“No! No! No!”
It was five in the morning when Gustav knocked on my door. By five fifteen we were downstairs. I was shouting and probably waking the whole town but I didn’t care. It took all of my self-control not to tear our living room apart. Gustav was constantly on my heels trying to calm me down. But before he could place a hand on my shoulder or stroke my hair, I was out of reach. Superhuman speed sure is useful when you want avoid fatherly affection. Time check, six o’clock in the morning and we were still at it.
“Sanguine, please listen to me.”
“I have been
listening to you for an hour now, Gustav! It’s time you listened to me.” I spun
on my heel and met him straight in the eye. “I.Am.Not.Going.Back.To.High.School.”
“Cherie high
school is the happiest time in a teenager’s life. I cannot see why you detest
such an offer to repeat it.”
“Seriously, you’re asking me to spend four years sitting in a room listening to a lecture I’ve heard centuries ago?” I crossed my arms on my chest. “You’re going to kill me of boredom.”
“High school isn’t all about study, you know?”
“I’m not a people person. Give up.”
I started to climb the stairs but I collided into Gustav’s hard chest. I rubbed my nose and frowned at him. His expression was grave and it caught me off guard.
“Cherie, I would never force you into anything if it wasn’t important at all.”
“So you’re telling me going to prom is important?”
“You’re not paying attention, Sanguine. This is for your safety.
We must blend in. The trackers will never think of entering this town and we in
turn must abide by the human rules. We are on their turf, you know?”
I snorted.
“Did you just say ‘turf’?”
Gustav’s
smile has always mesmerized me and after four hundred years I’m not surprised
that it hasn’t lost its effect.
“Yes, I’m
willing to put up with the modern slang in order for us to mix well with the
locals. Face it Sanguine, four years in high school can’t be worse than running
for the rest of our lives. Now glamour yourself back to your human form we
can’t have the townspeople making a fuss about your red eyes.”
Austinford
High School had a small student body as I’d fully expected. Gustav enrolled me
as a freshman. Making me three years younger than my real age – well the age I
was changed. I wasn’t bothered by the fifty pairs of eyes boring holes into my
back. I was familiar with being the new girl. Everyone steered clear of me, to
my relief. It would be hard enough to control my thirst with these people
surrounding me within the four corners of a classroom for eight hours. I let my
hair hang loose around my shoulders concealing half of my face. The less
acquainted we were the better.
I entered the last room in the
corridor and suddenly all went silent. The teacher pointed me to a vacant seat
and introduced me aloud to my classmates. He then handed me a list of books to
read for the semester. I stared at the small piece of paper, inwardly smiling
because I had read all of the selections before and knew them by heart. It
wasn’t obvious but I was a total bookworm. I took my seat beside a boy with
messy hair and too much makeup. He appraised me and gave me his version of a
flirty smile. I ignored him and focused my attention on the lesson.
The other
kids and I went from room to room until the final bell rang and I filed along
the hall sandwiched in a throng of students who along with me were eager to get
home.
The week went
by at a sluggish pace and I was ready to die from the mundane turn my life had
taken. Gustav was busy with his own town adventures but he looked happier, a
lot happier than me. I hated him for that but my anger was immediately
extinguished when he came home one day and told me that he had bought me a
motorcycle.
“Okay, I’m really happy but couldn’t
you have picked something more inconspicuous?”
“What?
You don’t like it?”
Oh
I liked it alright. It wasn’t every day that you receive a brand new Jamboree
as a gift. The metal monster was unimaginably shiny. It was beautiful and
black, thank God.
Gustav
puckered his lips, thinking. “Would you rather have a bicycle then?”
And just like that, my hard-earned almost
anonymity was gone. Poof! The school’s parking lot was jam-packed with students
when I arrived. Apparently nothing could escape the Austinford grapevine of
gossip. I was thankful for my helmet, even temporarily it blocked off the
stares from the student body and faculty as well. When I finally found an empty
spot to park my bike, a girl approached me.
“Hi I’m Melanie. My dad owns the Hunky Dory toy factory in Celeste.”
She was tall and slim. Her blonde curls ran down her back loosely and her face was covered in make-up. She was waiting for me to be impressed or something but I just stared at her. She began fidgeting well aware of the bystanders observing us. She forced a smile and held out her hand.
“Welcome to Austinford by the way.”
I killed my bike’s engine and swung off. I removed my helmet and shook my hair. The look I gave her was so dark that she swallowed audibly.
“Look here little miss sunshine, I’ve been here for a week now and you’ve never gave a crap about me. Now I get a shiny new toy and you suddenly want to be my friend?” I spat the last word out.
Melanie opened and closed her mouth
like a fish. “T-that’s not–!”
I cut her
off. “Do me a favor and get off my back.”
I strode away leaving her to bask in
her shame. As if on cue, a few students started snickering and whispering.
After the incident, everything went back to normal. Everyone steered clear of
me but now they were more wary - a nice touch to my high school life. Not that
I wanted to hang out with anyone of them. Solitude did me good. It would keep
them safe and me hidden.
Gym class came and no one picked me as
their partner for badminton. I didn’t mind I could take them on alone if I
wanted to - which is what happened.
“Where do
you get all that energy, Lacroix?” Coach Lewis asked when I was heading for the
locker room.
“Dunno, it just comes naturally.” I
shrugged.
My sweat glands had long ceased to function
but it would be weird for me not to take a shower after an hour and a half of
running around the court. I was overwhelmed by the odor of cheap perfume when I
walked in. my classmates were in various stages of undress and all of them were
chatting. It was like a tidal wave of scent and sound. I wavered slightly,
balancing myself by putting a hand against the wall.
“Hey are you okay?” a soft and
seemingly reluctant voice asked.
My nostrils flared and a distinct
aroma wafted in. I suddenly became unbearably parched and I knew I could
satisfy my thirst from drinking from whoever it was that spoke to me.
“Hey…” the voice continued. Her
concern was evident and genuine.
I partially turned and a pair of doe
like eyes greeted me. The girl looked familiar but I couldn’t point out where I
had seen her. She was a few inches shorter than me and a couple of pounds
thinner. Her dark hair made her look paler than she already was. And her smell
was so enticing. My eyes darted to her exposed neck. I could almost see her
jugular underneath her translucent skin. I licked my lips unconsciously and
drew a bit of blood from scraping my tongue against my extended fangs.
“Are you gonna faint or something? You
look really pale.”
I
was already changing. I ultimately let my guard down and exposed my true self
to a human. We were more dangerous and inviting to our prey in our original
form. This girl would only be the first to die if I went wild in the locker
room. I met her deep grey eyes with my crimson irises. She wasn’t even startled.
She was already under my spell. My glamour wasn’t as strong as Gustav’s but
when I was this thirsty it boosts up my capabilities.
“Close
your eyes.” I purred.
The
girl obeyed and submitted. I brushed her hair away from her shoulder and buried
my face in the crook of her neck, sniffing. My mouth was literally watering. I
grazed my fangs against her skin and opened my mouth fully aiming for the
perfect bite. But then another girl bumped against me pulling me back into
consciousness and into the situation. I gasped and turned on my heel and made a
beeline for the showers. It was empty but I had to get a safe distance between
me and that girl. I spotted a window and pushed it open. I could hear light
footsteps heading in my direction and the scent got stronger. I shook my head
and leaped out. I found myself on the fire escape and without a second thought
I sped up the metal stairs. I wasn’t sure if I would find a human-free place
for me to think in this school but luckily, the rooftop was deserted. I sat on
the cold cement rocking back and forth struggling for control. Gustav would be
furious if he found out I had almost killed an innocent girl. It was our
ultimate rule that we would only prey on those who wouldn’t be missed, like
criminals and homeless people.
I felt moisture on my mouth and
discovered that I hadn’t retracted my fangs and had bitten my lower lip in
frustration. I groaned and buried my head between my knees. I took slow and
steady breaths and willed myself to change back into my human guise. I leaned
back and wiped my mouth.
“This is harder than I thought.” I
said to no one in particular.
“What is?”
I sat up in alarm. At first, I thought
that my almost victim had followed me but then I realized the speaker’s voice
was that of a male. A few feet from me, standing atop the school’s ventilation
system, was a boy. He was very tall, roughly six feet.
“That looks nasty.” His eyes were rich brown
almost golden in the light. The wind ruffled his raven hair as he twisted to
face me.
“I got hit during a game.” I blurted
out senselessly.
He
jumped down and took four long strides towards me. I scooted away reflexively
but he held up a hand, stopping me.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” He said reaching
into his pocket he pulled out a neatly folded handkerchief. “Here.” he offered.
I gingerly took it from his
outstretched hand and applied it to my mouth. There was a lot more blood than I
had expected. He heard my sharp intake of breath and in a blink of an eye he
was kneeling in front of me with the handkerchief once again in his hand.
“I’d better do it.”
I started to protest but he ignored
me. His touch was gentle. He might have thought I was seriously hurt.
“If gym is this violent, the
department of education should probably remove it from our curriculum.” He gave
me a quick smile.
“Do you always do this?”
“Do what?”
“Hang around here waiting for bloodied
damsels in distress.”
His smile reappeared. “I’m always up
for an occasional damsel but I don’t know about the bloodied part.” He shook
his head. “But you’d be the first.”
“First what, damsel or the bloodied part?” my
eyes followed his retreating form.
He opened a door - which most likely
lead to a staircase. He looked back at me, he wasn’t repelled or disgusted in
any sort and with curious eyes he answered.
“Both.”
He left me there on the rooftop with a
feeling of light-headedness and a blood-stained handkerchief.
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