A Feast For The Vampires

XLIII

Kimi and Mr. Marshall looked into each other's eyes before Kimi's face squeezed up. Then he threw his head back and began to snortle.

Mr. Marshall lifted a brow and folded his arms over his desk. "What's funny?"

"Just... the fact that... she has... my sister's name," Kimi said in between laughs.

"Is that so?" Mr. Marshall let his gaze roll around his desk. "You... wouldn't happen to know that her mother's name was Kara Mikaelis now would you?"

This shut Kimi up and he froze. He dropped his eyes on Marshall. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah," Marshall said with a shrug. "She's a Mikaelis, your mother is a Mikaelis, your dead father happened to have been a Mikaelis. And you"—he looked into Kimi's eyes with his unemotional one—"are a Mikaelis."

Kimi scoffed and it sounded weak. "You're... freaking joking."

"I'm not," he said and pulled his drawer open. He pulled out a huge, black-bladed knife and Kimi's eyes widened. "But I do joke when I use this to play with people's hearts," he mumbled softly, examining its fat blade with loving eyes. He sighed like he was in a state of bliss and dropped the knife on the table.

Kimi's heart leaped into his throat as he stared at the knife. "You're the one who's been killing Hunters." Kimi stood, his chair sliding backwards.

"And you're a Hunter." Marshall folded his arms on the table and smirked lopsidedly. "And I want to kill you." He raised his fingers and counted as he said, "and when I do I'm going to take your heart, your liver and some flesh. I don't get to keep the heart but the rest of your organs are amazingly deli—"

Kimi bounded to the door, not wanting to hear the end of that word. His heartbeat was at full speed when he slammed into the door and gripped the doorknob. He threw the door open and came face to face with Maria—Anxo's daughter.

"Hey brat," she said lightly and pushed him back into the classroom by his chest and with her palm.

Kimi stumbled back. He moved backwards, his eyes shifting between Mr. Marshall and Maria. "You're in cahoots?" He kept his owly eyes on Maria. "But you're a cadaver! What do expect to gain from this cannibal?!"

Maria cocked her head. "Hmm, let's see." She began to walk slowly into the classroom. "First of all, I can change the leader of cadavers from a walking corpse to a functioning being. Secondly, I can choose to turn back into a human-do you know how hard it is to live on blood?—and the third and last one is that"—she stopped beside Marshall's table—"I get to kill all those miserable watchdogs."

"But your father—"

"Is a stupid man that licks the floor Aurum is yet to walk on. He's a fucking mop," she deadpanned, chuckling afterwards. "Are you surprised?"

"Definitely." He fisted his hands beside himself, his eyes flicking to the exit.

Maria scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Don't even think so. I can break your bones before you reach that door."

"Well," Kimi said, pressing his feet against the ground. "Let's test that."

And then he was sprinting to the door, his legs kicking up. But he didn't make it far as Maria held onto the hood of his jacket and threw him back. He barrelled into a desk and rolled over it and dropped onto the floor like a heavy bag of sand.

Marshall winced, a faint smile on his face. "Careful," he started, picking up the knife as he stood. "We wouldn't want to give him a heart attack."

Maria snorted softly. "I can do better." She released a short exhale as she dug her hand into her back pocket and brought out a spray can. "Make the kill short."

"I always do," Marshall said, watching as Kimi tried to stand but Maria sped to him and sprayed the contents of the can on his unsuspecting face. She sped away from him and they both watched as he tried to stand but dropped back on the floor.

Kimi's eyes rolled to and fro as he fought to get up but couldn't, his bones heavy like they were weightlifting. What had she sprayed? He noticed Marshall coming closer and his eyes widened. Fuck.

When Mr. Marshall got closer, he straddled him with his feet and went on his knees. He pressed his palm on his chest. "You know I love killing Hunters because they always find it difficult to believe facts that they don't know." He raised the knife and it reflected the glow of the lightning that cracked outside. "Especially the ones like the Mikhers who are naive and weak."

Kimi's eyes widened as he watched the knife bullet down towards his chest. "No, no, no, no, no, no—"

Kimi released a soft whimper as the knife slammed into his chest and was pulled out with a squelching sound. Kimi's arms laid limply beside his body as the blade was forcefully plunged into his chest again. Kimi coughed out blood and the world around him became still and dark.

Am I dying?