Blood and Beasts (20 page)

There was a strange kid walking
across the courtyard exactly parallel to them. He was walking away from the
Main Hall, lost. He looked unusual with his crazily spiked red-gold hair,
longish and flopping into eyes that were electric-blue, noticeable even from
their distance. Combine all of that with his olive skin, and they had to wonder
where he was from. He was walking in the grass, holding a schedule -- had to be
new -- when he tripped. Seph halted. She could have been made of stone. She was
rooted to the spot.

He had skinned his palm on a rock
when he fell. He slowly staggered to his feet as the blood scent wrapped around
her. Rodney noticed it just as red covered her eyesight. She bolted towards the
startled kid as Rodney bolted after her, reaching for her and just missing the
back of her shirt. He screamed her name, but he might as well have been
screaming at a shark to not attack a bleeding fish. It was a lost cause.

Rodney morphed, shifting rapidly
into his huge, pitch-black werewolf form. He lunged forward, gaining on her
rapid, vampire steps, despite her speed, and he jumped in between her and her
quarry just in time. She bounced off of him, rolling backwards and then up onto
her feet. She hissed at him dangerously, and he growled back. His claws were
out, and his arms were spread. He was ready for this inevitable fight.

She charged again, and now that he
was her intended target, she managed to latch onto him. She tried to bite his
neck, teeth snapping in his ear as she tore off a little piece of cartilage. He
opted for the best way to subdue someone, falling straight down on her. He
heard a little groan beneath him as a few bones crunched, and then he was
flying backwards. She had not even used her telekinesis. She had just used her
immense strength. That was terrifying.

He landed on his back a few feet
away, nearly flattening the strange boy. The new student scurried out of the
way just in time. Hurriedly, the boy darted away, scrambling up one of the rare
oak trees in the courtyard, seeking sanctuary. Rodney faced Seph, or the crazed
vampire that used to be Seph. She hissed. He growled.

She charged once more, not a great
strategy, but at that level of hunger, coherent thoughts were distant memories.
She managed to claw his chest when one of his claws caught her in the stomach
as she soared over him. She swung around, fastening onto his back and sinking
her teeth into his throat. She barely managed to draw any blood before he
reached behind him, grabbed the back of her neck, and flung her off of him. She
slammed onto the ground, smacking the back of her head jarringly.

She had drawn blood from him. His
canine senses took over, and as she kicked up at him, he grabbed her leg.
Pulling her off the ground, he bit into it. He heard her scream, heard Seph
scream, and immediately dropped his prize. However, he shouldn
’
t have dropped that leg, for they
were still in battle. She used the fall to kick her other leg at him, catching
him square in the chest and sending him stumbling another few feet backwards.

Before he could recover, she was at
him again, slashing him across the face with her claws. He grabbed at her
darting form, but she ducked, biting into his left side. He roared in pain,
trying to catch her nimble self just as he felt himself bodily picked up and
thrown. He flew across the courtyard, landing near the Main Hall, and he stayed
there, not moving.

Everything hurt… He tried to rise,
but it hurt… His side and neck were pulsating blood, throbbing. His face hurt
where she had scored it, and his chest was sore where she had kicked it. Not to
mention all the bumps and bruises he had just accumulated from that little toss
of hers. She was a really strong vampire. Maybe Stefan and the others had a
point with their little meeting… then again, would it be better to be her
friend and to train her to be more careful or… his thoughts spiraled out of
reach as he slowly shifted back to his human form. His werewolf form constantly
drained him of power, so this helped. He collapsed where he was though, body slumping.

Seph advanced towards her victim,
the new student, a predator stalking her prey. She moved from side to side like
a serpent. Her eyes were blood-red, no whites visible, no black at all, just
red with blood, the need for blood. They watched him relentlessly. He quivered
in his tree. What type of school was this?! He finds out that he
’
s a wizard, and there are vampires
and werewolves trying to eat him around every corner?! The werewolf had tried
to protect him, but he was unconscious at the other side of the courtyard.
Besides, maybe they were just fighting over him for their meal. He was left
alone to fend for himself against this blood-starved creature. Who ran this
place?!

People were around now. He scanned
them desperately. A bell had rung. They were switching classes. A few were
rushing over to the fallen werewolf boy, two Asian girls and a Hispanic girl,
by the looks of it. He really had good vision now… The creature was still
coming towards him though. People stepped hesitantly towards them, but no one
seemed eager to help him. He realized with astonishment that they were afraid
of her too! Where were the teachers, or did they fear this monster also?

Seph charged at the boy, sprinting
towards the tree, and she suddenly stopped. It was as though she had a hit a
force field or something. She was propelled backwards without warning. She
slammed into a pillar all the way near the Red Hall and slumped down it,
twisted at an odd angle that no body should be twisted in. The boy dropped down
from the tree cautiously, taking a step towards the girl. He jumped back as her
back snapped into place, healed already. What were these things?!

He felt the earth quake beneath his
feet, responding to his stress. Metal sang in his ears as well, people
’
s various buckles and other metallic
objects flying towards him. This always happened when he was angry or scared.
Metal and earth acted so strangely… Well, if he had to, he could take this
thing now. She was weakened, or so she appeared. If she attacked again... She was
already healing…

Seph opened her eyes. Everything
was still in a red haze. She glanced over to see Phin striding towards her.
Everything hurt, but her wounds were already healing. She couldn
’
t move yet, but when she did… There
were a lot of people here, and they all held a lot of blood... Suddenly, there
was a
pop!
, and she glanced up to see Capri grinning down at her. He
picked her up and blinked again.

She felt a wave of dizziness pass
over her as they appeared in the vamp classroom. Red swamped her vision
completely. She snapped at the vampire holding her. Capri? He just smiled,
holding back her snapping jaws. Suddenly, someone slapped her across the face,
and she swiveled around to glare at Alistair, who leveled his cool eyes with
hers.

She wrenched herself free from
Capri
’
s grasp and stared around at them
all, fangs bared as she practically foamed at the mouth. Phin, Alistair, and
Capri circled her precariously. She snapped at any of them whenever they came
too close. They needed to secure her down.

Alistair managed to shove her down
and pin her. They were each holding a bottle of blood, trying to shove them
down her throat. However, she would not drink the blood as it sloshed all over
them. It was not fresh, and she was too far gone by this point. Finally, as she
slashed Capri across the arm viciously, Phin stepped forward as the older
vampire hissed in anger.

“And so it comes to this,” he
murmured as Seph jumped to her feet, encircled by them once again.

Moving quickly, he was behind her,
his arms around her neck in a chokehold. She growled ferociously at him,
clawing at him viciously. He bit his wrist with an audible
chomp!
,
and
he pressed his fresh blood against her mouth. It took a moment for her starved
self to focus on the fresh blood at hand. Immediately, she calmed down,
latching onto him painfully. She drank a fair amount of blood before finally
coming to her senses, eyes a pale-black. She shoved Phin away from her,
startled.

It was only fair,
he muttered in an agitated voice to
her before he stalked out of the room, nursing his wrist and his anger.

His eyes had been jet-black. He
needed to feed. Meanwhile, she was left in the room with Capri and Alistair.
Alistair watched calculatingly as Capri passed a bottle of blood to her, and
she downed it quickly, wanting to become normal again as quickly as possible.
She stared at them both with wide eyes, wondering what the repercussions for
her actions could possibly be, considering their extremity. It was midway
through Drama now, she realized suddenly, glancing at her watch to confirm this
fact. That was when Phin marched back into the room, fury swirling around him
like a cape.

“
Out,
” he snarled at both Capri and Alistair, his eyes
leveled on Seph.

She remained immobile as Capri and
Alistair scampered from the room. It was a rarity for Phin to even be a little
angry. He looked absolutely furious. Seph
’
s
eyes widened as Phin stalked right up to her. She backed up into the wall,
still holding a bottle of blood, and he grabbed her throat, shoving her against
the wall viciously. The bottle of blood toppled to the floor as they stared
into each other
’
s eyes, both pearl grays.

“You cannot skip meals, Persephone!
We are vampire! We have to feed!” He shouted at her, and she visibly shook
under his grasp, terrified. “You are a danger to society when you skip meals,
when you are hungry. You threaten your life and all the lives around you.
Beings will kill to protect their own lives. They will kill to sustain their
normality. They will kill all vampires if one massacres them, as you easily
can, Seph!” Her eyes dotted with pink tears as he frightened her. “You could
have killed that new wizard today, Persephone! Killed him! You cannot keep
doing this!” He slammed his fist on the wall directly beside her head, and she
flinched.

Hovering over her menacingly, he
turned and began to walk away. She could sense his feelings now that she had
tasted his blood. He was torn with his emotions regarding her. With the blood
bond, he knew too much of her personal feelings and thoughts. He also knew he
needed to keep a strictly professional relationship with her because he was her
mentor and several years her senior. He was terrified of her, at least at the
moment.

How did she feel about him? It was
weird with this blood bonding thing, knowing his thoughts and feelings so
honestly. She was attracted to him. He had lived life. He knew it was not all
sugar and sweetness. He was down to earth. He was also her mentor and a ‘senior
’
at their school. It wouldn
’
t work out. She was terrified of
him, at least at the moment.

“How
’
s Rodney?” She ventured as his dark hand reached for
the doorknob.

He turned slowly on his heel to face
her, completely masking his confused emotions, although he knew that she could
sense them. Why did he bother? Perhaps to try to keep their situation as normal
as possible. Normal at Zephyr Hall? Monster Academy? That was an oxymoron.

“He
’
s healed. He has a few scars that will heal, and a few
that will not. The bite marks on his leg and side will not heal without
scarring. They will remain marks on his person forever. Just as the bite on
your leg will not heal completely, ever,” he emphasized, glancing down at her
mostly healed werewolf bite.

She nodded, running a hand through
her tangled masses of red hair.

“I can live with that,” she
responded solemnly, and he nodded.

“You should go to class,” he stated,
and she nodded again, moving past him and heading down the hallway to catch the
last part of Drama.

She had nearly killed someone else.
If that wizard hadn
’
t been so powerful… And Rodney… She
had really hurt him. Just like Nate… She was a danger to society. Maybe she
should be put down. She had to be evil. What good being did this?

The class that she really dreaded
was Vamp Class. She loved Vamp Class… usually. She was still learning
teleportation from Capri, but she had tried to bite Capri today. Alistair had
slapped her across the face, and Phin… She and Phin… That could never possibly
happen, but… There was something there, if not just because of the fact that
they had both taken the other
’
s blood. Vamp Class came sooner than
she expected, even with the added event of Abernathy
’
s monologue performance, which she performed perfectly.

“You did amazing,” she congratulated
her friend, who looked a little flustered from her performance.

“
Thanks,
” she pretended to wipe some sweat
off her brow. “Did I really?” Seph nodded enthusiastically, hugging the short
girl briefly.

The ending bell rang, and Seph
looked up at it with dread.

“Time for Species class,” Abernathy
said cheerily, giving Seph a sidelong glance and clearly noting her unease. “It
’
ll be okay, Seph. Plenty of people
have something weird happen to them when they first get here,” but the
disconcerting look on her face obviously indicated that nothing as awful as
what had happened earlier had happened to many residents at Monster Academy, if
any.

“Ya… right…” Seph replied
sarcastically, walking towards the Black Hall as Abernathy started to branch
off in the other direction.

“Have fun,” she waved over her
shoulder at Seph, who just sighed and headed for class.

It was awkward. As soon as she
walked in, all nine other vampires in the classroom turned to look at her and
then go about doing whatever they were doing, pretending that they had not been
talking about her before she had walked in. She made her way over to Capri, who
gave her a small grin. She was still technically training with him this week.
Good thing she had tried to eat him not a few hours ago. She felt the familiar
presence of Phin as he entered, but she did not turn to look at him. She could
not meet his eyes just yet.

Either way, Vamp Class never really
had a set beginning to it. Everybody just hung out, practiced a few things, and
occasionally Phin would call them to order to discuss something. Sometimes,
they would have a speaker, one of the many traveling vampires in the area, but
not recently. Therefore, Seph was quite fine just practicing teleportation with
Capri the whole class time, which they did.

If she thought Vamp Class was
awkward, dinner was on an entirely different level. That was because the wizard
she had nearly killed had made some new friends since then and was sitting with
them at dinner that early morning. His new friends? Abernathy and Linda, to be exact.
They had apparently met during Wizard Class or whatever they called it. As soon
as she sat down, with her blood, he looked nearly equivalent to a deer caught
in headlights. They stared at each other in a moment of hanged silence.

“What
’
s up?
” She finally asked after an eternity, Abernathy and
Linda
’
s eyes switching back and forth
between the pair of them.

“Nothing much,” he answered without
even thinking about it, staring at her as he fed himself a bite of spaghetti,
nearly missing his mouth.

“That
’
s cool,” she responded, sipping her blood again
nonchalantly.

“Well, this looks awkward,”
Francesca slid into her seat beside the new kid, boxing him in actually.

He nearly jumped a foot, startled by
her. She gave a little chuckle, and Seph resisted the urge to laugh as well,
hiding her face in her glass. He looked absolutely terrified. She had made a
great first impression, of course.

“Ya…” Abernathy agreed, and they all
looked at her. “Anyways, this is Tristan. We met him in Wiz Class,” she
introduced him, and then turned to the boy with the crazily spiked hair,
waiting for him to say something else.

“Um… my name
’
s Tristan Solitto. I
’
m sixteen, and I guess I
’
m a wizard,” they nodded at him.

“Do you have any family?” Seph
asked, purposefully questioning him to gauge how scared he actually was of her.

She could have always gleaned his
familial information from his mind, but she was enjoying this much more. She
truly was becoming a predator, sensing fear and weakness, just to jump at it as
soon as she possibly could. That was disconcerting.

“Ya…
Well
… Kinda… I live with my great-uncles, Uncle Barry and
Larry,” he said nervously, not elaborating much.

“What happened to your parents?” She
asked, finishing her blood and catching the flash of images that went through
his mind accidentally.

“They died,” he answered simply, not
mentioning the fact that his mother had died of cancer, and his father had
committed suicide not three Christmases ago, Merry Christmas to him.

“He has an affinity for metal and
earth,” Abernathy announced excitedly, and they all stared at her. “We found
out in Wizarding Class today. It
’
s like they
’
re drawn to him. It
’
s really cool,” she said, grinning broadly as the new
student just shrugged a little.

“Tristan…” Seph said, rising. “Take
a walk with me?” She asked, and now he looked truly horrified. “I
’
m not gonna kill you or eat you or
bite you or whatever. I just ate,” she held up the empty quart bottle for him
to see. “
I don’
t eat when I
’
m not full. It
’
s
bad for my figure,” his electric-blue eyes flickered over her form, which was
lacking fangs and claws at the moment, a reassuring fact.

He found himself rising almost
against his will, glancing from left to right at the others to make sure that
this was all right. Was he truly safe? She looked normal enough.

“Seph?” Francesca asked, and Seph
touched her hand inconspicuously.

I need to talk to him alone. I
scared him, Francesca, and considering this is his first day here and
everything? I dunno. I feel like I need to apologize. Explain myself. Meet me
at the Room in… fifteen? I wanna visit Rodney too. He in the infirmary?
She asked of her friend, and the
girl nodded.

Ya. You busted him up pretty bad,
Seph, but we werewolves aren
’
t
made of glass. We heal almost as fast as you bloodsuckers.
She grinned at Seph
’
s annoyed look at the derisive term
for her kind.
Abernathy needs some help with Silo. We
’
ll try and handle it ourselves, but
we
’
ll probably end up needin
’
ya, girl.
Seph nodded and turned back to
Tristan, who was staring at them curiously.

“Let
’
s go,” she said, ushering Tristan to follow her as
Francesca explained the plan to a slightly confused Abernathy and Linda.

“
Oooh, Seph, gettin
’
a second meal?” Ruby called to her
as she passed her table, and her posse snickered with her.

“You wanna be the third and fourth?”
She hissed at her, getting more and more aggravated with the girl.

Ruby glowered at her.

“Shut up, bloodsucker-” and then
they were out the door, and Seph wasn
’
t
listening to the rest of it.

“That was childish of me. Don
’
t mind her. We don
’
t get along,” Seph explained
unnecessarily, walking across the courtyard with the lanky boy beside her, a
good six inches taller than her.

“I can tell,” he responded before
recoiling as she sat herself down under the oak tree that he had been hiding in
not a few hours before… hiding in it from her.

“Sit,” she patted the dirt beside
her, and he carefully did, scooting a little away from her.

She sighed, looking at him… sadly?

“I
’
m sorry about what happened, Tristan. I mean, honestly,
I think we could be pretty good friends. We have a lot in common, but I made a
horrible first impression,” he said nothing, but his fear-filled eyes weren
’
t helping.
“No one understands vampire hunger
unless they
’
re a vampire, and since I
’
m a very powerful vampire, my hunger
is extreme, on top of the fact that I
’
m
new. I came here a few weeks ago,” she explained, and he nodded, wondering why
she was doing this or why she was bothering. “I
’
m bothering because it matters to me to not be
considered a monster. Half the time, I think I am, especially after…” she
looked down, thinking of Nate. “After I first found out what I was. It was
horrible, and I don
’
t even think I can face my brother
and sister again after it. They… They looked so afraid,” he gazed at this girl
with a little more interest, her defenses slowly receding before him.

“You have a brother and a sister?”
He wanted to ask her what had happened, but he was afraid of what he might
hear.

What if what she said made her even
more terrifying to him? She was trying so hard. He wanted to give her the
benefit of the doubt. Then he recalled the image of her before, fangs out, eyes
red, hair crazy. Maybe not…

“I bit my foster brother. I just
couldn
’
t help it. I didn
’
t kill him. He still cares about me.
I know it. We just know what our bittens
’…
feelings
are after we bite them. Some of us can even read their thoughts if we drink
enough,” she explained to him, rambling. “He was just fine. He liked it. But my
brother and sister saw, and I had to look horrible… insane… I mean… Well, you
saw me starving, which is a sight I
’m sure
…”
she said, and he recalled the red-eyed monster still fresh in his memory.

“How old are your siblings?” He
asked politely.

“
Eleven,
” she smiled, which brightened her
pale face. “Pearl and Pearce. They
’
re twins. We
’
re actually half-siblings, I guess.
We have the same mom,” she shuddered involuntarily. “We have different dads,
even though their dad is the only dad I remember. My dad… well… my mom didn
’
t really know him, if that helps
explain anything,” she said, and he just stared. “Anyways, she met the twins
’
dad, Benny, and she stayed with him
awhile. He treated me like his own daughter, loved me like his own daughter,
but right before my mom had the twins… He just left… Didn
’
t want the responsibility of his own kids, I guess,”
she shrugged morosely.

“But you have a foster brother now
with your mom and twin brother and sister?” He pressed on, curious.

“No,” she shook her head. “No, after
Benny left, my mom couldn
’
t really handle it…  Anyways, CPS
got involved… four years ago? We were eventually all put in this foster home
for boys. Pearl refused to be separated from Pearce, and then they couldn
’
t be separated from me…” she smiled
again, a bit stronger of a grin.

“Wow… You all must be really close,”
he said, and she nodded.

“
We were
… We have six foster brothers. There
’
s Manny, Dean, Bobby, Lawrence,
Terrence, and Nathaniel…” She shuddered again before looking up at him,
light-grey eyes iridescent in the pale moonlight. “I know you don
’
t have any siblings and aren
’
t in foster care, but my parents are
dead too, basically, you know? They aren
’
t
there, and my foster parents aren
’
t exactly great substitutes or the
real deal either,” she explained, and he nodded.

“You can read people
’
s thoughts, can
’
t you?” Obviously, he was smart too.

“Ya… I try not to, but sometimes I
find myself answering people
’
s questions that they never asked. I
really try not to though,” she emphasized, and he smiled, revealing perfectly
straight teeth.

“No, it
’
s fine. I never meant to send you flying across the
courtyard,” she laughed, nudging him a little, and although he stiffened
initially, he quickly checked the reflex.

“Ya… That kinda hurt,” she admitted,
her eyes flickering over to the pillar that she had crashed into, and she
noticed that a few stones were chipped from it.