Academy of Vampires (Fireblood Academy Book 1)

by Nexus Jones

  “What do you mean?” she said, narrowing her eyes and cocking her head.

  I looked around before leaning into her ear to whisper. I told her my plan and about the potion. I giggled and leaned out expecting her to reciprocate. Instead, I saw that her eyes were beaded out in horror.

  “You can’t do that.” She said.

  “Why not?” I said, confused.

  “Do you know exactly how much trouble you’d get in? Not just with the school, but with Melinda and her friends? They’d make your life even harder than it already is.”

  I scoffed and rolled my eyes, “As if that’s even possible.” I said, “That girl is going to get a taste of her own medicine. And it’s long past due.”

  She gulped. There was an aura of nervousness around her.

  “Her father is the wealthiest man in vampire society. They will get you.” She said ominously.

  I shrugged my shoulders again, feeling totally confident. In reality, it was probably a reckless and dangerous mentality to have, to believe that I could just get away with cursing a spawn of one of the most prestigious vampire families on Earth. However, for me, I was more worried about getting back at her, finally feeling some sort of satisfaction and having the upper-hand in our dynamic.

  “Izzy, I really like you…” I said trailing off, “But sometimes life requires making bold choices. And this is a bold choice.” I said with a lot of conviction.

  I leaned in and gave her a hug. I was grateful for everything that she gave me. She was a rock for me to lean on, a great support system when I felt alone and desperate.

  But I had to do this. There’s no way that I was going to let her stand in my way and stop me.

  “You seem…different.” She said

  I nodded my head.

  “You’re probably right. I feel different. See you back at the dorm.”

  I departed from her, giving her one last glance back. She placed her hand over face in worry and leaned up against the lockers. It really pained me that I was putting her through this kind of mental anguish, but I felt so lucky to have a friend that truly cared about me.

  Threading in between the students, I made my way to the stairs.

  Melinda’s locker is on the third floor, along with the other popular kids. Usually, lockers are assigned randomly, but the cool kids bullied the others into agreeing to swap lockers so they could all be next to each other.

  I strolled up through the hallways, my shoes making loud noises against the brick floors. Kids cleared the way for me, moving out of my direction as they could sense my power.

  There they were, standing right in front of Melinda’s locker, all surrounding her as she spoke about whatever meaningless bullshit she wanted to. They were all ears for her as she rambled on.

  Just look at them, like minions looped around her ring. How pathetic.

  I took a deep breath. Now or never.

  “You got this, girl.” I whispered to myself.

  I unzipped my backpack and pulled out the can filled with the curse that I knew would totally humiliate her and make her out to be the pathetic lowlife she is.

  Walking towards them, one of her friends tugged on her shoulder and nodded in my direction. Melinda’s eyes set on me, as she gave her trademark wicked smile.

  “Oh, look what the cat dragged in. I see you haven’t learned your lesson, haven’t you, peasant?” she said, snidely.

  “Hello, Melinda.” I said giving her an insincere smile, “No, I didn’t leave. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

  One of her friends, named Jane, stepped towards me and gave me a look down.

  “What’s with the eyes?” she asked, raising an eyebrow

  “Oh, they’re new. I’m not sure where they came from, though.” I said, lying.

  I didn’t want them to know about the powers that I newly gained. It was in my interest that they knew as little as possible about what I was doing or what my plans were. Because, as far as I’m concerned they’re the enemy and would use it against me.

  I admit that it would be tempting to just let them know about my new powers and make them jealous. But now’s not the time. I wanted them to have absolutely no knowledge of it.

  I was going to keep this a nice secret as long as I could…at least a secret from the wrong people.

  “Well, one thing’s for sure. You look like a total freak!” another one of her friends, Penelope, said.

  I smirked, hiding my rage. This girl is lucky that I haven’t already earmarked this curse for someone else. Otherwise, it would be doused right on her.

  “What’s the matter, buttercup.” A strong male voice said. I looked up and saw Austin looking at me with his trademark cocky demeanor.

  I became infuriated that he was so content, standing there like everything was fine. He looked at me with smugness written across his face as if he was totally satisfied with beating me into a pulp.

  My heartbeat accelerated and I could feel myself fight the urge not to jump on top of him and rip him to shreds. Of course, I could never because he’s so much bigger than me, but the urge is definitely there.

  He and George whispered to each other while Paul looked at me, leaning on the locker next to Melinda’s.

  “So, what are you doing here, you peasant? We have actual clubs to go to instead of just sitting in our room all depressed and moody like you.” Melinda said with a tinge of hate.

  I couldn’t tell whether she help me with contempt or whether she actually thought of me as a joke. She bullied many other kids at this school, but it seemed like she held me with particular ire.

  That smile. That damned smile.

  She had a smile that gave off nothing but a sense of superiority and condescension. I knew that she looked down upon me and didn’t see me as an equal at all.

  Suddenly, the words of my late mother rang in my head.

  “Mira, always treat others with kindness, even if they don’t extend that to you.”

  I felt my heartbeat slow down. What am I doing?

  There’s no way that I can allow myself to become this person, the person that seeks out revenge and hurts others. I don’t want to unleash that upon anyone, even Melinda.

  But does she deserve to be humiliated? Yeah, probably. Does it say more about me, than it does about her if I went through with the plan? Likely.

  I will give her one last chance. Not even for her, but for my sake.

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath through my nose.

  “Melinda, what you encouraged Paul, George, and Austin to do was wrong. You know that.” I said, as she crossed her arms and looked at me unfazed, “I’m going to give you one chance to apologize. If you apologize we can start over anew.”

  She looked at her friends and they all began bursting out in laughter. Melinda nearly dropped her purse as she held her stomach in total laughter.

  “Is that supposed to be a threat?” she said through her laughter.

  “Well…yes. Yes, I am threatening you.” I said with confidence.

  Paul narrowed his eyes on me. He took a step back, sensing that something was about to happen. He then whispered something in George’s ear, as George waved him off. He was watching, interested to see what was going to happen next.

  Melinda wasn’t going to back down. She looked at her friends, as they gave her non-verbal cues to go forward with her teasing. She swiped her hair from her face and then set her eyes on me.

  “You’re nothing but a poor loser with dirty blood and a heritage of nothing but humans. Who are you to tell me, Melinda Elderblood, what to do? If I want to bully you, then I will.” She said, stepping towards me and pushing her finger in my torso.

  That’s it. This bitch asked for it.

  I tore open the lid of the canister and splashed it up at her face, causing her to cover her eyes while stumbling backwards. “What the hell?” she said in shock.

  Her friends gathered around her, as one shrieked in horror. The other turned towards me with fury in he
r eyes.

  “What did you do?” she asked, pointedly

  I was stunned at myself for actually doing it, for actually standing up for myself. I felt like taking a victory lap.

  Paul ran up to Melinda, pushing her two friends out of the way, to take a look at her.

  “Whoa.” He said, taking a few steps backwards and looking at me with some fear in his eyes.

  “What’s happened to my skin?” Melinda asked

  Her skin was turning from white to green with scales. Slowly, the green scales crept up from her torso towards the extremities of her body.

  “You freak! What kind of fucking spell is this?” she asked

  I walked up towards her, giving her the same smug look that she gave me since we first started interacting.

  Her skin had turned a complete different color. Her eyes turned yellow with diamond-shaped pupils. For all I know, she could be growing a tail.

  But if there’s one thing for certain, it’s that McKenzie really meant it when she said she said this stuff would make her look like a serpent.

  “I wouldn’t be calling anyone a freak if I were in your position. You look like a reptile.” I said, with a smug smile still plastered across my face.

  Jane looked at me in the eyes with daggers, “Tell us what the antidote to this is. Now.”

  “Figure it out yourself.” I said

  “Listen here you poor little loser, if you don’t give us exactly what we’re looking for then-”

  “Then what?” I cut him off. I then picked up the canister filled with potion, shaking it in her face, “You know I have more where that cam from.”

  She backed up, looking at me with some apprehension.

  Melinda looked like a total mess. Her entire body was green and scaly, making her resemble the snake that she truly is on the inside.

  Perhaps I shouldn’t have done it. Perhaps, I should’ve been much more forgiving?

  But, I wasn’t going to allow her to get away with this ever again.

  A slight smile spread across my face, proud that I was making her feel the pain that she inflicted upon others. Even if only temporary.

  Paul reached his hand out to me.

  “Mira, I-”

  I put my hand up to his face. I wasn’t hearing any of his nonsense right now.

  “I don’t have time for it, Paul.” I said, strongly

  But he wasn’t going to just let it go.

  “Mira,” he said, walking up to me, in my face, “What on Earth have you done?”

  I looked him right in his eyes. I probably should’ve splashed some of the potion on him too, but he’s far too hot for me to do it.

  “I did what I had to. It’s called payback.” I said with pride.

  I could feel his body radiate heat on mine, and it felt really good. My heart started to accelerate, being so near to him. I really wanted nothing more than to throw him against the locker and lock lips with him, making out in front of a distressed Melinda.

  Ah, that would be so amazing.

  What am I thinking? It’s so irrational.

  Shut up. Just do it!

  It was like there was another force inside my body, pushing and compelling me to do things that weren’t in my best interest. Going against my better judgement and acting on my base impulses.

  There was a certain level of confidence and courage that I felt right now, that although exhilarating, is also very much dangerous.

  He leaned in closer to me.

  “Can we go talk, in private?” Paul asked

  I shouldn’t do it. It wouldn’t be smart. He can’t have good intentions.

  “Yes.” I said

  He grabbed my hand and whisked me away down the hall.

  “Paul, what are you doing?” I hear the shrill call of Melinda, which is music to my ears.

  I look back and smile at her, as she becomes smaller in my view.

  Paul took me up a spiraling staircase up through the interior of a dimly lit, cobblestone tower. The smell of dust and mildew filled the air, and there were cobwebs lining the walls. Although it certainly looked creepy, I did feel a sense of comfort with him, that I did not expect to.

  The staircase led all the way up to a platform, with a old, creaky wooden door. He opened the door, which lead out to a beautiful balcony. It was deceptively large, with black-painted iron fencing and overlooked the entirety of campus grounds.

  The sun was beginning to set and painted the sky a beautiful strawberry tint.

  The immense beauty of it all overtook me. It was almost surreal, as if it were a painting.

  “What did you bring me up here for?” I asked, forgetting that I was supposed to be mad at him

  “What you did down there was-”

  “I’m not going to apologize if that’s what you’re looking for.” I said, crossing my arms underneath my breasts

  I was doing my best to give him a mean glare and let him know that I wasn’t going to back down. I was pissed with his entire crew of friends and their outright cruelty towards others, and I was going to let them know it.

  “I wasn’t looking for an apology.” He said, standing in front of me and looking in my eyes, “I wanted to tell you that I thought what you did was pretty cool.”

  My eyebrows shot up in surprise. I was taken aback by his comments. I shifted them around, trying to formulate the right response.

  “You did?” I asked

  I wish there was something more substantive that I could shoot back with, but my mind was coming up with nothing.

  “Melinda’s a pretty rotten person. It’s kind of good to see her get a taste of her own medicine.” He said to me, moving in a little closer.

  I crossed my arms tighter, trying to look defensive. A lump formed in my throat as I tried my best to fight off my blushing.

  “If you think she’s so rotten, then why do you hang out with her?” I asked

  He let out a deep sigh and looked contemplatively out into the distance.

  “I would get killed if anyone found out I told you this, but I’m arranged to be married to Melinda.”

  My jaw dropped, as I was taken aback by this revelation.

  “Married? To Melinda? Did your parents set this up?”

  He nodded his head. Before I could ask more questions, he continued talking.

  “It’s not exactly something that I wanted, but a lot of the elite vampire families arrange marriages between their children to keep their bloodlines high quality.”

  He sounded pretty miserable as he said this, and his face seemed like he had given into total resignation.

  I couldn’t imagine what that’s like, to have no say in who you marry.

  “You don’t like her, do you?” I asked

  The glance he gave me told me all I needed to know. There was just so much that he needed to let go. A total catharsis, if you will.

  “She’s so controlling and manipulative.” He said, letting out a bit of frustration that he had buried inside him.

  “You’re right.” I said, surprised that he had the feelings that I had about her as well, “But I’m surprised that you feel the same way about her. I think she’s evil.”

  He let out a slight chuckle, “You wouldn’t be entirely wrong.”

  I took pleasure in this moment that we had together, a chance to get to know each other with our boundaries down and with no pretense.

  “You know,” he said, continuing, “It felt really good to see her get knocked down for once.”

  “I think the entire school will be better off with a humbled Melinda.” I said, leaning on the railing. “You’re right.” He said, turning from me and staring off into the distance.

  “The only thing is that I’m worried about what her revenge will be after she inevitably finds the cure for the potion. I know that she’s not just going to let me off the hook.”

  He stared in deep through for a second before taking a deep breath and turning his face to me.

  “You know, I’m not sure what th
e future holds exactly. But I’m not certain it will be with her.”

  “So…what does that mean?” I said, one eye lifted in the air.

  “It means that I’m tired of doing her bidding, of being her minion.” He looked me closer in my eyes.

  I could feel the physical tension between us begin to build up. My heart started beating even faster, and I could feel myself fall under his sexy gaze, blushing and getting all worked up. I felt like a school girl with her first crush. It felt so natural and so right.

  “Good.” I said, “It looks like both of us have learned to stand up to her.”

  I broke my eye contact with him, trying to hide my quickly reddening face.

  “You don’t have to hide. It’s okay.” He said in a sultry tone, “Just let yourself go. Embrace your feelings.”

  I suddenly became light on breath as I looked into his face once more. The hairs on my neck stood up, and time around me felt like it was going ever more slowly.

  This was so, so good. It felt like one of those romance movies in which you fall in love with a dreamy guy that’s way out of your league.

  But that couldn’t be what’s going on here, could it?

  “I don’t know you’re talking about.” I said, brushing my hair behind my ear

  “I see the way you look at me.” He said

  My heart skipped. Damn it. I thought that I was much craftier than that.

  “I uh-”

  “And I see the way you look at my friends.” He said, before I could get out another lie.

  Damn it, he caught onto me. He looked at me with complete seriousness, that showed he wasn’t going to fall for my obvious lies.

  I’d consider myself a decent liar, but he saw right through my bullshit. And he saw into my heart. A heart that was yearning for love, yearning for conquest and to be taken. Taken by a strong man that knows what he wants.

  “You’re right.” I said

  “There’s so much power….radiating from you.”

  I blinked rapidly in surprise of what he said, but I forgot that he had the ability to read power auras. It’s an ability that’s pretty rare among vampires in general, but pretty common among noble vampire families. He had this look in his eye that twinkled with hunger and passion. His pupils dilated. And I knew that he wanted me.