Blood and Beasts (11 page)

His heartbeat was loud, like
beating drums. It should be reverberating the walls of the hallway, of the
whole school, it was so loud! However, she was touching the wall, and it was
not vibrating. It was all in her head, all in her mind.

  “Phin got me a pint… I think,” she
added, opening her eyes again just to see the vein in Sir Sanzio
’
s neck pulsing with each of his
pounding heartbeats.

“A whole pint, and you
’
re like this? You can
’
t even take your eyes off my
throat,” he stating, brows furrowing. “You need to learn to control your
hunger, Miss Black. It
’
s the first thing all vampires
learn,” she gave him a quizzical look, not sure what he was talking about or if
she cared at that very second.

“My sister was… is a vampire,” he
quickly amended, and she nodded slowly, not quite sure how he was a wizard, and
she was a vampire if they were siblings. “There are certain circumstances that
change things…” she had no idea what he was talking about, but then again, she
was only catching every other sentence. “You must learn to control your hunger,
but first, you must sate your hunger fully. You need to know how much blood you
would drink normally, although it will lessen over time. As a fledgling
vampire, needing to drink a lot of blood is not weakness but strength. It shows
that you have a lot of strength in you that needs a lot of feeding, a lot of
energy. It also shows that you
’
ve been using your vampire skills
throughout the day,” he gently chided. “But as you are a fledgling, it is
expected that your powers will get out of hand during the day… night,” he
added, giving her a small smile as he tried to lighten the mood.

He was short. He was nearly her
height, and she was 5
’
3. Could he really be that strong?
She realized that she was surmising if she could attack and subdue this teacher
and then feed off of him. What was wrong with her? And why did his vein have to
keep moving like that? It was impossible for her to not stare at it. It was impossible
for her to hear hardly anything of what he was saying over the pounding of his
blood, his heart.

“I shouldn
’
t really do anything. It
’
s more up to Mr. Dragonfly than to me about what to
do,” he moved towards the classroom door hesitantly, doubt etched on his
features.

“I can
’
t pay attention in there, Sir Sanzio. All I see are
veins. All I hear are hearts. All I smell is blood,” she shook her head,
despising what she was becoming.

“Don
’
t ever hate what you are, Persephone,” Sir Sanzio
looked her directly in the eyes when he said that, firm. “Now, I realize that I
am not supposed to…” he searched for the right words. “Skew the teachings and
learnings of a student pertaining to their species studies, especially if they
are different from my own species,” he started, and her eyes traveled his every
movement like a hawk, waiting for him to finish. “However, if you cannot pay
attention in my class and are a danger to my students,” he waved his hand in
the air and was suddenly grasping an ounce glass of…
blood?
“Drink,” he passed the small glass
over to her, and she tossed it back instantly.

The blood trickled down her throat
and into her tormented stomach, curbing the intense hunger to a manageable
degree. She let out a sigh of relief and satisfaction. Opening her eyes, she
looked at Sir Sanzio purposefully. Her eyes did not immediately alight on his
jumping vein, although she did still notice it in her periphery. She smiled at
him, satisfied, and he smiled back, sensing her gratitude and relief.

“Now, advise your instructor, Mr.
Dragonfly, that you need to be administered at least a quart of blood for the
first few weeks at every meal, until you can start to diet yourself,” he
finished with a reassuring smile, opening the door for her.  “Now, let us finish
the rest of class,” he announced pleasantly to her and the other buzzing
students, striding into the classroom.

As soon as the bell rang to signal
the end of fourth period and the beginning of lunch, Seph was out of the door.
She was starving… again. That little shot glass of blood had only sated her
hunger momentarily. Near the end of class, the hearts had begun pounding again,
and red had started to tinge the corners of her vision. She did not know what
that meant, but it probably wasn
’
t good. She had not even waited for
Linda, Rodney, or Abernathy, although they may have planned to just meet her in
the Main Hall for lunch. They didn
’
t seem to plan ahead much, and they
had an hour break for lunch. She would just find them in the Main Hall or not.
Nothing mattered but blood right now.

She arrived in the Main Hall as
quickly as possible, even cutting across the courtyard. The Blue Hall was
nearly exactly across from the Main Hall, where she had started out on her
school day adventure just that morning… evening? So many things had happened
since then… She had made friends. She had made enemies. She had gotten
homework. She had gotten hungry. Really, really hungry…

Despite cutting across the
courtyard, there was still a line for the terrible sisters three. Seph waited
impatiently as the nine students in front of her took their time. What was the
lunch today anyway? She stood on tiptoe to glance around them. It looked good,
lasagna or something. The meat sauce looked strangely like blood. Wow… that was
all she could think about. Blood, blood, blood. Well, it was all that was on
her mind right now, that and the particular satiability other students were
starting to pose to her. Four more to go, she thought wearily, raking a hand
through her bright red tresses.

“So, how
’
d your first half of the night go?” Phin asked, sidling
up to her.

When she turned to look at him, he
took a step back.

“I haven
’
t seen eyes that dark since…” He stared at her eyes a
little closer as they moved forward in the line. “Wow, they
’
re even a little maroon around the
edges. Our eyes turn red after black, if you get hungry enough. You must have
pretty strong self-control to have not eaten anybody yet,” he laughed lightly,
but she didn
’
t laugh with him.

She was hungry, and that particular
idea, eating somebody, was sounding better and better by the minute.

“
Sir Sanzio said
… that maybe I should be drinking a
quart… instead of a pint… each meal for the first few weeks,” she forced the
words out around her long teeth as they moved another place forward in line,
two to go.

“Ya,” Phin mused, watching her
warily. “
Sir
Sanzio
’
s a smart man… wizard. Yes, I
’
m thinking we should start you off
on a quart right now. You
’
ll have to drink from a more
ostentatious-looking bottle, but I don
’
t
think there
’
s a student here that doesn
’
t know that you
’
re the new vampire,” he said, glancing around and
clearly picking apart the brains of the flowing student body around them.

“
I don’
t care,” she responded viciously, fangs slightly
elongated.

His eyes widened a little as they
finally reached the front, starting to understand just how far gone she really
was.

“
Hello Hazel, gorgeous,
” he winked at the hideous witch
behind the counter as she beamed at him, practically tripping over herself as
she hurried forward to him.

Hazel
’
s heartbeat tripled, and her vein flew in her neck. She
was so hungry! She wanted food. She wanted blood. She wanted it now! Phin
suddenly jumped and turned to look at her, randomly halting his flirtation with
the witch. Her walls were not up. What did she care? She was hungry. He nodded,
his eyes serious.

“
Hazel, we
’
re going to be starting our young vampire here on a
slightly larger amount of blood than usual. Start giving her a quart bottle for
every meal from now on,” he said matter-of-factly, and the witch
’
s runny blue eyes widened.

Hazel kept her silence, which was a
smart move on her part. She bent down to remove a large bottle from the small
fridge that was kept under the hot food. Without a word, she put it in the
microwave. Seph would have taken it cold. She was that hungry. Patience was a
virtue, she thought idly, tapping her foot. Stupid virtue, she thought
vehemently, counting down the seconds.

She already knew what she was not
going to do when the blood was heated. She was not going to grab that bottle
and down it like it was the essence of life. She was going to take it and
constantly drink from it but not obviously. She would not make a fool of herself,
and she was not going to look like a gluttonous pig. Even through her hunger,
she vowed this.

“Here ya go,” Hazel said with a
gulp, passing the bottle to Phin when Seph intercepted it, moving lightning
fast and causing Hazel to gasp, instantly recoiling.

“Sorry,” she muttered, holding the
bottle to her mouth and starting to drink it at a moderate speed, not waiting
to find a seat.

“It
’
s all right,” Hazel replied, recovering quickly.

She gave her a small shrug, sympathy
showing in her eyes? That would have rubbed Seph the wrong way if she had any
room for more thoughts besides blood, blood, blood. It tasted so good, easing
her twisted stomach.

“Hey, Seph! Come sit with us!” She
heard the familiar voice of Abernathy calling to her as her senses slowly branched
out from just taste.

“I
’
ll see you last class of the day, Seph,” Phin said
cheerily, heading for a round table with his smooth gait, a gruff-looking
werewolf awaiting him.

One disturbing thought ran through
her mind at that moment. What kind of monster drank a quart of blood per meal
in a day? The Persephone Black kind, apparently…

Seph looked over the bottle at
Abernathy, Linda, and Rodney. They were all waiting for her. She walked over,
still drinking her blood, and sat down at a table with them. Linda pulled out
an apple from her large purse and immediately began munching on it.
Crunch,
crunch, crunch.
Seph paused from her blood to set it down a moment,
breathing deeply and satisfied. Rodney and Abernathy were staring at her as
Linda chomped away beside the little vampire.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.

“Chuggin
’
that blood, Seph?” Rodney asked with a little smirk.
“Nothin
’
like some O positive at midnight, I
guess,” Rodney added, trying to mask his slight discomfort with humor.

“It
’
s A negative actually,” she responded cheerily,
enjoying the fact that she was starting to think more human again.

She was having full, coherent
thoughts now. Not just blood, or heart, or red. Always a good thing. Her vision
was normal now too.

“How nice,” Rodney commented. “I
’
m B positive,” he stated
matter-of-factly, and she grinned at him, probably flashing some red-tinted
fangs too.

“Ooh, something different. Maybe I
’
ll have to try you someday, Rodney,”
immediately he scooted back a little bit, and they all laughed, even Linda, who
began to choke on some apple.

“You shouldn
’
t have said that, Rodney. Now when she gets hungry,
guess who she
’
s gonna look for?” Abernathy said
laughingly, her eyes crinkling.

Seph took another swig, more than
halfway finished with her blood. She noticed the lack of food in front of
Rodney and Abernathy. Why were they not eating? And all Linda had was an apple.
They had to be hungry by now. Even if she didn
’
t drink blood, lunchtime was
lunchtime.

“Where
’
s your food?” She asked, and they all stared at her
like she was clueless or something.

“You think that first years get food
that quickly around here?” Abernathy asked, laughter bubbling in her voice.

“Ya, lucky for you, even sixth years
are a little afraid of vampires, especially the new ones,” Rodney stated,
snapping his teeth at her for emphasis.

“Oh…” She murmured, thinking about
that. “So, what would they have done if I was just a first year witch or
something, in the front of the line?” She asked, looking pointedly over at
Abernathy, her example.

“Probably not much,” she admitted
with a little shrug. “They
’
d push you outta line and make you
go to the back. That
’
s all,” Seph just stared at her.
“Don
’
t make enemies of the older kids, or
they
’
ll cast a spell on you, or do something
else. Even some of the werewolves have some decent spells down,” she said,
looking sideways at Rodney.

He grinned and shrugged almost
sheepishly.

“What can I say? I gotta knack for
spells. I can
’
t help that magic just comes to me,”
he said, oh so humble.

“You four enjoying your food?” Seph
knew that voice all too well.

She turned around slowly and looked
up, way, way up, at Ruby and her posse. Oglesby was beside her, sneering, with
his own tray of food. Two other girls were with them, but they were not the two
werewolf girls with Ruby in their HU class. One had brilliant burgundy hair as
well as burgundy eyes and olive skin. She was very exotic-looking with
pronounced, arched brows that gave her an almost feline appearance. What was
she? Seph couldn
’
t help but try to pry into her mind,
but she was quickly shut out. A look passed between the red-haired girl and
Ruby, who laughed derisively at Seph.

“Ya, Misty
’
s a smart little telepath too,” she gave Seph a
meaningful look.

However, Seph just turned her
attention to the other girl, not bothering to engage in pointless banter with
the aggravating werewolf. The other girl was tall, just like Ruby and just like
Misty. Whereas Ruby had an athletic build and Misty a more curved frame similar
to Seph
’
s own, but taller, this other girl
was built willowy, slender with long, graceful limbs. She would probably make a
fantastic dancer. This girl had mocha skin and short cut, textured hair that
feathered around her face, striped with sapphire highlights. She had sapphire
eyes as well, but upon closer observation, Seph noticed that they were
contacts. She was amazingly pretty and strong-looking too.

“
Kendall
’
s a witch also. She
’
s good at…” the two girls locked eyes for a moment, and
they shared cruel, little grins. “All kinds of things,” she added, and Seph
gave her a cool gaze, unfazed.

“Do you have a point, Ruby?” Seph
asked coldly, hearing the slight intake of breath from Abernathy at her tone.

“No,” Ruby said, thinking that
over. “I
’m just
lettin’
you know. You
aren
’
t the toughest thing around here,
little vampire, and I am not afraid of you,” she concluded before sauntering
away with her posse.

Seph watched them calculatingly as
they sat down at a table not too far away from their own. It was a round table,
unlike their four-seater square one, and it was relatively nice. Seph had
already noticed that upper classmen tended to have their selection of the
tables first, and they tended to head for the round ones. She also noticed that
this helped a lot with the superiority complex that their different species
probably dealt with more than she could imagine. No one was at the head of a
round table. It all made sense, in a twisted sort of way.

Ruby had sat down with Misty,
Kendall, and Oglesby. Four other people were already at the table, two other
guys and a girl. The girl was obviously a werewolf with her slanted, golden
eyes that nearly matched her golden skin perfectly. She looked to be Egyptian
or possibly a Southern Asian with her back-length, perfectly straight, black
hair. She was beautiful also. All the women sitting at that table were
beautiful, tall, strong, and they all looked older. Ruby looked old too,
although she knew her to be in her own grade. Those other girls…

Carefully, she pried into the mind
of the werewolf girl, extracting the facts she wanted as quickly as possible.
Misty O
’
Gorman and herself, Yolanda Chang,
were both second years, seventeen years old, although Misty was about to turn
eighteen. Kendall Carter was eighteen already and a third year. Oglesby was a
first year, which Seph already knew, as well as Ruby, who seemed to lead their
little pack despite being one of the youngest. She did have a dominating and
commanding presence to her.

The other two guys at the table, a
wizard and a werewolf, were both second years also. The wizard, Damian Powers,
with his perfect black curls and resilient, turquoise eyes, had to be Madam
Powers
’
s brother, son, nephew, or relative
in some other way, as they held that same cruel glint in their eyes. The other
guy, a werewolf by the name of Raul Fernandez, looked different. He had curly
black hair that spilled into his eyes, which were wide and golden with no
eyelashes, or hardly any to speak of, and dark-tan skin. His eyes were eerie.

All the guys were attractive and
built, but they were all pretty short. In fact, all the girls were taller than
them, except for Raul. He was a little taller than Kendall, who was the tallest
of the girls, but just barely. Besides that, Oglesby was kind of short and a little
scrawny-looking, and Damian was about average height for a guy, maybe a little
short, but Misty, Yolanda, and Kendall towered over him.

She wondered if Ruby purposefully
chose her friends for their physical characteristics and obvious mental powers.
It was actually a little creepy. She had obviously selected them for their
physical beauty, mental prowess, physical strength… and advanced skills. Misty
was already drawing their attention to the fact that Seph had been prying into
their minds. She looked away. Ruby had a good pack of subordinates there. Was
she waiting to build an army or something? They all carried commanding
personages, able to dole out orders but also submissive enough to abide by
them. It was just…
weird.

“
Hello? Seph? Persephone?
” Abernathy was pulling her back to
reality as everybody at their table stared at her, including their newest
companion, Stefan, who had pulled up a chair at the head of the table beside
Linda. “Stefan was talking to you,” she added, nodding her head toward the
vampire guy, whose light eyes were sparkling.

Seph noticed Rodney and Abernathy
get up to wait in line for their food as Stefan passed Linda a tray of food he
had obviously gotten for her. Linda happily ate her lasagna as Stefan continued
to stare penetratingly at Seph. Was he going to say anything? She stared right
back at him before the silence got to her in just under a minute. 

“Do you want something? I didn
’
t hear what you said before,” she
asked, and his lips slowly pulled into a Cheshire grin that simply made her
skin crawl.

“That
’
s alotta blood for sucha lil girl like you,” he said,
grin spreading, if that were even possible.

“I
’
m not that small,” she rebuked him, sipping her bottle
as he sipped his own steaming mug.

“Well, you ain
’
t that small everywhere,” he commented, his eyes
flickering over her body.

She glared at him, and his eyes
twinkled. He knew he was annoying her and reveled in it. Is that was every
supernatural creature did? Ascertained everyone
’
s weak points, pet peeves, and pressed them?

 “Baby, what are you doing?” Linda
suddenly interrupted and shoved him with some force.

“I
’m jus’
messin with her, babe,” he said,
kissing her soundly before flashing his fangs at Seph. “Jus
’
welcomin
’
in the new vamp,” he added, grin spreading as he winked
at her.

“How much blood did you drink when
you started here?” She asked him, recalling that he was a third year, which
made him two years older than her.

“Did Phin tell ya that thing about
older vampires not drinkin
’
as much blood or
whatever?” He asked, laughter in his pale-grey eyes.

“Ya…” she started, heart sinking as
she started to believe it had all been some big joke on her.

“Phin would do that,” Stefan said,
glancing over at the table where Phin and the grungy-looking werewolf were still
engrossed in some deep conversation. “Counseling Julian again. That werewolf
has got some problems…” Stefan shook his head as Seph gave him a blank look.

“The blood thing?” She prompted him
just as Abernathy and Rodney sat down with two trays full of steaming food,
Rodney
’
s overflowing. “Hungry, Rodney?” She
asked him, and he gave her his little grin again.

“
Us werewolves gotta eat,
” he said, patting his stomach
before diving into his food.

“Blood thing?” Stefan asked, and she
grinned, turning back to him. “Aight, the way the blood thing works isn
’
t really how Phin explained it,” he
started when she cut in.

“So he lied to me,” she stated
flatly, toneless voice leaving no room for argument.

“No, that
’
s kinda how Phin sees it, but it ain
’
t true. The way it really works is…
we dunno. It
’
s different for every vampire. Him
and Sarabi try and see who can make it the longest without blood and who can
drink the least amount of blood and stuff. I can
’
t even remember who
’
s winnin
’
right now,” he said
with a shrug.

“
Wait, so
… how much blood you drink and how
much you start with…” she shook her head with confusion.

“It goes up and down, waxes and
wanes-” Stefan started when Rodney interrupted him, mouth full of pasta.

“Like the moon,” he grinned a meat
saucy grin, and the girls just shook their heads at him as Stefan smirked, a
bond between the only two guys at the table.

“Ya, I guess like the moon,” he
admitted, idly playing with a piece of Linda
’
s dark hair.

“So… the fact that I
’
m drinking this much blood now?” She
asked, and he knew what she was asking.

“Probably means that yer gonna be
drinkin
’
a whole lotta blood the rest of yer
life, and yer gonna live a long life,” Stefan explained, rising as several
other students did too.