by L. M. Miller
Slowly, her legs gave out as she lost all control of her limbs and body. The dark man caught her, keeping her in a standing position. Darkness began to eat at the corners of her vision before enveloping it, unconsciousness sweeping over her…
Seph awoke, completely confused. She was staring at unfamiliar walls, unfamiliar lights, and an unfamiliar bed. Where was she? What had happened? The lights seemed to be swirling all around her. She attempted to move, and pain rushed through her body agonizingly. Everything hurt. Her head hurt. Her neck hurt. She was feeling exceptionally dizzy and lightheaded. The room’s walls seemed to be pressing in on her as everything pulsated. What was going on? Where was she?
In one quick movement, she stood up and nearly passed out again as darkness swept over her vision. She definitely should not have moved that fast. Dragging her feet, she trudged to the heavy, velvet curtains surrounding her cot. Something tugged on her arm, and she turned. She paused, slowly registering that it was an IV hooked to her arm, pushing something red constantly into her body. What?
Without a thought, she ripped it out. She sensed a presence in the cot to her right, shielded by the heavy curtains. She could not focus on anything. Everything was blurry. Everything was moving. She stumbled out past the curtains impulsively to find herself in the center of an infirmary. There was a door. She walked out of it.
She found herself in a huge hallway, relatively empty of people. The few persons that were milling about sent her some peculiar stares though. At least, she got the impression that they were staring at her oddly, but their faces were hardly distinguishable from one another. What was wrong with her vision? Was she going blind?!
She trudged through one of the hallway’s open archways into a courtyard. Moonlight spilled liquid silver over the greenery of it. She walked around in a daze. Where was she? She stared up at an indigo sky studded with diamonds. Lavender crept at the horizon. Dawn was nearing, and she knew that she did not want to be outside at that time. Was it the same day? The same day as what? What had happened?
A growl rumbled from behind her. That reminded her of… something. Some thought or memory nibbled at just the edges of her consciousness. Slowly, very slowly, she turned around. She could not restrain a gasp. A huge wolf was standing before her, but it was not a wolf. It looked like a wolf spliced with a man. It was huge, standing on its hind-legs, and it had jet-black fur. It was a werewolf. She knew that because she had seen one before. Where had she seen one before?
It snarled again and took an aggressive step towards her. Its fur glowed with the moon, tinting the black with silver, but its eyes were gold, huge, gold spheres. She took a step back. What was one supposed to do when encountering a werewolf in the wild? She felt so weak, so puny, so… human. She was a human, wasn’t she? Doubt niggled at the back of her mind. What was wrong with her memory?!
The huge werewolf drew a claw back to maim her. She took another frightened step backwards. It swung, and she instinctively back-flipped out of its reach. Landing on the balls of her feet, she and the werewolf gave one another strange looks. It roared. She hissed. Why was she hissing? The werewolf launched itself at her, but she was ready, settling her body into a fighter’s stance.
She dove beneath it, and it flew over her. They faced each other again, circled each other. It growled again. She snarled again. HISS! Seph froze at the vicious sound coming from behind her. She turned to face whatever it was. The werewolf sprinted towards her. She drifted off to sleep again… Have I turned evil? Am I bad? What have I become? Am I a monster now? These thoughts swirled around and around in Seph’s brain. What was wrong with her? What had happened?
CHAPTER FOUR
Seph blearily blinked open her eyes, finding herself in a dim room. Was that a dream? That couldn’t have been real. What was real? After another moment, she sat up cautiously, cataloging her many aches and pains. Her head reeled as she strained to remember what had happened. It had been her birthday. She had gotten presents. A book and… jewelry. Her head had hurt the whole time, kind of like right now. This was a different kind of pain though, sharper and in more intense bursts, as opposed to the dull throbbing from earlier.
Nate had come into her room to give her a gift, and then they had… She and Nate had kissed. That was a little embarrassing. How was she supposed to face him now? They were best friends. They could not date or anything, at least not to their foster parents’ knowledge. They lived in the same house. That had certain, obvious complications. Wait… what else had happened? Something bad had happened to Nate. Something bad had happened to Nate because of her. What… Everything flooded back to her in a rush.
She had bitten him. She had drunk his blood. She was a vampire. She had met Francesca in the woods. Francesca was a werewolf. Her parents had kicked her out. Bill had shot her. Pearl and Pearce had seen her and looked disgusted. Francesca had been living in the woods for two months or something... They had come for them. Who were they? They had each fought them. She had defeated that man… Alistair… She had been about to feed on him… And then… Someone had bitten her… The dark man she had forgotten about! Where was he? Where was Alistair? Where was she? Francesca?
“I hurt all over,” a familiar voice moaned, and Seph glanced over in the dim light to see Francesca’s long-lashed, wide eyes slowly flutter open.
They were sitting in twin, sterile, white cots side by side, shielded by thick, velvet curtains the color of molasses. It looked like they were in some type of infirmary, if the stark white sheets and crisp setting meant anything to her. Francesca groaned again, and Seph glanced back over, more concerned. She was taking a lot longer to orient herself than she had. She recalled Francesca being lashed down by… silver chains? How strange and oddly predictable. Were all those myths about vampires and werewolves true? The supernaturals seemed to keep their secrets to themselves. That made sense though.
Seph was feeling better already. In fact, her headache had already faded. She checked her arms and legs, still dressed in the same clothes as before. She was bruise and cut free. What about her neck? Quickly, she let her hands skitter across her neck, feeling nothing out of the ordinary. No fang indentations, no dried blood, it was clean. How did that happen?
“Seph?” It was Francesca again, persistent as ever.
“I’m here, Francesca,” Seph called back.
Gingerly checking to make sure that her feet could take her weight, Seph stepped down onto the cold, marble floor, a cream color, and padded over to Francesca’s side, barefoot.
“What’s wrong?” She asked, stroking her best friend’s golden-brown forehead soothingly.
“It hurts,” she weakly gestured at her body below the sheets.
“What hurts?” Seph asked, dreading the answer.
“All of it,” Francesca groaned back morosely.
“Alright,” Seph gulped quietly, hoping that Francesca couldn’t sense how her heart picked up nervously. “Let’s see what’s wrong,” she said and carefully pulled away the sheets.
She stopped herself from gasping but just barely. The majority of Francesca’s torso was swathed in gauze and bandages. Of course, she did not realize that their skin was touching until Francesca actually did gasp.
It looks really bad, Seph glanced over at Francesca to see the girl avert her eyes.
So, we can still talk like this even when you’re not in your wolf form, Seph said with a little grin, and the girl looked back at her sharply.
Oh! I didn’t say that out loud! I wonder how we do this. Whose power is it, do you think? Or is it both of our powers? Francesca pondered when the curtains were suddenly pulled back, revealing their little sanctuary to the world.
“It’s a little bit of both. Persephone naturally has the power of telepathy as a vampire, especially with skin contact. Francesca, on the other hand, has the ability to project her thoughts to anyone, especially in her wolf form. I am so pleased to meet you formally. I am Wizard Master Cosmos, the principal, of sorts, of Zephyr Hall,” the sal
t-and-pepper haired man from before announced regally, giving them each a slight bow.
Francesca was staring at the man as though he had sprouted a second head as Seph kept her little crouch on the ground, prepared for a fight. How did this man always know what they were thinking? It was unnerving, to say the least.
“Why, I am a wizard, young Persephone, and therefore, my abilities in telepathy and mind reading are far more advanced than a vampire like yourself shall ever achieve,” he smiled a little smugly at her.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that, Sir Cosmos. We vampires, on occasion, have advanced telepathic skills. Hello, Persephone,” she glowered up at the same dark man that had bitten her the night before… or two nights before… How long had she been in this infirmary? “About a day and a half. All the day yesterday, all the night yesterday, and all the day today. It’s night again now. School will start soon. I’m Phineas, by the way, Phin, for short,” the guy said with a twinkle in his silver eyes.
“You bit me,” she stated bluntly, but his grin didn’t falter in the least.
“I know he did, and I was the one hungry, not him,” that voice… Alistair swung into view, grinning coldly at her, not an ounce of niceness in his smile or his silver eyes that matched Phin’s perfectly.
“Yes, well, our little vampire here was about to make food out of you, Alistair. Be grateful that I stepped in-” Their little disagreement nearly broke out into a full-out argument when Sir Cosmos interjected.
“Enough, young men,” Sir Cosmos stated commandingly. “You can debate about this later. As it is, I was none too happy about you feeding off of a fellow student, Phineas. You should know better, although I am not quite certain how we would have secured her otherwise,” he prattled on, talking about her like she was not right there. “Anyway, perhaps next time we shall be more careful?” He raised a bushy eyebrow to the pair of vampires beside him, appearing taller than the two of them despite the fact that they had more than a couple of inches on him.
“Yes, sir,” they both murmured under their breaths to him, bowing their heads with respect.
“Um, can I ask a question?” Seph called up impertinently.
The three of them glanced over at her, seemingly astonished that she had actually spoken and with such a rude tone apparently.
“Where am I? What am I? They’re students? Who are you? What’s going on?” She rambled on, slowly rising to her feet with agitation.
She smoothed down her skirt self-consciously as Phin and Alistair stared at her legs very obviously. She glowered at the pair of them, but neither looked away. Jerks…
“I am so sorry, my dear Persephone. You must be quite confused,” the older man started, but she interrupted him impudently again.
“It’s Seph, by the way. You’re driving me crazy calling me Persephone so much. It’s Seph. Not as much of a mouthful,” she explained, and he smiled genially.
“Alright… Seph,” he nearly stumbled over her nickname. “You are at Zephyr Hall…” Again, he was interrupted by her.
“We’re at Monster Academy?!” Seph exclaimed as Francesca tried to sit up but instantly winced, lying back down.
Sir Cosmos attempted to not look annoyed by the nickname, but he obviously was, his jaw set stubbornly.
“Yes, Monster Academy, although we call it Zephyr Hall here,” he added in a clipped tone. “Anyway, you are here at Zephyr Hall because obviously, you are a vampire, Persephone,” she noticed his lapse back into calling her by her full name again. “We brought you here after that little dispute in the woods. You two were not thinking too clearly. It was your first night, Persephone. As for you, Francesca… werewolves generally have trouble controlling themselves so soon after turning. The fact that you did not hurt Persephone, that you two, in fact, recognized each other and helped each other, is quite extraordinary actually,” he beamed at the pair of them as though they had done something amazing, like find a cure for cancer.
“We do our best, Sir Cosmos,” Francesca said modestly, breaking the awkward silence while swapping a suspicious look with the old man.
“Yes, well, we have already packed your things and brought them here. They are situated in your dorm room. Although you are generally paired with one of your own kind, vampires are so rare and so volatile, we never pair them together, and you two already seem to have a special bond, unless you want to be paired with another werewolf, Francesca?” He raised his eyebrows to her, and she slowly shook her head, wincing.
“Alright then, it’s settled. Classes start at 8 p.m., on the dot, and end at 3 a.m. Lunch is from midnight to 1 a.m. Dinner is served at 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. Breakfast is served from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. when classes start. Most students go to bed around 10 a.m. and wake up around 7 p.m., depending on their morning rituals,” he started to move towards the exit after the long spiel, and Seph’s eyes widened in shock.
“Wait! What are you talking about with all of this a.m. and p.m.… stuff?” Seph asked, completely confused.
“Vampires are creatures of the night. Werewolves are creatures of the night. We wizards and witches are willing to adapt to their timeframe and switch our schedules to the nighttime. It makes more sense for them to have classes in the dark. Sunlight won’t kill you, my dear, but I am quite sure you have already noticed how it makes your eyes sting, irritates your skin, among other things. It is not pleasant for your kind, and werewolves prefer the night as well,” he started to leave again although at least a billion questions were buzzing around in her head, but then he stopped and turned to address Francesca.
“Oh yes, Francesca, you are clearly excused from classes for the day. Werewolves are excused from classes every three days of the month that the moon is fullest, but you need to go to the warehouse, seeing as you cannot control yourself,” he stated, and then he finally did leave.
They were left even more confused, alone, with two vampires who were eyeing them in a very uncomfortable way. Seph glared at them obstinately as Francesca looked away, clearly in pain. Phin walked around their perimeter as Alistair remained where he was, casually leaning against the gold, sponge-painted wall.
“I’m sure you have many questions, Seph,” Phin started, and she just glowered at him.
Heaving a little sigh, he sat down on the very edge of her bed, as far from her as he possibly could while still sitting down.
“You know, I’m not that old, Seph,” he said, and she shot him a questioning look. “I’m about twenty-one. I’m in my last year here at Monster Academy actually,” he gave her a lopsided little grin, revealing very pointy and very white teeth.
“You’re only twenty-one?” She asked, shock obvious on her face.
He just acted so much older. He seemed so much older. He was a student? Why did he seem to be Sir Cosmos’s go-to guy for vampires? Why did she have to have so many questions? Life was hard enough as a sixteen-year-old. She thought she was going to try to learn to drive this year. Now it seemed she was going to try to learn not to bite people at random. Had she turned evil?
“Vampires are very nomadic creatures, Seph. Although some do manage to maintain their humanity and settle down, the majority of us wander, immortals, our lives flowing in eternal streams. What you become is not defined by your background and your history, but by what you do with what you have. Nothing is innately evil…” she looked up at him with a question in her eyes, wondering how he knew that her mind kept revolving back to that question in particular.
“Are you so sure?” She asked, biting her lower lip to keep it from trembling.
“We do what we must to survive, Persephone,” he responded, staring at her intently.
“But if you have to kill to survive, doesn’t that make you evil?” She asked him in return.
“We don’t have to kill to survive,” he answered swiftly.
“But we drink blood and have fangs,” she sputtered, staring intently at the plain, white, cotton sheet.
“Humans drink the milk of other animals, and what do our teeth hav
e to do with this? Bears have fangs. Wolves, cats,” he listed off, and she nodded.
“Milk is different from blood,” she pointed out.
“Semantics,” he muttered off-handedly, and in such a carefree way, she had to grin. “You are not evil, Persephone. In the future, you can choose to become evil or good. That choice is up to you, not your genetics,” he explained, and she nodded again. “Anyways, finding a full-time vampire teacher has been nearly impossible for Sir Cosmos. He has simply resulted to allowing us to teach ourselves, and he assigns the oldest vampire in the group to the task of calling the class to order, teaching a few lessons here and there, and coaching fledglings, such as yourself,” he continued.
“So, what do you learn in … vampire class?” She grinned a little at the name.
It just sounded so ridiculous to her. What classes are you taking? Oh, this and that, vampire class. Was this really happening? She never thought that she was ever going to be a vampire, attending Monster Academy and everything…
“You learn many things, such as how to shield your thoughts, for one. I can hear absolutely everything that you’re thinking,” he said with a little grin of his own, and then Alistair decided to interject himself into their conversation, without being asked, of course.
“You know why that is though, Phin,” he started when Phin silenced him with a glare.
“I think you should leave, Alistair,” he commanded, giving his back to Seph.
Phin was dressed very properly in a button-up, plum-colored shirt with a pair of black slacks. He seemed to like to dress nicely. Alistair, on the other hand, did not dress nearly as nice. Her eyes flickered over him as he and Phin seemed to have some type of silent conversation. He was wearing another muscle tee, this one navy, and he had on some loose, black leather slacks with them.
They looked so strange, obviously swapping some information but without talking. Then again, she and Francesca must have looked just as strange when they had been talking in their minds the other night except they had to be touching at least. She wondered if she could intercept their thoughts. Phin seemed to be able to hear her thoughts pretty well. Could she hear theirs? It should be easy, considering they were not just thinking their thoughts but actually sending them to each other, projecting them.
