Be Careful What You Wish For

Chapter 22

Cecilia had just enough time to get home and finish her shower before Tobias showed up to check on her. It was evident that he knew something was off, but he had no idea what. She planned to keep it that way.

He noticed all the changes that she had made concerning her looks, and he wasn't sure what to think of them.

"Nice hair," he couldn't help but comment.

"Thanks, I needed a change. New hair for the new me, I guess." She said.

There was something in her voice that he couldn't identify which told him she wasn't being completely honest with him. However, he didn't press the issue, thinking that she had the right to her privacy. After all, it was her life. She didn't owe him any answers. He was just a random guy who saved her.

Still, he didn't like what was happening, he had a bad feeling about it, still, he decided to let her open up when she was ready. As far as he knew, it could have been a strange reaction to the fear of change. Maybe it was her way to gain control over her own life. If you can control small things in your life, you might feel like you have better control of your life in general.

Tobias thought that she might just be going through the fear of change. It was one of the most common fears humans suffered from, and the vampires were no exception. That fear is evolutionary in humans, and it doesn't completely go away once a person turns. Internal predisposition teaches humans to resist change because they always want to stay in control. Interestingly enough, the emotional stress caused by many big life changes (such as your death, becoming a vampire, etc.) can make that fear turn into a phobia.

From the beginning of time, people always preferred routine. For Cecilia, that routine was suddenly and violently broken, and she had to change, to adjust to being a vampire.

Tobias assumed that involved a lot of adjustments, and that wasn't an easy task to undertake. Perhaps for that new routine, the new life, she needed new Cecilia.

Even if that was true, her choice was odd to him. It was a very seductive look, and having gotten to know her in the time she spent in his house, he didn't see her as a woman who would flaunt her sexuality.

Although those kinds of questions and doubts kept going through his head, he didn't say anything to Cecilia. What could he say? You are too attractive? You changed in a way I didn't expect?

All those things would sound odd and unwelcome. She was her own woman, well vampire, and she was able to choose her attire and style without a man's help.

Cecilia could see the struggle in his eyes but felt relieved that he didn't make any further comments on her new look. They talked about other things, instead.

She told him about the great job she had, and how she was finally getting used to being a vampire. It took a lot of effort to talk to him because she was hiding things from him, and she had to make careful half-truths so that he wouldn't notice. The conversation between the two of them was always so natural that it felt strange to her to be so careful when talking with Tobias.

Although she didn't like it, she found it necessary. He would try to stop her from going through with her plan, and she couldn't let that happen. Not when she was so close to her goal.

Stanton hired her, so the next step would be joining his clan. Then she would learn all there is to know about them and use it to slaughter them slowly, one by one. She would leave Stanton as the last one so that the rumors of his friends' strange deaths could reach him.

He would be frightened of the bloody faith that awaited him, and then she would come and put a stake through his heart slowly and painfully. Blood would spurt all around her, and she would just laugh and say: "The revenge is finally mine, you fiend."

After that, she would cut his head off, and put it in one of his jars for 'special collection'. Finally, she would drag his body to some deserted area and burn it until it turned to ashes, which the wind would blow away.

She got so carried away, daydreaming, that her fangs sprang out in anticipation of the kill.

"Cecilia! Cecilia! Are you okay?" Tobias's voice finally reached her.

He had been calling her for quite some time without her noticing. So much for keen vampire senses. It must have been the consequence of too vivid imaginings of murder and mayhem.

"Yeah, yeah, I am fine. I guess I am just a bit hungry." She said as she went to get some blood from the fridge.

"You have to be very careful. I know that it seems like you are in control now, but if you don't feed regularly chances for you to slip up are higher." Tobias chastised her.

"I know, I will be more careful I promise." She said as she bit into one of the bags of blood.

At least she became a bit better at drinking the blood, less messy. At first, she always spilled all over her, but in recent months, she learned how to drink it without looking like a murderer.

Of course, she could have drunk it from a glass, Tobias did that, but for her, it was much tastier if she bit her teeth into the bag. She guessed that it was probably because it reminded her of the real thing, of biting into the gentle human flesh and...

She stopped her train of thought before she got the chance to go any further with the desires that she had to put to rest.

After a few hours of strained chat, Tobias realized that she wouldn't tell him what was bothering her, and he decided to leave her alone, hoping that she would ask him for help if she needed it.

Once he left, Cecilia was finally able to relax. She had to rest for a while because she had a challenging day and the next few days would be even more difficult.

She needed those monsters to like her, but not too much. What she needed more than anything else, was for them to trust her, and she spent hours thinking about all the possible ways she could earn their trust.

It was difficult to plan things out since Stanton never seemed to follow the norm. Since she wasn't able to predict his interview questions chances were she wouldn't be able to predict his other actions either.

Instead of sticking to the plan, she decided to improvise to make decisions as the situation developed. It was very risky, but it was the only thing that could work with someone as unpredictable as Stanton.

Cecilia knew she was risking being staked, but her desire for revenge was stronger than her survival instinct. All her senses were telling her that she should just give up and not take the risk, but she ignored every last one of them because the fire of revenge was burning too strongly in her.

It wasn't only that. She despised what they did, and thought they should be stopped. Who better to stop them, then the person they murdered in cold blood?

For Cecilia that sounded like poetic justice. Having finally decided on the tactic she fell asleep comfortably snuggled in her cozy coffin.