by Jodie Pierce
“Leon, how could you do such a thing? You were so promising, and I had high hopes for you,” the Queen started.
“I’m so sorry, my Queen. I panicked. I was alone and didn’t know what to do. Either way, I was screwed,” he said hanging his head low. He slouched down further into the chair.
“You know what I have to do, don’t you?” the Queen asked.
“Yes, my Queen. I will no longer have the powers of a vampire.”
“Yes, but that’s not all. You will lose your thirst for blood. You will have a difficult time keeping your schedule, as it is now for classes. You will be shunned by other vampires and possibly your friends. You will lose all of your instincts, abilities, and senses. You will be depressed for a long time as you struggle to live in this world.”
“I know.”
“Also, I could banish you from this school as you are no longer a vampire. I could force you to go back out into the human world and expect you to find your own way to fit in with them.”
“Oh, my Queen! Please don’t condemn me to the human world! I would never fit in. I don’t know basic things all humans know. I just couldn’t do it!”
“Well, that puts me in an awkward position now, doesn’t it?”
“I’m sorry, my Queen.”
“Here’s what we will do. I will go ahead and take your powers. After that, you will be on probation but be allowed to continue to live here in the vampire world with your limitations. If you do anything wrong—and I will be watching you—then you will be banished from the school and thrown into the human world. Understood?”
“Thank you, my Queen,” he said with a sincere sigh of relief.
“Don’t be too grateful. I am still stripping you of your very being. That is nothing to be thankful for.”
“I’m sorry, my Queen, but I am thankful for you allowing me to stay here.”
“You think it will be a blessing, but you may think differently when you attempt to resubmerge yourself with the students.”
Leon just sat there sinking lower in the chair, all joy gone from his face. He couldn’t look at the Queen.
“Then, let’s get on with it,” she sighed. She took Leon into the back room attached to her office. There, she had a circle carved into the wooden floor with a pentagram inside the circle. She instructed him to sit in the center of it. She flew around the room, opening and closing jars, getting out herbs and items needed, along with some candles. She placed the items on the floor around Leon and handed him a red candle. She lit her black candle then lit Leon’s with hers. She asked him to close his eyes and not open them until she told him to. She stood in the center circle with him, candle in one hand and the other hand up into the air.
“Goddess, let you hear my words.
Take what was bestowed upon him.
Cleanse him from his very being.
Remove the blessed gifts he’s attained.
Be a constant reminder of his transgressions.
Expunge him from the vampire ways.
Grant him the strength to carry on.
Hear me, oh Goddess Kleos!”
When she finished speaking, she lowered her arm and placed her black candle in Leon’s hand. Her trusty bloodstone had been placed on her altar of candles. As she chanted, the stone rose into the air and spun feverishly. When she was done, it fell back into its place on the altar.
My work is almost finished. The bloodstone never lies. She used the bloodstone many times before while casting spells, and it had proven its worth in gold. She then took a cup and placed each item around the pentagram into it and poured hot water into the cup. She stirred the water with a cinnamon stick to add flavor and walked back over to Leon. She instructed him to open his eyes, hand her the candles—which she placed on the bottom tips of the pentagram—and ordered him to drink from the cup. After he drank, the Queen blew out the two candles, and Leon fell to the floor. She moved quickly to stop his head from smacking the floor. His eyes were rolled back, and his body convulsed. He was warm, burning up in fact—the opposite of a vampire’s skin. The Queen placed a cold washcloth on his forehead. Finally, he stopped and was deathly still. His eyes were open and unblinking as he lay there. A little while later, he sat up and looked around him as he sobbed uncontrollably. The Queen moved to him and held him in her arms until he quieted.
“Are we done, then?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” the Queen answered.
* * * *
Leon
He had prepared and expected the worst for having his powers removed. The spell had left him with a feeling of solitude and helplessness. He felt he even looked different. He made his way to his bedroom and lay exhausted on his bed. The Queen had temporarily assigned his roommate to a different room, so he would have his space, which he took to mean be alone with another vampire in close proximity. He lay there with his eyes closed and recanted the feelings and emotions of the spell and aftermath. Things had flown by so quickly, he never had time to process them.
His Queen stripped him of everything he knew, but he was lucky that she showed mercy on him and didn’t banish him to the human world. That would never have gone well. When his parents found out he was different, they started looking for schools for different students. It seemed like years before they found The Magikal Kingdom.
Though he was scared, he was glad to leave his parents behind. They always treated him differently from his siblings. He was never allowed to go outside the home, except for school. They even considered home-schooling him. He became a loner at school, picked on and bullied constantly. He’d never fit in or felt true companionship until he was sent to Scotland.
His parents bought him a one-way ticket. He guessed they would never have to deal with him, again. He didn’t care, though. He got used to his mother’s sobbing fits, his father’s stern tone, and his siblings acting like he had the plague. No, it was a place he never wanted to return to.
He wondered how his fellow vampires would react to him after the spell. He knew he was human now, but how would that change his personality and the friends he already established here at the school? He sat up, and though he had been excused from classes for the evening, went down to the cafeteria.
The food never looked and smelled so good to him. He always picked, nibbling here and there, but now he was ravished and piled the food onto his plate like it was the last thing he would ever get to eat. The cafeteria was empty when he arrived so he sat at his usual table, alone, eating and waiting for his friends.
After classes ended, he was still eating when his friends arrived. They were in a pack in the food line, and he waved to some of them when they looked his way. As he waved, they turned away from him like he didn’t exist. He felt his stomach surge and hoped what he had feared wasn’t happening.
The pack, after finishing at the food line, took a table in the back of the room, one they’d never eaten at before. As they picked through their food and held a conversation, Leon walked up to their table.
“Hi, guys!” he said exuberantly. The pack never turned around to look at him and continued with their conversation like no one heard him. He tried, again. “What ya all taking about?”
This time, a large, burly boy stood up to face Leon. “You are not welcome here anymore, Human,” he said, and the pack smiled as they clapped.
“But I’m still me. The same person I was yesterday,” he tried, sounding defeated.
“No, you’re not. We don’t surround ourselves with humans, and you of all people should know that. I think it’s best you go now,” a tiny girl said, hiding a smile.
Leon felt as if his friends kicked him in the stomach. He walked away from their table dejectedly, only to hear a bunch of cheers and high-fives. He didn’t know what he was going to do.
* * * *
Kendra
Kendra searched the web feverishly for two weeks. She found almost every creation the Queen had made over the centuries, most of which despised her. That was good news to Ken
dra. She informed them of the upcoming Gala and asked if they could be there. All but one of them said yes. The one who kept out of it was Josh—the founding member of the Venice Coven who felt like he owed the Queen his life. He was out, and Kendra thought that was a good idea as well. She tested each one by asking a series of questions to find out who they were loyal to, none of whom said the Queen. Her plan was moving along nicely. Now, she and Caleesy had to figure out how to get rid of Tuwa without bringing down the wrath of the Seneca.
Caleesy came running into the room, speaking ten miles a minute.
“Take a deep breath and calm down,” Kendra said.
“The Queen has taken a young vampire’s powers, abilities, and very being away from him tonight!” Caleesy said excitedly.
“She what? Are you sure?” Kendra asked a little astonished.
“Yes. The school Class President just told me about it.”
“Well…well…well. Looks like we could have a new follower. That is truly a horrible thing to do to a young vampire,” Kendra said.
“Yes, and now he’s human, and the other vampires want nothing to do with him!” Caleesy gushed, overjoyed.
“Okay. Let’s have this Class President put her feelers out on this boy and see who has his loyalty,” Kendra explained.
“Great. I’ll talk to her tomorrow evening.”
* * * *
Leon
Time passed slowly for Leon after his becoming human. He hated what his life had become—all alone and dissolute. No friends, no family...only horrible vampire classes to go to that meant nothing to him, now. He was so bored and uninterested in everything, nowadays. He wondered if it might be better if he did go to the human world. At least he could attend online classes for college, get a degree, and live in a human apartment building where the neighbors and he would throw wonderful parties. Maybe he’d even meet a human girl, they’d fall in love, and get married. At least then, he knew they’d have human babies instead of the freaks vampires have when they mated.
He shook the thoughts from his head. Nonsense! He’d never fit into the human world, no matter how hard he’d tried. As he sat on his bed, back against the wall, piles of tissues around him, there was a knock at the door. He didn’t answer and hoped they’d go away. He saw the door creak open, and a little blonde head peeked into the room.
“Leon, there you are. I have been looking all over for you,” Amayia said, entering the room and closing the door quietly behind her.
“What could you want with me?”
“Well, we are all aware of your current misfortunes and are truly sorry for all you are going through,” she grinned softly.
“So?”
“Well, I just wondered how you are handling things.”
“Well…I hate my current life, I hate my past life, and I hate what my future life is going to be like.” he said sarcastically.
“Oh, Leon.” Amayia said, moving the tissues and sitting down on the bed. “I’m so sorry. This should never have been a punishment for anything menial.”
“It’s awful!” he said, crumbling in her arms. She sat there, hugging him, letting him cry on her shoulder, and formulating her plan.
“Now, Leon. I know what you’ve been through is awful, and I know the Queen has no care in the world for you right now. I have faced such punishments on the Devil’s Lambaste Chair from her, and she’s awful, hateful, and only thinks about herself.
Leon looked around to see if anyone was watching and leaned into Amayia. “I’d kill her myself if I could,” he said through his teeth.
“Believe me, I know the feeling. Why don’t we do something about her?” Amayia asked Leon.
A look of surprise, then satisfaction, crossed his face. “What do you need? I’m in,” he said, rejoicing.
Amayia knew she was one step closer.
* * * *
Dayana
Dayana was in her room with Liliana, her new personal assistant, who combed out her long, curly red hair. She enjoyed this part of the evening, just before going to bed. She liked to reflect on the hard life she had before she came to the school with her followers. She had a father who gave her ten lashings a day for being what she was. She was not allowed to go out in public, for the King didn’t want anyone to know she existed. He faked her death when he’d found out what she was so people knew never to look for her.
Her mother was her only solace. She was the one who encouraged Dayana to visit other places and find others like herself. She told her of the Queen who had been so horrible to others but now ran a school in Scotland. She encouraged Dayana to visit and take over the school for herself, with her people. She even gave Dayana enough money to travel, eat, and fly the others to Scotland, unbeknownst to her father. She told her it would be a long, hard road, and she was right.
So many places wouldn’t put up the few witches and warlocks she had in their Inn’s at night, for they knew their true beings. She traveled all over south and Central America and found approximately thirty-five people like herself—a witch or warlock. They were hard to find at first, as they concealed themselves even from the towns they lived in; however, there was an underground movement that shipped herbs and such to different parts of the country for the witches and warlocks. Once Dayana found this underground Mecca, she found the others very easily.
She waited in the herb shop—with the owners’ permission, of course—and when the witch or warlock came in to get their supplies, she would approach them. She’d first ask if there were others like her in their town or nearby areas. She asked who they served, and when they spat on the ground at the mention of the Queen, she knew she had a new follower.
Tonight was going to be a nice, relaxing evening as she walked through the garden. She had plans to meet with Caleesy, but that wasn’t for several hours yet, as she always came near dawn. She was going over the update on the status of her group and the information Amayia gave her about Leon. Dayana was sure he would play a key role in this coup. She was still unsure how, but she had the Goddess come to her last night. She foretold of his involvement but left the details as vague as usual.
The Goddess was always right. Why then did she feel so uneasy? She tried to calm her mind by stopping and smelling the flowers in the garden. It wasn’t until Dayana bumped into the Queen’s back that she knew her evening would be ruined.
* * * *
The Queen
What was going on in her school? The Queen felt the change in the walls and the students. They appeared to be zombies, unthinking and unfeeling. She could no longer read their minds, and that troubled her greatly. What changed? What kind of sorcery was working within her school? Was she losing control? Something was wrong.
Ever since the group of witches and warlocks showed up on her doorstep, things turned for the worse. Then, there was Caleesy and Tuwa. One she betrayed when the other reappeared after all these years. How could she not want to be with him? But she couldn’t have both in her mind. She had to be committed to just one this decade. Two was too many and too much work for her, though she actually felt bad for Caleesy, whom she searched for ever since that night she was taken from her. What a dilemma! If she could just figure out the exact problem with the school, she could fix it, but how? Dayana was responsible for her group. Maybe she could give some insight to them. She hoped, anyway.
* * * *
As she was walking outside in the formal garden, Dayana backed into her. What luck! Dayana was just the person she was looking for.
“Good evening, Dayana,” the Queen started.
“Good evening, Queen.”
“Where are you headed, and I may walk with you,” the Queen stated rather than asked.
“I was going to take a walk in the formal garden. It smells so nice at this time of early morning.”
“Ah yes. I used to do that all the time; however, free time has gotten away from me lately,” the Queen said, walking alongside Dayana. “So, how are you finding it here in my home?”
; “Oh, well. Things are great, but there is always an adjustment period, and that is taking a little longer than I’d like.”
“Ah, well. You know how kids are. Especially vampire kids,” the Queen laughed.
“Yes. Well, my students have embraced them wholeheartedly, yet meet with resistance.”
“Oh, I’m sure that’s just the way it seems to you. I assure you that the vampires and such have accepted you fully into our school,” the Queen assured her.
“Maybe you’re right. I’m just being sensitive,” Dayana placated the Queen.
“Anyway, have you noticed anything unusual, Dayana?” the Queen asked, hoping for some real insight.
“Unusual? Why, no. What’s going on?” she whispered.
“Nothing really. It’s just…I feel a change about to happen.”
“A change? Really? I hadn’t heard anything, and I’m usually good at hearing things from my students before they happen,” Dayana lied to the Queen.
“Ah, well. I’ll just have some praying to the Goddess to do. Well, I’m off to the temple right now. No time to waste,” the Queen said and hurried off to the temple across campus. It was only moments later that there was a whisper in the darkness that startled Dayana.
* * * *
Dayana
“Psst! Over here. Is the coast clear?” came Caleesy’s voice. Dayana looked around like a guilty child who gotten caught sticking their hand in the cookie jar.
“Yes, it’s clear, but you just missed the Queen,” she hissed.
“I know. I heard the conversation. So, she’s getting a little paranoid, huh?”
“It seems that way. She said she’s off to pray to the Goddess herself. Surely the Goddess does not lie?” Dayana asked.
“Of course not, but she only gives specific yes and no answers, so if the incorrect question is asked, she could give an incorrect answer,” Caleesy explained.