When I woke the first thing I noticed was the coppery tang coating my tongue. I swallowed several times over, groaned as I rolled to sit up, and discovered every muscle and bone in my body ached like I’d rolled down the side of a mountain. In moments there was a hand on my shoulder and a cool, damp cloth pressed to my forehead.


    “Don’t get up too fast.” The voice belonged to a woman. I lay back down and instead focused my energy on trying to move my eyelids. They felt stuck, impossibly heavy, like a bolted down security gate you’d see at a closed store in the mall. When I was finally able to peel them open, I winced against a searing brightness. “Turn down that lamp!” the woman rushed to call over her shoulder. “Sorry,” she continued, “I forgot about the photosensitivity thing for the first 48 hours. You’ll be okay, just take it slow and easy.”


    I let her press the cool cloth to my face a little longer before opening my eyes again. Freckles dusted over pale, smiling cheeks and I lifted my gaze to meet her violet eyes. I gently grabbed the hand holding the cool cloth to cease her movements. “Help me sit up, please?” I asked.


    Nodding, the woman slipped her arm around my back for support and, gripping her hand, we sat me up against the cold stone walls. The chill seeped through my clothing, sobering me, as I looked around to try and figure out where I was. The room was mostly shadows in the low lamp- and candle-light. I tried to focus again on the pale, freckled face – her hand was braced against my shoulder. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came to mind at first.


    My stomach felt hot and roiled, angry. “Here, drink this.” The woman held a small bowl toward me. She helped my clumsy hands grasp its warmth and tilt the dark, steaming liquid toward my lips. My nostrils flared as I inhaled the robust scent of beef broth and I eagerly began to swallow each rich-tasting gulp. Salty, tangy, and thick, it soothed my dry throat and the thirst gnawing at my belly. “Go slow,” the woman said, pulling the bowl back. I licked the remnants off my cracked lips and wiped my mouth on the back of my hand.


    “Thank you,” I finally rasped. Although the broth slowly calmed my stomach, my mind felt no less scrambled. I rested back against the stone wall, letting the cold seep through my thick hair to relieve the flush of warmth beneath. “What’s going on? Who are you?”


    “Take it easy, Lady,” the woman said. “The turn is very taxing, you need to rest.”


    As if on cue an intense wave of dizziness and nausea swept over my body. “Water,” I managed to say, “please.” Another, cooler bowl was pressed into my hands. The woman’s own hands supported my own in bringing it to my lips. I took several eager swallows, the water crisp and fresh. I felt the chill slide all the way down to my stomach. “Thank you,” I said, curling up on my side.


    The smiling, freckled face smoothed the hair back from my cheeks and pulled the blankets up around my waist. “I’m Deka,” she answered, wringing out the cloth she’d been using to wipe my face. She dabbed at my temples and the side of my neck. My eyes were already closing, my mind already drifting. “Get some more rest,” I heard Deka say, “we’ve plenty of time for me to teach you.”


    I succumbed to darkness.


    * * *


    The next time I woke up I was alone.


    Although my body still felt sore I could move more freely and sat up on my own. The lights were still low but I felt more alert and was better able to make out my surroundings. The room was open and cavernous. There were a few partitions and screens amongst the decor, creating separate sitting and dining areas. Tucked beneath a thick tapestry was a large, ornately carved wooden desk.


    I propped myself up on an elbow and immediately grabbed my stomach as a hunger pain tore through. It felt like a jagged, rusty knife being twisted over and over in my gut. Never in my life could I remember hunger causing such agony.


    The door opened. I saw the brief flash of a lantern’s glow before the woman slipped in and the other attendant closed the door behind her. When she saw me sitting up, her pace quickened.


    “You’re awake again!” The dimmed lamplights picked up her smile. I then noticed she was carrying a tray and caught the scent of the familiar, rich broth. My stomach audibly roared. The woman tried to suppress a laugh. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here a little bit sooner.”


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    I took the proffered bowl from her hands and gulped down a few swallows of the broth. I craved its taste, seduced by a rich flavor I couldn’t identify. “Thank you,” I finally said.


    I easily finished the bowl in a few more swallows, wiping my mouth on the back of my hand. After a deep breath, I settled back against the wall the bed was nestled against and took a better look at my companion. Her pale face held a friendly smile, the light dusting of freckles across her nose and the tops of her cheeks like stars across a milky sky. I recalled her saying her name was, “Deka,” I began, voice rough and raspy. “Where am I? What’s going on?” I leaned forward in earnest.


    The woman’s lips pursed for a moment in thought. She smoothed the thick duvet over either side of my lap. “I’m sorry,” she started. “This must be very confusing for you.”


    Her tone was kind and soothing enough that I felt guilty biting off a tight, “Something like that.” The woman seemed unfazed.


    “You remembered my name,” she began, sounding bright and pleased. “These quarters now belong to you, actually. Overall we’re in the Court of Staves.” Her violet eyes looked back to my face and Deka smiled. “Though I’m sure very little of that makes sense.”


    She was right. I groaned and slunk back against the cold stone wall. “Well, what’s going on then?”


    Deka reached for my hand and clasped it gently between the both of hers, her skin unusually smooth and cool. “You’re turning into a vampire.”


    The room felt like it spun around me.


    “I’m sorry — what?”


    Her soft smile was sympathetic. “You’re turning into a vampire,” Deka repeated. “Right now you’re dealing with the ‘fledgling fifteen’ – basically for the first fifteen weeks after you’ve been turned, your body is adjusting and changing. There’s some pain and you’ll sleep a lot – but the worst part is the hunger.”


    My attention snapped to her face. “Yeah, I’ve felt that,” I muttered, rubbing my stomach. “It literally feels like my stomach is gnawing on itself.”


    “Unfortunately that’s a feature and not a bug.” She grinned, a bit sheepish. “Helps fledglings to survive if they’re on their own. It doesn’t happen often, mind you, we take good care of our people. Fledglings especially are the pride of any Court.”


    A dull throbbing began at my temples. “This sounds crazy – can I be done now? I just want to go home.”


    “This is home,” Deka replied.


    “No – that’s not true. I don’t know this place at all and you’re starting to freak me out with all this vampire crap. Look, I’m not rich or anything, but I’ll give you whatever I can. Just leave me alone and let me go home!”


    Her eyes looked sad and she tried to reach for my hand. I jerked it away and smashed my elbow into the wall behind me. The stone cracked, and pain radiated up and down my arm. I stared, momentarily at a loss for words. Deka didn’t seem surprised at the way tiny bits of the stone crumbled from the dent.


    “Please take it easy, Lady,” she murmured, seeming genuinely concerned. “I assure you that you’re perfectly safe here. I promise to take good care of you.”


    The pain subsided quickly, replaced by a flowing, internal warmth pooling around my elbow. After a moment I flexed my fingers and tested the limb: it was perfectly healed.


    “No,” I said. “No, this isn’t possible. I don’t believe it.” I shook my head which felt like it was detached and floating a thousand miles above my body.


    She gave me a bemused smile. “What’s your name?”


    My mouth opened, ready to reply – but my mind … “You know,” I began, fighting a bubbling panic, “I don’t – I don’t remember. I’m so confused.” My eyes filled with tears and they wreathed my vision in a tremble of pink. They fell hot down my cheeks and I pressed the palm of my hand to my face, pulling it away to examine tears that were more blood than water against my pale skin.


    Deka shifted to sit on the edge of the bed. She slipped an arm around my shoulders and urged me to lean against her – where I completely broke down into sobs. My mind was in soupy chaos: bits and pieces of familiarity floated across my consciousness, but nothing especially helpful. I’m sure my High School math teacher would be glad I could still recite the quadratic formula – whoever they were – but I couldn’t remember my birthday, favorite pizza, or most things one might associate with their personal identity. Like my name.


    “I’ll explain everything, I promise,” Deka said. Another promise I couldn’t help but accept, that I had to trust. For now. She rubbed and patted my back in soothing circles. “Try to get some more rest, Lady, your body needs to be properly nourished as you transition.”


    Deka urged me to lay back down and tucked the covers around me again. “I will stay here with you for a little while longer.” Her voice sounded further and further away as I drifted back off to sleep.


    I don’t know how much time passed. I fell into a disjointed cycle of heavy sleeping, waking long enough to steal gulp from a bowl of rich broth. After several days the aches and pains that’d felt so severe upon waking dulled. I became able to stay awake for longer periods and during those times Deka kept me company, teaching me anything and everything to do with what my life would now entail as a vampire.