It dawned on me for the hundredth time, that Lorna and Babette had kept me weak and naïve and then bailed the first sign of trouble. Maybe had I developed my magic like Safi and even Quinn, I would have been in a much stronger position at the coven. If they’d still have packed me off to Bloodline Academy without a second thought, at least I could have stood up better for myself at my new school.
Nothing I could do about the first but starting right now, there was something I could do about the second one. Being a Crystal Witch and a vampire shouldn’t have been a source of terrifying weakness, it should have been a huge strength. No one else had the magical advantage I did and I needed to start acting like it. If only I could find a way to access the source of my power.
Chapter 8
Natalie and I joined the already long line-up for our first class, ‘Supernatural Combat: Basic Defense and Attack’ on the fourth level with Professor Duquette. Having never been inclined in physical combat, it was the one class that fascinated and at the same time terrified me. I sensed that Natalie felt the same, although her reasons were more because the professor was world-renowned as an undefeated hard-ass and teacher who was second-to-none.
“She’s the sole reason many of us come to the academy,” said Natalie in an excited tone, “to be under her tutelage is to have a realistic opportunity at eternal life.”
“That’s actually most true for the Sanguine among us but I can see why a Novus would want a shot too,” said a girl with wild amethyst hair, who was standing ahead of us in the line-up. As she spun around, I saw that she had the palest eyes I’d ever seen. They were so light that her pupils looked like two shiny, black marbles floating in the middle.
“I heard,” said Natalie submitting to the Sanguine.
“Look, it’s not that I think any different of you, whether you’re a Novus or a witch,” her eyes wandered over to me though she didn’t display the cold, hard stare that Goth Girl and her gang did, “There’s just a lot of those who feel differently.”
“I’m Katrina,” I said, holding back the urge to do what came naturally and extend my hand to shake hers.
“Yes, you’re kind of famous. I’m Valenthia. And you are?” she turned to Natalie.
“Natalie,” said my roommate, regaining some of her enthusiasm.
“Are all the first years required to take this class?” I asked, trying to gauge more about the topic and hoping it wouldn’t involve getting my own butt kicked. Then again, I could undoubtedly do with learning to protect myself, especially around here.
“All the first-year vampires. The werewolves have a different equivalent class, more tailored to their needs.”
“Yeah, it’s called Moon Howling one-o-one,” said the obnoxious, golden-haired vampire who I’d seen before with Goth Girl.
“Seems rich, don’t you think, Riskel, that you’re dissing werewolves when you’re basically like a lapdog to Lilith,” replied Valenthia, as cool as a cucumber. Surprisingly, it worked and Riskel turned away. “As I was saying, the werewolves have a different class with a werewolf for a teacher. I think his name is Professor Volke. He’s the only non-vampire teacher at St. Erzsebet’s.”
The lecture hall was the same one where Duquette and Principal Nadasdy had spoken the last night and as the door swung open, I hoped that maybe given the setting, at least for the first class, it might be more theory than practice.
“Alright, everyone. Promptly take your seats, we have a lot to get through and just because I have an eternity to spend, doesn’t mean I want to spend it with you,” said Duquette. Natalie and I followed Valenthia towards the front of the hall.
With so few of us to fill the seats, there weren’t many other options without overtly drawing the wrong attention from Professor Ice Queen, who was obviously on top form. She wasn’t dressed like she’d be teaching us to fight – not unless she was there purely to instruct. She had a pretty, blush-toned dress, navy high heels that I wouldn’t even have been able to stand up straight in, and the most gorgeously popping cerise lipstick. She was a picture from the era of baby blue Cadillacs and malted chocolate shakes, huddled together with some jock at a diner. Not someone I’d have pegged to be a vampire martial artist, of sorts. “Right, questions before I start – I do not like interruptions?”
“Do we need to get changed, professor?” asked Riskel, sounding disingenuous.
“Do you need to change? Because if you’re ever attacked or wage an ongoing battle against your opponent for survival and dominance, everything will pause for costume changes every six to eight hours.” Duquette raised an eyebrow at Riskel, who, zinged for the second time in a few minutes, looked peeved. “I stand corrected. When I asked if you had any questions, I should have clarified – intelligent questions only. Feel free to keep your dumb ones completely to yourselves.
“I take it there are no questions, then? Okay, so after I finish my brief outline on this class, we will proceed to the academy training grounds on level nine. If you follow this class the way it’s been designed, you’ll find that few if any beings of any species will be able to ambush you successfully or ever take you prisoner.
“We have been blessed with greatly enhanced strength when compared to mortals and many supes but unless you learn to prime your instincts and use your head, this further side of life is already lost on you.”
The class was still, no one moved a muscle as they absorbed the lesson, which had already begun. Everything about Duquette’s manner commanded respect and reverence.
“Before we begin our practical training, there is something I’m going to raise,” she said, her eyes gliding across each of us. “When you were all in your dorm rooms after lights out, there was some activity sensed on the fifth floor. This academy is protected by more than you could ever imagine. They say vampires are evil – well, if they who say that had their way, they’d wipe each of us away like we never existed,” said Duquette looking off into the distance. She drew a breath and looked straight at me. “What were you doing, after lights out Miss Quartz?”
I froze. She knew about Safi coming into my room. “Sleep. I went to sleep,” I managed, knowing that if my voice waivered even a little, I’d out myself and even worse, Safi. She scrutinized me with her blue eyes like glass.
“See, we’ve never had a witch before at this academy. We, Principal Nadasdy, as well as the whole of St. Erzsebet’s security team, have been going over this, issue, let’s call it. And because we’ve never had your magic mingle with ours before, we have yet to know if it was something you did, or just your mere presence that caused a sort of glitch.” She stared at me with a laser-intensity and for a second I thought terrified, that she was using compulsion on me, to get me to confess what I’d done. I shook free from her gaze, remembering that thankfully her brand of compulsion wouldn’t work on me anyway and seeing as she’d offered me an out with her accusation, I took it.
“I didn’t do anything, professor. Maybe it was just my presence that was picked up?”
“What do you say Miss Summers?” Duquette looked hard at Natalie, “What was your roommate up to, while the rest of us were resting?”
“Nothing,” said Natalie. “And the reason I know is because I saw her go to bed, even before I did.”
“Anyhow, it won’t much matter,” Duquette replied, unconvinced. “Within the next few days and even now, the academy is getting accustomed to your presence, Miss Quartz. From now on, if you do something you’re not supposed to, we’ll know.
“Now file out, all of you and follow me.” They knew that Safi had been here even if they didn’t know that it had been exactly that. It was only a matter of time before they caught her as an intruder at the academy and did who knows what to her. The one thing I now knew was that, whether it was night or day, it wasn’t safe to call Safi into my dorm room or into the academy.
We followed the Ice Queen to the training grounds for our class and Lilith, also known as Goth Girl, pranced ahead of us, almost knocking me off balance. I
’d had minimal interaction with her since she’d kept her head down in front of Duquette but then again, the night was young. We arrived at a huge space, that appeared like a dimly lit cave. It made me think of a castle, like the ones I’d seen in story books as a child before the coven had taken me in. I half expected a dragon or a knight to jump out from somewhere.
“Line up against this wall,” said Duquette, gesturing at a few metres from where she stood. “Stay here.” There was a whirring noise and within a split-second she was at the other end of the large room. Within another blink of an eye and with the same sound that came like a rush of wind, she was back next to us. “I want to see each of you do that.” That made me nervous. I had absolutely no idea in all the heavens and hells combined how to do that. If I had, I would have felt a lot safer my entire life. At least the parts where there were no vampires involved.
Riskel was first and to my untrained eye, he was exactly the same as Professor Duquette in terms of his speed and agility, though she was quick to shake her head with disapproval. “Was that okay?” he asked.
“Your streaming was messy. Once you got to the other end, it took you too long to get back and anyone but a human would have seen you coming a mile off,” she remarked, barely even looking in his direction.
After him, it was Goth Girl’s turn and then Valenthia’s. Duquette neither critiqued their efforts and nor did she praise them. A few others went, a couple of whom were immediately reprimanded, and I began to feel my face burn up, in anticipation of what was inescapable. But nothing told me I was a vampire so, how I was supposed to stream like one, totally alluded me.
Natalie went and I was next. “That’s actually not bad. I’d stretch myself to say, that was good, Miss Summers,” said Duquette, surprising everyone, including Natalie. It was the first positive thing she’d said to any of us since we’d met her. “How long have you been a Novus?”
“Err, thanks, about five years,” stammered Natalie.
“The rest of you pay heed. Especially those of you that are Sanguine. She’s mastered in five years of living at this further side of life, what a lot of you have failed to do having been created that way. And Miss Summers?”
“Yes, professor?”
“Quit quivering in your uniform and show some pride in yourself like a proper vampire.”
“Yes, professor,” said Natalie, looking stunned but encouraged.
“Your turn, Miss Quartz,” said Duquette as if it wasn’t painfully obvious to me anyway.
“Erm, okay. I’ve just never done this before so…” I muttered.
“This should be fun,” responded Goth Girl, garnering a threatening look from the professor.
“I’m well aware of that fact, which is why I’m making you go last, so you had the chance to watch your classmates,” said Duquette.
“Okay…here goes nothing then,” I said, willing myself to try and summon forth what everyone else in the room had achieved. When I achieved nothing but the gawking expectation of the entire class, I turned desperately to Duquette. “Am I supposed to run or does it just kind of happen if I think of it?” I asked, wanting to acquire the ability to stream, just so I could use it to get as far away as possible from everyone watching me. Every student apart from Natalie and Valenthia snickered.
Duquette’s lack of expression was more telling than if she’d joined in making fun of me with her class. “It’s not magic,” she said after a while, “it’s a basic instinct that each of us has within. So, yes, it is like running but with a completely new dimension to it. When we are streaming, for those few seconds or minutes, we are completely outside of time and space. No other supernatural creature can do that.”
“Let me try again?” I asked. To say I was overwhelmed by the knowledge and the expectation was an understatement. What threw me most was the Ice Queen had actually been sincere about teaching someone like me. She nodded, without breaking her gaze. I ran to the other end of the room. The echoing laughter that bounced off the damp, dark walls told me that run was all I had done.
“Try again,” said Duquette. I did, with as much success as I’d had before. “Again. This time don’t stop when you get to the other end, try and come back immediately as soon as you get there.”
“Okay,” I said. I did exactly what she’d asked but still only ran. Wherever the so-called instinct of streaming was hidden within me, running laps up and down the large space had done nothing to awaken it. Even my blooming didn’t glow, which was usually a sign if something supernatural was surfacing.
“Okay then,” sighed Duquette, coming to the end of her patience. She raised her eyebrows as though she’d been subjected to a freak show. “We have a lot to get through so I suggest you just watch the others for now. However, I want you to see me immediately after class.”
I nodded as Professor Ice Queen began instructing the rest of the class to perform what she referred to as basic maneuvers in cases of attack and defense and how they varied only slightly but had vastly differing outcomes.
I noticed that despite that the class consisted solely of vampires, not including me as a sideshow, Sanguine were only paired with others of their kind and the same went for the Novus. Valenthia had been teamed up with Riskel and although they seemed to have gotten off to a rough start before, they appeared to be a good match. Goth Girl did not look happy.
Natalie had been paired with a girl I hadn’t yet met and much like her streaming, she seemed superior in her fight and defense techniques to most of the Sanguine. It was my turn to stare open-mouthed as I witnessed the stealth of my classmates as they turned into a frenzy of activity, blocking and attacking so fast that little red sparks jumped through the cool underground air.
As the class came to an end, Duquette glanced at me, dismissing everyone else. “Demonstrate some of your witching magic for me, Miss. Quartz,” she said, when we were the only ones left in the cave that, in the absence of the rest of the class, felt more like a ruined crypt. I shuddered.
Lorna and Babette had both warned me and every other witch that passed through the coven, that under no circumstances were we ever to share our magic or show it to non-witches. Vampires were at the top of their list, as they were for most other supernatural species, because though they drew their own power from very dark and different means, revealing the ins and outs of one’s supernatural power was to teach them how to learn our weaknesses as a whole part of a species.
And yet, abandoning me in the midst of them, meant that as soon as I started to come more fully into my magic, I’d have no choice. For the millionth time I wondered what my High Priestesses and the S.L.A. could have been thinking by handing me over to Bloodline Academy. My only saving grace so far, was my total lack of control over my powers as a witch.
“That’s the thing professor, I don’t have any real powers as a witch either yet,” I said.
“Don’t play coy with me, Miss Quartz. What we picked up from your part of the floor wasn’t a lack of real powers. Whatever you did – and I know, you did – was some potent magic.” Duquette stared into me, her blue eyes brilliant and unblinking.
“I don’t have proper powers yet. You saw how successful I was at streaming. I’m at the same level as a witch. Whatever you sensed from me, wasn’t done on purpose. Maybe as I slept, it just flowed from me?” I lied.
“If that’s the case, you are a hot mess,” she replied with a poker face. “We can all sense the witch in you. I can equally sense the Sanguine inside you.” I cringed as she said it. “And, unlike your coven of sellouts, we stand by and develop the strength of our species.
“If you were mortal at this academy, you’d have been dead a hundred times by now. If there had been a mistake and you were a pure witch, you’d have been dead a thousand times. Nothing would have thrilled me more, than to suck you dry on this very spot.”
I looked away, realizing how very true what she said was. All of it. From the part that I’d have been dead many times by now if things were different, and th
e fact meant I really was part vampire, to what she’d said about my coven. There was no escaping it. They’d turned their back on me and betrayed me. Unlike the vampires. The darkest of all supernatural creatures had stood by me and taken me in, when even the Supernatural Light Alliance had turned its back. The truth stung. “Are you listening, to me Miss Quartz?” said Professor Duquette, pulling me back into the moment.
“Sorry, professor, I am,” I said. She sighed with annoyance.
“If you’re to survive as a vampire, you’re going to need to master streaming before you can advance to learn hunting or to defend yourself.” I nodded. “I want you to practice. Tell Natalie and Valenthia that from now on, they’re to instruct you. I want to see a swift development from you.”
“Thank you, I’ll let them know.”
“You’re dismissed,” said Duquette and before I could move a muscle, my hair fluttered around my shoulders due to the speed at which she made her exit.
Chapter 9
“Try it again?” said Natalie, who’d been watching me carefully in the darkness as I’d tried, for the millionth time, to stream with no success.
“Why don’t we stop?” I said, “We should probably be getting to class anyway.”
“Okay, I just don’t want you thinking I’m giving up on you or anything,” Natalie was reflective.
“Not at all. I might be but I know you’re not. It’s just that we don’t have Duquette’s class tonight so I’m not that stressed.” I had other things to worry about. Like that Bloodline Academy staff were onto me about my using my limited and uncontrolled witching magic within the grounds.
“Maybe it’s your witch powers that are inhibiting your vampire ones?”
“Maybe. Can I ask you something?” I said turning to Natalie as we left the crypt-cave and proceeded to class. It was the first class of Nutrition with Professor Fabio Kragen and oddly, there were only a couple more throughout the term, scattered many weeks apart. If there was one class, I’d been dreading more than Duquette’s, it was this one. Natalie had already warned me that the lecture would involve blood and talk about consuming it.
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