Blood and Beasts (12 page)

“How long do vampires live?” She asked,
downing the last bit of her blood.

She managed to somehow miss and
dribble a little blood down her chin, unbeknownst to her.

“That
’
s attractive,” Rodney said sarcastically, standing up
to throw his tray away.

He had already emptied it of his
piles of food. He had eaten three whole lasagnas! That was an achievement. She
also was not sure what he was referring to.

“What do you mean?” She asked, and
Linda helpfully wiped the blood off her face. “Oh,” she said with a little
laugh, looking at the red smear on Linda
’
s
hand.

“What kind of blood you drinkin
’
?” Stefan asked, proceeding to lick
Linda
’
s hand before smacking his lips
together. “Mmm, A negative,” he murmured, and Rodney, as well as Abernathy,
stared at Seph suddenly.

“You knew it was A negative,” Rodney
said slowly, and she nodded.

“That
’
s why I said it,” she said, not sure why they were all
giving her very strange looks just now.

“
Fo real? Most vamps can’
t tell the difference ‘tween blood
types til at least their third year. I jus
’
started tellin
’
the
differences,” Stefan admitted, staring at her thoughtfully as she gave him a
small shrug.

“
Well, I
’
m pretty sure we all know that I
’
m a little more different than the average vampire,”
she stated, and they all laughed a little at that understatement as Stefan
nodded his head, still staring at her. “So… what next?” She asked, searching
the banquet hall for a clock.

“We got thirty minutes,” Linda
announced before exchanging a sly glance with Rodney and Abernathy, Stefan
leaning back in his seat. “Why don
’
t we show her the clubhouse?” She
proposed, and they all grinned at her impishly.

Ten minutes later, they had already
hopped down a ravine in the courtyard and had traversed through it to a maze of
hedges tucked between the Main Hall and the dorm rooms. The two buildings were
not connected, meaning that the school did not form a complete circle, she
realized. Climbing out of the ravine, a little dirty, she gaped at the
labyrinth of hedges in front of her. How were they supposed to get through
that? Was this some type of initiation or something? She turned back to them.

“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.

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 as 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.

Now that she could study him more,
the Asian guy, dressed kind of grungy, had several tattoos. On his right upper
arm, slightly exposed by his black T-shirt, was an elaborate, very colorful,
geisha decorating his light golden skin. When he reached to pull up his black,
baggy pants in order to scratch his leg, she saw a yin yang symbol embellishing
his right calf. She was fairly certain under the rest of his clothing he had
plenty more tattoos, but she was not about to see them anytime soon. He also
had his ears pierced, both of them, with steel-blue hoops hooked through them.
He seemed like a very dark person, living up to the vampire name superfluously.

His friend, who had an absolutely
perfect face with high cheekbones, winged brows, and a strong jaw, turned to
stare at her impertinently. She had been gawking at them. She, of course,
looked away, her eyes falling on the other vampires in the room.