Blood and Beasts

by L. M. Miller

  “We need to head back. It’s late… or early… nearly two in the afternoon. Seph looks suspicious enough, obviously a vampire. We need to move,” Francesca stated, and they all agreed with her, heading for the doorway.

  Abernathy held them up, pausing to stroke Silo one last time.

  “We’ll be back soon,” she whispered to him, and he snorted pleasurably, little tongues of flame erupting from his mouth.

  “Let’s go,” Francesca whispered, and they headed out.

  They each arrived at their dorms uneventfully. They parted with Rodney at the base of their stairway, and then the girls had their long trek all the way up the six flights of stairs. Seph panted for a moment at the top, eyes dark, dark grey now, but Francesca kept pulling her along. They needed to get inside and out of sight quickly. They did, and Seph instantly headed for her bed, pulling the curtains around her.

  She made herself go to sleep. She tried very hard. She heard Francesca ambling around, clearly wanting to talk, but she couldn’t. She didn’t want Francesca to know that she could hear her heart beating a little faster than usual, like all werewolves. She could smell her blood, practically taste the wild B positive in her mouth, slightly different than Rodney’s, a sweeter taste to it for some reason. The difference between male and female blood perhaps? The difference between everybody’s individual blood? Who knew? Eventually, sleep did ensnare her, pulling her into its undertow…

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  At breakfast that night, they all looked more than a little haggard. Seph had arrived to breakfast early, grabbing a bottle quickly and chugging its contents down, not completely full afterwards but satisfied. She didn’t want to ask for more though. It might call attention to themselves, something they didn’t need with their already suspicious appearances. They might wonder why she was so hungry, and they didn’t to delve much deeper to figure out the source. They all sat at their usual table, zombie-like expressions on their faces. Stefan sidled up to them, not catching on to their tired mood.

  “What’s up?” He asked, moving towards Linda, who instantly scooted away.

  Stefan moved to put his arm around her shoulder, and she shoved him away. She sent him a very cold glare. He looked to the others angrily, as though he were blaming them for Linda’s sudden change in behavior. They just gave him blank looks back.

  “Where were you yesterday?” She demanded, and he just blinked at her, confused. “Where were you yesterday?” She repeated. “Or should I say earlier today, like at noon?” She asked him, and then he started to look guilty, very guilty.

  “You usually come by earlier when you wanna stay-” He started, but she cut him off swiftly.

  “Where were you, Stefan? We really needed your help. I really needed your help,” she emphasized, and he just stared at her helplessly before looking to the others for assistance.

  “Oh, nu-uh, Stefan. You are on your own here, man. We had a tough time last night, and we could’ve used your help,” Rodney scooted a little away from him too.

  “What happened?” He asked, but Linda’s glare clearly told him that he was not about to find out without an explanation of his whereabouts, and nobody defied Linda.

  “Okay… it was a vampire thing-” again, she cut him off succinctly.

  “Seph’s a vampire,” she replied curtly, and he rolled his eyes in exasperation.

  “Ya, well, the meeting was about Seph, so that’s why she wasn’t there,” Seph’s eyes snapped up to his, dry and stinging with lack of sleep.

  “About me?” She asked quietly, and he sighed deeply, clearing not intending to ever have to tell her about the meeting.

  “Ya, a few of us held a little meetin’ about ya. You’re really powerful, Seph, and it’s a bit… unnerving,” he stopped at that, and her eyes narrowed as she waited for him to say more.

  “And? Your point? What? Do you all not want to train me because of how powerful I am… could be?” She demanded, and his silence was all the answer that she needed. “And do you think that in the centuries that I’ll be alive, I won’t ever learn how to manage my own powers? And do you think then that I would view you all as friends or adversaries?” Her eyes flashed dangerously at him, darkening to a medium-grey.

  “I… I dunno… We didn’t think that far… It was just a meeting, Seph! Fo real! We wouldn’t really withhold your training from ya. If not because we like you, because it’s safer to be your friend than your enemy,” he concluded, and Linda huffed at him as Seph rose unsteadily to her tired feet.

  “What is it? Am I some type of monster?” She demanded of him, hissing quietly.

  “You look like one,” a familiar voice called in passing.

  “Shut up, Ruby,” she snapped viciously, turning back to Stefan in time to not catch the rude symbol Ruby flashed at her.

  “Hey!” Francesca started, rising, and Ruby gave her a bored stare.

  “You look bad too, Francesca. What have you all been up to?” She asked, sauntering back over to their table.

  “Are you really asking us that, Ruby? Hate to know what you’ve been up to,” Abernathy snapped back, and everyone stared at the usually pleasant girl.

  “You guys aren’t worth my time,” she finally replied after gaping for several moments.

  She spun on her heel and stalked away, head held high.

  “I can’t stand her,” Abernathy muttered as Francesca and Seph settled back down in their seats, and everybody stared at her. “What? I get crabby when I don’t sleep. I’m not happy all the time,” she responded, and, again, they stared in disbelief.

  “You all look tired. Interesting night?” Phin asked, sidling up to them and leaning over Seph’s chair.

  Leaning her head back, she shot him a very mean glare. He smiled curtly, catching onto her bad mood, and quickly disappeared. Seph straightened up to glance at Stefan, eyes completely dispassionate.

  “I think I’m done,” she said smoothly. “Linda, wanna head to HU?” She asked crisply, and the girl nodded, rising quickly.

  “Sounds good to me,” Linda glared at Stefan as well before flouncing away with Seph.

  “I’m thinkin’ I made a mistake,” Stefan mused, and Francesca nodded at him with a superior smile on her face as Rodney stood up too.

  “We’re still your friends, Stefan,” he commented drily. “Even if you were secretly plotting against one of us last night,” he finished, throwing away his tray of pancake crumbs and messy syrup.

  “Time for class,” Francesca remarked tiredly, rising just as the warning bell rang.

  “Time to run,” Abernathy replied just as tiredly, getting up also.

  Gobbledegook was particularly hard to pay attention in that day. Seph was hungry, really hungry. Sir Sanzio had gestured towards the hidden bottle of blood beneath his desk at one point, but she just shook her head at him discreetly. She wanted to learn to control this. She needed to learn to control this. Meanwhile, she needed to answer the question he had just asked her.

  “Blede-gobblegobble ookook-de-gob-dede ookde-ble-gob-dookble gobde-blede-gobde dede-de-ble ookook-gob-dookble gobbledegook-ookgob dede-de-ble ble-ook-ble-dookble-gob-gobble-gobde de-gob-bleble-bleble-ble-gobblegobble?” She struggled with the question, thinking hard to translate it.

  “Um… Gobbledegook-gobblegobble-ble, ookgob-blede-bledeblede-ble, dede-ookook-gobbledegook, dede-ookook-gobbledegook?” She ventured, and after a few moments, he nodded, staring at her with mild curiosity.

  She started to scan his mind to pick at his thoughts but stopped herself. Firstly, he would know what she was doing. Secondly, he would block her. Thirdly, she was too hungry. However, it was a happy realization that she was probably just as hungry as she had been her first day, and she was controlling it better. It helped that no one was currently bleeding, but never mind that…

  The ending bell rang, and she bolted out the door, not even bothering to catch up with Francesca. She was headed to the Main Hall, and she would ask for a little extra this time. She needed to
replenish her stores. However, Abernathy intercepted her before she could reach the dining hall, desperation shining in her brown eyes.

  “I need help. I’m gonna do awful in my monologue today. Help me practice?” Seph’s eyes darted from her to the Main Hall, her to the Main Hall, before staying on her.

  “Alright, Abernathy,” she finally conceded, and they rushed off to the Room.

  For the next hour of lunch, they practiced the girl’s monologue. Seph didn’t even have time to grab any blood from the refrigerator because they were so rushed. However, it was a great distraction from Seph’s growing hunger, but she was hungry all the same. Maybe she would have time to grab a quick bottle before heading to Hieroglyphs with Sir Rey. Abernathy was finally grasping the monologue in its entirety. Her lines were now memorized, and she was speaking the part of Cleopatra with true conviction.

  “Remember, you’re dying because your love has been killed. You would rather die than live another day without him. You have to put all that passion into this one monologue, Abernathy,” she stated as Silo happily marched around the room, fire twirling around him in his telekinetic sphere.

  Squeak! They both turned to see a mouse scamper by, and Silo was hot on its trail. Eyes wide, they watched as he caught it in his teeth neatly and swallowed it in one gulp. Their eyes locked with one another’s.

  “That was pleasant,” Seph commented wryly, and Abernathy’s face twisted in a grimace.

  “I’ll just try the monologue one more time…” the beginning bell for sixth period trilled, and she sighed wearily. “I guess that’s the best it’s gonna get,” she stated resignedly, and Seph hugged her shoulders reassuringly.

  “It’s okay, Abs. You’ll do just fine,” she cheered her up as they walked out of the Room, heading down the ravine and up into the courtyard, taking a few minutes.

  “Thanks. I hate the nickname Abs though. It’s Abernathy, Persephone,” she insisted, beginning to drift away to head to her separate class with just a few minutes to spare.

  “And I hate the name Persephone. It’s Seph,” she replied, and they both laughed when the warning bell rang. “Gotta fly,” Seph said in farewell, darting off in one direction as Abernathy went the other way.

  She skidded into Sir Rey’s room just in the nick of time.

  “Nearly late, Miss Black,” he remarked coolly as she found her seat in the back beside Rodney.

  “One tries,” she responded endearingly, sitting down in her seat.

  Her back became ramrod straight. Her entire body went rigid. Sir Rey had commenced class, and Rodney was leaning over to whisper to her, but that didn’t matter. What mattered were the hearts. They were beating. They were resonating. She looked to her left and then to her right. All she saw were the pulses, the veins, jumping and leaping beneath fragile skin. Rodney tried to whisper to her again, but she just shook her head. She ducked her head down, not wanting anyone to see her eyes, black gemstones, or her fangs, for that matter, which were hanging over her lip fiercely. She ducked her head and tried to block out the hearts, the hunger, the blood. She tried to focus on other students’ thoughts for once.

  Ten minutes had gone by, and she had not jumped anyone. She would definitely be heading to the Main Hall after this, to beg Hazel or Myrtle or that other sister, Heather, for some blood, any blood. Rodney suddenly nudged her. What did he want? She searched his mind swiftly, ignoring his thrumming heart. Why did werewolves’ hearts have to beat so fast? Sir Rey had asked her a question. Something about a cartouche… something… she could grasp the thought… it was right there… she was so hungry!

  “I don’t know,” she called out, head still down, her words muffled.

  “Can you lift your head up from the desk, Miss Black? I don’t like sleeping-” she lifted her head up, and his talking stopped abruptly.

  Sir Rey, always so together, lost his composure briefly. He recovered it swiftly though, straightening up. What on earth must she look like?

  “Mr. Steele, please escort Miss Black to the Main Hall,” he remarked brusquely, and Rodney looked at Seph’s eyes, noting the seriousness of the situation.

  “Yes, sir,” he replied, standing quickly and pulling the hungry Seph to her feet with him. “C’mon, Seph,” he urged her out the room before too many students stared and before she attacked any of them. “Vampires can’t skip meals, Seph,” he stated to her matter-of-factly. “You just can’t. Always drink something,” he gently chided her, and she rolled her eyes at him, red eating away at the corners of her vision.

  There was a strange kid walking across the courtyard exactly parallel to them. He was walking away from the Main Hall, lost. He looked unusual with his crazily spiked red-gold hair, longish and flopping into eyes that were electric-blue, noticeable even from their distance. Combine all of that with his olive skin, and they had to wonder where he was from. He was walking in the grass, holding a schedule -- had to be new -- when he tripped. Seph halted. She could have been made of stone. She was rooted to the spot.

  He had skinned his palm on a rock when he fell. He slowly staggered to his feet as the blood scent wrapped around her. Rodney noticed it just as red covered her eyesight. She bolted towards the startled kid as Rodney bolted after her, reaching for her and just missing the back of her shirt. He screamed her name, but he might as well have been screaming at a shark to not attack a bleeding fish. It was a lost cause.

  Rodney morphed, shifting rapidly into his huge, pitch-black werewolf form. He lunged forward, gaining on her rapid, vampire steps, despite her speed, and he jumped in between her and her quarry just in time. She bounced off of him, rolling backwards and then up onto her feet. She hissed at him dangerously, and he growled back. His claws were out, and his arms were spread. He was ready for this inevitable fight.

  She charged again, and now that he was her intended target, she managed to latch onto him. She tried to bite his neck, teeth snapping in his ear as she tore off a little piece of cartilage. He opted for the best way to subdue someone, falling straight down on her. He heard a little groan beneath him as a few bones crunched, and then he was flying backwards. She had not even used her telekinesis. She had just used her immense strength. That was terrifying.

  He landed on his back a few feet away, nearly flattening the strange boy. The new student scurried out of the way just in time. Hurriedly, the boy darted away, scrambling up one of the rare oak trees in the courtyard, seeking sanctuary. Rodney faced Seph, or the crazed vampire that used to be Seph. She hissed. He growled.

  She charged once more, not a great strategy, but at that level of hunger, coherent thoughts were distant memories. She managed to claw his chest when one of his claws caught her in the stomach as she soared over him. She swung around, fastening onto his back and sinking her teeth into his throat. She barely managed to draw any blood before he reached behind him, grabbed the back of her neck, and flung her off of him. She slammed onto the ground, smacking the back of her head jarringly.

  She had drawn blood from him. His canine senses took over, and as she kicked up at him, he grabbed her leg. Pulling her off the ground, he bit into it. He heard her scream, heard Seph scream, and immediately dropped his prize. However, he shouldn’t have dropped that leg, for they were still in battle. She used the fall to kick her other leg at him, catching him square in the chest and sending him stumbling another few feet backwards.

  Before he could recover, she was at him again, slashing him across the face with her claws. He grabbed at her darting form, but she ducked, biting into his left side. He roared in pain, trying to catch her nimble self just as he felt himself bodily picked up and thrown. He flew across the courtyard, landing near the Main Hall, and he stayed there, not moving.

  Everything hurt… He tried to rise, but it hurt… His side and neck were pulsating blood, throbbing. His face hurt where she had scored it, and his chest was sore where she had kicked it. Not to mention all the bumps and bruises he had just accumulated from that little toss of hers. She was a really s
trong vampire. Maybe Stefan and the others had a point with their little meeting… then again, would it be better to be her friend and to train her to be more careful or… his thoughts spiraled out of reach as he slowly shifted back to his human form. His werewolf form constantly drained him of power, so this helped. He collapsed where he was though, body slumping.

  Seph advanced towards her victim, the new student, a predator stalking her prey. She moved from side to side like a serpent. Her eyes were blood-red, no whites visible, no black at all, just red with blood, the need for blood. They watched him relentlessly. He quivered in his tree. What type of school was this?! He finds out that he’s a wizard, and there are vampires and werewolves trying to eat him around every corner?! The werewolf had tried to protect him, but he was unconscious at the other side of the courtyard. Besides, maybe they were just fighting over him for their meal. He was left alone to fend for himself against this blood-starved creature. Who ran this place?!

  People were around now. He scanned them desperately. A bell had rung. They were switching classes. A few were rushing over to the fallen werewolf boy, two Asian girls and a Hispanic girl, by the looks of it. He really had good vision now… The creature was still coming towards him though. People stepped hesitantly towards them, but no one seemed eager to help him. He realized with astonishment that they were afraid of her too! Where were the teachers, or did they fear this monster also?

  Seph charged at the boy, sprinting towards the tree, and she suddenly stopped. It was as though she had a hit a force field or something. She was propelled backwards without warning. She slammed into a pillar all the way near the Red Hall and slumped down it, twisted at an odd angle that no body should be twisted in. The boy dropped down from the tree cautiously, taking a step towards the girl. He jumped back as her back snapped into place, healed already. What were these things?!