We sat on the two chairs in the center of the room. Additional chairs had been provided for the so-called cheer squad. I knew that they were here for a reason, I knew that it had to do with everything that Anton had been planning and whispering about over the past few days.

My heart was thudding hard and I felt sick, really sick.

The council leader gestured for us to sit, banging that infernal gavel with a mighty whack.

"The order of dimensional councilors has convened for phase three of the union between Master Anton Dremain and Sarah Walters. Before we begin I ask Master Dremain why he has brought guests to phase three?"

"Support for Sarah. This is a difficult time for her and I wanted to ensure that everything went as planned."

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Anton, no doubt trying to figure out what he was up to. After all, who brings a demon, elder vampire, fae warrior, elven prince and their daughter and granddaughter to a turning ceremony?

"As you wish."

She raised her hand and gestured to the guard who was standing to one side.

"Please escort Sarah to the scanner and ensure that she is not pregnant."

I looked at Anton, fearing the worst. The guard walked to me and waited. When I stood he guided me out of the room and to another. It was pure white, nothing except a red circle in the center of the room and a small console to the side.

"Stand on the circle please."

Walking to the circle, I stood and waited. The man moved behind a small electronic console and pressed some buttons. Two large metal poles pushed out from the wall and clicked into a metal circle that had risen a few inches off the ground around me.

"Hold still please, the circle will rise and fall as it scans you."

He pressed another button and the circle rose up my legs, stopping just below my chest and then slowly went back down again. With a few more buttons pressed, the circle fell into the floor and the metal poles retreated.

"Well?"

The man smiled at me. "You are not pregnant, your transformation will move with ease."

Oh good. Or not good considering the amount of sex we'd had over the past couple of days. Okay so I know we were using condoms but Anton said they were ineffective for his kind. It left me a little lost for words.

We returned to the other room and I tuned out as the counselor spoke of what was going to happen. All I could think was that I wasn't pregnant. Sure I was grateful that there was no child that had to be transformed as well but I just couldn't get past it.

Ten minutes later I was in a tiny room being strapped to a table, completely freaked out. Being strapped down was necessary, apparently, I was going to do a bit of thrashing. Anton was by my side at the moment, soon he wouldn't be.

"How come I wasn't pregnant?"

"Because we are like humans Sarah, it doesn't always happen. Don't worry about it, my love. We will have lots of little babies crawling around our house soon enough."

I nodded and returned to watch the fellow who was moving around the table, strapping me in. He said that I might even get a bit violent and this was to ensure his and my safety. Anton rested his hand on my forearm, warm and reassuring.

The doctor told me to relax as he flicked away the bubbles in the syringe, the silvery substance jiggling inside the tiny tube. Anton offered a smile as he distracted me from what the doctor was doing. The needle pricking the tender skin of the underside of my elbow was nothing, needles didn't bother me.

The very second that the silver fluid seeped into my vein, I knew what pain was. It felt like I was being set alight like fire was flowing through my veins. My eyes instantly wet, the tears trickling down past my temples. I could feel my heart rate double, my breathing erratic. The man pulled the needle from my sore skin and backed away. Once more he checked the restraints and then quickly fled the room. Okay, so that wasn't a good sign. Clearly, he was scared of what was going to happen.

Anton kissed my forehead, he stood and clutched my hand, his mouth was moving but I could not hear the words. As he backed away I could see the pain in his face as I begged him not to leave. I pulled at the restraints in anger, resenting everyone for leaving me alone in this room.

The room was hot, I was hot. It felt like I was sitting in a sauna. I had been changed from the clothes that I had picked to a hospital gown, it was now soaked and clinging to my body. My heart continued to race harder and faster, it felt like it was slamming against my body in a desperate attempt to break free. My body bucked with the scorching liquid flowing through my veins, my arms pulled at the restraints.

I winced with the pain as it surged through to my stomach, the pain so intense it made me rise from the table. Even rising as far as I could but it did not help with the pain. My head thumped back to the table, my hair now soaked in sweat. Again I pulled at the restraints, wanting to curl into a ball to try and relieve the pain. My head hurt, my whole body was suffering. I wanted someone to drown me in ice cold water, I was desperate for something. Yanking at the arm restraints, there was little movement.

Out of nowhere, I found brute strength, the leather and chains breaking from the table. I curled into the ball that I thought I needed, the pain did not lessen. The fire was moving down my legs fast. Within seconds I could feel the heat niggling at my toes. I was going to unbuckle the restraints around my ankles but it wasn't necessary, my thighs gained serious strength, ripping my feet upwards.

Leather and chains fell to the ground, shredded and broken. Rolling off the table in pain, I could barely stand upright. My feet were so sweaty that I slipped on the tiles ending up on my backside. Pain radiated from my tailbone right up through my spine, reverberating through my body. 

Scrambling backward, I made it to the wall of the tiny rectangle room. The once white walls that were tiled three-quarters of the way up the wall were gone, now it was a slimy green.

Were my eyes playing tricks on me? Something tickled my feet, looking down I screamed. Hundreds of rats surrounded me, all of them looking at me. Their beady eyes firmly fixed on me. I scrabbled up the wall trying to get away from them.

My fingers sunk into the wall, it felt like I was touching jelly. I climbed higher, the rat covered floor seemed so far away as I realized that I was hanging from the ceiling. The sweat soaked gown hung from my body, luckily I had kept my underwear on or I'd be on show by now. I could feel something run over my hand.

Hesitantly, I turned from my rat vista to the ceiling, it was covered in cockroaches. Again I screamed, letting go of the ceiling. When I thumped to the ground my eyes opened. I wasn't in the little room anymore. I had no idea where I was.