《Wraith》 1 : Invitation ¡°But, doesn¡¯t it hurt?¡± I protest weakly. This is something I¡¯d rather not deal with right now. Or ever. ¡°It¡¯s just a little bit of pain in exchange for eternal life!¡± my overzealous classmate, Savannah, rebuts. ¡°It¡¯s stupid easy. Look, Arri," she says, grabbing my hand, "I get to recommend an addition to our clan this month, and I really want it to be you. I know you don¡¯t usually stand out much, but you¡¯re actually pretty attractive, and I know you''ve got excellent grades! I¡¯m surprised you haven¡¯t turned already! You''re just the type we need! So what do you think?¡± She smiles at me from underneath her hooded jacket. Blonde corkscrew hair sticks out at odd angles. Sunglasses mask her eyes, but I can tell that she¡¯s being genuine. I¡¯ve always thought kindly of Savannah. I wish it hadn¡¯t come to this. Things are hardly as simple as she makes it seem. Turning means sustaining your existence on a diet of human blood for all of eternity. Damn it. Why did this idiot have to confront me directly like this? I¡¯m running out of excuses. ¡°Hmm. Well, I¡¯m interested. I¡¯d like to meet some of the other members though before I make my decision. I wonder, would that would be okay?¡± I ask smiling politely. She agrees and we arrange for me to meet her at 10 outside of the Lonnely Mansion on the edge of town. I sigh to myself. You should not have invited me. I head home for now. It¡¯s been a little over a year since the world of the supernatural made itself known to humans. It all started with a pro sports star getting outed as a werewolf by the media. Since then, all sorts of groups have been declaring their presence. Vampires, werewolves, and witches are all accepted beings. In the midst of the government panicking and attempting to create legislation to control this new world, it¡¯s becoming common practice for the various supernatural groups to get as much recruitment in as possible before restrictions are put in place. Aside from the big three, there are other supernatural races that have decided to maintain their secrecy and continue to keep to themselves. There are very few recorded encounters with these types. Most of the time their reasons for maintaining secrecy have to do with numbers. They don¡¯t have the ability to defend themselves like vampires and werewolves, so they are able to obtain a higher level of security through this obscurity. You see, not everybody has been welcoming of these new species. Plenty of people have begun taking up arms against these ¡®abominations¡¯ and ¡®intruders¡¯. Several ¡®organizations¡¯ have even started up to deal with the menace. It¡¯s not unfounded either. Vampires require human blood once every month, and not just a little. An entire person needs to be sacrificed per vampire. Werewolves aren¡¯t any better. Typically they¡¯ll eat whatever meat they can get their hands on, but when they lose control, that meat is often human. Although not as severe, even witches require human sacrifices for many of their rituals. There are plenty of reasons to fear the supernatural, but they all have their weaknesses and these ¡®hunters¡¯ plan to find them and kill whatever they can get their hands on. Conversely, this fear has driven many people to convert to one of the ¡®stronger¡¯ races before they die at their hands. Recently the numbers of supernatural races have been exponentially rising. Werewolves will accept anybody who can promise undying loyalty to the clan. Vampires are a little pickier about who they¡¯ll accept. They prize beauty and intelligence above all. Although you practically have to beg a coven to accept you, witches have been known to put their recruits through cruel hazing to keep only those with especially strong willpower or natural talent for magic. Vampires and werewolves have long held animosity for each other, but in light of their recent exposure to the outside world, they have decided to temporarily put their differences aside. The only bad blood that remains is between individual clans and packs with especially poor relations. The witches, for the most part have been just as secretive as ever and have been keeping to themselves, even in the midst of this turmoil. In this city, Kangee, there are three vampire clans, two werewolf packs, and four witch covens. It¡¯s a fairly large city, but even so, it has an exceptionally large supernatural presence. Judging by the location of our meeting place, I¡¯ve just been invited to join the Waverly Vampire Clan. The Lonnely Manor is one of their buildings used to house lower ranked members. It''s about a ten minute walk from my house. Waverly has been in this town for centuries. They were the first supernatural presence in this town back in the day and still consider themselves to be the rightful owners of this territory. They are exceptionally proud and deep-rooted. It is an honor to be selected to join them. It¡¯s also kind of a miracle that Savannah was accepted by them. She¡¯s lovely, but she¡¯s not particularly exceptional in any aspect. It just goes to show how out of control this ¡®recruitment¡¯ has gotten. When I walk through my front door, my little sister is sitting in front of the TV working on homework. She¡¯s a freshman in high school this year. I¡¯m a junior. She¡¯s ten times more extroverted than I am and has a far easier time making friends than I. She¡¯s also extremely talented at sports. We¡¯ve always gotten along well and she¡¯s one of my best friends. I chat with her about school for a bit before heading to my room. I head to my closet and pull a long wooden box out of an unfinished section up in the corner. I used to be terrified of that unfinished hole when I was a kid, but now it¡¯s a convenient place for hiding things. I rummage through the box as I think to myself. Vampires. Beautiful and intelligent. Perfect predators. They have enhanced strength, vision, and reflexes. They do not age, although their hair does grow and change colors. Elder vampires all have long, silver hair. They can quickly regenerate after taking physical damage. The speed of regeneration is dependent on the time elapsed since their last meal. All of them possess the ability to control their own blood, though the method varies. Some possess a degree of clairvoyance and it differs for each one. Leaders are able to communicate telepathically with their subordinates. They are extraordinarily dangerous in group fights. They are also sneaky and prefer strategic attacks to straightforward. They also have a large number of weaknesses. Their communication structure is shattered if you manage to take out the leader. They become snow-blind when exposed to any level of light above your average indoor lighting. They have a severe silver allergy that can prevent regeneration and cause them to be disfigured by large, red welts. There is no such thing as holy water, but certain liquid compounds containing silver can produce the same results as solid silver. Wood grown from trees exposed to these compounds or imbued with them after being cut can also have the same effect. One thing that most people don¡¯t know is that Vampires have an unhealthy obsession with circular geometric patterns. If they see a pattern complex enough, it can transfix them for hours and just about nothing can snap them out of it. Something like a rose window in Gothic architecture can take them out for a good day. Though it isn¡¯t really useful in a fight, any kind of human food will make make them sick to the point of vomiting too. Most important is the core. Each supernatural race has a core that contains their energy and spirit. If you can either cut off the flow of energy to this region or destroy it completely, you can kill them. Vampires¡¯ cores are in their heads. If you don¡¯t want to deal with the obnoxious regeneration, it¡¯s better to just take out their heads. Each race can be identified by their unique eye color. Werewolves are gold. Witches are dark violet. Vampires are crimson. I glance in the floor-length mirror to my side. My long reddish dirty blond hair is pulled back into a messy knot behind my head. My shaggy bangs frame a pair of sharp greyish eyes that look almost black in this lighting. My other facial features are soft and feminine, providing a contrast of sorts. I brush my hair back and briefly imagine my grey eyes as crimson. Nope. It just feels wrong. I like my silver eyes too much. I made the right choice. I grab a pair of gloves and something that looks a bit like a retainer from the box and set them near the edge of my bed. I spend the next few hours messing around with some homework to kill time. When my parents come home after work I talk to them for a bit and imply that I¡¯ll be shutting myself in my room to study for the rest of the night. At about seven I pull on an oversized black hooded jacket, black leggings, and black combat boots, and reach for the gloves. Each one extends up past my forearm to wrap around the top of my elbow. They are made of thin black leather and are covered in spiked silver plates linked together. Each of the fingers ends in a silver claw. These are the best tools for combat. I pull them on and cover them both with the sleeves of the jacket. I expect to be shaking hands so I stick my hand out a hole near the wrist and flip the right hand up so that it rests flat against the gauntlet inside the sleeve. I leave the left glove as is and stick it in a pocket. I stick the retainer in my right pocket. Pulling up my hood, I hop out the window. The night air is cool. Perfect sweater weather. I love Autumn. After a while I come to the gate outside the gate outside of the opulent, old, Lonnely Manor. I push the call button and a voice comes through the intercom asking me to state my business. Shyly, I tell them that I had a meeting with Savannah and they let me through. Quickening my pace, I head towards the elegant wooden front door, which opens as I approach. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Savannah smiles warmly as she invites me inside. I feel sorry for her, but I do my best not to let it show. I shake hands with a number of vampires whose names I don¡¯t bother to remember. A tall one with shaggy dark brown hair is the leader. I can see the veins of red energy reaching from his core to the others. Looking around, I can sense 23 core signals throughout the house, including those in front of me. There is one other subleader. Everyone in the house seems to belong to one of the two. The ones in front of me make an attempt at conversation, but my mind is elsewhere. As soon as pleasantries are over, I cut to the chase. ¡°Unfortunately, I must admit that I haven¡¯t come to join you today,¡± I announce. Their expressions are becoming confused, especially Savannah. I look at the leader in front of me as I continue. ¡°I¡¯m here today on the behalf of the Wraiths to remind you of the existing recruitment restrictions on your species. Going public hasn¡¯t changed anything. Your rate of growth is not sustainable. Your elders should know better than to forget about our agreement. Your recent actions demand punishment.¡± Confusion and caution floods their expressions, but it''s too late. My left hand is already lodged in their leader''s head through the eye socket. Changing my blade hand into a fist, I grasp something hard and pull out. The leader falls dead to the floor. The vampires are angry now. Savannah has fallen to the floor and started crying. I glance absent-mindedly at the rough crimson gem in my hand. Pushing up my sleeves and adjusting my right glove, I begin. Hands reach for me from every direction, I can hear feet pounding down the grand staircase as the others upstairs race to join their comrades. Several of them bend their blood to create weapons. Weaving through the crowd, I avoid the blows aimed for me and place my own where I can. This is going to be a rather long fight so I do my best to whittle down their numbers without tiring myself out. Most of my punches leave cuts and swollen blisters, but others leave holes in stomachs and heads. One fist strikes out from a blind spot. I can feel it enter back of my head, but it does no damage. It simply passes through me like smoke. That¡¯s one of the main advantages of my race. We can make ourselves or parts of ourselves intangible. It took me a considerable amount of effort to gain the control over it that I have today, but I¡¯m currently able to make it so that during a fight, my body parts only become solid at the exact point of contact with another person and only when I intend for the contact to happen. My punches and kicks are just as powerful as normal, but an enemy¡¯s attacks will pass right through me. It¡¯s a convenient skill to say the least. As more and more of them retreat to regenerate their wounds, I start getting more serious. Deflect their blow. Grab their core. Dodge their blow. Grab their core. Trip. Throw. Kick. Claw. Whatever it takes to get them off balance so that I can hit them where it really hurts. One vampire scatters his blood over me with a scary expression on his face. I assume it¡¯s supposed to have some kind of a corrosive effect, but it passes straight through me without even staining my clothes. His energy is nice, so I rip his heart out and leave him to recover. Sure enough, the exposed bits of leather on my glove start to smoke a bit. There¡¯s no effect on the silver though. I¡¯ll take care of this one later. After a while, there aren¡¯t any more blows heading my way. Everyone is either dead, or doing their best to heal. I empty a handful of red stones that I had acquired during the fight into my jacket pocket. There are eight that are left recovering with their cores intact. The other leader and the one with the nice energy are among them. Five of them have had their cores shattered and their energy is rushing out into their bodies without control. I decide to deal with ones with the broken cores first before they bite the dust. I pull the retainer out of my pocket and press it into my teeth as I walk over to the nearest one and grab her from behind. I open my mouth, where a wire now connects a set of silver fangs to my top and bottom canines and I bite into her neck and suck. It¡¯s a fitting end for a vampire, but it¡¯s not blood that I¡¯m after. I¡¯m tapping into a major energy channel in her throat. Vivid crimson energy rushes into my mouth as it leaks out of her broken core. The energy is always richer, closer to the core. As the foreign red energy enters my body, it turns silver and joins the rest of my energy. As far as I know, our race is the only one that can convert any foreign energy consumed to our own. It¡¯s one of the thing that keeps us higher than the other races in the food chain. Although I do eat like normal, I could survive on pure energy like this if I wanted to. Many of us do. As I absorb the last of this vampire¡¯s blood, she dies and I continue on to the next broken core. Every once in awhile one of the vampires with a complete core recovers enough to attack me, but every time I just cripple them again and get back to work. After finishing off all of the ones with the shattered cores, I return to the ones I¡¯ve been saving. I decide to start with the other leader. First I pull out my mobile phone. I pull up a photo from my gallery and show it to him. It¡¯s the rose window at Notre Dame. As his eyes rest on the image they glaze over. I watch as the red energy that¡¯s been tending to his wounds rushes back up to the core in his head to help him process the energy. Once the energy is almost completely returned to the core, I stick my hand through his eye and remove the rough red stone that is now shining brightly with energy. I set this stone aside and repeat the process with the other seven. I put most of the cores into my pocket with the duller ones that I collected during the fight, but I also set aside the core from the vampire with the nice energy. Most of these cores will be sold. The six that are filled with energy are almost priceless to witches. The other two are for me. I take one of them and press it against the hollow beneath my left clavicle with my index finger. Channeling my energy through the stone, the color changes from red to black. The energy collected previously still shines through it though, giving it a smoky sheen. I change the flow of energy and as I push harder, both the core and my index finger sink into my shoulder. I pull out my index finger, leaving the core in place. My energy instantly reroutes itself to connect the new core. I do the same thing to my right shoulder with the other core. This makes thirty one cores. Just like we can make other races¡¯ energy our own, we can also steal their cores. I¡¯m pretty picky about the cores that I assimilate, but some of my kind have cores that number in the hundreds. I¡¯m the type that prefers quality to quantity. I look around and am momentarily gripped by shame. It¡¯s been a long time since I killed this many. This was the reason why I had originally abandoned the supernatural realm, although I was fifteen and squeamish at the time. I didn¡¯t want to kill a classmate either. Savannah had fallen quickly in the fight. Quickly though, the shame becomes satisfaction. The energy I received from their blood was substantial, and my two new cores have harmonized nicely with the others. My body warms as an incredibly comfortable sensation envelops it. I sigh to myself. It¡¯s been too long. The killing wasn¡¯t so bad. Having considerable advantages over the other races, our race and organization, the Wraiths have historically taken responsibility for policing the supernatural realm, despite our small numbers. Although I wasn¡¯t a part of it, we had originally tried to silence the other races from revealing themselves, but the operation had ended in failure. Since then, we¡¯ve been trying to figure out how to handle the change of circumstances. We¡¯ve been too lenient lately. This ¡®recruitment¡¯ is getting ridiculous. I can¡¯t afford to nitpick over morals anymore. If we let this go too far, humanity is going to die out. Pulling my sleeves back down over my bloodstained gloves, I write a quick message like we always did back in the days when we were properly feared and sign it with my old field name. Stepping over corpses, I pull my hood back up and walk out the elaborate wooden door and into the brisk autumn night. I sigh to myself. Fionn is going to kill me. ~~~ AN: RIP Savannah and friends. This is my first fiction on here, so let me know what you think. This chapter felt pretty rushed but I hate exposition and wanted to get it out of the way. I feel bad about skimming over most of the dialogue in this chapter, but I promise I''m doing it for a reason. Hopefully it''s not too off-putting. I''ll make up for it next chapter and hopefully then it will start making more sense. If you spot any errors, let me know. It''s 4am here and I have no editor, so fingers crossed that this even resembles English. 2 : Shattering the Packs I alter my path home to take me past a nearby creek. I stop by the stream and let my body become immaterial as I focus on separating my body and clothing from the remaining blood that covers it. I lay down in the water without making a single ripple and let the stream wash away the remaining red dust. Vampires are shit at tracking, but wolves are another story. If they bring in a werewolf to find me, it could be troublesome. Getting rid of the blood should help, but the stream will help more. Wolves have trouble tracking over bodies of water. I stand back up. I¡¯m still dry, but the blood is all gone. Just to be on the safe side, I remain intangible and I walk up the stream bed for a good fifteen minutes before exiting on the opposite bank and heading home. When I climb back through my bedroom window it¡¯s half past eight. I change into comfortable clothes. My mom and dad are out in the living room watching some alien conspiracy documentary. My mom is crazy as shit and believes every word of it, but I suppose there are worse things she could be interested in, like reality television. My dad is a research biologist and is currently arguing with her over whether or not the sources used in the show are credible. In each of their lower abdomens is a tiny white light. Hardly any energy passes through their bodies. Human. Nobody in my family knows about me. That¡¯s a big part of the reason why I¡¯m so concerned with covering my tracks. Naturally, I don¡¯t want to get caught, but I couldn¡¯t bear it if my family ended up suffering because of my activities. I want to keep them as far away from the supernatural as possible. Putting an end to the recruitment will be a big step towards that. I¡¯m still feeling all warm and comfortable from all the energy that I absorbed, so I head to bed. I still need to sleep, after all. I fall asleep to the sound of sirens. Seems like tomorrow will be interesting. By the time that I arrive at school, the news has already spread. One of our students, a vampire, was murdered last night along with a large portion of her clan. Rumors run rampant, and it seems like nobody knows exactly what happened. Students are permitted to skip class if they want to attend grief counseling, but most students don¡¯t know how to react. Many didn¡¯t even realize that Savannah wasn¡¯t human. Should they be sad that one of their classmates was butchered, or relieved that a potential predator was removed from their surroundings. During third period calculus class, my phone starts to vibrate silently and I excuse myself from the room. I check the caller ID. Sure enough. It¡¯s him. ¡°¡®Keep your numbers down or we¡¯ll do it for you. There is only one punishment for forgetting the old ways.¡¯ -Ossian,¡± a deep, lazy voice rings out, quoting yesterday¡¯s message that I left for the Waverly Clan. ¡°Who said you could call this number? It¡¯s the middle of the day,¡± I demand. ¡°Who said you could slaughter a mansion full of vampires and issue a declaration of war on the behalf of the organization?¡± the voice asks in return. ¡°I was personally invited to join them, Fionn. It couldn¡¯t be helped,¡± I explain. ¡°I see, I see,¡± he continues. ¡°I guess I can¡¯t fault you if they provoke you directly. At the very least, it got you to take action for the first time in two years, so I guess I should be thankful.¡± ¡°You¡¯re surprisingly accepting of this,¡± I assert. ¡°I thought you¡¯d be a little more angry.¡± ¡°Well that depends. Was this a one time deal or are you back for good? I can¡¯t have you showing up out of nowhere and disappearing again, and I don¡¯t have the time right now to take on your role as well as my own. You understand this right? You signed your old name on that wall. That¡¯s put a lot of powerful people on edge. You need to stick around this time to see things through,¡± he exhorts. ¡°Yeah, yeah. I¡¯m sick of this recruitment bullshit. Let¡¯s put an end to it,¡± I affirm. ¡°You know if you had stuck around properly last time, this might have been avoided completely,¡± he says in an admonishing tone. ¡°Nope. Not completely. That damn sports star still made a damn fool of himself and outed his race to the world. The only way we could have prevented that is by being so terrifying that he¡¯d rather kill himself than tell the truth, and that¡¯s not my job. That¡¯s a job for the higher ups like you. Besides, that was in a completely different region. Not my territory.¡± I protest. ¡°Maybe so,¡± he concedes. ¡°But this region could have been far more controlled if we had an Executor on hand.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have done something about it?¡± I ask. ¡°What gives you the idea that I have all this time for field work?¡± he asks in return. ¡°You know I have other responsibilities. Besides, I have been acting. You were our only rank III in this region. Before the hiatus, I had been playing the role of three rank IVs so that people didn¡¯t suspect how meager our numbers are on top of my rank II management duties.¡± I whistle in appreciation. ¡°Sounds like you were busy.¡± ¡°No kidding,¡± he says in an annoyed tone. ¡°You¡¯ve got some making up to do.¡± ¡°I know,¡± I say seriously. ¡°I¡¯m here to help.¡± ¡°Good!¡± he exclaims. ¡°We begin today!¡± Typical Fionn. I guess there¡¯s no rest for the wicked. ¡°Ever since last night, the various supernatural powers in the city have been trying to decide what to do about the recruitment. Do they concede to the authority of the Wraiths, or do they try to amass enough power to usurp us? The witches aren¡¯t an issue. They¡¯ve been obeying the old ways from the start anyways. They¡¯re probably laughing while they watch the others scramble. The vampires are definitely shaken. The Waverly clan is pissed and they want revenge, but the others are putting a temporary hold on any recruitment while they assess the situation. The werewolves are responding exactly as you¡¯d imagine. Apparently, this is the Era of the Wolf! It¡¯s time for them to rise up and become the overlords of the supernatural realm and wrest control away from the Wraiths. They¡¯re boosting their recruitment by tenfold. Previously they had only been accepting those with exceptional athletic abilities and loyalty. Many of these are either street thugs, or talented athletes from different athletic organizations around town. Now they¡¯re set on converting entire gangs and organizations. Naturally, this can¡¯t be allowed. Starting this afternoon, the Alphas of the two different packs in town are going to start making a pilgrimages to the different teams where they hold presence, and convert as many as possible.¡± I can see where he¡¯s heading. In order for a human to become a werewolf, they need to accept a wound from an Alpha and then make a vow of loyalty. This means that werewolves can be created without the consent of the human. As long as they¡¯re attacked by an alpha they can be pressured into making a vow, especially if people they¡¯re already familiar with are already part of the pack. If we take out the Alpha though, that won¡¯t be possible. In the event that an Alpha is killed, a new Alpha is picked through a sort of popularity contest. However though, this popularity contest often involves lengthy, bloody, and often fatal battles between opposing factions. These kind of power struggles can last months or even years. If both Alphas are killed at the same time, things might become even more intense as wolves from different packs start to mix. At the very least, until a new Alpha is chosen, it¡¯ll put an immediate stop to recruitment. It¡¯s a good plan. ¡°So am I taking them both, or are we splitting the work,¡± I ask. ¡°Splitting,¡± Fionn explains. ¡°I want them both killed simultaneously so there¡¯s no danger of one pack¡¯s disorder alerting the other.¡± ¡°Sounds good. I have school now though, and all my equipment is at home. When and where are we doing this?¡± I ask. ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± he says. ¡°I don¡¯t have the schedule yet, but they won¡¯t be able to get any of the teams together until later. Most adult teams won¡¯t meet until after work. The soonest they¡¯ll be able to start is by going around to the different high schools under their control after school. You should have plenty of time to run home and grab your gear. Do you know which pack¡¯s territory your school is in?¡± he asks. ¡°Yeah,¡± I respond. ¡°It¡¯s Gremor¡¯s pack.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± he says, pausing to think. ¡°Let¡¯s do things this way. I¡¯ll drop off your gear in your locker at school. Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll do it discretely. I¡¯ll even bring your old uniform so we can do this officially. I¡¯ll message you the schedule as soon as I get it. Gremor Pack¡¯s Alpha will probably be closest to you so I¡¯ll let you take care of that. Head to their first location immediately once you get out of school. I¡¯ll go after Yates¡¯ pack. Don¡¯t forget that this isn¡¯t a battle you can win with strength. You¡¯re gonna have to think this one through.¡± ¡°I know, I know. I¡¯m not that rusty,¡± I chide. ¡°I¡¯m not calling you rusty. This is the first time you¡¯ve gone after an Alpha. They¡¯re not like the rest. Although their regeneration is pretty negligible when exposed to silver, their bones are like steel. Breaking through the ribs to get to the core in their heart is easier said than done, and you¡¯ve gotta do it quickly. I don¡¯t want this to be a fight with the entire pack. I want an assassination. Nice and clean. Don¡¯t draw this out,¡± Fionn urged. ¡°I¡¯m already forming a plan,¡± I insist. ¡°I know better than to underestimate the Alpha, especially when you¡¯re this serious.¡± If the Alpha¡¯s bones are strong as steel, and I don¡¯t have time to chip away at it, there¡¯s really only one way to go about this. It shouldn¡¯t be too difficult. ¡°That¡¯s my protege!¡± he proclaims. ¡°Knock ¡®em dead,¡± he adds, chuckling to himself. I roll my eyes. Before ending the call, I tell him about the small stash of vampire cores I have hidden in my room and ask him to take them and pawn them off to the witches. He agrees and I head back to class. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! The day passes in a blur. Around noon Fionn messages me with the location. Another high school several minutes away has the honor of going first. We decide to carry out the execution at exactly 3:30. I¡¯ll be heading over as soon as school gets out. My sister also messages me, asking if she can talk to me about something. Probably boys. I spend the rest of the day thinking through potential scenarios. My last class of the day is a mandatory study hall. I excuse myself early and head to my locker. I leave my backpack where it hangs, grab a new bag off of the bottom shelf, and go to the restroom to get changed. Inside of the bag are my familiar spiked gloves, a pair of black siver-toed combat boots, a pair of loose charcoal grey trousers, a matching charcoal turtleneck, and a pale-grey, hooded, military-looking overcoat. On the left breast of the coat is a crest depicting an armored fist clutching olive branches with a crown atop it. On the right shoulder is an emblem of a skull atop three chevrons, indicating my rank and primary role. The sleeves of the coat ended where they met the gloves and were attached with a series of straps and buckles. I pull the turtleneck up to cover the bottom part of my face. Looking in the mirror of the empty bathroom, almost all of my features are obscured. A few tufts of my hair stick out from the hood. Pulling back the hood for a better view, my hair evaporates into smoke and reforms in a shaggy black men¡¯s hairstyle. Turning my torso to smoke, I flatten my already meager chest for good measure. I put the hood back up. This time, I am completely unrecognizable. Before leaving the bathroom, I make myself not only immaterial, but invisible. As the final bell rings, I exit the building, passing directly through the mass of students. It takes me under ten minutes to reach the target school. By the time I get there, the pack has already arrived. From snippets of conversations between the students of this school, I have gathered that the pack is gathered in the gymnasium with twenty or so student athletes. I manage to reach the gym before the Alpha has started. It¡¯s still only 3:28. The Alpha, Jeffrey Gremor, is standing near one wall flanked by subordinates. The crowd of students are gathered before him and surrounded by other members of the pack, including what appear to be a few students of this school. Still invisible, I circled around Gremor to stand just by his side. He is talking to the students about how joining the pack will benefit them and the unity that comes from pack life. It¡¯s too late though. I stick my silver retainer in my mouth. It¡¯s 3:30. I step out in front of him, re-materializing, as I reach my arms around his massive frame. Leaping, I dig my fingers into his flesh for a firm grip and bite viciously into his neck. I barely get any energy out before the fight begins. Gremor flails wildly, trying to detach me, but my body turns to smoke wherever he grabs. One of the lackeys to his side eyes the open target of my back. Pulling an arm back, he punches toward my spine with all of his force, not realizing the consequences. The fist passes directly through me and into the Alpha¡¯s chest. I grin as I hear a snapping noise. Why use your own strength when you can use someone else¡¯s? I know well enough how stupidly strong werewolves are. The lackey reels back as he realizes what he¡¯s done. Inside the Alpha¡¯s body, energy rushes towards his breast to begin healing. I detach one silver-thorned hand from his side and pull it back in a blade hand. Like lightning, it strikes forward and sinks into his chest. I can feel the shattered ribs scrape against my armored wrist as I reach my fingers around his heart, slipping them between the pulsing arteries. Gremor screams. Grabbing firmly, I pull. The entire heart is ripped out of the hole in his chest. In my eyes, it shines with a brilliant golden light. The Alpha falls to his knees as his pack mates continue to rush towards him. By the time he hits the ground though, I have already disappeared. I casually stroll out of the gymnasium, heart in hand, invisible to the countless eyes that flash around, wildly trying to catch a glimpse of me. On a wall just outside the gym, I scrawl another message before leaving. "Good dogs should obey their masters. -Ossian" It won''t make me many friends, but that''s not what I''m here for. I repeat the same process as I did the night before and head towards a nearby stream. I cut open the heart to reveal a glowing golden gemstone embedded in the septum and remove it. It''s a gorgeous core, and the energy quality is phenomenal. I¡¯ll absorb it later unless Fionn has plans for it. Discarding the pulpy heart and eliminating the blood from my body, I cross the creek and head home. I return to the school and change back into my old clothes. Checking my mobile phone, which I had left, I see three missed calls. Two from my sister and one from Fionn. I decide to call Fionn back first. He answers and praises me earnestly. Apparently, the news of my job had already reached him. Fionn, being much stronger than me, had punched through Yates¡¯ chest himself to grab the core. He was surprised to hear about how I had used the other werewolves in my attack. I ask him if he wants the core from my Alpha but he declines and tells me to absorb it. I stick it in my chest. It feels fantastic. ¡°Have you done anything with the vampire cores yet?¡± I ask. ¡°Not really,¡± he replies. ¡°I contacted one of the covens though and they¡¯re interested. They say they¡¯ll buy as many as they can afford and that it comes down to our price. I told them they¡¯d be 10K apiece for the average ones and 50K for the ones that you saturated with energy. They seemed pretty happy with that so we¡¯ll see how much cash they can scrape together. I¡¯m guessing they¡¯ll take at least four or five of the weak ones off our hands. After that, I¡¯ll contact the other covens.¡± ¡°Sounds good,¡± I say. I end the call quickly and head home. On the way back to my house, I hear bits and pieces of rumors concerning this afternoon¡¯s assassinations from passerby. It feels nice to know what kind of an impact we¡¯re having. I didn¡¯t think getting back to work would be this rewarding. I mean, I¡¯ve even gotten three new cores for myself in under 24 hours. The warmth of the new energy courses through my body with a refreshing vigor. As I approach my house, my heart drops as I notice something and break into a sprint. There are two energy signatures in my house and they¡¯re red. What are vampires doing inside my living room? I run around the back of my house and enter through one of the walls. I remain invisible and immaterial as I wander towards the living room, not making a sound. As the living room enters my sight, I drop to the floor. My stomach churns. How could I let this happen? How could I have been so CARELESS?! Just like everyday, the TV is on in my living room. Just like everyday, my sister is in front of it, only this time, crimson energy dances through her body, fighting a few remaining streams of white energy as she lies unconscious on the floor. My little sister made the change. WHY?! WHICH GROUP OF THE BASTARDS DID THIS TO MY KID SISTER? Is this what she wanted to talk to me about? Why couldn¡¯t I have just listened to her? I was so caught up in my crusade that I didn¡¯t even notice that the enemies were encroaching on my family. I couldn¡¯t even make time for the one I care about the most. I¡¯m the worst. What do I do? A boy who looks about her age sits next to her. As he turns his head to look at her, I catch a glimpse of his face. DAMN IT! I curse loudly to myself as I recognize him. He¡¯s a Waverly, and not just any. He¡¯s one of the main family¡¯s sons. He¡¯s a trueblood vampire who was born within the race. These types are the most powerful. Why is he here though? It can¡¯t be because they know about me. The Waverlies must have stepped up their recruitment as well and coincidentally recruited my only younger sibling. What are the odds? Normally I would just kill the group that recruited her, but this isn¡¯t Savannah. This isn¡¯t some random classmate; it¡¯s my kid sister. I certainly can¡¯t kill her, and killing the ones that made her this way would only hurt her. What are our parents going to think? I can¡¯t just live normally with her either. This is the epitome of what I am trying to destroy. I can¡¯t tolerate it. FUCK. I can¡¯t stay with my sister. I can¡¯t stay in this house. My mind swells with ideas as I try to find some way to reverse what¡¯s been done. Is there some way that I can replace her core with a human one? No. Ten times out of ten that would kill her. Is there some way I can purify her energy? No. It would be continuously tainted by her core. What¡¯s left? I could change her further. Change her into one of us. And what? Turn her into a butcher like me? I can¡¯t do that either. Damn it. DAMN IT! There has to be some kind of cure¡­ Shit! My eyes snap open. A cure! Fionn mentioned it once in passing. He knows of a cure! I need to get to Fionn. I quickly flee the house. My mind in shambles, I race towards Fionn¡¯s place. ~~~ AN: This one is a little bit later than I''d have liked due to exams and such. Let me know what you think, and if you spot any errors, please let me know. Thanks for giving this a read! Any input helps. 3 : The Cure It takes me about half an hour to arrive on the other side of town where Fionn lives. I¡¯m currently standing on a suburban street like any other outside of a large, old, beat-up house. In my panic, it didn¡¯t occur to me that Fionn would be out selling the vampire cores right now. I shoot him a message and let myself into his house to wait. The inside of the house is as dilapidated and disorderly as the outside with the exceptions of one bedroom and the study where Fionn does all of his work. I seat myself on a cluttered sofa in the study while I wait. After about fifteen minutes I see the figure of an old man hobbling up the path of the house through the window. Fionn lets himself in and returns himself to his ¡®normal¡¯ appearance. Most of the time, Fionn pretends to be an elderly retiree who spends all his time cooped up in his house. It¡¯s only around members of the organization that he lets his other appearance show. The man who greets me has messy, shoulder-length, dark-chestnut hair and piercing grey eyes. He looks like he¡¯s about twenty or so, but I know better. Fionn has probably been immortal for far longer than I¡¯ve been alive. It¡¯s one of the perks of becoming an esteemed rank II. While I¡¯ve been qualified to advance to rank II for years now, I¡¯ve been holding off for various reasons. ¡°How kind of you to grace me with your presence,¡± he teases, dropping himself into his desk chair. ¡°Sorry it¡¯s been so long since I dropped by,¡± I apologize earnestly. Fionn waves his hand, blowing off my apology completely. ¡°Finally ready to advance?¡± he asks. ¡°Not today. I¡¯m here about the cure,¡± I admit. ¡°Cure?¡± he repeats, furrowing his brow. ¡°The cure for vampirism,¡± I elaborate. ¡°You said you knew of one. I need it. I¡¯ll pay whatever price you ask.¡± ¡°Why do you need the cure?¡± he asks. ¡°If you need to get rid of a vampire, just kill it.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t. Some bastards changed my little sister,¡± I reluctantly admit, staring holes in the floorboards. ¡°I have to do something, but I can¡¯t kill her.¡± ¡°Shit,¡± Fionn says, his expression changing to one of surprise. ¡°I can give you the cure right now, but you¡¯ll have to pay me back in favors. You¡¯ll be taking on some extra work in exchange.¡± ¡°Deal,¡± I agree immediately. ¡°I can¡¯t thank you enough.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not all,¡± he continues. ¡°You also need to advance.¡± ¡°I told you I¡¯d advance after I graduated high school,¡± I protest. ¡°I want to become an adult first.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t just become an adult by graduating high school, but fine,¡± he concedes. ¡°We need as many high ranking members as we can get, but we can wait another year, I suppose. Here¡¯s the cure. Figure out how to administer it to her without drawing her suspicion to you. Be careful with it too. This is the last vial left in the entire organization. It¡¯s something of a family heirloom, so put it to good use.¡± Fionn hands me an ancient looking syringe filled with white liquid. It glows a bit to me, so it must have some kind of energy in it. I¡¯m a little reluctant about sticking this in my little sister. Regardless, I feel a huge weight raise off my chest as I clutch the little glass cylinder. ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll be off,¡± I say hurriedly as I head towards the front door. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it,¡± he replies. ¡°Stop by more often. It gets lonely here.¡± ¡°Will do,¡± I respond. As I walk the streets back to my house I struggle to come up with ways to give my sister the cure. There¡¯s no way she¡¯s just going to let me inject some mysterious substance in her. Besides, she hates needles. Since she just became a vampire, I doubt she¡¯ll just agree to switch back so quickly either. Any way I look at this, I¡¯m going to have to give it to her when she¡¯s either distracted or unconscious. I could give it to her while she¡¯s sleeping, but since she¡¯s a vampire, couldn¡¯t I just distract her with the Notre Dame rose window, like I usually do with their kind? That seems like the easiest way. As I near my house, my face begins to pale again. Please tell me that isn¡¯t what I think it is. About 100 meters away from me, my house is lit with four energy signals. All of them are crimson. Preparing for the worst, I once again circle around the house and sneak inside. Walking invisible through the familiar halls, I return to the living room. By now, my sister is awake and talking to the boy from before on the loveseat. Her new red eyes don¡¯t look too bad against her auburn hair. She must have handled the change well for her to already be awake. Usually it takes about five hours to complete the change from human to vampire, but it¡¯s only been three since school got out. Maybe she left early like I did. On the sofa are two more slumped figures. Closer inspection reveals them to be my parents. I groan to myself. Fucking hell. I''ve never heard of an entire family changing in a day! Is this insane recruitment speed because of what I did yesterday? I only have one syringe. I back out of the room and head down the street. When I get about a block away I call Fionn again. ¡°Did it work?¡± he asks? ¡°What do you mean, ¡®Did it work?¡¯ You didn¡¯t give me some kind of dubious cure, did you?¡± I ask, skeptically. ¡°No! No!¡± he protests. ¡°I just thought it might have lost potency after this long,¡± he explains. ¡°That¡¯s still not okay,¡± I admonish. ¡°Whatever. I couldn¡¯t use it. When I got home, my parents had been changed too.¡± ¡°You¡¯re kidding. Those bastards sure move fast!¡± ¡°I know. I need more syringes of the cure. I¡¯ll pay the cost, no matter what. Just tell me how I can get them.¡± ¡°I wish it were that easy. The vial in your hand is the only copy of the cure that I have access to,¡± he explains. ¡°It¡¯s an old recipe that hasn¡¯t been made in hundreds of years. It really is an heirloom that¡¯s been passed down through my family. That¡¯s all that I can give you.¡± ¡°Can I see the recipe. I¡¯ll make some myself.¡± ¡°The reason it hasn¡¯t been made in hundreds of years is because we don¡¯t have the recipe. It¡¯s been lost to the ages. I¡¯m sorry.¡± I sigh heavily. This complicates things but I still haven¡¯t lost hope. It¡¯s the 21st century. I think of the way science has progressed since this cure was last made. People are inventing cures for diseases all the time, and I don¡¯t even need to invent the cure to vampirism. I already have it. I just need to synthesize it. It¡¯s not something that I can do overnight. Something like this will take years, but who knows how valuable the cure to vampirism would be? Besides being the only way to save my family, synthesizing the cure would have profound effects on this world and would be one step closer to restoring the balance. There¡¯s only one problem. I can¡¯t return home to a family of vampires. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll want me to change, and I couldn¡¯t even if I wanted to. I also can¡¯t continue to fight against the recruitment if I¡¯m living with those who are perpetuating it. Besides the moral issues I have, eventually they¡¯ll notice my unusual behaviors. Keeping my secret would be just too hard. It¡¯s not like my family will be getting any older. I¡¯m still not happy about leaving them though. It¡¯ll probably be years before I¡¯ll be able to see them again. And then there¡¯s the issue of saying goodbye. Can I even say it? What kind of reason could I offer for leaving? I¡¯m going to dedicate myself to work? I want to live by myself? I just really can¡¯t stand vampires? There¡¯s nothing decent. What¡¯s worse? Letting them think something terrible has caused me to disappear, or telling them that they¡¯re the reason I left? If I ever want to have decent relations with them in the future, probably the prior. It would be easier to come up with an excuse later. I still feel like shit for doing this to my family though. With all the people going missing lately from supernatural deaths, I¡¯m sure that they¡¯ll assume the worst. No matter what, though, I can¡¯t join them. They made a choice that I couldn¡¯t without consulting me. Maybe it¡¯s my fault for not being there to talk about it, but there¡¯s still nothing I can do about it at this point. All I can do now is manufacture a cure. ¡°Fionn, let me live with you,¡± I demand. ¡°It¡¯ll just be until I graduate high school. I plan to develop a cure for vampirism by synthesizing this cure that you gave me. It¡¯s going to take years though, and I¡¯ll need to finish high school and get into university in order to accomplish this. I can¡¯t return home during that time. I¡¯ll change appearances and transfer schools. I¡¯ll need a new identity though, and the papers to back it up. Can you help me?¡± I ask. The line is silent for a moment. Finally, he speaks. ¡°Do you really think that you can reinvent the cure to vampirism?¡± he asks me. ¡°Absolutely. I¡¯ll do whatever it takes. I might even be able to figure out the exact recipe used in the original,¡± I assure him. ¡°Developing a cure would be incredible. If you can do this, you would be a huge boon to the organization. They would probably even advance you to rank I. This could be really big, Arri. Are you committed to this?¡± he asks. ¡°Yes,¡± I reply instantly. ¡°This has to be done from both a personal and global perspective, and I want to be the one to do it.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°I¡¯ll make all the arrangements. We¡¯ll pretend you¡¯re my niece or something. I can have you transfer into a new school by Wednesday. Come up with a good look. We¡¯ll need photos for a new driver¡¯s license and such. Make sure it¡¯s something you¡¯ll be comfortable with for the foreseeable future. Doing this too many times will be way too suspicious,¡± Fionn advises. ¡°You can take any bedroom but mine. We¡¯ll get you some new clothes too.¡± I thank Fionn earnestly. He asks me what I plan on telling my family, and I tell him about my thoughts from earlier and how I had decided not to. He agrees me and tells me that I can come back to his house whenever I¡¯m ready and pick out a room. He needs to make some phone calls about getting me some papers for my new identity. I take one last look back at my house. I¡¯d really love to storm back in there and beat the shit out of that Waverly boy. My stomach turns as I suppress the urge. I¡¯m a stubborn person, and when it comes to vampires, I¡¯m especially unfamiliar with making concessions like this. I really hate the way things turned out. When it comes down to it though, wasn¡¯t it all my fault? I should have answered my sister¡¯s calls. I should have talked to her more. This is a failure on my part. I can¡¯t afford to fail again with this cure. Everything rests on this now. An idea suddenly illuminates my consciousness. I can¡¯t touch this boy, but what about his family? The Waverlies have already done enough to piss of the Wraiths anyways. I¡¯m perfectly justified in regulating their numbers again. That¡¯d be two nights in a row, but they¡¯re the ones who ignored our warning. I¡¯d be ignoring my duties as this district¡¯s Executor if I let them get away with something like that. I smile to myself. It¡¯d be awfully poetic if I were to kill his parents and whatever sibling(s) he has. That¡¯d be too suspicious though. I guess a little random killing wouldn¡¯t be too bad. I still have all my gear on me too, and the Waverly¡¯s Riese Manor is only 10 or so minutes away and lies near the path to Fionn¡¯s. The Riese Manor is similar in function to the Lonnely Manor, as it also houses lower-ranked members of the family. I make up my mind. It takes me less than a minute make myself invisible and get changed. I change my appearance to that of the black-haired boy that I use on missions for good measure. It takes me only seven minutes of running to reach the Riese Manor. From the outside of the gates, I can see just under forty energy signatures. Four of them are subleaders. Looks like they must have boosted security for the outer houses since last night. No matter. I¡¯ll just use stealth this time. I¡¯ll take out the leaders first, then go after the others. Invisible and immaterial, I steal into the massive brick building. This time, I make the cores a priority. I take a metal contraption out of a pocket in my uniform. Hanging from a short change is a silver disk that looks a bit like a pocket watch. When I tap it though, it starts to spin in all directions, creating a sphere with elaborate swirling patterns. I travel through the house, seeking out the leaders. As I find them, I rematerialize and hypnotize them, freezing them in place. When the energy gathers in their cores, I ¡®remove¡¯ them. After the third, the smell of blood has started to permeate the air. When I spot the fourth, I notice one thread of energy heading off in a separate direction. Looks like this guy belongs to someone in the main family. He was probably sent here as a lookout. When I kill him, the main house may notice if they try to reach him and he doesn¡¯t respond. I¡¯ll have to speed things up after this. I make quick work of the lookout and begin on the others. One after another they fall. Sometimes I hypnotize them, but with the weaker ones, I don¡¯t even bother. This is too easy. It¡¯s barely even helping me vent my frustrations. As I finish off the last of them, I notice another red light approaching. Someone from the main house must have been called to check in. They must have been nearby to get here so quickly. Good. Maybe this will be a little more interesting. I¡¯m still in the hallway of the second floor as I hear the newcomer ascend the stair. I wait for him to turn the corner and see me before attacking, but as he turns the corner I curse to myself. It¡¯s the goddamn kid who turned my sister. It¡¯s the one member of this fucking family that I said I¡¯d leave alone. His neat black hair is a bit disheveled and now hangs down in front of his face. As his eyes fall on me, he forms two short-swords from his blood and gets ready to attack. His eyes are burning with rage. He¡¯s obviously seen the carnage. He obviously wants me dead. Should I kill him instead? Now would be the chance. I¡¯m about to act when I see another red light dash up the stairs. The figure almost crashes into him as she stops. It¡¯s my sister. The boy¡¯s eyes fill with panic. ¡°Evelyn! I told you not to follow me! I told you to wait! Do you have any idea who this is?¡± the boy asks angrily, taking a defensive stance. Apparently he does hold some feelings for my sister. At least enough to want to protect here. ¡°I couldn¡¯t just let you go by yourself though! It wouldn¡¯t be right! I don¡¯t care who it is!¡± she protests. My sister tries to form some kind of weapon out of blood, but fails. It¡¯ll take a lot more practice before she¡¯s capable of something like that. ¡°Didn¡¯t you see the bodies?¡± he asks rhetorically. ¡°This is Ossian! This guy¡¯s taken out two entire manors of our men so far!¡± he declares. My sister shrinks back a bit. I guess she has a degree of self preservation after all. I make my entire body immaterial. I have no intent of fighting them at all. It¡¯s better if I just leave this kid with a message and let him go. Hidden in the shadows, I change my voice and laugh menacingly. ¡°Haha! You¡¯re really scared, huh? I¡¯m glad you could make it though, kid. You¡¯re from the main family, right?¡± I ask, stepping towards him. He nods, eyeing me warily. ¡°Fortunately, I¡¯m not going to kill you tonight. I just want you to carry a message. I want you to tell the others what you¡¯ve seen. Tell them you met me, and remind them that these are the consequences of defying us. Continuing recruitment the day after we left you your first warning can hardly be overlooked. It¡¯s your fault these vampires died. Manage your population and cease recruitment and we¡¯ll keep to ourselves.¡± I say, stopping my march a meter in front of him. ¡°You think we¡¯ll just bow to you bastards? The Wraiths have no right to order us around!¡± the boy snarls, lunging at me. Both he and his swords pass right through me as he realizes his mistake. He¡¯s let me get between him and my sister, who is now frozen in fear. He charges back towards me, but stops himself as I walk past my sister and continue down the stairs. ¡°These current trends are not sustainable. What happens when you turn enough of the population into vampires that you¡¯re no longer able to feed yourselves? What happens when humanity goes extinct? Will you start eating the werewolves? Trust me, their blood is far too salty to make for a decent meal. What about each other? All the vampires I¡¯ve sampled have been quite sweet. Haha! I suppose it¡¯d be a bit awkward becoming cannibals though. You see? We¡¯re doing this as much for you as for humanity. It¡¯s in your best interests to keep numbers down. Less competition for food. This doesn¡¯t have to turn into anything messy. The Wraiths are more than willing to work with cooperative groups. Consider it,¡± I say as I walk past the bodies littering the floor and out the door. Turning back over my shoulder, I realize that I still don¡¯t know the boy¡¯s name. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I ask. The boy hesitates before replying. ¡°Marcus Waverly,¡± he responds. ¡°Thanks for passing the message, Marcus. I¡¯m Ossian. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be seeing each other around,¡± I say, waving lazily over my shoulder. I vanish, before collecting my bag, ridding myself of the blood, and heading back to Fionn¡¯s house. I don¡¯t bother stopping at a creek. The werewolves are in too big of a crisis right now to worry about tracking me, anyways. Fionn doesn¡¯t even question my appearance as I rematerialize back inside his house. I¡¯m fairly certain he expected me to do something like this. I¡¯ll take that as a sign of permission. All he asks is which manor I hit up. I give him a brief overview of what went down before depositing a bag of cores on the desk of his study and heading upstairs to pick out my room. I keep the four leaders¡¯ cores for myself and absorb them. I¡¯m up to 36 now. I¡¯m not used to getting five in one day. I guess this period of disorder has some perks after all. I choose a large bedroom with a window overlooking the street and its own bathroom. It¡¯s a little bit less dilapidated than the rest of the house. I can use the money I made from the vampire cores to buy some new furniture later. I¡¯ll need some new clothes too. For now, I have a different task though. I need a new face. ~~~ AN: Sorry it''s super late. Haven''t had much time to write. Semester projects suck. From this point on in the story, there''s going to be a bit less action as I start focusing on the characters. As always, let me know what you think. Thank you. 4 : A New Life I stand in front of the mirror and stare at my familiar features. It¡¯s time for me to select a new appearance. I¡¯ve never altered my appearance for longer than a mission. It¡¯s strange to think that I¡¯ll be using a new face every time I leave the house from now on. My real face will still be there, the new face will just be like a mask of smoke. I spin through different features like I¡¯m creating a character in a video game until I find ones that I like. My hair is now an understated ashy blonde. It skims my shoulders in a long, fluffy bob and my long bangs are pulled to one side across my forehead and tucked behind my ear. It looks very neat and academic. My sharp grey eyes aren¡¯t going anywhere, but I¡¯ve changed the rest of my features. My nose is small and straight. My lips are thin, but full. My cheekbones are less angular. My face is a delicate heart shape. I definitely look like the quiet, bookworm, type of girl. It¡¯ll be good enough to keep me from standing out, at least. Fionn gives his approval and fills me in on the phone calls he made. For the first time in my life, I learn that Fionn¡¯s current ¡®real¡¯ name is Evan Howell. He pretends to be a stay-at-home writer, but he actually spends all his time working for the organization. Since he¡¯s rank II he¡¯s a salaried member and doesn¡¯t have to worry about getting a real job. My new identity will be that of his nonexistent brother John¡¯s daughter, Nora Howell. It¡¯s been a long time since Fionn and I were close, and I won¡¯t lie. I¡¯ve missed him. Part of me is still angry with him, but I shouldn¡¯t have abandoned him like I did. He was like a second father to me. I shouldn¡¯t have doubted him. Before I leave his study, I stop and wrap my arms around him. ¡°Thank you for taking me in,¡± I mutter awkwardly. I hate being a burden on others, and I certainly don¡¯t deserve his kindness. ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it,¡± he replies, smiling. ¡°It¡¯s no problem for me. Just be ready to play your part when the authorities come knocking. You know this is one of the first places your parents will check.¡± ¡°I know,¡± I say, releasing the embrace and smiling back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. They won¡¯t suspect a thing.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I like to hear. Get some sleep! Tomorrow you can buy yourself some new belongings. Once you have some new clothes, we can get some photos taken for your new documents¡± he says. ¡°Alright. Goodnight,¡± I reply and head upstairs. My room is cold. The blankets on this bed are thin. It feels weird to be sleeping in an unfamiliar room. I miss my family. This is definitely going to take some getting used to. The next morning, I wake up and go shopping. I change into the first thing that I buy so that I can get out of yesterday¡¯s clothes. It happens to be a black collared dress. I try to buy colors, I really do, but I always tend to gravitate back towards earth tones. After amassing a small collection of dull, conservative, clothing that I can mix and match for awhile, I head back to Fionn¡¯s to drop off my bags. Fionn offers me lunch, but I decline since I still feel full from the cores I absorbed yesterday. He hangs up a couple of different plain tarps and takes a few photographs of me wearing different clothing and hairstyles against them. As soon as he¡¯s satisfied, he heads out to deliver the files to whoever is going to be spoofing my documents. I return to shopping and purchase some new bedding and other amenities for my new room. As I¡¯m getting ready to leave the department store, I see an obnoxiously familiar sight. Two red lights have a white light cornered. The vampires are both young males. The human is a teenage girl about my age. She¡¯s pretty cute with curly black hair. It looks like she¡¯s trying to find an excuse to leave. From the looks of it, they¡¯re not recruiting her. Unless it¡¯s a recruitment for dinner, that is. It¡¯s a typical damsel in distress situation and honestly, I wouldn¡¯t normally care. People are getting picked off by vampires all the time. What¡¯s one more? I happen to have something of a grudge against the vampires in this city right now though, so while gritting my teeth, I steel myself to make a move. I throw on my most convincing smile and trot up behind the girl and throw my arms around her, practically knocking her to the ground with the weight of my bags. ¡°There you are!¡± I giggle convincingly. ¡°I was wondering where you had run off to! You¡¯re so mean, leaving me all alone like that! Oh!¡± I exclaim as if noticing the guys for the first time, ¡°Are these friends of yours? Introduce me!¡± The girl catches on quickly, supporting my heavy frame as I cling to her in an overly-familiar manner. ¡°No! I just met them! I was just about to come and find you. Let¡¯s go finish our shopping!¡± she replies with equally-solid acting. ¡°Bye bye, guys!¡± she waves over her shoulder as we walk away. The two vampires glare at me as if I¡¯m the devil himself. I pretend to be oblivious to their ire as I walk away chatting familiarly with my new ¡®best friend¡¯. As soon as we get a certain distance away, I release her from my hold. She smiles weakly at me and gives a sigh of relief. ¡°Thank you for your help. Those guys were really clingy. Not sure what their problem was,¡± she says to me. ¡°No problem,¡± I reply. It¡¯s probably better not to explain exactly what their problem was. Most humans don¡¯t like being told that they were almost killed and eaten. ¡°I like to annoy awful guys like that. Next time, try not to let yourself get cornered.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± she says, sincerely. ¡°My name is Isabelle, but my friends call me Izzy. Can I have your name?¡± For some reason her deep brown eyes are shining strangely as she says this. ¡°I¡¯m Nora,¡± I reply. ¡°Do you some way of getting home? I¡¯d hate for those creeps to follow you or something.¡± As I say this, I see something in her mind click. Something is telling me that this girl is getting a little bit too attached to me. I want to get away quickly, but I¡¯d hate for something to happen to her now that I¡¯ve already gone to the effort of saving her once today. ¡°Oh no!¡± she exclaims, a worried expression flooding her face. ¡°You¡¯re right! They might follow me! I hate to ask, but could you escort me home? I¡¯ll call a cab, but will you please just ride with me? I¡¯d feel so much safer!¡± Her act looks convincing, but it just radiates insincerity. What is this girl¡¯s deal? Why does she want me coming with her so badly? She¡¯s definitely a human though, so it¡¯s not like she¡¯s going to eat me. Reluctantly, I accompany the girl into a cab. Fortunately, her house isn¡¯t too far away from the shopping center so I don¡¯t have to spend too long with her. On the ride to her house, I manage to get out of telling her my cell phone number by saying that I don¡¯t have one. It¡¯s currently not a lie. I had a cell phone, but it¡¯s been powered off with the battery removed for a day and a half now. I haven¡¯t had time to buy a replacement. She invites me in, but I decline politely by saying that my family was expecting me and ask the cab driver to take me home. She stares at me with big sorrowful eyes as I leave. What a strange girl. Her house looked kind of familiar though. Maybe it¡¯s just built off of a common model or something. That¡¯s probably it. I make it safely back to Fionn¡¯s place without running into any more trouble and set up my room. It¡¯s a lot more comfortable now that I¡¯ve personalized it a bit. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The week passes quickly and by Saturday, we have already received confirmation of my ¡®transfer¡¯ to my new school. I¡¯ll be attending Kangee East High School starting on Monday. My old school was Kangee West, so I guess that makes me a traitor for switching to our rivals. Not that I ever cared about school competitions. There¡¯s nothing left for me to do to get ready so I end up distracting myself by helping Fionn with some of his council work. Most of his tasks right now involve keeping track of populations, attitude, and recent movements of the various supernatural groups in town. It¡¯s typical intelligence gathering. He teaches me how to draw up informational maps on the computer and I get to work translating the data that he¡¯s gathered into something more human-readable. At about 3 o¡¯clock on Sunday, we hear a knock at the door. Two red energy signatures. Either the two vampires from the other day managed to follow me home, or¡­ my parents have started looking for me. Fionn changes back into the old man form that he uses outside of the house and answers the door. I stay seated in the study for now. ¡°It¡¯s been awhile, Mr. and Mrs. Seyler. Please, come in. How may I be of service?¡± Fionn inquires politely as he welcomes my parents into the house. ¡°Thank you, Mr. Howell. To tell you the truth, Arienne hasn¡¯t been home for a few days now. We can¡¯t imagine why she¡¯d run off without telling us, but we thought if she did, this would be the first place she¡¯d go. She spent so much time here as a child. Have you seen her around?¡± my father asks. My mother grips his arm tightly. I can tell she¡¯s trying to keep optimistic, but she¡¯s choking back tears. ¡°Oh, dear!¡± Fionn exclaims. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I haven¡¯t heard from Arri in quite some time. Why don¡¯t you sit down and I¡¯ll get you some tea. Nora,¡± he shouts at me, ¡°Can you please make our guests some tea?¡± ¡°Sure! Right away,¡± I reply as I hurry into the kitchen. My parents seem to have noticed me for the first time. ¡°My granddaughter is staying here while she attends school in the city,¡± Fionn explains as he walks them into the living room across from the study. This is probably the first time it¡¯s seen visitors in quite some time. The couches give a tiny puff of dust as they sit down. I should do some cleaning soon. ¡°So, how long has Arri been gone?¡± Fionn asks delicately. ¡°We haven¡¯t seen her since Thursday,¡± my father answers. ¡°She never came home from school and she¡¯s not answering her cell phone. She¡¯s always been an independent child and we¡¯ve trusted her with her freedom, but this isn¡¯t normal. We¡¯re awful worried about our little girl.¡± They talk a little longer about the places they¡¯ve looked for me and I bring out the tea. Fionn motions for me to sit and join them, so I do. Eventually, my mother¡¯s tears burst forth. Streaks of crimson fall down her face and she struggles to catch them. I bring her a napkin from the kitchen, leaving it to Fionn to acknowledge that abnormality. Normal humans might not notice their crimson irises, but something as obvious as crying tears of blood would be sure to catch somebody¡¯s attention. ¡°I see you¡¯ve made the change, then. How has that been treating you?¡± he asks as politely as possible. ¡°It was a mistake,¡± my mother croaks out between sobs before my father takes over explaining. ¡°We came home after work one day and our youngest one, Evelyn had gotten herself a boyfriend. It was a vampire noble she had fallen head over heels for. One of the Waverlies. Anyways, she had taken upon herself to make the change without consulting us. It seems like that kid was pressuring her into it pretty hard. It was a now-or-never kind of deal. Still haven¡¯t forgiven him for taking advantage of our little girl like that.¡± My father pauses to sigh heavily. ¡°When we saw our little girl laying on the couch going through the change, we just knew immediately that we couldn¡¯t let her be alone. We had to support her. My wife and I took one look at each other and decided right there to ask that boyfriend of Evelyn¡¯s to change us. We didn¡¯t think it through. When we woke up, Evelyn told us Arri hadn¡¯t been home yet. Our hearts just sank¡± Now my father¡¯s eyes start to well up. I leave to fetch another napkin. This is the first time I¡¯ve heard their side of things. I¡¯m gonna rip that Marcus kid to shreds someday. How dare he pressure Evelyn like that. I swallow my rage as I head back ¡°What if something¡¯s happened to her?¡± my father sobs, ¡°What if our little girl is gone and we have to live forever with our foolishness?¡± Both of my parents collapse into each other as they bawl their eyes out. I¡¯ve never even see them cry before. This is a lot harder than I thought it¡¯d be. Eventually, my parents manage to collect themselves enough to thank Mr. Howell for his time and leave to continue their search elsewhere. Fionn closes the door behind them and heaves a gentle sigh of relief. ¡°You did good,¡± he tells me before heading back to his work. I¡¯m too exhausted from seeing my parents¡¯ states to get much else done. I fiddle with the maps for a little bit longer before excusing myself to head to sleep. The next morning, I get ready for school. Fionn hands me a schedule showing the classes I had been enrolled with. I thank him with a wide smile. I¡¯m admittedly a little bit excited to see my new school. I wasn¡¯t exactly fond of my old one. School is exactly what I need to take my mind off of yesterday¡¯s events. I grab my mostly empty backpack and head out the front door. When I arrive at school, I check in with a counselor at the front desk. She hands me a student manual filled with rules and policy and wishes me luck. I¡¯ll read it later. Maybe. I manage to navigate through the crowded hallways to my first period AP physics class. The teacher isn¡¯t present so I just stand awkwardly at one of the sides of the classroom waiting. I examine some of the equipment at the lab stations as I wait. It looks like they¡¯re covering thermodynamics. Fun. Suddenly, I feel an ominous presence from behind me. My eyes widen as my muscles tense. Shit. I¡¯m in public and it¡¯s the first day at my new school. Whatever is barreling towards me, I¡¯ll have to take it. I can¡¯t afford to dodge or throw right now. Something crashes into my back and two vice-like arms wrap around my shoulders. A lock of curly black hair enters my vision. What have I done? ¡°Hey there, best friend!¡± Izzy shouts excitedly, right in my ear. ¡°Since when are you in my physics class?¡± Ooooooh, I''ve made a dangerous mistake. With a friend like this, blending in is going to be easier said than done. ~~~ AN: Why are the chapters for this work so long? Why am I doing this to myself? Second chapter this week to make up for my brief absence. This one is a little bit shorter than normal, but I feel alright with it because there are a lot of things going on. No action for a chapter or two, but it''ll be back before long. I promise not to dwell on boring school stuff for too long. Anyways, please let me know what you think! Any and all feedback is appreciated!