Blood and Beasts

by L. M. Miller

  “I’m horrible at this spell,” he grumbled, and the teacher shrugged lightly.

  “It is true. Wizards and witches usually catch on the quickest to this spell. Werewolves and vampires are equally hindered at attempting it. You’ve tried your best, Mr. Steele. That’s all I ask for,” she smiled at the four of them before flouncing up to the front, Tristan and Rodney staring at her retreating form a moment longer than was absolutely necessary.

  “Take a picture. It’ll last longer,” Seph remarked scathingly, and they both instantly looked away guiltily. “Boys…” she grumbled, waving her hand over her pencil to see if she could animate it enough to walk and tap-dance like Abernathy’s, but she was not that gifted at spells apparently.

  At lunch that day, they all ate hurriedly before retreating to the Room to do their separate things. Seph casually surveyed what everybody was doing, attempting to be surreptitious. Rodney was dealing out the game they were about to play so she could study everybody, a pastime of hers, just studying humanity, or something like that…

  Linda and Stefan lounged on the couch. More to the point, Stefan took up the whole couch, reading some book for a paper, and Linda sat on the floor, listening to music as she did homework. Their fingers intertwined with each other’s adoringly. They truly did love each other for such a young couple.

  Tristan was in the corner, speaking with Dewdrop in hushed tones. He had been doing that a lot recently. Seph was almost tempted to listen in on his thoughts, but she stopped herself. She mustn’t make that a habit. It was a nasty habit too. People deserved to keep their thoughts to themselves.

  Abernathy sat in another corner with Silo, preening over him. He loved that. He acutely enjoyed to be admired. Vanity was clearly his sin. She used a toothbrush and calmly scrubbed each and every one of his many red and black scales to a glossy shine. She really did love that creation of hers, that dragon.

  Seph turned back to what she was doing, playing an intense game of cards with Rodney. They were playing War, a normal enough card game, but these cards were different. They were magical cards, and whenever they set two matching cards down, they all sprang to life, and there really was a war. It was brutal and usually ended with several burning cards that would instantly heal themselves, setting themselves in the winner’s pile. It was an enjoyable time, and they both liked the weird deck of cards very much. Abernathy apparently had several magical trinkets like these at her home and brought them to school often enough, entertaining those of them not raised in a magical household. The things magic came up with…

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  “I can’t wait for parents’ day,” Rodney said excitedly the next day.

  He and Seph were casually strolling through the maze together during lunchtime. They had become closer friends of late. Francesca was being a bit more absent than usual. She was pursuing some new boy or another.

  “My parents’ day didn’t exactly go too well…” she murmured quietly, and he nodded gravely.

  “Ya, I know, but… I dunno… it’s different for vampires than for…” he let the conversation end there.

  “I guess…” she said with a shrug, not wanting to continue that conversation any further. “Haven’t you been here long enough for this to be your second parents’ day? You got nothing to fear, right?” She said, grinning a little, and he returned the grin.

  Her heart fluttered a little at the sight of his smile. That was odd. She didn’t know what to think about that. Rodney was confusing her more and more, night by night.

  “Not necessarily. I missed last parents’ day. I got sick. The day before, I got in a fight with one of the wizards, and he threw some wolfsbane at me,” Seph gasped, recognizing the herb that could incapacitate a werewolf completely in a concentrated form, leaving them open for the kill. “Ya, he doesn’t go here anymore. We’ve spent centuries trying to make everybody accept all different kinds of creatures here, and he nearly shattered it. He would have if he had killed me. Anyway, Sir Cosmos informed my parents not to come, and they didn’t. They wouldn’t have wanted to see me in the infirmary anyways. I was bright purple. That’s what it does to ya,” he explained, and Seph couldn’t help but giggle a little, imagining a bright purple Rodney. “Oh, you think that’s funny, do ya?” He asked her, and she raised a winged brow to him.

  “Maybe a little. Can you imagine yourself purple or me purple, for that matter?” She burst out laughing, unable to contain it any longer.

  He had to laugh too. It was a funny thought. Purple was just such a random color.

  “I wish I could see my brother and sister again… and my foster-brothers…” she said wistfully, staring off into the wind.

  “You will soon, Seph. Don’t worry,” Rodney said warmly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

  She leaned against him a moment, enjoying the warmth of him. In the distance, they could hear the starting bell ring as lunch ended. They both stared off at the school, thinking separate thoughts. The sky was beautiful that night, cloudless, with a waning moon and tiny stars.

  “Time for Hieroglyphs,” Rodney voiced the unspoken thought, and Seph nodded as they headed back towards the main building, still basking in the companionship of each other.

  In Hieroglyphs that day, they were learning about yet another werewolf, Egyptian king. Apparently, there was a whole line of Egyptian pharaohs that were werewolves for quite some time. This one was named Pharaoh Ramses some number… Seph sighed. Another boring day in Hieroglyphs… Even with Rodney for company, she was still bored. She was also dwelling on her siblings, missing them and sulking.

  “What were your experiences in Egypt, Sir Rey?” Seph nearly jumped at Rodney’s sudden question, his voice carrying.

  She looked up in time to see Sir Rey’s golden eyes glower at Rodney for not raising his hand, more likely than not. Rodney was one of those students with that nasty habit of never raising his hand before asking some impertinent question or other. Seph found it agreeable though. It added some spice to the classroom and kept their teachers on their toes. She grinned behind her hand as Sir Rey fizzled just a little.

  “M-my experiences in Egypt? Surely, I did not hear that question. Otherwise, you would have raised your hand,” he sniffed, reeking of pompousness.

  “Oh, c’mon, Sir Rey,” Seph piped up, emboldened by Rodney and holding her hand up in the air just for the teacher.

  “Just because you raise your hand, Persephone, does not mean you can speak. I have to call on you,” he explained to them as if they were simpletons.

  Now it was her turn to roll her eyes and glare at him.

  “Maybe you should explain the specifics to us next time,” she swapped a lopsided grin with Rodney as the teacher heaved a sigh of exasperation.

  They did that to their teachers a lot, promote these sighs.

  “Egypt, Sir Rey? I know that’s where you hail from,” Rodney said, and Seph gave him a funny look at his usage of the word ‘hail’.

  “Oh, alright,” Sir Rey exhaled dramatically before launching into his tale. “I was actually a high priest’s son during the reign of Pharaoh Ptolemy IX, and I fell in love with his daughter, the princess Nefertiti. There was a horrible scandal,” he grinned devilishly as did Seph and Rodney, thinking about what troubles Sir Rey must have gotten into in his youth.

  He was a very attractive teacher. Seph could easily see him wreaking havoc in ancient Egypt. What an experience to have…

  “I was banished to Jericho, and I took a Jew for my bride. She was pure human and died of natural causes, but I had three sons, all who are still around as of this day,” he explained, grinning at the class broadly and flashing his sharp, white teeth.

  There was a moment of shocked silence as the girls leaned forward, fluttering their eyelashes, and the boys leaned back, awestruck by their teacher. Rodney raised his hand and waited patiently for the teacher to call on him. Sir Rey smiled agreeably and called on Rodney cheerily.

  “Was it worth it?” Rodney asked,
a little smirk playing about his lips.

  Sir Rey paused a moment, reflecting on the question.

  “Totally,” he grinned, and all the guys immediately began to laugh, clapping each other mannishly on the back as all the girls shook with their giggles.

  Rodney nudged her hand, and she looked over at him, laughter dancing in her eyes.

  “I’d totally do that for you,” he joked, and she laughed even louder, shoving him playfully as the teacher finally called order to the class.

  Soon enough, parents’ day for the werewolves arrived. Seph and Francesca were waiting anxiously outside of their dorm room for Francesca’s family to get there. Seph had asked Phin’s permission to skip today’s class to see Francesca’s family, who were like family to her, and he had agreed grudgingly.

  Seph loved the Murrietas. Francesca had four younger sisters, fourteen and thirteen as well as seven-year-old twins, and three little brothers, one twelve, the other eleven, and the baby who was four. The parents were amazing as well, always welcoming Seph into their home with open arms. She stopped and thought about this a moment. Francesca claimed that her entire family was made up of werewolves. Had they known she was a vampire this whole time? Probably not. How would they take the news? Would they try to harm her, like Janette? Would they fear her? How would they-

  “Mama! Papa!” Francesca exclaimed, sprinting down the hallway to fling her arms around both her parents.

  Seph slowly walked up behind her to the little crowd awaiting her best friend. They were speaking in a flurry of Spanish right now, which she vaguely understood. They were all really happy to see each other. How could she forget how close the entire family was? It must be devastating to have one of their own off at something so like a boarding school, even if it wasn’t too far from where they actually lived.

  She studied the group, as she was accustomed to. Now that she thought about it, this was probably a vampire skill, studying others. Studying prey? She shook that thought away instantly, hoping that none of the Murrietas could mind-read, although it was a very uncommon gift among werewolves.

  Luz looked as pretty as ever, flaunting her auburn hair, straightened beautifully. It perfectly accentuated her light-tan skin and sparkling golden eyes, her hair a trait from their fair-skinned Spanish mother. Sombra looked just as pretty with her dark-brown, curly, chin-length bob, light-tan skin, and golden eyes. Junior, called that because his real name, Alfredo, was the same as their father’s, was still on the larger side. He kept his auburn hair cut short and spiked, his skin the same light-tan as his older sisters’, minus Francesca. His eyes were smaller though, more like their father’s. Beside him was the skinny waif that was Guillermo, the last brother, skinny and a lot of sinewy muscle. He was dark-tan, like Francesca, although his tan was even darker than hers, compliments of running in the sun. She didn’t see the sun much anymore considering her late night school hours. He had dark-brown hair and small eyes like their father and Francesca.

  The twin girls, Anita and Mona, short for Juanita and Ramona, were there as well. Mona held her dolly, Polly, by one hand, while Anita lapped at a lollipop. Both girls had jet-black waves, gold eyes, and light-tan skin. Lastly, there was Benicio, little Benny, held in Mrs. Murrieta’s arms. He had auburn curls, dark-tan skin, and golden eyes. He held his favorite Koala bear, Umberto, in his arms, the ratty thing.

  Idly, Seph waited outside the wide berth of the family, hoping someone would notice her eventually. She was tense, wondering how they would react to her. Surely Francesca had informed them of her being there. She had to have. They were rooming together! She paused anxiously, trying not to gnash her teeth together with her nervousness.

  “Persephone! It’s been so long! Come here, chicita!” Mrs. Murrieta suddenly exclaimed, and they all issued her into the midst of them.

  She was assaulted with a flurry of voices, grinning broadly, as they acted the exact same way that they always had, loud and flamboyant. They stayed that way for a good while. She and Luz launched into a conversation about the latest hair practices and how beautiful both their hairs were looking that day. After a bit though, she did begin to feel a little overwhelmed. She loved the Murrietas so much. She loved Pearl and Pearce so much. She loved her family… She blinked away something that felt dangerously like tears, slowly extricating herself from the crowd.

  “I… uh… I gotta go. I actually got class right now. I just wanted to say hi,” she managed to stammer out, slowly receding from the group.

  They all nodded, accepting this excuse, but Francesca shot her a confused look. Seph just shook her head, mouthing the word ‘later’ to her. Francesca would understand, even if right now she felt particularly hurt that her friend didn’t want to hang out with her family as much as possible.

  Seph hurried down the hallway to the stairs, out of sight, before teleporting to the base of them and then rushing across the courtyard, bulleting for the Room. A light rain was starting to fall, and she turned her heated face up to it. She enjoyed the cool feeling that the little patters left on her face.

  She entered the Room in a flurry. She wanted her brother. She wanted her sister. She wanted Manny and Dean and Terrence and Bobby and Nate. She missed them all so much. Silo made a move towards her tentatively, and she shook her head at him. With a flick of her hand, she opened the locker into Dewdrop’s across the room, and the dragon hung his head low, entering the large room before him. He was sad that he couldn’t help. She wanted to sulk alone. That was just how she was.

  It felt like her chest was ripping. She wanted to hold them, just hold them. She would give anything to go back in time and spend even more time with them, to covet each and every moment. It was like she had died or something, or they had died! But they hadn’t! It would help if she knew she would see them sometime soon, but she didn’t because of stupid Janette and Bill. Because of herself… She had to be a stupid vampire! A damned creature of the night!

  She shook her head, ridding herself of those thoughts. She was not a damned creature of the night. She was not a monster. She could be a monster, but anybody could be a monster, be they human, wizard, witch, werewolf, or vampire. Francesca had bored this into her that one night, and she held onto it with all her strength. Suddenly, the door to the Room burst open, and she flinched, nearly jumping a foot. Rodney strode in, shedding raindrops left and right.

  He was furious! Had she ever seen him this furious before? He looked livid! What had happened? He looked… monstrous. Every being had it in them, she supposed. Her heart thundered in her chest, going about the same rate a normal human’s would.

  Rodney was infuriated. He had never felt this angry before. He wanted to be alone. To tear things to pieces like Silo had! Someone was in here with him though… Who was in the Room?

  “Rod?” Seph’s slightly dark eyes widened as she slowly saw the expression on his face, his appearance. “Rod! What happened?!” Her concern just aggravated him even more as he paced their little hideout aggressively.

  “Not his son? Not his son?! I can’t help what I am! I can’t help that I’m not as controlled as he was!” He was babbling to himself wildly now, muscles and bones rippling beneath his soaking wet shirt as he kept himself from shifting, but just barely.

  “Rod. Rod! What is going on?!” She was demanding his attention now.

  She had no idea what he had just been through, and when he caught her eye, all he saw was sympathy and… pity? He wanted no pity. Anger lurched its ugly head within him again.

  “He called me a monster, Persephone. A monster! He told me that I’m no longer his son! I can’t help what I am! All because I lost control! How could he say that?!” He was screaming at her now, but she stood her ground resolutely.

  They stared at each other a moment, challengingly. Two monsters ready to fight, if need be. He looked away, shaking his head of his violent thoughts.

  “Maybe I am… Maybe I am a monster…” his mood was swinging up and down from intense sadness to intense anger.
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  “Rod, you’re not a monster! He just doesn’t understand! You know what my-” he cut her off viciously.

  “Maybe I am a monster! Maybe you’re a monster too!” He was all but spitting in her face now.

  “I’m not a monster, Rodney!” She yelled at his back as he walked towards the exit. “And neither are you!” He paused, and he sensed, rather than saw, her tremble apprehensively.

  He suddenly whirled around and stalked towards her. She backed up quickly, noting the intense ferocity in his glowing, gold eyes. She rammed her back against the wall, and he stopped in front of her face. He grabbed the girl’s throat and flexed his fingers temptingly, imagining ripping her esophagus out, all that blood, crimson rain on his face.

  “Are you so sure, Seph?” He murmured, staring into her charcoal eyes, and she glared right back into his golden ones.

  His eyes slowly traveled down her face to her mouth. His fingers relaxed a little. His eyes met hers again for just a split second before he kissed her. He didn’t know why at this particular moment, but that was exactly what he wanted to do, and he was tired of waiting. She kissed him back. They paused in a moment of suspended silence. He knew what he wanted to do, and he knew what he could do.

  “Seph?” He said, a little breathless.

  “Ya?” She asked, just as breathless.

  “Drink my blood,” her brow furrowed with confusion, but he saw her eyes darken just slightly, becoming an even stormier gray.

  “Your blood? Rod-” With one sharp fingernail, he cut the side of his neck, blood instantly beading along the slim line. “Rod…” Her voice trembled as her eyes remained locked on his neck.