From overhead, its various buildings were shaped like the letter ‘H’, lined up side-by-side across a very big patch of land.
There were three such buildings.
One for middle schoolers.
One for high schoolers.
One for administration and other duties. This was the smaller of the three buildings.
Surrounding the buildings were various plots of land designated for sporting activities. Track-and-Field had its own sporting field, as did the tennis, basketball, and soccer clubs. There was a large gymnasium and an aquatic center that sported two fifty meter pools.
Galatea had everything the young, future prospective leaders of the eight Prides could ever hope for in a school environment.
All it lacked was a mall.
The Student Council room was located on the fourth floor, in the corner of one wing of the building allocated to the high school student body.
I looked at the sturdy double doors made of real wood – not the synthetic variety, but real, honest to God wood – and trembled a little at the thought of what awaited me beyond those doors.
I knocked on one door loud enough to be heard without sounding like an ogre beating down a dungeon gate.
The door opened automatically a few moments later, and melodious voice called out, “Please enter.”
A melodious female voice.
My stomach lurched.
I stepped into the lioness’s den.
What greeted me was a room adorned in opulent, antique furnishings.
Along opposite walls hung the painted portraits of former Student Council presidents.
I looked at them, noticing the majority of past presidents were women.
All damn, fine good looking women.
I scowled inwardly at the handsome faces of the male presidents.
I guess it was to be expected. Appearances seemed to carry a great deal of weight around here.
It was a known fact the Symbiote had a habit of enacting cosmetic changes to the bodies of those it inhabited. Those changes took place in the first few weeks after the Symbiote entered the host’s body. The changes ranged from weight loss, muscle build-up, fuller lips, smoother skin and a near perfect complexion.
I found it all unfair to Regular humankind who had to resort to a plethora of creams and treatments as they struggled to remain on par with the Aventis.
I glared openly at the portraits of the male presidents.
“Ara ara, aren’t you making a scary face.”
I turned in the direction of the wide desk, antique desk that would have been perfectly at home in the manor of some rich company CEO. Again, there was no doubting the shine and luster of real, varnished wood. It probably cost more than my parents earned in a year before they passed away.
I stared at the occupant of the high backed leather chair that sat behind the desk.
Her legs were on the table, cast in sheer white stockings befitting the white skirt she wore. The owner of those impressive pins stood up and walked around the desk, choosing to prop herself on its edge. Her crossed legs swung back and forth slowly like pendulums.
My eyes followed her feet like a cat might follow a ball on a string.
She was the second person I’d come across wearing non-regulation footwear within Academy grounds.
“Jimmy Chan,” I pointed out, indicating her high heels. “Summer collection. Released last month.”
“Huh?”
“If I’m not mistaken they were designed by his protégé, Christian Ormund.”
“Oh?”
“May I?”
“Uh…sorry?”
I approached her. Rather, I approached her slowly swinging feet. Lowering myself on one knee, I took her left foot – since her left leg was crossed over her right one – and examined the stitching on the silver straps.
I nodded to myself. “I see, it really is leather as advertised. Ah, there it is—Christian’s signature. Right here, you see?”
“Oh, indeed you’re right. Silly me, I never noticed….”
I nodded sagely. “Truly remarkable. He has a talent for blending comfort, practicality and aesthetics into award winning designs.”
“Is that so? I see.”
I looked up at her.
Ash grey hair – what a peculiar color – azure almond eyes, and a heart-shaped face. She appeared to have inherited the best of a mixed heritage. I was certain the Symbiote had subsequently played a hand in enhancing her natural beauty.
After studying her face for a few moments, completely forgetting about her tender left foot in my hands, I asked, “I do apologize, but might I ask you a question?”
“Oh?” She raised her perfectly shaped eyebrows at me. “Ask away.”
“Where is the Student Council President?”
A mischievous smile curled her lips.
A loud banging on the doors interrupted any forthcoming reply.
“President—let me in. You have to let me in!”
The banging resumed.
The girl on the table said, “Ara ara, I was wondering how long it would take her to get here after I made that announcement.”
I noticed the pen-like remote control in her left hand. She waved the pen at the doors and they opened automatically.
A girl with radiant golden hair stumbled in with her fists held high over her head.
Behind her, two other girls waited by the entrance. I recognized one of them having met her just a few hours ago.
Maya Khayman.
The other girl I didn’t know.
But I certainly knew the golden haired, buxom beauty – the Princess of the Third Year student body
Prissila Ventiss Avenir.
She quickly straightened and glared at the girl whose foot I was still holding onto. “What the Hell are you doing sitting on the President’s desk? Don’t you know that was a gift donated by my father to inaugurate the President’s campaign victory?”
“Which he would never have won without my help,” the girl replied with a musical tone.
Listening to her voice was like eating smooth honey. I could listen to this girl read out the stock exchange listings all day.
The intruder pointed a perfectly manicured finger at the girl on the desk. “Raynar Witch, get your backside off that desk—what? What the Hell are you doing?”
That last part was directed at me.
The Princess pointed a trembling finger at my hands holding the girl’s perfectly shaped foot in its uber expensive designer brand shoe.
I lifted the girl’s foot a little higher for the Princess to see. “I was admiring her taste in footwear.”
The Princess grew pale, then flushed brightly. “Are you telling me you don’t limit your perversions to just underwear?”
“Of course not, your Highness,” I replied matter-of-factly. “I appreciate a woman from hair to painted toes, and everything she wears in between.”
The girl on the desk clapped her cheeks. “Ara ara. Am I in danger here? Save me Princess.”
“Stop calling me that you Raynar wench!” The Princess alternated her glare between the girl and I.
Behind her, Maya Khayman and her companion entered the room quietly, choosing to stand as far away from the Princess as they could.
One of them looked on in utter confusion.
The other affixed me with a cold stare that could snap frost water.
The Princess took a confrontational stance, crossing her arms proudly under her enormous breasts. “I can’t wait to see how the President deals with you.”
I stood up as smoothly as I could – before my legs could cramp up – and then took a couple of steps toward the Princess.
She took a half step back and immediately pressed down upon her skirt and clamped her thighs together. “Don’t you dare,” she warned me.
I knelt down before her and bowed with my forehead to the carpeted floor. “Your Highness, I apologize for any misunderstandings my earlier behavior might have caused.”
“Misunderstandings? I understood everything perfectly well. You’re a beast. You’re worse than a lecher.”
I spoke loudly. “Then allow me to atone for offending you.”
“Huh? Really?”
I nodded with my head to the floor.
“Is that so?”
I peeked up at her. She had a wicked smile plastered on her face. It grew wider with each passing moment.
The Princess laughed behind the palm of her left hand. “You expect me to take you seriously?”
“I most certainly do.”
She laughed again. “In that case, strip down to your underwear and run a lap around the school grounds.”
I stared at her for a moment. “Very well.”
I stood up and shrugged off my school jacket. Then I began unbuttoning my shirt from the collar to my navel. With each button I dealt with, the Princess’s eyes grew wider.
I decided to go for broke and took off my shirt.
I really had nothing to be ashamed off.
I was a decent five foot eight, with a slender, somewhat athletic build. Seven months of training with a slave driver like Caprice, and her trainer, had burnt away my childhood fat. I was now sporting washboard abdominal muscles and well defined pectorals. My arms were sculpted in hard muscle.
I’m not one to brag, but I could easily have posed for an underwear commercial. I wasn’t going to hide under a rock after seven months of grueling physical torture.
As they say, ‘no pain no gain’.
I started unbuckling my belt.
Then I heard the Princess gasp.
Or maybe it was steam blowing out her ears.
Whichever the case may be, she was flushed bright red, breathing heavily and her azure eyes were as wide as saucers.
I asked politely. “Shall I continue?”
She nodded absently. “Yes, please do—no, no, no! Wait—stop. Stop! I take it back.”
She moved with astonishing speed, picking up my shirt and jacket from the floor and tossing them at me. She turned away from me so quickly her hair billowed around her like a radiant spiral galaxy. “Hurry—put them on!”
“Very well, your Highness. There’s no need to shout,” I informed her.
“Dear gods,” Maya Khayman growled. “You have absolutely no shame.”
“May I point out that it was her idea.”
“Even so, for a man to undress at the drop of a hat is surely reprehensible.”
“May I also point out that I’ll only undress for the right woman.”
Her eyes narrowed considerably at my words. They weren’t cold anymore. They burned like embers from Hell.
I slipped on my shirt and started buttoning it up. “Like I said, I’m simply atoning for my earlier infraction upon the Princess.”
From behind me, the girl seated on the desk said, “Prissila, I thought you didn’t like being called Princess?”
“I don’t mind. I mean, it’s not like he’s being disrespectful.” She tossed her hair with one hand. “At least he appreciates a fine woman when he sees one.”
The girl behind me laughed. “Ho ho ho. Is that the spark of interest I hear in your voice?”
The Princess started to turn angrily but at sight of me she quickly turned away.
I finished slipping on my jacket. “Your Highness, I’m done dressing. You may turn around at your leisure.”
I watched her shoulders tremble.
Damn, this girl was adorable. A real handful in many, many respects, but still adorable.
“Ah, is that so,” she muttered, then hesitantly turned to face me. Seeing I was dressed once more she seemed to relax, releasing a long heavy sigh as she pressed down upon her bountiful chest.
Then she slapped me, and I flew sideways to the floor.
“How dare you,” she growled. “Undressing before a lady without a hint of restraint. You should be ashamed. You’re a menace to the female student body. I will campaign to have you expelled before the week is out.”
“Aren’t you being a little unfair,” I complained while lying on the floor. “There seems to be no pleasing you. I could praise you to kingdom come and you’ll still find fault in my efforts.”
“Silence.” She snapped a finger at me. “How dare a lowly Familiar talk to me this way. Don’t you know your place?”
I stood up smoothly then walked up to her, ignoring the painful sting of her slap.
She retreated away from me. “Wh—what are you doing?” Her back hit the closed wooden doors.
I didn’t stop until I slammed both my outstretched arms against the doors, fencing her in with my body.
“I can assure you, Princess, that I most certainly know my place. I’ve spent the last sixteen years of my life knowing my place. I don’t need to be told where I stand by a naïve child born of the silver spoon. A child who knows nothing about the pain of loss.”
“What are you blabbering about?”
My voice darkened at the ignorance in her tone. “I lost both my parents because of your kind!”
“What? What does my Pride have to do with your parents?”
“Shut up!” I yelled. “If not for your kind Crimson Crescent would never have planted that bomb. If not for your kind they would never have detonated it. My parents would be alive, and so would hundreds of others.”
My face must have matched or exceeded the fury in my voice.
I saw her eyes widen and her lips tremble.
“I…I…I didn’t know.”
“That’s your problem. You don’t know anything. You go through life thinking your little world is the only one that matters. You’re an ignorant, spoilt little child. A dose of reality and hardship would do you some good.”
“I didn’t know. It’s not my fault,” she protested shaking her head in a clear panic.
I couldn’t hold it in.
I pulled back my right arm and then punched the door.
I wasn’t as strong as an Aventis.
But I was strong enough to splinter the door.
Everyone must have heard it crack.
I hissed loudly. “I curse your kind to Hell and back.”
Suddenly she screamed and pushed me back with a strength that exceeded mine. She spun around and opened the door, yanking it back before racing into the corridor outside the room.
I watched her run away, for the second time in one day.
Gods I hated their kind – I hated the Prides.
Then I heard a voice from behind me.
“Caelum, calm down. My kind—my Pride—is as guilty as hers.”
I turned to look at the girl on the desk.
She had a look of deep remorse on her face, and I thought I saw her eyes water.
“My family failed to prevent that attack. The Raynar Pride here in Pharos had assured the other Prides that Pharos was safe. After all, we had maintained its safety for almost a hundred years.”
She shook her head as she climbed off the desk, and then walked up to me with gentle steps. Reaching out, she tenderly straightened my shirt, my jacket and the pins above my left breast pocket.
She spoke softly. “The fault lies with my Pride, Caelum. Don’t blame Prissila.”
Her remorseful look, and the gentle smile she then bestowed on me helped ease my anger.
After a few moments I felt foolish and ashamed of my actions.
I shook my head. “I apologize. I had no right getting angry at her. I couldn’t help myself.” I sighed loudly and couldn’t help my shoulders from dropping. “I’ve made things worse between her and I.”
The girl looked at me. Our eyes were almost level with each other.
“Caelum Desanto, I will tell you this. Arisa Imreh Lanfear is a good friend of mine. She asked me to look out for you and for Caprice.”
I swallowed and said, “Thank you…?”
“Don’t sound so unsure. I know you hate us Aventis, but I also hope to at least change your opinion regarding a few of us.”
“Lik
e the Princess?”
“Oh, don’t say it that way. You’re right about Prissila. She’s naïve, and innocent. I guess a better way to describe her would be ‘inexperienced’.” She leaned closer to me. “Play your cards right and you’ll have that girl eating out of your hand.”
I frowned at the beautiful girl before me. “May I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Who are you?”
She laughed softly under her breath. “I’m the Student Council Vice-President. My name is Simone Alucard Raynar.”
“Alucard? You mean as in ‘Dracula’ spelt in reverse?”
She looked embarrassed. “Eh…yes. Unfortunately so.”
I allowed my gaze to wander over her. “So you’re a Raynar.”
Her azure eyes widened slightly. “Oh…I see.” She sighed softly but I still heard it. “Caelum, please understand, my family—the Alucards—had no part in what happened to you that day. There was no Alucard involved in the actions taken against you.”
“How much do you know about what happened?”
She folded her hands over her midriff. “I know that it was foolish for those individuals to strike at the Lanfears.”
“But it wasn’t just the Lanfears they picked a fight with. They made a move to prevent the Avenirs from reaching me as well.”
She nodded faintly. “Yes, they did.”
“Why do you think they saw me as a threat?”
I almost missed the shrug she gave me. “Caelum, I don’t know.”
“Could it have something to do with my sister? Did she do something to them—to the Raynars—that convinced them I was a danger?”
For a long moment, Simone was very still and quiet. “You know about your sister?”
I nodded just once. “Yes, Arisa told me the truth after I became a Familiar.”
She looked down at the floor. “I wasn’t privy to the interrogations, and even when I asked, my family told me ‘not to ask’. So, I have no answer for you.”
I swallowed as lightly as I could. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked because now I felt as though what happened seven months ago was not put to rest.
A really bad feeling crept up my spine. I tried shaking it off by changing the subject.
Let me describe it as a hard right turn in the conversation.
“Simone…that’s a lovely name.”
She blinked a few times, then broke into smile. Reaching up, she pressed a fingertip to my lips. “Silly boy. Don’t get ahead of yourself.” Then her eyes narrowed. “Arisa told me to be on my best behavior around you.”
Pride X Familiar ReVamp (Pride X ReVamp Book 1) Page 7