Blood and Beasts (34 page)

“I know, prima. I was just messin
’
with ya. If you really wanna know, I
think Freddy
’
s gonna ask you unless Ray can beat
‘em to it,” he said, and she grinned anticipatorily.

“Awesome. First come, first serve,”
she announced before flouncing out the door.

“And even with that comment, she
isn
’
t the school hooker, or anything
close to it,” Linda mused before following the girl out the door, followed by
Abernathy, who gave Silo one last pat.

“See ya later,” Seph called, waving
good bye to Rodney and disappearing out the door too.

As soon as the door shut, both guys
rounded on Tristan. Dewdrop saw them turn and instantly flitted away. She knew
when to abandon ship. Tristan slowly looked up to see both towering guys
stalking towards him, arms folded over their chests aggressively.

“What were you doin
’
with Alistair last night, Tristan?”
Stefan demanded, all play gone from his eyes now that the girls were absent.

“What?” Tristan asked for the five
hundredth time that night.

“Alistair. You showed up with him
last night to the party late. He said you and him had been pregamin
’
in the woods by yourselves before
you guys decided to go to the actual party. You were pretty far gone when he
brought you. Alistair is not a good guy, Tristan. He may seem like your bro
sometimes, if he really tries, but he
’
s
not. Alistair is a vampire through and through, and he only looks out for
himself. I don
’
t even think he
’
s really the age he claims to be. I think he
’
s just here… I dunno why he
’
s here…” Stefan said, mulling over
that disconcerting thought sourly.

“Masoko
’
s a nice girl too, Tristan,” now Rodney was rounding on
him. “She
’
s a good friend of mine and alotta
fun, and she doesn
’
t deserve to be dropped like that,”
he really was overwhelmed now.

“
You guys,
I don’
t remember a thing
. I talked to Dewdrop. I never went
into the woods with Alistair. In fact, he
’
s
one of the vampires she warned me about. I went into the woods looking for that
cave again,” they gave him confused looks. “The one with the coven in it?” That
refreshed their memories, and both of them instantly grimaced.

Stefan walked away angrily,
thudding his fist against the wall. Rodney just stared at him with disgust. Why
did nobody believe him?! He was not afraid of Seph except when she was hungry.
She was actually a good friend of his now. He and Dewdrop had been talking
about the coven though a lot recently. She was getting more and more reports
that it was real. People were disappearing from the neighboring towns and
cities. Creatures were disappearing from the woods, magical or not. There was a
lot of talk circulating in the fairy colony and the dwarven tribes too.

He knew trying to talk to them
anymore about it was fruitless. He just stayed there as Rodney eventually
sauntered off. He went to help Stefan cool down before he got too hungry or
decided to rip something up in the already wrecked Room. After about fifteen
minutes of silence, Tristan broke it to say one last thing before he left the
Room.

“I didn
’
t go into those woods with Alistair. I remember that
now. I didn
’
t meet up with him either. I don
’
t think I
’
ve ever even talked to him before. I didn
’
t mean to do anything with anyone,
including Masoko. I dunno what happened, but something is not right. What I had
tonight when I woke up… I
’
ve had hangovers before. That was
worse than any hangover I
’
ve ever had. Maybe I drank some
really strong stuff. I dunno. All I know is something isn
’
t right,” he finally emphasized before sauntering over
to the entrance to Dewdrop
’
s and disappearing into its depths.

Rodney and Stefan exchanged skeptical
looks, shreds of doubt in them.

“What do you think?” Rodney asked,
absently pulling on his lower lip.

“
I dunno
… What he says… I
’
ve never seen him with Alistair
before. Alistair was acting all chummy with him. He never does that. Alistair
is really…
I
don’
t even know. Let
’
s keep this to ourselves, alright,
bro?” Stefan asked, exchanging a glance with him, and Rodney nodded.

The Halloween dance was upon them
before they even knew it. Francesca and Seph had set up a sort of salon for
themselves in their dorm room. Rodney had come by, and Francesca had briskly
shooed him off, telling him that they would meet up with him at the dance. She
had one eye done, the other with no make-up, and Seph was hiding somewhere in
the bathroom, clothes strewn everywhere.

“You guys are never gonna be able
to clean this place up again,” he remarked gruffly, turning his back and
leaving for the emptied Main Hall, where the dance was to be held.

An hour later, Seph slowly stepped
from the bathroom as Francesca waited to see her finished creation. She took in
a breath, amazed. She was overwhelmed by how the vampire looked.

She was draped in jet-black. It was
a beautiful dress with sleeves that grew wider as they reached her hands. It
had a V-neck and went back in a hood. It was fitted all the way down to her mid
thighs where it loosened enough to reveal a slit. She could at least walk that
way. It was made of nice material that also stretched, which was helpful. A
light, golden chain hung loosely around her hips, studded with an assortment of
charms including a witch
’
s hat, a jack ‘o
’
lantern, a fang, a wolf, a cat, a
sun, a star, and a crescent moon, charms alternating around her waist.
Francesca had finally wrestled her into some heels, black pumps, although the
girl wobbled a little unsteadily on them. She hated the wretched things.

Sparkling, gold earrings dangled
from her ears, one of the sun with rays coming out, the other of the crescent
moon. They were glints of light near the tresses of her fire-red waves that
Francesca had expertly curled and piled on top of her head. Her eyes were
perfectly shadowed in fading blacks and whites, gold adding some sparkle to
them. She also had perfect, blood-red lips, and her pale skin added that final
touch.

“
You look fierce,
” Francesca said with a grin, and
then Seph surveyed her own friend.

Francesca was draped in whites and
golds, slightly sheer silks overlapping each other. Her hair had been
straightened to a perfect sheet. She had black eyeliner on her, stretching her
eyes out, cat-like. The silk fluttered with her every movement. She had also
put on some gold heels, not that an Egyptian princess would ever wear heels.
She perfected the look with her bronzed skin and full lips, properly glossed, a
snake circlet on her head, and a matching snake armband on her arm. She had the
same gold chain around her waist too. They liked to match some accessories.

“
Girl, we gonna drop
‘em dead!” Francesca exclaimed
excitedly, sliding her hand on top of Seph
’
s, their little handshake for each other.

“Let
’
s get this over with,” Seph said, hoping other people
dressed up too because she did not want to be the center of attention.

Walking towards the Main Hall,
music blaring and lights dancing, Seph felt butterflies in her stomach. Others
passed them. They were at least done up a lot too, but they received plenty of
stares. The music she heard… There was a DJ but also a live band.

“They got the wizard band, Witching
Hour, to come,” Francesca said excitedly, and Seph gave her a strange look.

“You like this music?” She asked,
and her best friend shook her head, glossy hair catching every inch of light in
the area.

“No, but their lead singer, that
’
s somethin
’
I like,”
she
said, pace quickening.

They entered the Main Hall, and it
took Seph a few moments to orient herself. The only light in the hall was made
from flickering candlelight in floating jack ‘o
’
lanterns that were few and far between. All their
tables were gone, but large buffet tables were against the wall. They had
dishes of pumpkin bread, roasted pumpkin seeds, some other human food. She
wanted some blood. Where would they keep that?

“
You look amazing,
” she turned around to see Rodney
there, a large cup of blood in his hand for her.

She took the blood gratefully,
waiting to respond to him until after her hunger was sated. Apparently, intense
anxiety made her hungry as well. What didn
’
t make her hungry? Rodney was dressed nice, a lot like
Stefan and Tristan. All the guys at the school dressed pretty similar for the
dance. Tristan
’
s blue eyes were especially set off
with the midnight-blue of his shirt, made of some material that shimmered with
different blues in the candlelight. Rodney wore an orange shirt of the same
material, and Stefan had on a black shirt that caught every little bit of light
too. They must have gone shopping together, she mused as she finally set her
cup down.

“Thank you,” she finally answered,
raising a brow to the three of them. “What are you guys supposed to be? A boy
band?” She asked playfully, and he nudged her lightly.

From that touch, she sensed that
Rodney was a little nervous. It was nice that he was nervous too, being all
dressed up. Maybe he was nervous around her? She didn
’
t pry.

“Naw…
We men don
’
t dress for silly Halloween parties,” Stefan said
haughtily, eyes skimming the entering students.

“I think Linda and Abernathy are
gonna have a little fun before showing up,” Francesca explained, eyes scouring
that same crowd for any prospects that night, arched eyebrows raising even more
than usual.

“Great…” Stefan slumped, bored
already.

You look beautiful, Seph. A vampire
queen,
Seph turned
in time to see Phin send a little, silver-eyed glance her way before he
continued his own conversation. He was leaning against the wall, talking with a
pretty, blond witch that seemed to be around his age. She sent him a little
smile before turning back to Rodney, who was clearly wondering what she was
doing. She just nodded at everything in general, trying to cover the action.
She hadn
’
t exactly told him about her and
Phin
’
s mind connection.

“It
’
s all just so amazing,” she said, and he nodded.

“Do you wanna go for a walk?” He
asked, and she smiled, taking his proffered arm before gliding off with him.

Stefan and Francesca leaned towards
each other.

“I think I
’
m gonna throw up,” he muttered bitterly, missing his
girlfriend.

“
Hate em
…” Francesca agreed before they
grinned at each other. “Ooh, but I love that,” she suddenly caught sight of the
lead singer of the band.

He was taking a break from his
singing, and the girls were fawning all over him.

“Watch this,” she said coyly,
straightening up a little.

Stefan watched as the werewolf girl
sauntered past the band singer and his many admirers, tossing her hair at just
the right moment. It caught all the candlelight, and Stefan noted how the
singer continued to watch her as she continued to walk on by, following the
trails of her many silks. The vampire found that he was doing the exact, same
thing. He shook his head. All he needed was for his girlfriend to walk in while
he was checking out one of her best friends. Not that he wanted to get with
Francesca or anything. He just appreciated a good-looking girl. Nobody was as
beautiful as his girl though. He missed her. It was frankly pathetic.

“You don
’
t look happy,
” Tristan stated as they leaned
casually against the wall of the Main Hall.

“Linda…” it was all he had to say.

“Masoko,” Tristan said crisply, and
they both stood up straighter.

The little vampire stood directly
in front of Tristan. Stefan observed her stance critically. Her legs were
apart, centering her gravity, and her hands rested aggressively on her hips. It
had taken her a lot of courage to face him like this, in front of everyone. She
was flocked by two of her witch friends, the second years Blake and Laurel,
fairly pretty girls dressed as classic witches in their pointed hats. Masoko,
on the other hand, was dressed as some punk fairy in a tube top purple dress
made of Chinese silk. It was not nearly close to knee length. She also had on
some black boots that reached to her knees, topping it off. Her hair was up in
bun pigtails, and some gossamer purple butterfly wings were strapped to her
back. She looked cute.

“I know you never meant anything by
forgetting what happened,” she said loudly over the music, and Tristan nodded,
attempting to sink into the wall behind him. “It doesn
’
t matter to me though. It was fun, and you
’
re a great guy, Tristan, even when
you are a little gone,” she admitted, a smile playing about her heart-shaped
lips. “Do you wanna dance?” She asked as a slow song began playing.

He nodded, speechless, and she took
his arm, guiding him into the thickening crowd. Now Stefan was all alone,
leaning against the wall still. Perhaps this was the usual for a vampire, when
graduated from here. They were loners a lot of the time. Linda wouldn
’
t always be there… Sighing, he left,
heading back to his dorm room. Linda was going to be her little party self with
Abernathy, drinking as much as they possibly could. He would just go to his
room and sulk. Leaving, he streaked to his room faster than any being could
follow. He lay down on his bed and stared up at the canopied ceiling. He could
stay here and mope all night or…

The huge oaken doors slowly creaked
open, and everyone turned to look as a wild-eyed Linda stumbled into the grand
hall, reeking of alcohol. Several students shook their heads with admonishment
while a few more just started laughing. This was typical Linda, arriving drunk
to everything. She usually didn
’
t arrive this far gone though.
Tristan sent her a curious look, holding onto Masoko as they stilled mid-dance.
Linda latched onto that look, staggering over to him desperately. She grasped
his wrist firmly, so hard that it hurt.

“Abernathy…” Linda just shook her
head, tears streaming down her sweat-streaked face. “Abernathy
’
s gone,” she sniffed once and then
met Tristan
’
s electric-blue eyes with her own
wider, almond ones. “Please… I
’
m not that drunk. She really is
gone, and something terrible is happening to her. I know it. I just keep seeing
visions of her in a dark place, and there are candles in skulls, and she
’
s so afraid. She
’
s sending me the feelings, but I can
actually see the place. It
’
s so familiar-looking…” she dropped
Tristan
’
s wrist and shook her head
despairingly.

“I
’
m thinking we should take this somewhere else,” Masoko
stated, silver eyes sweeping the room as several students stared at them.

“Ya,” Tristan nodded. “Let
’
s take this outside,” they all
walked out of the hall with as much dignity as could be mustered.

“Where are the others?” Linda
sniffed, still near hysterics.

“We can find them. Masoko, if you
wanna go back to the dance? I
’
ll see ya later,” he suggested, and
the girl nodded at him, happy again.

Together, the two searched for
their friends, using their combined magics. In the maze, they could sense
Rodney and Seph. Before rounding a particular bend, Tristan halted Linda with a
strong arm. He cleared his throat loudly.

“Um, you guys? We need you,” he
called, and there was a slight flurry before the pair hurried around the
corner, Rodney straightening his shirt as Seph fixed her hair.

“
Ya, we
’
re good,
” she said, slightly embarrassed at
being caught.

Reaching forward, Linda helped the
girl with her smeared lipstick. Catching on, Rodney turned a little to wipe his
own mouth just in case. They both suddenly noticed the tear streaks on Linda
’
s face.

“Linda-” Seph started, but the girl
shook her head firmly.

“Francesca too,” she said, and they
nodded.

Francesca was none too happy at
being disturbed in a discreet corner of the dark hallways with the same band
singer, on another one of his breaks. She came over, scowling. She waved good
bye to the confused singer, straightening her dress and fixing her lip gloss.

“This had better be good…” then she
saw Linda
’
s face. “Let
’
s go out there,” she ushered towards the greenery in
the middle of the school, and they all headed in that direction.