When I started to awake a while later, I was initially confused. I didn’t know where I was, or how I’d ended up there. I started to open my eyes, but when images and memories from the night before flooded my mind, I squeezed them shut. I recalled being bitten, I could never forget that. I could practically still feel the pain as it ran through my whole body. I remember Micah and the other vampires leaving. Things after that, I must admit, got a bit fuzzy and more difficult to remember. It was like it was a dream, one I couldn’t completely remember.
I continued to lie down on what I thought was a bed, with my eyes still shut, and things started to come back and sink in. Bits and pieces. I remembered someone bringing me into this room and placing me on the bed. Logan, I think it was. Afterwards, Claudia had forced glass after glass of blood down my throat. I recalled not wanting to drink it and finding it difficult to swallow it down. But she’d somehow made me and she hadn’t been satisfied, until sick and full, I couldn’t drink anymore. I remembered feeling hot, then cold, then hot again. I could still feel the softness of the blankets as they’d covered me, and uncovered me. Something cold on my forehead as they fought to cool me down.
I recalled going in and out of conscious, and still being able to hear voices and people speaking. I could still hear Frank’s voice ringing in my ear, as he asked Claudia wether I would live long enough that they could use me in some sort of revenge trap for Micah. His voice sounded ferocious and I could hear in it how wounded his pride was. Micah had really pulled one over on them. And he didn’t like it.
I don’t know what Claudia’s reply had been, I never heard it. I do remember someone else answering. They’d used such colourful words that I couldn’t even think of the words in my head. I was too polite to even think of them. Actually, I think that voice had been Greg’s.

As I continued to ponder over what else I remembered, I felt soft, light fingers on my forehead, brushing my hair off my face. I expected it to be Callie or Claudia, so imagine my surprise when I opened my eyes delicately, and saw Logan’s ice blue one’s staring down at me.
“Hey,” he said softly, “you’re awake.” He pulled his hand back off my head, and leaned back into the chair that was pulled up beside the bed. “How do you feel?”
I sucked in a breath. My throat felt so dry and sore. I swallowed. “Not so great,” I said through a very croaky voice.
He was looking back at me, eyes gentle. “Claudia said that’d be the case for a while. She said you’ll feel better soon. You just need to rest.”
I started to push myself up onto my elbow and sit up, but he placed a hand on my shoulder and gently guided me back down. “No. Don’t get up. Did you want me to get Claudia? Or Callie maybe?” he asked.
I moved my head to the side so I could see him better. “No. It’s alright. I just need a moment,” I answered him. My voice still sounded hoarse, but it was starting to get better. I felt absolutely horrible and I knew Claudia would be a mess, as it was. What with everything that happened last night. I wanted to get more control over myself before I saw her.
My body was still sore and it felt light. My neck burned, but that was easing off. My whole stomach felt rotten, the product of my body regenerating. It was a nasty side effect, and I hated it. It was tossing and turning and grumbling. I felt like I could throw up.
Oh god, I thought. Not could, would! I sat up, swiftly, making the room spin slightly. “I’m gonna be sick,” I said. No sooner had I said that, did Logan somehow produce a bucket and shove it under my nose. Just in time too, as all my stomach contents came up. I felt his fingertips brush against the back of my neck, as his hands caught my hair, pulling it up, and out of my way.
I coughed and coughed as everything came up. My throat hurt and my nose stung. “Easy,” Logan said quietly, rubbing small circles on my back. “Easy.” I felt like crap and yet his touch managed to comfort me. It made me feel better.

When I was finished and was sure I had nothing left in me, I reached out and grabbing a tissue from the nightstand near the bed, wiped my mouth. However before I had a chance to remove the buckets and its contents, someone’s pale fingers gripped it and moved it away. “Your bodies rejecting everything it doesn’t need. You’re healing.”
I tilted my head up, towards the voice, and saw Sally McDonnell. A living vampire like me, Sally was about five years older than me. She wasn’t a Death Walker and I honestly didn’t know her very well. And yet, she had all the worry and concern in her eyes a life long friend would have. I hit me then, that most of the covenant would no doubt be very worried and upset. I recalled them struggling to help me, their desperation.
As if reading my mind she smiled sweetly at me. “Claudia’s comforting Callie. Callie is very upset that this happened to you. She feels just awful that she wasn’t here for you when it happened. I can go get them for you, if you’d like?”
“Yes, thank you,” I answered.
With another small smile for me, and a nod for Logan, she left the room with the bucket.
Laying myself back on the bed, I closed my eyes. I took slow, steady breaths, finding I was actually feeling a hell of a lot better.
“I’m sorry.” Logan’s quiet voice broke the silence after a minute or two.
I snapped my eyes open. “About what?” I asked, still croakily.
“About this happening to you.” He sounded devastated. “I couldn’t help you. I wanted to help you, but I couldn’t.” His voice was filled with so much sadness it wrapped around my heart.
He blamed himself, I realised. He had somehow, someway, gotten it into his head that this was his fault. But it wasn’t, and I wanted him to know that. Carefully, I pulled myself up, sliding my legs over the side of the bed and sitting up, so that I could look into his eyes. His eyes were filled with so much pain and guilt, that when I first looked into them, they hurt me more than Micah’s bite did. I didn’t want him to be hurting.

“Oh, Logan,” I said quietly, my voice filled with the pain his sadness made me feel. “What happened, it wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t help me.” I looked into his eyes and seeing the darkness still there, lowered my voice. “No one could.”
“That’s right. No one could.”
Both Logan and I looked away from each other, and to where Claudia stood in the doorway. She looked an absolute wreck. Her clothes were bloodied and she had a tare down the front, they were the same ones she’d been wearing the last time I’d seen her. Her hair was matted and fell down in a messy bunch on her shoulders. Her eyes looked strained and they had dark circles under them. She looked like she hadn’t slept a second since I’d gotten bit, which I instantly realised was the case.
“We couldn’t help you,” she said, through her teeth. She looked angry. With herself. “And none of this is your fault Logan.” She paused. “It’s ours.”
“Oh, Claudia. No.” I shook my head, very fast, making the room spin. Oh, not a good idea, I thought.
“Yes.” She sounded on the verge or becoming hysterical. “We were the one’s he tricked. We didn’t even know he was at the Manor until it was too late. He managed to break in and have everyone subdued.” She looked disgusted. “All those vampires and hunters and he still pulled off exactly what he wanted. We were weak.” Her voice shook, and it looked like the wetness in her eyes would spill over any minute. “And you payed the price for that.”
I stared at her, still standing in the doorway. “Oh, Claudia” I spoke softly. I wanted to comfort her, but I wasn’t sure what I could say to make it better. She was so upset and I hated seeing her like that. Claudia, who was so strong and fierce normally, looked so vulnerable. As though she could break at any moment.
This was the side of her that people never saw. The part of her that cared so much, that seeing the people she loved hurt, was enough to make her fall apart. It was the main thing we had in common. Why we were so connected, people didn’t always see that, but we did. And that was what made our friendship so strong.
Logan was looking at Claudia too and I noticed something change in his eyes. They became hard, as though he remembered something. And then looking back at me, they held those emotions for a second, before relaxing a bit and then becoming the same eyes, filled with so much pain, I’d seen before.

“You don’t understand Rox,” Claudia’s voice continued to shake. “We thought you were going to die. Last night. We did everything we could to help get you better, but your body....” she paused “We thought it was going to shut down. And there was nothing to do. I didn’t know how to save you.” She broke down and racing across the room, fell to her knees in front of me. She buried her head into my lap and I felt her tears on my knees.
“You were strong,” Logan told me, standing behind where she knelt. “You fought and you won.”
“Roxi, I felt so helpless. I couldn’t do anything.” She glanced up, looked at Logan first and then at the door behind her. “We couldn’t do anything. Just wait and hope. I honestly couldn’t handle it if I lost you.” She laughed a sad laugh. “No one else likes me. What would I do without you?”
Survive, I thought. She was a strong, powerful person. If something ever happened to me, she’d survive. Even if it didn’t feel like it at the time. She would be able to go on and live her life. I knew that, in the bottom of my heart, I knew.
“Claude,” I told her. “He wasn’t trying to kill me. He knew I’d live.” As I spoke I could feel the truth behind my words. I was completely sure of everything I was saying. I knew Micah, better than anyone. I knew who he was and why he acted the way he did. He hadn’t wanted to kill me. No, he’d just wanted to make to hurt me. To make me feel pain.
Claudia was shaking her head, still in my lap. I could feel tears falling on my skin as she moved her head. “Then why, Roxi? Why do what he did? Tell me.”
I bit my lip, unsure how I should say this. I didn’t want to say something that would make her get even more upset. Thinking over my words, I eventually found a way to put it that didn’t sound so bad. I could see Logan over her shoulder and his expression. He wanted to know what I’d say as much as Claudia did.

I saw Logan’s face, his eyes, and his body language. I could feel Claudia’s head, in my lap, feel her shaking. And I knew the pain Callie and the whole Manor were most likely feeling. They were all upset, all hurting, because I was hurt. I hated him. Oh, god, I hated Micah for doing this! “He was making a point. A point that I am his, and no one else’s,” I said.
“What?” Claudia looked up at me, he eyes now dry. She probably had no tears left. “You think that’s what he meant when he said no one else could have you, that you’d die first? Why not just kill you then?”
I laughed, without any humour. “That would mean that he could never have me. Killing me will be his last resort. His very last. He’ll never do that, thinking he still had a chance. And unfortunately for me, he still thinks’ he does. No. Last night, he was, well....” I broke off, unsure.
“He was staking a claim.” Logan’s voice was quiet, but there was no way to miss the anger and outrage in it. His teeth were clenched; his jaw tight and I saw that his eyes were blazing. Blazing and dangerous.
“Oh, Roxi. I’m so sorry.” Claudia told me, slowly getting to his feet.
“It’s alright, really. It’s alright.” I told her, and honestly it was. I wasn’t going to die from this. My body would continue to heal. I’d still hurt for a while longer, but I’d live. If I could get past this, then there was no reason for her and the rest of the Covenant not to.
“I’ll make him pay for this,” she said angrily. “I promise you I will. I’m gonna cut off all his fingers and make him suffer for a long time before I vanquish him.”
“I’ll hold him down for you,” Logan spoke as if it was a joke, but the way his eyes continued to blaze, made me wonder just how serious he was.

I watched as Claudia gave Logan a ghost of a smile. Her face was starting to look better. She looked like she believed I’d be okay, and I’m guessing that was all she really needed. “Thanks, maybe I’ll let you help” she told him, wiping her nose. “Oh, man. I’m a mess.” Her fingers went to her hair and she made a face. “I’m never gonna get all these knots out.”
I laughed, even though it hurt, I just had to. Logan still looked stiff and furious, but Claudia was starting to look like, and act, more like the Claudia I knew and loved. It made me feel better.
Maybe that’s was why I did what I did next, because the moment I did it, I regretted it. My body protested, but I somehow made the decision to hop off the bed. Big mistake! My legs felt like jelly and no sooner had my feet made contact with the floor, did I feel myself fall towards it.
Lucky for me Logan was a hunter and he had the reflexes of one. “Woah,” he said, reaching out and automatically catching me as I fell. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against his body, so that I was leaning into him.
Okay, I’ll admit. No matter how I felt, I still appreciated being that close to him. It felt good. Real good. I know, I know, I’m insane. Hunter, vampire, it really hasn’t sunk in.
I rested a hand on his chest, trying to steady myself, as my whole world spun and went blurry, again. “You need to rest,” he whispered in my ear, voice serious.
“Come on Rox” Claudia said, with a slightly worried tone in her voice. “You need more sleep, that’s all. You’ll feel better afterwards. Trust me.”
I did trust her, but I was also in no position to argue so I nodded my head in agreement. Which hurt, by the way. I let Logan lead me backwards towards the bed and he helped me lie back down. As my head hit the soft pillow I found myself slipping down again. And quickly, more quickly than before, I fell into the unconscious.