Bella Vita (12 page)

I left the room as quickly
as I could. I didn't know how to react to that.
Will my entire day be like this?
I
was already exhausted from being different.
Ugh!
I rushed over to the strange
empty field. It took me a minute to locate the door because it was
painted the same color as the rest of the beige building. I was
reluctant to step into it, because the color reminded me so much of
my high school and my normal life.

Leave the past behind you,
Emma Hutchinson.
A strong male presence
entered my mind.

I knew I had let down my blocks momentarily
from everything that had happened and thinking about the old days,
but they were still very strong.

Who would dare to enter my
thoughts?
I forced my mind to follow the
pattern that was left with the words. I soon realized that the
professor was standing in front of me, once again I saw the look of
amazement as I had traced his words back to him.

“
Ah, you must be the famous
Emma Hutchinson. In this room we only use our internal voices,
unless there is a visitor. So if you could please lower your ever
impressive shielding I would appreciate it.” A tall man with short
strawberry blonde hair and light green eyes spoke to me.

Sorry, Master. I didn't
know.
I apologized.

Please, I'm just Daniel.
After class I think we will need to talk. I have a feeling that
this isn't the first time today for you though.
His smile was cockeyed and full of laughter.

That would be fine, Daniel,
and no, it is not the first time.
I
sighed.

Okay class, this is your
new classmate, welcome Emma Hutchinson.
His voice was booming and rich with an Irish
accent.

Before my thoughts could be bombarded with
all the voices from the room, I threw a shield up to filter them
through one at a time. Once again Daniel looked at me in interest.
I shrugged.

Thank you all for the kind
welcome.
I allowed my singular thought to
flow to each mind in the room, the students reacted in the same
manner as Daniel did- shock. I sighed.

Now to begin class. What
number am I thinking of?
Daniel laughed to
himself.

Right, Daniel. What kind of
question is that to start the class off with?
Leland's voice was like a shrug.

It is to test your ability
to read another's thoughts. Any ideas?
He
asked as he stood on his chair trying to sit in the middle of his
desk cross legged.

One
. A girl with fair blonde hair answered.

Nope.
Daniel stretched his arms above his head.

Twenty-three.
Leland guessed with a shrug.

Try again.
This time he leaned forward and laid his stomach
against his legs, I wasn't sure what he was doing.

The guessing went on for about fifteen
minutes before I raised my hand, knowing that I was about to show
off.

In this room, you don't
have to raise your hand. Feel free to shout out like Leland just
did. But, yes, Emma, please go on.
Daniel
sat up and slid over to the corner of his desk- a plain wooden
table with a chair tucked under it, much like ours.

You were not thinking of a
number, at least not superficially. In fact the only numbers that
were present in your mind at the moment of your question were that
of your birth date... but the year is missing.
I tilted my head in question.

WOW!
Daniel's mouth hung slightly open.

So I must ask, what was the
point of asking the question?
I hated
questions that weren't supposed to be answered.

The purpose, my dear, was
to show that they were not trying to actually read my mind. What
you did went way beyond anything you'll learn here.
Daniel smiled.

I sighed. I didn't understand why I was here
if I knew more than my professors.

We'll talk later. If you
wouldn't mind allowing some of the others to try... I know it's
hard when you know the answers.
Daniel
sent a silent message to me, I merely nodded in
response.

I sat in dull silence as I watched Daniel
sit in various silly positions around the room and on various
objects, trying to get the students around me to probe his mind and
their classmates'. Whenever he asked them to try to find out
something about someone in the class, I could feel the mental pings
as they tried to get through my blocks. It was interesting to feel
how hard they tried with me, versus how they acted in the class. I
knew that Leland would try the hardest. The first time he tried I
launched a mild shock back through the connection. I thought this
would discourage him from trying me, but it seemed to do the
opposite. So I spent the rest of the class sending slightly
stronger surges through the link and mentally giggling as Leland
jolted in his seat. By the end of the class, I was sure I had
damaged our friendship, but he seemed right as rain.

“
See you in Tracking, Em.”
He laughed as he left the room, I wasn't sure if I should worry or
not- I knew I could defend myself if need be.

Ah, that was quite amusing
to watch, Miss Emma.
Daniel laughed out
loud.

Sorry, sir, I thought the
first time would get him to stop, but it only encouraged him. I
suppose I could've ignored him.
It was
strange talking to my teachers so honestly.

It's good for him. I've
never seen a class work so hard as a collective. You were a good
addition to it, I believe. I've no intention on testing your
abilities like a lab rat. I can see that you're more advanced than
this class... however, this is as high as it goes. What I can
suggest is that I keep you in here as a teaching assistant. I think
keeping you here would help the students, especially if you
continue to randomly show advanced things around them. What do you
say?
He was so sure, and then he got down
on a yoga mat against the wall and did a headstand.

I, um, think that would be
fine. I don't mind being the sideshow freak. What are you doing, if
you don't mind me asking?
I couldn't
resist.

Yoga, my dear. It helps to
keep the mind and body in balance. Something a mental training
professor must do. But truth be told, I don't think I'm completely
balanced.
Daniel winked his sea foam green
eye at me.

Interesting. Okay, well I
have to get to my next class, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.
I hurried out of the room after he waved bye to
me with his bare foot.

Going to my next two classes was the most
normal thing did I all day. They seemed almost regular. The one was
a history class about vampires. The other was like home economics
or something. I never thought I would be in a class that taught you
how to be a vampire. I think I should've been placed in a higher
level class, but I guess it was necessary since I was a new
student.

By the time I got to
Tracking, I was relatively bored with the whole 'vampire' school
thing. It seemed just like high school only worse because now I was
stuck helping to teach stuff to other vampires.
How is that even fair?
I wasn't sure
what Tracking would bring, but I was sure it wouldn't be more
amazing than the rest of the day.

The woods were dark at this hour. The sounds
of the night were echoing all around me as I walked into the tree
line. I knew that the jagged branches and strange sounds that go
bump in the night would scare a normal person, but as I strolled
further into the woods I felt completely calm and welcomed. A tall
lurking shadow emerged from the darkness- it was the hunting lodge.
It seemed like I was the first here, there wasn't even a light on.
In the back of the building, I found a group of other students
standing together, looking a bit spooked.

“
You know, in horror
movies, when people cluster together in the dark woods, one is
certain to die.” I couldn't resist it.

The small group broke into smaller groups of
twos or threes.

“
Jeeze, you guys, it
shouldn't be so easy to spook vampires!” I laughed.

A low growl came directly from behind me.
Everyone looked in my direction. I slowly turned toward the noise.
The growl came again. It sounded feline. Once I had a lock on the
sound, it didn't take long before I saw the glowing green eyes-
they seemed out of place on the black panther face staring at me. I
wasn't even afraid, like any normal person would've been. Instead I
felt my body take a defensive stance. I was not going to back down
from a panther in the back woods of Italy and leave these kids to
get eaten. I sank down into a low crouch. A rough growl escaped
from me. I watched as the other kids either moved toward the lodge
for cover, or moved to flank me.

The panther launched itself at me. I was
about to do the same when the beast slowly began to transform in
mid leap. I was shocked when Leland landed on me completely nude-
knocking me to the ground. He placed his fangs against my
throat.

“
You could be dead right
now, Emma.” He purred into my ear.

“
What the devil did you
just do?” I demanded.

“
Class, I'm your professor
for Tracking. Your first lesson is to not be taken back by the
unusual. Emma's initial reaction to stand and fight was natural.
However, she shouldn't have stopped her attack because the threat
changed. I'm Leland by the way.” His fangs glistened in the brief
moonlight.

It took everything in my
power not to throw the full force of my body weight at him. I
didn't want to be his damned example.
And
why the hell is he naked?
My temper was
beginning to flare.

“
Now, if everyone could
follow me inside, we will start our class.” He shook his head and
some leaves fell to the floor.

We marched inside after his nude arse. My
mind was circling on the fact that no one had commented on his
nudity.

“
Um, excuse me, Leland? Why
are you naked?” I just couldn't stop myself.

“
For the same reason you'll
be soon enough.” He winked at me.

“
What?” There was a
collective grumble.

“
Calm your grundies down.
Tonight we will be doing our first tries at transformation. Every
vampire has the ability to change into a predatory creature. Some
never learn this skill. You are among the few that have been
selected for some reason or another to try and master it. I'm here
to teach you. When you transform, the best way to do it's in the
nuddy- or naked. Your clothes will tear off you otherwise. So we
will have to learn some self esteem and not worry if someone is
checking out some body part or not. Aye?” Leland was pulling out
robes that looked like they were made of tissue.

“
These you can wear in the
beginning, but you'll only have them going into the change...
coming out you'll be as nude as the day you were born.” A smile
played at his lips.

He handed out the thin white tissue like
cover ups.

“
Now, after everyone has
changed, please meet me outside.” He left the room still
naked.

I looked down at the thin
material, I knew it wouldn't cover much. So I decided that I might
as well start getting used to it. I stripped out of my clothes-
taking care not to rip my fishnets. I piled it all nicely together
and laid the robe on top of it all. I walked out of the lodge
skyclad with my head held high. I knew that as I left several of
the males in the group stared openly at me.
I will not blush or look ashamed.
I
would conquer this just as I had conquered everything
else.

“
Ah,
cara mia.
You've decided to try it
in the buff.” Leland's words were sensual.

“
Yes.” I was trying hard to
concentrate on why I was standing outside at night naked, and not
on the fact that I was, and why Leland's use of Italian didn't
surprise me.

The rest of the class wandered out covered
in their tissue sheets- like you couldn't see through them. We
lined up across from Leland and waited while he made sure that the
surroundings around were clear. Apparently, the first
transformation could be quite painful and loud.

When Leland reappeared, his face was lit
with excitement. “Tonight, you'll all begin the process of
mastering the ability to change on command. Like I can”. He changed
into the black panther we had encountered earlier, and just as
easily switched back.

“
Now, I'm going to start
guiding you on your journey. No one is allowed to start laughing,
as I know it sounds bloody stupid.” Leland laughed.

I tried hard to suppress the giggle that
started to form. It came out as a snort. Leland looked at me, but
didn't comment.

“
I want you all to close
your eyes. I want you to find the inner predator. You'll hear its
call in the deepest, darkest parts of your very soul.” His sudden
silence left us to just listen to our inner beasts.

I sat with my eyes shut. The wind blew my
braids back from my bare chest. I felt as though my skin was
bristling. I heard a wolf howl, low and primal. My eyes shot open.
Leland was watching me with interest. I listened hard to the dark
woods around me. I inhaled the deep scents of trees, and night. But
I couldn't sense a wolf anywhere. I closed my eyes again. I went
back to searching for the beast within. I heard the howl again, as
though the creature was standing right in front of me. Instead of
opening my eyes, I followed the sound deeper within my mind, and
that's where I found her. Her thick black fur was as dark as
midnight. Her eyes, the same shade as my own, were bright with
intelligence and excitement. I walked toward her with my hand
extended. She stepped to match my own footing. Her mouth with all
its beautiful white canines was in a wolfish grin.