Blood and Beasts

by L. M. Miller

  “I didn’t imagine it, Seph. I’m sorry that you are what you are, but-” she cut him off with a shrill cry.

  “That I am what I am?! How dare you apologize to me about what I was born as! You aren’t vampire, Tristan! You don’t know how it is! I was a person first, Tristan, and I still am! Don’t feel sorry for me! I don’t need your sympathy! I’m fine with what I am! You just need to learn how to live with it!” She shouted before turning her back to him. “I’m going back to Monster Academy. I wanna catch the end of dinner,” she shot Tristan a hardened glance over her pale shoulder. “Anyone coming with me? Don’t want to go to bed hungry,” she added scathingly, and they all started moving, turning away from the forlorn-looking wizard.

  “Wait! You guys don’t believe me?” He asked, rising and looking altogether pathetic.

  Seph rounded on him viciously, stomping towards him.

  “Tristan, that time I attacked you was a once in a lifetime thing! I have never done that before, and I will never do that again-” He cut her off smoothly.

  “What about with your foster brother?” He asked her coldly, and she glowered at him.

  “That was a different situation, Tristan. I left out some details when telling you that. He wanted it. It was a heat of the moment kind of thing,” she said icily.

  “Heat of the moment?” He asked her, and she rolled her eyes.

  “Ya, heat of the moment! It’s called bloodlust for a reason! He wasn’t complaining! It didn’t hurt! It doesn’t have to hurt! Did Francesca look like she was in pain?” She asked him, voice rising, and he just shook his head, dumbfounded.

  “She was doing what with who?” Rodney whispered to Francesca, who was just staring at Seph in shock.

  She hadn’t known that. Why had she not known that? She and Seph were best friends, right?

  “Her foster brother, Nate. I didn’t know they did that,” she whispered back, listening more closely to their conversation.

  “What exactly did they do?” Rodney pressed on.

  “Nothing that bad, Rod. It’s Seph,” Francesca replied, as if that explained everything to Rodney, who had no idea what her actual standards were.

  “I’m not an animal, Tristan! I happen to have feelings! Thanks for hurting them!” She continued to shout at him before whirling on her heel and marching off.

  They all followed her, leaving Tristan to bring up the rear. Dewdrop buzzed by him, not liking to fly as fast as they were walking. Tristan noticed acutely that she was a fairy. He had looked through a book at the library, a book on magical creatures, and he had seen a picture of them. They looked just like their picture, which had buzzed around his head like a real fairy. He was still trying to get used to images coming to life in books, like holograms or something from science fiction.

  “Tristan,” the fairy suddenly whispered to him, and he nearly jumped. “Us fairies… we have heard rumors concerning a rather violent order of vampires in the area, making blood sacrifices to a blood god, dark god…” she whispered, and he nodded.

  “Mot, the god of death or darkness or something, is what they were saying,” he replied, and she tinkled with a nod.

  “I believe you, if that means anything,” she stated, and he nodded, smiling at her.

  “It does,” he whispered back, and they picked up their pace, following the others as they distanced themselves from the duo.

  They arrived back on school grounds easily. They had to talk Tristan into putting a temporary invisibility charm on Silo and Dewdrop as they traipsed up to the Main Hall together. They needed sustenance before returning to the Room and dealing with it. He did so without a word. They all split off at the Main Hall, grabbing their trays of food and taking them outside. They made their way to the Room, introducing Dewdrop to it and re-accustoming Silo to it. Happily, he no longer needed to be enclosed in his telekinetic bubble. He knew not to burn everything up anymore. He had grown up in the forest and in the fairy colony. His relationship with Seph seemed to really help him too.

  Seph lounged on the couch, sipping her blood. She was glowering at Tristan, who tried his best to ignore the daggers shooting from her eyes. Tristan sat in the corner, eating his hamburger and fries. Dewdrop was by his side. It seemed that they all disliked Dewdrop now. She had gone to the dark side, Tristan’s side.

  “Let’s play some chess, Seph,” Rodney suggested, breaking the tense silence.

  Seph nearly lost in their rambunctious game of chess. She was not exactly at the top of her game that day, but in the end, Tristan saved her at the last moment. He pointed out to her that her merking was in danger just in the nick of time. This saved her, and she won the game. Rodney was not too happy about that, but he let it go.

  The next day, during lunch, Rodney insisted that they go back to the Room for a rematch. This time, Tristan couldn’t help her. Tristan grinned at her, but she didn’t return the pleasant gesture. Entering the Room, they all stopped, staring around themselves in shock.

  “Dewdrop…” Francesca murmured, and the blue fairy buzzed over to them. “You’ve been busy,” she commented as they all looked around themselves in awe.

  With Dewdrop’s fairy magic, she had changed the size and interior of the room completely without revealing anything to the outside world. It had a high ceiling now, and the floor was made of all white, reflective marble. The entire room was huge. On one wall, floor to ceiling, there were windows, and on another wall, floor to ceiling, there were bookshelves. Of course, with the windows, nobody from the outside could see in, but they could see plenty from the inside to the out.

  The wall they stepped out from, the wall with the door, happened to have a golden ladder attached to it. Up the golden ladder was a little golden walkway that wrapped all the way around the entirety of the room. However, it was low enough from the very high ceiling for even the tall Rodney to walk around it without hunching even a little. There was a brass telescope up there by the looks of it, positioned strategically by the wall of windows. It was perfect for studying the stars or spying on people, whichever.

  Near the wall of bookshelves was a very comfortable-looking sitting area. There were plush evergreen couches and armchairs, as well as an oaken desk and chair, complete with reference books and an indigo and gold globe next to it. It all looked very appealing for a night-in, studying.

  The last wall, to their left, was completely blank… oddly blank… Dewdrop noticed them staring at it and beckoned them over, tinkling cheerfully. Suddenly, a whole desk of computer equipment popped out of the wall, and the whole wall lit up as the screen. They all just stared and stared and stared.

  “WELL?” She squeaked, excitedly forgetting about her promise to talk quietly.

  “Well…” Seph started, picking through the minds of the others to hear a general consensus of thoughts. “Well… It’s wonderful, Dewdrop. Absolutely wonderful,” the little fairy blazed such a brilliant blue that she hurt their eyes. “But…” her light began to fade. “But we kinda liked the old Room better. This one is great too. Can we have both?” She suggested, and the fairy, although her light was quite a bit paler than usual, seemed to think about that.

  “All right,” she agreed, chiming like a trio of bells.

  Suddenly, everything began to whirl around and around and around. Without warning, they were standing back in the middle of the original Room. They just stared and stared and stared all around them.

  “And I will keep my room in here,” the slightly miffed fairy stated, fluttering over to a bright blue locker now attached to the distant wall of the Room.

  She disappeared it, slamming the door with a BANG! They caught a glimpse of a miniaturized version of the room that they had just been in inside the locker. They all looked at each other, still in shock. Francesca sighed.

  “Who knew fairies were that powerful? Don’t ever piss her off,” Francesca warned, and they all laughed a little, easing the tension.

  “Too late,” Seph muttered gruffly, and they laughed a little mo
re, relieving the tenuous air in the room.

  Suddenly, Dewdrop bounced out of the locker again. She swirled around them once before stopping in the center of the little circle that they had formed. She turned to Seph, facing her, if a sphere of blue light could face anyone.

  “I apologize for my reaction, Persephone. I desired to surprise you all. I see that I did,” Seph smiled a little encouragingly. “However, I realize that you all like this room, no matter how disheveled it appears. Feel free to enter my domain whenever you so desire. It is open day and night,” Seph opened her mouth to ask a question. “Time passes at a normal speed there as well, not accelerated nor stopped,” she beamed around at them all one more time, blue light simply glowing, before whizzing back into her domain, locker door slamming shut behind her.

  “That… was too weird,” Linda stated, and they all nodded in agreement.

  That week, they did enter the Room and then enter Dewdrop’s Domain more often than not. Their original Room just paled in comparison to her place. It was nice to keep around though, for memory’s sake and the like. Dewdrop’s Domain was very fancy.

  It was really funny how Silo and Dewdrop had bonded. It seemed that fairies and dragons had some type of innate, intimate bond between them. He guarded the locker with teeth bared and claws out constantly. He recognized the six of them, sometimes seven, if Stefan tagged along, and he always admitted them. If someone strange did ever try to enter Dewdrop’s Domain, they were on their own.

  The week went by rather quickly. However, on Friday, Francesca and Rodney weren’t there. Neither was Ruby, Seph noticed acutely. She stared out of the crystalline windows, noting the nearly full moon. They must be in full transformation right about now. They had to shift into their werewolf forms the three days during the month when the moon was fullest. She knew that.

  She wished they were there though. She was closest to the pair of them. It just wasn’t the same with Abernathy, who was studying more than you thought, or Linda, who was always busy with her boyfriend. Seph and Tristan were still not on the best of terms either, although she had found it in her heart to forgive him. He was terrified, in a new place, and she had given him a horrid, first impression of herself. It made sense that he would view vampires in a bad light from then on. She would if she were a human… anymore. She hoped that she could eventually change his prejudice of her kind though.

  “Are you all ready for parents’ day tomorrow?” Phin asked once the commencement bell for Vamp Class had rang.

  Everybody burst out laughing as Seph just looked around, confused.

  “Nobody comes on parents’ day,” Masoko explained, eyes little more than slits with her laughter.

  “At least not parents,” Capri threw out, and they all laughed some more.

  “Well, what about brothers and sisters?” Seph ventured, and they all glanced at her.

  “Sometimes they come,” Phin spoke up, and they all nodded.

  “But your parents will come,” Sarabi said, and Seph looked up at her, not giving her a happy look at all.

  “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” She asked, and Sarabi looked away, not answering her question.

  With those parting words, Seph’s anxiety levels spiked as the night drew to a close. She had difficulty sleeping that day, constantly thinking about Bill and Janette and if they would bring the kids. She kept seeing Pearl and Pearce’s terror-stricken faces as well as Nate’s bleeding neck. Needless to say, the following day, Seph had never felt so nervous. She woke up at six, exceptionally early for her. She was beyond jittery. She dressed in her normal clothes, brushed her hair to a high gloss, and straightened her jewelry, the choker necklace and bracelet. She left the room early, missing Francesca’s presence as she swung her small, black backpack over her shoulder. She was headed for the Main Hall. She sipped her blood anxiously, watching people meander in and out of the Main Hall. Their parents were not coming today, and their parents had not tried to kill them last time they had seen them.

  Classes had never sped by so fast. She dreaded the end of the day. During their species class, they were supposed to go up to their rooms and wait for their parents, if they were coming. She had to at least check and see if they were going to come, although most of the other vampires were just going to hang out in the classroom because nobody was coming for them. It was understood by that point.

  What was she supposed to hope for? If they didn’t come, it meant that they didn’t love her and couldn’t even bear to see her. That was bad. However, if they did come, they more than likely wouldn’t be pleasant about it and would probably act very mean towards her, which would hurt a lot too. She was in a lose-lose situation here, she thought desperately, raking a hand through her red tresses.

  Species class arrived much faster than expected. She had to check in at the Vamp Class, and then she left, along with Phin, Trey, and even Capri. Phin’s sister, Nadine, was coming, and Trey’s parents and siblings always visited him. Capri’s dad was coming too. He just came to say hello a lot. She didn’t mean to pry, but she heard his thoughts. He had always visited his dad in prison on an armed robbery charge, and now his dad viewed his condition the same way. How nice…

  They parted ways at the dorms. She headed for the girls’ side and climbed all the way up to the top, not cutting corners for once. She walked slowly towards her dorm door, although no one was waiting for her. Anxiously, she rested against the doorjamb, looking left and right. Would they come? Would they bring her brother or sister or maybe some of her foster siblings?

  It had been twenty minutes. She sighed resignedly, straightening up. No one was coming. She would just go back to Vamp Class, and maybe get some extra help from Capri… no, he was talking to his dad. Maybe she would ask Masoko for help with her shifting to a bat, although she still could only seem to manage that halfway form. She could ask Kenji for more help with misting, although she had that down fairly well. Who knows what she would do…

  “Persephone,” a rather harsh but familiar voice called, and she turned to see Janette and Bill striding towards her.

  Neither of them looked too happy. Bill looked a little scared, eyes roving the corridor with the whites showing all around them. Was he waiting for some hungry vampire to jump out and try to eat him? Janette looked mad, angry even. She had been the one who had called Seph’s name but in a much more vicious voice than was normal. They arrived in front of Seph, and awkwardly, they all stared at each other. Who was going to break the ice first?

  “Here,” Janette said, passing over to Seph some cards the foster kids had made for her.

  She looked at them, all handmade. Bobby and Manny’s was adorable, their wretched little crayon drawings scribbled over some purple construction paper. They had drawn a picture of her and them, all holding hands, walking through the field near their house. They had written in their crabby handwriting, or, more to the point, Bobby had written under someone’s instruction: WE MISS YOU!

  She looked at the next card, another hand-drawn one, with Terrence and Dean’s name on it. They had just drawn some hearts and stars around it. Dean had drawn a little superman, and Terrence had written her a kind note.

  Dear Seph,

  We all miss you. I mean, I miss you a lot just by myself. Did you know that vampirism isn’t a disease but a genetic trait? That means one of your parents was a vampire. Does that mean Pearl or Pearce are going to become vampires too? But you have different dads, so maybe it was your dad that was the vampire. I don’t know. I’m sorry for bringing it up. I really miss you though, Seph. Nobody’s that nice to me here anymore. You were always the one who was nicest to me. I miss you. Love,

  Terrence

  She stared at the message a moment longer, blinking back tears. All she needed was to cry her bloody tears to send this awkward family reunion over the edge. She inhaled shakily.

  “Lawrence drew this for you,” Janette said, looking as though she had just swallowed a lemon.

  She accepted the piece of lo
ose-leaf paper that had a drawing on it. It was of her, with fangs, but she looked good. He had made her look like a superhero. He had written in pretty lettering above the drawing, Persephone. She knew Lawrence. If he had been angry at her or afraid of her, he would have drawn her eating somebody, blood and guts everywhere. Something along those lines. Lawrence saw her as a superhero, as something amazing or something to aspire towards. She blinked back some more tears. They really cared about her, despite everything.

  “And Pearl and Pearce bought you this card,” she stated, handing her a nice card with some atypical, calligraphic message on the front about love.

  She opened the card, hoping for a little message from them on the inside. There was some writing, but not what she had wished for. It was different though. They were her actual siblings, and they had also seen her…

  Seph,

  You scare me. I still love you.

  Pearl

  Seph,

  I miss you, but you scare me too. I love you.

  Pearce

  She stared at the two short messages, heartbroken. Janette looked pleased with her facial expressions. She obviously did not approve of the lovey-dovey messages the others had given her, but she enjoyed the effect Pearl and Pearce’s card was having on her.

  “And the last one,” she passed over the final card, and Seph knew who it was from as her fingers grazed the paper.

  It was in an envelope, which she opened with one sharp fingernail. She slowly extracted the folded piece of paper, staring at the familiar writing. It was from Nate. She took a deep breath before reading it.

  Seph,

  I know that what you did wasn’t intentional. I need to talk to you in person sometime soon. Come by any time, day or night. I miss you, and I’m not afraid of you. You know, in my culture, people that could change into different forms, like a bat, were considered powerful and spiritual people. I accept you. Please come and talk to me soon.

  Nate

  She just stared and stared at the message. Nate forgave her. Nate was not afraid of her. Nate wanted to see her. This was a development. What was she to think about all this?