I gasp awake in a hospital.

I have no memory of the in between.

Other than – fucking Lycans.

And then?

Mental Asylum.

I'm in a fucking mental asylum.

I lie gasping, shackled to the bed.

Looking around me, I'm in a waiting area. One nurse sees I'm awake and immediately trots over, grabbing my bed and rolling me toward an open door. She says jack shit to me.

I'm rolled past a door that says Head Vampire Psychiatrist, Doctor Vos.

The bed is moved up into a sitting position, and I'm facing the vampire doctor, behind his desk, typing away on his laptop. He finishes something – then closes his computer.

And finally looks at me.

This dude could not look any more typical for a vampire. Forever young. Sly. Smirky. Blue eyes and curly blonde hair.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Vos asks me.

"Being fucked up by Lycans," I blurt. I'm too confused to lie, "Why am I here? How did I end up here?"

Doctor Vos' eyes go wide, and he licks over his fang in discontent as he opens a file and starts to read over some notes.

"You were found... wandering the streets of Dire Wolf City," Vos glances up at me, and I'm seriously so confused, "You have marks on your wrists – police detained you for attempting suicide."

"WHAT?" I almost scream it, then calm down as I look at my wrists.

Lycan claw marks.

They look distinctly like razor blades.

But they are not a suicide attempt.

"Okay, okay, you've got it wrong. While I don't remember walking around the streets – I do remember being punished in a sex dungeon with 9 Lycans. Onyx. Lycan. Nightclub. Look it up. I was there. This is all a mistake."

"How old are you?" Vos asks.

"18."

"Ahuh."

"What, why don't you believe me?" I whisper, wanting to panic, but also not wanting to sound too crazy.

"No, no, I... believe you," liar, "How did you feel being... punished... by these Lycans? Were you resisting? Or were you... enjoying?"

"I," I think about it, "This is personal – but I enjoyed it. I had a good time. It was scary, yeah, but, I really did have a... an adventure. A dangerous one but – I wasn't resisting or anything."

"9 Lycans ganged up on you, and you didn't resist?" Doctor Vos is terminally judging me right now, "Alright," he closes my file, and smiles superciliously. He pressed a button. A nurse comes back in, "Khloe – take her to the other room so we can talk."

A side door is opened – an exam room.

I'm wheeled in and the door is shut, as Khloe talks to the Psychiatrist.

"How long should she be admitted for this time?" Khloe asks.

Wait.

This. Time?

What was she talking about?

"I was hoping for short term, I thought all the symptoms had cleared up but at this rate she's a risk to herself... we may have to lock her up. An indefinite stay."

"But what shall we administer her? Are there any new developments?"

"There is no drug available. Bring her to C069," Doctor Vos sounds very excited about this. Whatever that meant.

"Your idea of the open cage in the wild? That's an untested theory," Khloe lowers her voice to a whisper, but I can hear it anyway.

"I've been working on it. It's the only way to bring her to her senses. We need to show her what Lycans do."

"Will she be safe?"

"I've told you before, Khloe, the cage is Lycan proofed. She can look out. They can look in. But no one can touch her. She'll simply observe their nature – and be cured of her infatuation by the end of next full moon."

"What of the trauma it could cause?"

"It's better than this. She craves sexual deviance with Lycans. It's no better than wanting to fuck the devil."

"So, we put her into the C069 program," the assistant murmurs, "Noted."

After a bit of silence, the door opens and Khloe comes back into see my wide and shocked eyes.

"You're going to be okay," Khloe tries to reassure me.

"I heard everything," I snap, handcuffed to this fucking bed, "Let me out. I'm not crazy. You're all crazy!"

"You're just saying that because you are insane," the assistant scoffs and tut tuts at the same time. Well versed.

I want to rip her apart.

Damn – that does sound a little crazy.

"What's my therapy again?" I whisper, testing how much information I can get.

"Exposure therapy," the irony of that statement, "It's well tested and proven to work," the assistant lies, just as easy as Doctor Vos.

"B-but, I've had enough. I don't want to see the Lycans up close again," I plead my case.

"You had sex with them," Khloe states. No I didn't! She continues quickly, before I can defend myself, "We'll be monitoring the entire encounter. Mortals are so vulnerable," she pats my cheek once, "You have no way to defend yourself from your strange mind, poor thing. You must know fear, to protect yourself."

"That's slightly flawed logic," I growl, "What about what I want?"

"Ahem," the vampire pushes into the room, and asks for the assistant to leave.

Khloe scuttles off. Leaving me with my 'doctor'. Fucking vampire. I narrow my eyes.

"Silvia," he taps his pen obsessively on his leg, pacing the room, "This is a safe procedure. I promise. I don't want to make you anxious about the details, but the entire experience will be controlled and under surveillance."

"Why can't you just let me go," I hiss, losing my patience, "I'm not fucking crazy!"

"In some ways, no one really is, until they are influenced by abuse, drugs, vampire allure, Lycan pheromones, which is what you've been exposed to in a high dose. Lycans spend a large portion of their time eating the rest of us. They are the Dire Wolves of the supernatural world. You and I live in Dire Wolf City. It's my job to protect you," he nods, convinced of his plan.

"Will I be free after this is over?" I ask, a bit more calmly. Trying to be a bit more savvy.

"Yes, of course, as long as you pass my assessment afterwards," he nods.

"Why did Khloe talk with you like I had been admitted before?" I ask, confused.

Doctor Vos ignores me entirely on that.

"Let's get this over with, Silvia, so you can go back to college. What is the name of your university?" The psychiatrist looks concerned, wondering if I'll remember. I mean, why would he know if I wouldn't?

"F-Frost University. I'm studying theology," I narrow my eyes again.

He makes a note on a note pad, and says nothing.

Then walks out of the room.

My heart kicks up a notch. Something doesn't feel right.

Someone is looking at me.

I turn my head.

Looking through the slim window.

Is Carmen, my crazy friend.

Looking pale. Her long blonde hair, like mine, is un-brushed and tangled. She's got her hand on the window pane, smiling at me.

I look down.

Her neck is scarred.

All the way around.

From that 'small' head wound, from which Onyx saved her along with her vampire murderer.

But. Yet another question remains unanswered. Why the hell. Was she in here with me?