Academy of Vampires (Fireblood Academy Book 1)

by Nexus Jones

  I rolled my eyes and scoffed. But secretly, I would totally be excited if that happened.

  "That's not something that I'm even worried about. Regardless, I don't even have anything to wear."

  "You're right, you don't." She said, tapping her chin, "I'm going to give you a dress to wear!"

  "Oh you don't hav-"

  "No, I insist!" she said, holding her hand to my face before I could decline her offer.

  She climbed into her closet and pulled out a long, sleek black dress that plunged at the neckline.

  "Try it on." She said, handing it over to me.

  "I don't think it's my style."

  "Nonsense, guys will love that."

  Skeptical, I changed out of my clothes and slipped into the dress.

  Wow, did it expose a lot.

  It was probably a little too tight for my comfort, but it huged my hips and accentuated my curves beautifully. The long, plunging neckline showed off my breasts, that looked larger than I could even picture.

  I smirk, imagining how the guys will react. I'm confident that they will love it.

  I can't help but feel a tinge of discomfort wearing this, though. I'm not used to dressing sexy for anyone, and I feel a bit naughty doing so.

  "You look great."

  "I look like a hooker." I said

  "Yeah, but a classy hooker. Like a thousand-dollar per-night one. It's the perfect mix of classy and sexy. Guys absolutely love this dress."

  "Yeah, on you." I said, my insecurities building up.

  "Stop with all the insecurities. You look good." She said, forcefully.

  She then handed me a jacket to put over the dress along with some red heels.

  "You don't want to walk across campus with your boobs hanging out, so take this."

  It was a black leather jacket that was probably a size or so too small for me. I zipped it up, covering at least the top part of the dress.

  "Here, drink this."

  "What is it?"

  "A beauty potion."

  "Beauty potion? Are you saying I'm ugly?"

  "No, silly. It's pretty much just makeup, but temporary and through magic."

  Ugh. There are a lot of girls here that use beauty potions, and I hate every one of them. It makes them look far too plastic and not real. It hides the authenticity of their faces behind a mask of total superficiality.

  What does it say about a society in which young girls feel pressured to change their physical appearance to fit the physical preferences of men? It's not a society I'd want to raise a daughter in.

  But here I am, getting ready to ingest one. Getting ready to consume it for the sake of making some men attracted to me.

  It was in a small brown bottle the size of my pinky finger. I unscrewed the top, and a pretty strong smell emerged, frying my nostrils.

  "I know it smells strong, but it's actually one of the more mild ones." Izzy said

  There were multiple levels of beauty potions a girl could take, depending on how severe their situation.

  Izzy is already naturally pretty, so she doesn't need a large coat of makeup in order to maximize her beauty.

  But there are some girls that take beauty potions so strong that they look like entirely different people. Potions so strong that if I took them, I'd probably collapse on the ground in pain from my throat burning up like they were hit with acid.

  But those potions are only suggested if a girl truly is really ugly. Or, if they are just insecure enough to take something that incredibly strong.

  I chugged the potion, and my body convulsed naturally. It tasted like the world's strongest mouthwash.

  The effects were immediate. My face had pretty much transformed into a much more beautiful version of itself. My eyes seemed to sparkle and my cheekbones had much more depth. My lips turned a beautfiful shade of pink and there was smoky blue eyeshadow around my eyes. All well-applied, of course.

  But I was satisfied that I didn't look at least too different than myself. Just a much more put together version.

  "Stunning!" she declared.

  "Yeah, I was."

  She gave me the biggest hug in the world again. I don't really like being hugged that much, but I just went along with it, because I was grateful for her.

  "Want to walk me there?" I asked

  "I wouldn't have it any other way."

  We walked across campus to the boy's dorm. I garnered some stares from the other students. I overheard their whispers about how different I looked.

  "Damn, shorty upgraded." I heard a guy say.

  "Who does she think she is?" a girl whispered.

  I even caught a glimpse of Melinda. She stared at me from the side of the walkway. Her eyes narrowed, in anger and resentment. She was surrounded by three of her friends, and they all shot me dirty looks.

  I gave them a smile and a wave.

  Fuck those bitches.

  You know how celebrities are hounded by paparazzi? That's how I felt right now. It felt like the entire world's eyes were on me, everyone was watching me and everyone had an opinion.

  It's not like I particularly liked this, of course. I'm someone who prefers to have a little bit more privacy when it comes to my life. I also never faired particularly well under the spotlight of other people's judgement.

  We stopped at the front of the boys dorm, and Izzy gave me a pat on the back before I walked in.

  "Do your best." She said

  I gave her a nod.

  The gargoyle at the front entrace remembered my presence, so he didn't try to stop me or make any kind of awkward or embarassing noises.

  I walked through the front door, immediately getting male attention due to my new face, but most of them were just ignoring me as if I didn't exist.

  I walked up to the second floor and down the hall to the left. At the end of the hall was George's room. I took a deep breath before knocking.

  "Okay, you can do this. It will be fine."

  The door swung open before I could even knock it.

  "Hello, gorgeous. I could sense your presence as soon as you arrived at the dorm." He said

  He was even more sexy than I imagined. He was in a black tuxedo, perfectly fitted to his body. His cheekbones looked even more defined than before and his eyes were completely gripping.

  "Please come in." He continued, gesturing for me to come inside.

  Walking inside his room, I was captured by how large it was. It was definitely far larger than any of the dorms that I had been in before.

  "I know what you're thinking. It's a large room, isn't it. I had half the floor converted into a dorm room, just for me."

  "But how?"

  He scoffed, "My parents built the building, so I had this room customized just for me. I wanted to feel like I was in a castle."

  The place was absolutely stunning. He had modern appliances all throughout which contrasted with the oak wood bookcases that ran alongside the wall. At the far end of his room was a massive tv. He had a bunch of video game consoles, like any boy would. But he also had some really nice pieces of art hanging on his wall, going against what I expected from his frat-boy persona. The room smelled of cinnamon and peppermint, which really pleased my senses.

  "This place looks really nice." I said

  "Yeah, my mom decorated it for the most part. But I had a little input as well." He said, "But can I say you just look gorgeous."

  I blushed, turning my face away.

  "Thanks."

  "You look almost as good as when your face is natural."

  I blushed even harder. He had to be kidding me. There's no way that I looked prettier when natural than I do under magic. He must be trying to sleep with me, because there's no guy that would try this hard to flatter me without wanting something in return.

  He took off my jacked for me, and his eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw my boobs. I felt so naughty doing this for him, but it was quite a thrill.

  I can't read his mind, but I can tell he's thinking of
all kinds of dirty things right now. He's barely holding himself back from going all in and ripping my clothes off. He probably wants to throw me on his bed and open my legs before diving deep into my womanhood.

  "Nice dress." He said, although I'm sure he was thinking much more explicit things.

  "Thanks. My roommate suggested it."

  He smiled while raising an eyebrow, "She has good taste."

  "So what did you invite me here, for?"

  He smiled, looking right past me. I turned around to see what he was looking at, and it was.....Paul and Austin?

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Nine

  "What the hell is this?" I asked.

  Not that I was upset or anything. All three of them looked amazing in their matching tuxes.

  "We just wanted to do something nice for you." George said, handing me a wine glass filled with blood.

  "So is this like...a date or something?" I asked

  "Sort of. If you want to call it that." Paul, said

  "But...with all three of you?" I responded.

  "Sure, why not? All three of us like you. And you like all of us." Austin, responded.

  I scoffed, but I knew that it was true. All three of them were panty-meltingly hot. They had all the things that a girl could want in a man: looks, status, money, personality. If someone could build perfect men, these would likely be the prototype.

  But I wasn't interested in just allowing myself to be wooed by a bunch of handsome, well-dressed men.

  I'm not that kind of girl.

  "Well, I'm not-"

  "Just give us a chance." Paul said, "Who knows, you might like it."

  My heart rate slowed down as I became much less tense. I took a deep inhale through my nostrils and took a sip of the blood to calm down.

  "This tastes really good." I said

  "It's from a an African Lion." George said. "Only the best for you."

  I couldn't hide my smirk, as I took another sip of the delicious blood. I'm loving this right now, and I am hating myself for it.

  "So, what are we supposed to do now?" I asked

  George gestured to a couch on the left-side of his room. It was large and green and looked pretty comfy. On each side of the couch were tables with lit candles that heightened the aroma of the room.

  "Take a seat. We just want to talk." George said.

  I walked to his couch to sit down, being careful not to knock any of his nice things over. I'm not great at walking in heels, and would routinely fall over whenever I used to try. But I was determined to not make a fool of myself, so I walked as carefully as I could.

  HIs couch was so indescribably comfortable. It felt like sitting in a cloud. I could feel my worries just melt away.

  The smell of fresh chocolate infiltrated my nostrils, and opening my eyelids I could see a platter of chocholate covered strawberries right at my face. One of my favorite delights.

  "My goodness, thank you." I said, picking one up by the stick and putting it in my mouth.

  "I'm so glad you came. Especially after I heard you left Austin's room in such a hurry the other day." George said

  "Oh...yeah." I said, thinking about that and wishing that I had stayed.

  I could've learned so much from Austin. He's so intelligent. And I could've learned other things in his room as well. Things not necessarily related to school, if you catch my drift.

  I took another sip of the blood, savoring how delicious and full of life it tasted.

  "So what did you want to know about me?" I asked, all of them surrounding me on the couch.

  "What is it like being a turned vampire?" George asked.

  A "turned" vampire is one that doesn't come from a long line of vampires and became a vampire through blood conversion. Meaning: they were bitten.

  I was bitten a few years ago, which caused me to become a vampire. I never thought that vampires were real. I thought they were just an imaginary thing that only happened on television and in stories.

  After I was bitten, I was granted the opportunity to come to this magical school out in the middle of the forest. I hated regular hiuman school, so of course I agreed to swap out. Especially considering it was free.

  But never did I expect to be met with such hostility for not coming from a long line of vampires. There's some serious prejudice against blood-converted vampries. Many suspect us to not be "authentic" vampires and think we identify more with humanity than our vampire bretheren.

  "I think you already know." I said, taking another sip.

  And they did know. Vampire society is highly aristorcatic. The vampires at the top of the social hierarchy are those that come from vampire nobility. Families like the Draculas, Bathorys, Lioncourts, and Longfangs. They are the ones that vampire society fawns over.

  Beneath them would be the regular vampire families. Those who are not descended from noble blood, but still play an active role in vampire society. They often go on to become guardians, magistrates, politicians, or instructors within vampire society. They are living completely noble lives, but they aren't anything too lavish or exciting. They're pretty much the middle management of the vampire world.

  And in last place would be the "turned" vampires like myself. We are those without any kind of long-lasting family ties to the vampire world. And so, we are completely alone. We are also ocnsidered of "inferior" stock, because we are still much more human than vampire. We also aren't trusted.

  I remember reading a little while ago about a turned vampire getting mauled to death by other vampires because they thought she was a spy working for the church. They had no real evidence to back that up except for her being formally religous in her human life. It was just anti-human hatred. Plain and simple.

  "I know you have it rough." Austin said in a sympathetic tone, "You've been bullied and beaten more times than I could ever imagine."

  I smiled. But my inner thoughts were anything but happy. I flashed back into thinking about the many times I've been taunted and teased at this school because of who I am and my lack of vampire lineage. What hurt the most about it, is that I cannot control where I come from or what my family is. I can only be my true self.

  Although they claim to not care for humans, vampires tend to have a lot in common with them. Like humans, vampires can be cruel, vengeful, and petty. Especially teenagers. If you thought human teenagers were bad, just picture them with a bunhc of souped-up powers. What a nightmare.

  "It's not easy being a turned vampire. My life was more simple the way it was." I replied.

  Sometimes, I did just wish that I had never ran into that hungry vampire in the alley on that fateful night. I should've just kept walking to my house from school. But instead, I decided to follow the cries of a helpless man.

  "That might be true." George said, "But then you wouldn't have seen this side of the world."

  I agreed and nodded.

  Although my experience has been anything but easy, I do have to say that living life as a vampire is far more interesting than just going to school everyday and doing physics or whatever it is they do during their junior year.

  I went from dozing off in class everyday to learning about shadow physics and being able to manipulate entire dimensions.

  It's crazy shit like that, that us supernatural creatures can do that humans cannot.

  "You are right. Vampires are far more interesting....They aren't better in every way. But you definitely have humans beat in terms of that."

  "So tell me about your parents." Paul said

  My heart dropped to my stomach. I started to feel a little light headed at just the mention of them. If there was one thing that I did not want to talk about, that was certainly it.

  "Why?" I asked defensively.

  Noticing that he set off my defenses and made me uncomfortable, he attempted to save face.

  "You're just such an interesting person, and I thought that it would be interesting to learn about the person who raised you." He followed up.

 
I let out a deep breath. This wasn't something that I had planned on talking to him, or anyone else about. And it certainly isn't fun to have to dig into my memories to drag out some of the most hurtful parts of my life story.

  "I don't know my parents."

  Each of them had a serious, yet somber look on their face.

  "Wow. That must be hard." George said, in a rare moment of selfless empathy

  "I was raised mostly by a orphanage. I had a foster mother later on, but she didn't really care for me that much. I'm not sure what happened to my parents. They abandoned me when I was five."

  There was a moment of silence in the room, as I shifted the light mood to something far more draining and personal. I oculd tell that they took my comments seriously, even George. And for that, I did feel grateful to them.

  "I couldn't imagine what that was like." Paul said,

  "I could. Likely terrible, without much love and a lot of misery. Your foster parents were likely abusive, weren't they?" Austin said, in an incisive comment.

  I almost spit out my drink in surprise of how on-point he was.

  "That was exactly right." I said, "How did you know?"

  "I did some research about orphanages for a public policy project I was working on maybe a year ago."

  I took another sip of wine.

  Of course.

  Austin is just so smart. He pretty much knows everything, because he does so much research. I shouldn't be surprised that he knows about my childhood.

  But I wonder...Just how much research has he done?

  Is he like one of those crazy-obsessive stalkers they make documentaries about?

  Probably not. You're just overreacting, girl. Chill out.

  "I'm sure you have questions for us, though." George, said

  I sure did. There were so many things taht I was fascinated about when it came to this trio of boys. Now was my chance to actually dig in and interrogte.

  "If vampires are so powerful, and you hate humans, why don't you just wipe them out?"

  Oh jeez, that was such a loaded and intense question. I proably shouldn't have asked it, but the blood is starting to make me feel tipsy.

  The more potent the blood is, the more intoxicated it makes you. In a lot of ways, blood works on vampires in a similar way that alcohol works on humans. It can take the edge off of your stress. However, it can essentially make you drunk.