《The Difference in Types》


 Prologue

    Vampires are such a¡­ weird subject. They are one of the most popular monsters in history, are among the most feared to be seen, and yet there is just a mystique about them that is impossible to not be interested in. They are weird because they drink blood. Human blood. And yet so many people fantasize about being one, for various reasons, and yet they would still take all of the pros and cons in a heartbeat. Or rather, the lack of a heartbeat. It¡¯d be nearly impossible for humans and vampires to coexist because of the nature of vampires. We are their food source. We are cattle among wolves. It¡¯d be nothing but a fantasy to think that we could live among them. It¡¯d be pure fiction to believe that they would treat us like normal beings. Vampires are a weird subject. And I know because¡­ I was the only human in a school of vampires.


    At Redcrest Academy, the main body of students are vampires. Humans don¡¯t normally have a chance to go to a school like this because of obvious reasons, but on occasion they can go if they have the mental fortitude and the grades to support the idea they can go to that school. But very few have ever gone, and even fewer have ¡°survived,¡± so to say. They were still ¡°alive¡± when they graduated, but they also had the option later on in their school career to undergo a ritual of some sort to become like their schoolmates. While that helped improve their situation a little more, they were ostracized and ridiculed by their schoolmates for becoming like them. For humans, living isn¡¯t the best it could be. We don¡¯t get much in the way of housing, food, or even common household items, like a toaster. We are treated poorly, so extremely that there are times when a person can¡¯t take it and¡­ I''m sure you get the idea. For the school, you must be wondering why I even want to go there. It sounds horrible and a normal human probably wouldn¡¯t survive there. But for me, I¡¯m not special. Just an ordinary human that wants a better education. And the only way to get that education is by going to the place where I am not welcome. Hopefully I don¡¯t get devoured on my first day, but you never know. I might just survive long enough to graduate. The following events are excerpts from my journal. While it feels like it has only been a few days since my graduation. In reality, it has been 5 years.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

 Day 1 of 30

    A first day in a new school is always terrifying. But nothing even compares to the stares I received when walking into Redcrest Academy. I tried to walk past my peers with confidence that I belonged there, but their stares were intimidating. Every step that I took, made me that much more noticeable to them. They whittled down my confidence, making me retreat into a protective shell. I kept my back straight as much as I could, wanting to make it seem like they weren¡¯t affecting me, but it was obvious through my eyes. I couldn¡¯t see it directly, but I was getting tunnel vision as everything blurred, becoming an incomprehensible mess. A peer stepped in front of me, making me stop in my tracks. I looked up at him and he snickered to himself and as he looked me up and down. He was more powerful than me in both height and composure, not to mention his physical presence. He leaned down to my level, his nose millimeters from mine as he smiled wide with his fangs. I couldn¡¯t hear him, or read his lips as I was terrified, but I could make out his jaw as it moved. I understood that he was making fun of me, even when I couldn¡¯t hear him. He stood up straight and reached a hand out to my shoulder, but was stopped by who I assume was the dean of the school. His presence was much more horrifying than what I heard. Much more so than the peer in front of me. I couldn¡¯t see much of what was going on, but the dean reached a hand out to me. It didn¡¯t look terrifying as he was gesturing to me to take it instead of forcing me into the school. I started to calm down at that sight and looked up at the dean¡¯s face. He wasn¡¯t much taller than my peer he seemingly pushed aside, but he was exceedingly more terrifying. When I looked into his eyes, I couldn¡¯t see anything that looked friendly. His intent was hidden, yet so vivid. He was sneering at me, waiting for me to take his hand. I gently took it, gave a handshake and walked past him. He didn¡¯t seem to be surprised at my actions, but he probably didn¡¯t like how I acted, seeing as how he runs the school. My composure didn¡¯t change on the inside, as I was still acting very timid, not having said a word to anyone yet. My posture also remained the same, but I didn¡¯t exude confidence like the others around me. My eyes had dulled again as I was looking through everything as if it were a tunnel once more. I pushed the door open and walked inside. There were other silhouettes inside, but I wasn¡¯t focused on them. I was focused on getting to my locker and relaxing once I got into class. Walking past all of these schoolmates who were more interested in my blood was exhausting more than anything. I didn¡¯t want to pay them any heed, even though I was getting all of their attention. It was fairly easy to get to my locker, but I also happened to notice that I was alone in this corridor. There were no silhouettes, no figures waiting for me. I was alone for the first time since I had arrived. I leaned against a wall and just breathed raggedly, holding my chest, feeling like I was having a heart attack. I slumped down to sit on the floor and held my head in my hands. I wanted to cry, go back home, do anything other than this, but I couldn¡¯t. I made my bed, and I¡¯ll have to sleep in it. It took a little longer than what I wanted it to to calm down, but Once I did, I opened my locker and put my supplies and books away, only grabbing what I needed for my first class. My first class would be the hardest out of every other class today. I had physical education, or P.E. I have no idea why they include this class in the curriculum but it was a requirement for me to attend. For my classmates, I don¡¯t know why they have to take it, maybe to learn the anatomy of the body better, but that is what science class is for. They are already in their peak form, and will be forever. But I grabbed my clothes and went to the changing room. It wasn¡¯t partitioned off for students, but they did grant me some leeway for changing, letting me be the first one in and out. Giving me some sense of safety before the class starts. I had gotten changed quickly, not wanting to meet any of my peers before class. Now, I am not in the best shape, but I am not unfit either. I can hold my own against people of the same caliber as me, but not if they are vampires. Of course they are faster, and stronger than me, but I didn¡¯t disappoint their expectations of me. The first thing we were doing in P.E. was a mile run. Not my absolute favorite activity, but I do like to run. I didn¡¯t get the best mile time, but I wasn¡¯t last. I was about fifth to finish. The fastest run was under four minutes. Extremely impressive for a human if they did it, but average for a young vampire. I had gotten just under 5 minutes for my time, but that was pushing my limits to the extreme to the point where I had sat down to catch my breath. Sweat was running down my face like a fountain as my peers were unphased by the running. Some laughed at me because they find it funny to see me like this I guess. But others had a bit more respect for me with the time I finished at. One of the friendlier ones offered me a hand to get up and get ready for the next activity. I took his hand out of appreciation and lined up for the next activity since the run was so short. The next thing we had to do was the pull up challenge. I did not like this challenge at all because I was just out-shone by my peers as they easily soared into the hundreds before they could even have the chance to get tired. While they didn¡¯t look physically tired, they still had trouble getting above one hundred and fifty pull ups from their muscles being tired. After ten of my peers went up, it was my turn and I did fine. I¡¯m not heavy enough for it to be a problem, but I don¡¯t work my arms to the same amount as my legs, so my number wasn¡¯t as impressive in comparison. I had only gotten eighty five before I called it. Of course it was excruciating to hold on so tightly to the bar as sweat had drenched my hands. Once I was back on the ground, I wanted to catch my breath again as others did their own pull ups. There were about thirty students in the class so when the student after me had gone up to do their pull ups, the bell had rang. I rushed to the changing room to change for the next class, not wanting to be caught literally with my pants down. While I rushed though, the vampires took their time to get here. I appreciated their laxness as it helped me get dressed in record time. I put my P.E. clothes into a pull string bag and left for my locker to get ready for math. I was still sweating from class, but it was easier to cool down inside since they had the air conditioning blasting cold air. It felt so good after the class, that I can¡¯t describe how it felt to me. I had left my drawstring bag in my locker and had closed it, making my way to math class. I made it to class but nothing special happened there. I did the best out of the students in the class, surprisingly enough. I thought I had gotten lucky, but apparently they can just be physically strong and not all that smart. The day passed by rather quickly, making my second period disappear before I knew it. My third period class was history. One of my weaker subjects for school. After the third period had started though, I was called into the dean¡¯s office. When the announcement finished, my classmates turned to me and a few chuckled, obviously thinking i''m in trouble earlier in front of the school. I wasn¡¯t sure what it was for, but I went anyway. I left my stuff there since it probably wouldn¡¯t take all class period. I would be very wrong later on. I made my way to the dean¡¯s office and knocked on the door when I arrived. The door opened and I was invited inside and to take a seat. I did as instructed after closing the door, sitting down in a very comfortable chair in front of the Dean¡¯s desk. He sat down in front of me and leaned back into his chair, just staring at me. I felt uncomfortable, but it wasn¡¯t as bad as this morning when I was having a panic attack. The dean then leaned forward and asked me ¡°So, what made you decide on redcrest?¡± His voice was deeper than I had expected, I had met him before but we didn¡¯t exchange any words personally. His voice sounded pleasant, to a very uncomfortable degree. That wasn¡¯t the question I thought he would ask, but I answered honestly. ¡°I came here because the education is incomparable to any other school I would have access to.¡± He nodded and mumbled to himself. I couldn¡¯t understand what he said, but I patiently waited for him to continue. He took several minutes to continue until he looked at me again and told me ¡°We will hold a special assembly for you to introduce yourself later today, as we have done with other human students. I hope you do not mind this as you seemed to have a crisis this morning.¡± I nodded slowly and asked in return ¡°What kind of announcement will you be making?¡± He shrugged at my question and then continued to not answer me directly. I assumed he wouldn¡¯t give me the answer so I sat there in silence, wondering what else he would ask. The silence continued for a few minutes until he stood up and said ¡°Don¡¯t worry Simon. You proved yourself with your grades and resolve, so there is nothing for you to worry about. I won¡¯t let the school do what they want with you. You will be in safe hands here as long as I am the dean.¡± I looked up at him and stood up to try and meet his eye line, although my height never changed and definitely wouldn¡¯t have changed from earlier this morning. I nodded as his words felt genuine, but I would still not fully trust him until he would keep to his word. He had stood up before me and reached out his hand to shake mine. Reluctantly, I grabbed his hand with mine, and his hand was massive in comparison. He gave me a firm, yet gentle hand shake since if he went full bore on the hand shake, he would most likely break my hand. I appreciated the wariness he had, and left after he was done with what he had to say to me. I sighed as the door started to close behind me and then my whole body shivered as if a monster had caught sight of its prey. Just before the door fully closed, I had caught a glimpse of the dean glaring daggers at me, with a grin I can only explain as bone chilling. He bore his whole set of teeth at me. Jagged teeth, perfect for tearing the flesh of a human. After the door had fully closed, I slumped my shoulders and nearly fainted from that experience. There was no mistaking it now. I would either die in this school, or graduate as one of them. I hated the idea of becoming one of them just for the sole fact that I would turn my back on my family, and the rest of my kind, who are dwindling in numbers, teetering on the brink of extinction. We haven¡¯t gone from this world yet because of the vampires. They keep us primed for their needs like the cattle we are. There are some kinder vampires, but none that are ¡°pure bloods.¡± Of course, they are natural beings who are born in this world like any other being, and are what caused the human race to be nearly extinct. Something odd about them though is that they don¡¯t explicitly need human blood for survival, only the turned need human blood. Of course the pure bloods do still drink blood, but they treat it as a fine wine that is to be savored rather than treat it like water. I suspect the principal is a pure blood and relishes in human torment, which is why they accept humans into this school. So that he can watch humans suffer. I am not easily deterred, because I can be incredibly stubborn. But even this school is challenging my beliefs in if I should be stubborn. I don¡¯t want to die yet, and I fear me being in this school is just expediting my demise. I didn¡¯t stay in front of the dean¡¯s office for long, making my way back to my history class. Of course, when I walked back in, everyone looked at me and a few chuckled at me returning, probably thinking I am crazy for staying in this school, which some like about humans. I took my seat again, and I found that my bag that I left behind was ransacked. The teacher didn¡¯t care for my stuff as he was also a vampire, not wanting me here. I sighed to myself and sat back down, quickly stopping when I had found that one of my classmates had stabbed my pens through the seat, ruining them, along with the seat. I didn¡¯t make a noise, I just removed the pens quietly for me to sit back down. Once I had finished, the teacher passed out homework for what he taught today. It was general questions about things with humans and vampires, stuff like ¡°In human religion, who is considered to be the first human?¡± and ¡°Who is considered to be the first vampire?¡± These questions were comically easy for the first day of school. Soon the bell rang and I had to pack up what little things I had left. When I had finished packing up, Nearly everyone was gone from the class. I sighed and walked out hurriedly, not wanting to miss lunch. At this school, they split lunch up into two blocks for schedule purposes. Lunch A would go after the third period, and Lunch B would go after the fourth. Before I could get my lunch though, a general assembly was called for the whole school. I could figure what it was about since the dean had called me in not too long ago. So, everyone moved to the gymnasium and I was pulled aside by the dean to go to the center of the gym floor. I was horrified of what announcement the dean would make, since he neglected to tell me what he would say. Once the rest of the students had sat down on the bleachers, The dean and I made our way to the center of the floor. All eyes were on me, I could feel every set locked on my throat. My face went from terrified to deadpan. I was too afraid to show emotion, to do anything. But then the dean spoke up and his voice echoed throughout the gym, making my ears ring with how loud he was. ¡°Hello and welcome to a new year at Redcrest Academy!¡± He gave a beaming smile to the students, and slowly, I felt the eyes leave me and direct themselves to the dean, who looked overly confident about what he was doing. He wasn¡¯t the slightest bit scared of anything it seemed, much less fledgling vampires. ¡°I know that this assembly is a bit unusual for how early in the day it is, but this is an important announcement! As some of you may know by now, we have a human student!¡± murmuring was heard as many of the students who hadn¡¯t seen me only heard rumors about a human student on campus. Then, all eyes were back on me. My face hadn¡¯t changed from the deadpan look I had. ¡°Now, since he is a human, we all must be wary of how we act around young Simon here! And because he is a human, many of you may be wondering, is he on the table for lunch?! And the answer to that is¡­ not exactly! He may choose, if he wishes, one vampire to have his blood! But that is only if he is willing! If his blood is taken forcefully, we will know! And the student that takes his blood without his permission will be banned and expelled from this school, forever! The ban is not just for the student, but also their progeny!¡± At that moment, my head twisted to look at the dean, and he was being completely serious, about the students being expelled, and by me being able to choose who gets my blood. ¡°Of course, Simon must stay alive to complete this school year and the years after! So, if he does choose a student to partake of his blood, they must show restraint! Otherwise they face the same punishment as those who take his blood forcefully!¡± I was a bit more relieved at that fact, but not by much. The eyes never left where I stood. This time it wasn¡¯t focused on my neck, but on all of me, to see if I would interject and add something, or if I would just outright refuse this announcement. I didn¡¯t move from my spot as I was much too afraid to do anything else. I was having a panic attack inside of my head, being very careful to not show it on my face. But the dean thankfully continued with another stipulation. ¡°To continue, Simon is the only one who can approach a vampire about his blood! He must be the one to offer, he cannot be asked, or swindled out of this right of his!¡± There were more than audible groans, students were outright booing the dean. They would throw things if they weren¡¯t scared of him. He dropped his smile and yelled with a commanding tone ¡°SILENCE YOU INSOLENT TWERPS!¡± It became silent instantly. I had to cover my ears because of my proximity to the voice, and no one laughed at me. It was a weird feeling since the students in the front row were also covering their ears. The dean relaxed and put his hands into his pockets. He continued by saying ¡°I am ashamed of you for your reaction just now! He was accepted into this school just like you, despite his disadvantages, and had walked among these halls to spite the danger! He deserves to be here more than some of you! Respect my wishes for him to choose who drinks his blood, because if you don¡¯t¡­ I will personally give you a lesson on respect, and dignity! Which most of you clearly lack!¡± The students stayed silent. I uncovered my ears hoping he had stopped, but I was wrong. ¡°NOW! Get back to your business already! This assembly is over!¡± I covered my ears once more from the yelling but quickly uncovered them as I could faintly hear the students walking away. I looked towards the dean, but he was gone already. I sighed shakily and made my way to the lunchroom to eat food. After the assembly, I had noticed that students were being a lot more courteous to me than before. No one spoke to me still, but they wouldn¡¯t glare at me as excessively as before. I felt a little more at ease, but that feeling would soon leave my body as I walked into the lunchroom. Already, there were hundreds of other students sitting down having what looked like blood smoothies. I couldn¡¯t react to anything like that because of course they would figure out a way to make the blood more delicious in some way. I walked to a small window where it said ¡°human food¡± to get my food. To my surprise, I saw a human serving food there. He looked anemic, and malnourished. I looked at the other window for the blood smoothies and saw other humans giving out the beverages to the students. While it wasn¡¯t much of a surprise to see them, It was still jarring for me to witness how humans were treated at this school. My lunch server gave me a steak, cooked to medium rare, with a side of mashed potatoes. It was the fanciest food I had ever seen, let alone eaten in my life. I ate all the food as slow as I could to savor it, until I had noticed why they served me so much red meat later in the day. When I sat down to start eating though, I noticed a group of students walking towards me. I had no idea what was going on, so I turned back to my food slowly the closer they got. The group was composed of mainly male vampires, but there were three female vampires as well. When they were right next to me, the leader of the group put his hand on me and said in a tone that seemed friendly ¡°Hey, mind if we sit with you?¡± I turned to the group and saw that there was enough to fit around the table. I wondered why they wanted to sit with me, but I knew why pretty much instantly when I thought back to the assembly. I nodded my head and said ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t mind.¡± They all smiled softly and sat down. It wasn¡¯t until I noticed them all next to each other and next to me that their skin is remarkably pale. It was a weird sight to see to me how when they drank their smoothies, their skin would gain some life by the blood running through their veins, making them look alive for just a moment. It sent shivers down my spine thinking about my blood running through their bodies so I just went back to my food. Not much was said to me as they spoke amongst themselves for the most part. I wasn¡¯t given much attention until one of the girls looked at me and asked ¡°So¡­ how¡¯s your first day going? Mine¡¯s been sooooo boring.¡± A bit caught off guard by the sudden small talk, I turn to her and say ¡°My day hasn¡¯t been that boring. Except for the assembly, everything was how I thought it would be. A top class academy with top class teachers. What more could a human want?¡± I took a drink of my water and asked ¡°What does your schedule look like for the rest of the day?¡± She thought about it for a second before taking out her schedule paper. Her first three classes didn¡¯t interest me because I hadn¡¯t seen her in my first three classes. It wasn¡¯t until the fifth class that I realized we had the same teacher. I lit up while reading the subject as it was one of my favorites. Anatomy was my fifth period along with hers. She was more interested in human anatomy whereas I had a general interest in everything. She lit up some more and said ¡°Well maybe we could be partners in that class and you could teach me about humans¡­ more thoroughly than the teacher.¡± She gave me a weird smile that I hadn¡¯t seen before. I tilted my head in confusion to her suggestion, and right as I was about to ask more about what she meant, the bell rang for Lunch A and fourth period A to end. I had finished my food entirely and slipped my tray into the washing area. When leaving the lunchroom, the classmate I was speaking with walked up behind me and whispered in my ear ¡°See you in fifth.¡± I turned around startled, holding my neck in fear of someone biting it. When I had turned around, she was already halfway out of the lunchroom when she turned to me again and winked at me. I had no idea what to do with the situation I was in. But I knew I had to get to my fourth period, which was music. I found my way to the music room and saw that the conductor wasn¡¯t as pale as the students. She seemed to be¡­ human. I was more confused as to how she got the job here, but she would answer my question soon enough. I found my way to an open seat and soon, the class began. She looked at all of the students in the room and introduced herself. ¡°Hello class. My name is Ms. Tylin, and I will be your instructor and conductor this year. As many of you may notice, I am human. The reason why I am here is because I was actually a conductor for one of the dean¡¯s children a few decades ago. He has kept me in this school since then and has allowed me to stay at his estate during the summer.¡± There were some murmurs among the students, but a student spoke above the noise and asked ¡°Then do the rules that apply to Simon over there apply to you as well?¡± Ms. Tylin smiled gently and said ¡°Yes the dean promised me safety in this school and has kept his word for the last twenty years. Now, since this is the first day of school, let''s see who wants to play what instrument. Who would like to choose first?¡± Many hands shot up in response, making Ms. Tylin smile some more, but she chose me first and said ¡°What instrument would you like to play Simon?¡± I was surprised by me being chosen first but I looked around the room then stood up and said ¡°Percussion, Ms. Tylin.¡± She nodded and said ¡°Excellent choice. Please, make your way to the section Simon.¡± I nodded and walked over to the section, finding a seat in front of a snare drum, patiently waiting for the rest of the class to choose their instruments. Of course this took up most of the class, but it wasn¡¯t long before everyone had chosen an instrument. I wasn¡¯t alone in percussion as 6 other students chose it alongside me. In the class there were about forty students. Relatively small in comparison to the whole school, but it was fine for me. Made it much more comfortable there since music was the main focus of the class. Eleven students went into the brass section, four for trumpets, four for trombones, and three for the tubas/sousaphones. Thirteen went into wood winds, three into the flutes, seven for the saxophones, and three for the oboes. The final nine went into string instruments, three for violins, fiddles, and basses each. A fairly well rounded group for music. Ms. Tylin was pleased with everyone¡¯s selection and handed out music sheets for everyone to take back to their dorms to read and be ready for the next week when we start to practice. I had chosen a snare drum for my instrument, and the music sheet for it seemed to be simple until you get to the third measure. I sighed softly and heard the bell ring. I packed my things and made my way to my fifth period. When I got in, I was among the first to arrive since the classroom was fairly close to my music class. I had noticed that the vampire girl from lunch was already here, and when she saw me, she waved me over, motioning me to sit next to her. I was very weirded out by the fact that she was being so friendly to me, but I couldn¡¯t just ignore her. So I sat next to her and waited for class to start. She was to my right and was just¡­ looking at me, resting her head in the palm of her right hand. I was getting creeped out and increasingly worried that she was just going to ignore the rules that the dean had set in place to give me some semblance of safety. But the bell rang and I was relieved when she stopped looking at me. The class was mostly uninteresting, except for the fact that today, we were just discussing human and vampire anatomy. The teacher was constantly using me as an example, along with the girl next to me. It was highly embarrassing but she didn¡¯t seem phased by it. When the teacher stopped using us as examples, she looked at me and said ¡°Forgot to say, but my name is Priscilla. Pleasure to meet you Simon.¡± I gave her a timid smile and said ¡°Pleasure to meet you.¡± We then focused on class once more, and listened to the teacher speak of his experiences with both humans and vampires. He was a forensics specialist for unusual deaths and crimes from both species. He had dissected multiple ¡°cadavers¡± as he called them, and explained how there was very little difference between humans and vampires, but what differences there were, were significant. Like vampires didn¡¯t have a pancreas, or a liver. Those organs were replaced with ones that were ¡°specially made¡± to facilitate the digestion of blood. He also had mentioned that when drinking blood, vampires tend to get drunk, literally speaking, because fresh blood is like alcohol to vampires. I was extremely confused about this because of the smoothies in the cafeteria so I raised my hand. The teacher called on me and I asked ¡°If blood is like alcohol to a vampire, then what about the smoothies in the cafeteria?¡± The teacher smiled and said ¡°Yes, that has been brought up many times in the past, mainly by the dean actually. But I guarantee you, the smoothies in the cafeteria will not make the students drunk. Mainly because the blood is not fresh from the source. It only acts like an alcohol when it is warm and freshly pumped by the heart. It is the electrolytes in the blood that activates the stimulus in vampires that make them seem drunk. The colder the blood is, the less effect it has as an alcohol. So far, there have been extremely few situations where vampires were in a drunken stupor from drinking the smoothies. Those cases happened decades and decades ago. We perfected it to the point where that is a non issue.¡± I nodded and went back to my notes, writing that down. I was extremely weirded out by the answer I received though. I wouldn¡¯t expect blood to have such an effect on vampires. It doesn¡¯t make me sympathetic towards them since they still drink blood nonchalantly, but it does help me understand a little more what they feel when they drink fresh blood. I just hope that I don¡¯t experience it first hand. Something else I didn¡¯t expect was the other students'' reaction to my question. They all looked at me like I was some kind of genius for asking that question since they all knew that blood did have an effect on them, they just didn¡¯t care what effect it was until I asked. I chuckled nervously and looked back down at my notebook, continuing my notes on the alcohol affect blood has on vampires. I stayed focused until Priscilla leaned over to me and said ¡°well, being drunk doesn¡¯t sound too bad after a good drink.¡± She smiled at me and went back to her notes. What she said sent shivers down my spine. She was inches away from my neck as she spoke, and it made me fear for my life as I can¡¯t get a read on her. She was too unpredictable. I couldn¡¯t tell what she wanted from me either. The class continued with the teacher explaining his past experiences on cadavers until the bell rang. His stories were fascinating but I had to move on to my next and final class of the day. While I only had six classes, the other students had eight. I had two less classes because I was human. They gave me a bogus reason to explain it away, but I had heard rumors about what those classes actually are. The rumors say that the classes are about the best places to drink blood from humans, and the places where the most popular human farms are. Of course if the rumors are true, then I''m glad I don¡¯t have to take those classes, otherwise I¡¯d be traumatized. But my sixth class is just as bad in my eyes. My last class was called common sense. Surprisingly, there were not that many students in it. There were only about seven other students there. The class is just as it sounds. It teaches common sense in this day and age. The vampires there seemed to be delinquents, and the reason I had this class was to teach me the common sense of vampires, so that I could understand how they work just a little bit more. The actual class was fascinating to learn about since I don¡¯t even know the first thing about being a vampire, so this gives me a good insight on the social hierarchy and how they might think. I wasn¡¯t expecting them to be so close to humans though. Whenever they are in a relationship though, it is vastly different from humans. For vampires, when they are in a relationship, they share the same blood as they drink it, whether it be fresh, or not. And when they get married, if they are a turned, they, the vampire marrying the turned, drink the blood of their significant other from when they were human, connecting the pair even more. It seemed weirdly intimate for a mostly dead species of humans. So much more intricate than I had anticipated. Humans in comparison seemed so simple, that it was amazing we would even be compatible. Another lesson I learned is that it is possible for humans and vampires to be significant others, but it is dangerous for the human of that relationship because the vampire would have free reign over their life, whether they lived or died. The vampire of the relationship would essentially have an all you can eat buffet if they didn¡¯t care about the human at worst, or they would have their own personal keg of blood that they would savor if they liked the human at best. It wasn¡¯t fun learning about that in the slightest because it made me think, what was Priscilla wanting to do with her suggestive tones both at lunch and in class? Was she wanting to become a couple to get a loophole to the rules? Or¡­ was she just wanting me to get to know her and trust her a little better so that she would be chosen for the blood at lunch thing the Dean announced earlier today? I am not sure of either of those, but this has been an interesting and stressful first day. Wonder what tomorrow has in store.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

 Day 2 of 30

    The morning rays shown through my window and nearly transparent blinds, hitting my eyes in just the right way to make it so I would have a hard time staying asleep. I groaned and got up out of bed to start my morning routine. Something I did not realize before I came here was that my fellow students could also go out into the sun. Interestingly, the sun only serves as a hindrance to their mental capacities, which is why they have day time school and night time school. The day time school is to make sure they can retain their knowledge as best as they can in the daylight, and the night time is when they actually learn new things that will apply tomorrow for the class in the morning. For pure bloods though, it is much more gruesome because if they stand in the sun rays directly for more than 10 minutes, their skin will actually start to burn, and it doesn¡¯t heal instantly. It takes weeks, sometimes months to heal the sunburn. While it doesn¡¯t actually kill them, if they stand in the sun rays long enough, they will die of the excruciating pain they will experience. That was one of the subjects of the common sense class yesterday, and it was far more interesting than I had anticipated. Although this school has been very intriguing to me since the start of yesterday, I had no idea where my dorm room was. I had to be guided to the campus lawn and forest to get to my dorm room. It was a ten minute walk, and was quite annoying to deal with on my first day. I tend to wake up early anyways so I just factored in the walk into my morning routine. After I had woken up at six in the morning, I spent about thirty minutes getting ready including a shower, getting dressed, and eating breakfast. After I had finished my food, I walked out of my dorm and made sure to lock the door just in case I get any uninvited visitors such as people, vampires, or even animals. I started to make my way to the school through the same annoying way that was shown to me, still having time to spare when I had arrived. It was about six fifty in the morning when I arrived, it took longer than expected to get there because I still didn¡¯t quite know my way around the forest where my dorm was, but I had plenty of time to go to my locker and grab my gym clothes to get ready for class. The atmosphere was also extremely different compared to yesterday because my school mates weren¡¯t looking at me like they were when I had first arrived yesterday. Everyone was keeping to their friend groups and to themselves, not wanting to incite the wrath of the dean. Also unlike yesterday, the dean wasn¡¯t out here to protect me like he had yesterday. It made for an interesting walk through the front doors. I was just glad that I was being left alone. Although it didn¡¯t last long. After I had walked through the doors, I noticed that the group of students that had sat with me at lunch yesterday were standing in front of the doors. That startled me but it wasn¡¯t as bad as yesterday. Of course Priscilla was with them and when they saw me, they¡­ smiled. It was a confusing sight, especially when you consider the whole sheep and wolves thing, but it didn¡¯t feel like they were going to lunge at me. I smiled back at them and said ¡°Morning. How was your night?¡± I was feeling a little more confident than yesterday, but It wasn¡¯t enough to where I can be all friendly with them. They all were surprised at my confidence in talking to them first, but they ¡°let it slide¡± according to them. They made room for me to walk on through their group so that I could make my way to my first class. I appreciated that but it felt extremely awkward as I walked because¡­ they all wouldn¡¯t stop staring at me. It felt weird to be watched while I walked through their group, and the worst part is, I still don¡¯t know any of their names, except for Priscilla¡¯s. They were the ones to make first contact with me, but I don¡¯t even know their names, they only know mine. When I had gotten through the whole group, Priscilla  was at the end and she smiled at me, much more genuinely than the others. I sort of brightened up at that but she pulled me aside and asked ¡°You finish the homework from yesterday for anatomy?¡± I nodded and said ¡°Yeah. What, did you not finish it?¡± she nodded and continued ¡°When fifth period comes, could I copy your work? Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll change it just enough to where the teacher won''t even notice I copied.¡± I sighed and said ¡°Ok, but only in that class. Can¡¯t give out the answers every time.¡± She nodded and let me go. I hadn¡¯t noticed it, but she had an extremely tight grip on my arm the entire time we talked. So much so that I initially thought that my arm was going purple from her grip. Thankfully it was still in place and I moved on through the halls, saying my ¡°farewells¡± to the group, even though we would see each other at lunch, assuming they would sit with me again. I made my way to the hallway where my locker was. Something else I hadn¡¯t noticed was that there were a lot of lockers in this hallway, some had stains on the doors as well that were both faded, and had seemed to have been cleaned at some point, but very poorly. I grabbed my stuff first before walking over to look at a set of stains. On the locker was sticker residue from what I assume was a nameplate to designate who¡¯s locker it was, but there was also a semi large red stain going from the middle of the locker to the floor, but the floor was cleaned very recently so there wasn¡¯t a stain down there. I could guess what the stain was considering what this school is housing, but this stain seems old. Way too old for it to be recent. Before I get carried away though I remember that I have P.E. and I rush to get ready as I don¡¯t want to change in a locker room full of vampires. As soon as I got in the locker room, I got changed, throwing my gym bag into the same locker I used yesterday. I made my way onto the track and field and waited for both the bell to ring and the rest of the class to come out. The teacher was just making his way out of the gymnasium from what I assume was his office, and when he made it over to me, the bell rang. In the locker room, I could faintly hear locker doors opening and closing, and then I could see the other students coming out of the locker room and standing next to me and the teacher. When the last student made his way to us, the second bell rang and the teacher blew his whistle and yelled ¡°RUN A LAP!¡± We started running right after he said that and I was running like my life depended on it. The teacher was once again timing us, but it wasn¡¯t a mile run like yesterday, it was just a lap to get¡­ well I would say blood flowing, but that would only apply to me. We all finished the lap in under two minutes, the fastest doing it in under a minute. I didn¡¯t push myself as hard as yesterday so I wasn¡¯t dying of a lack of oxygen, but I was still breathing slightly heavily. The teacher blew his whistle and called on the student that was supposed to do his pull ups yesterday, but didn¡¯t get a chance to because of the bell ringing. These sets of pull ups went a lot faster than before, only ten students were left to do their pull ups compared to the thirty that did theirs yesterday. When the last student finished with a score of a hundred and eighty six, the teacher shooed them away and said ¡°Now that we are done with the preliminaries of this course, I will have all of you form teams of ten. Four groups, anymore groups than that and I will assign the extra groups to different ones to even out the people. Now, GO!¡± The teacher was a vampire, but his skin looked a lot more lively than others. I wasn¡¯t sure why, so I just assumed that he had a big breakfast. The groups were formed faster than I had thought, so I decided to join group number three. When everyone had a group, the teacher brought out a fishnet bag of soccer balls, taking out two and tossing one to two groups. He set the bag down and said ¡°For those of you who are wondering why we are playing a sport for humans, it¡¯s to see if you have the control to not launch the soccer ball off the school premises, and to see how long your muscles can last in a few games. Pick your goalies and leaders! We start in a minute!¡± The teacher walked off the field to set up the goals rather quickly, grabbing two goal posts and setting them up in a minute. For groups three and four, the leaders and goalies were chosen, I wasn''t in either of those positions. Our leader was actually a female vampire because she said so, and our goalie was the tallest of the male vampires, for both his height and arm length. When the teacher came back, he added ¡°ALSO! There can only be six people on the field at all times! We have a smaller field due to two games being played at the same time, so not everyone can play at the same time! Pick your first six and get to playing! You have forty minutes of class left!¡± We all left at the same time and our respective groups chose our fields. Groups one and two chose the one on the left, and we got the one on the right. Our goalies took their places and our leaders chose who got to go on to the fields first. Surprisingly, I was chosen to be on the field first. I don¡¯t know why, but I took it in stride. When the people were chosen, the game started. I was a midfielder defender, and the game was much more fast paced than what I was used to, but I was able to just barely keep up at the expense of expending a lot of my energy, so I was that one player that walked around the field whenever he could. It was about twenty minutes into our game when the other field had the teacher intervene. We heard a whistle blow go off, and could see a fight breaking out. It was getting so brutal that the teacher stepped in and kicked both players off the field and to go get their emergency blood to help them recover. Our game had stopped for a moment but when the two players left the field we went back to playing, and I actually had the ball passed to me. The score was two to seven in favor of group four, but considering my opponents, my smaller and much more nimble body was able to dodge them fairly easily. I had to pass off the ball though since I stood no chance of scoring against a vampire. So I found a group member of mine and passed it to them so they could shoot and score for us again. The enemy goalie could see what was going on, but he and I didn¡¯t expect the person who I passed the ball to pass it back to me. I took it gladly though and shot the ball, scoring it into their net. I cheered with my group, making our way back to our half to get ready for another round of just kicking a ball around. Something I wasn¡¯t expecting though was that one of the players had come up to me to spin me around and punch me in the face. His skin was much shinier than I expected so in the instant I had to size him up, I guessed he had on sunscreen to combat the sunburn. But I couldn¡¯t think about it much more because he instantly knocked me out. When I woke up, I was in the infirmary for humans, and groaned as my cheek burned. My nurse wasn¡¯t in the room when I woke up, but there was a glass of water and some pain killer pills next to the bed. I glanced at the time and had seen that it was already past lunch for me and was already halfway through fourth period B. I panicked slightly but stopped to rub my cheek that had gotten hit. I took the painkillers and laid down for a little while longer to let the pills take effect. The nurse came back into the room and asked how I was doing. I chuckled and said ¡°Other than my cheek burning like it¡¯s on fire, I¡¯m fine. Surprised I wasn¡¯t knocked out for longer though honestly.¡± She smiled at my comment but sat down and saw I took the pills, writing down that I took the pills onto a piece of paper. I wasn¡¯t too surprised by her taking notes since they probably don¡¯t want me to overdose, but it didn¡¯t feel like that. I can¡¯t think of why they made her take notes for how many pills I took but¡­ I can¡¯t really say it isn¡¯t a bad practice. After the pills took effect, my headache and body pain just in general went away. I stood up to get back to class and the nurse just gave me a concerned look, wondering if I would survive much longer if I had to guess. I gave her a gentle smile, the first genuine I made since I stepped on campus. I turned back around to the door and said ¡°I¡¯ll be fine¡­ I hope.¡± I walked out of the infirmary and then back to the gym lockers to get my clothes and get back to my fourth period in time if I could manage it. But as soon as I got to my locker to grab my materials, the bell rang. I sighed and grabbed my anatomy book and notebooks to get ready for fifth period. I hadn¡¯t looked in a mirror since I woke up, but I guess there was an absolutely massive bruise on my face. Again, not surprising considering who punched me, but it didn¡¯t make me feel the safest when walking around my peers. When I walked out of my locker hall, I could feel all of the stares on me as they looked from my neck to my cheek. At the moment when I felt their stares, I started to have a panic attack again and quickened my pace to get to class. I got to class quicker than yesterday and immediately sat down in my seat from yesterday. There were few students in the class at this point, but there was still the teacher to worry about. I didn¡¯t want him to keep using me as an example for human anatomy, but I couldn¡¯t really think of anything to say or to ask him to just stop because I was still having a panic attack. For a split second though, I returned to my senses to hear footsteps walk in. It was the click clack of heels that you would often hear women wear. I looked up and saw Priscilla making her way to me. I went pale thinking back to why she could even possibly be friendly to me, leaving the only hint of red in my skin where my bruise was, and it shown out like a beacon to all the other students in class. Priscilla sat down next to me like before and said ¡°I would ask where you were, but I see you got pummeled.¡± Color slowly returned to my skin, making the bruise slightly less noticeable, but it wasn¡¯t by much. I looked at Priscilla and said ¡°Y-... Yeah. Some rando just punched me out of nowhere when we were playing soccer for P.E.¡± She nodded then continued ¡°You should really wear makeup to cover that up. Bring less attention to yourself. You can also report that student to the Dean if he wasn¡¯t reported already. It¡¯s a big no-no to even hurt the human exchange student.¡± I brightened up a little at that fact and nodded, grabbing my things out of my bag and properly preparing for class. As soon as the bell rang, the teacher wasted no time and asked a general question ¡°Who can tell me about blood?¡± I sighed at the question but went along with it since it seemed like I could give the best explanation of it, but surprisingly priscilla raised her hand up first and answered the question. ¡°Blood is not only the life-giving liquid of humans, but also of vampires. Without which, Vampires would be just as weak as humans, maybe even worse. If a vampire does not drink blood for months at a time, they will be physically weak and their muscles will atrophy since the blood acts like a fuel for us, similar to an engine in a vehicle needing fuel to run. Just like blood gives life to humans, it gives life to vampires.¡± She finished with a matter of fact statement and the teacher nodded and said ¡°Exactly right Priscilla. Textbook answer. Now, can anyone tell me why, if humans need blood so much, why do they experience things like bruises?¡± A bunch of hands shot up before mine, but the teacher was deciding to be a dick today so he chose me. He smiled as he saw it made me uncomfortable to answer the question, but I still answered. ¡°A bruise to be precise is not only the injured part of the body bleeding internally, but also the capillaries leaking out, causing the purple blue color. Until the injury is healed, the blood stays underneath the skin, keeping the discoloration for days at a time, and depending on the severity, weeks at a time.¡± The teacher smiled again and said ¡°Another fantastic answer. Now, Simon, please tell us what it is like to have a bruise. Many of us are either too old, or have never experienced this injury.¡± I gave a silent sigh and stated that the pain is highly uncomfortable, especially when the bruise is on the face in any way. I continue to explain how when touched or pressed that the skin and injury are extremely tender, causing even more discomfort, and pain to the bearer of the bruise. The teacher nodded and said ¡°Thank you very much.¡± He then went on to talk about the basic structure of blood and the nutrients it holds for vampires and humans. While he was teaching and facing away from the class, Priscilla leaned over and whispered in my ear ¡°You know¡­ the teacher isn¡¯t a pure blooded vampire. He could¡¯ve explained a bruise just fine in your stead.¡± I looked over to Priscilla but she was already back to writing down the notes the teacher was writing on the white board. I turned back to my notebook and wrote down the notes as well, not wanting to get a bad grade on any of the curriculum. The minutes passed by in the class and soon, after forty nine minutes of non stop anatomy and me being used as an example, the class ended. As I was packing up, Priscilla leaned over to me again and whispered ¡°I can help you out even more if you can trust me.¡± I was extremely confused about what she was talking about and why she even said that. I turned around to talk to her but she was already leaving the classroom by the time I turned around. I sighed in exasperation and tried to follow her, but she was already gone when I exited the classroom. I groaned in frustration to myself and made my way to my sixth period class, common sense. I still hated this class and wished I had slept through it when I was knocked out earlier. While the class itself is boring, the subjects are rather interesting. Today, we learned the famous figures of the past and who knew about the vampires and who was one. This was extremely interesting to learn as a human since some of the famous figures who were vampires, you wouldn¡¯t normally guess. They only showed the pictures of the famous figures though, never their names. It was extremely odd considering the course was supposed to teach me the common sense of vampire and human culture. The class passed by rather quickly and finished much sooner than I had thought. When it did end though, I packed up my materials and went to my locker for the last time today. While a lot more happened today than usual, it wasn¡¯t as long considering I had been knocked out for most of the day. I found my way to my locker and when I opened it up, I found a letter inside of my locker. It was written in the most beautiful cursive I have ever seen, with my name clearly legible. I put the letter into my front pants pocket and packed my things into the locker, making my way to my dorm rather quickly. It didn¡¯t take as long as yesterday to get there, but it still wasn¡¯t easy. Once I made it to my dorm, I closed and locked the door, sighing in relief that I was finally alone with nothing but my bruise and the letter. I pulled the letter out and began to read it carefully. ¡®Simon, Meet me in my dorm if you want answers. Not tonight. Tonight is too dangerous since the teachers will be patrolling the campus grounds for any mischievous students trying to get a taste of your blood. Come during the weekend when the other students are away. -Priscilla.¡¯ The letter didn¡¯t make the night pass by any easier. I could barely even sleep. The silence was unbearable and I couldn¡¯t handle the stress of doing makeup for the first time in the morning to hide my bruise. Slowly but surely though, the time dragged on and I began to drift off to sleep, falling into the nothingness of my mind.


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 Day 3 of 30

    After the long, and painful night had passed, I woke up to the searing pain of my bruise. I sat up a little quicker than usual and carefully rubbed my cheek, not wanting for it to hurt much more. Once the pain settled, I went to my bathroom and did my usual routine, but also trying some of the makeup products that were in there. I don¡¯t remember seeing them the first two days, but I might¡¯ve been clueless to their existence since they weren¡¯t useful those first two days. Not understanding the basics of makeup, I tried to have the bruise hidden as efficiently as possible, even though I am a novice. After I was done, it looked fine, but wasn¡¯t perfect at all. I was frustrated, but figured I would only get better as the bruise heals. I made a quick breakfast and made my way to the school once again. The stares still lingered since no one could ever be truly used to my presence, but I was used to it at this point, since the stares never truly left. My group of ¡°friends'''' weren''t there this morning, which is fine, but it was surprising for priscilla to not be there. A welcome surprise nonetheless though since I didn¡¯t have much more time until my first class. P.E. wasn¡¯t as fun as it was yesterday, but I didn¡¯t get punched at least. In fact, I never saw the student that punched me. Maybe the teacher got him expelled and reported him to the dean or something. I don¡¯t know. But like yesterday, we ran and then played soccer. We used the same teams, but now that the other team had one less person, it was much more in favor for our team to win, even though I was with them. The score was much closer, which is a nice feeling, but¡­ I don¡¯t know, it doesn¡¯t feel rewarding. Maybe it was because the student who punched me wasn¡¯t there. It¡¯s just hard to understand why I want to get some sort of revenge on him. The class was over in what felt like twenty minutes. It was quick, but this time I didn¡¯t get the pleasure of changing before everyone else. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was in the locker room. While I changed, the stares were amped up to a level I was never comfortable with to begin with. It felt like what a rabbit must feel when cornered by a wolf. But the worst stares didn¡¯t come from the guys, it was the girls that were the worst. It wasn¡¯t pleasant in the least, but their stares felt much more sinister and carnal than the guys. It is very difficult to explain the feeling. But I changed quickly and booked it out of there. There were some laughs from the guys, but it was complete silence after that. I was having a panic attack again, and the ones who laughed could tell. I made it over to my locker and just leaned my head against it for a minute to calm down as best as I could. Once I was much more calmed down, I opened my locker and grabbed my math book and notebook. When I entered, the teacher was a little surprised by my attendance since I didn¡¯t attend class yesterday. He didn¡¯t have to say why he thought I was absent, I could assume he thought I was dead and drained. I took my seat, and breezed on through the class. It of course was harder than the first day, but I was fine. Nothing important happened in that class. After the bell rang to end my second period, I walked to my locker for my history class. I actually hadn¡¯t been in this classroom for a long time since the assembly had taken up most of the time it had, and because I had gotten knocked out yesterday. But history class was very similar to common sense, it¡¯s just they went much further in depth into the history of how humans at one point were on top of the vampires because of the weapons of mass destruction they had created to extinguish the vampires. But there is always a reason why this is taught in history class. While the teacher never went into full detail, they were extremely matter of fact, almost like they were there when the humans were on top. The class ended way too quickly because I was getting invested in the story of the past. But the class had to end unfortunately. Luckily, lunch was next. I made my way to the lunch room, just like before, and went to get my food from the same window as the first day. Today, they gave me a beef wellington with a Caesar salad. Again, the fanciest food I have ever seen. I sat down at the same table as my first day, and found my ¡°friends¡± were already there. I asked if any seats were open with a small smile and they welcomed me to their table. I sat down, and began to eat the delicious food. The others had similar plates of food to me, the only difference being the drinks. Priscilla sat across from me, eating her own food like a princess. Every time I think about it, it always fascinates me how vampires work. While they are ruthless, and almost never show mercy, they can look so dainty and fragile, like they would shatter if hit with a hammer. Every now and again, I would think back to the letter priscilla left in my locker, wondering what she would want to talk about with me. The others were talking to themselves, until they had pulled me into a conversation. I wasn¡¯t focusing on what they were talking about so I asked and they sighed and said ¡°We¡¯re talking about our classes, trying to see who is dumber than you.¡± While the comment was a bit backhanded, I didn¡¯t mind it since it was common to get such comments. I shrugged and said ¡°Well the semester has just started. Isn¡¯t it a little early to say who is definitively dumber?¡± The one who had suggested the subject looked dejected and was politely laughed at. I smiled at the banter they had come up with and got confused with why they were so fixated on me. I know that I am the odd one out, but they should have much more interesting topics to talk about other than their intelligence compared to mine. I decided to ask and at first they looked shocked at me asking, but then they understood my confusion. Priscilla spoke up and said ¡°It¡¯s because growing up we are always told humans are inferior to us, yet they let you into this school. While everyone may be biased, we believe that humans can be incredibly smart. We just wanted to know if you got into this school by sheer luck or determination.¡± I shrugged in a way that told them I thought it was a fair assessment. I ate my food passively and just listened to them talking. I smiled to myself a little, finally understanding why it was nice to have friends. The only person to see me smile among the group was, of course, priscilla. She smiled to herself. I couldn¡¯t see her smiling to herself because I was too focused on my food. Soon, the bell rang and everyone started to just walk out of the lunchroom. I made my way to my locker in the hallway, and got to my music class. The same teacher seemed to be happy I wasn¡¯t dead. While that sort of expectation has gotten really boring, it was a bit more heartwarming coming from a human. I made my way over to the percussion section, wondering what I had missed yesterday when I had gotten knocked out. Luckily, most of class yesterday was just students, who had chosen wind instruments, learning how to use the air in their lungs for other things instead of using it for spouting hot garbage. Percussion is a fairly easy instrument to learn but there is a reason why percussion is the heart of the band. It is extremely complicated, much more so than you would imagine, and how you hold the sticks can even change how you play the instrument. There are so many different little intricacies that change how you play the drums. The easiest one to manipulate was the largest, the bass drum, but it was also the easiest to screw up. While we weren¡¯t practicing our music yet, she did give us some beginner''s music that is so easy that no one could screw it up, unless you¡¯re the student who couldn¡¯t even get past the first page of music because he was nervous. Of course Ms. Tylin replaced him with someone else as I had chosen the snare drum, the more complex instrument in percussion. The music was so overwhelmingly simple, that I was convinced she didn¡¯t have faith in any of us to even begin trying the music she handed out on the first day, especially with the student that she replaced. Luckily, that was the only eventful thing that happened to my section. The other sections though were being lambasted with insults left and right. Ms. Tylin may be under the protection of the dean, but she is not holding back any punches. She clearly took her job extremely seriously, which made me wonder how she was with the dean¡¯s kids. I still have no idea how vampires functioned in their families, even more so when it seems to be such a cutthroat society. But, before I could think anymore on their family dynamics, the bell had snuck up on us, ringing and cutting off Ms. Tylin while she was instructing some students to better handle their instruments. And with the bell ringing, I went to my hallway to change my materials to the biology textbook and notebooks I had. I wasn¡¯t too sure how this class would go. I am still not used to being used as an example for the class at any moment. But the class was only that bad because I was still unsure of what Priscilla wanted to do with me. She is a confusing student, and a confusing ¡°friend¡±. She was too much for me to handle. I have had constant thoughts of not only Priscilla ripping into my throat, but after learning that vampires who I approve of can have my blood, and anyone who I consider a lover is under the same rules, I still have to give permission. The thoughts of me dying because I gave Priscilla that kind of permission made me spiral in my dreams. I would wake up in the middle of the night sometimes because I would die in my dreams by the hands of priscilla. I may be writing in this journal to document my journey in this school as a record for my family if I ever die, or am ever turned and have to leave them, but I cannot bring myself to write down those dreams in this journal, at least not in detail. If I did, I would be writing for hours on end and miss a day of school at least. Each time I have dreams like those, each time I last longer and longer, seeing more and more scenes that I shouldn¡¯t have seen. Each death, more gruesome than the last. These thoughts filled my mind as I walked towards biology. So far, this school was a much worse experience than growing up in the current human society. Being treated like cattle from afar was so much better than not knowing when the wolf would say ¡°screw it¡± and just chow down. I am terrified for my life, every second that I am still alive, but the panic attacks have become less frequent. I don¡¯t want to get used to this life, because even though I can say that I won¡¯t get used to it, there is a point where this life becomes the norm for me, and I am scared for if that day ever comes. With my panic attack of what Priscilla wants to do with my blood over, I walked into the class expecting her to be there, but I was the first one there, the only other person being the teacher. He looked up at me, glancing away from his book and saying ¡°Glad you covered up that bruise. No idea if the youngsters would be able to handle themselves if you kept it on display.¡± His tone was extremely condescending, even though he did show some compassion. Before I could even get a retort in, other students started to walk in one after another. Like, every single student. It was almost like they had heard there was a buffet opening and they were waiting outside in a line, wanting the doors to open so they could feast. I went to where I normally sit in this class and saw Priscilla walk in, wearing a lot more makeup than usual. I was extremely confused as to why she was wearing so much makeup until I noticed that she didn¡¯t cover up all of her face, at least to the start of her neck. I saw major bruising that I wouldn¡¯t have expected on a vampire, but it makes sense because they still have blood in their bodies, so when they get a bruise, the blood cells still get clumped together, the only difference to mine is that I could see it healing itself up extremely slowly, similar to the frost on your window going away when you start to warm up your room. She sat down next to me and acted like nothing was wrong. I didn¡¯t bring it up at all, which was extremely hard for me since I wanted to know what happened, but I was still terrified of her. She was my ¡°friend¡±, and I was worried she was just wanting to use that title to try and get me to use the privilege I was given by the dean to allow her to drink my blood. The teacher soon began after she sat down and started off on the topic of animals, and the effect that their blood gives to vampires. Although their blood isn¡¯t as rejuvenating as human blood, it still has positive effects on vampires. The only downside is that when it is fresh, it still acts like alcohol to them. The teacher compared animal blood to a shitty human beer, and then compared human blood to a whiskey that has aged for centuries paired with a steak. Something I didn¡¯t expect him to touch on was the fact that vampires can even make other vampires be prey. Since everything has blood, no matter the condition of the blood, there has been hundreds of reports of vamp on vamp violence as he called it. That partially answered my question from the first day of how he could dissect vampire cadavers, which just fascinated me more and more. He continued to explain how vampires aren¡¯t fully superior to humans, but have upgrades like not having the need to sleep, or worry about calorie intake, or even be picky about food. He had also mentioned that vampires have more cons than many believe, such as when a vampire is blood deficient, they become a regular human in terms of strength and tiredness, and how they have a much higher chance of becoming feral if they drink too much blood in one go. He also mentioned how he is not a pure vampire, and how he knew about ferals because when he was dissecting a supposedly dead feral, it had bitten him, wanting to heal the wounds on its body, not realizing that there were also injuries in its mouth, forcing the feral¡¯s blood to mix with the teachers, slowly turning him into a turned. While turned are generally treated very poorly, everyone in the class can either empathize or sympathize with the teacher because they understood that if they were human and had the option to turn into a vampire, that is not how they would want to be turned. Priscilla looked over at me and could see that his story didn¡¯t fully resonate with me, she could tell that I was still sympathetic to the teacher. The teacher continued on with his lesson for the rest of the time that he had until the bell rang. The more and more I learn about vampires and their society, the less and less I want to even be in their society. Before I could get into my hallway, priscilla stopped me and said ¡°you know, your heart was racing like crazy in class. Is it ¡®cause you saw my bruises?¡± I was confused and had tried to start speaking but she cut me off and said ¡°Vampires have a much more sensitive pair of ears than humans. It¡¯s a drag really. I can hear anything and everything if I wanted to. But I have bruises because there was some punk talking trash on my friends. It didn¡¯t sit right with me so I threw some punches, but I got hit as well. Thanks for worrying about my bruises though. You should worry about yours more though, it¡¯s starting to show.¡± She gestured to her cheek after telling me, which made me realize, I was sweating throughout the class for some reason. She laughed and said ¡°Later loser.¡± in a very friendly way. I sighed at that and went to get my common sense notebooks and get ready for the boring class ahead. While the class itself was interesting, the teacher was incredibly boring. They couldn¡¯t speak with inflections in their voice making it hard to hear what they had to say, and they spoke in a very monotonous way that made me want to fall asleep faster than I can at night. But the class still had facts that interested me. I walked into the classroom and sat down with my other seven classmates, one of which I recognized. It was the kid that sucker punched me yesterday. I groaned to myself seeing him, but I got even more pissed off when I saw his face. I sat down in the back where no one else was. The class started after I sat down and we went over the previous rulers of the vampires and their respective nations. While humans were a lot more ¡°organized¡± with their ruling systems, the vampires are much more chaotic in a very bad way. For someone to rule over a nation, they must defeat the current ruler in two battles, one of wits to prove their intellect, and a battle of strength to prove they are not all talk. It was still interesting to hear about who was the first vampire ruler and who had defeated him. They had a presentation on how much land each ruler had, and they showed it slowly got bigger and bigger with each passing one, until the now centuries dead humans had their governments collapse, then a massive land allocation had started and the ruler of the world quickly appointed different vampires he trusted to rule over different continents. He was named Elias Edwards. He was the most conniving and manipulative ruler yet, and it would only get worse the more he ruled. He ruled for seven centuries before he was dethroned by Mattias Stewart, the still current ruler of the vampire nation. Although he hasn¡¯t been seen for years on end, leaving the vampire nations in disarray, wanting to reinstate Elias Edwards since he was still alive, albeit barely. He is still recovering from the wounds Mattias had given him. But no one other than Elias knows what he looks like, so no one can even challenge him to a fight. For there to be an officially recognized fight, it has to be made in person because many of the challengers of past rulers have either sent letters or messaged the rulers that they want to fight, and then never show up. Mattias is ¡°smart for avoiding that rule, but people brand him a coward for basically leaving the throne. But they can¡¯t dethrone him either because he is still giving out orders remotely from wherever he is. For the vampires to remove a ruler from the throne, they need the ruler to not be active for a whole three months to remove them. With Mattias, he sends out orders at the tail end of the three months to stay on the throne, making his public persona a laughing stock. Learning these facts is always interesting to me because he could be anywhere. But what is more surprising to me is that Elias hasn¡¯t come forward with evidence of what Mattias looks like. Possibly because he is scared of the person that dethroned him, or it could be for something completely different. No one knows. The class ended soon after I had thought of what Elias could do. I got up out of class and saw the student who had punched me get up first and start to leave. I hadn¡¯t noticed before, but he had a lot of scratches and bruises on his face. They were almost gone though, but I wondered where he had gotten them. I didn¡¯t want to ask, but I figured it must¡¯ve been the dean with his disciplinary actions he alluded to before. I didn¡¯t dwell on it too much as I wanted to get back to my dorm room in the forest. I put my things into my locker and gazed at the blood stain on the wall, wondering who it was that was unlucky enough to be drained in school, and when the blood stain had happened. I clicked my tongue since I had no time machine to go back to when it possibly happened, so I just walked out of the hallway into the forest, getting to my dorm room in record time. The entire way though, it felt like I was being stalked by something. When I entered my room, the feeling didn¡¯t go away. I was feeling terrified of what could be out there or even worse, in here with me. I searched around and couldn¡¯t see anyone or anything until I went back out and saw someone in a school uniform covered in blood standing outside my door. In my rush to see my room I forgot to lock the door. They reached for the handle and the door slowly opened with a creak and crack as the hand was clenched on the door handle. Before they had entered my room, I couldn¡¯t see their face too well, but once they were under a light, I could see they had matted hair, and she had stains of blood surrounding her lips dripping down onto her uniform. Her eyes were bloodshot with the sclera a dark blood red, and her pupil was extremely dilated similar to a cat when they see something they love immensely shoved into their face. I couldn¡¯t do much in my panicked state but she wasn¡¯t rushing to my neck. She was obviously a vampire. I just had no idea at the moment which she was. She kneeled on the floor and said ¡°you need to run¡­ the dean is-...¡± she couldn¡¯t finish her sentence as the dean appeared behind her, carefully cleaving her head from her body. He looked down at me and said ¡°Sorry I couldn¡¯t come sooner, I was stuck in a parent teacher conference with that delinquent that punched you yesterday. She didn¡¯t hurt you, did she?¡± I was trembling fiercely from the situation at hand. The dean had the students head in his hands and was calm. Way too calm. I was soiling myself as he spoke, and he expected me to form a coherent sentence with all the blood around me, and the now collapsed, and dead student lying at my feet. The dean stared at me in confusion and then slapped his head and said ¡°Oh. Right. Dead body and all that. I''ll speak with you again soon about this. Let me take care of this for now.¡± He picked up the body and dragged it outside, carefully grabbing the, now ruined, door handle, and turning back to me to say ¡°Forgot to say¡­¡± he bared his fangs at me once more, having the evilest smile I¡¯ve ever seen ¡°Welcome to RedCrest Academy, young Simon.¡± He closed the door after leaving a heavy emphasis on the young part, leaving me with my soiled pants and bloody floor to my own thoughts and devices. The only thing going through my mind at that moment was ¡°Rebecca?...¡± At that moment, I recognized the girl that broke into my room. Her name was Rebecca, and she was the first human accepted into this very school¡­ three hundred years ago. She was supposedly left a human when she graduated, but it seems like any news the vampires feed us is only propaganda to make us believe we have any hope of retaining our human nature. But now, my head is spinning with theories of why the dean killed Rebecca. Did she escape after she was turned, and the dean had to tie up any loose ends? What was she going to say the dean was before he killed her? Who is the dean? Will I be next? After cleaning up the blood with the best floor cleaner for the job, baking soda and vinegar, I changed clothes after locking the door, worried that the glass panel would not be enough for the horrors that evidently await me in the forest. I somehow fell asleep that night with my last thought being ¡®Is the dean Mattias?¡¯


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 Day 4 of 30

    I didn¡¯t sleep at all last night. The horror from seeing the dean kill an old student sent me into a severe panic attack. The blood still stained the floor a little. I couldn¡¯t get it out fully because my mind wasn¡¯t on the mess. My mind was racing through the possibilities of why the dean was even going to do that, why he even CONSIDERED severing the head from the torso. The dean has always been dangerous, especially to me since I am a human. This¡­ encounter, so to say, made me realize just how out of my depth I really was. Academically, I am one of the better students, even though I am not the smartest. I barely got into this school with my grades from a human school, but to know that if the dean at any moment grew tired of me, could just kill me¡­ needless to say was sobering. When the morning sun shone through the window telling me that the next day was here, I realized that I didn¡¯t sleep, and that I had stayed up all night in a cold sweat. The tips of my hair on my brow were drenched in sweat. I couldn''t even think straight enough to even think about my bruise that was still searing with pain, burning hotter the more I think about what happened last night. My blood ran cold until I heard a knock on my windowed door. Standing in front of my door was someone I wasn¡¯t expecting. It was the student that led my group of ¡°friends.¡± He was a tall and lean student, much like the other male students, but his hair and eyes were different than when he walked up to me with the other students behind him. His hair was messy and his eyes were ever so slightly bloodshot. I stood up carefully walking to the door. I opened the door, bracing it with my weight just in case he decided to attack, even though it wouldn¡¯t do anything. My ¡°friend¡± sighed and said ¡°No need to be so on guard Simon. I know how I look but I am here to just talk.¡± I sighed shakily as he spoke but let a small amount of relief lower my shoulders and make me relax. I welcomed him in and he walked past me, grabbing a chair and sitting down to rub his face more comfortably. I closed the door gently and said ¡°I¡­ Why are you here? I¡¯m not sure you understand what just happened to me¡­¡± My ¡°friend¡± sighed and leaned back into the chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He stared at me incredulously. Incredulous? Did he know what was going on? Why would he be unwilling to admit something? The more I think about it the more confused I become. I stared at him some more and couldn¡¯t help but notice just how statue-esque he was. Very fair and pale skin, well defined musculature, loose hanging clothes that hid his body but complemented him rather than take away from his handsomeness. He could obviously see me staring and just laughed. It wasn¡¯t stifled at all. He gave a full belly laugh. It continued for a few moments until he stopped, rubbing his eyes from the irritation of waking up so early. He looked towards me again and said ¡°You know, that¡¯s probably the second time you¡¯ve actually looked at me. Of course, the reason you haven¡¯t is because of being in this school, and Priscilla, but you¡­ you¡¯re not super easy to read. You are very closed off, and again, it is understandable why, but from what I have seen, you¡¯re way out of your depth with this school. I was just as surprised as everyone else when we learned there would be a human coming here, but you¡­ are not what I expected. You¡¯re out of your depth but are sure of yourself. You¡¯re selfish, but who isn¡¯t at this school. Your grades aren¡¯t anything impressive since the school year just started, but you are quite the anomaly. I initially thought it would be easy to manipulate you so I could drink your blood and taste the real deal.¡± That made my body tense up. I visibly stiffened and all he could do was chuckle. Luckily, it seemed like he wasn¡¯t going to try and drink my blood today, but it was obvious he was holding himself back. He sighed and said ¡°First of all, I would like to say that my name is Nathaniel Caraster. And I am here to make sure that what you saw wasn¡¯t what you think it was. That woman was a fugitive and was wanted dead. I¡¯m not sure why she was wanted dead, but it must¡¯ve been for a good reason.¡± ¡°A good reason? She was beheaded right before my eyes! What reason could there be to do that to her? And to have someone witness it is just¡­¡± Nathaniel held his hand up and continued ¡°I know it must¡¯ve been traumatizing, but that is vampire society. You are a human and do not get a say in what happens around here. The dean knew of the fugitive being a former human student, and was told by the proper authorities that she was a threat and needed to be taken care of.¡± I just stared at him with an incredulous stare. After thinking about it some more, I sighed heavily and asked ¡°If it was the Dean¡¯s responsibility to take care of her, then why didn¡¯t he stick around to explain WHAT HAD JUST HAPPENED?¡± Nathaniel sighed and got up to leave. As he walked out, he looked back and said ¡°I don¡¯t know. He¡¯s the dean and doesn¡¯t explain his thoughts at all to anyone but himself. I was told by him to explain this to you and nothing else.¡± With that, Nathaniel left me with the mess of last night, and the mess of thoughts in my head. What could I even do to forget that? What could I even do to forget the look on her face as she¡­ Not wanting to deal with this anymore, I got ready for school after trying to clean up the rug that still had blood stains in it. I had bags under my eyes from not being able to get good enough sleep the last two nights. Walking out of my dorm, I closed the door and just stood on my landing next to the stairs. I crouched down and held my knees to my head, silently crying as this was becoming extremely difficult to deal with. I had an obligation to not just myself and my family, but also to the rest of the humans who couldn¡¯t get chances like this. I was a representative for everyone else¡­ and yet all of that just washed away as the tears fell down my face and into my school clothes. This school of monsters would eat me up like it had with Rebecca. I had no idea how I would survive long enough to graduate as a human. Half of my mind was telling me to run, find a way back home and hide away from the vampires until I died. A smaller part of my brain was telling me to have one of the students drink my blood and¡­ The rest of my brain told me to become a vampire so that I could have the strength to fight back. All I knew is that, even the humans of this school change. My thoughts before last night were incredibly delusional. I will survive the way I see fit. All I had to do was make it through the days as they came along. And for me to survive, I had to get moving. I had to walk forward and forget what happened. But how could I? I will think about that later. Now I have to get to class. I wiped my eyes and clothes and sniffled to myself, composing myself so that I could be the same way that I have been. I wouldn¡¯t let this school ruin me. I¡¯m not even sure how I can fight back, but I will find a way to fight back soon enough. The dean must be Mattias. For him to be told to take care of a fugitive from the authorities? He has to have people in his back pocket. Thoughts kept rushing through my mind as I tried to think of the Dean and why he would be the Dean of this school instead of trying to find the current ruler of the vampire nation. Unless the Dean chose that position because the current leader is a student? But who would it even be? Most of the students here are too young to best the Dean who has had centuries of fighting experience. Without even realizing it, I had made my way into my first class. P.E. was extremely difficult since I had almost no energy today. The other students looked confused seeing me with so little energy, especially since we continued our soccer games. But they didn¡¯t think anything of it since I was human. The class was over before I knew it and I found myself not caring if I changed in the locker room with them. The stares I got were just as bloodthirsty as they were a few days ago, but I didn¡¯t care. The Dean would make sure retribution would be given to the student if I died by one of their hands. I made my way to math class and performed just as well as I have been this past week. Nothing happens in this class anyways, except for when my backpack was vandalized. Or was that another class? Doesn¡¯t matter now anyways. After the bell rang and I walked out of the room to get my materials for history, I¡¯d bumped into Priscilla. She had the same smile on as always when around me, and I could finally place a finger on why she was smiling at me. She was smiling the same way a predator would, if they had the ability to, when confronting their prey. She seemed much more terrifying now that I made that realization. She was speaking but I couldn¡¯t hear her. I¡¯d only just noticed but I couldn¡¯t hear anything from anyone. I think I was having a panic attack. The trauma from last night and now being surrounded by literal blood suckers was just too much for me. My vision started to darken as I fell forward. Priscilla caught and tried to wake me up. The attempts she made were futile as I fell into the deep recesses of my mind, talking with myself to try and figure out ways of getting out of this school situation. I have no idea how long I was out of it, but in my mind, it felt like weeks had passed. Many different topics had come up, ranging from late night escape, to escaping with Priscilla on the weekend. Some were much more grim than I thought they would be. Eventually as the discussion with myself died down, I opened my eyes to find the nurse checking my pulse, but it felt cold, and awkward, like she wasn¡¯t used to looking for a heart beat. But next to her was Priscilla. I hadn¡¯t expected her to still be here after I had passed out, and she LOOKED worried, but I knew better than to expect that kind of emotion from anyone that was a vampire. The nurse backed away as she sighed in relief that I woke up. I looked between them both and asked ¡°How long was I out?¡± the nurse sighed and said ¡°Twenty minutes. I had a rough time finding your heartbeat with¡­ this thing¡± she held up a stethoscope and waved it around a little then continued ¡°But luckily you¡¯re doing better. Why did you pass out? Have you been sleeping well enough?¡± I shrugged and didn¡¯t elaborate. She sighed and said ¡°Fine. You¡¯re lucky she was there to catch you. I think it might¡¯ve been a frenzy if she didn¡¯t rush you to this room. I¡¯ll leave you two to talk since you seem like friends. Just let me grab your things so you can go back to class in a little." She walked away and I was left alone with Priscilla. I looked disinterested, and she had what looked to be genuine worry on her face, but her mask wasn¡¯t fooling me. I didn¡¯t look towards her as I swung my feet off of the bed, not wanting to talk to her. She gave an exasperated sigh and said ¡°You have to say something at least. You just collapsed right in front of me and now you¡¯re acting like I knocked you out. What¡¯s going on? I was trying to see if you were ok since when we bumped into each other¡­ you looked like a ghost. You had no color to your skin at all. What happened?¡± I stood up slowly and stretched my body, still not looking towards her. I sighed and said ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it. It¡¯s not something you, as a vampire, would understand anyways.¡± She huffed and stood from her chair walking towards me. She stopped right in front of me and crossed her arms, evidently not letting me leave until I answered her. I finally looked into her eyes and she could see that my eyes were baggy and puffy. She groaned and asked ¡°What, are you home sick or something? Is this school draining your energy so much more than you thought it would?¡± I looked away rather quickly at the mention of the school and she clicked her tongue as she had gotten her answer. Her hand went up to her face to rub her eyes from annoyance. No words were spoken for a minute. She went to say something when the nurse came back. She was most likely listening in waiting for us to finish talking when she saw how close we were. She set my school supplies and bag down onto the bed and retreated away, looking uncomfortable as she thought she walked in on a lover¡¯s quarrel. I grabbed my things and tried to walk past Priscilla, but she held an arm up and said ¡°Say something. Did I do something wrong to warrant the silent treatment from you? Did¡­ someone break into your room last night?¡± At that mention my eyes narrowed and walked underneath her arm. She sighed and let me walk away. I walked to my history class and took my seat. The teacher did not care that I showed up late. He was continuing to lesson on previous Vampire leaders, starting from the first leader of the nation, to now. He held up a picture of what is supposed to be the current leader, but it was just a silhouette. No face, no distinguishing features. He looked around the classroom and said ¡°While we do not have a picture of the current leader, many believe that the leader is hiding away because they are not a pure blood vampire. Rumors circulated around after the empty coronation for them, many believing that they are a human turned vampire.¡± This got quite a few different responses from the various vampires, many laughing at the seemingly absurd notion, others booing at the rumor, and the rest murmuring if that could even be possible. I raised my hand and just looked confused. The teacher called on me and said ¡°Yes simon?¡± I kept the puzzled look on my face and asked ¡°Excuse my lack of knowledge, but why is the current ruler possibly being a human turned vampire such a¡­ polarizing topic?¡± The teacher nodded and answered with ¡°Not many humans understand vampire physiology, but the reason why it is so polarizing is because a natural born vampire should be exponentially stronger than a human turned vampire because of the turned starting out as a human. The pure blood should have a substantial lead in terms of strength. Of course depending on the genealogy, but the same can be said for the turned. Now, there have been instances of a vampire-human couple producing offspring that had the benefits of the other species, but those instances are so few and far between that they are treated more as legend. But let¡¯s say that there was an offspring of such a couple, but it wasn¡¯t inherently a vampire. It had taken the genes of the human and would be considered a human. Since the vampire side of the offspring would be such a small part of the child¡¯s life, it wouldn¡¯t be outlandish to say that if the child were turned, their vampire traits would flourish into something otherworldly compared to a natural born vampire. But like I said earlier. The instances of human-vampire children actually being born, let alone being born a human, are so astronomically infantesimal that if the child were to survive the birthing process, there is a high likelihood of the child not surviving infancy because of the blasphemous nature of a human-vampire child being born. Records of such children have been found, but they never lived past a month old. Do you understand why such a child being the ruler of the vampire nation would be so polarizing?¡± I nodded at the extremely long lecture, but it does make sense. I wrote down a summary of the explanation into my notebook just before the bell rang. I put everything away and started to make my way to the music room for some music lessons. The teacher smiled towards me as I entered and she waved me over to tell me something. She leaned down and whispered ¡°The dean would like you in his office for this class. Said he needed to speak with you about your enrollment.¡± I turned pale instantly and gulped as I feared for my life. I nodded and walked out of the class and to the dean¡¯s office. Each step closer filled the hollow halls with echoes slowly getting louder and louder the closer I got to his door. My heart was about to thump out of my chest when I knocked on the door. The door opened itself and I was allowed in. The Dean was sitting in his chair, but it was next to one of his windows instead of his desk. He patted a comfortable looking seat next to him for me to sit in. Not having much of a choice in the matter, I sat down and waited for him to begin talking. My heart was racing even faster now as adrenaline filled my blood. He chuckled and said ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry Simon. I''m not going to do to you what I did to that fugitive.¡± That statement didn¡¯t comfort me at all. My heart kept thumping and he turned towards me with a sigh, understanding why I would be scared at this moment. He leaned back and asked ¡°Do you know why you were accepted into this school?¡± I nodded and said ¡°My grades in the human school.¡± The Dean shook his head and said ¡°Even if you had horrendous grades, you would still be here. The reason why you are here is because of your family, and how it is tied to me. I¡¯m not saying I am your ancestor or anything of the sort. I am a pure blood vampire through and through. But I knew your great great great grandparents. Especially your great great great grandfather. At the time, I was a student here, and he was the human accepted into this school. He was strong willed and free spirited, and not closed off as you are. He and I were friends despite the wall between us. He made his way through his school career, easily placing in the top ten of the students, only being beaten by me in grades. He had the same locker you do now. He and I graduated next to each other, when he did something I wasn¡¯t expecting. He told me that he had gotten into a relationship. Your great great great grandmother. But what I wasn¡¯t expecting was that she was a vampire. She was gorgeous, and in the same standing as me. Pure blood. He told me to keep this secret for as long as he lived, but I couldn¡¯t. I confronted him and his then betrothed saying things like ¡®you cannot be together. The laws demand any pure bloods to be with other pure bloods.¡¯ That makes me sound jealous, and I was, but not because of his betrothed. I was jealous because I felt betrayed. He had found love before we had gotten to¡­¡± The dean stopped for a moment and looked melancholy, looking down at his lap. He lifted his head up and continued. ¡°We were supposed to combine the human and vampire world and make it better. He was more realistic in saying that it wouldn¡¯t happen because of how weak humans are. I was more idealistic. So why was I jealous? I still don¡¯t know why myself. But in the moment when I confronted them, I lashed out in anger and grabbed your ancestor by the shoulder and¡­ had my fill.¡± The phrasing sent a chill through my body. I looked at the dean as he stopped for a few moments. Taking this opportunity, I asked ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡± He sighed and said ¡°Because when I came to my senses and realized what I had done, your ancestor just held my hand and smiled. I don¡¯t know why but he treated me as a friend. His point was proven as to why we couldn¡¯t combine the human and vampire nations. His betrothed shoved me away and tried to save him, she tried to turn him. But it was too late. He was gone, with a smile on his face. She cried of course. And so did I. That blood stain next to your locker. That was from when I first met your ancestor. I hadn¡¯t attacked him, but I didn¡¯t help him. He was being bullied by more proud vampires who thought he was ruining the sanctity of the school by just being there. I haven¡¯t cleaned it up because I don¡¯t want to. But what I didn¡¯t know at the time is that your great great great grandmother had gotten pregnant. She had to cover it up of course so she married a pure blood. Me as it was better than an outsider finding out that the child was my friend¡¯s. Your lineage is part vampire, but it has never shown itself. You get none of the advantages that come with being one, and I have no idea why. So when I saw your last name, Alexander, had never changed from your ancestor¡¯s, I took a chance hoping you were an exact copy of him. Again, my idealistic qualities shining through. The reason why I wanted to talk about your enrollment is because I wanted to give you a chance to not only rethink coming here, mainly because of last night, but also because of your peers.¡± I was getting more and more confused the longer he spoke. When he finally stopped, I was so much more confused than he thought I would be. He stammered a little and asked ¡°W-what?¡± I sighed and asked ¡°Why¡­ Why are you acting like we are friends? You murdered someone right in front of my eyes! And yet you¡¯re telling me about your school days?!¡± He clasped his hands together, looking a little distraught at that realization and said ¡°Oh¡­ yeah¡­ forgot about that.¡± I rubbed my temples and groaned. I looked up at him and asked ¡°Are you bipolar or something?¡± He laughed at that statement and said ¡°Perhaps. My old age is getting the better of me. But the real reason I wanted to talk with you about your enrollment is because of Priscilla.¡± I leaned back in the chair and scoffed. He continued and said ¡°You cannot get into any sort of relationship with her. You may be friends, but nothing more. That is all I can say concerning that. If you two do get more serious, not only will your protections from this school be lifted, you will also be sent back to be a blood bank.¡± I went pale again and asked ¡°Why? Why so strict with Priscilla?¡± The Dean shook his head and said ¡°I cannot say.¡± I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed. I looked at the Dean and steeled my resolve ¡°I will finish this school. And I will prove that I have no vampire ancestry. Is that all sir?¡± The Dean smiled and said ¡°Yes. you may go to your fifth period.¡± I hadn¡¯t realized that the time went by so quickly yet again. The bell rang and I marched out of his office with a new found resolve. I held my head up high as I walked through the hallways to anatomy. I took my usual seat, finding Priscilla already here. She gave me the same predatory smile as before and asked ¡°What took you so long? Was wanting to talk with you some more.¡± I sat down and just realized that I hadn¡¯t had lunch, so my stomach growled. I may have been in the Dean¡¯s office for longer than I thought. Or was I just going through the motions until now? Did I have lunch? I don¡¯t know. I looked at Priscilla as she said my name a bit louder and had startled me. I stared into her eyes and said ¡°Oh¡­ sorry. Was just out of it.¡± She smiled some more and said ¡°Finally talking to me, huh? No longer brooding like in the nurse¡¯s office?¡± I laughed a little and said ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m¡­ doing better now. But what did you want to know?¡± she shrugged and said ¡°Was mainly wondering if you were still going to¡­¡± she whispered the next part for only me to hear ¡°if you were still going to come to my dorm on the weekend.¡± She pulled away and rested her head in her right palm. Her being so close made me shiver but also blush. I thought about it and the bell finally rang. I turned towards her and said ¡°I¡¯ll tell you after class.¡± She smiled the same way again and soon the teacher spoke. He went over how blood kept vampires alive, mainly how the stomach processed the iron rich liquid. He walked up and down the aisles of the counters, slowly explaining that even dead tissue, like a severed finger, from a vampire could be easily reattached with the smallest amount of blood. Wanting to show this, he held up his hand that had bandages on it. Everyone gasped and turned towards me, expecting me to comply. I was looking worried and the teacher said ¡°Do not worry, not only will the amount of blood be negligible, I also have the Dean¡¯s permission to only take a tiny amount of your blood. I just need your permission.¡± I looked at my hands and flexed them both, thinking it over. I nodded and said ¡°Alright. But keep to your word.¡± The teacher nodded and had a needle at the ready before I even realized it. He kept to his word and took the smallest amount of blood necessary for this demonstration. He opened the classroom fridge and took out his severed finger. He placed it onto a paper towel and said ¡°and no, I did not do this on purpose. Was helping a friend with fixing their front porch, and had cut it off with a saw.¡± He continued his demonstration, orienting his hand and severed finger in the way it should be attached, and dribbled my blood onto the wound. Before long, the blood was all but used and he lifted his hand to show the pinky finger had been reattached, and not just reattached, but also functional within seconds. He smiled and said ¡°Now, that amount of blood is only useful for fingers and toes. If you¡¯re missing an appendage, you will need liters of blood to reattach. Even more to make it functional, effectively killing the host whose blood you used. Now the way this process works is by¡­¡± I trailed off in my thoughts as what I had seen was nothing but magic. I stared at the paper towel his pinky was on dumbfounded. Priscilla reached a hand over to my mouth and closed it for me saying very quietly ¡°You¡¯re not listening, are you?¡± I shook my head side to side a little, still taken aback by the wizardry that took place. I looked at Priscilla and said ¡°If that were your blood, and you had no idea that could happen, wouldn¡¯t you act in the same way?¡± she giggled a little and nodded, turning her attention back to the teacher. The class soon ended. I started packing up when Priscilla tapped my shoulder, looking expectantly at me. I looked confused and then said ¡°Oh! Right. I uh¡­ had an extremely realistic dream last night. I mean like it happened right in front of me. My¡­ dream was about someone dying¡­ specifically a human student from this school. One written in the history books for humans. It was such a vivid dream that I couldn¡¯t sleep the rest of the night.¡± Priscilla nodded and said ¡°I can understand that, especially if you aren¡¯t used to such a sight. Though if you are, I¡¯d be more worried about everyone else around you.¡± She smiled that predatory smile again before walking off and out of the classroom. I followed out of the classroom, but couldn¡¯t find her outside. I was so confused how she could just disappear like that. But thinking about her made me think back to what the Dean had said. It made me think back about what he said about my lineage too. There¡¯s absolutely no way that I was part vampire, even if only a little. I made my way to my locker and saw the same blood stain that the Dean spoke of. I shivered thinking about how old it must¡¯ve been if it was from the Dean¡¯s school days. I grabbed the supplies for the last class of the day and started to walk over to the classroom. This class had to be my second favorite period because of the general knowledge I gained from it. Unfortunately, this would be the only year I could take it. The class this time around was more so about the human empires of old such as the Romans, the Europeans, the Germans, and The United States. The wars that were waged in the name of religion, beliefs, and people. The most fascinating war we spoke of was what the old humans called World War 2. The most interesting thing that they spoke of for the empires and wars were the vampires involved in such events and power houses. The Romans had twin emperors that were pale, red headed, and obsessed with gladiator fights. The Europeans had A leader called Alexander the Great that fell in love with Cleopatra. Alexander himself wasn¡¯t the vampire in question though. It was his advisor that told him what he should do to be considered a great ruler. The Germans had many examples, many of which were lost to the winds as most of those records were burned after World War 2. The United States was more ambiguous since it was harder to tell who was just an evil human, and who was a vampire. But with many of the examples this teacher gave, they said that more often than not, vampires actually helped the power houses thrive for the vampire¡¯s own benefit. The class ended too soon, but I had to get to bed and try to actually get some sleep today, and some food before I became malnourished. With a groan, the other students left with me, but I broke off from that group of delinquent vampires, going to my dorm and laying down on my bed after getting home. I rested my eyes for a moment before getting back up and cleaning up the rest of the blood in the carpet. I then took a shower and made some food before I laid back down for the final time that day. But before I could go to sleep, a knock sounded at my windowed door. I sat up and saw Priscilla standing there. Confused, I walked over and slowly opened the door. She smiled and said ¡°Pardon the intrusion.¡± before pushing past me. Flustered by her sudden intrusion, I tried to protest but couldn¡¯t voice any of my opinions I had when I saw that Priscilla was¡­ undressing. I quickly turned around and asked ¡°Why are you here?¡± She shrugged, even though I couldn¡¯t see her and said ¡°You have better water pressure in here and I need a damn good shower.¡± I sighed and caught myself. I wanted to turn back around, but stopped. I was getting more and more confused at her phrasing of such a statement. I finally asked ¡°How do you know I have great water pressure here?¡± I heard the door to my shower close and I finally turned around. Luckily the door was a solid wood door, but I could still hear Priscilla. She started the shower and answered my question ¡°I used to live here. I was a human student once.¡± I sat in a chair and rubbed my face. What I said earlier at the nurse¡¯s office was now such a stupid thing to have said. I sighed and asked ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier at the nurse¡¯s office? You would¡¯ve proved me wrong with what I had said.¡± ¡°Because that¡¯s not who I am, even now as a vampire forty five years later.¡± My breath caught as she had said how long ago she was a human student. I then became confused and asked ¡°Then why wasn¡¯t I aware of a Priscilla being a previous human student?¡± She giggled a little and said ¡°I wonder?¡± I then groaned and asked ¡°Is Priscilla your real name?¡± She gave a hearty laugh and said ¡°DING DING DING! Now he¡¯s getting it.¡± I was becoming more confused as she wasn¡¯t acting like her normal self. She was seemingly acting more relaxed. I finally asked the big question ¡°Why are you here? Other than the shower.¡± She shushed me and said ¡°all in good time. Let me enjoy the pressure first.¡± I sighed and waited for her to finish so she could answer my question. The longer she took, the more worried I became with if the Dean would show up to snap my neck for allowing this to happen. But when her shower came to an end and there was no Dean to be seen, I just became confused. Her arm exited the shower through the door to grab a towel. When she was sufficiently dry, she came out with the towel wrapped around her. I at first closed my eyes, but she then opened another cupboard to get a secret set of women¡¯s school clothes that I had no idea were there. She changed, not caring if I looked or not, but I was raised better than that. I gave her as much privacy as I could before reiterating my question. She sighed and said ¡°We need to talk sooner than the weekend, even though it¡¯ll be here after tomorrow. I assume the dean spoke with you?¡± I nodded and she said I was fine to look at her now. I turned to face her, finding her sitting in one of the kitchen chairs. She smiled towards me and said, obviously teasing me ¡°Such a gentleman.¡± I rolled my eyes and said ¡°Yes, the dean spoke with me.¡± Did he talk about your great great great grandfather or some shit?¡± I nodded in a confused manner and asked ¡°How did you¡­¡± She sighed and said ¡°He does that with every human student. Even when I was a human student. It¡¯s just a ploy by him to get into your good graces. He acts friendly during that meeting only to pounce the next day trying to trick you into being his friend so he can drink your blood. Everyone could hear you yell at him, so I can only assume that you didn¡¯t believe his spiel.¡± I looked confused again and she sighed ¡°We heard you yell, just not what you yelled.¡± I nodded and asked ¡°Then why are you here? Going to try the same trick?¡± She rubbed her eyes, annoyed that I was still so apprehensive about her. She looked at me and continued ¡°I¡¯m here so the dean doesn¡¯t come and try to drink your blood. The reason he doesn¡¯t want you fraternizing with me is because of my history as a human student. He is a control freak, but I think the story he tells to every human student is true. He was a stupid kid once too.¡± ¡°Yeah, but why would he come here to drink my blood?¡± ¡°To get rid of you. Like I said. He¡¯s a control freak that wants every puzzle piece to fit in, in his own way. He hates disorganization. Which is also why he expelled that kid that punched you. He almost fired the anatomy teacher for asking about what he had done today with your blood.¡± I had a general look of confusion on his face for what Priscilla was telling him. He had no idea why she had so much information on the dean that apparently he didn¡¯t know about. I was growing more interested in what she knew of course since the biggest threat to his academic career was always the dean. But the biggest physical threat was still Priscilla. I held up a hand to stop her from speaking but it did little to even catch her attention, now he was talking about her years here as a human saying things like ¡®This school hasn¡¯t changed much over the decades.¡¯ And ¡®The dean is still a jackass for what he did to me.¡¯ The more she spoke about the school she had attended all those years ago, I just grew more interested in the stories that she was seemingly spilling all over the floor. Who knows how long she¡¯s been holding these stories in, or how many humans she¡¯s told. Even though I was fascinated by her, I spoke over her and asked ¡°What do you mean the dean did something to you? What, did he turn you or something when you graduated?¡± Priscilla smiled at my naivety and said ¡°No. I¡¯m the reason he has that rule in the first place.¡± I just sat there stunned. Before continuing to ask questions, Priscilla spoke more. ¡°He made the ruling after the student that had turned me showed up dead for no reason. Apparently, even though I had become turned, my blood was still toxic to a vampire. I had early onset sepsis that turned my blood into the poison that killed him. I hadn¡¯t noticed the effects of the blood poisoning until my body started to heal because of the clean blood that I was being given to combat the blood poisoning, otherwise, I would be just another dead and recently turned vampire. Safe to say that my blood turning into the thing that killed the student was a very fitting end to a vampire, I still don¡¯t think he deserved it. I had allowed him to drink my blood because¡­ I got involved with him.¡± She dropped her smile for a replacement melancholic look in her eyes and a somber look on the rest of her face. She coughed and cleared her throat before continuing to talk. Most of what she said didn¡¯t make it to my ears as I had drowned out the rest of the noise after that revelation. I have no idea why I did that, but¡­ was it jealousy? Was I jealous that I wasn¡¯t the first man for her to look at in some way? Let alone be in a relationship with? My mind was spiraling, but I don¡¯t know why I was spiraling. It had gotten so bad that I blacked out and could only faintly hear a thump and a groan, I assume from Priscilla because I never heard the door open. Before I knew it, it was morning and Priscilla was gone, and it was time for the last day of the week. I had already been put through the wringer half way through. But with what¡¯s happened? I was oddly excited to see what would happen today.


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 Day 5 of 30:

    I¡¯m not even sure how to react to the information I received from Priscilla. She¡­ should I believe what she said? Was she lying to me? I¡­ don¡¯t know who I can trust¡­ First the dean tells me something ridiculous like he knew one of my ancestors, and then Priscilla tells me that he was lying and that he had tried to pull the same trick on her when she was the human student. Why would either of them want to lie to me? I just cannot get a hold of the situation I am in. I am still excited for this day at school however because¡­ who knows what else I could learn? True or false, any information that could keep me alive, that I believed would keep me alive, I would use at some point. Hopefully I''ll keep my wits about me as I continue through this school year, let alone this quarter. But before I can think of the future, I must stay in the present so I can live to possibly see said future. I made myself breakfast and got a shower then dressed. I paused when grabbing my clothes because I saw Priscilla¡¯s was still in my dorm room. She had put her old clothes where the new ones had been for her to wear. I was just confused by her desire to change in front of me, and why she thought it necessary. My face flustered at the thought of what happened last night, but it would be hard to forget about that anytime soon. My mind raced for what felt like hours as I walked to the front entrance of the school to get ready for P.E. Many of the things I was thinking of had to do with vampire-human relationships, and just how old everyone in this school is. Humans aren¡¯t allowed to celebrate their birthdays or to even know how old we are because we were indoctrinated to believe we didn¡¯t deserve those luxuries. Even with the situation humans are in as cattle, what could we even use to celebrate things such as birthdays? How many should I have had? How old was I? I looked as old as the other students, but Priscilla and the dean have said they are far older than their looks let on. How long do vampires even live for? Who¡¯s the oldest vampire? Who¡¯s the oldest human? Before I knew it, I was already dressed for P.E. and already running around the track for the morning. I hadn¡¯t even noticed the stares I would normally get from the other students. It¡¯s like my brain shut down while I was thinking such ridiculous questions. But how old was I? Could I ask the dean? Priscilla maybe? I can¡¯t even guess how old I am with my peers because I do not know how to gauge a vampire by their looks with them looking so young. I could possibly ask the anatomy teacher. He would have the best information as to how old I am. If I were to be turned, would they tell me? Class was half way through now and we were playing a different game than soccer. The coach had called it ¡°flag football.¡± Although the flags were a bit cumbersome to get on and keep on, it was fairly fun, but I would always get out first since I wasn¡¯t as fast as the other students without constantly pushing myself. Soon the games had ended and the coach called us in to tell us what was in store for next week. He looked towards me when speaking and told me ¡°Since you have to stay on the school grounds, you¡¯re more than welcome to use this field to keep your physical abilities in check. Just leave me a note in the locker room for when you are using it and when you finish.¡± I nodded and the bell rang. We all went into the locker room and changed, getting ready for our next period. Math was somehow much more upbeat than the other days. It could¡¯ve been because it was almost the weekend, but the teacher still seemed gloomy. The class, once again, wasn¡¯t very difficult, but the teacher handed out pre lesson plans for next week about the kind of curricular we will be dealing with throughout the rest of this quarter. The class flashed past in no time at all. Once I set the lesson plans into my bag, the bell rang and we all set out for our next class. I just remembered that yesterday, I seemingly skipped lunch. I will ask the people I sit with if I in fact did go to lunch. Did I perhaps block what happened? I¡¯ll find out soon enough. History was interesting for this day. We not only spoke of human countries, but also vampire countries. How long they ruled for, when they went extinct or changed names, and even who had ruled them. Many human and vampire countries overlapped with the same ruler being a vampire. One that was rather interesting to hear about was a country called transylvania. While it wasn¡¯t a country, humans believed it to be the birth of vampires hundreds of years ago. In this class, the teacher doesn¡¯t say where vampires got their start since it was seemingly common knowledge among my peers, so I raised my hand and asked. ¡°What was the first vampire country?¡± The teacher smiled as if intending to laugh but held it back seeing who I was. He sighed and said ¡°No one remembers the name of the country. It¡¯s not a legend since we live in this day and age, but all records of it have been lost to time. The humans had such records stolen from the monastery that the Original vampires hid in, but they kept those records in a library in an ancient city called Alexandria. There was a great fire that had ruined all the knowledge stored in the library, and the records along with the knowledge that the humans had stored went up in flames. Myths say that it was an enraged vampire that started the fire, not knowing that the records were kept in the library. But no one, not even a vampire, is alive from that time expectedly.¡± The teacher ended his explanation and went back to the lesson. The other students started snickering and leering at me like they were better for having known such information, but I was too invested in writing down that information to save it for later. After a while, the lesson ended, and much like the rest of the classes I have had so far, the teacher handed out lesson plans for next week. Now it was time for lunch and my meeting with my ¡°friend group.¡± I still wasn¡¯t used to them being so friendly towards me, but maybe today would be different. As I got my food and sat at our usual table, the friend group showed up behind me and sat with me. It sent chills down my spine that I hadn¡¯t heard them, but I noticed one was missing. It was Nathaniel. I was confused and asked ¡°Nathaniel not joining us?¡± The other¡¯s stared at me like I was crazy. One of the other¡¯s piped up. It was Nathaniel¡¯s friend that would always sit next to him. He spoke up and said ¡°The uh¡­ The dean had him expelled because he tried to drink your blood yesterday¡­ Do¡­ did you forget that happened?¡± I sat there a little dumbfounded that such a thing happened. I just sat there staring blankly at his empty seat, feeling a little sad that we only had spoken, like really spoken, only once. I just took another bite of my food and said ¡°I must¡¯ve blocked that memory¡­¡± The others sat in somber silence as we all finished our food a good while before the lunch bell rang. When our food was gone, that¡¯s when the conversations started up. Everyone was trying to not be awkward about it, but they couldn¡¯t help it. They elected Nathaniel¡¯s friend to speak up. Jace he said his name was before asking me ¡°So¡­ what is it like to be in that situation?¡± I looked toward him as I drank more water and said ¡°It¡¯s like I am constantly being hunted, and when he had pounced, I just shut down. Almost like I had accepted it.¡± With nothing left to say, the other¡¯s just went back to talking to themselves until the bell rang. Priscilla was oddly quiet as well. She would normally be the one to ask me such a question when she felt like it. But she looked subdued. Like she was being hunted herself. Once the bell rang, we all started for our fourth periods, eventually walking in different directions. Music class wasn¡¯t anything special. I¡¯m not even sure why I was put into this class because, even though I was more coordinated than some of the students, I wasn¡¯t any good compared to others. But the class was still bearable because of the teacher, Ms. Typing. We all played the music nearly perfectly this time around, which please Ms. Tylin, but she still pointed out mistakes among the students, her usual sharp tone not faltering when a student bared their fangs at her for pointing them out. The class soon ended and Ms. Tylin had said ¡°In the middle of the week, we will be getting another piece of music just as hard as this one was to learn. We will switch between the two every now and again so I can test your skills in not only remembering how the song goes, but how many songs you can play one after the other. Dismissed.¡± Right after saying that the bell rang. Some of the students laughed at the coincidence, but didn¡¯t stay long. I made my way to anatomy very quickly to try and talk to the teacher for my fifth period. Luckily I had just made it in time before anyone else had arrived, so I got ready to ask my question. When I stopped in front of what would¡¯ve been his desk, I found a different teacher there instead. I stepped out to look at the classroom number, and the teacher laughed and said ¡°Don¡¯t worry Simon, you¡¯re in the right class. Mr. Schreiner had been let go because of unsavory practices he was performing.¡± The newer, and younger looking teacher stood up and said ¡°My name is Philip. Philip Arronov. I¡¯ll be your new teacher from here on.¡± He held his hand out for me to shake it and I sort of backed away out of reflex and he looked sheepish as he realized that I still wasn¡¯t used to life here. He put his hands away and said ¡°Maybe another time. Please, take your seat.¡± I walked passed Mr. Arronov rather briskly and took my usual seat., waiting for everyone else to arrive. Everyone was rather sluggish when entering and I wondered why. They all looked¡­ dead. More than usual at least. Everyone except Priscilla was acting weird. Mr. Arronov clapped his hands together and started speaking after everyone was seated. ¡°Alright! Welcome to anatomy, I will be your new teacher, Mr. Arronov. Some of you may wonder what happened to Mr. Schreiner, but he will no longer be teaching here. So unfortunately, you will have to be with me.¡± He gave a smile that felt like it had shook the whole room. Not only myself, but everyone else had gotten a cold feeling after he said his name. I shivered because of the smile, but everyone else recognised the name. No one spoke up. Mr. Arronov started his lesson holding the smile. He was a natural at being a teacher despite the imposing aura he exuded, and the constant predatory smile he never got rid of. He touched on older subjects we had already learned so he could grasp our current knowledge and he clicked his tongue when figuring out that we had only just learned of the blood healing that Mr. Schreiner demonstrated. He looked around and said ¡°I believe the teachers are lacking here if that is all you learned from Schreiner. Shame how this seems to have fallen.¡± There was a confused silence, but Mr. Arronov did not elaborate. He started to speak faster than Mr. Schreiner, making it difficult to understand him. Everyone else seemed to be fine after a while, but I was behind by a good margin. Priscilla spared me a glance and just sighed, continuing to take her notes. The class ended far quicker than it should¡¯ve. Mr. Arronov finished with a twirl and laughed, like this was exhilarating for him. He snapped his fingers and the bell rang. He looked at his watch and said ¡°Right on cue.¡± He waved off every student, especially so at me. When I left, I barely heard him say ¡°Hope you survive meat bag.¡± I turned around to look at him, but the door closed too quickly. I hadn¡¯t noticed, but I broke out into a cold sweat when I exited. The sheer pressure made me realize that whenever he looked around the room made everyone take a gasp and hold their breath. I almost ran away from that class room, not wanting to be there any more. I sat against my locker wall and just looked at the blood stain next to me. Something about Mr. Arronov felt off. Like he was trying to get the reaction that he was looking for. Not from everyone else, but solely from me. He deepened the enigma that was this school. Picking myself up, I grabbed my things for my last class, wanting the comforting silence that would¡¯ve been my heart and brain. Walking into the class, everyone could smell the sweat on me and turned to see that I was in distress. I, for better or worse, had gotten used to the feeling, so I just sat down and waited for class to begin. This class went back to exploring previous vampire rulers, the class eventually ending on Alexander the great. Nothing was known about him in the current day and age. But he was a striking figure in both human and vampire societies. Not only conquering most of the known world at the time, but also being a fantastic ruler from the vampire¡¯s perspective. Even statue busts that portrayed his face looked imposing. Something wasn¡¯t right about the busts. I couldn¡¯t put a finger on why it felt off, but I would have to figure it out for later. The bell rang for the last time, for me at least, and everyone made their way out. I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about Mr. Arronov and his smile. His curly red hair and wicked look in his eyes made him look like he was trying to spit fire from his eyes while fire erupted from his head. I walked up to the dean¡¯s office and gave it a firm knock. The right door opened slowly for me to enter, and I entered looking for answers. The dean looked towards me and said ¡°How can I help you Simon?¡± I walked into his room a little timid at first, unsure how to start this conversation. He saw that I was a little tense from something and closed the book he had been reading when I entered his office. After marking his place in the book, I walked over and he asked ¡°Is something the matter? Did a student try to harm you?¡± I shook my head and said ¡°No. It¡¯s nothing to do with the students. It¡¯s¡­ Mr. Schreiner¡­ Mr. Aranov told us that he was let go because of the stunt he had pulled with using my blood to fix an injury he had. Did you really fire him? Mr. Schreiner had told us you gave your blessing for such a lesson, and I even agreed to let it happen, which is the main thing¡­¡± The dean looked just as confused as me and asked ¡°Who is this Mr. Aronov? I don¡¯t remember that name being on the roster for potential teachers.¡± I sat back in a chair after that realization and said ¡°He is a¡­ very dominating person¡­ Not just in physique¡­ But also demeanor. He has fiery red curly hair¡­¡± The dean suddenly stood up and said ¡°You said red hair?¡± I nodded and asked ¡°Why does that matter?¡± He rubbed his eyes and said ¡°Well¡­ you¡¯ll find out some other time. Right now, you¡¯ll just have to deal with him. Look out for his charm. It doesn¡¯t work particularly well on other vampires, but it works especially well on humans.¡± I sank further into the chair and asked ¡°How am I supposed to deal with him for now if he can use his charm¡­ to¡­¡± The dean sighed and said ¡°Even though he may have appeared here suddenly, he must still comply with the school rules. No one is exempt from it. Not even HIM.¡± I slowly stood up, my legs shaking as I was just terrified of what would happen if I wasn¡¯t constantly on guard. I looked at the dean and asked ¡°And¡­ another thing. How old am I? I know all vampires are so much older than humans, but to be forty years older and still look so young? I had no idea that would¡­¡± The dean cut me off once again, making me slightly infuriated with how often he did it. But he sighed, not explaining how old I was, simply shooing me away. And yet again, he gave me a non-answer. He started closing the door and said ¡°Remember Simon, do not fall for Aronov¡¯s tricks and charms. He has only one goal from the looks of it. Stay safe, and have a friend escort you back to your dorm room.¡± I couldn¡¯t say anything to that so I simply nodded and left. I looked around for a friend to escort me, but I couldn¡¯t remember their names at this time. I wasn¡¯t confident in myself anymore. Then, I ran into Priscilla. Their next period wouldn¡¯t start for another hour or so, but she was sitting in front of one of the classrooms waiting for it to start. I wondered why she wasn¡¯t hanging out with the others, but this was a benefit to me. I walked up to her and asked ¡°Long day?¡± She looked up and she looked¡­ different. It¡¯s hard to say¡­ But she looked more animalistic. Like she wasn¡¯t fully¡­ human anymore. I wasn¡¯t paying attention to everyone else when I was walking up to her, but now I noticed the rest. Their eyes were darker, redder. Their ears were more pointed as well as their noses looking like knives. Their skin looking like a thick leather instead of soft human skin. Everyone was looking like they were the old, the ancient drawings, of vampires. Perhaps there was some truth to those pictures after all. Priscilla was trying to speak to me, but I was going into a panic attack when I noticed her teeth. They weren¡¯t normal anymore. They were razor blades¡­ They were only incisors. Jagged, sharp, dangerous. I nearly passed out, but then I snapped back to reality when I finally broke out of the fog that had taken my vision. Priscilla finally looked normal again. I rubbed my eyes and looked once more. She was Priscilla again. I¡­ what did I just see? What do vampires actually look like? Did I see their true form or something? Was I hallucinating because of all the stress I was being put through? ¡°...mon. ¡­ Simon. Earth to Simon. There a problem?¡± I shook my head a little to break out of my thoughts and said ¡°Yeah? Oh¡­ sorry, thoughts were just¡­ rampaging around like usual.¡± She had an incredulous look on her face and said ¡°uh huh. And I eat normal food. What¡¯s wrong? Someone try to attack you or something?¡± I shook my head again and said ¡°No. But I do have something to ask that pertains to that. Could you walk me back to my room? If yes, can you take your old clothes out of my closet? I fear they¡¯re stinking up my room.¡± She laughed and said ¡°There you are. Yeah I can do that. And no, I¡¯m not doing that. Those clothes looked fine, but they were OLD. Like, my days as a human here old. I don¡¯t want those rags again.¡± I sighed and gave a grumpy glare to her and asked ¡°Not even if I would owe you a favor later on?¡± She silenced me and said ¡°Don¡¯t go saying that around here. Especially as a human. And, no. Not even for a favor. They¡¯re just¡­ too old.¡± She looked like she was hiding something from me, but I was just glad that she would walk me back to my room. I gave her a smile and asked ¡°Shall we get going? Or do you want to continue waiting for your date with this class?¡± She snorted at the remark and pushed me back a little. It didn¡¯t hurt as much as I thought it would, but I got the hint. I started walking down the stairs and out of the school. Priscilla stayed close to me, knowing what I was going through. But soon, my thoughts would be enveloping my mind again and they ranged from what the dean had said about Mr. Aronov, to why Priscilla looked the way she did when I walked up to her. But soon, I thought back to when she had told me that she was originally a human here and it made me wonder aloud ¡°How long have you been here?¡± I had asked this question in a low voice, but she heard me anyway and said ¡°Ever since I was turned. For vampires, the juvenile phase lasts A LOT longer than a human''s juvenile stage. Most vampires go to school for at least a hundred years. Many of the students that are in the higher grades are from my days in school.¡± That was a little surprising, but also made some sense. If vampires theoretically could live forever, when they¡¯re young, they should learn about all the history they could and learn from their ancestor¡¯s mistakes, much like humans. But their history is a lot more complex than ours. I let my thoughts run wild for a moment and then asked ¡°If¡­ you don¡¯t mind my asking, how old were you when you got turned, and how old are you now?¡± Priscilla nodded knowingly and said ¡°I know why you want to know, but it¡¯s ungentlemanly to ask a woman her age. Especially when you have only known each other for a week.¡± That comment made me blush from embarrassment, making Priscilla laugh heartily. I smiled. I¡¯ve been smiling a lot more lately. A lot more than before. Mainly with Priscilla. My smile faded as I thought back to her appearance when I had found her. I wanted to ask about it, but couldn¡¯t find the words. Priscilla stared down at me. She was a good deal taller than me, mainly because she wore heels that added three inches to her height, but she was a full head taller than me even without them. She grew more curious about what I was thinking about, considering that I was stuck in a nightmare of¡­ my own making? Why was I in a nightmare? Had Nathaniel actually drank some of my blood? Had he¡­ turned¡­ Before I could finish that thought Priscilla snapped me out of my brain and asked ¡°Thinking about Nathaniel? About¡­ how he attacked you?¡± I shrugged and said ¡°Partially. I still don''t remember when he had attacked me. All I do remember is that he had come to talk with me after the dean had¡­¡± I sighed and continued ¡°Nathaniel looked rough. Like he was forcing himself into blood starvation¡­ But then, if he attacked me, why am I still alive? I should be dead, or at least turned. Why am I still walking and talking like a hu¡­¡± Suddenly, I went back to the bullshit story the dean had told me about my ancestor, how he had a child with a vampire, and that I was a descendant of that bloodline. Priscilla was getting a little fidgety and didn¡¯t say anything, just staring ahead and saying ¡°Oh. Looks like we¡¯re here.¡± I looked up and said ¡°Oh¡­ Right. Forgot that¡¯s why we were walking.¡± Priscilla smiled calmly and said ¡°Just¡­ Let me know if you need my help alright? I know the fear you have, and it¡¯ll get better. As long as you trust the friends you make.¡± I nodded, a little concerned and asked ¡°What, are you leaving the school or something?¡± She looked down and said ¡°No¡­ Not yet at least. This is my final year here.¡± I just stood there in silence, a blank smile on my face trying to process the information for me. I turned around and opened the door slowly, not sure of what to say. I turned my head to the left and looked at her from the corner of my eye. Her animalistic face was back, making me go pale. I hastily said ¡°Night¡­ Cya tomorrow.¡± Priscilla was disheartened by that last interaction, but understood what he felt in some way. She turned and walked back to the school for her next class. I was in one of my chairs, head hanging. I brought my hands up to my head and rested my face in my palms, and my elbows on the table. I rubbed my face and groaned. It was the weekend now. Should I even go meet her? She spoke with me earlier in the week about some incredibly important stuff. Did she already talk about what she wanted to tell me? Or¡­ was it a trap? Would I see another face that she hasn¡¯t shown me? Would tomorrow be my last day as a human? Would I be dead? Would Mr. Aronov come and find me before that happens? I have no clue. All I know is that¡­ I feel different than before. But I need to sleep. I was exhausted.


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 Weekend 1 of 12

    This next day was¡­ normal. Nothing was in my room. Nothing was trying to break in. Everything was how it was when the week began. The only thing that was different was me. I had already experienced many horrors that any other man would simply die from shock from witnessing, yet I lived on. Why? Why was it me that had to be in this school? Couldn¡¯t it have been someone else that this rotten luck would have befallen onto? Why must I continue walking when I should be resting, underneath the ground. My life has turned from an actual tragedy, and what would be considered genocide a few hundred years ago, to¡­ life? Some sense of normalcy that I never knew could¡¯ve existed? Why did I feel at ease, even though today, I would be in the most danger. Right? Why¡­ Why can¡¯t I remember what happened yesterday? I have no clue what happened or who I talked to, even though I can clearly see a journal entry. Was I visited? Or¡­ Could I just be in another dream, forcing myself to forget and enjoy this day. Before I could answer myself in another question, my dream faded from reality, forcing my vision to slowly return to real life, a dense fog clouding my vision. Rubbing my eyes, the fog slowly went away, giving way to a blindingly bright sun in my door. Almost too bright. Yet it felt just as warm as ever, maybe even more so. I looked my body over to see if anyone had come in the night and attacked me, but I couldn¡¯t find any damage. My skin was safe, and the same rosy hue that I had when I first entered the school. Blood continued to pump through my body. Nothing was out of the ordinary. I was just tired. I got up, out of my bed, walking over to the bathroom, and cleansing myself of yesterday''s activities. Food was slower to be made. But it was still as delicious as I could make it. Anything was better than the gruel I had to endure while being a human slave in¡­ Where had I come from? Was I still dreaming? Or was I actually forgetting who I was before this school happened? I¡¯m not sure. But I never knew the name of where I grew up anyway, so I wasn¡¯t that scared? I continued my morning routine until I was about to get dressed. I had reached for my clothing and saw Priscilla¡¯s clothes that she had left. I sighed at the sight and closed the closet, going to one of my dressers to get some normal clothing on. My foggy memory slowly came back to me the more I moved around, and everything was falling back into place. Yesterday was just¡­ annoying. I had recognized something was going on subconsciously, but I had no idea what it actually was. I couldn¡¯t dwell on such thoughts for the entire day¡­ Right? I had no prior obligations other than meeting up with Priscilla. She was quite the enigma to me. She is supposedly a former human, being in the same position that I am now, yet she is an overwhelmingly popular peer among the student body. The more answers I conjured up, the more questions I received. Today was already exhausting, and it hadn¡¯t even been 3 hours yet. Gathering my thoughts into a nice pile in my mind would definitely help, but with so many running rampant, how could I even focus on just grabbing one? It was a near impossible feat, yet I had achieved the impossible. It had only taken ten minutes, not the hour I thought it was going to be, and I started sorting through them categorically. Who my friends are, who my enemies are, protectors, betrayers¡­ lovers. I was scatterbrained not much longer after thinking about that. Composing myself yet again gave me promising results. I started to think about who was who, even with the little amounts of information I had to begin with, but I made progress. Not wanting to disclose who can help me, I won¡¯t write their names or descriptions in this book, but some have already been mentioned countless times. This room is poorly protected from a human¡¯s view point, but considering most of the perpetrators would be vampires, the room made sense. This will give me an advantage when I need to confront one of them, but it will only help so much. I was still, after all, only human. Even hindered by the sun¡¯s rays, they are far stronger than I could dream of being. After finishing this entry, I will hide this journal for safe keeping, not wanting any information about me or my mental state leaking out. These entries so far have just been recountings. I have been vague on many details on purpose, making sure only certain descriptions are known. But now¡­ I¡¯m just not sure what I can do. At least in terms of school life and possibly dying to Mr. Aronov. But with this journal, if anyone finds this, you will know the horrors that I not only had to endure to survive, but the near death experiences I have had so far, with many more to come. That I know is for certain. From now on, I will be as descriptive as I can be to help anyone reading this visualize what¡¯s happening. With hiding this journal, I will describe everyone that is close to me in detail, starting with the dean. He is an extremely foreboding man. Not only does e represent the distant past, but also the torture that happens to me. Even though he has ensured my safety, it is only for after I have been attacked. He wants to see me tortured mentally because he enjoys the torment it brings to me. He stands at a very intimidating six foot nine. Silver white hair lining his head and facial features. He always wears suits, all black including the shirt, wanting to seemingly hide in the darkness, further adding onto the mental torment. Next is Mr. Aronov. I do not know what his objectives are at all, but I can assume what they could be based on our limited interactions. He singles me out, acts intimidating, loves to torment everyone, not just me, and his personality is just as fiery as his hair. He is unpredictable. While shorter than the dean, he is still a very tall man at six foot five. His face seems like it came from an ancient statue from Greece or something, further adding onto his intimidation factor. His face is completely barren of any facial hair, not even so much as peach fuzz. He likes to wear jewelry, especially earrings from the looks of it, having five pieces on one ear. He wears a necklace with an old Roman symbol. I do not know what the symbol actually means, but it looks like a staff with two ovals sitting at the top in the center, in between what look like two sperm cells with baby heads on either of them. I am not well versed in ancient roman symbols or coins, but I had just learned of two twin emperors who were ruthless, bearing the same symbol on the day of their birth. Mr. Aronov could be one of those twins¡­ But they are centuries, millenia dead. I was told about the twin emperors during my common sense class, but they didn¡¯t show any pictures of busts or anything. Only paintings or artists'' renditions of the twin emperors. I can¡¯t tell who he is by just examining his looks. I need more information. But how would I find out more about him? I know the dean would do an investigation of his own, but would he tell me what he finds? This first WEEK has been more eventful than my entire time in a human school. Not just the assignments, but also the environment that I was being taught in. The first day was horrible, as expected honestly. But being told that I could let anyone drink my blood was daunting to say the least. I have no idea why the vampires would give such a luxury to a human, even if I was able to find my way into this school. I¡¯m not sure how to handle this school. Many of the people are¡­ ¡°kind,¡± they treat me as nicely as they¡¯re used to, but¡­ most of them are fake anyways. It¡¯s hard for me to tell if they are being genuine or not. They are the perfect actors. I can¡¯t learn their mannerisms very easily, especially since I am constantly terrified for my life. In this school, people are for themselves first before they help others. They are always calculating the best course of action for when to talk, intervene, or even, to attack. When I was knocked out for scoring in soccer, that didn¡¯t feel calculated. It hurt like hell obviously, but it was much more emotional than smart. I understand why he attacked me, but I don¡¯t understand why the dean expelled him. During the assembly he had to announce my presence, he had mentioned my blood, but harm was a lot less emphasized. Right? Today was already half done as noon rolled around much faster than I had expected it to, and my stomach started to grumble. I made myself some food and walked out of my dorm room, wanting to go for a walk to see if I can find anything that can help me understand this school more, since I obviously am missing several hints and clues. There wasn¡¯t much in the forest unfortunately. I did find an old rotted book though. The only letters I could make out were ¡°-ck.¡± The forest had taken too much of the book and the bookworms had eaten way too much for me to read, let alone touch, this book. Exiting the forest after about three hours, I went back into my dorm room and found a note from Priscilla. It read ¡°Plans are still open if you want to meet again.¡± Feeling much better about today, I figured a good time to meet up with her would be sometime near eight in the afternoon. I wanted to look for more clues, if there even were any. Not sure where else to look, I decided to go closer to the school and look for more clues for this building¡¯s history. Other than finding precisely trimmed grass, I didn¡¯t find anything whatsoever. If I were to find anything, it would be in the forest since that seemed to be more wild and untamed than right next to the school. While I was walking past a couple of windows however, I felt a set of eyes peering towards me and then heard something thud onto the ground from behind. I turned around to see a book lying a few paces back, but couldn¡¯t see or feel the eyes. I walked to the book and picked it up. There was nothing on the outside or the spine of the book to tell me what the book was called, but it was thick. Curiosity was rushing through me, but I figured it best to wait to read the book when I returned to my dorm room. I tucked the book into my side, my arm holding it into the right side of my body, periodically switching which sides of my body the book was on. I walked around the school more and finally took in the full majesty of this ancient and magnificent building. It had multiple steeples, stained glass windows depicting what I could only assume were other vampires. One in the center even showed one of them hung up on a cross with his hands and feet nailed into it. Must¡¯ve been extremely ancient considering the clothing the person on the cross was wearing, and the bystanders depicted in the background. They most likely figured out they were a vampire or something similar to have ostracized and tortured him to that extent. The other windows were much more faded than the center window. Only the shapes being noticeable. The colors were completely gone. The state of the other windows made the center window even more curious. He had to have been a very important figure in not only vampire history, but human as well for it to be treated like a precious treasure. But then why would the others not be cared for at all? Were they traitors perhaps? I cannot figure this out in one evening walk so I continued past and walked around to the front entrance. It felt so empty. No students walking around, being a nuisance, or even pestering me. It felt oddly surreal, like this is how life is supposed to be, yet I know it to be different. This school did not feel authentic without people, without students populating its entrance, its courtyard or its windows. This feeling must be something I cherish to dissociate from my everyday life to stay sane. Otherwise, I won¡¯t be long for this world and offer myself up to the closest vampire. That¡­ That won¡¯t happen. I¡¯ll make sure of it. Through the next four hours, I simply walked the campus grounds and searched for any other clues, only finding simple boulders that had words carved into them, now long since etched away by centuries of rainwater eroding the contents of the words. Although, on one that looked to be the oldest, it was closer to the tree line of the forest, it was overgrown with vines and roots. I¡¯d brushed some of the vines and dirt away to see if anything remained of the etched texts, and to my surprise and horror, there were letters¡­ and numbers. The letters indeed spelled out RedCrest Academy, or at least the start of RedCrest. But the numbers couldn¡¯t be right. They were far too ancient to be relevant. The dates that were written were 1927-1928. Millennia before I was even conceived, before my ancestors two hundred years ago were even born. Centuries before the rise of the vampire empire. Something they always teach to humans, no matter what, are dates of important events they deem worthy to teach to us. All the dates they give are recent, such as 3792, the year Elias Edwards came to power. This stone would be nearly two millennia older than Elias Edwards. Why has this school been around for so long, and why has it been left standing with such a name? It is truly hard to believe what this stone has revealed for me, but I can¡¯t stare at this forever. I moved along from the stone and walked along the edge some more, finding a couple more stones with similar writing carved into them like the first, only the dates were getting closer and closer to the present day, winding inwards towards the front of the school. The stones that weren¡¯t covered with vines and dirt being the ones I saw first, almost completely eroded away. But the closer to the entrance I got, the more legible the words and numbers became, eventually stopping at the current year, 4273-4274. How many more stones are there? Why are there so few stones yet such a wide range of years between the last I saw and the next? There were even some separations that ranged from years to centuries. Could they be wars that stopped the school from functioning because they couldn¡¯t have students learn here comfortably? It is impossible to correctly guess why the long gaps between stones, but the only way I could know is if I asked the dean. Surely he would have the records of the school that went as far back as 1927. That should be left for another day as it is getting close to eight pm now. The sun slowly setting in the distant horizon is very calming for what I am about to learn. But I will still bask in the glow of the setting sun, letting the warmth comfort me for the moment. Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes for the moment left me vulnerable and it felt¡­ liberating. I could float on a cloud with how much stress had been released. It was a feeling like nothing else. But the feeling quickly ended as I felt that same pair of eyes on me as before when I had found the book. I quickly opened my eyes and whipped around looking for where I was being watched from. Unable to find them, I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead and cautiously walked to the girl¡¯s dormitory where Priscilla was being housed. After walking to the building or dorm rooms, I asked the building supervisor which room Priscilla was bunking in. She scoffed and said ¡°Careful human, she¡¯s a biter.¡± Cackling to herself at her ever so hilarious joke. While the joke itself wasn¡¯t terrible, I¡¯d heard it a million times before. Seeing that I was undeterred from her joke, she sighed and said ¡°Room 307. Third floor if you¡¯re stupid.¡± I rolled my eyes at her and walked away with the information. She went back to whatever she was doing, but before I had started to make my way up the stairs to go to the third floor, I felt the same pair of eyes on me again. This time, the glare was much more intense. And I knew where it was coming from this time. The supervisor had been tailing me, letting their bloodlust be known for a few seconds at a time while I was walking about the campus. I glared down the corridor back to her, flinching as what I saw was a horrifying visage of a person. It was truly a horrible sight. It would be nearly impossible for me to tell you how she looked as I couldn¡¯t see her face clearly, but her eyes had the same reflective glow that Priscilla¡¯s did when I saw her ¡°true¡± face. A shudder went down my spine as the glow disappeared. I continued up the stairs and eventually walked up to Priscilla¡¯s floor. I knocked on her door and waited a few moments before the door to her room swung open towards the room itself, not out into the hall. She stood there, now barely taller than me, maybe half a head taller now rather than a full head taller. She beamed a smile at me and asked ¡°How was your day pipsqueak?¡± I gave a shallow laugh to her remark and said ¡°It was fine, but now I have more questions than I know what to do with. Hopefully you can help me with them.¡± She bit her lip holding in her laugh and said, straining her voice ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll help as much as I can.¡± She invited me into her room and it was¡­ Completely barren of color or souvenirs. The walls were grey and darker grey, making for a very drab room in comparison to mine which had red walls, and a maroon ceiling. Now that I thought about it, the room coloring was too on the nose. Anyways, I walked into her room and took note of everything around me, mainly what could be used as weapons by either of us if it called for it. She knew what I was doing and said ¡°Hey, Pee-Wee. Do you really feel unsafe around me?¡± I turned my head back towards her and nodded my head rather confidently. She held a hand up to her chest and said ¡°That hurt. More than you could know.¡± She smiled softly and said ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s have a seat and get started. What questions do you have?¡± I took a seat after her and started with asking rapid fire questions such as ¡°What is this school hiding? Why are humans allowed to come here when they are in so much danger? Who is the dean and why is he so gungho about the rules to the point that if I get harmed, the student responsible gets expelled?¡± She held up a hand for me to stop and said ¡°OK! Calm down. First off, this school has secrets that I do not know. You¡¯d have to ask the dean. For the last two questions, Both are weird. Humans being allowed to go here is only recent history. Like three hundred years ago recently. And the dean¡­ I have no clue. I asked him when I was a human student and he laughed it off rather loudly, expecting that to be my answer. He is so gungho about the rules because he¡¯s the one that implemented them in the first place. He¡¯s the reason for the human students being allowed here. And that is why students that harm you, no matter what, get expelled. What he said during the assembly was mainly a scare tactic to keep students in line, but the senior students know his words are not vague and not empty.¡± I nodded and took a deep breath. I look towards the book that was now in my lap and lift it asking, ¡°Did you leave this behind me?¡± Priscilla carefully took it out of my hands and looked through it carefully since nothing could be read on the outside, not even a synopsys. After giving it a once over, she snapped it closed and handed it back rather quickly. ¡°Whatever this book is, I cannot say. But I did not give it to you. I have been in my room all day. Whoever gave that to you is sending a message¡­ One that you will not like.¡± I nodded slowly and set the book down on my lap once again. I sighed some more and asked ¡°Do you know how old this school is?¡± Priscilla thought for a moment, closing her amber eyes before looking back towards me and saying ¡°Best I can say is maybe¡­ a millennia? I don¡¯t know. Why? Did you find something to prove or contradict that?¡± I nodded and said ¡°There are these stones. I thought they all were boulders just buried in the ground, but they¡¯re just slabs. Slabs with the name of the school, and the year. The oldest slab I had found dated back to 1927.¡± Priscilla was awe struck with that information as she never would¡¯ve imagined the school would be that old. She went deep into thought for a moment and said ¡°Wondered what those stones were. Guess I should¡¯ve looked closer when I found them.¡± I sighed and got ready for the most important question. ¡°Priscilla¡­ Have you ever looked into the mirror and seen¡­¡± Before I finished, Priscilla raised her hand and said ¡°Don¡¯t. I know what you¡¯re talking about and¡­ sort of. I only have seen that face on others. Mainly after I had turned into one of them. But you shouldn¡¯t be turned¡­ right? Or did that attack give you a start in that direction? You shouldn¡¯t be able to see that at all since you¡¯re human. But just so you know, if you see that face anywhere else, just know, that person knows the face you¡¯re seeing, and will see it as an¡­ Acceptance for their true form or something? I don¡¯t know. All I know is that I wasn¡¯t actually accepted into their society until I saw that face. Whatever it is, it¡¯s sacred to them.¡± I shivered once again and tensed up, looking around the room, feeling the pair of eyes once again. I looked towards the window that pointed to the forest and froze completely still. The face we were just discussing was looking back at me through the window, wings beating in the air, keeping the body afloat. The eyes were a crimson red that reflected the glow of the room back towards us. The hair on top being even more interesting as it was orange hair. The face was even more bat-like, but was from a nightmare. The bat-like being screeched at me before flying away to the forest, disappearing into the distant treeline. Priscilla had apparently not seen this creature or heard the screech, but knew what I was seeing. She was shaking me rather violently before I snapped back to reality, not realizing the torrential downpour of sweat that I was producing. I gasped for air and slumped forward, grasping my head tight, mumbling to myself. ¡°He saw me. He saw me.¡± Over and over again. After a couple of minutes, I regained my composure and stared at Priscilla, not wanting to go outside to my dorm room at all anymore. I set the book aside, trying to set it onto a side table, but letting it fall to the floor. I put myself into the fetal position and rocked back and forth from the terror of what I saw. Priscilla was talking at me, trying to help me break out of this terrified state I was in. It wasn¡¯t until she asked about the hair color that I snapped out of it. She had asked ¡°What was the hair color? Was it jet black?¡± I looked at her confused, slowly relaxing my tense body, shaking my head. After several deep sighs, I closed my eyes and rubbed them aggressively. I sighed softly and said ¡°No. Its hair was orange. Like¡­ the brightest orange I had ever seen.¡± Now Priscilla was even more confused and said ¡°That can¡¯t be right. Jet black was what I saw. Why is yours different?¡± The more confused she got, the more terrifying the situation became. Then I thought back to the building supervisor. She had the same color hair as the bat being. I looked at Priscilla and said ¡°It had to have been your building supervisor. She had the exact same hair color. There¡¯s no other explanation.¡± Priscilla shook her head again and said ¡°It can¡¯t be because she¡¯s part human. More human than vampire. She got the everlasting life of a vampire, but the rest of her traits were human. She has been in this school longer than the dean.¡± I shook my head and said ¡°It had to be her. If it¡¯s not her, then who¡­¡± Then it hit me. ¡°Isn¡¯t Mr. Arronov''s hair as bright as the supervisor¡¯s hair?¡± Priscilla nodded and groaned. I covered my eyes and leaned back into the chair. I uncovered my eyes and looked out the window once again. Not seeing anything this time. Then the last little bit of sunlight left the room. Priscilla sighed and said ¡°You should know that we can hide our faces when we want to, but you can¡¯t stay in my room all night. I know what you saw just mortified you beyond your wildest nightmares, but you have to go back to your dorm. I can walk you back to keep you safe. Your dorm is the safest place for you right now. I have no idea how the dean did it, but nothing can enter at night. You¡¯ll be safe.¡± I groaned rather pathetically, but I took her on her word. Somewhat not believing her. I had to trust her if I wanted to even try to sleep tonight. After some more relaxing, I eventually walked out of her room and building with her, passed the supervisor, and into the forest to my dorm room. Whatever she was saying, I couldn¡¯t hear over the sound of my heart beat. It got louder and faster the closer I got to the forest. I entered my dorm room and said softly ¡°Good night.¡± before closing the door, and setting the book down onto a night stand. Priscilla walked away and I turned off my lights, and Priscilla seemed to be right about nothing getting in during the night because the only thing I could do was watch the eyes of the bat being walked around my dorm for hours on end, circling me and my belongings, wanting to sink their fangs into my neck. I couldn¡¯t turn on any lights in fear of it knowing for a fact I was awake, even though I knew it could see me as clear as day. It wouldn¡¯t leave until the first light of the next day. I never left my bed. I couldn¡¯t sleep. I¡¯ll sleep all day tomorrow and hope the thing doesn¡¯t get in. While I may be safe at night, I have no idea about the day. As the sunlight grew brighter and stronger, the eyes faded into the forest more and more, sinking away into the inky black, the body seemingly growing smaller. Not because of the perspective I had, but because it physically shrank right before my eyes. A white smile of mostly human teeth greeting me along with the eyes before they fully disappeared. Tonight was the worst night I could¡¯ve had, other than someone being murdered before my eyes. I doubt I¡¯ll write anything for tomorrow, or today I should say, because I plan to sleep, and keep the door locked. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

 Weekend 2 of 12

    I didn¡¯t do anything strenuous today. Walked around when I couldn¡¯t sleep. I couldn¡¯t bring myself to go to sleep with such a monster near me in the woods. I couldn¡¯t go back into the woods because I never know what could be lurking behind a tree. With such a nightmare trying to hunt me, I don¡¯t know how long I can survive. Such little sleep too, I don¡¯t know when I will pass out. I hope it was a one off, but knowing this school and world, it most likely will happen more often than I would care for. I searched for more clues, but came up empty on multiple avenues. The only thing I haven¡¯t searched is the book that appeared behind me. It was completely empty on both cover and spine. The title when I opened the book was Moby Dick. An ancient story of a whaler named Captain Ahab obsessing over a giant sperm whale given the name Moby Dick. It is a large and heavy book that would take months for me to read in between school days and school work. I am not sure why this book had just appeared, but I am more curious as to who had left it behind me, and why. Could they be telling me that someone is obsessing over something to the point that they are hurting others? Could they mean that I am obsessing over something that in the long term is benign? Or could I be the proverbial whale of the story and someone is trying to kill me? All of these are very real possibilities in my mind. Especially with last night''s happenings. But without this story, I have nothing else to go on for clues. This is a big clue for me, hopefully, but for figuring out this school, it does little to tell me anything. It has only been a week, but I feel like I have aged decades just from the stress. This school was difficult to get into, even if the dean wants me to believe he let me in on purpose. What could the dean possibly be planning? Is he even planning something? Or has he gone senile? It¡¯s hard to get a read on him because he¡¯s just so¡­ unpredictable. Not unlike the students here. Like I have said before, they are actors, trying to trick me into giving them my blood. But then why wouldn¡¯t they take the chances of getting it forcefully? There have to be other schools. Or could this be the only one? I have no idea or context to make a firm belief in this being the only school, especially since this school is centuries upon centuries old. This can¡¯t be the only school. It just doesn¡¯t make sense for it to be. Ok. Gotta think of something else other than theories. And whales apparently. Why did that group of vampires decide to make me their friend? Could Priscilla be the only genuine one since she and I have something in common? Or is she making that up to get on my good side so I could let her have my blood? Is she even telling the truth about her once being a human? Does she feel the same way about me? Can she even feel¡­ love? Nevermind. Theories are better than this train of thought. But what should I do when there is this¡­ monster outside my home? Can I even walk around outside anymore, except for school? Who is that monster supposed to be? Why did priscilla know of the monster but not the correct hair color? Could Priscilla be a former human and that monster was the one that turned her all those years ago? Could Priscilla be that monster? Can she turn into one of them and then just turn me at her whim? Is she even after my blood? Could Mr. Arronov be the monster and just wants to get rid of me? Why does he want me dead if that is the case? How can they even turn into that monster? Are only some of them able to turn into it? Does it have to be a specific night for them to turn into it? Does it connect to the blood frenzy my previous Biology teacher spoke about? So many questions. No answers. Why does it have to be a giant flying bat of all things? I can¡¯t look for answers with that thing flying around. It¡¯d make me too easy of a target. Considering it went into the forest, it can probably climb the trees too, or at least walk around normally with no hindrance at all. I want answers. No. I NEED answers. Why can¡¯t they teach this in a human specific class? It¡¯s their fault I know nothing of their world. They teach nothing of the sort in human schools. Why? Do they want to tell us of our ancestors'' failures to notice their rise to power and keep us subservient? To teach us of their hubris? Why why WHY CAN¡±T I GET ANY OF THE ANSWERS I WANT?!!?!?! This school is supposed to teach us about the workings of the vampire world. NOT ABOUT HOW THEY CAN KILL HUMANS IN COUNTLESS WAYS!!! The only class I learned anything important in was BIOLOGY! Then the teacher had to go and get fired because¡­ why was he fired? I gave him permission to have my blood, even if I felt pressured for it. I still gave verbal consent. I wasn¡¯t influenced by any other means. I mainly agreed because¡­ I wanted to see what would happen. Yet he was still fired. The dean is up to something. I need to understand what he is up to. I¡¯ll go see him. Now. The walk to the dean¡¯s office was unexpectedly uneventful. Inside the school was expectedly empty seeing as everyone was gone for a while longer. I didn¡¯t bother looking at the clock right now, just wanting to get some answers. When I stood in front of the doors, I shoved them open. The office had the same grandeur as when I first entered this room. Neat piles of books to the side of his desk, an antique looking lamp, currently turned off, sunlight blocking curtains opened for the windows to give natural light, a rather large desk and chair. Empty chair. The dean wasn¡¯t here. He must¡¯ve been somewhere else for the weekend. But why? What could be more important than running the best vampire school there is? Family is the first thing to come to mind, but the dean is old. VERY old. Does he have any living family members that he can visit? Children maybe? But he doesn¡¯t keep any pictures of them anywhere in his office. Where is the dean? Feeling defeated, I left the office, closing the doors, realizing something. I remembered when my music teacher had mentioned how she had taught the dean¡¯s kids music. He has to be with his family. Even for the short while that is the weekend. While leaving, I rubbed my eyes, exhausted at this point, wanting to either take a nap, or talk to Priscilla some more. Before I chose what to do for the rest of the day, I decided to get some food to try and give me some more energy to finish off this day¡­ even though I still had hours upon hours left before going back to sleep¡­ or finally go to sleep. I was still so scared of whatever that thing was, wondering if it would come back or not, hoping it wouldn¡¯t and just disappeared, but knowing my luck at this school, I figured it would come back and be gone for the week to repeat the process for the next weekend. I made it back to my dorm without incident and made myself something called ¡°Grilled Cheese.¡± I have no idea why my ancestors had decided to grill a sandwich with nothing but cheese, but believed it to be a good meal since they had eaten it for an extremely long time after it was invented. It was relatively simple to make, but I had burned a couple sides of the sandwiches themselves, causing a char taste to overtake some of my bites. The meal was still good for me to do, but I wanted to read some more books on my ancestor¡¯s history to find out if there was a way to either not burn the bread, or mask the char flavor I would no doubt make again. I would leave that research for another day however, and had made my decision to go and talk to Priscilla some more, wanting to get as many answers as I could from her before the year would abruptly end and she was gone. The same lady was there like yesterday, writing me down into a chart that I hadn¡¯t noticed before. Most likely to keep tabs on who is in and out of the building, kicking out any rowdy students that overstay their welcome. I walked up the stairs to Priscilla¡¯s room like yesterday, politely knocking, hoping she was awake. During the week, vampires of any background are expected to be awake for school, to be alert. But on the weekends, that''s when the students needed their ¡°sleep.¡± After I had knocked on her door, I heard an overwhelmingly loud growl from the otherside of it, taking a step back. Not wanting to be skewered by teeth when the door opens, I got closer to the door and said ¡°Priscilla? It¡¯s Simon. Would it be fine if we talked some more-...¡± I had wanted to say what I wanted to talk about, but the door snapped open and I was yanked inside. Priscilla slammed the door shut and said ¡°If you want to talk, especially on the weekend, just don¡¯t. What do you want?¡± I was beet red from the sudden yanking and how tight her grip was. It was horrifying to say the least, but I was able to regain some of my composure. Not enough to where I wasn¡¯t a stuttering mess. ¡°P-Priscilla. Sorry for w-waking you. I just w-wanted to know if y-you had gone to school w-with the dean¡¯s c-children.¡± She sighed and grabbed a chair, spinning it around and sitting down like a proper lady. She waited for me to finish speaking my question and slid another chair towards me and said ¡°Yeah. They were complete dicks because they got away with everything. Except of course turning me. And before you eventually stutter out your surprise, yes. One of the dean¡¯s kids turned me and was disowned for breaking their father¡¯s rule. No, that does not make me apart of his family. No, I do not remember the name of the jackwad that turned me. Anything else? Or can I go to sleep?¡± Understanding her tiredness, I shook my head and pushed the chair back to where it was, some sweat still dripping down my face. Priscilla sighed and said ¡°Don¡¯t wake me on the weekend, unless I tell you it¡¯s fine, alright?¡± I nodded and then promptly left, wondering if I need to get some sleep before I do something as stupid as that again. Needless to say, the lady that wrote me into the building was not expecting me down from Priscilla¡¯s room so soon since we had spent a while talking with each other yesterday, but she didn¡¯t ask what happened. She just signed me out and went back to being bored. I assume she lives for the rowdy students, wanting to reprimand them rather than be here on the weekends. The benefits have to be good for her to stay here. I don¡¯t even know how long she has worked here. I mean I can¡¯t know because the first week has only just ended. But with the rest of the year to look forward to, I think she could get used to me enough to talk. I hope she doesn¡¯t. Walking back out onto the school grounds, I just sat in the front courtyard, waiting for something or someone to walk pass, or for the dean to return. After about 10 minutes, I had done the absolutely idiotic thing and passed out. Either the trauma of last night finally withered, or the exhaustion had caught up, but before I knew it, 6 hours had passed. I was now fully rested enough to have some energy, and saw the cause for my awakening. A bus¡­ had pulled up to the courtyard. A bright yellow bus was right in front of me. It seemed to have just arrived by the doors swinging open and letting students out. I checked my cheap watch to look at the time and found that it was nearly 7:32 pm. Students filtered out rather quickly, the pure bloods getting off first and sprinting to get inside. I just noticed that all of the windows were tinted. So tinted that I couldn¡¯t even see how many students were showing up to go back to school. I¡¯d hoped this was the first bus to come back, but when I looked around, there were 6 others parked next to the school. My face had gone white as all of the blood left my face. The fact that I could still use my skin as a factor to tell if I was bitten or not did help, but it didn¡¯t help my anxiety. I felt around my neck for any puncture wounds or any dried blood, finally, relief filling my body to find I was safe. I leaned back into my seat and saw the other vampires getting off in a more organised fashion. Clearly being mixed blood since they weren¡¯t rushing to get inside. Only jogging. I had seen some familiar faces walk out of the school. The group of vampires that had made me a part of their group. They walked over to me and asked how my weekend alone on campus was. I gave a shaky sigh and just shrugged. They sat down next to me and the new de facto leader of the group said ¡°Well, from the look of you after we came back, ya know, being passed out and all, we thought you just partied too hard. Then we all got to talking. You saw it, didn¡¯t you?¡± I tilted my head and asked ¡°Saw¡­ what?¡± They all lit up and said ¡°You DID see it!¡± They started talking all at once, sharing ghost stories and old wives tales about a giant bat, every detail being the same, the only difference being the hair. After the stories were finished being told, the new leader looked at everyone in disbelief saying ¡°Seriously? Everyone knows the bat¡¯s hair is blonde.¡± Then arguments started, some even saying the bat had ginger hair. I sat up straight and said ¡°Hey! Instead of arguing, shouldn¡¯t you be asking me what it looked like?¡± They all simmered down but then agreed. Someone else speaking, this time a girl with dyed purple hair and lip piercings asked ¡°So, Mr. Knowitall, what did it look like?¡± I sighed and rubbed my head. After some moments of silence, I gave the exact same description, going into more specifics about the size since that was what mattered to me when I was trying to go to sleep, but when I got to the hair, I was even more descriptive, like a victim from a gruesome catastrophe in old human stories, talking about how it was curly, shimmered in the moonlight, or whatever light there was to shine off of it, how long it was, and finally, the hair color. I was talking so much that one of the other students, A tall guy with the same curly and ginger hair as the bat monster, said, ¡°OH MY GOD! Just tell us the hair color!¡± I Groaned in annoyance and said ¡°It was ginger hair. EXACTLY like yours.¡± His face went to an even paler shade of white. He didn¡¯t know what to say. Everyone turned to him and couldn¡¯t find the words to say. I stood up and confronted him about it and asked ¡°Did you¡­ terrorize me throughout the night?¡± He choked on his words and said ¡°N-... no¡­ I swear I didn¡¯t. You can ask everyone here, my hair color has changed throughout the decades we¡¯ve known each other. Right?¡± Everyone else stood behind me and the purple haired girl said ¡°Answer the question dipstick. He said it looked EXACTLY like your hair right now. Your previous hair colors don¡¯t matter. Was it you?¡± The now exposed fake ginger student stuttered his life away, trying time and time again to make an excuse, but falling just short of giving a straight answer. I piped up and asked everyone who could answer ¡°What other hair colors did the bat monster have?¡± Everyone answered, one after the other, the student''s face got paler, and paler, until he looked like a piece of paper. He stopped trying to talk and just took a seat and said very loudly ¡°YES! FINE! I did.¡± The leader walked around me and decked him. He wanted to punch some more but one of the other students stopped him. The fake ginger stood up holding his face and said ¡°And I¡¯d do it again. Just like those other human students who think they belong here.¡± He tried to spit on my shoes but was shoved away. He choked back the spit he had tried to expel, but groaned, walking away, standing tall like he didn¡¯t do anything wrong. I sighed and sat back down, my body shaking. I rubbed my eyes and just walked away, the other students trying to talk to me, but didn¡¯t pursue me. I rubbed my eyes some more and had found my way back to my dorm. I walked in and slammed the door shut, a panic attack resurfacing. This school isn¡¯t healthy for me. I was asking to be killed simply by existing. But this panic attack¡­ wasn¡¯t a panic attack. It was something far simpler, and worse. It was a rush of adrenaline. It was the sense of confronting the impossible and overcoming the odds. A victory so small that it wasn¡¯t even considered a battle by the other students. I uncovered my face and walked to the bathroom to splash my face with water. After splashing myself I stared at my face, a wicked smile of defiance and ecstasy looking back. I was freaking myself out. ¡°What is wrong with me?¡± I thought ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I be trembling in fear? Not revelling in the joy of something like this?¡± I asked myself. But I didn¡¯t give an answer. All I did was smile, slowly coming back to reality, walking into the kitchen, and passing out. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

 Day 6 of 30

    The headache I had when I woke up the next day was otherworldly. I have no clue why I even passed out to begin with, or had that adrenaline rush over a panic attack, but that was a welcome change if it meant I wouldn¡¯t be mortified of someone trying to drink my blood. The more I get used to this school, the more it seems like I¡¯m just¡­ On a ¡°rollercoaster¡± or whatever that thing is. With today being a new day for the school week, I brushed myself off and got a shower, food, and clothing. Checking my cheek for the bruise that was, unfortunately, still present. I have been through so much that I forgot what had happened to the makeup on my face. I could still see some but it was a negligible amount. After getting dressed, I decided to reapply my makeup, not doing much better than last time. I can only hope this doesn¡¯t become a recurrence throughout this school year. After my morning was situated and my backpack filled with notebooks and this journal, I headed out of my dorm to find it still pitch black outside. I wandered around my dorm, just on the edge of the forest, looking for something. I looked back to where my dorm should¡¯ve been but¡­ it was gone. Replaced with the bat monster that had the curly ginger hair. It snarled at me, but I didn¡¯t back up or move forward. My fight or flight senses were gone. I wasn¡¯t breathing. Thinking back to the mirror, the makeup was barely covering my bruise. I hadn¡¯t noticed, but my skin tone had gone down a few shades. And my heart. I couldn¡¯t hear my heart. I could feel it, but it wasn¡¯t moving. Behind the bat, students emerged from the forest, each wearing the school uniform, drenched in blood. MY blood. I don¡¯t know how I knew, but I knew. Then I saw the teachers. The non-human teachers. I saw Rebecca. Her head still ripped clean off, but she was now holding it. Then I saw the dean behind her. His fangs bared. Then I saw Priscilla. But she didn¡¯t look normal. She looked like the bat face I had seen only a few times now. She looked¡­ like a monster. Before I could even think of what to do next, they started chanting in a language I had never heard of or spoken before¡­ But it sounded familiar. Why did it sound familiar? When I looked down at the ground there was blood underneath my feet. I had been standing in a puddle of blood for who knows how long. And behind me, were my human friends. Dead. Their hearts ripped clean out of their chests. It was only 2 of my friends, but they were my closest ones. Derek, and Samuel. I fell to my knees and went to cover my eyes, but felt their still beating hearts thump in my hands. Before I could scream, drop the hearts, or realize what I had done, I woke up. On the floor, covered in dust. A raging headache still making my head pound. Whatever was happening to me at this school, I needed to figure it out, or else I may really end up dying. I turned myself onto my back and rubbed my head. After the headache calmed down, I grabbed this journal and wrote down what I saw. I quickly ran into the bathroom after writing and inspected myself, my bruise still there, with no makeup, and normal human skin. I put my hand to my chest and felt my heart thumping normally, or as normally as it could be with such a terrible nightmare still fresh in my mind. I set the journal down and found a place to sit and ground myself. I must¡¯ve slept for a longer time than I would¡¯ve imagined, but when I checked my watch, it wasn¡¯t even 6:00 am. I silently groaned as I could¡¯ve slept for another 30 minutes, but decided to just think about my dream and why I even had one like that. Especially with my human friends in it. I pondered for a long time in my shower, but found nothing to explain why that nightmare had even occurred. The only reason I could think of is because of the bat monster. Just because I found out who it was doesn¡¯t mean their torture will end. All I have is a face. I don¡¯t know who could help me with this, or if it was even possible to stop the fake ginger. Getting out of the shower, I looked into the mirror once again, leaning against the bathroom counter, I stared into my eyes and tried to see into them, see into me. Who was I? Was the dean telling the truth about my heritage? Why couldn¡¯t this school be even remotely close toa normal human school? The last one is easy, it¡¯s because vampires roam the same hallways I do when going to classes, it¡¯s because they are stronger, faster, smarter, just¡­ better in every single way. It¡¯s because I¡­ am mortified of who I would become if I joined them. Evidently, one of my so-called ¡°Friends¡± had attacked me, but I don¡¯t remember what happened at all. All I can remember of the event is absolutely nothing. I don¡¯t remember why he attacked, I don¡¯t remember where he attacked me at, I don¡¯t even remember what I felt before, during, and after the attack. Who could tell me what happened? Maybe the dean? He¡¯s unreliable. My friend group? I can¡¯t trust their information, so they¡¯re unreliable as well. Cameras? Maybe, but I need to figure out where I was attacked first. Maybe the nurse has some information to tell me about what happened. Why can¡¯t I remember the attack but I can instantly remember a dream I had 30 minutes ago now? There is a factor of time of course, but one should be much easier to recall than the other. Shelving this train of thought for the moment, I got out of the bathroom and got dressed, making food, cleaning up my dirty dishes, and putting on makeup. All of this took up too much time and I was gonna be late for my first period. It was now 7:01 am, and I was sprinting out of my dorm, slamming the door closed, and just booking it to P.E. class. I was going to be winded in the class anyways, depending on what they were doing, but it¡¯s good that I got some more workout in before class started. When I had arrived at the locker room, I was the only one there to get changed. Mainly because everyone else was already on the field, or getting to the field. I swiftly changed into my P.E. attire and sprinted out of the locker room, right before the coach had exited his office. Seeing him walking closer made me think of the dream again, but I shoved it away, out of my train of thought as he got closer. After he finished his morning class roll call, he told everyone to line up like the first day of class, telling everyone, ¡°Now that the first week is over, I hope you are ready to go through hell! The first week is always warm up! For any class! But most especially for this class! Today, I want you to find a workout buddy and make your way into the weight lifting gym! Doesn¡¯t matter who it is, just find someone who you know will push you to your limits! You got 2 minutes!¡± With that, everyone broke the line and found their partners. I was still searching, but saw a new face to the class. It was someone I did not want anything to do with right now. Fake ginger had joined our class, and he didn¡¯t have a partner. He groaned when he saw I was in the same boat as him and begrudgingly walked over and held his hand out for a hand shake. I didn¡¯t do anything other than shake it since I didn¡¯t want Coach to be our partner. I stood next to him and he said ¡°Don¡¯t be a dud humie. You¡¯re already dead weight.¡± I looked up at him and said ¡°Might want to keep your hair in order. Don¡¯t want it to spontaneously change color.¡± he huffed and asked ¡°That''s the best you can do?¡± I Shook my head and said ¡°Nah. Just think you should get a thesaurus. It''s kind of hilarious watching you try to fit your entire vocabulary into one sentence.¡± He turned to face me, his face pale, but angry. If he had blood for breakfast, it wasn¡¯t showing. Wanting to poke the beast a little more, I turned to him, my heart thumping louder than ever, ¡°If you''re going to be two-faced, at least make one of them pretty.¡± He nearly punched me into next week, but Coach had other plans. Fake ginger straightened up, still fuming, but got his act together. Coach looked at him and asked ¡°Is your drama going to have an intermission soon?¡± He looked down at his clipboard and then to me saying ¡°Alright, Simon and Jason. Partners for the rest of the quarter.¡± Jason flipped out and asked ¡°WITH THIS HUMIE!?!? No way. I want someone else!¡± Coach stopped and said ¡°IF you wanted someone else, then you should¡¯ve been lighter on your feet. Besides, you 2 are a good match for each other. Since you don¡¯t give a care in the world for this class, Simon¡¯s scores are better than yours. His pull ups are better since you tapped out at only 30, Simon got an 85. Your mile time was slower. You got 5 minutes, Simon did it in just under 4. His soccer team scored more points than yours too, he even scored against his peers when you didn¡¯t do anything. So you have a lot of catching up to do, Jason. Now go!¡± Jason groaned loudly but started jogging to the weight lifting room. It was so weird to have both boys and girls working out together, but it makes more sense with vampires than humans. Everyone else had picked the workouts that were fun. That was nearly every other machine, except one set. The abductor machines. Or at least that¡¯s what the coach calls them. Jason and I sighed and walked over to the machines, sitting down and seeing how it moved. It works your hips instead of your legs. It sucked. This machine seemed like it wasn¡¯t going to do anything to help Jason at all. For me, it was difficult to work, but it was ok. No idea why we would want to work out our hips over our legs, but we did it anyway, getting the chance to use other leg machines since this was our leg day, even though it was forced onto us. This continued for another hour that felt like it would never end. But when it did, everyone was rubbing their bodies all over, giving a self massage to relieve any pain or tension. Something else I learned in biology is that even though vampires don¡¯t technically get muscle fatigue or cramps, their bodies still react the same way to pain as humans. Not much happened during our workout session. The only thing that would be worth mentioning is what happened at the start of the class with Jason being a new face. And an ass. But with class over, hopefully Jason doesn¡¯t have any other classes with me. I can barely handle him during this one. Walking back to the locker room before everyone else gave me a head start. When I was leaving, I got the same stares from the girls as the second day when I couldn¡¯t change before them. Why were they so fixated on me? There¡¯s the obvious of me being a human. But that should be somewhat normal right now. It¡¯ll never be normal for me, but this is my first year here. They have to be in their second or third years. There had to have been another human before me. Right? Learning about Priscilla being a former human is bad enough, but why are they just¡­ Let¡¯s not dwell on it. Math class was a bit more challenging than the first week, mainly because I had actual work to do during class. Nothing really happened during the class and the teacher was unremarkable to say the least. The only thing going for him would be that he has a personality when compared to the common sense teacher. But soon the bell rang, ending my second period. History class is next and I am genuinely excited to learn more about my ancestors and the history they wrote. After I got my backpack from my locker and exited the hallway, I saw Jason in front of the doors, waiting for me. I opened the door and asked ¡°Stop being a door. Just walked through one set, don¡¯t need another.¡± He groaned and didn¡¯t say anything, just stepping to the side, eyeing me as I walked passed. Just ignoring him seemed to have worked for me so I didn¡¯t pay him any more attention than he needed. Walking into history was rather interesting because there was the distinct smell of old books. It was an unexpectedly pleasant smell, until I saw that everyone had the same book. I took my usual seat and inspected the book, the title reading NineteenEightyFour. George Orwell. A prolific and influential author for humans now long past. A dystopian future that seems the norm now. A government entity calling itself Big Brother. Other than that, there¡¯s not much else to talk about. I haven¡¯t read it personally but wonder if we will read it together today. The class itself wasn¡¯t anything special today. I was correct that we were reading this book, but it wasn¡¯t for the reasons I thought. This class was more about the comparisons between this fictional government, the human¡¯s old government, and the current government. Find similarities, differences, and write which government has been the most influential. The teacher did specify that for the human government comparisons, it should be focused around the democratic system since humanity never conformed to just one ideology for how to govern their people. The democratic system being the most recent and popular being the logical choice, according to our teacher. I hadn¡¯t paid much attention to him but he is a rather interesting teacher. He has salt and pepper hair, more darker color than white, a missing eye and a large scratch over the same eye socket. His one good eye has the eye color red. His sclera being the normal shade of white. His skin was pale, but the scar was much more pale. The teacher made for a much more interesting subject in history over this book. I¡¯m not the best with names, but I think his name was something like Mr. Hunt. A simple name for such a complex looking individual. Before we could read more of the book in class, the bell had rang. We all packed up our school supplies that we were asked to use to make comparisons, namely just a pencil and paper, and the books. Mr. Hunt encouraged us to read the book on our own and to draw our own conclusions for if the author was spot on for his predictions, or how far off the mark he had gotten. I started to walk out of the classroom, looking for anyone I could recognise. No one was in my immediate vicinity, but I did see the purple haired girl from yesterday. I tried to make my way over to her and thank her for standing up for me, but she was gone before I could even say a word. Lunch had to be my favorite time of day, mainly because I could try and socialize with people I hope were genuine, but also because of the food they serve. Today was a simple egg fried rice. I got the normal amount of food I would get for myself, but today for a drink, I would get something called soda. I¡¯d never heard of it before, mainly because it sounds like something that is a pain to deal with. But we never had the chance to drink it in human society because of the amount of sugar that was used to make it. There were other options for soda¡¯s, like zero sugar options, but even then, the manufacturing process for the zero sugar soda wasn¡¯t worth the outcome. At least to the vampires. They just didn¡¯t want to waste the resources in order to accommodate the humans that wanted it. Having my first drink of soda hurt. Whatever they used to make the fizz in the drink was extremely uncomfortable. I continued to drink it nevertheless because the flavor was addicting. I sat down at the usual table and found the group of friends there already. Priscilla not being there today. I was confused by this but decided not to ask since I didn¡¯t need to see her all the time. The purple haired girl joined us however and she smiled at me. She wasn¡¯t with the group before so she must¡¯ve been inducted into the group during the weekend or is a new student. After I had set my meal down, I looked at her hair and her piercings in her ear, specifically her right ear since part of her hair was covering the other side. I gave her a polite smile back and asked ¡°So, haven¡¯t seen you before. Mind if I ask for your name?¡± She shrugged and said ¡°I don¡¯t mind. The name¡¯s Angelica. Pleasure to make your formal acquaintance Simon." She went back to her food and the guys of the group started acting like school children, picking on the both of us, but especially me since they thought I had a thing for Priscilla. They weren¡¯t technically wrong, but I have no idea what they were meaning by ¡°thing.¡± I half heartedly laughed along with them and ate my food, just wanting to eat. The new leader looked at everyone and then to me and asked ¡°So, how do you like the school, Mr. Popular?¡± I looked up to him and was confused by the popular comment. I swallowed what I had and asked ¡°What do you mean popular?¡± He waited for the punchline and said ¡°Seriously? The only human in a vampire school, and you don¡¯t realise you¡¯re the talk of the student body?¡± I shrugged my shoulders and said ¡°Other than the obvious, I don¡¯t see anything wrong with me attending here. Have there been students, other than Jason, who hate my guts just for me being here?¡± Everyone nodded emphatically and Angelica said ¡°Well yeah. To them, you aren¡¯t one of us and should be gone, sent back to the cattle farms.¡± She had some more of her drink and said ¡°We don¡¯t care because humans reigned over the earth for a long time, way longer than we¡¯ve owned the earth. And yet you¡¯re treated like garbage. We don¡¯t agree with the laws or rules that encourage the discrimination. Main reason Jason was a part of the group was to terrorize you like he did on Saturday night. Maybe to get your blood too.¡± She drank some more like she hadn¡¯t just dropped that bombshell. I just sat there confused and asked ¡°So¡­ Do any of you hold the same reservations or are here for the same thing?¡± All of them shook their heads no. Someone at the other end of the table said ¡°I¡¯d joined with Jason for the same reasons, but decided against it after a couple days of hanging out. If you don¡¯t hold a grudge against us, why should we give you a reason too?¡± I took a moment and nodded in agreement to the sound logic, taken aback by how mature these students were acting. It was still disconcerting since they all could be lying, but for right now, I didn¡¯t care. I was just to have some friends. After having some more food, I looked back up to the group and asked ¡°Were any of you around when the¡­ the other guy attacked me? The original leader I suppose." It took a couple seconds for people to actually respond, but no one spoke up. I looked around at everyone and asked ¡°How many of you saw it?¡± The new leader shook his head and said ¡°Don¡¯t worry about what happened. It¡¯s probably a bad memory for you.¡± I leaned back a little and scoffed. I rubbed my eyes and said ¡°I¡¯m asking because I can¡¯t remember what happened. I keep a journal, but I didn¡¯t write anything down for that.¡± Everyone stayed quiet and didn¡¯t say anything after that. Why were they hiding this from me? DID I get turned and go crazy or something? Or did the dean force them to stay silent? Why was everyone here so secretive with me about stuff I was a part of? Before I could ask anymore questions, Angelica piped up and said ¡°Oh come on, now I need to know what happened. Brayden, tell us.¡± Brayden was the new leader. I guess I didn¡¯t have to ask for his name¡­ this time. Brayden just rubbed his eyes in response and said ¡°Fine. But not today. Or at least, not during lunch. Find me after your sixth period Simon and Angelica, then I¡¯ll say.¡± Before we could whine about him being stingy with the information, the bell rang. I groaned as I didn¡¯t eat all of my food and was still hungry. Taking maybe another minute wouldn¡¯t hurt, so I finished the food and made my way to my fourth period class. Music. Ms. Tylin looked very lovely today and I couldn¡¯t immediately tell why. She was wearing the normal type of clothes she always would, the normal smell of perfume filled the air, her jewelry was¡­ different. Instead of wearing a bright gem necklace with matching earrings, she wore pearls. I¡¯m not sure why it stuck out to me, but it felt off. Like she wasn¡¯t completely normal today for some reason. I walked to my normal section, percussion, pulling my sheet music out and reading it over to get refamiliarized with it. After every student found their seats, instruments, and music, Ms. Tylin started. She was extra harsh today. Again, seemingly out of nowhere. Did she have a good or a bad weekend? Or was it just because it was the start of a new week? Not wanting to continue this train of thought, I set those questions aside and played as best as I could, occasionally getting some measures wrong, but not getting chewed out for it. Whatsoever. Whatever was going on was not only noticed by me, but a couple of other students. No one was able to ask about what was going on because we were just bombarded with playing the music with barely any rest. Before long, class ended and we all tried to ask some questions, but were ignored, told to leave for our fifth period class. Not able to get any answers, we all left, everyone confused about what was going on. I didn¡¯t have much to do between music and biology, but with how music ended, I was wanting something interesting to take over my mind. Unfortunately, I forgot that my previous teacher was fired and replaced by Mr. Arronov. Why was everything in this school changing so that it confused me? Mr. Schreiner was honestly captivating with his knowledge of both human and vampire anatomy and biology. He was the perfect teacher for this subject, yet he was fired and replaced by someone that was, as far as I could tell, completely insane. Walking to my biology class was more of a chore than before, but for different reasons. Mainly because of Mr. Arronov. But I arrived nevertheless and took my usual seat. Priscilla wasn¡¯t here either though, and that made me worry about her even more. But like music, I wasn¡¯t given much time to think about that because Mr. Arronov walked in and everyone became silent. He snickered at our obedience to the rules and said ¡°Morning class. How were your weekends? Eventful I hope, especially for one of you.¡± He sneered in my direction and just continued on like nothing happened. He started writing on something behind him, drawing the human body proportions, twice. They were identical. Once both were finished being drawn, he turned back to us and said ¡°Now, Mr. Schreiner before he left should¡¯ve told you about how humans and vampires are virtually identical, but what he failed to mention is that while humans have a lot more cons than the vampires by comparison, the cons that humans have are a lot less harsh than a vampire¡¯s cons. Firstly, humans can contract a multitude of diseases throughout their lives, but can still recover and go back to their daily lives like nothing had happened. Sometimes at least. Vampires however, don¡¯t get sick. There are rare cases, such as a half human half vampire being born, and if a vampire drinks bad blood, but other than that, nothing else can infect a vampire. The only disease that we get naturally is a sickness of too much Vitamin D. It can be fatal in large doses, but if you¡¯re a pure blood, even tiny doses can be fatal. But humans only get a sunburn if they absorb too much. Genetics are very intriguing to me personally because, what can humans survive that vampires cannot? Something I¡¯m sure most of you expected me to talk about would be the sun, but something else that humans can survive that vampires can¡¯t are broken bones. A human¡¯s body heals at a very slow rate, especially when compared to a vampire. But it¡¯s because of this that humans survive it. Just because you heal quickly doesn¡¯t mean everything goes back to normal. If a vampire breaks one of their legs or arms,¡± He put a slash through an arm and a leg of one of the drawings and continued ¡°they would most likely die from blood loss because their body healed around the broken bone. The sharp and jagged edges would cut up too much skin, using most if not all of a vampire''s natural surplus blood supply, forcing their body to break down. There are always cases of vampires surviving such wounds, but it is still rare. Mostly because someone has to give fresh blood so the vampire can keep healing, but even then, the pain doesn¡¯t end. Even in cases where someone was helping throughout the night, the vampire with a broken bone still has a high chance of dying. Humans can still experience a tremendous amount of pain, but because they take so long to heal their wounds, They have a much higher likelihood of surviving a broken bone. Something else a human can survive that a vampire can¡¯t are the loss of a major organ or several. It is still deadly for humans, but for vampires, it doesn¡¯t matter what we do, they have a 100% chance of dying. Even if they are a half and half, they die. And it¡¯s for the same reason as a broken bone. The faster healing is both a massive blessing, but a fatal curse if given the right circumstances.¡± Mr. Arronov was very engaging with his examples, even if what he is saying is morbid. He did get lost in his talking a few times but always found a way to tie it back into his lesson. About ten minutes before class ended, he handed out homework for us to do. It was basic questions that basically reiterated talking points that he had mentioned today. He was a lot more informed than I had given him credit for. But soon the class ended, ringing for the last time today. For me at least. I packed up my materials and assignment, heading out for common sense. Nothing really happened during my walk. The only thing I can say happened was I was getting less stares. I was a presence people were getting used to. And I was getting used to them. While I was still being paranoid about everything, I was getting comfortable with my life here. It was annoying me how quickly I was adapting to this school. Sixth period was more boring than usual. No interesting subjects to talk about, no people to talk to, and the teacher was even more monotone. I have no idea how it was possible, but even with the subject of human civilizations throughout history, I just wasn¡¯t interested. Even when the class ended, the teacher didn¡¯t hand out any assignments for us to do. Class was over, but it didn¡¯t come early enough. Everyone left in a hurry, me especially since I still wanted to talk to Brayden about what happened. I walked around the school for a little while until I found him at our lunch table. Apparently, young vampires need another lunch during the day to help deal with the sun. Our usual group was sitting like normal, but weren¡¯t talking at all. Not used to their solemn nature, I walked up to them and said ¡°Hey guys.¡± Wanting to be the social one for a change. They all looked up at me and were not exactly surprised by my appearance, just shocked I spoke to them first. After a few seconds of shocked silence they all just laughed at each other. Angelica patting the seat next to her for me to sit. I took it and looked at them, scanning their faces since they had to remember why I was here. Brayden smiled as he looked over at everyone, eventually landing on me and said ¡°Should we get started? Cause there¡¯s a lot to talk about.¡± I nodded along with angelica, waiting for Brayden to explain what happened. Brayden sighed and started, ¡°So, Jake was acting weird the whole day. He and I shared a number of classes, mainly our first three before lunch, but throughout the day until lunch, he was just acting so¡­ weird. He was growling at everyone that tried to talk to him, except for the teachers fortunately. But when lunch came around, and he saw you Simon, he went¡­ Feral. He was a rabid vampire and clawed his way to you through the crowd. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed Mr. Arronov around or have his class, but he was the one to stop Jake before he got to you. It was a little late though because Jake had gotten some of his mouth around your neck. You screamed in pain obviously, but¡­ When Arronov arrived, Jake was already off of your neck. You were passed out already, so we all thought you were dead. But when Arronov picked you up, you groaned, so we thought you were unceremoniously turned. Then everything was normal the next day. Which never should¡¯ve happened because¡­ you were supposed to be turned or dead Simon. Not be completely fine. Whatever happened, I¡¯m not too sure since no details were shared but¡­ As you are right now Simon, you shouldn¡¯t be like this.¡± The information hit me like an old time freight train, forcing the memories to come back to me. Jake lunged towards me through the crowd, but he didn¡¯t pierce my skin. He had been knocked out before he did anything. The only pain I remember was pain in my head, specifically my forehead. Whatever I did not only incapacitated Jake, but also knocked me out. Considering the pain, I think I head butted him. Before I could speak up, Mr. Arronov appeared and pulled Brayden away. They spoke in hushed tones, so quiet I couldn¡¯t hear them. But seeing Brayden¡¯s reaction, he probably got chewed out by Mr. Arronov. For what reason? I couldn¡¯t say. When he finished berating Brayden, Mr. Arronov turned to me and said ¡°This is why you need to leave school as soon as your last class ends Simon. I¡¯m not berating Brayden because he told you, you have a right to know, I was doing that because he was being incredibly inconsiderate in my class today. I didn¡¯t want you to see that, so why don¡¯t you go on and get some rest or process what clearly was a revelation to you.¡± He left and I stood up, needing some air. I said some quiet goodbyes and made my way to my dorm room on auto pilot. After the door closed, I did my usual routine of sitting on the ground. I held my head in my hands and tried to process the events that came back to me and tried to figure out just who Mr. Arronov was and why he seemed to be so bipolar in his attitudes. I groaned loudly and stood up, walking to the kitchen to get some food. Should¡¯ve ate while listening to Brayden. Made some sandwiches and laid back in my bed, trying to figure out what I should do with what happened. Should I ask what Mr. Arronov did with me after picking me up? What happened to Jake? If he went feral, did he die or sent to rehab or something? Why was I only getting situations that made me ask more questions rather than give me some answers. I set aside my plate of sandwiches and looked underneath the plate. The book I found during the weekend lay underneath my food. The story of Captain Ahab and Moby Dick. Why was this book set behind me? Why was it this book specifically? Was someone leaving me a message about something? What was the message supposed to be? I finished off my food and picked up the book, opening to the first chapter, reading the book for the next several hours to try and find something to relate to anything. A person, place, the supposed message or even who the messenger could be. All I found was an intriguing tale of a man and a sperm whale. Before long, I set the book aside and went to bed, head still reeling from resurfaced events, people acting differently than what I had previously witnessed, and questions from throughout the day. Before I drifted off to sleep, my last question of the day was ¡®What happened to Priscilla?¡¯This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

 Day 7 of 30

    Today felt like any other when I woke up. The sun hurt my eyes when I opened them and my body wanted to stay in the bed forever rather than walk around and wake up. My hair was matted and a mess. My tongue was drier than usual though. I couldn¡¯t really think as to why that would be the case but, it was fine. Doing my normal morning routine was much more of a drag for some reason. I was completely normal today. Right? Just to make sure, I walked into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. When I stared into the mirror, after my eyes adjusted to the harsh lighting, all I saw was a normal, unkempt, male human student of Redcrest Academy. Wasn¡¯t sure why I felt the way I was but I kept doing my normal routine, freshening up. After I had finished my breakfast, not only did I notice the time, but a knock sounded from my door. Thankfully, the door was mostly window so I could see that¡­ It was the dean. All I could think about was the last time he was here. Rebecca, her blood spilled across the floor, her headless body falling unceremoniously onto the ground, her head, held by her hair, in the dean¡¯s right hand. I trepidatiously walked to the door and opened it for the dean. He gave a weak, almost subservient smile to me and asked ¡°May I come in Simon?¡± I walked away slowly and left the door open for him, not verbally giving him any acknowledgement. He slumped his shoulder and sighed, walking in and closing the door. When I sat down at the table, I looked at the clock once again and stiffened. It was nearly 10 in the morning. Why had I slept through most of the morning, effectively ditching classes? Was I that exhausted yesterday? Did I sleep walk like I used to as a child? Why was I missing hours of my life for seemingly no reason. Before I could think of more questions, the dean took a seat to my right and cleared his throat to get my attention. I snapped my head to him in a startled haze and asked ¡°W-w¡­ What happened? Why did I wake up so late?¡± The dean leaned back and said ¡°I was hoping you could tell me. Your teachers were getting worried that you had been drugged or taken so that you may be wrung dry of your blood. I¡¯m¡­ Not entirely sure what happened during your night, but you should know that I have security personnel around the school, especially in the forest. One of those personnel saw you in the forest in the dead of night. They had heard some screeching of some sort and then the sounds of footsteps going towards the noise. The person responsible for finding you has not been seen since his report just before day break when there is supposed to be a personnel change. For whatever reason, he is missing, and you are considered one of the last few people we haven¡¯t questioned to figure out his whereabouts. Considering you hadn¡¯t noticed that it was past time to go to school, I think an outside force took you from your room. How? I have no clue. The why is even harder to ascertain because the school is typically open to outsiders, other than at night. At night, you aren¡¯t the only vulnerable one we have to protect. I am sure you remember the first time I came to you in this dorm room, correct?¡± I nodded and said ¡°Rebecca¡­¡± The dean lowered his gaze and said ¡°I am incredibly sorry you had to be witness to that, but she has been missing ever since she left Redcrest. The only lead we had was she was lured into the forest¡­ Like you were. Whatever called you did it to Rebecca and turned her. She¡­ She wasn¡¯t normal for a vampire. Let alone a human. She was missing decades before you could even walk, and yet, when she turned up, she wasn¡¯t turned or a human. Yet whatever means she had to stay alive for so long kept her young. It let her keep her blood, but it had gone stale¡­¡± Before he finished, I looked up at him and said ¡°Stale? It stained my floor for the better part of a day. Look...¡± I leaned onto the table and sighed, putting my head in my hands and applying some pressure to my eyes as I was getting a headache just from the sheer amount of explanation he was giving. I looked back up to him and asked ¡°Have you listened to any of the students about a massive bat with differently colored hair?¡± The dean nodded but didn¡¯t say anything. I leaned back into my chair and continued ¡°Well, that bat story turned out to be true when one of the students that I thought was a friend turned out to be the creature. Whatever he was doing, he was doing for a lot longer than I¡¯ve been around. He should still be around the campus. Last I saw, he had orange hair. Like, atomic orange. As bright as can be. If that security guard is right about hearing screeching, then you should look into this student as he had terrorized me on the weekend when he should¡¯ve been with family.¡± The dean nodded and made a few mental notes about this student. Feeling mentally exhausted now, I rub my eyes with a little more pressure just to try and relieve the pain that was behind them. After a few more seconds of this, the dean looked a tiny bit worried and asked ¡°Is something the matter Simon?¡± I shook my head and said ¡°I don¡¯t believe so. Just another headache. I get them every now and again. They get worse sometimes, but they always pass. Nothing life threatening.¡± The dean nodded and got up to start leaving. Right before he left, I looked towards the forest in front of him and said ¡°I do have two more questions to ask you though.¡± The dean closed the door once again and waited for my questions. Leaning back into my seat, I sighed and said ¡°Firstly, if that student I was telling you about is the actual culprit for this, what will happen to him?¡± I paused for the dean to answer, and when he did, it felt just as chilling as when he had mutilated Rebecca in front of me. ¡°The student will be tried as a Vampire adult, and at worse, be sentenced to death. At best, probably get a few decades in jail to answer for the other students he was terrorizing.¡± After letting my blood warm up a little more, I sighed shakily and asked ¡°I guess this is technically three questions with this, but if he¡¯s not responsible for the guard disappearing and me going into the forest, what¡¯ll happen to me? And if he was the culprit, but not the reason for the guard disappearing, does that mean I got turned by him?¡± The dean took a few more seconds to respond, but it wasn¡¯t truly an answer, or at least one that I was hoping for. ¡°It¡¯s rather considerate of you to think of such questions, but in the unlikely event that you have been turned, even in these circumstances, all you will have to do is wait for our personal investigation, which has been going on since the guard went missing, to come up with conclusions for you, instead of thinking of these what ifs.¡± I sighed and didn¡¯t say anything, wanting the dean to leave so that I may sit in silence for a while longer. The dean opened the door to leave and said ¡°And, just so you understand, you didn¡¯t miss any school today. It was rather fortunate that this happened last night. Today is a holiday for us Vampires. Enjoy it.¡± I looked up at him dumbfounded and a little ashamed since I had gotten ready for school, but now looked like a fool for having gotten ready. I rubbed the back of my head and asked ¡°On a separate note, I know I need to sign in to go to the other dorms, but what if a student wants to come visit me? Do they need to sign a paper or something?¡± The dean shook his head and told me ¡°They have to be invited in by you.¡± He turned his attention to his left and said ¡°You have a chance to practice that now as it seems. Good day.¡± He left and Priscilla took his place. She was wearing a thick looking dress that was very intricate with its lace design, but it also seemed to be rather¡­ Fitting for her? It¡¯s hard to describe, but suffice to say, she looked captivating in it. Her hair seemed different as well. After taking in her beauty for a few seconds, I shook my head and said ¡°Priscilla, please. Have a seat.¡± She bowed her head a little and walked in, closing the door behind her and taking a seat next to me. While she looked like a painting come to life, I was still confused about her outfit, especially at this time of year. It was getting colder as fall was nearly upon us. I tilted my head in a questioning manner, making her laugh a little. She explained ¡°I¡¯m wearing this dress not only to get used to it, but to get ready for the Redcrest Fall formal.¡± I nodded my head but was still curious about something. ¡°Is¡­ that why you were gone yesterday?¡± She nodded her head and didn¡¯t feel the need to explain why that was. I smiled warmly at her and said ¡°You look beautiful.¡± She didn¡¯t know how to respond to that and just accepted the compliment for what it was. She gave me a warm smile and said ¡°This isn¡¯t the only reason I¡¯m here. I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the Fall Formal with me.¡± I was surprised by this but with the dress and her mentioning it, that thought did cross my mind. I nodded softly and said ¡°I would be happy to accompany you¡­ All I¡¯ll need now is a suit.¡± She laughed some more and said ¡°The school should have some handy for you. But I don¡¯t know if they have your size. You are still a pee-wee.¡± I over dramatically pouted, being a drama queen to try and make the mood more joking rather than serious. She stifled a laugh and got up to get going. I wanted her to stay, more than I could possibly realize. But I didn¡¯t have anything to talk about. She was occupying my mind. Every part of it. Any thought that wasn¡¯t dancing was immediately disregarded. Before she was fully gone, she turned back and said ¡°The dance is still a month and a half out. So there is still hope for you and that suit.¡± I smiled and finally thought of something other than dancing. I stood up and asked ¡°Did you dye your hair? Something about it feels different.¡± She nodded and said ¡°Took you long enough. Dyed it dark purple. Very dark purple.¡± I smiled and couldn¡¯t find any other words to say. She was the same way, so she left. No other words to say to prolong her stay. When the door closed, some color left the brightly lit room. I sighed and quietly said ¡°Cya.¡± What is this feeling? Why do I want to just¡­ talk with her? Why do I never want her to leave? I¡¯ve never felt this feeling before. I have read books about it, some here at school. I¡¯m not sure this is a novel though. Why would such a cruel world exist? Tear a man from his family, possibly kill him in his sleep, give him hopes of a better life with someone he¡­ admires. Why would such a tragic tale be written? The more I thought like this, the darker the room got until eventually, it was just whites, greys, and blacks. No color remained in the room. An impossible story between a human and vampire is just that. Impossible. I wish I had school today. These thoughts are suffocating. I wandered around the dorm room and found a couple of books, other than moby dick, that seemed interesting. For one thing, there was a book about schools, more specifically, colleges. This book was centuries, if not millenniums old, and yet it was pristine. Every word is clear and legible. Every. Single. Word. Such as Red Crest. This school''s name. But not connected like it is now. This book was written in the year 2025, and yet many of the rules were very similar, if not the exact same. The only difference being that humans and vampires didn¡¯t officially coexist yet. But the rules were written the same, just with different¡­ classes? Ideologies? I have no clue. It¡¯s from such a bygone era that I can¡¯t even find the difference between the rule of ¡®never harming another student based on creed or religion.¡¯ That doesn¡¯t make sense. At least to me. There was probably a vampire that was alive at the time and still alive now that knows what this means. Setting the book aside, I can¡¯t grab another book because the headache came back, full force this time. I forced my hands to my head and groaned, walking to my bed, laying myself down. The headache was pure agony. This was not like any other that I¡¯ve had. But through the headache¡­ memories arose through the pain and muddy thoughts. Memories that weren¡¯t my own. I have no idea whose they belonged to, but they wouldn¡¯t slow down in revealing themselves to me. With the first memory surfacing, I almost immediately passed out, dreaming of someone else¡¯s life. Dreaming of a life that was centuries old. I do not know how I knew this, but I just¡­ did. I was walking through the streets of a city¡­ London. Big ben living up to its name. But it looks¡­ different. Like chunks had been taken from it in a deliberate attempt to topple it, to bring down a major landmark. Whoever this dream belonged to, they were terrified of what caused it. Flying machines that dropped explosives on houses, buildings¡­ schools. These¡­ Planes bore a mark that was hard to make out in this dream, but it was one that everyone feared¡­ even vampires of the time. This was London, England, 1943. And I was inhabiting the memories of one of its former residents¡­ Before London was decimated with even more bombs¡­ ones of such magnitude, that warfare would change forever. The Germans had no vampires. They were just pure evil in human form. And they had found a way to harness the power of the devil before any of the other world nations. A nuke.


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 Dream Sequence 1 of 3

    Since this is a dream that I am writing about, let me provide some context. The Germans were devastating in our history books. They razed countless cities, made many people homeless, terrified, and estranged from the rest of the world. The memories I had dreamed of were, as far as I could tell, real. It¡¯s nearly impossible to truly tell who¡¯s memories I had invaded, but my dream was something much more terrifying to me. Vampire¡¯s among humans are still widely unknown, even now, I know next to nothing about them, except how they came into power. But whatever caused me to have that dream must be a cause from vampires, or something. But, the dream took hold of my mind rather than figuring out why I was having it. Big Ben was left in dust after the Germans had dropped a nuke onto London. The symbol flying across the sky as everyone either was buried in rubble, or turned to ash from the devastation. The history books from that time, other than the Vampire¡¯s copies, were burned as well. The nations had banded together in order to try and bring this tyrannical government down, but with the bombs, they were more worried about their own homelands rather than everyone else. Governments decided to act separately, making their own weapons of mass destruction. It helped keep their lands free from the effects of the bombs, but the more of the weaker countries fell, the stronger the Germans became. The more people they had, and used as fodder to wreak more havoc. Vampires were in the war effort as well to stop this plague, but they were worried that too much involvement would mean their early exposure. The Germans had already found some Vampire cities and wiped them out after they did experiments on them, but they still didn¡¯t understand the creatures. Days blurred together, eventually becoming months, then years. The dream spiralling down into the devastation, the terrors of the mind, and the brutality of human innovation. While the terrors seemed to never end in this nightmare, there was a ray of hope. Just a few years after London was destroyed, The Americans developed their own nuke that was much deadlier than the German¡¯s. They saw no use in waiting to use it since this war was almost at a crossroads for the worst. It was either surrender, or be bombed. With the new weapon, America developed a number of these, the exact number lost to history, but they didn¡¯t use them sparingly. The Havoc the Germans inflicted was sent back at them. Multiple cities with one explosion wiped off the face of the Earth. Historic Landmarks, ruined by years of warfare, now piles of rubble. Camps used to treat people as slaves¡­ Only housing the scorch marks of victims. The war ended quickly with most of Germany¡¯s forts wiped out, along with its leadership. It was 1954 when this war ended. And the Vampires would soon make themselves known to the world, but that would happen later down the line as they were too weak to start an uprising of a similar magnitude to the war. As the dream ends, I do not wake up. I am enveloped in darkness, yet it feels so blinding that I cannot even open my eyes. I try to reach my hands up to shield my eyes from the light, but the only thing I feel instead, is a cold metal object in my hand, with a button on the front of it. I opened my eyes and see that I¡¯m no longer in Europe during the war, but in an office. I sat in a chair facing a window, the new rising sun burning ever brighter in the distance. It¡¯s a new era. Much more advanced than the 1940s and 1950s. It was the dawn of a new millenia. The early 2000s. I sat in front of a window looking out at a beautifully mowed lawn, accompanied by decadent trees, and a horde of protesters shouting for various different things, but the most common thing I could hear being shouted was ¡°End the oppression!¡± It was rather jarring to hear in all honesty. Then, a flood of other memories came rushing in, giving context to the situation. Vampires had just made themselves known, and accused the multitude of governments around the world that they used them for financial and military goals. People around the world came up in arms to protect this minority group, trying to ¡°end the oppression¡± and ¡°let their voices be heard.¡± The governments around the world tried to calm the fire and give the truth, but nobody listened to the voice of their leaders. For all the people knew, their leaders were lying about this as well. Something the Vampires brought up was the war with the Germans, how they were ¡°Used as pawns to draw in the enemy and strike, bombing the entire area, not caring for survivors.¡± Of course leaders denied these outrageous claims, but the final nail in government trust was when New Germany spoke up about this, figuratively, by releasing sealed files that spoke of a subspecies of humans that feast on the blood of the living. The experiments conducted on this subspecies, and the results of the testing. Along with damning evidence that depicted camps and cities bombed to bedrock where these Vampires supposedly lived. Governments were in an outrage for this act of mistrust from the Germans, but the people were convinced. One by one, governments were overthrown, Vampires were given rights above everyone else for the crimes and atrocities they were victims of. Then the unthinkable happened to the people. They were treated like cattle. Treated like vermin by the Vampires as a new empire arose. One that would reshape the planet for centuries to come. With the arrival of Vampires, it took thirty years for them to take control. Took another five to take power. They built their numbers for decades to bring the advantage to their side. And in the end, it was naivety that brought the end of the human era. Vampires  were on top. Then the dream ends with the same lawn covered in tents, littered with trash and people, without a drop of hope in sight. Then blackness befell me once again. It took longer to see anything so I took this time to ponder what I¡¯ve seen. A devastating war, followed by fifty years of peace, then followed by more ¡°war,¡± one that wasn¡¯t fought with physical weapons. Why was I seeing these dreams? And who were the people that these dreams came from? Who are they to me? Answers never came. Only silence, and darkness. Then a dim light flickered and rose to be brighter, rising off of the floor and into the sky, or rather, the ceiling. I was in a much more decrepit looking building this time, looking more like the first dream with Big Ben and how it was about to fall down. The building was vast, much larger than the office I was in. But I wasn¡¯t feeling anguish, or fear, or even joy. I was feeling¡­ Bored. I sat in an opulent chair that fared much better than the building. Whoever this memory belonged to had an ego. Unlike the last dream, only one more memory came to me for context. It was one of boredom, but it told me the year, where and who I was. The year was 3742, and the memory of who this belonged to was Christopher Masters. A Vampire. It was nearly exactly one thousand seven hundred and forty years after the second dream, yet things looked worse. Far worse. I was obviously not born yet, let alone my great great great great great grandfather, but the last name of masters rang a bell. I wasn¡¯t sure why, but The dream continued on, a dreadful sense of boredom continuing. But footsteps rang out in front of Christopher, hurried footsteps. Christopher sat up straight, trying to look menacing, up until he saw another Vampire. Then he got excited. He had hopes that there would be a fight for this land, but those hopes were dashed when he saw a paper in the visitor¡¯s hands. He snatched it from the visitor and opened it, slowly reading before smiling again. He threw the paper aside and asked ¡°Should we do it here? Or find somewhere that doesn¡¯t matter?¡± A voice spoke, but I couldn¡¯t hear it. I couldn¡¯t even see the face of the speaker, or the visitor. All I saw after that was the sky colored red. Christopher reached up and felt blood on his forehead, assuming blood was in his eyes as well. He tried to get up but was stopped. Permanently. Nothingness took me once again, but this time, after what felt like forever, until I woke up. No more dreams. It was the real me this time. And, I was going to be late for school. Again.


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