Don't Forget

1. Fantastic Beings

He leaned in, pulling a long breath through his flared nostrils. His lips stretched to reveal a smile full of long, sharpened fangs. He ran his tongue across a canine and lust flickered in his golden-yellow eyes. As he neared, his smile grew.

This had been the last thing I had expected while on my rounds (assigned to me last year, since I was apparently the most responsible one here). I had simply wanted to check in on the S building, make sure everything was hunky-dory, and then leave. But instead I was trapped against a wall, a Greilan vampire growling and grinning at me.

Despite knowing that this was a ruse, my heart rate spiked and my breathing grew shallow. I trusted this vampire, which sounds like a bad idea, I'm aware; I knew he wouldn't actually harm me. Regardless, a Greilan this close, with their pointed fangs and cat-like eyes, was frightening, and my body responded.

But I also knew that, while vampires fed mostly on blood, they hungered for fear almost as much. The thrill of the hunt, the adrenaline that smelled of nectar and pears to their noses, excited them. They loved to frighten their prey first and attack second; the fear pumped the human's blood to its extreme, and to a Greilan, more blood meant more sustenance. (Whereas to a Melnor vampire, the smell and taste of blood was the reward; they considered themselves "blood connoisseurs.")

Unfortunately, being one of the few creatures vampires preyed upon for both blood and fear, I had seen this look too many times.

Without warning, the Greilan was pulled off while a firm yet strangely beautiful voice growled, "Leave her alone, Zakary. She doesn't need your shit today."

Zakary huffed in mock frustration, but the mischievousness of his smile melted away, replaced by genuine glee. "Sorry about that." He turned to his vampire companion. "And lighten up, Mirielle. We were just having fun."

Her brow quirked (which looked odd, as vampire eyebrows were already arched and pointed). "If that's what you wanna call it," she allowed with a shake of her head. She glanced at me. "Were you having fun?"

I released an uneasy chuckle. "Well, no, but—"

Mirielle cut me off. "See? So quit terrorizing the poor girl whenever she comes to visit," she reprimanded. She smiled at me, her smile lacking fangs, and she wrapped her arm about my shoulders. "Be more like me."

The Greilan gagged, saying, "Be like you? I'd rather hurl. I mean, drinking blood for fun?" He snarled the word. "I'll pass."

Her vampiric yellow eyes rolled at his jab at Melnor vampires. "It's not my fault your taste buds malfunction. As far as I'm concerned, blood is like a lemon cake: tart but sweet."

Zak laughed incredulously. "Where the hell do you get that from? Blood doesn't taste like that at all. It tastes like rusting metal with some pepper on it to cover it up the bad taste. It's highly unsatisfactory."

I sighed. They were at it again. But this was the price I had to pay for having both a Melnor and a Greilan vampire as friends. Despite being of the same species, they could only manage to argue nine times out of ten, especially about blood.

"Oh yeah?" Mirielle challenged.

I left, uninterested in their debate about blood. I had never engaged in their dietary habits so I had no opinion on the matter. I walked across campus towards one of the residence halls, the Pricolici building (nicknamed the P building, since it was easier to say).

The P building was huge, though most of the building on campus were. However, it was a bit different: the basement was the main part. While it was several floors tall to house all the creatures inside, the basement had to be bigger. After all, it had to keep rambunctious and violent werewolves contained.