not having her she's mine." and before I could register what she meant by that she snapped her leash from the collar and darted off in the direction of the woods that surrounded the hospital. Within seconds I had lost sight of her and I couldn't find her scent either. What the hell was she?