by Bob Dattolo
I’m not shocked to find that people are giving Nathan a decent amount of space. Normal humans can sometimes pick up a predator, and vampires are apex predators that way. Their mix of powers puts them on the high end of things, at least for physical strength and some things like speed. Angels and Demons are on the higher end across the board, but some others give them a run for their money in various categories. I’ve been told it’s a crapshoot, typically.
My walking companion’s nose keeps flaring, telling me that he’s sniffing me out. Or trying to.
“What are you?”
He glanced over at my laugh, “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting you to start with that.”
He looks me up and down again before rubbing his face, “You’re not a mage. Or not just one.”
He didn’t seem to like my shrug, but that’s all he’s getting from me detail-wise, “Like I said, I’m a mage. Arguably. Beyond that? I’m not saying anything.”
That earned me another look from him, “You said you’re not human?”
“I’m not.”
“You look human.”
“True. Very true. Then again, you look human and are a vampire.”
For some reason, he didn’t seem to think that I’d get that. Since they basically said it in class, I guess he wasn’t able to hear what was going on?
“I may not be a vampire for very long, but I’ve learned a lot. There aren’t any non-humans that look like humans. Not like this. Not like you.”
“Badgering me won’t get me to tell you.”
His walk started to become smoother, “I can make you tell me.”
“Possibly? But then again, if you fail, I’ll kill you and your family out of spite. If you force me to tell you, my mother will be even worse. Isn’t it much nicer just to get along? I’m not sure how it matters.” I nodded out at the kids around us, “After all, how does it feel to have people avoiding you? You know you won’t attack them for no reason, but they treat you like you’re a wild animal that is only holding back by accident. How does that make you feel?”
He frowned, taking in the other kids, “Like shit.”
“Right. Like shit. So maybe the best thing to do here is to not try and push me on this?”
His lips pressed together as we walked, until he finally nodded.
I stuck out my hand again, “Hi. I’m Ceri. Nice to meet you.”
His smile came in, but it stayed small as he clasped my hand, “Hi, Ceri. I’m Nathan. How are you liking school so far?”
We went back to walking, carving through the crowd that continued to make a space around us. Except those that I could tell were supernaturals. We passed a bunch of shifters on the way, at least two orcs, and a troll. This is too cool.
“So far? It’s not bad. I haven’t been threatened with rape yet, so it’s an improvement on my first day at the academy.”
He gave me a look, “Rape? Most supers…” he stopped talking.
“Yeah…I wasn’t raised as a supernatural. I was raised to believe that anything supernatural is evil. A gateway to hell. When everything happened at home, I found out that I’m not a norm. My parents weren’t either, obviously. My parents taught us that sex outside of marriage and masturbation were straight-lines to hell. So, getting to school and being told that someone would force me to have sex with them before the weekend? That was horrifying to me.”
“What’d you do when it happened?” You like that? It’s a foregone conclusion in his head that it took place.
“It never happened. My first interaction with the other kids beyond my roommate was in the cafeteria. The head of the school decided he wanted a piece of the new girl. I cut that short and he spent most of the next day or so in the infirmary. Along with two of his followers.”
He stopped walking for a few steps, then rushed to join me since I kept going. Not that I know where I’m going. “What? What was he?”
“Mage shifter. His followers were shifters, although Lacie’s also a mage.”
He sniffed again, “There has to be more to you than I’m seeing.”
“While that’s the truth, I just want to be a normal girl. So, as much as I’m willing to rock your world, please don’t try to force me or threaten me.” My expression went dead as I looked over at him. I may not have my full magic behind me, but I’m willing to die to hold true to what I believe. Most others aren’t.
He swallowed, and it sounded painful, “Jesus…okay. That’s not quite how I roll, you know? I’ve been like this for just over a year and a half. While it’s pretty cool, it also sucks. My parents aren’t wealthy, so they couldn’t get me into one of the better private schools to teach me. When I was turned, I was kept by the gang for almost a month before I managed to escape. They left a hole in the orders they gave me, and I ran. We ended up moving to here because my parents heard that there’s a good population of supernaturals that I could mix into. I’ve been forced to do all sorts of things since coming here, but at least it’s not like what they did in Philly.”
He tensed at my laugh, “Wait, don’t tell me, was it Scudo that took you?”
This time when he stopped, I stopped with him. “What? Scudo? What do you know about them?” His eyes started to bleed to black and his talons started to come in. The kids around us picked up what was happening pretty quickly and started to back away from us, “Are you with them somehow? Trying to collect me again?! I know they’re still searching, but I thought we were free!” He was yelling by the time he finished.
“I’m not with them. And they’re not searching for you any longer.”
A teacher ran into the circle, then stopped dead at the sight in front of him. “Ahhh…you…”
I snapped my fingers, getting him to look at me. He stank of terror, which I can understand. “You don’t have anything to worry about. We’re not fighting. He’s just upset. He’ll calm down in a minute.”
Nathan leaned into me, arms flaring wide in an attack position. I’m pretty sure he didn’t even know he was doing it, “How do you know that?! You can’t guarantee anything like that!”
His entire body jerked away from me by nearly three feet when I flared a bit of power at him. Again, not the golden light. “I know because they’re dead. They’re all dead.”
The black in his eyes started to fade away and his talons retracted, “Wha…What? Dead? How are they all dead?”
“They’re dead because they kidnapped a brother of a friend of mine from school. We hunted them down and killed them after they kidnapped us as well.” The teacher began to stammer, so I brought him into the conversation, “It was a sanctioned challenge between supernaturals. The FBI was involved and everything. Perfectly legal.”
I had an initial thought that I was being attacked, but it was just a crying hug from Nathan as he clutched at me, sobbing. I didn’t bother telling him he’s getting bloody tears on my shirt. Thank God it won’t show much because of the color.
The tension in the hallway bled away nearly instantly, and the kids began moving again. The teacher didn’t know what to do. “Is everything all right?”
Nathan wasn’t in any shape to answer. “Yeah. He thought I might be involved with the gang that took him and changed him. He’ll be fine in a minute.”
The teacher nodded a few times and shocked me by handing us two slips of paper. “Here. In case you’re late to class.”
“Thank you.” That was a touching move, at least in my book.
The teacher left, showing me a huge mass of a person heading towards us. A person, but not human. The obvious girl moved through the other kids like an ice breaker. That’s probably pretty accurate, especially since she’s at least 6’5” and 400 pounds of muscle. She’s also greenish, with amazing green eyes and gleaming tusks rising up from her bottom jaw. I’ve never met an orc before, but here we have one not even three feet away.
When she spoke, her voice didn’t at all sound like it’s coming from someone her size. “Nathan? Are you all right?” She touched his shoulder, t
hen ended up with an armful of crying vampire.
She looked down at him, then up at me, “What the fuck did you do to Nathan?”
I’ve been around a number of people that do angry well, but not many that come with such a backing feeling of raw power. “I didn’t do anything to him. He thought I might be tied to the gang that turned him. I’m not. It was a misunderstanding.”
She looked down again, “That wouldn’t make him cry.” Her anger started to fade a little.
He finally looked up at her, “She said they’re dead! That she killed them!”
She cocked her head at him, then looked up at me and sniffed, “What? Killed who, the gang?”
“Yeah.” I thought it better if I answered her.
“That’s impossible. I don’t know anyone that can kill a vampire gang, unless you were part of another gang?”
“Ummm…nope? It was me and a friend of mine. They’re dead. So is the other major vampire gang in Philly. It was a bloody day.”
She sniffed harder, “You look different, but you don’t smell normal.”
I shrugged, “I can’t really say. I smell like me, just like you smell like you.” When she didn’t respond, I stuck my hand out, “Hi, I’m Ceri.”
She didn’t take my hand, just stared at it and then at me.
“Umm…I may be new to school, but I think the bell is going to ring to start classes? I’m still not a hundred percent sure where we’re going. Calculus class?”
Her brows came together, and she slowly took my hand. Just like Destanee, she increased pressure, but unlike there, I began increasing it back. I’m just not sure how strong orcs are, so she may be able to tear my hand off without even trying.
She cried uncle first and jerked her hand away, mouth hanging open. “Jesus Christ…what the fuck…?”
I didn’t laugh at her, although I wanted to. She’s far stronger than Destanee is, but it still didn’t get to the point of outright pain. Closer, though. “So…class?”
Her mouth clicked shut and she looked around, “Crap, okay, we need to hurry. I’m in the class with you.”
She basically scooped up Nathan and began jogging, so I moved to catch up with her. She nodded as I joined her, “I’m Marisela.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“So you’re…new?”
“Pretty much. First day and everything.”
“Why do I have a feeling I should work at being your friend?”
“Umm…no idea? I get the feeling, but I’m pretty new to all of this. Maybe it’s just that we both stick out?”
She snorted, sounding much more like an animal grunt than her normal-sounding voice would make you expect, “I think I stand out a bit more than you do.”
“You do, but in some ways, I think I throw people a bit more. They see your obvious differences immediately. With me? They may see my hair and question it, but it’s not too out there. Then they see my eyes and don’t know what to think. They don’t know where I fall.”
She grunted again, then turned into a classroom. We made it through the door just before the bell rang. The teacher was in front of the class talking to someone, and she smiled as she saw us enter. “You got lucky there, Marisela. Is something wrong with Nathan?” She left the student she was talking to and moved closer, not quite touching Nathan.
“He’s okay. Just shook, I think.” She stared down at him with obvious concern on her face.
He finally stirred and wiped his face, looking sheepish as he pushed his way out of her arms. “I’m sorry. I’m fine.”
The teacher patted him, “Take your seat then? If you need to use the restroom or see the nurse, let me know.” Then she turned to me, “Now…new student?”
“I am.” I nodded and handed her my paperwork. She reviewed it, updated her book, and waved me to an open seat. Unfortunately for me, it’s nowhere near Nathan or Marisela. The other kids took one look at me and a faint scent of fear started to mix in the room.
Wonderful.
Chapter 4
Class started off with a quiz, and I was pleased as punch that I made it through far quicker than the other kids did. Some of them stared at me in shock as I handed it in, especially when the teacher graded it immediately and smiled, “Oh my, it seems you have this down?”
“I think so? I was a tutor in my last school.”
She smiled again, “In that case, let’s see how things go. We could always use another student tutor if they’re available.”
It’s a good way to meet people, so I didn’t even think about saying anything negative about the possibility.
The stink of fear had eased up during the quiz, but it came back a bit as I sat down and people paid attention to me. Nathan caught my eye and flared his nostrils, getting a shrug back from me. Marisela caught the interaction but didn’t add anything to it. Either did the hyena shifter a row over from Marisela.
For a normal school, this place is positively crawling with supernaturals!
The hyena was gone before I could introduce myself, and I made it into the hallway as I studied my class listing. Marisela and Nathan stopped next to me. “What class do you have next?” She didn’t have to strain to look over my shoulder. Not that many people do since I’m so short.
“English?” I showed her my form.
“You’re not that far. Take this hallway to the end and turn right. It should be like three or four rooms down on your left.”
Nathan nodded at her words, letting me know that she’s not sending me on a wild goose chase.
“Thanks!”
“You’re welcome.” She paused, “I saw that you’re in the same lunch? Do you want to sit with us?”
I waved around, “Who’s us?”
“A bunch of us have the same lunch period? It’s a table of supernaturals?”
As much as I want to fit in with the regular kids, I know I don’t, so it doesn’t hurt much to meet others that are at least somewhat like me. “Sure?”
The look of relief nearly had me smiling, “Cool. See you in gym.”
She was off before I could ask her about that. It’s not like I hid my other classes, I just wasn’t expecting her to check out the others and be so friendly. Since Nathan went with her, I didn’t have much of a reason to hang out in the hallway.
Kids walked far closer to me than they did Nathan or Marisela, although they tended to flare wide of me as they caught my eyes. More than a few of them said something about me being a vampire and being angry or hungry, but no one said anything to me.
Just as I expected, when I got to the hallway she pointed me to, I found a blank wall.
Or no, I’m kidding. She steered me right, which made me feel good. I so don’t know how to handle this situation. The kids in the academy were friendly, but they were very cutthroat. Granted, I was okay with paying for things with sex once I got used to the idea, but you rarely saw people talking to others outside of our class. They could and did, but it wasn’t as common as what I’m seeing here.
That makes me feel good. Very good.
Since I didn’t waste time getting here, the class is pretty much empty of kids, barring two that look to be packing up and leaving. Thankfully, the teacher is in place at the desk. I’m shocked to see an adult that is actually shorter than I am by at least two inches. She smells human but looks very fit. Her dark skin positively glows under the light. She looked up just as I reached her.
“Umm, hi? I’m Ceri? I’m a new student.” I handed her my paperwork, making sure the second page was there as well.
She smiled, showing me a friendly look, then started reading. When she finished the first page, she looked up, flickering between my hair and eyes, then read the second page. She handed them back to me as she updated her book. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Ceri. I’m Mrs. Park. I heard through the office that I might be getting a talented student? I have to assume you’re her?”
Uhh… “Talented?”
She nods and stands, “They said you were a tutor at
your last school?”
“Oh, yes, I was.”
“In that case, I’d like to put you to the test?”
What? “The test? I’m not sure what you mean?”
She waved at the empty desks, “I’ll have you move to the front of the room and say a little about yourself. Then I’d like the kids to be able to ask a few questions?” She darted up to my hair, “They may have some questions about you? We’ve rather been trained to fear the black eye thing and leave Nathan alone if it happens. It seems that is your normal look, correct?”
“Right. It doesn’t change.”
“You may experience some issues with that until kids get used to you. I’d like to cut through that if at all possible. Are you willing to do that?”
“Sure?”
She patted my shoulder, “Wonderful. My normal approach for a new student is to have them stand in the front of the room and create a poem from scratch based on a random prompt. I’ll hold off doing that to you?”
Holy hell. “Yes, please, I’ve literally never written any poetry in my life, so that probably wouldn’t work well other than to give me a heart attack.”
“We’re just heading into a poetry session, so this is good time for you to join us.” She returned to her desk, reviewed her book, and indicated a seat for me to take. “I think that might work well for you.”
I didn’t ask for clarification why that would be and just sat, watching the other kids roaming through the hallway.
So this is public school? I have to say, there’s far less breaking into song and dance than I expected from those television shows. Then again, there are also far more supernaturals here than I ever would have anticipated. Case in point…
A handsome guy walked in, saw me, and made a direct line for my desk. “Ceri, right?”
One of the mages from home room looked down at me, then tossed his book on the chair next to me.
“Yeah?”
He didn’t offer me his hand as he sat, “I’m Eric. What do you think of school so far?”
“Umm, I like it?” He’s a cute guy, but the laughing at knocking the other kid down really gets to me for some reason.