The sight made me eager to see how his blood would taste. But I knew that because of the many deeds this man did daily, his blood would taste bitter with memories of the innocence he'd stolen from many girls in the same predicament as I.
No. Not the same predicament, but the same circumstance that forced us to remain within these sacred wells of matrimony.
I didn't want to see his past, nor give him a hint of pleasure with my thrilling bite. I was tempted to take every bit of blood within his wrinkled body, leaving him lifeless so he couldn't hurt another innocent soul who had fallen victim to his bullshit and lies.
"Dagger of Levana," I hummed in delight while my eyes observed those brown circles widen at my words. "What? Is it because I sleep in class that you've assumed that I wouldn't know what this dagger is?"
It made me giggle quietly, hoping to prolong this moment of confession so he could see the side of me I dare not show many.
If I did, they usually ended up dead...by accident, of course.
"This dagger was used in the 1900s, to exorcise demons that had resided in human children. It's one of the few weapons of the Vatican and is supposedly kept safe within our walls from those who desire the power to get rid of demon shifters. It can also work on wolves due to the pure silver, but now that I can observe it for myself, this thing wouldn't hurt a damn fly."
I sighed and began to twirl the dagger between my fingers.
"From the legends, a mere slice with this blade will not only destroy the demon within the child but releases a venom that causes the victim to be unable to move for an hour, giving the wielder enough time to proceed with a cleansing ceremony to ensure the demon will never return to their previous host. Without a body, the demon will fade and return to the likes of hell." The story intrigued me because I couldn't believe that these individuals merely did a cleansing ceremony during that time of vulnerability.
"What were your plans for me, Hendrick?" I inquired with a sinister smile. His eyes only widened as I allowed my body to completely relax and opened that other side of my core that brought harmony and grace within my being.
The warmth of the sun dawned against the skin of my cheek, and I felt the pulsating power in my eyes, which were surely glimmering gold from the sudden shift.
The place where he'd sliced with the knife was now healed to perfection, and it felt good to use my magic after sitting in hiding for so many months.
Now I'd really spooked the poor man out, his skin beginning to pale as fear embodied his structure and eyes.
"Have you no shame? I'm sure you know by now what I am. Or at least about the vampire part of me. Did no one tell you of my fae traits?" Now my voice was a tender, high-pitched sound, and my giggle made the tiny plant that was on the tiny ledge next to the door handle suddenly grow.
I grinned at the sight, noticing the way Hendrick followed my gaze to see the miraculous growth of the recent decor piece. Sister Ara had said something about wanting to add a tiny plant in the confessional boxes, to help get rid of the stench that sometimes - or all the time - lingered in the small space.
The poor woman was naive, oblivious to the fact that the adultery and sin that occurred in here were the culprit of the lingering smell.
She hadn't had sex, so how would she know?
I'd done the deed a few times already. My innocence had been given to one of the choir boys who gave off the innocent facade. He was a vampire hybrid, one of royal blood that was hiding temporarily within these walls.
Due to his family still being alive and the church doing him a favor, he couldn't be toyed with by those of authority that hid their secrets beneath praise and worship.
I never got to learn about his other half, since he always had an excuse revolving around perfect timing when it came time to show a glimpse of his growing potential. Either way, he was a good once in awhile fling to have, and I gained the experience I needed.
Or lost my purity that seemed to be a valuable possession to this sicko priest and others wearing the holy garments of our Savior.
"Let's pretend this never happened," I concluded, moving the blood-shift blade from his neck and allowing it to float from side to side in front of his face. "Don't play with me, Hendrick. You can try and make my life a living hell, but you can't get rid of me. I'll be of age in a short few days, and then I'll make my way out of your life, like everyone else in this place. I suggest you begin to be a little nicer. It would be sad to hear about a priest being arrested after years of rape and sexual assault."
I innocently smirked and flicked my hand to the side, the blade stabbing into the wooden wall before it faded into red smoke.
One thing I'd learned was to ensure I never left a trace of my blood. I didn't need these power-hungry addicts trying to find any sort of weakness of mine to use against me.
Rising up, I stretched and looked over to the plant.
"I like this one." Picking it up, I held its dark red pot and looked back at Hendrick. "I'm keeping this."
He knew I wasn't asking for his permission, but he nodded his head while beads of sweat ran down the side of his face.
"Thank you, Hendrick. Don't worry about next week's confessional. I won't be around."
With those words, I walked out and strutted down the aisles of the church, staring at the black pews and red carpet below. No one had even been able to answer my question about why our church was the unique one with black benches, but I was positive there was a hidden meaning behind it.
I just wasn't going to be the one to stick my nose in that box of not-my-business.
Kicking the heavy wooden doors open, I entered the quiet hall and took a deep inhale of the less stale air. Letting it out, I sighed in relief.
"Feels good to be a confident bitch," I praised. "Thank you, my Savior, for adding a little spice in whatever concoction you mixed to create me. You knew your girl would be dealing with some trifling men that are still called your children. Too bad they can't be spanked with some thunder. Maybe then they would fear those commandments you wrote."
With a shake of my head, I began to skip down the hall, carefully holding my new plant that I was going to place next to my bed.
Now that I reminded myself of my soon departure, I'd have to figure out how to fit a plant in my bag.
I sang a recent hymn we'd learned last night as I made my way back to the sleep corridors. I hadn't reached our door before it opened and my blue-haired friend popped her big head out to see me skipping towards her.
"Do you sing loudly on purpose so the whole hall can hear you?" she inquired, not looking the least concerned about the volume of my singing.
"I was whispering," I replied. "And no, I don't."
"Whispering to you is like being in the back row of the church choir. I can only imagine what loud singing would be for you. Oh, wait! I recall that. You shattered the two-thousand-dollar stained glass window and blamed the predicted apocalypse that never happened! Right, right."
I came to a stop in front of the door, my grin so wide it showed my white teeth.
"Pearly, my dear. You know everyone thought the world was going to end that time. It was a foolproof plan that worked, and I got out of working for sleezebags that want sex to cover up an accident. God will forgive me."
"I'm sure he will." She lowered her eyes to my plant. "Did you steal the confession plant?"
"Uh." I thought about whether my actions just broke a commandment or not. "Does it count as stealing when Hendrick sliced me with a blade after I pissed him off?"
Her pink eyes grow wide before she grabbed my arm, tugged me inside, and slammed the door behind us.
Before either of us spoke, her blue locks began to glow, the ends of her shoulder-length hair beginning to change to purple as she whispered, "Conceal our words from the enemies that lurk in the dark."
That was one of the forbidden spells we'd learned after secretly breaking into the spell library, 'borrowing' a bunch of books, and studying them thoroughly before returni
ng them back to their rightful places.
That was around Christmas time, which was usually the time when the church was extremely busy. Everyone would come and give praise, especially before New Year's Eve since we all knew things were a little sinful during those times before we all vowed to change our ways in the new year.
Do we ever keep our resolutions? Nope.
"What?!" my best friend, Pearl Indigo exclaimed. All I could do was grin, admiring her extremely loose white gown she wore to follow the rules of the church.
Pearl wasn't as lucky, like me, when it came to family circumstances.
She didn’t have two dead parents that left their massive inheritance behind with a note that stated she’d claim their entire legacy at eighteen. I did.
She was a wolf shifter, a rarity in these times since our world was dominated by two strong forces: vampires and fae.
The wolf race was dying out, and her pack had to make the decision to go into hiding or fight for a rightful place in the supernatural war of dominance.
Sadly, the wolves came third, and their defeat was why they were near extinct and hiding in the mountains, attempting to grow their numbers once more.
Pearl's pack had gone into hiding but decided to leave Pearl behind. She was only ten at the time, and all she could recall was waking up at the door of the church where Sister Ara found her.
Her last name, Indigo, was given to her since no information was left about her last name. Whatever her family had done had left Pearl with no memories of who they were.
It was like having a blank slate, but Pearl had never asked for one.
Nor did she deserve to be left orphaned and in the church's care.
Thankfully, we were the same age, and I'd arrived only a few days later. Since then, we’d been practically sisters, and no one dared mess with her.
The last guy who tried died a horrible death...by accident.
She was 5'3" with caramel skin. You'd think she was Native Indian, but her striking, abnormal blue hair made many question what her cultural background was. Her pink eyes only added to the peculiar combination, and when she used magic - something wolves shouldn't be able to do - her hair would begin to shift into a plum purple.
Her weapon of choice was a bow and arrow, and she definitely knew how to shift, but she didn't do it often unless it was the full moon. Her wolf was lovely, protective in nature but loved cuddles, making her a fun cuddle buddy during winter when she felt like shifting.
She'd become my ride-or-die within these walls, and with my approaching exit and ownership of my family's fortune, I knew she was coming with me.
That was non-negotiable.
My longer-than-average silence time rewarded me with Pearl's analytic gaze while she placed her hands on her hips and tapped her right foot to emphasize her impatience.
"See, what happened was I had to deal with weekly confession at this ungodly hour of the evening, and Hendrick, as usual, decided I was getting on his nerves when he insisted that confession was going to be a little longer this evening."
"Oh, he better have not laid a finger on you!" Pearl was literally tossing her oversized gown in the air, revealing her black shorts and a black sports bra. "I'll go kill him now."
"Do you think before you act?" I pondered out of curiosity, placing my new possession on the counter near my bed.
Pearl growled, but I rolled my eyes. "Easy, sweet Pearly of the wolf lands. Thou shall not kill," I stressed on the commandment. "Unless necessary."
She gave me a judgemental look and I rewarded her with an innocent shrug. "It's true. Remember, God helps those who help themselves. Even if there's a little murder in between the holy trenches."
"We're all going to hell," she groaned.
"We're technically shifters. I don't think the same rules apply to us," I noted. That was something I had to look into because from what I was beginning to find out, we all had different Almighties.
Pearl was the perfect example. For her, the Moon was a symbol of their Savior or Higher Creator. The power the Moon had on them was empowering at its full glory and weakest when it was not there at all.
From the legends written about her kind, the stronger their beliefs and connection to the Moon, the more powerful they became. Adding the fact Pearl could use magic and believed in the Moon even with our livelihood in the church, I knew once she struck eighteen and had the opportunity to train herself, she'd be a badass.
Not like she wasn't a threat to begin with.
My eyes lingered on her outfit, and I smirked. "Do you wear those all the time?"
"Any time I leave this place they're on me. Only I can take them off, so let Mr. Can't-Keep-My-Hands-Off-Anyone try it. Then I'll have fingerprint evidence and he'll enjoy his time in the heart of prison. You heard there's a new virus outbreak, right? Only a matter of time before it hits him in those closed walls. Then we'll see if he's so intrigued by my best friend!"
"I'm glad we never fight," I concluded and bobbed my head. "It would be a battle I'd lose with honor."
"You'd do it gracefully and all watchful eyes would pity you by default," she whined.
"No. I'm sure they wouldn't pity me," I argued.
"Please. Remember the last time Eleanor tried to piss you off and ended up throwing milk on you when we were enjoying lunch outside on the picnic benches? We were sixteen."
"I remember that." I grinned. "She wasted such valuable milk."
"Instead of getting angry, you gracefully fell to the floor until everyone was crowded around you and calling the damn healer to ensure you were okay. She got two weeks in the confinement room, and after that, she was moved to another church for apparently going crazy."
"Is that what happened?" I stroked my chin in wonder. "That sucks."
Pearl looked at me in devastation before her emotion turned to hopelessness. "You're telling me you also don't remember breaking into that confinement room with that big old scythe of yours and threatening to reap her soul and feed it to Lucifer himself."
I cringed, now recalling that phase of 'I rule this church so don't play with me'. Puberty for a vampire included becoming a cocky bitch who didn't fear death.
Only I remained that way, with a little bit of kindness left behind for my actual friends and those I respected.
That Eleanor girl had pissed me off. She’d bullied me since she'd transferred from another church after being a thorn in their side. She didn't stand a chance here, especially when she decided to pick on me.
Too much to chew with my sassy attitude.
Poor girl left with a mental diagnosis, but I didn't really blame her when she got a dose of my scary vampire side and scythe.
At first glance, I wasn't scary.
Standing at 5'5" with golden-orange eyes, magenta roots that blended into golden strands with tons of white tinsel locks to make my hair appear like a hair dye gone right, and my flawless, peachy white skin that never harbored a single pimple, I looked more like royalty than an orphan child.
I was the sole royal child of the Delphine family. Maybe that was why I was blessed with perfection.
With our usual long white gowns, it was hard to see my figure of perky breasts, small waistline, and thick thighs. I was fitter than most here, still able to maintain my fast runner rank, and when I didn't eat mine and half of Pearl's food on days when we were served vegan food, my six-pack would put on a show.
On the holy holidays like Easter and Christmas, we had to wear our white veils that hid our hair, giving the impression of pure nuns walking down the aisles before mass to prepare to sing in the church choir.
It was easy to conclude that my appearance fooled everyone. They usually became shocked, which morphed into borderline psychosis.
I sighed and pulled off the white dress, revealing my red bra and red panties.
"You didn't even wear shorts?" Pearl gasped.
"No one can touch this," I slapped my right ass cheek before dragging my hand up my hip and to the side of my wais
t, "without perishing. How else would I have survived all this time?"
"Yet, you gave your virginity to Tommy Hilfiger," she groaned.
"Tommy Hill," I corrected. "He's sweet. We were curious, and he knows how to make a girl cum. That's all I need."
Pearl shook her head. "No, girl. You need Jesus," she corrected. "And a whipping while you're handcuffed."
"A girl can dream." I laughed. "However, we're not going to find any bad boys in these walls."
"Do you even want a bad boy?" she questioned as she crossed her arms over her chest and watched me walk over to the drawer to pull out my set of red pajamas. "Let's be real. I know you only were with Tommy for sexual lust, which made no sense to me, by the way, because you never bit him. He's a total good boy."
"Good boy on the outside, dangerous on the inside," I sang. "But not bad enough for me. You're right. Also, if I bit him, it would have gotten a whole lot messier. You know the whole notion revolving around biting, sharing memories and emotions with another, carrying the burden of another’s baggage. It's as if being cursed to survive on blood wasn't enough of a punishment for whoever cast the first bite on humans."
"Dracula?"
"Myth," I brushed off that silly tale that was made to fool humans and make a bunch of money over and over again in the box offices when they made multiple remakes of the fake tale.
"Well, at least it's better than Adam and Eve. See what happened when Eve tempted Adam with the apple. Now humans have to deal with bleeding from their vagagas."
I had to pause and look back at her.
"Are you still calling our holy grails ‘vagagas’?"
"Uh, ya." She looked at me like I was an idiot. "Who calls their pussy a holy grail?"
"It is," I said without a hint of shame. "That's where the flowing nectar of a man pools and upon God's blessing and divine timing, a child is made."
Pearl burst into laughter. "Bitch, that's not how it goes! Did you forget about the race to the egg story?"
Fae Rose Academy: Year Two (For The Purely Divine Book 2) Page 27
