“Good guess. But wrong,” said Devin with equal haughtiness packaged in smoother delivery. “We’re looking at Hungarian nobility, mentioned in a past lesson. The great Sanguine for whom this very academy is named.”
“I should have known!” said Moldark, irritated.
“Yes, you should have. Each of you. The Supernatural Light Alliance ran a relentless campaign against Elizabeth Bathory because they knew of her vampire roots. They made mortals have her investigated for the mass murder of hundreds. Sentenced her to spend her life locked up in some crumbling castle. A worse punishment than death, if you ask me.”
“Did she – do any of those things?” asked Natalie, putting her hand up as she spoke.
“She was a vampire. She also brought unparalleled prosperity to the region but of course, that’s not what the Supernatural Light Alliance wanted to showcase,” said Devin, shaking his head. “Don’t you see though. That’s what propaganda is. It punishes a vampire’s very nature, the very essence of what makes us who we are. And yet, does it in a way that claims to be ridding the world of a greater evil.”
“They’ve slaughtered our kind through the ages and acted like only light should exist. Like darkness wasn’t a vital part of nature!” said Lilith having some sort of revelation.
“Precisely. If you think about it, the supernatural world and, all of existence is hinged upon light and darkness existing together. Vampires and dark beings are after all one side of the same coin as all those who identify with the light alliance. But for too long, the coin has faced light side up. Change is coming. It’s high time it was flipped,” said Devin as the class nodded vigorously in unison. I didn’t have the guts to see whether my two friends agreed with him.
Chapter 15
After Devin’s lesson, most of the first-year vamps had spent the rest of the night high on a sense of their own superiority and impending reign over the supernatural realm. I couldn’t understand what Etienne Devin was doing as a professor here as he could have had a huge and frightening impact as a politician at any day of the week. The man was handsome, charming and utterly convincing. If him and Duquette wanted, they could have taken over the world in an instant. I guess in their own way, they were. One bloodthirsty vampire at a time.
I’d dipped into Ulric’s mind again, once after the intense lecture and the once before I went to sleep. As pathetic as it was, that one-way connection was the closest I felt to someone else. What had started as a fact-finding mission had turned into somewhat of a momentary refuge the more I did it. Looking inside of him, his life, was a way for me to distance myself from all the cray-cray of mine.
Whatever Ulric or his pack may have been privy to, they had no idea about my stolen crystal and the degree of animosity Lilith held for me. They had other things to think about and what I’d been getting from Ulric, was that with the full moon coming, he felt an intensity in everything from his emotions to his strength in his shifted form. He was also feeling a growing sense of isolation from his pack. I felt close to him, knowing all I now did about him. If only I could tell him, he wasn’t alone. We couldn’t have been more different in so many ways and yet in others, we were exactly the same: total outcasts from all the others around us.
After I woke and the sun had set, I’d been hoping to bump into Ulric before classes and had gone out of my way to go above ground-level, into the two main foyers of the building. I found a corner, near a set of windows where the moonlight bathed me. I lingered in my otherwise inconspicuous spot, hungry for more of its silver rays, which were as soothing as the sun had once been.
I saw Kane walk by who looked at me and nodded, begrudgingly. That kind of nod that’s heavily duty-bound. And full to the brim with resentment. Knowing how he felt about me even before I saw it on his face, I knew better than to ask him where his second in command was. Like some lovesick puppy. In the distance I saw two girls walking through the hallway together.
Students were otherwise sparsely clustered throughout that area but what stood out to me about these two was that I recognized one of them. It was Lilith. Since she’d taken the quartz crystal, I’d often tried feeling for it in my vicinity during classes. My conclusion with that had been that Lilith never carried the crystal on her person as I wasn’t able to sense it. Though they were deep in conversation and hadn’t seen me, I immediately raised my guard assuming the other was Nyx. The moment they saw me, it would be the usual round of unprovoked venom to contend with.
My blooming began to tingle and I hid my arm behind my back, hoping they wouldn’t be drawn to the brightness. Fortunately, the moon was bright enough, that it disguised the crystal magic as it swirled to the surface of my skin. That’s when it hit me. She had the crystal on her at that moment. The two of them walked straight past me and I was so fixated on the crystal that I almost completely missed who the second girl was.
My pulse quickened and my blooming threatened to put on such a show that even the moonlight wouldn’t be adequate cover, as my eyes reacted to what I’d just seen. The girl walking so cozily, deeply engrossed in talking to Goth Girl, wasn’t Nyx at all. It was Winnie.
***
“You look really pale, I hate to be repetitive but you should really drink something,” said Valenthia as the three of us sat in the food hall together. Natalie and Valenthia sipped bottles of blood and Natalie was also digging in to an array of Cajun dishes that had been laid out for us.
“Or at least get a good meal?” suggested Natalie, likely after she saw my face change.
“I’ll eat when I’m hungry,” I protested. I couldn’t eat a morsel after what I’d seen upstairs. And, I just didn’t get it no matter how much I ran the scenario through my head. Lilith was someone who had an overt bias against anyone not of full Sanguine blood. And yet there she had been, looking as comfortable as ever with a werewolf, of all creatures. And Winnie. Here I had been thinking her one and only reason for hating me was that I was part vampire. Obviously, I’d been wrong. What had they been talking about? The more I learned about the weird politics and alliances at Bloodline Academy, the less anything made any sense.
We walked to Duquette’s class after lunch. I paid extra attention to Lilith, not caring if she picked up on my staring in her direction or trying to get into close proximity with her, at every chance I got. One thing I quickly sensed, was that she no longer had my crystal on her person.
“The last time we were together, class had to end in an untimely manner,” said Duquette as we took our places back in the cave, “we were about to get two of you to demonstrate your skill at the stun maneuver when we were called away. Anyone remember who our two volunteers were?”
I flashed Moldark a look of desperation, appealing to any humanity within him not to claim our spots for us. It was a slim hope but still. He grinned at me, ready to reconvene when Duquette stepped in. “Too slow. You don’t remember? Not a problem, as I do. It was Mr. Whitlock and Miss Quartz. Please step over here, both of you,” she said, pursing her full and glossy fuchsia lips. Why did she ask if she already knew? I already knew the answer. It was to get the pleasure that only a vampire or other creature of a predatory nature could get by dangling their victims, every step of the way.
Moldark stepped forward, happy to oblige. His light brown hair flopped over his forehead and his molten chocolate eyes glinted with mischievous anticipation. If I had to be on the receiving end of a maneuver I’d hadn’t even tried once, I wasn’t going to do it looking petrified. I stepped up, putting on as bold a face as I could. The snickers and comments in the background were so commonplace that I barely registered them anymore.
“Ready when you are,” said Moldark, taking on a defensive stance.
“You’re going to proceed towards him, trying to find a weakness in his defense,” said Duquette.
I walked towards Moldark, willing hard for another interruption like the other day. When I got within three feet of him, I realized I was really going to have to do something this time. I tried to focu
s on my blooming, summoning the use of my magic to try and get an advantage. Before I could get any closer, he’d already pinned me down on the floor, effortlessly, with a swiftness in his movement akin to streaming.
“Et voila,” he said as laughter rose up from my classmates.
“Ouch!” I cried, rubbing my back.
“She asked you to look for a weak spot in my defense. Not walk up to me until we were one.” Moldark raised an eyebrow suggestively.
“Get up Miss Quartz. Try again!” said Duquette. It wasn’t her body that had just been slammed into the cold hard ground. I tried again a few times with the same result, where each time, the normally brooding vamp, held up his end of the move with a playful smirk. I could tell he was enjoying himself. “What should Miss Quartz be doing that she isn’t?” asked Duquette, clearly becoming bored. She turned to the class.
“Going for a part of his body that is unprotected?” asked Darius.
“You’ve just re-phrased what I asked her to do at the beginning,” sighed Duquette. She turned to me, “Use your instincts Miss Quartz and if you can’t do that, at least use your head. Of all your classmates, why did I ask you to demonstrate this move in the last class?”
It was to do with streaming, I realized. My streaming had been the most powerful thanks to the combination of my witching powers and having consumed a tiny bit of blood earlier that day. “Okay, I think I get it,” I answered and took a few steps backwards. Of course, to stun him, I had to be so fast that even with his heightened senses, he’d have little to no time to react. I summoned up all my strength, which was waning from the amount of hits I’d already taken from having been attempting the maneuver all wrong, and I charged at him.
Nothing went the way it had gone before. There was no rush of magic or anything else, as I intended to zoom my way up to Moldark to teach him what I was made of. Instead, I ended up running hard and headlong, right into him, waiting for, but never accomplishing what I’d set out to. Claps of laughter echoed off the walls as Moldark used his strength and agility to stop me from clumsily toppling over.
“What are you playing at?” demanded Duquette, her face scrunching momentarily into a judgemental as hell frown.
“I don’t know, I think I’m just tired,” I said, hurting all over.
“What are you looking for – a bedtime story? You’re a vampire – at least you’re supposed to be!” she shook her head, not bothering to hide her disgust, “Speaking of which, when did you have your last drink?”
Busted. That must have been it. “Erm, yesterday?” I said, convincing no one at all.
“Bullshit,” replied Duquette, staring hard at me. “I want to try something. I have a hunch and I’ve never been wrong. You,” Duquette pointed at Natalie, “go and fetch Miss Quartz here, a nice drink. Go!”
Natalie obliged and streamed out and away from the cave. So, this was how this was going to go. I was going to end up doing something I’d largely avoided for as long as I could, in front of everyone. I was basically going to be force-fed blood. I saw Lilith and Nyx, glowering at me. Nothing new there.
Valenthia, gave me a quick, apologetic glance before she looked away. The rest of the class watched curiously. I was a side-show to them. Nothing more than an experiment. Natalie returned with as much speed as she’d left. She’d gotten me a box for which I was fully thankful.
“Here, Kat,” she said handing me the green box. I wondered how the class would react and most of all, our professor, if I puked when I tried consuming the thick, dark liquid. Maybe there was a chance she’d be so thoroughly appalled by my lacking vampire instinct that she’d see to it personally, to have me expelled. I wish. No, the likelihood was that if I did anything like that, she’d make it so I was never seen nor heard from again.
“Thanks,” I managed, putting on my best poker face so as not to reveal how vile I found what I was about to do.
“Drink up, young lady,” said Duquette, as drawn to watching me like an exhibit as the students.
“Yeah! Drink, drink, drink, drink!” Riskel began to chant and a few of the others apprehensively followed his lead. The voices grew louder as they noticed that Duquette hadn’t ripped them a new behind. If anything, she appeared quite approving and after a few seconds, tapped her foot along to the rhythm.
I stuck the straw into the box, feeling like this was the biggest test of my life to date. I took in a prolonged breath and put it to my mouth. Like last time, I placed the straw so it surpassed as much of my tongue and taste buds as possible.
I pulled in my first sip, visualizing that what I swallowed was a cold and tasteless soup and nothing more sinister. I knew a few drops wouldn’t suffice this time and kept going. As the liquid poured down my throat, my initial thoughts and feelings of utter repulsion quickly began to recede, only to be replaced with something else. I found I was no longer being bullied into drinking the blood, I was doing it through a deep urge to keep going. My mind, apparently the only objecting part of me, clouded over and my blooming began to tingle so intensely that my whole arm throbbed as my pulse quickened. No one and nothing else mattered, only the substance pouring into me as warmth spread throughout my entire body.
I was aware of the silver glow that emanated from my whole being but not a single cell within me felt self-conscious about it. The feeling was like arousal and invincibility, like all my desires had simultaneously been satisfied through one source. My past pains didn’t matter and future fears didn’t exist. I lost a sense of time as I drank until the box was empty of every drop.
After I was done, I felt utterly powerful like I could take on everyone standing before me and win without even trying. I saw my blooming which, overloaded with the surge of power the blood had awoken, appeared to be lifting off of my arm and spreading out in all directions. Beautifully fluid, silver swirls, like the branches of some ancient, magical tree.
I gazed around at my classmates as a wave of relaxation washed over me. They stared back in what I knew was awe. “I’m ready to try again,” I said, my body rearing to go and perform what now seemed like the easiest task in the world. Riskel began to applaud and some of the people who’d been cheering or heckling depending on which way I looked at it, joined in as claps bounded off the walls.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Go on then,” said Duquette just about maintaining her practiced look of indifference.
“Okay, ready,” said Moldark, gleaming at me and up for the challenge.
“If it’s stunned you want, stunned you shall get,” I said, not knowing where that outburst came from. Taking a few big steps backwards and in my blood-drunk state, I didn’t overthink it. I lunged forward and felt everything fall away in a haze. Only my target remained.
Before he could move or counter attack, I was on top of him, holding him down on the ground. It was only when I looked up that I realized my magic had swirled into a silver bubble that enveloped us both and it wasn’t my vampire strength alone that was pinning him down. The magic had rendered him quite defenseless and while he didn’t appear to be in any physical pain, the expression on his face said his pride was an altogether different matter.
“Bravo,” said Duquette as I climbed off Moldark who immediately streamed himself to a safe distance from me. “This is very interesting and it’s going to serve us well. Very well, in fact.” An overtly devilish smile played across her lips.
“What the hell?” he demanded, as usual with no regard for who he was questioning.
“Being the hybrid that she is, she reacts to good old regular blood, the same way the rest of us do to the blood of Crystal Witches. And, for bonus points, it would appear that not only does her inner vampire come into full power, but so does her witching magic.” Duquette studied me, like I was a textbook. Easy to read and inanimate.
“But then she shouldn’t be allowed any blood!” Lilith cried out, full of spite, “It’s not fair on the rest of us. If we can’t drink witch blood from her lot, why should she have access to even mor
e power than us? She’s not even full-blooded!”
“Quit your bitching, Miss Tussaud! Miss Quartz has chanced upon the fountain of her power by being taken in by St. Erzsebet’s as a half-blood vampire. As a pure blood, show some damn initiative and if you don’t like something change it.
“Although, I wouldn’t mess with Miss Quartz or she might end you and your whining for good,” said Duquette, feeling proud with how her class had turned out.
As the class ended and I began to come off the physical and emotional high of the blood, my inner vampire settled back down and my magic turned from euphoric to warning. For the first time ever though, I felt like I could actually protect myself. Lilith may still have had my crystal but now I knew that I could go and reclaim it from her clutches without the outcome being certain death for me. It felt good realizing the balance had been tipped in my favour. I was going to get back what was mine and as long as I acted quickly, I could still use what the blood had activated within me without consuming more.
Chapter 16
I slept like a baby, with none of the concerns that had been tying me up since I’d gotten to the academy. When I awoke, the next night, the moon was full and beckoned. It was the time of month where all supernatural creatures were affected by its pull but no one more than the werewolves.
I lay in bed, indulging in what was fast becoming a guilty pleasure: sensing what Ulric was up to. That was why I was so in tune with the moon. It had literally been on his mind as it peaked his own instincts. What would he think of me if he knew I’d gotten more in touch with my vampire side? Would he find me as repellant as he did the other vamps? And what about Safi?
There were to be no classes as Devin was away on vampire business in Europe and Duquette and Kragen were attending to something for Principal Nadasdy. I decided that I’d use my time tuning into Ulric to find out where he was, so I could go to him. I still wanted to alert him to whatever was going on between Lilith and Winnie. If he had a packmate who was not to be trusted, he needed to know. It was the least I could do for him after all the help he’d been. And then there was the fact that as much as he annoyed me, spending time with Ulric was something I enjoyed whether I liked it or not. However, before looking for Ulric to hang out, I also realized that most importantly, this would be a good evening to try and retrieve my crystal as I wouldn’t spend most of my time forced to be in a class with the person who’d stolen it but never brought it with her. I wouldn’t have an opportunity like this again, in a while.
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