Blood and Beasts (24 page)

“You need something to carry your
book in! Here!” Suddenly, a small, silvery-blue pouch appeared in Seph
’
s open palm, about the correct size
to hold some jewelry.

“What am I supposed to do with
this?” She asked, holding the minuscule satchel up in the air so that Francesca
could get a better look at it as well.

“Put the book in there! It is a
fairy purse. It can hold almost anything and then shrink down to that size.
Witches usually put them up their sleeves. That is how they can pull almost
anything out of their sleeves. Everything is in a fairy purse!” Dewdrop
explained, still pretty squeaky but not nearly as bad as before.

“Okay,” Seph said begrudgingly,
clearly not actually believing the little fairy.

She picked the book up and dipped
its corner into the pouch. She just kept pushing it in, and without any great
effort, it just fit in there. She stared at the little pouch in astonishment,
not feeling a great weight difference in it at all. 

“You see?”
Dewdrop said, smiling.

Meanwhile, the boys had been
experiencing quite a different journey altogether. They were not nearly
searching so much as bonding. They had actually been going in circles. Both did
not mind though. They were talking about a lot of things.

“So, when the cops came to the door
and told me about my dad, I was a ward of the state. As soon as my
great-uncles, Uncle Barry and Uncle Larry, heard about that, they took me in,
and I
’
ve been living with them ever
since,” Tristan concluded, a little grim.

“You and Seph do have a lot more in
common than either of you two realize,” Rodney commented as they climbed over
the same fallen log for the third time.

“I know. We talked,” Rodney looked
over at him sharply. “We just talked, Rodney. Are you ever gonna tell her how
you feel about her?” Tristan asked him, and Rodney
’
s eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“What makes you think I like her?”
He asked in return, and Tristan just gave him a knowing look.

“My biggest question is, how are
you two gonna… you know… when she
’
s got those fangs?” Tristan asked,
and Rodney shoved him good-naturedly.

“Good question. Wish I could tell
you,” Rodney retorted, and Tristan smiled.

They continued along in a
companionable silence, walking around. 

“
I dunno
… As much as I can relate to Seph on
a human level… Honestly? She kinda scares me. I know I shouldn
’
t tell ya that, considering your
feelings for her, but… she
’
s a vampire, Rodney. They
’
ve always scared me before I even
met one, and then the first real one I meet tries to eat me…
. I dunno
…” he trailed off again as Rodney
’
s eyes swirled with more and more
leashed ferocity.

He knew he shouldn
’
t say anything, which is why he didn
’
t, but he really wanted to. How
could someone be so prejudiced? There were so many prejudices against witches
and wizards out there, from the Normal humans and from werewolves and vampires
alike. Did he know that? They were considered too weak to survive, just like
humans, by certain werewolf and vampire groups. However, Tristan was confiding
in him, and he knew that he shouldn
’
t
throw it back in his face. Therefore, he remained silent.

Suddenly, a shriek rent the air.
They both froze, and then Tristan took a step back as Rodney
’
s body began to ripple. Without
warning, Rodney shifted into a pitch-black werewolf, dashing away without
saying a word.

It
’
s Abernathy!
Tristan heard in his mind before
Rodney was out of sight. Tristan stood there a moment, half in shock. Rodney
had just left him. He must really care about Abernathy. Was she in trouble? She
hadn
’
t screamed again, which either meant
she had been too injured to utter another sound, or it was nothing, just
something that had startled her. They were supposed to be quiet in the woods
though. Should he go?

Those two girls had been very kind
to him… Linda and Abernathy. He should go help them, and he had the power to.
He was apparently a very strong wizard. He should, and he was going to help
them! He took off in the same direction as Rodney. He trusted that werewolf
’
s sense of smell to point him in the
right direction.

However, Tristan was not nearly so
graceful and limber as Rodney was in his werewolf form. Running up a moderately
steep incline in a grassy field, Tristan tripped on the slick grass, foot
caught in a rabbit hole or something. He tumbled to the ground, slamming the
bottom of his chin hard. His teeth rattled in his skull.

Groaning, he rolled over onto his
back. He blinked up at the sky, light just peeking on the horizon. It was
nearing dawn. What had he tripped on? Rolling to a sitting position, he crawled
over to where his foot, his red and white high-top, had gotten stuck. It was a
hole by the looks of it. Was it a rabbit hole? He stared down into it and then
blinked several times again. What was he looking at?

He was staring down into some type
of cavern or chamber. It was earthen, but large and round, atrium-like. There
were beings dressed in all black worshipping an upraised dais to his left. All
the worshippers were bowing down in full submission to a woman standing on the
dais, dressed scantily in all black. Her burgundy hair flamed, matching the
flames of several black candles that dripped everywhere.

There was an obsidian altar beside
her and several laypeople, by the looks of it. Apparently, in this place of
worship, laypeople wore black executioner hoods and carried weapons like
machetes and axes. They were also all huge, mountainously-shaped people. What
was this?

There was something else he
noticed. When the head woman, or high priestess, he assumed, smiled at her many
worshippers, pearl-white fangs glimmered in her mouth. In fact, any glimpse at
a worshipper
’
s face revealed the same glimmering
of fangs in their mouths as well. The executioner laypeople, or henchmen, as he
saw them, had fangs also. They were all vampires… Evil vampires too, by the
looks of them…

“Praise be Mot, god of darkness and
death. Praise him for the blackness of night, the silence of night, the
swiftness of night. Praise him for the blood of others, the blood in our veins,
and the blood soon to be in our veins,” she smirked at the crowd, and several
other tenacious members smirked back. “Praise Mot, above and below, for another
gift. The gift of a new member, who is to be initiated tonight, at the break of
dawn, into our Order of Mot,” she waved a hand at a figure lurking at the edge
of the dais, a black cowl hiding his face.

The way he walked… He stepped
forward, obviously a man by his build, and the high priestess turned him to
face the crowd. Sinuously, she snaked the robe off of him, revealing his pale
figure to the crowd. He was now dressed only in a pair of ceremonial-looking,
black pants made of some type of silk. By the looks of it, he was also someone
Tristan knew, or at least, someone he had seen at school. What was his name…
Alistair? Yes, that was it. Seph had mentioned him. She did not like him,
although she had never mentioned a reason why. Tristan knew of a reason to
dislike him now.

Although this religious group had
not done anything wrong, per say, they did not appear to be of a good and kind
nature. He was proven right when two henchmen suddenly brought forward a
writhing girl, shrieking and screaming at the top of her lungs, gawking at the
teeth of her captors. The girl was dressed in punk-rock clothes, a plaid skirt
and a black rocker band tank top. She had alabaster skin, bright blue eyes
ringed with thick eyeliner and mascara, and back-length, straight, black hair,
completing the look with a natural widow
’
s
peak. She was not a vampire though. Tristan saw her teeth were normal enough
when she opened her mouth to scream again. She was a Normal human.

“Look at this girl! This…
human
…” the high priestess grimaced as
though the word even tasted bad in her mouth. “She tried to imitate our kind!
She tries to imitate us, dressing in all black, dying her hair!” She picked at
the girl
’
s long tresses. “
Her actions mock our kind!
” She snarled, rounding on the girl
as she visibly cowered before the tall woman, quaking in the henchmen
’
s arms. “Are you afraid, little
girl?” She whispered to the young woman, black tears coursing down her face to
leave soot-like tracks in their wake.

“Yes,” she whimpered, sniffing
audibly.

“Put her on the altar,” the high
priestess commanded without a shred of emotion to her voice.

“Help! Help! Please!” The girl
cried out fruitlessly as the two henchmen slung her onto the table none too
gently.

They shackled her to the altar with
steel clasps, her wrists and ankles pinioned to each corner. Tristan looked
around himself desperately. There was no one to hear her scream. There was not
a human town or city for miles. There was him… What could he do? He was a lowly
wizard, and this… this was a cave… a coven… of full-sized, adult vampires. He
felt utterly helpless as he watched the ritual continue below.

“Now, for the blood,” the high
priestess said, stepping towards the screaming girl with a silver dagger
clasped in her tan fist.

She slit the girl
’
s left wrist smoothly, like cutting
a knife through butter, and bent to sample her a little. She then proceeded to
allow the dribbling wound to pool its precious source of blood into a
ceremonial, black chalice. The goblet was encrusted with rubies and outlined in
silver, appropriately. When she had a sufficient amount, she pressed her lips
to the wound, kissing it and sealing the broken skin.

“
O positive,
” she crowed to the crowd, licking
her lips and causing a few to laugh.

She glided towards Alistair, whose
pitch-black eyes were transfixed on the girl, as rigid as a statue. The high
priestess proceeded to dip her hands into the cup of blood and bathe his bare
chest with it. Although Tristan saw his body visibly tremble with the desire
for the blood, he still did not move. He was waiting… waiting for the woman
’
s order? Apparently, he was supposed
to do this, and he was doing well. The high priestess smiled satisfactorily,
like the cat that had eaten the canary.

“You demonstrate control, Alistair,
something all members of the Order of Mot must possess. You wait for the
instruction of your high priestess without question, another trait members of
the Order of Mot must surely possess. You need one last thing to become a full
and true member of our order,” she turned him towards the girl, and his fangs
slid out with his voracity. “You must kill when instructed to in the Order of
Mot,” he glanced at her hopefully. “Kill,” she whispered, stepping back so that
the crowd could watch him.

He slowly prowled towards the
frightened girl, who stared up at the crazed monster coming towards her with
absolute horror. He looked scarier than Seph had. Although his eyes were not
maroon, they were pitch-black. His fangs were out, and he was half-covered in
blood, her blood. She opened her mouth to scream again, but he just shook his
head. Her eyes went vacant and white, and her mouth became slack.

He was beside her in an instant and
gripped her neck harshly. He turned her throat this way and that, perusing her
throat for the best place to bite. She seemed to not realize this until it was
too late.

“Praise be Mot,” he whispered, and
the girl
’
s eyes widened as she realized what
was about to happen.

“No-” Her scream was cut off as he
suddenly latched onto her throat, tearing at it viciously.

Members of the organization
chuckled in the crowd as he drained the girl dry before their eyes. It was
hurting her, actually hurting her. She was shrieking in pain and then just
groaning with agony. Tristan was frozen where he was. He could not move. He
could not do a thing. He watched her die.

His feet! He had feet! And they
worked! He suddenly remembered them, hopping up and darting off in Rodney
’
s direction. Had that really just
happened?! Vampires killed! Killed! They killed, and they took blood, and it
hurt! It hurt! He tumbled through the trees, branches scratching at his
outstretched arms and face.

Suddenly, he tripped and went
flying through the air. He landed on the ground, head cracking on a rock.
However, he was back on his feet again in moments, and he kept on running. His
scarlet blood streamed behind him, highlighting his red-gold hair. He ran and
ran like he was being chased by the damned. He came upon the creek, wild-eyed
and crazy, just in time to see Rodney helping a sopping Linda out of the creek
as she laughed hysterically. Abernathy was already out of the creek, in the
dirt, laughing as tears rolled down her cheeks, her eyes little more than
slits.

Francesca and Seph walked in on
their little scene just at that moment. Silo was by Seph
’
s side, and a bright blue light twittered around their
ears. Seph pointed Abernathy out to Silo, and he ambled over to her, happily
spewing flames. She hugged him to her happily, petting his smooth red and black
scales affectionately.

“Silo! Silo! I
’
m so happy they found you! Don
’
t you ever leave again!” She cried out, hugging him to
her even tighter.

“Tristan…” Rodney said carefully,
still holding Linda
’
s arm for stability as she hopped
from the slippery rocks to the soft dirt. “Tristan, are you okay?” He asked,
and they all turned to stare at him.

He was streaked with dirt, and
blood was drying on his face. Seph stared at his blood, eyes swirling to
pitch-black. She took a step towards him involuntarily. That brought him back
to reality with a
CRASH!

“Get away from me!” He screamed,
taking a step away from her, and she halted, shaking her head a little.

Francesca stared at him coldly.
Never taking her eyes off of him, she stepped forward beside her best friend
and offered the young vampire her wrist. Seph nodded her thanks at Francesca,
taking the wrist in her hands and bending down to it. They all just stared at
Tristan as he stared at Francesca and Seph, eyes still bugging out. Seph
stopped after only a few sips, sealing the wound with her lips, just like the
high priestess had. She was back to her senses and glared at Tristan just as
coldly.

“I was just hungry, Tristan. I
’
m not going to eat you,” she
replied, voice cutting like ice.

“Tristan,” Linda said gently,
coming forward carefully and helping him to sit down on a stump. “What
happened?” She asked delicately, wrapping one arm around his shoulders.

He took a deep breath and gulped
audibly. He looked absolutely hysterical, and he trembled beneath Linda
’
s arm. What had happened?

“I tripped in a hole on my way
here, and I looked down in the hole. I saw some type of vampire ceremony going
on down in there, and… and… they killed a girl! They drained her to death!” He
stared at Seph with fear-widened eyes, and she glowered at him malevolently.

“Really? You just so happened to
trip in a hole and see my people brutalizing some people like you?” She asked
him, practically snarling, and he flinched away from her. “You don
’
t think that maybe you tripped in a
hole and hit your head, as I can tell you did from your head wound, and then
you just dreamed all of that because of how you feel towards my kind? It just
sounds so perfect for you, and it makes my people look like monsters!” She
shouted at him, and everybody remained silent, staring at the pair.

“I didn
’
t imagine it, Seph. I
’
m sorry that you are what you are, but-” she cut him
off with a shrill cry.

“That I am what I am?! How dare you
apologize to me about what I was born as! You aren
’t vampire, Tristan! You don’
t know how it is! I was a person
first, Tristan, and I still am! Don
’
t
feel sorry for me! I don
’
t need your sympathy! I
’
m fine with what I am! You just need
to learn how to live with it!” She shouted before turning her back to him. “I
’
m going back to Monster Academy. I
wanna catch the end of dinner,” she shot Tristan a hardened glance over her
pale shoulder. “Anyone coming with me? Don
’
t want to go to bed hungry,” she added scathingly, and
they all started moving, turning away from the forlorn-looking wizard.

“
Wait! You guys don’
t believe me?” He asked, rising and
looking altogether pathetic.

Seph rounded on him viciously,
stomping towards him.

“Tristan, that time I attacked you
was a once in a lifetime thing! I have never done that before, and I will never
do that again-” He cut her off smoothly.

“What about with your foster
brother?” He asked her coldly, and she glowered at him.

“That was a different situation,
Tristan. I left out some details when telling you that. He wanted it. It was a
heat of the moment kind of thing,” she said icily.

“Heat of the moment?” He asked her,
and she rolled her eyes.

“Ya, heat of the moment! It
’
s called blood
lust
for a
reason! He wasn
’
t complaining! It didn
’
t hurt! It doesn
’
t have to hurt! Did Francesca look
like she was in pain?” She asked him, voice rising, and he just shook his head,
dumbfounded.

“She was doing what with who?”
Rodney whispered to Francesca, who was just staring at Seph in shock.

She hadn
’
t known that. Why had she not known that? She and Seph
were best friends, right?

“Her foster brother, Nate. I didn
’
t know they did that,” she whispered
back, listening more closely to their conversation.

“What exactly did they do?” Rodney
pressed on.

“Nothing that bad, Rod. It
’
s Seph,” Francesca replied, as if
that explained everything to Rodney, who had no idea what her actual standards
were.

“I
’
m not an animal, Tristan! I happen to have feelings!
Thanks for hurting them!” She continued to shout at him before whirling on her
heel and marching off.

They all followed her, leaving
Tristan to bring up the rear. Dewdrop buzzed by him, not liking to fly as fast
as they were walking. Tristan noticed acutely that she was a fairy. He had
looked through a book at the library, a book on magical creatures, and he had
seen a picture of them. They looked just like their picture, which had buzzed
around his head like a real fairy. He was still trying to get used to images
coming to life in books, like holograms or something from science fiction.

“Tristan,” the fairy suddenly
whispered to him, and he nearly jumped. “
Us fairies
…
we have heard rumors concerning a rather violent order of vampires in the area,
making blood sacrifices to a blood god, dark god…” she whispered, and he
nodded.

“Mot, the god of death or darkness
or something, is what they were saying,” he replied, and she tinkled with a
nod.

“I believe you, if that means
anything,” she stated, and he nodded, smiling at her.

“It does,” he whispered back, and
they picked up their pace, following the others as they distanced themselves
from the duo.

They arrived back on school grounds
easily. They had to talk Tristan into putting a temporary invisibility charm on
Silo and Dewdrop as they traipsed up to the Main Hall together. They needed
sustenance before returning to the Room and dealing with it. He did so without
a word. They all split off at the Main Hall, grabbing their trays of food and
taking them outside. They made their way to the Room, introducing Dewdrop to it
and re-accustoming Silo to it. Happily, he no longer needed to be enclosed in
his telekinetic bubble. He knew not to burn everything up anymore. He had grown
up in the forest and in the fairy colony. His relationship with Seph seemed to
really help him too.

Seph lounged on the couch, sipping
her blood. She was glowering at Tristan, who tried his best to ignore the
daggers shooting from her eyes. Tristan sat in the corner, eating his hamburger
and fries. Dewdrop was by his side. It seemed that they all disliked Dewdrop
now. She had gone to the dark side, Tristan
’
s side.

“Let
’
s play some chess, Seph,” Rodney suggested, breaking
the tense silence.

Seph nearly lost in their
rambunctious game of chess. She was not exactly at the top of her game that
day, but in the end, Tristan saved her at the last moment. He pointed out to
her that her merking was in danger just in the nick of time. This saved her,
and she won the game. Rodney was not too happy about that, but he let it go.

The next day, during lunch, Rodney
insisted that they go back to the Room for a rematch. This time, Tristan couldn
’
t help her. Tristan grinned at her,
but she didn
’
t return the pleasant gesture.
Entering the Room, they all stopped, staring around themselves in shock.

“
Dewdrop
…” Francesca murmured, and the blue
fairy buzzed over to them. “You
’
ve been busy,” she commented as they
all looked around themselves in awe.

With Dewdrop
’
s fairy magic, she had changed the size and interior of
the room completely without revealing anything to the outside world. It had a
high ceiling now, and the floor was made of all white, reflective marble. The
entire room was huge. On one wall, floor to ceiling, there were windows, and on
another wall, floor to ceiling, there were bookshelves. Of course, with the
windows, nobody from the outside could see in, but they could see plenty from
the inside to the out.

The wall they stepped out from, the
wall with the door, happened to have a golden ladder attached to it. Up the
golden ladder was a little golden walkway that wrapped all the way around the
entirety of the room. However, it was low enough from the very high ceiling for
even the tall Rodney to walk around it without hunching even a little. There
was a brass telescope up there by the looks of it, positioned strategically by
the wall of windows. It was perfect for studying the stars or spying on people,
whichever.

Near the wall of bookshelves was a
very comfortable-looking sitting area. There were plush evergreen couches and armchairs,
as well as an oaken desk and chair, complete with reference books and an indigo
and gold globe next to it. It all looked very appealing for a night-in,
studying.

The last wall, to their left, was
completely blank… oddly blank… Dewdrop noticed them staring at it and beckoned
them over, tinkling cheerfully. Suddenly, a whole desk of computer equipment
popped out of the wall, and the whole wall lit up as the screen. They all just
stared and stared and stared.

“WELL?” She squeaked, excitedly
forgetting about her promise to talk quietly.

“
Well
…” Seph started, picking through the minds of the
others to hear a general consensus of thoughts. “
Well
… It
’
s wonderful, Dewdrop. Absolutely
wonderful,” the little fairy blazed such a brilliant blue that she hurt their
eyes. “But…” her light began to fade. “But we kinda liked the old Room better.
This one is great too. Can we have both?” She suggested, and the fairy,
although her light was quite a bit paler than usual, seemed to think about
that.

“All right,” she agreed, chiming
like a trio of bells.

Suddenly, everything began to whirl
around and around and around. Without warning, they were standing back in the
middle of the original Room. They just stared and stared and stared all around
them.

“And I will keep my room in here,”
the slightly miffed fairy stated, fluttering over to a bright blue locker now
attached to the distant wall of the Room.

She disappeared it, slamming the
door with a
BANG!
They caught a glimpse of a miniaturized version of the
room that they had just been in inside the locker. They all looked at each
other, still in shock. Francesca sighed.

“Who knew fairies were that
powerful? Don
’
t ever piss her off,” Francesca
warned, and they all laughed a little, easing the tension.

“Too late,” Seph muttered gruffly,
and they laughed a little more, relieving the tenuous air in the room.

Suddenly, Dewdrop bounced out of
the locker again. She swirled around them once before stopping in the center of
the little circle that they had formed. She turned to Seph, facing her, if a
sphere of blue light could face anyone.