Blood and Beasts

by L. M. Miller

  “I just love that look,” Linda gloated, climbing out of the ravine using dirt-covered, embedded stones.

  She hadn’t noticed them, and no one had bothered to inform her of them as she scrambled out of the ravine. That bothered her, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to bristle. She crossed her arms over her chest and watched them each carefully. What were they up to? It briefly flit through her mind that they were going to hurt her now, that they had just been pretending to be her friends this whole time, and now they had her right where they wanted her.

  “We’re not going through the maze, Seph,” Abernathy said in her bright voice, bouncing forward with her usual peppiness.

  “Although we could,” Rodney added, standing close beside her as he removed one of his hiking boots, shaking a rock out of it.

  “You gonna show her, girls?” Stefan asked, taking up the rear, and the two girls smiled at each other mischievously.

  They stepped over to the building that housed the Main Hall. What exactly were they going to show her? They had mentioned a clubhouse? Where? What she did not expect was for the two girls to step forward, tap the black, red, and gold stone wall in a particular sequence, and for a door to suddenly materialize on the wall. Linda moved over to the simple, blue door and keyed in a code on a keypad attached to the doorknob. The door made a small beeping sound, and she opened the door, looking over at Seph.

  “C’mon,” she beckoned her forward, smiling encouragingly.

  Cautiously, Seph stepped forward. She ducked down and entered the small room within. She walked down a few steps, as the room was sunken. It was a good-sized room, although a little dirty. Upon entering the room, there was a wall before her and to her left. To the right, after a few steps, there was another step into the main part of the room. A couch was pushed against the wall, and a few chairs were scattered around as well as some crates. She liked it. Albeit, it was a little dingy, but it reminded her of her foster home a little, cramped but lived in.

  The others were coming in behind her, and she moved forward. She dropped down the small step, trailed a hand over the worn couch, and made her way to the far wall. At the far wall, she noticed a door to her right when she leaned against the wall. Opening this, she found a bathroom with a small window opening to a little above ground level, and it was within the beginning part of the hedge maze. It was a sneaky way to escape this place if anybody ever discovered it that was not supposed to. She turned back to face the group as they all lounged around the room.

  Stefan and Linda had taken the couch and were making good use of it. Rodney was leaning against the wall directly opposite them, watching Seph as she explored the room. Abernathy was the closest to her, perched on a crate, watching her avidly and valiantly trying not to stare at the groping Linda and Stefan.

  “This is nice,” she finally said, and Abernathy’s face broke out in the biggest, eye-crinkling smile she had seen yet.

  “It’s great, isn’t it? The perfect place to just sit around and hang out,” she opened her arms wide as if she could hold the entire room in them.

  “What was it originally?” Seph asked curiously.

  “Probably the caretaker’s room, a long time ago. Sir Cosmos gave them their own quarters awhile back, so it was just an empty room we found here one day. Me and Linda put the spell on the door to hide it. The keypad on the doorknob was already there, so it might have been used for storage at one point, but it’s been empty for a while now. No one’s kicked us out. Sir Cosmos probably knows that we’re here, but he hasn’t said anything,” Abernathy explained, and Seph nodded.

  “Of course,” Rodney interjected, giving her a playful look as he knelt down on a particularly square piece of flooring. “We got other things here too,” he explained, knocking twice on the square.

  Seph nearly gasped as it popped up, revealing an array of foods and drinks as she walked over, peering over Rodney’s shoulder at it. She noticed a few bottles of blood in there, although nothing to sate her thirst for long if she were really hungry. It was something to sip on though, snack. Obviously, the bottles had been placed there for Stefan. He would have to learn to share.

  “That blood’s AB negative,” Linda called up from the couch, sparing them a glance. “My blood type,” she grinned up at Stefan and playfully nipped at him as they sort of wrestled on the couch.

  “They get ridiculously cute like that alotta the time,” Abernathy murmured to her, coming over, but Stefan’s ears picked up her voice nonetheless.

  “I heard that, Abernathy. Us vampires got good hearing, don’t we, Seph?” He said, winking at her.

  He whispered something to Linda, who giggled.

  “Ya, werewolves can hear good too,” Rodney called from his crouching position on the floor.

  “You’ll live,” Stefan responded before promptly ignoring them again.

  Seph, Abernathy, and Rodney all locked eyes. It was getting a little gross. Rodney slowly closed the lid to their food stash. Seph touched both Abernathy’s and Rodney’s shoulders.

  Are they always like this? She asked, and Rodney jumped a little, not used to her telepathy just yet, while Abernathy answered her.

  They take full advantage of their unsupervised free time together. Teachers always catch them PDAing, but it doesn’t really matter. We’re all deadly creatures, licentious creatures, Abernathy said with a little grin.

  Seph studied the girl more closely. Just what had little Abernathy been doing? Abernathy, while connected to her mind, knew exactly what she was thinking, as did Rodney.

  Oh, Abernathy has a thing for interns, Rodney started. They’re like soon-to-be teachers and- He would have kept going except for the fact that Abernathy suddenly pounced on him, shoving him away from Seph.

  “You shut your mouth, Rodney Steele!” She exclaimed, blazing a bright crimson even though she was fairly tan.

  “I wasn’t talking, Abernathy,” Rodney said between bursts of laughter that he couldn’t seem to stop.

  “What are you three doing?” Stefan called from the couch, slowly sitting up with Linda.

  “Oh ya, Seph, I forgot,” Linda said, giving her a knowing glance. “Seph has this little thing that when she physically touches you, you can talk mind to mind with her. It’s pretty cool, except when used against you,” she added, glaring at the three of them.

  “Hey, Mr. Super Ears over there wouldn’t let us gossip in peace,” Seph said with a little grin, and Linda’s lower lip jutted out with her agitation.

  “Uh huh,” she said, not liking the idea of the three of them talking about her and Stefan.

  “Telepathy, huh?” Stefan asked, mulling it over.

  Seph moved to poke into his mind, but then she thought better of it. It might be embarrassing, whatever he was thinking. Anyway, she kind of enjoyed not knowing what everybody was thinking all the time. Sometimes, you heard what you were not supposed to ever hear.

  “Um, you guys?” Abernathy said a little quietly.

  “Ya?” The other four asked, and she tapped her slim, designer watch.

  “Class starts in… two minutes?” She said, and they scrambled for the door.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  It was comical as they all piled out of the small room, tripping over each other in their haste. They sprinted down the ravine, back up into the courtyard, and then forked off in their various directions. Linda had made sure to lock up the clubhouse, the illusion shielding it with a snap of her fingers, and she and Stefan parted with a kiss. Soon, Seph found herself running side by side with Rodney, the warning bell having rung about thirty seconds ago. They looked at each other sideways and laughed, plenty of air to spare in their supernatural lungs.

  “What class you going to?” Rodney asked as they entered the Purple Hall.

  “Hieroglyphs?” She said, a little thrown off by the name.

  Rodney’s face broke out into a huge grin.

  “Me too,” he said before grabbing her arm and steering her into the classroom just a
s the commencement bell rung.

  “Ladies, gentlemen, take your seats, take your seats,” their teacher glided into the room as Rodney and Seph slipped quietly to the back, taking two seats perfectly beside each other.

  How had they gotten so lucky? Looking to the front, Seph saw the nail-biting girl glancing at her, a look of relief on her face at their distance. Oh… Well, maybe fear inspired certain little rewards, although she would much rather have respect.

  “So, what’d you think of Stefan and Linda?” Rodney whispered to her, wiggling his eyebrows a little, and she bit back a laugh.

  “They were… interesting,” she commented as they both reached under their seats to pull out their golden, leather-bound books as commanded by their teacher, the extravagant Sir Rey, complete with a curling, thin moustache.

  “Interesting? They were all over each other. They looked like two octopuses fighting for their lives,” he exclaimed under his breath, and a burst of laughter escaped Seph.

  “Excuse me?” Sir Rey called back to them, and she just shook her head. “Alright then…” and he continued on with his lecture, drawing significant pictures in the air with his finger.

  Sir Rey had advanced magical skills considering the fact that he was a werewolf. Seph scooted her desk a little closer to Rodney’s inconspicuously and moved her arm so that their forearms grazed. Glancing around, no one had noticed.

  So, let’s continue our conversation this way, she said, and he grinned at her before remembering that they were supposed to be hiding the fact that they were having a silent conversation.

  Alright, what would you like to talk about, madam? He asked, and she tried not to laugh.

  The entire class the two of them bantered and laughed and talked, not paying Sir Rey, who had no last name, an ounce of attention. However, whenever he called on one of them, they always seemed to know the answer. This was because Seph would easily reach into that nail-bitten girl’s mind, Oriana Torres, and pull the answer from there. She was an oblivious witch. Her head always seemed to be in the clouds, if Gobbledegook and Hieroglyphs were any indication of her, but she was smart and seemed to know everything.

  As class ended, Seph grabbed Rodney’s hand to continue their conversation, laughing at one of their inside jokes as Sir Rey stalwartly ignored them. They may not pay attention, but they were good students, the man thought with a shrug. Rodney and Seph tried not to laugh at that idea.

  If only he knew, she said with a little shake of her head.

  I dunno what the teachers would do if they knew your telepathy was this advanced, Rodney admitted when suddenly they heard a wolf whistle from behind them.

  “Oh ya,” a familiar, annoying voice called. “Already striking for another werewolf, are ya now, Seph? Poor Oglesby! What will he do?” Ruby mocked, staring at the pair of them.

  Seph had no idea what she was talking about until she realized that they were still holding hands, talking mind to mind.

  Well… it was the most inconspicuous way to talk, she thought adamantly and felt, more than saw, Rodney nod with agreement.

  See ya, he thought and let go of her hand.

  “Oh, how sad,” Ruby continued to sneer, walking past them, but Seph just rolled her eyes.

  “What a…” She had no idea what offensive term to use now that bitch was taken for its actual meaning around here. “What a…” She continued struggling for the right word.

  “Just say bitch. It makes the world easier. Just don’t say bitch around Francesca. She’s the sensitive one,” he explained as they walked nonchalantly down the Purple Hall. “What class do you have next?” He asked her, and she took out the many-folded piece of paper.

  “Um… I have a choice between Drama, Art, and Music. Which one should I take? I’ve always kinda liked Drama,” she admitted with a little shrug just as Abernathy and Linda caught up with them.

  “Ooh, definitely take Drama then,” Linda huffed, catching her breath as the more fit Abernathy rattled on.

  “Ya, Madam Babbage is really nice. Linda has Music with her brother, Sir Babbage. He’s pretty nice, but if you don’t like music that much, I wouldn’t suggest taking it,” Abernathy admitted, and Seph digested that.

  “So, Drama?” She said aloud, just as the warning bell rang.

  “Your choice,” Abernathy said with a shrug as Linda and Rodney slipped away, running to their next classes.

  “Ya, I’ll take Drama,” she finally decided, and Abernathy’s face broke out into her standard, overwhelming grin.

  “Good, I have Drama next too,” she said, taking Seph’s arm and dragging her down the hallways to the White Hall, where they entered the classroom just in the nick of time, as per usual.

  “Hey, Abernathy! Who’s your friend?” A familiar, redheaded woman exclaimed as soon as they walked through the door.

  When Seph met the fair woman’s green eyes, she saw the recognition in them. However, the woman quickly looked away, apparently not wanting the rest of the class to sense any disturbance between the pair of them. She smiled broadly at Seph, recovering herself, and she almost believed that the woman was a cheerful, welcoming person. Then she remembered that this was an acting class. Clearly, this teacher was skilled at her art.

  “Why don’t we play an acting game to invite our new student more warmly into the class?” The stout witch proposed, and everybody happily agreed, excited.

  The entire class they played a brilliantly simple acting game called Freeze. The game started with Madam Babbage proposing an odd scene, in this case, a fly swatter chasing a fly, between two students. Then, one person would randomly call out “Freeze!”. The two actors would have to freeze in the positions that they were in. The actor or actress, whoever had stopped them, would then take the place of only one of the actors in whatever position they were in. They would start a whole new scene, improvised, with whatever came to mind from their position. It could be two ninjas fighting. It could be a couple sitting at dinner. It was all improvisation, and it was all a lot of fun. Everybody loved it, and Seph’s mind was filled with the thoughts of fun and elation just emanating from the other students. They had all immediately warmed up to her with Madam Babbage’s little game.

  The ending bell came too soon, and it was time to switch classes again. She and Abernathy tumbled out of Drama after an invigorating sword fight, still laughing. Drama had been so much fun! What was next… She studied her schedule, and her heart sank. One more class…

  “Your species class,” Linda said, coming up beside them. “Everybody has it as their last class of the day. You can imagine how packed our Wizarding 101 class is. Luckily, we’re all divided by grade,” she explained, and Seph’s heart did a little flutter as she wondered what other first year vampires there were.

  Had there been any in her previous classes? Plenty of werewolves and wizards and witches, but she couldn’t recall a single vampire. Stefan was older. Phin was older. Who else was there?

  “Except the vamps,” Rodney added, and Seph groaned inwardly. “Their species class is all grouped together because there’s only nine… well, ten of them now,” Rodney said with a little grin, practically reading her mind as she gave a frustrated sigh.

  “Wonderful,” she practically moaned as they all walked along in the same general direction. “Where are we going?” She asked, and the three exchanged a glance.

  “The Black Hall,” Linda said simply, and that was when they reached the smallest hall of all, where all the Halls ended.

  A blank wall was in front of her, black. Looking into the courtyard, she saw that the dorms started there. The crickets sang to her as she looked back at her friends.

  “Where’s the classroom?” She asked, not seeing a door.

  “Right there,” Rodney pointed to her right, where an oxblood door glared resiliently out at her.

  Had that been there before? She felt like she would have noticed a blood-red door set in a black wall. Maybe she was just overwhelmed? Or maybe magic was afoot? This was
a magic school…

  “Most people are so shocked by all the black, and the fact that this is where all the halls end, that they never notice the blood-red door,” Linda explained, noting her bewilderment.

  “And we have to go,” Abernathy suddenly announced, glancing at the clock apprehensively. “We gotta get all the way down to the Green Hall for our Wizarding class,” she said before they darted off, afraid of the door?

  “I gotta go, too,” Rodney said, walking backwards just as the warning bell rang. “Werewolf class,” he smirked. “All the way in Gold Hall,” and he was off, darting down the empty halls.

  If she didn’t know any better, they had all deliberately just abandoned her. It almost seemed like they were afraid. Maybe they were… Ten vampires out of the entire school? They must have quite a reputation. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, opened the door, and entered her last class of the day, vamp class, just as the commencement bell rang.

  Phin was leaning against the teacher’s desk. It was strong and sturdy, looking to be made of blackened oak. He and the tall, Amazonian girl, Sarabi, were in a heated discussion, and if Seph was not mistaken, they were arguing about that little blood game they had going on. She turned her attention to the other occupants in the small room.

  She noticed Stefan and almost approached him. Then she noted the surly expression on his face as Trey, the vampire with the mohawk that she had seen earlier, whispered harshly into his face. What had she grasped from the room so far? Apparently, vampires were not very friendly creatures, especially with each other. They seemed to argue a lot. Who else was in the room…

  There was the Asian guy from the Main Hall this morning. He was sitting by himself, contemplating about something or other. His same companion from the Main Hall earlier, the shaggy-haired guy with the brown hair and olive skin, was sitting beside him, and they were enjoying each other’s companionable silence. They had to be best friends. Only best friends could be so content in each other’s silences like that.