A light was growing brighter in her eyes. From above she could see white tiles with little specks dotted into the material. She heard the soft beeping and humming of machines, but soon enough another sound was joining the machinery. Madalyn coughed and choked; something was down her throat. She blinked and reached up to rid her mouth of whatever it was, but two hands came down to stop her. They pulled out the plastic instead. Her breathing was raspy yet even and the light overhead became less of a nuisance. Dazed and slightly groggy she looked around, only to find a man in a white coat and a lady in scrubs. The hospital, still. What operation was it this time? She couldn’t even muster up the strength to remember. Did it matter? They thought she was going to die when she was a baby. Her heart didn’t work properly, nothing worked properly. Yet there she was, alive, if not barely. But barely alive was better than dead. Those doctors and nurses were her only family. To see them there instead of her parents was actually a relief. They only called in her parents if something was seriously wrong. Her parents did visit her once or twice a week, but Madalyn always felt like they were doing it because they were obligated to, not because they wanted to. Even as a child she knew this. Since she was in the hospital her entire life there wasn’t much for her to do, so she study. Her intelligence made her less oblivious to the world and most certainly less oblivious to her parents.

The doctor smiled softly at Madalyn while the nurse fluttered about. A success. What was a success? She looked at the man in confusion momentarily but he gave up and explained to her. Another tumor was gone? How many were left? Was her heart going to make it through? She let her head rest against the familiar hospital pillow as the thoughts whirled through her restless mind. The people left her small room and the television buzzed softly in the background. Forever, it felt like forever. Tears pricked behind Madalyn’s blue eyes but all she could let them do was roll down her cheeks. She didn’t have the strength to lift her fragile hand to brush them away. She felt so tired and weak, like there was never a chance that she would possibly make it through this. How much longer could she fight? Her own parents thought her being alive was a pain in their side. She knew that they didn’t tell anyone else about her considering that no one ever visited. She knew she had two younger siblings, Charlie and Michelle. She also had a twin sister, Danielle. That’s what hurt her the most. She had a twin sister, identical. They were so close, yet they had never met before. Where was the fairness in that? It confused her to no end that her parents wouldn’t tell Danielle about her. They were ashamed, weren’t they? These thoughts flooded through her mind as the pain medication sent her off into a peaceful sleep.

Her eyes snapped open and her hand raced to her chest. She felt like her heart should have beating rapidly in fear, yet nothing was there but the sharpness of her unnecessary breathing. She didn’t know what to think anymore. Every once and awhile, she’d get those little flashbacks of her past life. It was like looking into the world of a stranger. Madalyn didn’t understand it, nor did she really want to understand it. She couldn’t go back to the person she was, so why bother trying to force herself to be that person? She needed to be her own person before she could fully give herself to Ellis, to the world really. The only problem with that was that it was so hard to find out who she truly was. Something tickled her nose, a scent mostly. It was…tantalizing. She liked her lips, only to find that taste now on her tongue. Confused, she looked down to see a man, dead at her feet. Oh yeah, she had forgotten about him. It seemed every time she took the blood of a human, these flashbacks would come to her. Maybe not every time, but sometimes. That’s not why she decided to take blood from the humans, though. She just didn’t like hearing the true thoughts of her meals. She loved animals so much and it ripped her apart every time she killed them. Humans were some what of a mystery to her. They actually frightened her. So violent, so unpredictable. She may have been stronger and more well equipped, but they were insane. Madalyn looked down at the body, at a loss for what she was supposed to do. Dammit all!