Blood and Beasts (25 page)

“I apologize for my reaction,
Persephone. I desired to surprise you all. I see that I did,” Seph smiled a
little encouragingly. “However, I realize that you all like this room, no matter
how disheveled it appears. Feel free to enter my domain whenever you so desire.
It is open day and night,” Seph opened her mouth to ask a question. “Time
passes at a normal speed there as well, not accelerated nor stopped,” she
beamed around at them all one more time, blue light simply glowing, before
whizzing back into her domain, locker door slamming shut behind her.

“That… was too weird,” Linda
stated, and they all nodded in agreement.

That week, they did enter the Room
and then enter Dewdrop
’
s Domain more often than not. Their
original Room just paled in comparison to her place. It was nice to keep around
though, for memory
’
s sake and the like. Dewdrop
’
s Domain was very fancy.

It was really funny how Silo and
Dewdrop had bonded. It seemed that fairies and dragons had some type of innate,
intimate bond between them. He guarded the locker with teeth bared and claws
out constantly. He recognized the six of them, sometimes seven, if Stefan
tagged along, and he always admitted them. If someone strange did ever try to
enter Dewdrop
’
s Domain, they were on their own.

The week went by rather quickly.
However, on Friday, Francesca and Rodney weren
’
t there. Neither was Ruby, Seph noticed acutely. She
stared out of the crystalline windows, noting the nearly full moon. They must
be in full transformation right about now. They had to shift into their
werewolf forms the three days during the month when the moon was fullest. She
knew that.

She wished they were there though.
She was closest to the pair of them. It just wasn
’
t the same with Abernathy, who was studying more than
you thought, or Linda, who was always busy with her boyfriend. Seph and Tristan
were still not on the best of terms either, although she had found it in her
heart to forgive him. He was terrified, in a new place, and she had given him a
horrid, first impression of herself. It made sense that he would view vampires
in a bad light from then on. She would if she were a human… anymore. She hoped
that she could eventually change his prejudice of her kind though.

“Are you all ready for parents
’
day tomorrow?” Phin asked once the
commencement bell for Vamp Class had rang.

Everybody burst out laughing as Seph
just looked around, confused. 

“Nobody comes on parents
’
day,” Masoko explained, eyes little
more than slits with her laughter.

“At least not parents,” Capri threw
out, and they all laughed some more.

“Well, what about brothers and
sisters?” Seph ventured, and they all glanced at her.

“Sometimes they come,” Phin spoke
up, and they all nodded.

“But your parents will come,” Sarabi
said, and Seph looked up at her, not giving her a happy look at all.

“Is that a good thing or a bad
thing?” She asked, and Sarabi looked away, not answering her question.

With those parting words, Seph
’
s anxiety levels spiked as the night
drew to a close. She had difficulty sleeping that day, constantly thinking
about Bill and Janette and if they would bring the kids. She kept seeing Pearl
and Pearce
’
s terror-stricken faces as well as
Nate
’
s bleeding neck. Needless to say,
the following day, Seph had never felt so nervous. She woke up at six,
exceptionally early for her. She was beyond jittery. She dressed in her normal
clothes, brushed her hair to a high gloss, and straightened her jewelry, the
choker necklace and bracelet. She left the room early, missing Francesca
’
s presence as she swung her small,
black backpack over her shoulder. She was headed for the Main Hall. She sipped
her blood anxiously, watching people meander in and out of the Main Hall. Their
parents were not coming today, and their parents had not tried to kill them
last time they had seen them.

Classes had never sped by so fast.
She dreaded the end of the day. During their species class, they were supposed
to go up to their rooms and wait for their parents, if they were coming. She
had to at least check and see if they were going to come, although most of the
other vampires were just going to hang out in the classroom because nobody was
coming for them. It was understood by that point.

What was she supposed to hope for?
If they didn
’
t come, it meant that they didn
’
t love her and couldn
’
t even bear to see her. That was
bad. However, if they did come, they more than likely wouldn
’
t be pleasant about it and would
probably act very mean towards her, which would hurt a lot too. She was in a
lose-lose situation here, she thought desperately, raking a hand through her
red tresses.

Species class arrived much faster
than expected. She had to check in at the Vamp Class, and then she left, along
with Phin, Trey, and even Capri. Phin
’
s
sister, Nadine, was coming, and Trey
’
s
parents and siblings always visited him. Capri
’
s dad was coming too. He just came to say hello a lot.
She didn
’
t mean to pry, but she heard his
thoughts. He had always visited his dad in prison on an armed robbery charge,
and now his dad viewed his condition the same way. How nice…

They parted ways at the dorms. She
headed for the girls
’
side and climbed all
the way up to the top, not cutting corners for once. She walked slowly towards
her dorm door, although no one was waiting for her. Anxiously, she rested
against the doorjamb, looking left and right. Would they come? Would they bring
her brother or sister or maybe some of her foster siblings?

It had been twenty minutes. She
sighed resignedly, straightening up. No one was coming. She would just go back
to Vamp Class, and maybe get some extra help from Capri… no, he was talking to
his dad. Maybe she would ask Masoko for help with her shifting to a bat,
although she still could only seem to manage that halfway form. She could ask
Kenji for more help with misting, although she had that down fairly well. Who
knows what she would do…

“
Persephone,
” a rather harsh but familiar voice
called, and she turned to see Janette and Bill striding towards her.

Neither of them looked too happy.
Bill looked a little scared, eyes roving the corridor with the whites showing
all around them. Was he waiting for some hungry vampire to jump out and try to
eat him? Janette looked mad, angry even. She had been the one who had called
Seph
’
s name but in a much more vicious
voice than was normal. They arrived in front of Seph, and awkwardly, they all
stared at each other. Who was going to break the ice first?

“Here,” Janette said, passing over to
Seph some cards the foster kids had made for her.

She looked at them, all handmade.
Bobby and Manny
’
s was adorable, their wretched
little crayon drawings scribbled over some purple construction paper. They had
drawn a picture of her and them, all holding hands, walking through the field
near their house. They had written in their crabby handwriting, or, more to the
point, Bobby had written under someone
’s instruction: WE MISS YOU!

She looked at the next card, another
hand-drawn one, with Terrence and Dean
’
s
name on it. They had just drawn some hearts and stars around it. Dean had drawn
a little superman, and Terrence had written her a kind note.

Dear Seph,

We all miss you. I mean, I miss you
a lot just by myself. Did you know that vampirism isn
’
t a disease but a genetic trait?
That means one of your parents was a vampire. Does that mean Pearl or Pearce
are going to become vampires too? But you have different dads, so maybe it was
your dad that was the vampire. I don
’
t know. I
’
m sorry for bringing it up. I really
miss you though, Seph. Nobody
’
s
that nice to me here anymore. You were always the one who was nicest to me. I
miss you. Love,

Terrence

She stared at the message a moment
longer, blinking back tears. All she needed was to cry her bloody tears to send
this awkward family reunion over the edge. She inhaled shakily.

“Lawrence drew this for you,”
Janette said, looking as though she had just swallowed a lemon.

She accepted the piece of loose-leaf
paper that had a drawing on it. It was of her, with fangs, but she looked good.
He had made her look like a superhero. He had written in pretty lettering above
the drawing,
Persephone
. She knew Lawrence. If he had been
angry at her or afraid of her, he would have drawn her eating somebody, blood
and guts everywhere. Something along those lines. Lawrence saw her as a
superhero, as something amazing or something to aspire towards. She blinked
back some more tears. They really cared about her, despite everything.

“And Pearl and Pearce bought you
this card,” she stated, handing her a nice card with some atypical,
calligraphic message on the front about love.

She opened the card, hoping for a
little message from them on the inside. There was some writing, but not what
she had wished for. It was different though. They were her actual siblings, and
they had also seen her…

Seph,

You scare me. I still love you.

Pearl

Seph,

I miss you, but you scare me too. I
love you.

Pearce

She stared at the two short
messages, heartbroken. Janette looked pleased with her facial expressions. She
obviously did not approve of the lovey-dovey messages the others had given her,
but she enjoyed the effect Pearl and Pearce
’
s card was having on her.

“And the last one,” she passed over
the final card, and Seph knew who it was from as her fingers grazed the paper.

It was in an envelope, which she
opened with one sharp fingernail. She slowly extracted the folded piece of
paper, staring at the familiar writing. It was from Nate. She took a deep
breath before reading it.

Seph,

I know that what you did wasn
’
t intentional. I need to talk to you
in person sometime soon. Come by any time, day or night. I miss you, and I
’
m not afraid of you. You know, in my
culture, people that could change into different forms, like a bat, were
considered powerful and spiritual people. I accept you. Please come and talk to
me soon.

Nate

She just stared and stared at the
message. Nate forgave her. Nate was not afraid of her. Nate wanted to see her.
This was a development. What was she to think about all this?

“They miss you a lot, Seph.
Especially your brother and sister, even if they don
’
t say it,” Bill said, giving her a weak, little smile
before Janette nudged him roughly.

“They can
’
t come visit you, Persephone. We have to be
responsible, foster parents, and you are a danger,” Janette said coldly, and
Seph just stared at her, visibly hurt.

They were on either side of her now,
and she realized that Janette was not about to forgive her. She still had a
chance with Bill though. She turned her back to Janette, standing directly in
front of Bill, who also appeared heartbroken. He missed the girl that he had
always viewed as his real daughter.

“I
’
m still the same old Seph! That was a one time thing.
It was the first time I discovered what I truly was! Please! You have to
believe me! I miss them so much! I
’
m not a monster! I
’
m just a little different-” Seph
’
s pleading ended abruptly as Janette
’
s thoughts shrieked in her mind.

Seph turned in time to catch Janette
’
s hand as it came down to stake her,
a sharpened wooden post in her salmon-pink nailed hand. The two women toppled
to the ground as Bill just stared at them, immobile. They struggled for a few
more moments, the stake raking across Seph
’
s cheek, until she finally remembered her powers. With
her great strength and telekinesis, she threw her foster mother off of her,
sending the woman tumbling a few feet. They both hopped to their feet again,
rounding on each other.