FicWad

I woke up in a soft bed in a room I did not recognize. My body didn't ache as much and the burning sensation was completely gone. And I was warm for once. Where am I? It took me a few minutes to recollect last night's events. I sat up in the bed and rubbed my forehead. The door opened.
I looked up quickly to see Kales standing there. Today, or tonight I should say, she was wearing a red zip-up hoodie and jeans. She walked over and sat on the end of the bed. I instinctively pulled my legs to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, letting my chin rest on my knees.
Kales smiled, "I promised I wouldn't hurt you Pete."
"Where am I?" my voice was hesitant and soft. I hadn't spoken in such a long time.
"You're at a rescue unit that's part of the Reverend's network. He stops by about once a day to check up on things here. I live here with Mark and TJ, you haven't met him yet, and we take care of rescue testers like you," Kales said reassuringly. He looks terrified. I don't think I've ever seen a case this bad.
"Testers?" I asked cautiously.
"Vampires that we rescue from labs like the place you were at. They use you guys as testers for all of their venomous 'experiments'," Kales said softly, with underlying anger in her voice.
I stared at the sheets, not knowing what to say and too scared to say anything at all. I knew the Reverend, but I didn't know this girl, or Mark, or TJ. I wasn't totally sure of where I was at or what intentions these people had with me.
"You're probably hungry," asked Kales, looking for a response from me.
I nodded my head slowly.
"Come on, we've got some of the blend the Reverend told us you drink," she stood up and began walking away, but stopped and turned back to me. I was still sitting in the bed as before. She walked back and put a hand on my shoulder. "Come on Pete, I promised that no one here would hurt you, and I don't break my promises. You can trust me." I just want to hug him and tell him that those monsters can't get him and that everything will be ok.
I slowly got up, not realizing how weak I was from hunger. Kales held my hand as she led me down the hall and out into the kitchen. I followed closely behind her. So close, I was sure she could feel my breath on her neck.
"That's TJ," Kales said pointing to a boy with cocoa brown hair like hers sitting on the couch in the living room watching TV. "He's my lazy brother."
TJ turned around on the couch, "Hey now, I do my fair share of work around here." He had dark brown eyes, unlike his sister's violet ones.
I stepped closer to Kales, only really trusting her. She motioned for me to sit down at the wooden table. I hesitantly did.
"Is Mark up yet?" Kales asked TJ as she opened the refrigerator and pulled out a cup of the thick red liquid that substituted for blood.
"Yeah, he went out to try and track some people down," TJ said without taking his eyes off the TV.
Kales set the cup down in front of me and leaned up against the counter. "'Some people' like who?"
"People who know Pete," TJ still didn't look away from the TV.
I had already finished the blend. Kales took the empty cup and tossed it into the sink. "I'll be in my room," she said and began walking away.
"Have fun," TJ mumbled.
I stayed where I sat, unsure of what to do. Kales stopped and turned around, "You can come with me or watch TV with TJ." Then she turned back around and continued walking.
I sat for another minute. Kales is the only one I sort of trust. I got up and wandered down the hall and into the room next to the one I had woken up in. Kales looked up from the photo album she was flipping through as I stood in the doorway. She smiled and patted the bed next to her. /Come on Pete, there's got to be the real you left inside that skinny body those monsters turned you into. /I hesitantly walked over and sat down next to her.
"Well, seeing as you'll be living here with us for a while, you should get to know all of our backgrounds," Kales said.
"How long will I be here?" I asked quietly.
"Until you get better," Kales looked up at me and smiled reassuringly. "But back to before. As you know, TJ is my brother. He's 27, two years older than me. Our parents were killed in a vampire attack when we he was seven and I was five." She flipped to a picture of a younger TJ and Kales, and what looked like their parents. Neither of them had Kales' violet eyes, but the whole family had the same shade of cocoa brown hair.
I stared at the picture. They looked so happy, so normal. TJ and Kales were sitting on swings hanging down from a tree limb. Their parents stood on either side of them. They were all smiling, obviously having a very good time. I looked up at Kales, who was staring down sadly at the picture. She's been so nice to me, it's not fair that her parents were killed.
Kales snapped out of her sadness, "Mark's wife and three kids were also killed in a vampire attack. The Reverend was taking care of TJ and I, but Mark decided to take us in after he lost his family. He's a very nice man, and there's no reason you should be scared of him Pete."
I looked down at the floor./ You don't know what they did to me at that lab. You don't know./ I looked up to see Kales staring sadly at me.
"No one should ever have to go through what you did in that lab. Those people are absolutely disgusting and cruel," said Kales heart-fully.
I swallowed and looked down again. Kales set the photo album on her nightstand and sighed a little. How am I ever going to get through to him? He's so closed up. It's a miracle I've even gotten him this far.
"Kales?" I asked her shyly. She turned to look at me. I paused, uncertain of how to go on, "Why..." I let the question go, unsure of how to word it and unsure of what reaction it would bring. I pulled my legs up and wrapped my arms around them, burying my head into my knees.
Kales could feel her heart break. Those labs leave these guys in such a mess. I feel awful for him. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly. It felt so comforting to know that someone kind of cared about me. I don't know why, but for some reason that knowledge was more than I could handle. Tears seeped out of my eyes and slipped down my cheeks. I couldn't stop them. And Kales was crying too.