𝕳𝖊𝖒𝖔 𝕳𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙

ℜ𝔬𝔰𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔞 𝔤𝔬𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔞 𝔅𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔞𝔤𝔢

"Yep, I'm fine... but do you know where a bandage is? I definitely need one..." You say with a wince of pain.
"A- um, sure...!" She quickly got up and grabbed a bandage from the librarian who was in the back. The librarian glanced to you with a worried expression so you give her a pained smile. You see her dissapear behind a wall so you return your glance back to your finger. You held it and tried to stop it from oozing when Rosetta quickly rusher back to your side. She quickly offered you the bandage and you shake your head.
"I can't do it, can you?" You ask. Rosetta looked to your finger with a face expression you've never seen on her. Then she quickly covered her nose.  Does she have hemophobia? You wondered.
"O-okay, Scarlett..." She says and kneels down at you finger. She stared at the wound for a moment, before letting go of her nose. She was about to bandage your wound when her face made an odd expression.
"I..." You watched thinking maybe she was going to pass out when suddenly her mouth was on your finger and you felt a sharp pain.
"O...Ow!!" You smacked her off of you and she wiped her mouth, blood all over it. You were shocked and disgusted. Before she could say anything you ran out of the exit, realising that there were no more students to be seen in the library. You raced down the empty halls, seeing a thrashing student just up ahead, wrestling against a teacher. You had no time to stick around and wonder what was going on but you pushed open a bathroom door and ran to the sink. You began to wash your hand which caused you pain. You watched the crimson blood go down the drain, and when your eyes landed on your finger, you saw two sharp bite marks in them. Almost as if she only bit you with her... canines... You wrapped up your finger with the bandaging and held it tight. Your brain was spinning out of control. Teeth marks?... You tried to comprehend what had just happened when suddenly the ladies washroom door opened and you saw it was Rosetta. Terror gripping you, your heart sped up and you shouted,

A) "Go away! Get out of here, and stay away from me!"
B) "What are you?! Stay back you freak! What did you do to me?"

A) "Scarlett.... I couldn't resist. I think it's time I explained to you what is going on, here at Hemo Academy."
B) She looked hurt before saying, "Scarlett, I'm so sorry, I will explain everything to you."

She came closer. "Don't come any closer to me!" You yelled holding your uninjured hand out at her. She stopped walking.
"Okay, I won't come any closer, I promise." She said.
"Let me explain to you, okay?" She asked, looking at you with her sharp eyes. She still looked like she was in an anxious frenzy. But you didn't know what else to do or say. You were terrified.
"A... Alright then." You agreed anxiously, still sticking your hand out to her. She looked you in the eyes before saying, "Scarlett, I'm a... Vampire." She said. Your mouth dropped and you put your hand over it. What is she saying? You felt like the world was unreal. This couldn't be happening. Yet she continued.
"In fact... About nine hundred and seventy of the one thousand students here are." She said in a purposely soft and restrained voice. She watched you earnestly. You were silent just staring at her in shock.
"Wha... what?" Is all you could manage. She nods to you.
"This is a school for Vampires. And you are attending it." She states. You start connecting the dots and it all makes sense.
A) "The cafeteria... that must be why none of the students eat there..."
B) "The stares... that's why they were all watching me..."
Rosetta nods to you slowly, never looking away.
"Oh my gosh... I thought Vampires were just a myth. But here you are..." You trail off remembering a disturning fact.
"Wait- Does that mean...?!" You begin. Rosetta cuts in quickly, knowing what you were implying.
"No! Don't worry! I'm not a full-blood Vampire. I'm what you call a half-blood. I can't turn you. Only full-bloods can." She explained. That made you feel a bit better. Good, I'm still a human... I'm not dead... I'm not a Vampire... you thought to yourself. But you still didn't understand.
"How can you be a half-blood...?" You question. You weren't sure you trusted her. Rosetta is silent for a moment, trying to formulate her sentence.
"Well... technically half-bloods are forbidden. You see... I mean... it's kind of an outdated rule. Half-bloods happen when a Vampire and a human have a child together." Rosetta explained. Your eyes widened, your mouth still slightly open from before. That can happen?? You wondered.
"My mother was human, my father wasn't. They had me. However, my mom and dad made a decision to turn my mom, so they can live forever with each other. Both my parents are full-blood now." She explained.
"Oh..." Was all you could say.
"Yeah. As for me, I will keep ageing and feeling myself get old, but my physical appearance stops changing at about twenty-five, then I'll look that way until I die. Full-bloods stop ageing the from the moment they are bitten, but their physical appearances will continue to change until twenty five as well." She explains.
"So you're not immortal like your parents...?" You question.
"No." She affirmed. You couldn't comprehend what was happening.
"So full bloods are humans that have been bitten by other full-blood Vampires?" You ask cautiously.
"Or half-bloods. Full bloods can turn half-bloods and humans into a true Vampire..." She explains just as cautiously.
"I... I'm speechless. Should I switch schools then? Am I unsafe here?" You ask. You know you're unsafe. Your own friend bit you.
"Well... safety is guaranteed from a teacher, all the teachers here are what you call vegetarian, meaning they only drink animal blood. But the students... it's not promised. Most of them are still not vegetarian. So it's up to you..." She said. You wondered if maybe the reason the students were gone were because of the teachers restraining them. Like the student in the hall.
"I think I have to swi-"
"Scarlett, I want you to stay!" Rosetta shouts. You're taken aback and silrnced, so you listen her with widened eyes, holding your bsndaged finger tightly.
"Even if you're turned... it's okay!... It's not the worst...! And besides, you have a lot of protectors, many of the students here are on the path to becoming vegetarian. And a quarter of us our half-bloods. You can still attend here safely!" She exclaims. About 250 students were half-bloods, 30 were human, which meant the rest of the 720 were threats... At least 432 of them drank human blood if Rosetta said the majority of them weren't vegetarian... and that was just the likely minimum amount. You didn't know what to say. Rosetta looked at you with pleading eyes. You did work very hard just to get here... the money and time put into it... and you'd miss the building, and you'd miss Epiphany. You'd probably even miss Rosetta...

A) "Alright, I'll stay." You say.
B) "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." You decide.

Her eyes widen and she says, "Really? You're staying?! Thank you so much! Oh, Scarlett!" She exclaims with glee.
You look down to the gothic Stella tiles that looked quite old. A bit of dust here and there.
"Well, it would be greedy of me to leave, after everyone worked so hard to get me here... All that money spent would've been wasted." You stated. Rosetta smiled at you with a listening expression.
"Well... I'm happy to hear it." She said.
You're silent for a moment.
"We'll see how I do with this year..." She nods than looks to your finger. She swallows and says, "Do you... feel better?..." You look down at it then nod slowly.
"Yeah..."
"I want to emphasize how sorry I am Scarlett. I am personally also on a journey to being vegetarian. Because I am a half-blood... I wanted to get involved and in touch with my human side. I never want to hurt a human... I was so excited to meet you, Scarlett. Please forgive me, dear Scarlett." She asks. You look to her silently, and decide to take a chance on your classmate. She was the only one who took a chance on you.
"I will forgive you Rosetta...
A) I believe you can get in touch with your human side..." You say.
B) You've been a good friend to me, now I will be a good friend and forgive you." You say. She smiles heartfeltly and nods.
"Th-thank you..." She says.
As you two went back to the library you couldn't help but mutter,
"Now I know why this place is so weird." You muttered bluntly.
"Aheheheh... Yes exactly."

Your project went great. Mrs. Verlice loved it, but that first assignment really set the bar for the rest of them. You were shocked at how high the standards were at Hemo Academy. The other students did just as Rosetta said they did, went all out, had everything required, and went the extra mile of making it fun. It seemed all the students were like this. However, now that you knew the schools secret, you just couldn't see anything the same anymore. You were super cautious, and you were aware that their stares were because you are food to some of them. You were always being watched by at least someone.

(Go to the chapter called 'Meeting Alex')