The drive there took longer than I remember it taking. Long enough for the sun to set.

Even with the covering that Nico's hoodie gave me, and the warmth from the other girls behind me, the wind caused by the drive here left me shivering.

I pulled the collar of the hoodie over my nose as the car rolled down to a stop, inhaling Nico's scent in an effort to calm myself down.

I just have to get through two nights here.

That's it. Just two nights, then ill be back to Nico.

I just have to get through this, and then he's going to take me somewhere.

I kept repeating those kinds of things in my head, forcing myself to slow down my breathing.

But even that couldn't ease my nerves entirely.

All I could see outside of the cattle car was pitch blackness.

This clinic was far from the city, enough so that I couldn't even see the city lights.

I could barely even see any stars through the cloud filled sky.

I instinctively jumped once I heard the driver door of this car slam shut.

"Alright, boys! Unload em' and gather em' up!" One of the vampires yelled to the others.

It didn't take long before the sound of shoes on gravel hit our ears and a bunch of glowing eyes came into view, opening up the car we were in and taking us out.

I just then realized how much their eyes unnerved me.

I had forgotten because all I had seen recently were Nico's.

One by one the pets in front of me were taken out and lined up in front of where I think I remembered the clinic being.

They were doing things differently than I remembered...

As soon as the girl in front of me had been taken, I adjusted the hoodie enough to where my bite mark could be easily seen.

I was taken not too long after.

A vampire with deep blue eyes undid the chain connecting me to the roof and grabbed my leash near the clasp.

I quickly and quietly followed behind him, already guessing by the way that he grabbed my leash that he didn't have a lot of patience.

He lead me to where the other pets were, lining me next to another girl before leaving to get another.

I stayed as still as possible, trying to focus on regaining some warmth.

The other girls around me whispered and whimpered to each other, most of them shivering as well.

About five more minutes passed before the lights in the front of the clinic flashed on, causing me to flinch my head away and shield my eyes.

"Alright pets," A Vampire standing in front of the crowd of pets yelled, "All of you should know by now how this works, but as I've learned over the years, you humans are too incompetent to remember and it pisses me off having to repeat myself so listen up!"

My eyes finally got used to the light as he spoke.

There were vampires surrounding us, making it absolutely impossible for one of us to escape.

Most of them were holding a long whip of some kind, making my stomach turn.

I even met eyes with the vampire that took me to the car for a brief moment before I returned my gaze to the front.

I didn't feel so good.

"The checkups start tomorrow morning after breakfast. Until then you'll be kept in cages with one other pet. It's up to you do decide who you're sharing with because none of us could care enough to do it for you."

A quiet murmur began from the pets surrounding me.

This was definitely different from all my past checkups here.

The pets quieted as soon as he spoke again.

"If you're not asleep by 11 you better be quiet because if you manage to wake one of us up, let me assure you, you won't like the consequences."

I could feel my heart beating harder in my chest.

"Let me just make myself clear right here and right now. This is not a vacation for you. This isn't a break from your life as property. If you screw around or step out of line, I'm sure you're masters won't mind us correcting your disrespectful behavior in any manner we see necessary. Am I clear?"

Many of the pets just nodded, not sure as to whether he actually wanted us to talk back to him.

He smiled a cheeky grin, knowing that a couple of us were already bound to mess up.

A couple of us did every year...

It either ended up with them being whipped, beaten or fed from. Usually by the vampire in charge.

"Excellent," He basically purred, licking his top lip, "Now pair up!"

The girls around me immediately began scurrying around to find someone to share a cage with.

Many of the girls just picked the one next to them, but the girls on either side of me already had someone.

My heart immediately began racing as my eyes searched the crowd of girls for someone available.

If I took to long to find someone, I could get punished.

These vampires hated it when we took too long to do something this simple.

With that thought in mind, I nearly yelped when someone's cold hand grabbed my wrist.

In fact, when I turned to see who it was, I let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Are y-y-you um... available?" Doe asked with an awkward smile through her shivering, looking down at me wide-eyed.

I hadn't even realized until now that Doe was a couple inches taller than me.

I quickly nodded my head, covering her hand with my own in a small effort to warm them.

Doe was probably the person I was most comfortable with here.

Despite our weird past and the limited times we've actually interacted, I could feel a kind of trust between us.

It was hard to explain, but... I don't know I was glad that I had here with me right now.

"Holy crap you're warm." She commented quietly, looking down at where our hands were touching.

I quickly glanced over what she was wearing.

Although she was wearing long sleeves, that alone obviously wasn't going to be enough.

And even though I knew that I wasn't exactly warm, I knew that I was warmer than her.

So, I pulled her closer to me, wrapping my arms around her middle.

She quickly returned the favor, holding onto me very tightly before whispering a very heartfelt thanks.

I felt like us pets needed to look out for each other. We were all in basically the same situation right now so we all needed some form of comfort and someone to lean on.

I could feel this weird connection between all us pets. Kind of like a mutual understanding that were there for each other.

I could feel it exceptionally well with Doe since I already knew what her life was like with Xander.

Hopefully, this visit won't be so bad with her around. Hopefully, we can help each other get through this until we're reunited with our masters.

~~~