Chapter 10

As they pulled into their drive, Mel looked at the house in wonder. This is to be my new home? She wondered. When they took her inside her amazement grew even more.

"This will be your room," Amy said as she directed Mel into one of the vacant bedrooms.

"You will have the run of the house with the exception of the bedroom that Sam and I share. Do not attempt to go outside because the doors are alarmed. I will punish you severely if you do. I need a list of your sizes because Sam will go shopping for your new clothes tomorrow. Anything else you want or need put on the list also. Your training begins tomorrow. Goodnight," Amy finished even though it was early morning. She closed the door.

Amy and Sam retired to their room and made love many times before they nodded off to sleep. Mel stood in the center of her new room and looked around in disbelief. It was a far cry from the warehouse where Lilith had kept her and her sect. Her one-room studio apartment that she lived in before her conversion did not compare to this by a long shot. Not in her entire life had Mel witnessed such luxury. She wiggled the toes of her bare feet in the plush carpet she was standing on. Mel ran across the room and turned her back and flopped onto the bed. She rolled over and over on the soft bedding and even softer mattress. She bounced out of bed and ran into her bathroom. Her own bathroom, she thought. It was just like her bedroom, luxurious far beyond her expectations. Never in her wildest dreams had Mel imagined herself living in such luxury.

A huge smile came to Mel's face. She had come a very long way from the small apartment she and her drug-addicted Mom had lived in, in Nebraska. She had grown up dirt poor. Her Mom had beaten her often, especially when she was out of drugs. Mel had left home when she was seventeen and drifted to California, then had ended up in Las Vegas. She had lied about her age and gotten hired at a strip club. She had avoided excessive alcohol consumption and drugs altogether. She had seen the effects drugs had on her Mom. Then Lilith had come into the club and watched her all night. Without her knowledge, Lilith had followed her home and after a brief struggle, converted her to a vampire.

Lilith had been a cruel master. Mel had been the youngest member of her sect. The living conditions in the warehouse had been deplorable. With her great looks and innocent appearance, Mel had little trouble getting dates with potential victims but more often than not, one of the other sect members followed her. When she over-powered her victim and prepared to feed, the follower would come forward and shove her aside. Mel was left with only the barest minimum of blood to satisfy her hunger and so, often times she was very hungry. Life had been very hard for Mel and now this.

She would do anything for her new Mistress. Anything that would please her, she thought.

Mel removed her borrowed clothes and folded them neatly. She even removed her panties. She placed them in one of the empty dresser drawers. She stood in the center of the room and stretching her hands wide, turned in a circle. She went to the bath and stepped into the shower. She took a hot steamy one and after drying off and drying her hair with the hairdryer placed there, went back in her bedroom. She turned down the covers and crawled into the soft satin sheets. She did not put her panties back on because she wanted to feel the wonderful softness of the sheets on every inch of her body. She lay awake for a long time looking around the room. Her room, she reminded herself for the thousandth time. Amy had not given her a tour of the rest of the house, so Mel could only imagine what other wonders she would see. Finally, the soft bed overcame her excitement and she drifted off to sleep.

Mel's eyes flashed open when she heard a knock on the door.

"Please join us in the kitchen," Her mistress's voice said.

Mel looked around her, disorientated for a moment until she remembered where she was. She closed her eyes and pinched herself to make sure she was not dreaming. When she opened her eyes again, the luxurious room was still there. Her room she reminded herself.

"I'll be right there Mist ... Amy," she replied.

Mel clambered out of bed, made it quickly, got dressed in the only clothes she had and dashed down the hall to the kitchen. As she ran into the kitchen, breathing hard, Sam and Amy looked up from the table.

"I'm so sorry Mistress that I did not come right away when you called. I had to make the bed and get dressed," Mel said between panting breaths. Belatedly, she remembered that Amy had asked her not to call her 'Mistress'.

"Mel, I expect you to come when I summon you but I do not expect you to run. Relax pet, and sit down," Amy said with a smile.

"Tell Sam your sizes and help her fill out a list of all your needs. While she is shopping for you, I will show you the rest of your new home," Amy continued.

Mel gave her the sizes she requested and fell silent. Sam wrote for a little bit then stood up.

"I trust Amy, that you want me to make selections more in line with your tastes than mine?" Sam asked and winked at Amy.

"I think so." Amy answered and winked back.

Sam leaned down, kissed Amy, told them she would see them later and left. Amy stood and motioned Mel to follow. Amy grinned as she showed Mel the house. Mel's eyes got wider and wider as they went to each new room, until Amy was afraid they were going to pop out of their sockets. When she had shown her the entire house, she took Mel by the hand and led her out to the pool.

Mel stood gawking at it even though the bright sun was very painful to her. Amy glanced at her and saw Mel's discomfort. She stepped to the wall and pressed a button. The dome that covered the pool gradually darkened, much like transition lenses in glasses. When she judged it was dark enough, she pressed the button again and it stopped getting darker.

"Better?" she asked Mel.

"Oh yes Mistress Amy. Much better," Mel answered.

"Don't call me 'Mistress'," Amy reminded her.

"Sorry Amy," Mel said.

"Would you like to go for a swim Mel?" Amy asked.

"I do not have a swim suit but if you want me to Amy, I will."

"What do you want to do Mel? I'm not ordering you to go but if you wish to, you may," Amy said.

Mel looked at the pool with longing, and seeing this in her eyes, Amy showed her where the beach towels were kept.

"Mel, you may swim in the nude today it will not bother me. Now Sam..." she mused, "Well Sam it might bother because she is rather shy. I'm sure though that she will get you swim suits along with the other clothes she buys you today. Go ahead girl, take your clothes off and go swimming."

Amy seated herself at the patio table and watched as Mel swam the length of the pool repeatedly until she was exhausted. Mel climbed out of the water dried herself off wrapped the towel around herself and sat down across from Amy.

"Tell me about yourself," Amy said.

Mel told Amy her whole life story, starting from when her Dad had left them alone in the small Nebraska town to the time Amy had rescued her. She had just finished her story and gotten dressed when Sam came onto the patio to join them.

"Hello. Can I get volunteers to carry these packages in?" She asked.

They made trip after trip to the car, carrying in packages and placing them on Mel's bed and dresser tops. When they carried the last of them in, Mel's bed was completely covered.

"The only thing left now is for you to put them away. We probably won't see much of you the rest of the evening or tomorrow morning either," Amy said with a chuckle.

Mel looked at the pile of packages on her bed. "All of these are for me?" She asked.

"Yep, they're all yours," Sam said.

Neither she nor Amy were prepared when Mel rushed forward and gave Sam a big hug and kiss on the cheek. In fact, Amy first reacted by going into an attack crouch until she saw what Mel intended. Mel turned to Amy and did the same, kissing her on the lips.

"Thank you. Oh ... thank you so much. I cant ... I can't thank ... you enough," she said with strong emotions rising in her throat and causing her voice to crackle and falter. Tears streamed from her eyes.

"Have fun dear," Sam said and left.

Amy hung back for a second longer and watched the girl then turned and went down the hall to join Sam. Unshed tears filled her eyes also, which she wiped away as she walked down the hall.

Amy walked into the great room and sat down next to Sam in the conversation pit. Sam leaned forward and poured each of them a glass of wine. She handed a glass to Amy and noted the tears that still filmed her eyes.

"Thanks dear," Amy whispered and kissed Sam on the cheek then accepted the glass Sam offered her.

"Are those tears of joy in your eyes or ones of sorrow?" Sam asked.

"Joy, Sam. Joy for Mel. I'm glad we found her. She has had a very hard life Sam. If she had told you the story of her life as she told me earlier, you would be bawling like a baby,"

Mel stood in the center of her room and just looked at the packages in wonder. Her eyes were like those of a child on Christmas morning when they first view the packages under the tree. Slowly she walked to the bed and opened the first package. She held up the skirt and then the blouse to herself and looked in the mirror. Unlike a child, she hung each thing she opened neatly before going to the next. There were more clothes here than Mel had owned in her entire life.

When she removed the clothes from the final package, it was mid-morning of the following day. She put them away and then toured the room. She strolled through her walk-in closet and viewed the dresses, skirts, blouses and pants, some of them suits, some of them separates, that hung neatly on both sides. She looked down on the selection of shoes that she had positioned on the floor. Leaving the closet, she opened her dresser drawers one at a time and lovingly ran her hands over the selection of thong panties, bras, shorts, tops and swimsuits that filled them.

Mel stripped her borrowed clothes off, folded them neatly and placed them on her dresser top. She stepped into her bathroom and looked at the counter that was now filled with more personal care items than she could even believe. Mel entered the shower and under the stream of water, her sobs of joy began. They continued for a long time but at last she was able to stop them. Mel dried off, blow-dried her hair and tumbled into bed for much needed sleep. A huge smile colored her face in her sleep and was still there when Amy silently looked in on her.

She did not wake Mel that day at all. The next day Mel came into the kitchen and joined her and Sam. She begged for forgiveness for her absence the day before.

Amy set a glass of orange juice in front of her. Mel wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"Drink it, ' Amy demanded. "You must learn to tolerate human food. Your training has begun. Now drink."

Mel did as she was ordered. Amy next took her to the gym and made her work out until she was sweating heavily. She told Mel that she expected her to work out each day without her supervision. She showed her the laundry facilities and where the cleaning supplies were kept. Amy explained that she had a house cleaner service that cleaned each week but that she was expected to clean up any mess she made. She gave Mel small chores to perform such as watering the many plants throughout the house. She told her that she expected her to go swimming once per day and to spend time in the tanning booth.

"I can hardly stand the glare from your pale skin," Amy said and laughed.

"I want you to watch Sam while she works on the computer and perform any task she asks of you. Most of all Mel, I want you to learn. I want you to learn to be around humans without thinking of them as food. You will find that I am not a taskmaster. I want you to feel comfortable here Mel. You have ample free time to do whatever you want. If there is any hobby that you would like to try, within reason, you have but to ask. I hope you will grow to like it here," Amy finished.