Chapter Ten

Standing in the seventeen-year-old’s bedroom, Kaeo acted more on instinct than on common sense. She knew that someone would notice the smell sooner or later and that they would check out wherever it was coming from. They’d have to get out of the house before that managed to happen, or else she’d be in the back of a police car being questioned. No one would by any story she’d come up with and the truth would make her sound insane.

‘Whose hand was that? God, I don’t even want to know.’ The fifteen-year-old shuddered, fearing that she’d find the answer herself if she stuck around. ‘This shouldn’t have happened.’

Every piece of information given to her on newborns showed her that this was a strange occurrence. While it was common for newborns to attack and feed on any human near, that was when their transformation was complete. Lea was still human and she had been able to kill her entire family with her limited strength and collapsing physical form. The girl had become a living corpse, her body was extremely frail and yet she tore a handoff.

Once she got Lea safely to the manor, she’d have to tell Zachary what she found. She didn't doubt he’d scold her for sneaking out but he needed to know what happened. This was a huge development and she was scared that Lea would awaken bloodthirsty and violent. She might attack Kaeo in an attempt to feed and then the child would be forced to subdue her friend. She didn’t want it to ever come to that.

Grabbing some of Lea's things, she threw them into a nearby bag. She knew it would be too risky to try and come back later for them so she grabbed what she thought would be needed. Jackets, shirts, shoes, etc were thrown into the bag. She looked around and saw that the older teenager had her phone out. Fearful, she threw it into the bag with everything else in her reach. They could worry about what exactly she was grabbing when they were safe, she was running out of time.

'Hopefully, I'll be allowed to go get some new things for her to wear.' Kaeo doubted that she'd get away from this incident punishment-free.

It would be hard to explain why she snuck out without revealing her plan to the others. She hoped that they would overlook what she did and focus on the important part. A newborn killing their entire family so quickly was lingering in her mind. What if Lea was uncontrollable? What if she attacked Momo or Zachary? Kaeo was too afraid to even imagine those scenarios happening.

If Lea ended up attacking one of her family members, they would harm her. They would hold Kaeo back and take out their rage on the newborn. Even if she was Kaeo's, she feared that they wouldn't respect the fact and hurt the girl in any way possible. Just acknowledging the fact that Lea was her "property* disgusted the fifteen-year-old.

Owning someone was something that sickened her. Just the idea of being able to hold somebody's life over their head was gross and immoral. It was a form of modern-day slavery in her eyes but it wasn't like the child had any other choices. She had debated this with herself enough already and there was no way she could back out now. Wordlessly, she promised to never treat Lea as a lesser person. That she'd make it clear that she tried everything in her power to save her.

She stuffed as many pieces of clothing she could into the bag, zipping it closed. Carrying both Lea and the bag would be a struggle, but they needed to leave. Kaeo would just have to use the front door. Jumping out of the window was too dangerous with the extra weight and her lack of energy. The lack of food she had eaten was starting to affect her, she moved slower than before.

Kaeo carefully picked the seventeen-year-old up, holding her tight but not too tight to cause her to awaken. It was freakish with how light she had become despite the teenager being taller than her. It wasn't like she was holding a nearly grown woman, but a younger child. Taking note of this, she made sure to be as gentle as possible with the girl in her arms.

If Lea had been normal, she may have died from such a rapid waste loss. The child believed that the possession was what kept her heart beating and her lungs full. Whatever member of her kind that took over her body was refusing to let her go. She was unsure if she should be thankful for what that meant or horrified that Lea was most likely in even more pain than previously known.

The bag weighed more sitting against her knees as she walked. Lea shivered in her arms and Kaeo considered taking off her jacket to cover her up. But she was scared that in doing so, she would wake the sickly girl up and frighten her. It bothered her to do so, but she left her uncovered, feeling her trembling every few seconds as she left the home.

It was hard not to stare at the mess the home has become. Lea's family hadn't gone down without a fight, there were clear signs of a struggle all around them. Chairs toppled over or thrown aside, there were tracks of blood near the front door itself and a bloody handprint on the doorknob. She wished none of it had happened, but newborns were careless heartless creatures. They never were given a chance in this type of life. But, she would give Lea a chance no matter what, even if it was only a chance in the life of immortality.

Immortality was something Kaeo didn’t like to think about. Nonhumans like herself would live multiple centuries, moving around in the shadows to avoid suspicion. They could go to school with humans, but eventually, they would have to disappear and move on to the next town. Subjecting Lea to a life like that shouldn’t have been her choice, but it was.

Her heart was in pain, seeing the way Lea curled up into her chest in her dying human body. If she had been like her cousins or even her parents, she didn’t think she'd make the right choice. Leaving the seventeen-year-old to be consumed from whatever was possessing her, would be heartless. Allowing Momo or someone else to kill her, may have been misery.

But Kaeo was selfish. The words spoken to her by Zachary repeated in her head, sinking deep into her mind and influencing her actions. ‘She has that bit of humanity you can take for yourself. Become her saviour.’ It was strange to think of it like that, but with Lea in her arms safe and sound, his words started to make a lot more sense.

***

“You aren’t in trouble, Mistress.”

When the fifteen-year-old heard the man’s voice, she looked up, her face covered in a faint blush. She had been staring intensely into the room they both stood in front of, her hands clenching at the ends of her sleeves anxiously. It was easy to tell that she had been crying previously with her eyes slightly bloodshot and her nose runny. Weakly, she wiped at it and struggled to meet his gaze.

“You may imprint on her once she awakens,” Zachary walked over to her with his hands in the pockets of his suit jacket. He was dressed properly, having been busy with business before coming to check on the small teenager. “Are you alright, Mistress?”

“I feel like a monster, Zachary. She’s hooked up to all those tubes, she looks like she’s already dead.” Kaeo watched as a few of the maids helped prepare the bedroom for the newborn when she woke up from her hibernation. It was scary to watch from the sidelines while they tried to make the unconscious teenager comfortable, her body so frail that her bones were breaking.

She wanted Lea to be left alone, but her state was so rare that they wouldn’t allow it. Every maid with some sort of medical knowledge was on staff. They took notes for future reference and made sure to watch over from afar in case of an emergency. It was hard to watch, Kaeo wanted to help but she was struggling to build up the courage to even ask.

What would she even do? Standing around, waiting for Lea to wake up served no purpose besides worsening her mental health. But Kaeo didn’t know what else to do. It made her feel lost, she felt like a murderer. She hadn’t done anything to the seventeen-year-old but she had lied to her. Even if it was by omission, she had lied to her.

And now, an entire family was dead because of her lies. It didn’t take long for a neighbor to notice the front door ajar and when they investigated the disturbance, the whole neighborhood heard their screams. She was forced to watch the broadcast detailing what was thought to be a brutal story of a teen going feral on their loved ones.

People were looking for Lea everywhere. They had sent dogs out into the nearby woods and farmland, hoping that it was just an animal attack. That the teen would be found alive and not be the one responsible for such a tragedy. She had to turn off the television, seeing the tear-filled eyes of Lea’s relatives who were contacted was too much for her to handle.

In one night, their worlds had been destroyed. College roommates, cousins, ex-boyfriends, everyone offered their condolences for the family. Kaeo hated herself hearing the twin's daycare release a statement about how this had affected every toddler and teacher that worked with them. A small part of her had hoped that somehow Lea would recognize her baby brothers, that she’d allow them to live.

To her horror, it appeared she got to them first. The twins were found in their beds, they were fast asleep when their older sister had started to eat them. The police deduced that the parents heard the twins screaming and they ran to try to get help. Only, this made them an even bigger target for their executioner.

"You aren't responsible for her actions Kaeo. You did what you could and because of that, you were able to save her life." Zachary touched her arm, holding it tightly to comfort the panicking child.

"She wasn't in control of her actions either. Lea would never hurt her family." She whispered, feeling exhausted and torn from what had happened throughout that month. Everything in her screamed to run away from this, to walk away from what she had done.

"You are only a child," He touched her chin and lifted it so they were forced to look at one another. "You have to think of the future from now on. Lea and the clan are going to become your everything for the next few years."

"My everything? But my parents are coming back–" No, he had to be lying. She felt her human form fracture bit by bit as she became more stressed. The possibility of not returning to Thailand with Lea, to be here forever destroyed her. Her parents had promised this stay would only be temporary.

A lesson to teach her to work harder for what she had. They had to take her back, it wouldn't be safe for them to stay with the rest of the clan. They were violent and power-hungry while Lea was too weak to even fight back. They could take Lea from her and they would never see each other again.

And then who would protect her? No one would bother. They wouldn’t see the newborn for who she was beneath the killer instincts and feral behavior. They’d treat her like an animal, sick her on any human they wanted to feast upon in their disgusting form of training. Nobody would tell her about her parent's deaths or worse they’d warp what happened into lies.

Going back to Thailand wasn’t their only option, but it was the best. Her parents raised her as a human with their values and morals instilled into her upbringing. Their home was in a wealthy area that was safer than any place with the clan. Her mother would treat Lea like a daughter and so would her kind-hearted stepmother.

The two women would accept the teenager with open arms. Any harm directed towards them would be thwarted and dealt with swiftly. After a while, the seventeen-year-old could pick up some basic phrases from their language and go to school. She would be allowed to heal for as long as she wanted to and Kaeo would be relieved.

"They said that you should stay for another seven months and then they'll take you back." He grabbed her shoulders, the teenager paling. She felt nauseated from the revelation that her parents weren’t letting her come yet, despite the danger they were in.

“I know you’re upset about what's happened, Mistress. But your parents have requested your safety and weekly reports on what you are doing from me. Along with anything on Lea’s condition.”

Kaeo wiped at her eyes, feeling tears blossom and fall on her cheeks. “Thank you. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without your help, Zachary.” Even though the man had made her increasingly uncomfortable in the past, his sudden protectiveness was appreciated for the matter at hand. He was strong enough to protect Lea whenever she wasn’t near him.

Watching the maids leave the bedroom that housed the teenager, she felt her chest tighten. She placed her hand on the window’s glass, sniffling. Lea looked like she was dead from afar. There were more tubes in her small, decaying body than the fifteen-year-old could count. She was breathing with the help of some sort of machine, her chest moving up and down weakly.

No one deserved to live like that, a life of constant pain as you wait to meet your maker. She was a corpse and if she had just warned her, maybe it wouldn’t have happened this way. Now, she could feel the blood all over her hands from the family’s death. Kaeo’s bottom lip trembled and she made herself look away. Her body was heavy as she tried not to cry so openly in front of the older man.

“Please,” Her voice was a whimper of what it had been minutes earlier. “Please take me to my room. I can’t watch her suffer from my mistakes.”

“Of course, Mistress.” Zachary held her close as they left the hallway, closing the blinds to the window giving them an opening to the room they looked in.