The Garden of What Once Was

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

In Lunette's cafeteria, Reed sat silently, blankly staring down at his uneaten dinner. Beside his overcooked chicken was a small crooked-cut slice of chocolate cake. It was the last one in the dessert bar. He would have fought over it with Ember, but, instead, he just silently picked it up and plopped it onto his tray. The words that would have been said to Ember remained in his mind, forever to be thoughts. Those quiet thoughts continued to pile up as he looked up at the seat before him. She would have sat there, probably dissecting the overcooked chicken with her fork and knife while boasting about how she could do a better job at cooking it. The faint image of her brought a slight smile upon his once frowning lips before they fell again. He was alone with no one to keep him smiling, yet everyone else in the cafeteria was all grinning. His eyes flickered from one smiling face to another, jealousy brimming inside of him. Not once in his life did he think he would be envious of anyone, as someone with his status and power should never be lacking anything. But, here he was, in a room full of happiness that didn't belong to him.

A long sigh escaped his mouth as he muttered, "Screw this shit, damn it. Why'd I even come here?"

As he rose from his seat, the answer to his question echoed in his mind. Because she would have. It was foolish that he went to the cafeteria when she wasn't even there. He knew she wouldn't show up, yet he still chose to believe that maybe she would. Now he remembered that she was somewhere else with someone else. This was something he had tried to ignore, as it wasn't really his place to be getting upset. It wasn't like the two of them were together, but, as far as he knew, they both shared feelings for each other. That had to mean something to her. It has to...right? He sure hoped it did. His troubling thoughts were put to a stop when the view of a body blocked the exit to the cafeteria. For a moment, his mind tortured him with the hopeless thought that it might have been Ember. The obvious male uniform told him otherwise.

An immediate scowl appeared on Reed as he went to move around the student, though he soon came to a stop when the student asked, "Where's your little human?"

Reed's eyes that were once trained on the tile floor below locked onto the male vampire. "What's it matter to you?"

Ignoring the glare being directed at him, the vampire shrugged, "Oh, it really doesn't. I just wanted to know if you knew."

Normally, Reed would just walk away at this point. These types of vampires only ever approached him with useless information in hopes of gaining his favor. But, for whatever reason, his feet stayed put in place and his mouth opened to form a question that he would soon regret asking.

"Knew what?" The words left his mouth before he could stop them.

As if he had some sort of secret to tell, the vampire leaned in toward Reed, lowering his voice to a small whisper, "That human's been going around with another dude, a human dude. I saw the two of them together at the park, probably on a date. I mean, why else would a dude and a chick be strolling around a park at sunset, huh?" At the sight of Reed's distraught and almost borderline angry expression, the vampire took a few steps back before trying to add some sugar to the bitter words he just spoke. "Don't get too hung up over it. Girls come and go. Next time, I suggest you go for a vampire. At least they're not whores."

Instead, the vampire only continued to be bitter, so bitter that Reed had to grimace. "Whore?" He echoed, taking three steps toward the oblivious vampire that was still smiling. This time, it was Reed's turn to lean down toward the vampire as he slightly tilted his head, questioning him, "Is that what you just called her?"

"Yeah, why? Oh, is that not a good enough word for her? I know others like slu–..."

The entirety of Reed's hand clamped over the vampire's face, silencing the vampire as his palm smashed into the vampire's mouth and nose. Blood crept between the small space between his hand and the vampire's face. It trickled down the vampire's chin and onto his uniform. Just the sight of his blood wasn't enough though. The anger inside of Reed hadn't been satisfied, and it might not be satisfied until that vampire was in the infirmary. Despite his overwhelming rage, he hesitated, noticing that all the students in the cafeteria were now staring at him. None of them wore smiles on their faces, none of them were laughing, and he was the reason why. Upset and still pissed off, he tossed the vampire off to the side, then quickly dashed outside.