by Nexus Jones
I don’t know why, but maybe I should give them that chance.
2
Chapter Two
This vampire stuff is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I mean, it’s like high school, but everyone has superpowers. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that they’re any more nicer or more mature. Everyone is still a terrible person…just like regular high school.
And there’s no better example of this than Melinda Van Housen.
Melinda is a third year vampire, the same year as me. She’s incredibly pretty, thin, and has platinum blonde hair. Her eyes are as blue as the ocean. That eye color runs in her family.
There’s a rumor that her family’s eyes are so blue because they made a deal with the angels themselves, the protectors of heaven.
So, she’s basically part angel-part vampire. At least, that’s what the rumors are. She won’t confirm them.
But even though she’s potentially a partial-angel, you wouldn’t be able to tell by her attitude and demeanor.
Melinda is a total bitch.
She’s mean, cruel, vindictive and petty. The worst attributes that you can have as a girl. I mean, they’re bad on everyone, but when you’re as pretty as her you can really weaponize them in ways that others cannot.
In short, Melinda is the queen bee of the school.
The moment I set my eyes on her, I could feel an intensely negative feeling in the pit of my stomach. And that’s a bummer, considering that I slept so well last night, my first night back at the academy.
She smirks as she walks towards me. Her red heels clacking on the marble floors in the hallways. All the other vampire pupils get out of her way as she and her other three friends walk in my direction.
She has the smuggest look on her face, a look so infuriating that I want to just smack if off her face.
“What’s up chicken head? Where’s your other half?” she said to me, with a vicious smile.
“Excuse me?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot. Your memory is gone. You must not remember me. I’m-”
“I know who you are, Melinda.” I said interrupting her.
My memory might have swiped but that was one thing that I certainly was not going to forget. I mean, if I could forget this girl trust me I would. I can’t remember the specific reasons why I hate her, but I just hate her.
“Glad to see I was important enough for your tiny little brain to remember.” She said, mocking me.
“What do you want?” I said, trying to sound as mean as possible.
She chuckled, unnerved.
“Everyone is talking about how you came back to the school after just disappearing on us. We just wanted to ask why you left?”
I scoffed at her, and then looked at her with scorn.
“I’m not going to tell you that.” I said, sternly
“I’m sure you don’t but I already got to the bottom of it. Paul told me.”
“Paul?” I said, taken aback.
“Yeah, we had a little chat last night about it.”
“Oh, so you and Paul are a couple?”
She smirked again, while raising an eyebrow, “Our relationship is…complicated. But we still talk to each other everyday.”
I felt a bit disappointed. I mean, I didn’t really know Paul, and I knew that he was allegedly trouble. But I still kind of had a bit of a crush on him.
“The bullying made you leave.” She said.
She looked pretty satisfied.
“Does that make you happy?” I asked
“My only disappointment is that you returned.” She said, “I suggest you reverse your decision and leave.”
My eyebrows popped in the air in surprise. Who the hell is this little bitch to tell me what to do? Who does she think she is?
“Remind me again, why do you hate me?”
She had a look of disingenuous pity on her face while her friends chuckled behind her.
“Mira, everyone hates you. You’re pathetic and a disgrace on vampire society. I mean just look at you. You don’t come from wealth, prestige, or any sort of elite family.” She said
“Ah, so you hate me because I’m not wealthy or elite. So you’re just a shitty person?” I said, “You know I forgot nearly everything from having my memory swiped, but I still had the gut instinct that you were a terrible person from the moment I laid my eyes on you.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. I could tell that she wasn’t happy that I was mouthing off at her, but I didn’t care. I was glad that I could just speak my mind to her. It felt so liberating, being able to tell this little bitch off.
She leaned in close and wrapped her finger around my hair. I was caught off guard, and then swiped her hand away.
“You have such pretty hair, Mira. It would be a shame if something bad were to happen to it.” She said
A vague threat? Not surprising coming from her.
“What are you going to do? Chop it off?” I asked, somewhat nervously
This is a crazy girl. I can just tell, and I know that. I would not put it past her to do something like that. She gives the wicked smile, subtle one.
“no, I was just complementing it. And, I've heard that Paul actually likes it as well.” She said
I blushed when she said Paul's name. Does he really like my hair? Oh no, she has to be lying. I can't trust a word that comes out of her mouth.
“Do you like Paul?” she asked
“What?”
“You like him, don’t you?”
“No way.”
“Your aura says otherwise.” She said, lifting an eyebrow.
Oh shit, this bitch can read auras too? I take a step back, pressed against my locker. I feel as unsure of myself as ever.
“I don’t trust him. He was a bully of mine.”
“Of course you say that, but I don’t believe it for a second.” She said, “If you want to date Paul, go ahead. He’s yours for the taking.”
Her friends looked pretty surprised and started whispering to each other.
I felt the nerves inside me build up. I just needed to get out of there as quickly as possible.
“I have a class to head to, see you later.” I said, walking past that group of hell harpies as quickly as I could.
There’s nothing worse than standing around a group of girls that are as outwardly aggressive and cruel as these ladies very clearly are.
I could hear them whisper and chuckle behind my back as I walked further and further away from them.
Eyes of the other students were on me, and I could tell that they were listening in on the drama that was going down between me and the group of mean girls.
I wanted to tell them to stop staring, to leave me alone. But I didn’t want to mess up my reputation when I just arrived back.
Fresh start. Fresh start.
I kept saying that inside my head, as I walked up the beautiful, crystal and sparkly staircase with golden rails that lead up to the next floor of the academy.
The ceiling was dark blue and filled with the constellations of space, shooting stars flying across and sparkling stars glistening in my eye.
This was the top floor, where they teach the night arts. The night arts are some of the most deadly forms of magic that a vampire can use….if I remember correctly.
There’s not much I still remember about the techniques, but I can vaguely remember that I’m not supposed to use any of them unless in grave danger.
I enter room 404, a backpack filled with books and a head filled with not much else.
The thin teacher with pale skin, pointed ears, and red eyes focused his eyes on me as soon as I entered the door.
“Mira. Pleasure to see you again.” He said
“Thank you Mr…” I said, embarrassingly not being able to pull up his name in my memory
“Blueblood. My name is Mr. Blueblood.” He corrected, “Perhaps it wasn’t the wisest idea for you to wipe your memory clean after all.”
“Oh yeah…of course.” I said, cringing in
embarrassment.
He gestured towards a large oval wooden table with about twelve kids already seated.
Oh shit, it’s Austin.
And he’s hotter than even before…if that were even possible.
He winked at me, and I turned my head as I blushed.
There were two seats open. One was right next to him, and the other was across from him.
Great…two terrible options.
I decided to sit across from him, wedging myself in between two other girls and sliding in the cold wooden seat. I tried my best to avoid eye contact with him, but I could feel his sexy face grinning at me.
“Ms. Parker, I’m hoping that you’ve kept enough of your memory that you can remember Intra-dimensional shadow physics.” Mr. Moonblood said
I laughed nervously.
“Sorry, but I’m still regaining my memory. It’s going to take a little while.” I said, tapping my forehead.
He lifted an eyebrow and looked disappointed.
“Well, you have a bit of catching up to do. You have to make up an exam that you missed, otherwise you will fail the course and have to repeat next year.”
Repeat next year? Oh boy, these couple of minutes have been enough of the class for a lifetime.
It’s hard to explain, but this guy was giving off some serious authoritarian vibes. He wasn’t really pleasant at all, and his pointed facial features made him look like he walked right out of a fascist propaganda poster.
“When do I have to take it?” I said
“Next week.” He said.
He then turned his attention to the rest of the class.
“Is there anyone that would like to help Ms. Parker prepare for the exam?”
Paul’s hand shot straight up in the air.
“Excellent.” Mr. Moonblood said.
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea-”
“Nonsense.” Mr. Moonblood cut me off with certainty, “Paul is an excellent student, and you’re lucky that he offered to catch you up.”
My eyes shifted to Paul, who was smiling at me smugly. I had an ominous feeling inside of me. Why would he want to help me if he were my enemy? What’s he planning? What’s his endgame here?
There was something about Paul. It’s hard to put into words, but my emotions about him are….complicated to say the least. He has such an attractiveness about him. His face looks like it was carved by God himself. His shoulders are wide and broad, and his pecs pop through his shirt. His arms squeeze the limits of his sleeves. Everything about him makes my insides swoon.
Paul there’s also this…inauthenticity about him that makes it hard for me to really trust him. He has this look on his face that makes me feel like he’s plotting something, like he’s got other plans for me.
Damn it, I wish I could remember why he’s supposed to be my enemy. Why am I not supposed to trust him?
“Okay class, turn to page 207. Today we will be discussing the effects of using dragon stones to project heat into the third dimension.”
What? I was in utter confusion as he explained something that might as well been a foreign language to me. He went on and on for about an hour, as I tried to take notes and follow along but ultimately found myself incapable of even being able to do that.
He stood up at the board and wrote a bunch of symbols, doing equations that ended up resembling hieroglyphics. I must have gone cross-eyed trying to decipher all of that.
The bell rung, and I stood up from my desk, looking disappointedly at the chicken scratch that I took for notes. I had absolutely no idea what any of I wrote actually meant. I closed the notebook and shoved it into my bag, beginning to depart.
I have no idea how I’m supposed to do the assigned homework tonight.
“I can’t wait to tutor you.” Austin said, his large, masculine presence right next to me.
“Maybe I should find someone else.” I said
He smirked, “Let me help you. I know how to do this stuff.”
Well, Mr. Blueblood did say that he’s an excellent student. I looked up at his sexy face, his eyes sparkling. But my conscious was telling me that beneath his gorgeous facade there was danger.
“Well, I don’t want to fail….” I said, slowly convincing myself into the study session
“Then it’s agreed. Meet me in the library tonight at 9.”
“Wait I-”
“I have to get going to baseball practice. See you then!” he said, walking away without even allowing me to respond.
God damn it.
I’m going to do this study session with this very dangerous guy. And I like it.
****************
“You’re doing what?!?!” Isadora said in complete shock, “But I told you-”
“That I can’t trust them.” I said, cutting her off, “Yeah, I know but I don’t have a choice. Blueblood said I had to let him tutor me.”
“You couldn’t get another partner.”
“He wouldn’t even let me try.”
“Well…Fine, but I’m going with you.” She said in a protective tone.
“These guys must’ve really did horrible things to me for you to feel this strongly against them.”
“Mira, these guys are the worst. After everything they’ve done….” She said, turning her head and putting her face in her palm.
“Did they…do mean things to you?” I asked, curious
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She said in a cold tone.
I wanted to reach towards her and grab her, but she gave off an instinctual vibe that she wanted to be left alone. I could see her shiver, and wipe at her cheek. She cleared her throat and then began to talk again.
“So we are going together.” She said“Fine.”
Dinner wasn’t as satisfying as it was last night. I suppose it’s because I wasn’t suffering from the blood withdrawals that I endured from earlier.
I could feel a bit of tension in the air.
Austin was sitting across the dining hall with Paul and-regrettably-Melinda at his table. There was also another boy who I hadn’t formally met yet, but sat at their table.
I immediately felt attracted to him. He had hair as dark as the night and his face was tan with dark brown eyes. He wasn’t as muscular as Austin, but he was certainly ripped and in good shape. He gave off a much more demure and mature feeling than most of the other boys at the school.
“Who is he?” I asked
“That’s George.”
George. That name sounded familiar.
“He’s one of the Vampire Elite?” I asked
“Yes, his family runs the most powerful blood bank in America.”
“Hmm…” I said, lifting an eyebrow, “I can’t tell why, but he seems a lot more down to Earth than the other guys.”
“He kind of is. His parents are really cool people, really humble and they raised their kids to be the same. You remember him?”
I shook my head.
“I’m not sure why, but I just get a positive feeling about him. It’s like I’ve forgotten so much about everyone, but I still get a general gut instinct when I’m reintroduced to them that lets me evaluate their character. I guess my entire memory didn’t just go away.”
“The nudge that you feel inside you is natural. Magic can’t take away the essence of who you really are.”
“I looked right up at the Elite’s table, heeding her words and tried to get a feel for them. It was…complicated to say the least. I could sense that something was totally off, but I wasn’t exactly sure what it was.
Then, they all looked at me. And they gave me the most devious grin.
What are they planning?
*********
A mixture of emotions whirled inside me as I stood outside the library.
First, I was captivated by its beauty. Like the rest of the campus, it was designed by gothic architecture, heavily influenced by the church. There was a large tower at the center of a wider building which connected to the main school building. At
the front was a sign that said Lunarfang Memorial Library.
“So this is where I studied.” I said
“Oh, don’t kid yourself. You weren’t spending much time studying. You were a terrible student.” She said, toying with me
I rolled my eyes, and walked towards the entrance, opening the large wooden door that lead into a beautiful and quiet foyer with deep red carpet and a large wooden receptionist desk that stretch half the wall.
A frail old woman with grey skin and totally black eyes looked up at me.
“Ms. Parker.” She said in a hoarse and raspy voice, “Is a pleasure to see you’re back from your little….vacation.”
I squinted my eyes to read her name plate. Pricilla Cambridge.
“Thanks, it’s great to see you again Ms. Cambridge.” I said
The vibe that I got from her was pretty ominous. There was something about her that seemed pretty dark. I mean, not like she would kill me or anything, but that she could snap me in half if she wanted to try.
I walked past her through a large arched doorway that lead into a grand library, with ceilings as high as I could never imagine. There were ornate patterns across the ceiling, works of geometric beauty. The floors were made of dark wood, and there were tables wedged between rows and rows of shelved books that went back as far as I could barely see. The light filtered through the stained glass mirrors, painting the room a beautiful medley of colors.
The library was fantastic, like something out of a movie. It is what anyone would want a library to be like in their dreams. If I could compare it to a place, it would be Hogwarts.
Near the back of the floor, I could see Paul sitting at a wooden table alone, right in front of a large stained window.
“There he is.” I said to Isadora.
She nodded and we continued walking in his direction, trying to not bump into any other students and not run into any of the tables.
“Hey Mira.” Paul said, looking up from his book, “Oh, and I see you’ve brought a friend with you.”
“I’m here to make sure no funny business happens.” Isadora said
He smirked mischievously, not even responding to her comment. Had I made a mistake by coming here? I probably should’ve listened to her advice.
I sat down on the cold wooden chairs and pulled my shadow physics books out of my bag. Isadora sat at the head of the table between us.