Forging Family

by Bob Dattolo

  He made a guffaw sort of sound, which was pretty funny to listen to. Now that my anger is going down. “Yeah…no. If I had magic like that, it’d be hundreds of millions of dollars. If it were powerful enough, maybe a billion. Or more. Magical items like that…Jesus, they’re so expensive. My family has three that we’ve purchased from others. The cheapest was ten million bucks, and it was bought like a 100 years ago. You know it was expensive as hell back then. We have things that we’ve made ourselves, but they’re not very powerful.”

  I stepped up to the door as he held out his hand.

  “See this ring?” The others looked at the simple band. “This is a ruing of protection. Basically, a shield. It only works against physical things. I worked on it for a month straight, nearly six hours a day. It might block a baseball thrown at me. 20 percent of the time. A bullet? If I’m lucky, I’ll get a deflection out of it. Probably not, though. I worked my ass off on it, and that’s how powerful it is. If you had one that could reliably stop bullets? You could buy yourself a private island with it.”

  So, huh, he’s trying to tell the norms not to get Nathan to bite them? That’s funny…and kind of sad that they don’t know not to do that. Not that you can’t ask a vampire, especially if you’re friends, but if they change you, they sort of own you. Not totally, but they have more control over you than others tend to think. And since they can lose a bit of themselves, you’d better be okay with them fucking you constantly for a while. Or, actually, yeah, you’d be okay with it because he’d make you be okay with it.

  The spell he hit me with confused me at first. I thought it was a tracker of some sort, but it really was just designed to track down the most dangerous person in school and show him who it is? That’s far more innocent than I expected it to be. Like…way more.

  I stepped through the door and found the guy that I saw in my head. I saw him yesterday a few times but was never introduced to him. I know he’s a senior and that he’s good looking and pretty muscular…and that’s it. He has a decent amount of power, which is something I’m picking up now, yet not much more than that.

  The room wasn’t very busy, with a few people closer to the door, no teacher, and the little grouping of four kids on the far edge of the room. There don’t appear to be any supernaturals in here unless they’re mages. Well, other than the guy I’m here to see.

  He saw me come through the door and looked confused as I beelined for him.

  “Uhh, hey? Are you lost? You’re new, right?”

  The other two guys and girl looked at me, frank curiosity on their faces.

  “Hi. I’m Ceri.”

  “Hey? I’m Troy.”

  “Nice to meet you, Troy.” The others didn’t introduce themselves, so I continued to focus on the mage in their midst, “Sorry to bother you. I was just trying to figure out why someone hit me with a spell while I was walking down the hallway.”

  His brows came together, “I’m sorry? I didn’t hit you with a spell?”

  I knew my eyes went dead, I just didn’t do it on purpose. “No…you did.” I made a crushing motion with my hand and killed the spell, getting him to rock back as he felt it die. “I came to see what’s up and if I was under attack.”

  The girl grabbed Troy’s arm, “You okay?”

  He held his chest with his other hand, “What the fuck…did you get hit with the spell I sent out?”

  “Yeah? You were trying to prove a point and expected to see Nathan or something like that?”

  His face ran pale, “What the…what…”

  One of the other guys, much larger than Troy, stood up, “What are you doing to Troy?”

  My gaze shifted to him, and he trembled as I kept my eyes on him, “I am not doing anything to Troy. What I did, though, was destroy the spell he hit me with.”

  Troy pulled on the guy’s hand, “Man, sit down. Please.”

  The large guy made huge fists, not sitting down, “No, man, she can’t come in her and…”

  Troy stood, putting his hand on the huge guy’s chest, “Please…God, don’t do anything! Don’t you get it?”

  The big guy didn’t seem to understand his point, but the girl trembled and covered her mouth. “Fuck…you cast a spell to identify the most dangerous person in school…but it didn’t find Nathan? It found…you?”

  Humor came back into my eyes as I gave her a finger wave. “Sorry to mess things up. Troy’s trying to make a good point, though. People see vampires and they think, huh, that’s pretty cool. Strong. Fast. Long lives. I gotta get me some of that. On the other hand, most of you probably don’t want to become murderers, do you?”

  The big guy moved back a little, fists unclenching, “What? What are you talking about?”

  Looking across the three norms, I decided to start class, at least a little, “Vampires…aren’t quite human any longer. They may look it, but they’re not. They can’t have babies with us. They’re their own species, even if they’re an offshoot of human. When they change, their drives change. With a new vampire, it’s very, very rare to have them not kill rather indiscriminately the first year they’re changed. If not longer.” They looked shocked at that. And like they didn’t believe me. “I know it seems farfetched. In my last school I met a girl named Rachel.” I hit her with a golden light out of the blue, getting a huge smile from her in my head. Damn, I really like her. “She was attacked and turned while her friends were killed. Never knew her maker. She learned to hunt quickly and didn’t kill anyone…and was kidnapped in Philly and kept in a cage, basically, being beaten and raped pretty much constantly. The gang was going to suck her in and make her their bitch, so to speak. Except by that point, she’d have been their bitch. Once the connection is forged, you’re stuck. And you’ll do anything they want you to.” I smiled at the huge guy, “You’re big. Intimidating. How would you like to put on a show being fucked by horses until they can’t cum any longer?” He grimaced. “Or you? You’re cute. They’d fuck you for hours. Days. Years. Centuries. And you’d beg them to do it if they want you to. If you don’t like being fisted while others urge things on, then…think about it. Seriously. I’m not even remotely joking.”

  Troy finally managed to push the huge guy back into his chair, “Seriously, that’s what I’m trying to tell you guys. Vampires look human, but…they’re killing machines.”

  “Right. Apex predators, as they say. They may be nice and fun and all of that, but underneath is a core of inhumanity that revels in pain and blood. The good ones push it back and bury it. The bad ones? They’re really, really bad.”

  The girl didn’t seem to know if she should believe me.

  “Rachel, the girl I mentioned? She fought her new urges. Her new nature. Fought it tooth and nail. Then we went to Philly to try and find her brother. He fell in with the same vampire gang that took her. He was human then.” I nodded at the tightening of her face, “He’s not any longer. Anyway, she fought off killing anyone for nearly a year. Fought so hard…then we were attacked by a gang of hyena shifters in an alley. She killed every one of them.”

  I let that sink in for a moment. “Being a vampire is not for everyone. If you want to become a supernatural, it’s far easier to do it as a shifter. Except…you really have to be okay with knowing that you’ll be fucked. A lot. Shifters aren’t as bad as vampires that way, but once you’re part of their family? Turned? Get ready to put out. Guys too. It’s a free-for-all in most shifter families. Unless you luck into a situation where they don’t forge big family bonds. Bears come to mind. Then again, if a stronger bear tells you to bend over? You do it or they kill you or beat you until you can’t fight back and do it anyway.”

  Troy rubbed his face, “That’s what I was trying to say earlier. People see the cool things and think it’s just that. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve been forced to go out with someone I never would have wanted to go out with.”

  The big guy blinked a few times, “People forced you?”

  The mage shrugged, “Sort o
f? Not really? It’s different for us…but it’s still the same in some ways. I can’t really explain it.”

  They quieted down, looking between each other, as Troy tried not to shiver and hide away from me.

  The girl finally looked back at me, “If…if Nathan is supposed to be the most dangerous person here, why did his spell hit you? Was it an accident?”

  Troy’s voice was a bit weak as he answered, “No…spells don’t go wrong like that. They either work or don’t. They don’t misfire and pick up someone else.”

  I nodded at his words, letting the happy behind my eyes fade away as more of me came to the forefront. The part of me that wants to roll on mountains of corpses and then make them mine loved seeing them, wondering what their blood would taste like, and then picturing them being raised again to serve me until their very bodies are worn away to dust.

  The guy that hadn’t spoken at all turned and threw up across the floor. The big guy rocked back against the wall, holding his hands up. He wasn’t crying, but it’s pretty close. The girl froze, trying not to draw my attention.

  “Jesus motherfucking Christ…I’m so sorry. I never would have…I never…”

  Everything sucked back inside of me and I let the angry and homicidal part of me nestle into the dark inside of me.

  “You’re good, Troy. I was pissed, but that went away when I found out what you were trying to do.” The girl continued to stare at me, so I smiled and nodded at her, “Now, imagine you get someone to change you…and then they sell you to me. Can you imagine being forced to put out or do everything I say for hundreds of years? Being a supernatural can be pretty sweet…assuming you get into a good situation. You just can’t guarantee that would be the case.”

  I took a deep breath and smiled wider, letting some of my sharp teeth show, “You all be good now.”

  The teacher was walking in as I headed through the door, but I didn’t stop to say hi to them. The smell of throw-up was getting to me. Not like I wanted to do it myself, but like I wanted to make more people do it. I like the fear from people. I just don’t want it. Sort of.

  Behind me, the girl’s quiet voice reached me, “I don’t think I’m ready for anything like this.”

  Troy’s voice quivered, “I told you…it’s not all fun and games…”

  Their voices disappeared behind me as I moved through the crowds. Unlike before, people didn’t automatically move away from me when they saw me. Unless they saw my eyes. I overheard more than a few people telling others that I’m not a vampire and they don’t need to be freaked by my eyes. That’s pretty good. Maybe I’ll get normal reactions from people coming up soon here. I can hope.

  Chapter 10

  Mr. Crosland was in his seat when I entered home room, and he marked me off in the book and gave me a nod. That left me to sit in my seat, finding Destanee was already in her spot, working through homework of some sort at a furious pace. Warren was in his seat behind her, and he didn’t take his eyes off me the entire way across the floor.

  “Problem, Warren?” There’s no reason for me to hold off asking.

  His dark look got darker, “Shut it, bitch.”

  Destanee stiffened but didn’t turn from her homework. I laughed at his anger. “Jeez, chill, Warren. You guys were being bastards and I’m the bitch?” My insides twinged at the curse, but when my parents didn’t come out of the woodwork to torture or maim me, I felt a bit better. If Mom were here, she’d have been fine with cursing. The fey don’t care about language the way humans and some others do. To them, words are words. That’s it.

  “We’re gonna call your bluff.”

  I didn’t see any reason to correct him on his belief that I was bluffing them. It’s totally not worth it. At all. Instead, I just giggled softly for a few seconds before waving him away, “You’re too much. Big bad mages have to pick on someone? How about you pick on someone your own size and that has a chance of fighting back? If you’re not willing to do that, then I guess you’re just a bunch of pussies. Little girl pussies without even any pubic hair. Poor little vaginas think they’re big bad men picking on some kids in school? Pathetic. Totally pathetic.”

  Laughter near the door made me realize Nathan and Rhett were heading in. They heard it all, which was obvious to Warren. The mage’s face turned bright red, but he wisely shut up as the newcomers moved to their seats. Shockingly enough, we moved into general chit-chat that didn’t even try to probe for my secrets or anything like that.

  After that, morning classes shot by like greased lightning. I made it to lunch before even realizing things were moving along so quickly. It was shocking beyond belief to be heading in, sniffing the delicious scents of the food just waiting to fill my belly. I was totally thrown off to have Syl appear at my side as I got into line for my trays of food.

  “Hey, Syl.”

  His smile seemed pretty brittle as he took his own tray. He may eat more than a human, but nowhere near what a big shifter eats. Or me. Definitely not me. “Ceri.” He sniffed, “I didn’t know you were into beasts.”

  Kids in front of me turned at my laugh. It wasn’t a quiet laugh, that’s for sure. “Wow, Syl…seriously?”

  Marisela stepped into line behind us and his muscles locked up before he relaxed, no longer looking angry. Melissa got in line behind her, with Rhett heading in next.

  What the heck? What would he have said if no one else joined? Or if Marisela hadn’t joined?

  The lunch period was pretty much a repeat of the day before. To some extent. The conversation ran more afield, and people weren’t trying to force me into various conversations. I just moved in and out of them at need, while also concentrating on getting my food down. Syl handled everyone pretty much how he did the day before.

  Even stepping all over Melissa every time she tried to talk.

  As he shut her down hard when she tried to talk to someone about a recent movie, I decided to throw my hat into the ring.

  “Hey Melissa, what English class do you have?”

  She perked up at my voice, “I…”

  “She has advanced English. Same as me.”

  The table stilled just a bit as I stared at him for about ten seconds before smiling back at the embarrassed girl. “Are you heading into a poetry section next?”

  She inhaled but didn’t get anything out this time, “We are. Mrs. Park loves her poetry.”

  This time I stared at him longer. All of the various conversations at our table slowed to a stop before I looked back at Melissa.

  “Are you any good at poetry? I’ve literally never had to write any before. Maybe I could trade you tutoring or something?”

  “I…”

  “I would love to tutor you in poetry. I have a lot of experience with it. Not that I need tutoring in anything else.”

  This time I stared at him for a solid minute, face dead to the world. Then I finally smiled, “Syl?” I looked back at Melissa, “I’m sorry, you must be Syl today. How are you with poetry?”

  She didn’t try to answer my question. He did, though. “I just told you. I’m very good at poetry. The fey are always good at the arts.”

  This time when I looked at him, I made it obvious that I’m working at hiding my anger. “Let’s see…first you’re Syl and then you’re Melissa…and now you’re Syl again. Tell me, do you have a split personality of some sort?”

  “No? What are you talking about?”

  I stuffed down more food, “It’s pretty simple. You answer questions directed to you. Then you answer questions directed at someone else. So, either you have a split personality…or you’re such a condescending bastard that you feel that you can step all over someone else. So…which is it?”

  “Ceri, ple…”

  He cut off her quiet voice, “How dare you! How dare you say something like that to me?!”

  I shrugged, smiling wide, “I didn’t. I said it to Melissa. The simple fact that you feel that you’re Syl and Melissa is concerning to me. It makes me wonder if the administratio
n knows that you’re so gender fluid that you transition from sentence to sentence…and that you’re actively working to assume another student’s identity.”

  He growled at me, magic coursing around him, and I waited for it to hit me. He continued growling for nearly a minute before he turned to Melissa and stared until she basically cowered in her seat, crying softly.

  “Syl?” He didn’t turn towards me. “Syl!” He finally looked at me. “The next time you want to do something like that? How about you do it to me instead? I dare you. I freaking dare you.” He wilted over about two minutes as I continued to smile and stare.

  Then he left.

  He wasn’t finished all of his food, but he crammed everything into the trash can and glared at me the entire way out of the place. I smiled until he was out of sight.

  Rhett patted my back, “You know he’s a fey, right? They’re fucking powerful.”

  “Yeah, I know he’s a fey. I also know he’s acting like a bully. I don’t like bullies. If he wants to stop, I’ll be more than fine with letting it go. If he wants to continue it? Or come after me? Then I’m more than fine with ending it, too.”

  Destanee changed the subject and we drifted around again for the last ten minutes of the period, then went off to class. Syl refused to speak with me in physics and left his magic coursing around him the entire time. I kept expecting it to come for me, but it never did. Nathan was tense during it as well. I couldn’t tell if it was because of me or from waiting for Syl to do something. Thankfully, class ended without any bloodshed, and we got to continue with our day.

  Melissa was beside herself with upset in study hall, and I finished up my little bit of homework as quickly as possible before trying to pull my magic and cast a spell. I abused my ring like nobody’s business and tried to get a protection spell onto the poor girl. I couldn’t get it to cast. At all.

  Dammit!

  I made a note to talk to Mom at some point and see if she can help me. Or maybe she can cast it for me? I hope so.

  After school I collected up Tara and Marisela and we spent some time at a different restaurant getting some food. Nothing like supernaturals for their snack-eating abilities. Then I dropped them off at home, giving each girl a hug and reminding them to give me a call if they can’t come over again.