𝕳𝖊𝖒𝖔 𝕳𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙

𝔐𝔢𝔢𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔇𝔲𝔨𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔄𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔞

"Yep, I'm fine... but I'm going to go to the bathroom to fix this up...!" You say. Rosetta looks at you unsure if she should go with you or not. Her distressed face made you think maybe she had hemophobia.
"Don't worry, I can go on my own." You say and get up. She looks unsure but answers to your offer with, "Oh-uh... Ok... Be careful!" As you're walking out you see the librarian glance to you with a worried expression. You give her a pained smile but she instantly dissapears behind a wall. You see the students in the library all staring at you with almost an... angry expression? And just as you push open the library door you see Rosetta in the corner of your eye march towards them. Without time to react you quickly run down the dark halls. You see all the students are gone, the classroom doors closed tight shut. It was like class was on. Your feet creek the floor with each step as you run past vases full of sun deprived flowers. You slow down due to your lack of breath and walk the rest of the way. It was usually cool in the academy, but at the moment you felt hot. You go up a small flight of stairs to get to the nearest bathroom when you hear something. Like wind being blown, like a presence in the dark little hallway. You turn around, still holding your sore finger tightly. To your surprise you see a student with silver hair at the bottom of the stout staircass. You look at him for a moment, and he begins walking up the steps. He stares at you the entire time, his skin looking much paler than it actually was due to his black outfit. You couldn't help but watch him and before you know it he seems to have appeared before you. He wears a black chocker and a black jacket with silver lining and collar. His pants are black as well, contrasting to the grey shirt he wears and the white bandages around his stomach. There was a clock attached by a chain that hung from the side of his hip; he wore men's school shoes. You were just about to enter through the small in width but tall in height dark door, the gothic window arch in it emitting the hopeful light of the other hall. But something held you there, and caught your attention. He picks up a flattened rose that was sitting on the ground and looks it over before slowly looking to you.
"Is this yours?..." He asks smoothly.
"Uh, no..." You say. Then you feel the blood trickle down your thumb.
"Sorry, I have to get going now." You say urgently, trying to leave.
"Because of this?" He grabs your hand and looks at your bleeding finger. He is cool to the touch, which made your skin crawl.
"I- uh... yes...!" You are startled and slightly scared of him. You wish he'd let go but he stares at your bleeding finger with a morbid fascination. He flicks his eyes up to you, hungerly, with wild eyes like a predator and you're the prey. He looks back to the wound and says, "I can... take care of it..." You try to pull away. The facial expression he wears is enough to haunt you in nightmares. You have never seen such a monster of a human. He looks down at his own finger as a blood drop lands on it, your finger stinging from the pressure he puts on it.
"This will only hurt a little..." He says and you're about to mutter 'what?' But suddenly his mouth is on your finger and you let out a gasp.
"Huah!- Ow~!!!" You yell as you feel him bite into your finger. It stung and you felt a pressure, like movement in your finger, the blood being sucked out. It felt like he was going to drink all the blood in your body. You try to thrash away but he held on. You were so terrified, another yell escaped your lips.
"AAAAAA!!! HELP!-" Just as you were getting faint from fear and disgust you hear a THUACK! A fist came down on the boy. It was a young lady with a very light brown bob and almost white blonde streaks in it, she wore a black dress with very light blue silver-ish lace on the bottom of it. What took you off-guard was the armour she wore. Golden armour over her shoulders, and silver armour over her breasts. This tough yet beautiful woman pushed the student off of you quickly. He stumbled back a bit and she got infront of you in a protective way, turning around to him. He smiled at her and brushed
the blood away from his mouth. You watch him with a disgusted expression, feeling overheated and sick to the stomache and mind. You thought maybe you were going to throw up or faint, and even though you were too hot you felt cold and clammy.
"Hehe... Angelina. Perfect timing as usual." He chuckled quietly. She gave him a disgusted look.
"Don't you dare touch another human again." She said harshly.
"Okay, okay... I'm sorry, it was an open wound, I couldn't resist." He says with his hands up. She glares at him and after a moment he smiles, causing her to single-handidly push him down the stairs before saying,
"Resist yourself, Duke." In an angry tone. Then she motions for him to leave. He obeys and she turns to you. You swallow feeling afraid and confused.
"Here, we need to get that cleaned up right away." She says and pulls your wrist to the bathroom. When she runs the tap she asks you,
"Are you okay?" The sting of the wound aches and you're still terrified. Human? What does she mean 'never hurt another human'? You think to yourself. Her big round eyes rest on you with a concerned expression, and out of stress you say,
"I- uh- What happened?" A little panicked feeling rises in you as you relive the memory. She looks you in the eyes for a moment, as if trying to figure out something. Then she opens her mouth and says, "This may come as a shock to you..." You wince from the pain as she rinses your finger.
"What's your name?" She asks.
"Sc... Scarlett..." You say. She doesn't beat around the bush and gets to the point.
"Scarlett, you are attending an Academy created for... something called Vampires." She says and then holds up your cleaned finger. Your eyes widened as you saw the wound. Two teeth indents deep into your flesh, around the slit from the scissors. You were frozen in shock and fear. She couldn't be telling the truth.
"That boy you saw a few moments ago is Duke. He, like the other nine hundred and seventy students, is a Vampire." She said looking at you.
A) "H-how?..."
B) "No, that can't be... true!..."
You exclaim. You felt dizzy thinking about how you were roaming around a building full of monsters. She started bandaging your finger up and you started doing the math.
You knew that there were one thousand students total. And if nine hundred and seventy of those one thousand students were Vampires.... Only about thirty students were human... You couldn't believe it. She continued.
"Well, Vampires have been around for many many thousands of years. Many of us have been forced to live in modern civilizations, or else we'd be found out and hunted. Vampires have adapted to the human way to the extent that it's nearly unnoticeable when you're with one." She explained. Angelina must've seen your deadness as she went on to say, "Don't worry though... Duke is what you call a half-blood. That means he was born a Vampire from a human parent and a vampire parent. Because of the human in them, half-bloods cannot turn others into Vampires. You are safe... You're still a human; you'll just have to live with the memories..." She trailed off and looked down. You were speechless, yet had a billion questions to ask.
"There." She wrapped your thumb up and let go of your hand.
"I... Thank you..." You say quietly. She smiles and nods at you. Her ears are pierced, one double pierced, with a heart stud and two dangly silver star earrings. You noticed she too wears white knee high socks, almost the exact same as Rosetta's, and wears high white platform boots that go just below her knees. You suddenly realise her intense appearance and shivers run up your back. You dare to ask her the question.
"So are you.... a vampire too?" You ask. You're shocked and slightly sick when she nods her head yes.
"I am. I am a full-blood Vampire. Full-bloods are descended from the first vampire. It means I was turned. Bitten by another full-blood. It was a few years ago..." She trailed off.
"Oh... Then how come you didn't try to bite me like Duke?..." You dared to ask. You just had to know.
"Because I'm what you call a vegetarian vampire. Me along with the teachers only choose to drink animal blood... About 250 students are half-bloods, 30 are human, which means the rest of the 720 are full-bloods. Sadly, there are not too many vegetarian vampires in the school... Out of the half-bloods about 125 of them still drink human blood. And out of the full-bloods, the ones you should be worried about, at least 432 of them drink human blood." She explains. The numbers set in and you realised that more than half of the school was a threat to you. You needed to leave.
"Scarlett, whatever you do, don't let yourself get hurt. You should know that a good portion of the school is vegetarian, but sadly there a more non-vegetarians here at Hemo Academy. Please be safe. If you need me, my name is Angelina and I am in grade twelve. Anyone you mention me to would know who you're talking about. Good luck, Scarlett." She nods to you heartfeltly and pats your shoulder then leaves. You were confused and terrified.

After school you found Rosetta at her locker.
"Hey." You greet. She looks at you eith a smile, but then it's like something registered in her brain.
"Scarlett! Are you alright, dear? How's your finger?" She lifts your hand and sees the bandaged thumb. She looks at it sadly.
"I'm alright, here, let me walk you out." You offer. She nods. After closing  her locker you two begin to walk, and she links arms with you. On the way out through the big gates you brought up what had happened.
"Rosetta..." You began. She looks to you and nods.
"When I went to the washroom, I had an encounter with a strange boy..." You say. You see her eyes widen and her worry becomes evident.
"His name was Duke." You say, and look her in the eyes.
"Oh no..." She mutters.
"And I now know the truth about this school." You say. She turns and looks to you, sadness yet excitement in her eyes.
"Scarlett- I'm so sorry I didn't tell you-!" She exclaims. You don't answer, but you have your arms crossed.
"I was afraid that you'd leave, or hate us." She says.
"You're also a vampire?..." You question. She becomes silent and frowns.
"I'm a half-blood... Like that Duke guy." She answers quietly.
"I see..." Is all you reply.
She looks at you hurt.
"Scarlett, I want to be your friend. The reason I wanted to partner up with you is because you fascinate me! When I'm with you I can finally be in touch with my human side. My other friends are full-blood Vampires. Their human self is gone." She says.
"But I want to be more human."
"Rosetta..."
"Scarlett, please stay at the academy." She asks. You look at her unsurely, than at the grand gothic building. Rosetta took a chance on me... now I should for her... besides, all that money would go to waste if I left now... You think to yourself.
"Alright, I will Rosetta." You say. She turns to you fully and gives you a warm smile.
"Thank you, Scarlett." And embraces you. She walks you to the gate and waves goodbye as you get in your car.

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. You never left the Academy though at Rosetta's request and the fact that your family and even friends put money into getting you into this school.

(Go to the chapter called 'Meeting Alex'.)