Blood and Beasts (29 page)

“Seph, would you like to
demonstrate the growing spell on this rose for us?” Madam Winslow asked,
immediately catching her student off guard, as she was so prone to.

Seph grudgingly rose from her seat
and shuffled her way over to the front of the class, taking her time in order
to glean any clues as to how to work this spell from any and all minds in the
classroom. She didn
’
t dare trespass in the teacher
’
s mind. Although Madam Winslow was
not as adept as Sir Sanzio, she would probably catch a student sneaking around
in her own mind. She caught on how to go about performing the spell and
concentrated, pushing all thoughts of Rodney, werewolves, and punishments out
of her mind.

“Okay…” she murmured, staring at
the rosebud Madam Winslow held out in front of her.

She set her hand at the bottom of
the rose beside it and moved it up, opening her fingers in a spreading motion.
She willed the rose strongly to bloom. She willed it with all her might, with
all her frustration about this whole werewolf-punishment-Rodney thing. There
was a slight murmuring and quite a few gasps from the rest of the class. She
opened her eyes.

Madam Winslow was holding a fully
bloomed black rose. She must have changed the color of it too. How had she done
that? Madam Winslow was peering above her spectacles at Seph, appraising her.
Why was everybody doing that recently?

“Well done, Seph. I suspect the
rose changed color due to your own tinge on the magic. Thinking of anything
particularly dark or frustrating?” She asked her, and Seph grinned lopsidedly.

“The story of any young vampire
’
s life,” she replied, taking the
offered rose from her teacher
’
s hand and returning to her seat at
the back of the classroom.

Abernathy stared at her a moment
piercingly, and Seph swiveled around to stare just as piercingly back at her
friend. She wanted to know what was going on with Rodney. She could always
penetrate Abernathy
’
s mind, although it did feel a bit intrusive.
Her friends probably didn
’
t enjoy the fact that one of their
friends could read any one of their private thoughts at any given moment….

I know she is going to
eventually try and read my thoughts… I will just not think about the fact that
Sir Cosmos decided to talk to Rodney too. They really were going at him…
I don’
t think I
’
ve ever seen them that mad before.
They must really wanna drill into Rodney how serious the situation was, and it
was serious. What if he had run into Linda or me? He would have killed us. Oh,
you
’
re reading my mind, aren
’
t you, Seph?
Abernathy glared at Seph, who
casually looked away, shoulders instantly stiffening at being caught.

I know you are. Seph…
Persephone
… I know you
’
re listening. You have any idea how
annoying it is to have a friend who can read your thoughts? It
’
s really annoying, not to mention
intrusive! How am I supposed to keep a secret from you? I mean, it
’
s cool and all to be able to share
everything with a friend, but c
’
mon!
A girl wants a little privacy!
Abernathy was thinking all these rapid thoughts in her head, fully assuming
that Seph was listening, which she was, but she wasn
’
t about to admit that. Finally, the vampire turned
around and gripped the witch
’
s wrist so that they could talk back
and forth.

I
’
m sorry. What was that? I was busy
thinking about other things. Did you want to tell me something, Abernathy?
Abernathy just scowled fiercely at
her friend, a funny look on her face, fully aware that Seph had been listening
in the entire time.

We both know that
’
s not true, Seph,
she replied snappily, and Seph
smartly dropped her wrist.

She turned her back on her friend
and refused to say another word. She shut the girl out of her mind as she tried
to say more to Seph through her mind. Seph shut herself away from everybody
’
s minds and drifted among her own
thoughts, like a feather on the wind. So they were really punishing Rodney…
Well, he did deserve it. She wondered what they were saying or doing to him.
She didn
’
t allow herself to dwell on that for
too long. They would see him when he was ready… when the adults had deemed him
ready to reenter the magical community.

Lunchtime came, and Rodney still
was not amongst them. Seph resiliently thought nothing of it. He would return
when he was to return. Francesca was eager to play that game though. She was so
eager and clearly wanted human interaction again. Seph supposed that happened
after spending three days amongst purely selfish wolves. She winced at that
particularly sharp-bladed thought of hers. They were not wolves; they were
werewolves, which meant they were people too. They were just extremely savage
people at the time.

“C
’
mon! To the Room!” Francesca exclaimed eagerly, leading
the way.

When they entered the Room, they
all halted and stared at the interior. Their eyes roved around the room, taking
in everything. Finally, someone spoke.

“That dragon…” Linda hissed as
their eyes swept over the mess he had made.

Dewdrop suddenly fluttered over
worriedly.

“I attempted to stop him! I am
usually very good at calming creatures, especially dragons, but it has been
days since you have visited! He has been very upset!” She delicately
reprimanded them, and they all winced at her high-pitched voice.

“Abernathy…” Linda started, but
Seph silenced her with a glare.

She simply dared the girl to voice
the thought in her head. She thought that Abernathy should clean up the mess
because she had created the dragon. Seph was not in agreement with her.

“He is all of our responsibility,
Linda,” Seph replied before Abernathy could process what had just passed
between the pair.

“Whatever,” Linda grumbled,
stepping into the shredded Room reluctantly.

Seph pushed forward, stepping over
the upturned sofa to tower above Silo. He visibly cowered. She rested her fists
on her hips sternly as the others dispersed themselves amongst the room,
straightening everything and sweeping up shredded papers. She raised her winged
brows to the little creature.

“Just what were you thinking, Silo?”
She berated him, and he hung his head properly. “What kind of temper tantrum is
this? If we are gone for a little while, you simply must accept this. We will
return! We always do! Now look at the mess that we have to clean up!” The
dragon looked from side to side, and a large, pearly-white tear welled up in
one of his jet-black eyes. “Oh, crying, are you? Don
’
t think that will get you any pity from me. Now, go in
the corner, and think about what you
’
ve
done,” she pointed a trembling finger at the corner, and he reluctantly trudged
over to it.

He stood in the corner and faced
the wall, sniffling little jets of flames every now and then. She turned back
towards the devastated Room to find absolutely everybody staring at her. Even
Stefan looked shocked, arriving late. Was it not normal for vampires to talk
with creatures? Dragons?

“What?” She asked, and immediately
they all turned back to their work.

Everybody was intensely
concentrating on what they were doing. She turned the stern look she had just
been reprimanding Silo with on them. They were avoiding her gaze purposefully.

“You can talk to animals, Seph?”
Stefan finally spoke after a few moments of awkward silence.

“I thought all vampires could. We
just understand each other on a mind… telepathic level. He understands my tone
and my physical movements and my feelings. I didn
’
t know no one else could do that,” she said, instantly
starting to sweep out some of the remains of a gnawed-on crate.

“Well, Phin can, but he
’
s the only other being I
’
ve known to be able ta do that.
Alistair can control the minds of animals. Can you do that too?” He wondered,
and she mulled that thought over, absently sweeping wood shavings out the front
door.

“I
’
ve never tried. I don
’
t think I
’
d want to. Who wants to control
something like that? I know I can control others to some degree. I
’
ve had some lessons with Alistair
after they tested me. I don
’
t really like him,” she admitted,
and she suddenly realized that she was sweeping wood dust onto someone
’
s shoes.

She looked up and up and up, and
her breath caught in her throat. She was staring up into Rodney
’
s face. He looked slightly the worse
for wear, but he was there! Without another word, she dropped her broom with a
clatter and flung her arms around him.

“I
’
m so happy you
’
re
back!” She exclaimed, hugging him tightly and batting away bloody tears
simultaneously.

“
Thanks, Seph
…” he commented gruffly, awkwardly patting
her on the back and clearly communicating something with his eyes to the others
behind her.

Gently, she dropped herself back
down onto the ground and blinked away anything that might be bothering her
eyes. She wiped a hand casually over them, catching another pink tear. How
attractive…

“Welcome back, Rodney,” Francesca
said warmly, and Seph turned around just in time to see her lift up the sofa
all by herself and set it back against the wall.

“What
’
s up, man?
” Stefan nodded at him mannishly as
he tossed Linda the scattered books over his shoulder, and she put them back on
a gnawed-on bookshelf.

“Good to see ya, Rodney,” Linda
called with a little twiddle of her fingers.

“You look better than I thought you
would,” Abernathy admitted, stepping out from the bathroom that she had just
cleaned.

Silence passed as Seph just stared
up at Rodney, so happy to see him. He stared out at the Room, but he was not
really looking at it. He was thinking about something. She really hoped he was
not thinking about what Francesca had mentioned earlier. She refused to pry
though. She was so tired of just being able to pick something out of anyone
’
s mind. She preferred them to tell
her or not. She preferred them to have a choice.

“Seph, can I, um, talk to you?” He
asked uncomfortably, beckoning out the door.

Seph sighed inwardly, shooting a
glare in Francesca
’
s direction, who just smirked. They
were both thinking the same thing. They knew what Rodney wanted to talk to her
about. She could refuse and make the situation even more awkward, or she could
just endure it all. She nodded at him once, striding past him out the door
before Francesca or anyone else could dare say a word.

“Let
’
s go this way,” Rodney ushered them towards the maze,
and she casually strolled beside him.

Silence rolled around them.

“So, what
’
s been going on the past three days that I missed?” He
asked, and she could tell by the way he structured his sentence that he had
clearly thought this sentence out thoroughly before actually saying it.

“Oh, the usual. Test in
Gobbledegook, easy enough. Same ole, same ole,” Seph commented, the
conversation falling.

After a while of twisting turns,
they arrived at a dead end. Seph sighed, turning back, but Rodney halted her
with a hand on her shoulder. With that physical contact, she was instantly open
to his mind, whether she wanted to be or not. He was going to ask her now. He
knew this maze front to back and had led her here purposefully. She did not
want to-

“Seph…” he breathed, and inwardly
she groaned, which he sensed. “I want to see what happened to you,” he stated,
golden eyes completely serious for once.

She wasn
’
t about to make it easy for him. She folded her arms
firmly across her chest, glaring up at him. His face remained impassive, a constant
hint of pain behind it that she had noticed earlier. She said nothing about it
though.

“Rodney, you really don
’
t need to. I blame you for nothing.
You were just acting as a normal werewolf. I do think you need to learn more
self-control, but everyone
’
s fine. We
’
re fine, and we should just forget
about it,” she finished her spiel and saw immediately that it had completely
unfazed him.

She might as well have been talking
to a wall.

“I want to see your injuries,
Persephone,” he said more firmly, boring into her with those golden eyes of
his. “That
’
s one?” He ushered at her left
forearm, and she grimaced at the bite marks, pale-white in the moonlight.

Sighing, she held out her arm for
him to minutely inspect just like Francesca had.

“
I don’
t remember who did this… Ruby was the brown-black
werewolf, and Oglesby was that red one that you were controlling for a while. I
could see everything happenin
’
right in front of me,
but I couldn
’
t do anything about it. I just
watched as I became this monster. As the monster controlled me…” he hung his
head low as his fingertips grazed the scars just like Francesca
’
s had earlier.

“Might as well get this part over
with,” she groaned, turning around and lifting up her black tank top.

“I did this,” he murmured as his
hands traced the deep scars on her back, standing out against her old scars.

“And they
’
ll go away in a week, Rodney! Stop thinking about it!
You saw me become a monster not a week ago! I understand!” She exclaimed, but
she could tell that absolutely nothing would change his opinion of himself at
that very moment.

He hated himself just then.

“Anything else?” He asked, keeping
his voice decidedly level.

“I guess. Ruby was the one that
mauled my right leg up,” she said, gesturing it. “I get the feeling she doesn
’
t like me in any form,” she
commented as he knelt down to examine those injuries, which were more healed
than before; at least she had stopped limping. “That
’
s really all. I hit the back of my head a few times,
but if that scarred, you can
’
t tell because of my hair,” she
admitted, starting to pull her shirt down when there was the awkward clearing
of a throat.

Both their heads spun around, and
if Seph could turn a brighter red, she would have. Rodney flushed despite his
darker skin. They both knew that the picture they painted did not look well.
The caretaker was there, a very grey-looking old man properly called Mr. Grey.
He was looking at them dully.

“This really isn
’
t what it looks like, sir,” Seph
gasped out, wrenching her shirt down and pulling her leg from Rodney
’
s clenching grasp, shoving her skirt
down while she was at it.

“Oh, I know,” he answered, and that
gave them reason to pause. “Yer lucky though. If anyone else had caught ye, wit
’
out my mind abilities, dey would not
be able to sense the intense distress from dis young lad or da exasperation
from yoo, lil missie,” he stated, and they gaped at him.

“Can you read minds? Are you a
vampire?” Seph sent her sensitive hearing out to him but heard a normal heartbeat,
not a werewolf or a vampire.

“Nay, I be a wizard, lass, a very
old one, at that. We have been known to read minds. I meself can sense feelin
’
s. Yer lucky though, remember that,”
he turned his back to them, starting to trudge off before suddenly turning
back. “Ye know, the lass be right, lad. It isn
’
t yer fault. Jus
’
learn
be
’
r self-control,” they stared at him
again, mouths agape. “I din
’
t say I couldn
’
t read minds at all,” he winked at them before turning
away to patrol the grounds some more.

Both their eyes slid toward each
other at the exact same moment.

“That was…” she started.

“Awkward…” he finished.

They both stared at each other a
moment longer. Seph was feeling… she shouldn
’
t be feeling the way she was feeling towards him at
that very moment. She was very, very happy at that moment that Rodney couldn
’
t read minds or sense feelings… or
could he? No, because then he would realize what she was feeling and blush or
something. She shook her head several times, breaking herself of that trance.

“We should get back,” she announced,
and Rodney nodded absently, the etching of pain easing up a little on his face.

On their way back, their arms kept
grazing each other, but neither of them seemed to care or say anything about
it. When they arrived back at the Room, it was almost completely cleaned.
Apparently, the group had finally given up and retreated to Dewdrop
’
s. Entering the Room, they paused a
moment, surveying the damage. Silo was still in the corner, patiently awaiting
her return before he moved. She nodded at him, and the dragon slowly began to
amble around again, not looking in her direction at all. He was properly
chastened. They rejoined the others, and for the rest of their lunchtime, they
all simply lounged about in Dewdrop
’
s
place. A few of them strolled the top deck while others read the numerous books
or sprawled out on one of the many plush sofas. They all simply enjoyed each
other
’
s company.

The next day in Basic, they had a
very interesting class. Rodney was in the class that day. Tristan was actually
awake. Seph and Abernathy were no longer at odds. However, when Madam Winslow
set down a pencil in front of each of them, a normal number 2 pencil, sharpened
and not mechanical, they all just stared up at the smart-looking teacher
blankly. What exactly was she planning behind those glasses of hers? The
teacher finally bustled her way to the front of the class, interested faces
turned her direction. They all had a feeling that they were going to get to try
something really cool today, hopefully.

“Yes, today we are doing something
really cool,” she voiced the thoughts of a few students who were not shielding
their minds or didn
’
t know that they had that option.

Simpletons.

“We are going to be turning
inanimate objects into animate ones,” the teacher continued as Rodney, Tristan,
and Seph instantly looked in Abernathy
’
s
direction, who was the expert in this field with her lovely creation of Silo.
“All you must do is wave your hand over the pencil like so, and simply will it,
as hard as you ever have willed anything before, to start to move. I don
’
t care what you make it do, so long
as it is up and moving around,” she said before ushering for her class to
start.

They all gave her very disconcerted
looks. However, Abernathy was excited and hopped to it. Immediately, she waved
her hand over her pencil and stared at it with a concentration rarely seen in
those small eyes of hers. Instantaneously, the pencil popped up. They all
gasped, including some spectators surrounding them. The pencil hopped up,
sprouting lead stick arms and legs, and proceeded to tap-dance across her desk.
It pretended to pull a top hat off its head and bowed to them elegantly as if
he were not made of wood, but something much more flexible. They all clapped,
including Madam Winslow, who had walked over to watch as well.

“Very good, Miss Tran, and on your
first try,” the teacher said approvingly, giving Abernathy one of her rare,
perfect smiles.