Pride X Familiar ReVamp (Pride X ReVamp Book 1)

by Albert Ruckholdt

  I had transferred into Galatea Academy seven months ago, once my body acclimatized to the Avenir Symbiote.

  Galatea Academy was one of the five premier schools in Pharos for Aventis.

  For a colony that consisted of five immense rocks or asteroids, Pharos was the hub of all commerce and traffic into the Hurakan Nebula. The asteroids were referred to as Islands. The smallest was thirty kilometers long and twelve kilometers at it widest. The largest, Island One, was fifty seven kilometers long and twenty two kilometers wide.

  Galatea Academy was located inside Habitat One, Island Three.

  It was a school exclusive to the Prides.

  No Regular humans.

  Just us Aventis.

  When I first joined the Pride, it took me as long to get used to the changes in my body, as it took to grow accustomed to the new school.

  That was to say, it didn’t take me long at all. That was because I was welcomed with open arms by my new classmates, and that made the transition easier.

  The girls in my class made me at home as best they could.

  And the boys did their best to put in a good impression – for obvious reasons.

  Because I transferred in late during the year, I had to work extra hard to keep up with the slightly different curriculum. But I persevered, and at the end of the year, I found myself in the top ten in my class, and the top thirty in my year.

  I was ready to begin my second year of high school with a great deal of pride in what I’d accomplished.

  I knew I hadn’t disappointed my family either.

  If anything, my parents were even more proud of me than before.

  Although, there were times I hated the way they bragged that their daughter had joined a strong and influential Pride.

  I worried my mother would start asking me when I would start dating seriously, and had any good prospects come alone.

  I politely sidestepped the issue each time.

  I couldn’t date anyone seriously.

  I didn’t have the heart to do so.

  My heart was in pieces, and I had no way of putting it back together again.

  I forgot to mention that I cried so hard after that day I really wanted to die.

  I cried hard for a week.

  My parents believed and rightly so that Caelum was at fault. My parents never liked him. They pitied him, an orphan of the state after his sister – his sole remaining relative – died. They sympathized with his circumstances.

  But they never found him worthy of me.

  And for that I could never forgive them, nor love them like a good daughter should.

  And because I loved Caelum I was afraid of telling him how I felt.

  I was afraid of hearing him say ‘no’.

  In the end, I missed my chance to tell him.

  When I calmed down and thought about our circumstances, I realized that maybe Caelum was right.

  It hurt like Hell to say goodbye, but he’d given me the clean break I would need in order to start again as an Aventis.

  As an Avenir.

  But regardless of the reasons, the end result was a hollow shell.

  Me.

  I spent time with my new friends.

  I spent time with a boy every now and then, and joined my new girlfriends on double dates.

  A met a special boy, and little by little he began filling the emptiness that consumed my heart.

  And then something happened – something I never dreamt of coming true.

  I saw Caelum again.

  And he threw my world into a spin.

  #

  (Haruka)

  He stood at the front of the class room.

  As a transfer student it was required that he introduce himself.

  I felt my heart beating loudly, so loudly I thought my classmates would hear it too.

  But they were all eyeing him warily, and I quickly understood why.

  His uniform’s jacket was lacking the all-important pin – the pin that identified the Pride you belonged to.

  I looked at him, studying what I could see of him.

  He looked a little taller, and he stood a little straighter.

  He’d lost some of the fat on his cheeks and the uniform hung well on his body.

  His jet black hair was now a dark auburn shade.

  He looked older.

  He looked…harder, as though he’d acquired an edge he lacked before.

  I was starting to understand this wasn’t the Caelum Desanto I had known for so many years.

  This wasn’t the Caelum that I held in my arms when he cried at his parent’s funeral.

  We weren’t children anymore, and that was more than evident in the aura I perceived emanating from him.

  It was an aura that quietly, confidently challenged the classroom.

  He spoke his name, enunciating it with precision.

  He greeted the classroom, the teacher, afforded the usual pleasantries and stated his hopes for a productive year.

  And then he answered the question on everyone’s mind.

  He calmly attached a specific pin to the left breast of his jacket.

  A Familiar.

  Neither Aventis, nor Regular human, but something that lay in between.

  I swallowed again, wondering if it was stomach acid I tasted in the back of my mouth. Or was it bile? As I swallowed I turned my head to look at another member of my class.

  She sat at the back of the room, her auburn hair falling in ringlets that framed her heart shaped face. She sat with a perfect posture, as though raised from an early age with all the teachings of a child born into a privileged family. Yet as far as anyone knew she was an orphan of the state.

  An orphan of Pharos just like Caelum.

  Then I watched him attach a second pin, the pin that identified the Pride that sponsored him into the Academy – the Pride he was affiliated with and to whose allegiance he’d been pledged.

  Since becoming an Aventis my eyesight was preternaturally sharp, and I recognized the emblem on the pin.

  It belonged to the Lanfear Pride.

  Caelum Desanto afil Lanfear.

  That was his official name now.

  I watched him walk down an aisle of smart desks and seated students.

  He walked to the girl at the back of the room, and sat at the empty table on her left.

  There were a number of empty tables around her.

  For as long as I’d been a part of the class – a mere six months – she had always been alone. She had sat alone, eaten alone, studied alone, and played gym activities alone.

  But now she was no longer alone.

  She had Caelum sitting to her left.

  I watched him nod to her politely, and she returned it with a faint smile.

  They wore matching pins on their jackets.

  My heart felt like it was being squeezed by an iron fist.

  He had swept his gaze over all my classmates. He had surely seen me seated by the window, halfway down the length of the classroom.

  And yet, he had walked down the aisle between the smart desks with his eyes focused solely on one individual – the girl that was a Familiar just like him.

  Caprice Steiner afil Lanfear.

  Not once did Caelum look my way.

  My vision swam, and I couldn’t prevent my stomach from beginning to heave. I raised my hand, then mumbled something as I staggered to my feet and then stumbled away from my desk. I was aware our homeroom teacher was speaking to me, but I couldn’t understand a word of what he said.

  I ran to the girls toilets and fell into an empty stall. With my head above the toilet bowl, my stomach heaved and emptied its contents.

  It wasn’t done until I’d dry retched a few times.

  “Haruka? Haruka—she’s in here.”

  I heard footsteps and the voice of a girl I knew.

  Reaching up I pulled at the paper in the dispenser, hurriedly wiped my mouth, then flushed the toilet.

  I looked up at Siobhan.


  The blonde girl returned my look before reaching down. She picked me up easily enough and sat me down on the toilet seat. Needless to say she lowered the seat cover first.

  “Haruka, look at me. How do you feel?”

  “Sick….”

  “Is it something you ate? Something you might have drunk last night? Where does it hurt?”

  I shook my head, then pressed down on my sizeable chest. “Here….”

  “What does she mean?” I recognized that voice as Alistair’s. “Is it chest pains? She can’t possibly be having a heart attack. She’s one of us.”

  Siobhan was studying me intently. “Haruka? Is it…heartache?”

  The pain in my chest grew and I nodded furtively.

  She sighed and asked, “He’s the Caelum you spoke about?”

  I nodded fitfully.

  Alistair whispered softly, “Oh my gods. But—but Haruka you said he couldn’t be an Aventis. You said all his tests were negative.”

  Siobhan caught my gaze with hers. “You didn’t know, did you?”

  I shook my head. My throat burned. “I didn’t know….”

  Siobhan sighed again. “Let’s get you cleaned up and back into class. Or do you want to go to the nurse’s office?”

  I looked down at the tiling and gave her question serious thought.

  “Maybe I’ll…maybe I’ll lie down for a little while.”

  Siobhan nodded. “Okay. I’ll walk with you.” She turned and addressed Alistair. “Tell Ms. Fauntine I’m taking Haruka to the nurse’s office.”

  As I washed my face at the hand basin, and rinsed out my mouth, I realized what a fool I’d made of myself. No doubt Caelum was thinking I’d rushed out dramatically just to grab his attention.

  I felt ashamed, and I felt scared.

  Not once since attending the Academy on my first day, had I ever felt so scared about walking into my classroom.

  I looked at Siobhan’s reflection in the mirror.

  “I’ve changed my mind. I’ll go back to class.”

  I would have to do so eventually.

  I would have to face him eventually.

  I dried my face, brushed out my hair with my fingers, then steeled my back.

  I walked out of the girls’ toilets, down the corridor and then back into my classroom.

  I forced myself not to ponder whether Caelum paid any attention to me as I stepped into the room.

  But when I sat down, I used the small mirror in my pocket makeup kit to peek his way.

  He was busy working on his smart desk.

  I snapped the kit shut with a soft click.

  #

  (Caelum)

  Lunch break came around quickly enough.

  There were fewer classes today since it was the opening day of the school year.

  The opening ceremony had been held during the period normally assigned to morning homeroom. After the one hour ceremony all the new Familiars attending the academy were summoned to the Principal’s office. That was the reason why I was late introducing myself to my classmates.

  At the Principal’s office, I stood with a half dozen other Familiars – two girls and four boys – and listened to the Principal’s stern lecture.

  I didn’t have much of an opportunity to study my companions who appeared to be first year high-schoolers.

  Instead, our Principal occupied almost all my attention.

  Lavinia Mason was a tall, slender woman whom I would describe as handsome rather than attractive. She had a piercing stare that I had trouble meeting. Her business suit which comprised a skirt rather than pants was charcoal grey and crisp. In short, her attire looked brand new. I will admit that while she wasn’t attractive, she had the slender physique of a runway model and her legs were nothing short of stunning.

  But her tone was cold, and I was distinctly aware that she had no love for Familiars like us. It didn’t surprise me, and I could see she was being tolerant of our kind. By the same token, I didn’t exactly have fond feelings for the Aventis, so our tolerance was mutual.

  The briefing didn’t take long. Principal Mason instructed us to download the student handbook for Familiars and to read the rules and regulations outlined within. I had already downloaded it to my palm-slate last night, after gaining access to the academy information network. After reading it, I didn’t find it that much different from the school handbook at my old school. But there were rules and rights associated with being a Familiar – rules that were supposed to protect our kind from acts of aggression and victimization expressed by Aventis students.

  Mason had said that if we all followed the rules we could enjoy peaceful lives at the academy.

  I took that with a kilo of salt.

  I wondered how peaceful life would be for a Familiar bonded to a Fragment and classified as a Special.

  After the briefing, I hurried over to my assigned homeroom and introduced myself as per the norm for any transfer student, except I’d chosen to take off my Familiar pin outside the classroom, only to put it on as part of the introduction.

  Lunch break had come around quickly enough.

  I sat in the donut shaped cafeteria building at a table on the second level, overlooking the first level below.

  I sat in the cafeteria at a table on the second level, overlooking the first level below.

  Caprice sat across the round table, eating from the tray.

  I looked down at the food on my tray and started picking at it, before I finally managed to eat a few bites.

  When I finished eating half the contents on the tray, I went back to gazing over the Aventis students occupying the cafeteria’s three levels.

  Resting my chin on a palm, I muttered, “This morning went well enough. My grand debut at the prestigious Galatea Academy. Whoopee doo.”

  “It was well within expectations, though the entrance ceremony was a little tedious.”

  I shifted my eyes in her direction. “So this is your second year here?”

  “You already know that Caelum. Why are you asking me again?”

  “Sorry.” I looked away.

  For six of the past seventh months, I’d been attending my old school for Regulars. My status as a Familiar had been kept from the students. That meant I spent six months playing the part of being a Regular just like the rest of my classmates. But now pretend time was over. I couldn’t hide what I was from the Aventis student body here at Galatea. The handbook clearly stated that was against the rules.

  I fingered the badges pinned to my blazer’s breast.

  I had received them a week ago from Arisa who’d organized my transfer to Galatea Academy.

  In a way, I felt kind of relieved not to be hiding what I was. But it didn’t make me feel any better about being a Familiar. Seven months since that fateful day and I sometimes struggled accepting the card Fate had dealt me. There were things I could do now that really worried me. Was I responsible enough to make the best use of my abilities?

  Caprice had stopped eating and was quietly studying me. I grew a little uncomfortable under her gaze. I started to stroke my sternum through my shirt.

  “Stop that,” she said softly. “That wound healed months ago.”

  “It’s a habit, and I still have a scar—thank you very much.”

  “I already apologized for that, but triggering your Awakening was necessary. The best way is a shock to the system, usually by near fatal wound. Once injected, the Symbiote bonds quickly to your weakened body, triggering the genetic changes and healing you at an accelerated rate before it dies and is absorbed into your body.”

  “Yes, yes, so you told me before.” I remembered waking up with my head on her lap. I also remembered her waking up around the same time. After a little awkwardness between us, and seeing I was clearly alive, Caprice had quickly explained what she had done, and why.

  Caprice continued as she had that day. “By bonding you to the Lanfears you gained protection from the other Prides. And even if we leave that aside, the fact that you are
bonded means they couldn’t fight over you either.”

  “Yeah, I know that—I mean I know that now. Still, it’s more a branding than a bonding.”

  Caprice’s eyes narrowed, then she glanced away. “Trust you to think of it that way.”

  I sighed softly. “At the time, I had no idea I was in such deep shit.”

  “Neither did we,” she admitted. “However, we should be thankful those elements in the Raynar Pride have been suitably reprimanded and suppressed.”

  I bit my lower lip. “The Raynars, huh. Closest cousins to the Lanfears.”

  “Cousins, and nothing more.”

  I narrowed my eyes as I discretely looked around at the cafeteria. “You think they’ll try again? I know it’s been seven months but…what if they think I’m more of a threat now than ever before?”

  Caprice stopped eating again. “They’d better not,” she whispered. “Next time, I won’t be so gentle with them.”

  Talk about a cold whisper. I actually had to refrain a shudder. If what I witnessed almost seven months ago on the rooftop was ‘gentle’ I’d hate to see what she meant by ‘not so gentle’.”

  “Besides,” she added, “you’re not helpless anymore.”

  Involuntarily I glanced down at my right wrist where the wide bracelet was hidden under my shirtsleeve.

  No, I wasn’t as helpless anymore, but compared to Caprice, I was like a child venturing onto his first unsteady steps after spending months crawling along the ground.

  Thinking I’d better change the subject, I tapped my chest where the scar lay. “You know this does itch every once in a while.”

  Caprice tightened her fingers on the utensils she held though her face remained blank. “Caelum, I believe I have already made amends to the situation.”

  “You mean that compensation you paid me?”

  Her face was starting to grow a little red.

  She knew exactly what I meant by compensation.

  I really enjoyed teasing her.

  She was a lovely girl, and I especially enjoyed trying to pry that emotionless persona off her.

  I’d also made up my mind some time ago that she was one of the few I’d fight to protect.

  She was special to me.

  No girl had ever stabbed me in the chest, and then saved me.

  You could say she’d left an indelible mark on me.

  I watched her swallow as she looked down at the table. Her voice was low, but I heard it clearly. “At the time you said that was all you wanted.”