ALL NOVEL The Hudson Clan
**TW: Mention of mind control**
My eyes lazily opened. My teeth hurt. The last thing I remembered was Chelsea by my side and her words.
“Hel—” I went to speak but stopped the second I heard my voice. It sounded light and airy. It sounded like Chelsea’s. This was a woman’s voice. Not the normal timbre I heard myself at.
“Hello?” I finished the word this time. I sat up with a hand on my chest trying to feel for the normal vibrations I felt when I spoke. I didn’t feel sad that my old voice was gone, just surprised. I hadn’t expected anything this drastic when Chelsea explained the situation.
My hand reached my chest and I was even more taken aback. Holy shit I had boobs! They looked about the same size as Chelsea’s and I felt a little creeped out.
Am I really gonna look like that girl’s twin or something?
The thought kind of scared me as I thought I might lose my sense of self. For some reason, the whole idea about being trans didn’t really scare me anymore. I was more worried about the vampirism. Would this mean I had to kill people? Could I be okay with that? Would I look just like Chelsea?
I shook myself from my thought as I looked around the room. It looked like the room I was in before, only reversed. I must’ve been on the other side of the house or something. There was a big difference this time; I wasn’t tied up and I was dressed. I wore satin sleeping shorts and a soft oversized t-shirt that looked expensive.
Are all vampires this loaded or just Pures?
I felt extremely comfortable, but still a little shocked at how right it felt to be in women’s sleep clothes. My new sexual organ felt way more correct than my previous one ever did. I thought about losing what I had just gained and only felt dread. It was like I was more connected to my current body.
I went to get up when the door opened.
“What’s up lil sis? You ok?”
It was Tory. I guess she was my new sister. This felt weird. Was I gonna just forget about my previous family? Wait, ‘previous’? Why did this all feel so natural? For some reason, I was sad it wasn’t Chelsea at the door.
“Um, yeah. I think so. This whole thing is just a little jarring.” I laid back down in huff as I pulled the soft covers up to my neck.
“I’m sure it is. The change sucked for me, but I didn’t have to go through as much as you. I should introduce you to some of your cousins who have!”
“That would be nice.” I smiled warmly at Tory. I really did feel a strong connection to her. I didn’t know why though. It felt like she really was my sister. Was this the vampire blood making changes to my psyche? Was this why I wasn’t really freaking about changing so much?
“I did have a question though. Where’s Chelsea? She said she’d stay by my side until I woke up. I remember that.”
“She had some business with another clan. Apparently, someone from the Upper West Side was feeding all the way down here. That’s a no-go. You feed in your own territory, no matter your age.”
“Wait, so I can’t leave SoHo?”
“No, you just can’t feed anywhere higher than 97th Street. Chelsea controls the lower side of Manhattan. Two clans control the island. The Hudson's and and the James’. Chelsea’s a Hudson. They’ve been here since the Dutch founded New Amsterdam. The James’ have been here since it became New York. In my opinion, the James clan are all little leaches that stole from Chelsea’s family.”
My eyes glazed over a little as I took in what she just said.
How old was Chelsea? A Hudson? Like the Hudson river?
I was also a little confused, but, for some reason, I felt like I totally agreed with what she said about the James clan. I didn’t even know vampire politics, but I was already ready to condemn a whole group. What the hell? I’d have to talk to Chelsea about that because I didn’t feel like Victoria could give me a straight answer.
“Hey, Victoria?”
“Hmm?”
“How old are you?”
“Oh, I think I’m coming up around my 200th year! So, 199 right now.”
My mouth fell open.
“But you look 20!”
“Why thank you!” she said with a smile then continued, “You stay the age you were when you get turned. You’ll be stuck at however old you are now forever.”
The concept of eternity shook me to my core. What does forever even mean? Eternal youth does sound pretty nice though.
My stomach began to ache.
“Euugh! My stomach hurts!” I sighed the words in a grumble as I gripped my sides. It was like everything started hurting at once. I opened my mouth and felt my gums around my canines.
“Why does everything hurt now?!” I stared at Victoria, hoping the pain would stop.
“It comes in waves, but the hunger never goes away. You learn to live with it. Once you can feed on your own, it gets a lot easier.”
“Can I eat now?” I said the words excitedly. I was already salivating at the thought of tasting blood again.
“No. Chelsea has to feed you. You can’t drink anything other than what she gives you or you’ll die for real.”
“What??”
“It’s got something to do with a Feeder and Turned relationship. If the Turned eats anything else than what the Feeder provides they die. Chelsea says it’s because the vampires who survived longest had that trait when they turned people and those who didn’t died off. The Turned would inevitably do something stupid and give up their Feeder which led to the extermination of that line by the humans.”
“So it’s like an evolutionary trait?”
“Yeah, basically. Chelsea keeps me pretty out of the loop on most things. Says she doesn’t want me be worried about it. I don’t really ask though.”
I nodded my head. The pain still hurt, but I guess I’d just have to bear it.
I started to go to stand. Victoria rushed over to me.
“Hold on. You might not want to get up yet. Everything’s gonna feel pretty weird.”
“I don’t care. I need to pee.” My face scrunched up in thought. “Wait a second. Why do I need to pee? I thought I was basically dead.”
“Vampires aren’t exactly dead though. Bodily functions still work pretty much like normal. The only difference is that it’s based on what you intake. If you drink water or anything, it has to exit your body somehow. Same with food. So not really any different, except that we don’t really get a period or anything. Pregnancy works differently for vampires.”
“Hmm. Okay, so basically normal body?” I didn't even want to think about getting pregnant. How the hell did that work?
“Yup.”
“Can I go to the bathroom then?” I looked down at Victoria’s arm preventing me from swinging my legs off the bed.
“Ok, sure. But, do you need help? I know you’ve got a lot new for you.”
“Uggggh, I don’t want you to, but I might need it so come on. Let me move a little at least.”
She moved her hand and I went to get up from the bed. My feet touched the floor and I went to stand. The world seemed a lot bigger. Apparently, I’d lost quite a few inches in height so this wasn’t too big of a surprise, just weird. Victoria put an arm around me to support me. The pain in my stomach ached and stabbed at me.
I turned and noticed that I was the same height as Victoria. I guess this was a permanent thing then. We were both turned by Chelsea and I’m pretty sure they were the same height when I met them. Looking closer at her face, I definitely saw bits of Chelsea there. The eyes were the exact same. Dark Indigo, close to a black, with little sparkles. The nose looked similar and the chin. She was gorgeous in her own right, but Chelsea had an essence about her that Victoria lacked. Her hair was the same jet black as Chelsea, though. Chelsea’s statment about losing my red hair repeated through my mind.
I was sad I was losing some of my individuality. The thought caused me to reach up and look at my own hair. It was still the same color it was yesterday. Hopefully, it stayed that way.
I pushed my weight onto Victoria as I went to take a step. I felt weak and in pain. The step barely happened. I looked at the floor trying to keep my balance and not put too much of a burden on Victoria.
The floor around the bed was a plush rug. It looked expensive. Reaching the edge of the rug, the beautiful dark cherry wood made up the rest of the room. Even the walls looked rich. I could see the bathroom from where I stood and the beautiful tile made up the massive looking room.
I guess being one of the original founders of New York came with money.
I began to take simple, slow steps. Finding a rhythm, I gripped Victoria’s black sweatshirt. The girl was in a black hoodie and grey sweat pants. She looked comfortable.
I felt like I was pulling the fabric a bit too hard so I tried to put more weight on myself. The process was grueling, but we eventually passed the door of the bathroom. Victoria used her free hand to switch on the light. My eyes felt assaulted.
“Why does the light hurt so fucking bad?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot. It’s a thing with fledglings. When you’re turning, your eyes are adjusting to have night vision and almost any light feels like you’re smacking you forehead with a hammer. Honestly, you won’t be able to see in here without it, so you’ll just have to deal with it.”
“Fine.” I grunted. My voice still sounded weird. I pushed the thought away. That was too much for now. Focus on the toilet.
The room was massive. I think it was bigger than my entire apartment by itself. There was a large shower that had a bench built into the wall. It looked like it was there to enjoy the steam of the shower. The huge showerhead looked to have a million tiny little holes for streams of water. The sage green marble made up the whole of the shower with beautiful metallic pieces for the shower controls. The bench had a dark piece of wood that made it stand out. The clear glass made it obvious this house had a maid. It was too clean. There was even a bathtub in the corner with jacuzzi jets. It was similar to the shower, but had a porcelain inlay. I followed the beige tile to the toilet with Victoria’s help.
I finally reached it. Victoria helped me go and it was a weird experience. Different muscles and everything. After I finished, I was taught how to wipe and then got up to wash my hands. Victoria flushed the toilet for me then went back to helping me walk to the sink.
I put my hands on the marble and used it as a crutch to work my way to one of the sinks. I looked up at the mirror and saw myself for the first time since the change.
My eyes had been green before, but now the same dark indigo that both Chelsea and Victoria had stared back at me. My hair was about double the length and I felt a rip of sadness strike through me as I saw the roots of my hair. It looked like I had forgot to dye my hair in a few months. The dark black color seemed to originate from the part in my hair. After the initial shock of my hair, I saw my face. I looked like a girl. My lips looked fuller, my jaw looked slimmer, and my forehead looked trimmed back. Even after hearing what Chelsea said, I didn’t know what to expect. I looked adorable. If I saw me yesterday, I would’ve been to shy to say anything but marvel in this woman’s beauty. I thought back to how speechless I had been in front of Chelsea. Could I do that to people now? Victoria stood behind me in the mirror, but her face peaked out over my hunched shoulder. We really did look like sisters. It looked like I had just rebelled a bit and dyed my hair.
Victoria spoke up, “Pretty right?” She smiled. “I told Chelsea I wanted to be here for this part. I’m sad she didn’t get to see it. You love the way you look don’t you? I can see it all over your face.”
“I guess there’s no use in lying.”
She giggled. “Chelsea really is good at picking who she turns. Did you know you’re only the sixth person in her direct bloodline?”
“That seems impossibly low,” I said as I squeezed some soap onto my hand.
“She doesn’t like to turn a lot of people. Only chooses special cases. I was kind of surprised when she ran up to you last night. She rarely ever visits me when I work and that was a special night.” She looked at me through the mirror.
I began to wash my hands.
“Where are her other turns?”
“Most of them are living on their own. I’m the only one who still lives in SoHo with her.”
“Why?” I asked as I turned the water off and took the towel from Victoria’s outreached hand.
“None of them have the blood bond.”
“The what?” I steadied myself against the marble as I turned around to face her.
“I’ll explain it in a second. It’d be hard to talk while helping you back to bed.”
“Alright.” I wrapped my arm around her back and gripped her hoodie again. She supported me again and we slowly made our way back to the bed. She helped me climb in the tall thing too.
“Okay spill, what's a blood bond?” I asked trying to make my best puppy dog face.
“Jeez, you’re cute without trying. This isn’t even fair!” She laughed while she spoke, but quickly continued. “A blood bond is pretty rare. It basically makes Turned the exact same as Pure Bloods. A lot of Pures have this thing that makes them relatively nice towards their parents. The same thing is true for a blood bond. If you have it, it makes you stronger at the cost of basically tethering your existence to your creator. It’s best to have a blood bond to a Pure because they rarely die, but, if your creator dies, you die. There’s some other draw backs too. Being blood bonded means you mostly agree with your creator and their mood directly feeds yours.”
“Ok, that’s a lot. How do you know if you’re blood bonded?”
“It’s hard to explain, but you’d probably have to ask Chelsea about it. Why, do you think you are?”
“I don’t know! You just told me what it even was.” I sighed as I pushed into the head board. “Maybe though. I don’t know why but I feel this connection to you and Chelsea. Like a protective connection and earlier I thought of my Mom as my ‘previous family’ and Chelsea and you as my family. Plus, I totally understood what you meant by the James clan are pricks, but I don’t even know who they are.”
“I mean that all sounds pretty similar to a blood bond, but we’d have to ask Chelsea to be sure. It’s not an everyday thing. I’d be sooooo happy if you were though!” she squealed the last part. “It’s been years since Chelsea turned anyone and they always leave.” She frowned.
That concerned me. Why did everyone leave if they weren’t blood bonded? Was it like a mind control? Was Chelsea really a shitty person? She didn’t seem like it. She seemed so nice.
“Why do they always leave?”
“I’m not sure.” She had sat next to me on the bed and laid down the opposite of me. My head sat against the headboard next to her feet, while her head was closer to the foot of the bed next to my feet. It felt nice. She really did feel like a sister. I didn’t have any siblings before so I didn’t really know what it felt like. I sighed as we sat in silence. The pain was still making my stomach turn.
“Hey, Victoria.”
“Yeah?”
“Can I call you—ack!” The pain stabbed on the left side of my stomach, catching me off guard. Another sharp pain began to pulse in my mouth. Regaining control of myself, I saw Victoria looking at me sympathetically. “Sorry,” I continued, “can I call you Tory?”
She smiled and began to push up from her position.
“Of course! You can call me sis too if you want! Oh I already like you a lot!”
She pulled me into a strong hug. The abrupt movement made the new weight on my chest feel a little weird. I felt weak, but it felt nice to be hugged. I sighed and began to cry as I hugged her back.
“Are you ok?” she said without letting go. I guess she could feel me begin to cry or maybe hear it.
“I think I will be. This is just a lot to take in.”
She pulled back from the hug and cupped my cheek wiping away some of my tears.
“I know. Look, I’m gonna go call Chelsea. You must be starving. It’ll help everything feel more normal.”
“Okay.” I said while I wiped away the rest of my tears. I laid back down as she left the room. The pain still clawing at my sides and mouth.
***
“Ok, I’m home!”
I wasn’t quite asleep, but I think I was almost there. Chelsea’s voice pulled me from my close slumber as the door opened. Tory walked in with her.
“Hi.” I said groggily. The new voice was weird to hear again, but it really was growing on me.
“Oh, you sound divine! And let me get a look at you! Cute as a button, I’d say! What do you think Tory?”
“She looks gorgeous, but that was expected.”
“I know, but it’s been quite a while since we last experienced this. This particular case is a new one for me you know.”
I perked up. “I’m still here, you know?”
Chelsea turned from facing Tory. She looked more professional today. She wore a black and white pant suit and looked like she just came from an office in the Financial District. I didn’t even know what time it was. Was I fired yet? I was supposed to report in once I got settled.
“I know, honey. I just haven’t had a real chance to talk to Tory-boo about you yet.” She grabbed Tory’s cheeks while she spoke.
“Stopppp,” Tory said while batting away Chelsea’s hand.
Chelsea laughed and turned back toward me.
“Okay, enough fun. You must be famished.” She pulled out another blood bag.
“Where do you get those?” I asked.
“Every clan has a way to procure blood bags. The conglomerate deals with getting people into the necessary positions.”
“Is it just some random person’s blood then?”
“Yes and no. It’s usually people we clear as ‘good’ blood. Meaning they are generally nicer people. I don’t know why, but the blood of garbage human beings tastes terrible. I guess it’s not really a far jump. Along with that, you have to drink the blood of women so this is from one.”
“Huh? I have limits on who I can drink from?”
“Yeah, I’m not really sure on why that one’s a thing, but some strange things happen if you drink a man’s blood.” She shuddered.
Tory looked like she was gonna puke. I felt a spark go through me as I felt disgusted. What the hell?
“I feel sick.” I groaned and hunched over grabbing my stomach.
I looked up just enough to see Victoria’s eyes go wide.
“Oh yeah! I forgot to mention, Chels. I think she’s blood bonded. Also, when are we gonna give her a name. I don’t like calling her ‘her’.”
I sat back up as the feeling faded a little. I could see Chelsea’s face clearly. She looked pleased.
“I knew you were special.” She grabbed my cheek and I imitated Tory in batting her hand away.
“God, you act just like a mom!” I huffed.
“I am! I’m over 700 years old and have 6 direct children. It kinda comes with the territory.” She laughed. I was still baffled to hear how old she was.
“And, on the topic of blood bonding, we’ll look into that after you feed. The name thing isn’t really for us to decide Tory. It’s for her.” She turned back to me. “What name do you want to be called?”
I thought about it for a moment. One name really shot out at me. It was like it was all I could think about for a second.
Isabelle.
That was weird. I hadn’t thought of myself as a girl yesterday, so why was picking a name so easy? Is this some weird bond thing?
I finally spoke up. “Can we try Isabelle?”
“Of course, honey!” Chelsea responded. “And if you want to change it later, don’t worry. We won’t slip up!”
Tory nodded quickly.
I felt happy. A warmth spread through me and I couldn’t help a small smile appearing on my face. These two people, who were strangers yesterday, felt like family today.
“Okay then, Isabelle, are you hungry?” She pulled the bag up again waggling it back and forth.
Hearing someone call me Isabelle for the first time made me feel like my head just exploded. The little me’s in my brain were running around like everything was on happy fire. Wow, I really was trans and I wouldn’t have figured out for so long.
“Um, yes!” I bounced up and down on the bed excitedly and my mouth began to salivate again. I really couldn’t wait to feed.
She popped the top off and the aroma made all my synapses fire off.
“One quick thing.” Chelsea pulled the bag back a little. “There will be changes after this feed, okay? They won’t hurt as bad as the first one did, but it’ll still suck. I can give you my blood again right after, but it’ll probably make the pain after last longer like it did this time and you’ll forget a little bit. Do you want me to do that or do you want to tough it out?”
“So I hurt so badly today because I drank your blood after feeding?”
“It heals you while the changes occur. Instead of happening all at once and being done, my blood makes it take twice the amount of time. That makes you feel the pain longer.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that the first time?”
“I asked! Plus, it was almost a given I’d give you my blood for the first feed. Especially since your trans. Bones shifting around hurts like hell.”
“I think I’ll try no blood this time and see how it goes.”
“Okay!”
As much as the idea of relief sounded appealing, I had a feeling their were little catches that might come with drinking a Pure’s blood. I’d have to look into that when I felt better.
She pushed the bag back towards me and I snatched at it. Tory looked surprised, but Chelsea looked pleased. I began to drink and similar feelings took over. It felt longer this time than the first time. The pleasure still rocked my world. The pain in my sides started to feel numb. My gums felt a weird, but not uncomfortable anymore. I relaxed for as long as I could, while I waited for the changes to start.
“I told you she was fast,” Chelsea said to Tory.
“Holy shit! That was about 1-2 seconds! It took me 12 and Macie 10. We were the fastest before you.”
I was confused. Was this not normal? I was about to ask, when the pain started in my shoulders and scalp.
“Agh!” I tried to take a deep breath. I’ve got this.
Chelsea and Tory looked worried.
“I’m okay. I swear. I can get through this.”
The crack of bones sounded through the room. My shoulders seemed to be changing. The pain was immeasurable. I ground my teeth. At one point, I thought I’d chip some until suddenly there was a towel in my mouth. I looked up at Tory giving me a calming smile. It felt like it took ages, but, finally, the pain stopped. My scalp felt tingly as I caught sight of my hair. Black as the night. I guess I was forever changed.
“Are there anymore changes that involves my bones shifting?” I asked exhausted.
“Probably your hips, legs, and feet.” Chelsea looked at me with a sheepish grin. I glared at her. “Sorry, Pure blood is much stronger than human blood. Like I said, you’re gonna look a lot like me. You already do, but there’s still a little left. It doesn’t help that you started so far off the mark.”
“Ugh, this fucking sucks.” I groaned and flapped the covers over my face.
Luckily, the pain was gone and I felt somewhat normal again.
“Do you think you can stand on your own soon, Isabelle?”
That spark at hearing my name pulsed through me. I pulled the covers off a little bit.
“Probably.”
“Okay, perfect. It’s about 9 pm so the sun’s set and I want to take you on a walk. Because you didn’t drink from me this time, we should be able to hold your next feed off for at least a day. Let me know if you get hungry though. Any pain. Seriously, I don’t want you going into a frenzy. I had to deal with enough of that today.”
She looked annoyed. I glanced towards Tory giving her a questioning look. She picked up on it and spoke.
“A frenzy is when you don’t feed enough and you just go on a killing spree. It’s not pretty and usually results in immediate execution.”
I gulped and looked back at Chelsea.
“Seriously, let me know. Anything. A slight nagging. Pain. Speak up.”
“Okay.”
My body felt great though. It was like I was riding the high even after all the pain. I went to get up from the bed and plopped my feet down on the plush rug. It was a lot easier than earlier. Tory looked like she was gonna rush to help me, but Chelsea put out a hand and stopped her. I stood up and felt a bit wobbly at first, but it went away quickly. I smiled towards the two and took my first unassisted steps toward them.
“I can walk again! It has been too long!”
“It’s been a day, dipshit.” Tory quipped.
I feigned disdain. Chelsea ended the fake rout quickly.
“Girls. You may be sisters, but you will be respectful in front of me. I could care less how you talk away from my presence.”
We both looked towards Chelsea and began to apologize.
“Don’t worry, I knew you were joking.” She said with a wink. “Now, Tory I’m gonna give you the task of dressing Isabelle. You two are closer in age appearance, so you’ll have a better go at it.”
“We agreed that I wouldn’t raise her though.” Tory said combatively.
“Don’t worry, you won’t. I just dress like a goth now or a complete business woman and I’m not really sure if Belle here will like that style. Yours is much more neutral than mine.”
“Why can’t you both help?” I asked.
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea, Chels?”
“Oh alright, but when you don’t pick a single one of my outfit recommendations I’m gonna make your physical training so much worse.”
“Physical training?”
“Well you need to learn how to protect yourself girl,” Tory said. “Did you think vampires don’t have to fight to survive? You’ll also need to learn how to feed properly.”
I glanced at Chelsea. She nodded seemingly agreeing.
Oh great! I can’t wait to do my new vampire training.
For some reason, sarcasm was my go to in my thoughts.
“We’ll deal with that later, Tory. Let’s head to my closet first, then we’ll go to yours.”
“Fine with me.” Tory answered.
“Let’s go.” I said.
The three of us headed towards the exit of what was supposedly my new room. I reflected on the changes I'd began to readily accept. Maybe this new life wouldn't be so bad.
