Blood and Beasts (30 page)

Suddenly, her glasses flashed as
she swept the classroom. Everybody was staring at Abernathy
’
s tap-dancing pencil display. She
clucked her tongue, and their backs went ramrod straight.

“And the rest of you? I want to see
more tap-dancing pencils just like this, or inching ones, or walking ones. Will
it to become something that you see in it already. Many students choose a worm.
Miss Tran here seemed to choose a stick figure. Anything will work, and the
pencil will become some variation of that-” Suddenly, there was a
pop!
from
behind the teacher as well as a hiss and a giggle.

Seph had flipped out of her desk
and was crouched, fangs out. Abernathy was erupting in giggles, trying to
contain herself, as her pencil proceeded to stare for her. Rodney
’
s face was purely shocked, eyes
bug-eyed. They were all staring at Tristan
’
s desk, where a huge worm of some type covered it,
spilling over the edges. It was not quite a worm though. It was a little
different, altered, with jewel-bright eyes and an oozing body. Madam Winslow
took a careful step forward, examining the creature from tip to end as Tristan
tried valiantly to keep the creature from rolling onto his lap. She looked
about the classroom, where, once again, nobody was doing anything but stare.
Her eyes fell on Seph, who was still baring her fangs at the creature, claws
out and ready.

“Your instincts are right to
instantly fear this creature, Miss Black. It is a smaller version of what was
once called a verm. Verms were considered the essence of evil in the magical
past, feeding off of goodness like parasites. This is a small verm, but it is
sucking away the happiness in this room already. Brooding on dark things, Mr.
Solitto?” She asked, waving a hand at the verm to turn it back into a pencil,
immediately lightening the mood in the tense classroom as he shrugged. “You and
your friends are so vague,” her eyes snapped over to Abernathy, Rodney, and
Seph, who was slowly backing down into her seat again. “Are you two going to
try?” She was addressing Seph and Rodney now.

They both just shrugged, and she
heaved a great sigh of exasperation at her students who shirked their
educational duty. They both grinned devilishly at each other before turning to
their desktops, as everyone else was doing in the classroom. They produced less
than exciting results as compared to the first two students.

Seph waved her hand over her
pencil, concentrating on a worm, not a verm. Sure enough, the pencil popped
into life, starting to inch along her desktop like any normal worm would. She
looked up, grinning, and caught Madam Winslow
’
s eye, who nodded at her with approval. She glanced
over at Rodney, still grinning, to see him frowning at his own pencil,
constantly waving his hand over it to no avail. She peeked into his mind to
sense that he was actually trying, concentrating with all his might to turn it
into a worm, anything, anything at all that was mobile. He didn
’
t care! She nearly became frustrated
herself sensing his intense frustration. He shot a look up at Madam Winslow.

“I
’
m horrible at this spell,” he grumbled, and the teacher
shrugged lightly.

“It is true. Wizards and witches
usually catch on the quickest to this spell. Werewolves and vampires are
equally hindered at attempting it. You
’
ve
tried your best, Mr. Steele. That
’
s all I ask for,” she smiled at the
four of them before flouncing up to the front, Tristan and Rodney staring at
her retreating form a moment longer than was absolutely necessary.

“Take a picture. It
’
ll last longer,” Seph remarked
scathingly, and they both instantly looked away guiltily. “Boys…” she grumbled,
waving her hand over her pencil to see if she could animate it enough to walk
and tap-dance like Abernathy
’
s, but she was not that gifted at
spells apparently.

At lunch that day, they all ate
hurriedly before retreating to the Room to do their separate things. Seph casually
surveyed what everybody was doing, attempting to be surreptitious. Rodney was
dealing out the game they were about to play so she could study everybody, a
pastime of hers, just studying humanity, or something like that…

Linda and Stefan lounged on the
couch. More to the point, Stefan took up the whole couch, reading some book for
a paper, and Linda sat on the floor, listening to music as she did homework.
Their fingers intertwined with each other
’
s
adoringly. They truly did love each other for such a young couple.

Tristan was in the corner, speaking
with Dewdrop in hushed tones. He had been doing that a lot recently. Seph was
almost tempted to listen in on his thoughts, but she stopped herself. She mustn
’
t make that a habit. It was a nasty
habit too. People deserved to keep their thoughts to themselves.

Abernathy sat in another corner
with Silo, preening over him. He loved that. He acutely enjoyed to be admired.
Vanity was clearly his sin. She used a toothbrush and calmly scrubbed each and
every one of his many red and black scales to a glossy shine. She really did
love that creation of hers, that dragon.

Seph turned back to what she was
doing, playing an intense game of cards with Rodney. They were playing War, a
normal enough card game, but these cards were different. They were magical
cards, and whenever they set two matching cards down, they all sprang to life,
and there really was a war. It was brutal and usually ended with several
burning cards that would instantly heal themselves, setting themselves in the
winner
’
s pile. It was an enjoyable time,
and they both liked the weird deck of cards very much. Abernathy apparently had
several magical trinkets like these at her home and brought them to school
often enough, entertaining those of them not raised in a magical household. The
things magic came up with…

“I can
’
t wait for parents
’
day,” Rodney said excitedly the next day.

He and Seph were casually strolling
through the maze together during lunchtime. They had become closer friends of
late. Francesca was being a bit more absent than usual. She was pursuing some
new boy or another.

“My parents
’
day didn
’
t exactly go too well…” she murmured
quietly, and he nodded gravely.

“Ya, I know, but…
I dunno
… it
’
s different for vampires than for…” he let the
conversation end there.

“
I guess
…” she said with a shrug, not
wanting to continue that conversation any further. “Haven
’
t you been here long enough for this to be your second
parents
’
day? You got nothing to fear,
right?” She said, grinning a little, and he returned the grin.

Her heart fluttered a little at the
sight of his smile. That was odd. She didn
’
t know what to think about that. Rodney was confusing
her more and more, night by night.

“Not necessarily. I missed last
parents
’
day. I got sick. The day before, I
got in a fight with one of the wizards, and he threw some wolfsbane at me,”
Seph gasped, recognizing the herb that could incapacitate a werewolf completely
in a concentrated form, leaving them open for the kill. “Ya, he doesn
’
t go here anymore. We
’
ve spent centuries trying to make
everybody accept all different kinds of creatures here, and he nearly shattered
it. He would have if he had killed me. Anyway, Sir Cosmos informed my parents
not to come, and they didn
’
t. They wouldn
’
t have wanted to see me in the infirmary anyways. I was
bright purple. That
’
s what it does to ya,” he explained,
and Seph couldn
’
t help but giggle a little,
imagining a bright purple Rodney. “Oh, you think that
’
s funny, do ya?
” He asked her, and she raised a
winged brow to him.

“Maybe a little. Can you imagine
yourself purple or me purple, for that matter?” She burst out laughing, unable
to contain it any longer.

He had to laugh too. It was a funny
thought. Purple was just such a random color.

“I wish I could see my brother and
sister again… and my foster-brothers…” she said wistfully, staring off into the
wind.

“You will soon, Seph. Don
’
t worry,
” Rodney said warmly, wrapping an
arm around her shoulders.

She leaned against him a moment,
enjoying the warmth of him. In the distance, they could hear the starting bell
ring as lunch ended. They both stared off at the school, thinking separate
thoughts. The sky was beautiful that night, cloudless, with a waning moon and
tiny stars.

“
Time for Hieroglyphs,
” Rodney voiced the unspoken
thought, and Seph nodded as they headed back towards the main building, still
basking in the companionship of each other.

In Hieroglyphs that day, they were
learning about yet another werewolf, Egyptian king. Apparently, there was a
whole line of Egyptian pharaohs that were werewolves for quite some time. This
one was named Pharaoh Ramses some number… Seph sighed. Another boring day in
Hieroglyphs… Even with Rodney for company, she was still bored. She was also
dwelling on her siblings, missing them and sulking.

“What were your experiences in
Egypt, Sir Rey?” Seph nearly jumped at Rodney
’
s sudden question, his voice carrying.

She looked up in time to see Sir
Rey
’
s golden eyes glower at Rodney for
not raising his hand, more likely than not. Rodney was one of those students
with that nasty habit of never raising his hand before asking some impertinent
question or other. Seph found it agreeable though. It added some spice to the classroom
and kept their teachers on their toes. She grinned behind her hand as Sir Rey
fizzled just a little.

“M-my experiences in Egypt? Surely,
I did not hear that question. Otherwise, you would have raised your hand,” he
sniffed, reeking of pompousness.

“Oh, c
’
mon, Sir Rey,” Seph piped up, emboldened by Rodney and
holding her hand up in the air just for the teacher.

“Just because you raise your hand,
Persephone, does not mean you can speak. I have to call on you,” he explained
to them as if they were simpletons.

Now it was her turn to roll her
eyes and glare at him.

“Maybe you should explain the
specifics to us next time,” she swapped a lopsided grin with Rodney as the
teacher heaved a sigh of exasperation.

They did that to their teachers a
lot, promote these sighs.

“Egypt, Sir Rey? I know that
’
s where you hail from,” Rodney said,
and Seph gave him a funny look at his usage of the word ‘hail
’
.

“Oh, alright,” Sir Rey exhaled
dramatically before launching into his tale. “I was actually a high priest
’
s son during the reign of Pharaoh
Ptolemy IX, and I fell in love with his daughter, the princess Nefertiti. There
was a horrible scandal,” he grinned devilishly as did Seph and Rodney, thinking
about what troubles Sir Rey must have gotten into in his youth.

He was a very attractive teacher.
Seph could easily see him wreaking havoc in ancient Egypt. What an experience
to have…

“I was banished to Jericho, and I
took a Jew for my bride. She was pure human and died of natural causes, but I
had three sons, all who are still around as of this day,” he explained,
grinning at the class broadly and flashing his sharp, white teeth.

There was a moment of shocked
silence as the girls leaned forward, fluttering their eyelashes, and the boys
leaned back, awestruck by their teacher. Rodney raised his hand and waited
patiently for the teacher to call on him. Sir Rey smiled agreeably and called
on Rodney cheerily.

“Was it worth it?” Rodney asked, a
little smirk playing about his lips.

Sir Rey paused a moment, reflecting
on the question.

“Totally,” he grinned, and all the
guys immediately began to laugh, clapping each other mannishly on the back as
all the girls shook with their giggles.

Rodney nudged her hand, and she
looked over at him, laughter dancing in her eyes.

“I
’
d totally do that for you,” he joked, and she laughed
even louder, shoving him playfully as the teacher finally called order to the
class.

Soon enough, parents
’
day for the werewolves arrived. Seph
and Francesca were waiting anxiously outside of their dorm room for Francesca
’
s family to get there. Seph had
asked Phin
’
s permission to skip today
’
s class to see Francesca
’
s family, who were like family to
her, and he had agreed grudgingly.

Seph loved the Murrietas. Francesca
had four younger sisters, fourteen and thirteen as well as seven-year-old
twins, and three little brothers, one twelve, the other eleven, and the baby
who was four. The parents were amazing as well, always welcoming Seph into
their home with open arms. She stopped and thought about this a moment.
Francesca claimed that her entire family was made up of werewolves. Had they
known she was a vampire this whole time? Probably not. How would they take the
news? Would they try to harm her, like Janette? Would they fear her? How would
they-

“Mama! Papa!” Francesca exclaimed,
sprinting down the hallway to fling her arms around both her parents.

Seph slowly walked up behind her to
the little crowd awaiting her best friend. They were speaking in a flurry of
Spanish right now, which she vaguely understood. They were all really happy to
see each other. How could she forget how close the entire family was? It must
be devastating to have one of their own off at something so like a boarding
school, even if it wasn
’
t too far from where they actually
lived.

She studied the group, as she was
accustomed to. Now that she thought about it, this was probably a vampire
skill, studying others. Studying prey? She shook that thought away instantly,
hoping that none of the Murrietas could mind-read, although it was a very
uncommon gift among werewolves.

Luz looked as pretty as ever,
flaunting her auburn hair, straightened beautifully. It perfectly accentuated
her light-tan skin and sparkling golden eyes, her hair a trait from their
fair-skinned Spanish mother. Sombra looked just as pretty with her dark-brown,
curly, chin-length bob, light-tan skin, and golden eyes. Junior, called that
because his real name, Alfredo, was the same as their father
’
s, was still on the larger side. He
kept his auburn hair cut short and spiked, his skin the same light-tan as his
older sisters
’
, minus Francesca. His eyes were
smaller though, more like their father
’
s.
Beside him was the skinny waif that was Guillermo, the last brother, skinny and
a lot of sinewy muscle. He was dark-tan, like Francesca, although his tan was
even darker than hers, compliments of running in the sun. She didn
’
t see the sun much anymore
considering her late night school hours. He had dark-brown hair and small eyes
like their father and Francesca.

The twin girls, Anita and Mona,
short for Juanita and Ramona, were there as well. Mona held her dolly, Polly,
by one hand, while Anita lapped at a lollipop. Both girls had jet-black waves,
gold eyes, and light-tan skin. Lastly, there was Benicio, little Benny, held in
Mrs. Murrieta
’
s arms. He had auburn curls,
dark-tan skin, and golden eyes. He held his favorite Koala bear, Umberto, in
his arms, the ratty thing.

Idly, Seph waited outside the wide
berth of the family, hoping someone would notice her eventually. She was tense,
wondering how they would react to her. Surely Francesca had informed them of
her being there. She had to have. They were rooming together! She paused
anxiously, trying not to gnash her teeth together with her nervousness.

“
Persephone! It’
s been so long! Come here, chicita!”
Mrs. Murrieta suddenly exclaimed, and they all issued her into the midst of
them.

She was assaulted with a flurry of
voices, grinning broadly, as they acted the exact same way that they always
had, loud and flamboyant. They stayed that way for a good while. She and Luz
launched into a conversation about the latest hair practices and how beautiful
both their hairs were looking that day. After a bit though, she did begin to
feel a little overwhelmed. She loved the Murrietas so much. She loved Pearl and
Pearce so much. She loved her family… She blinked away something that felt
dangerously like tears, slowly extricating herself from the crowd.

“I… uh… I gotta go. I actually got
class right now. I just wanted to say hi,” she managed to stammer out, slowly
receding from the group.

They all nodded, accepting this
excuse, but Francesca shot her a confused look. Seph just shook her head,
mouthing the word ‘later
’
to her. Francesca would
understand, even if right now she felt particularly hurt that her friend didn
’
t want to hang out with her family
as much as possible.

Seph hurried down the hallway to
the stairs, out of sight, before teleporting to the base of them and then
rushing across the courtyard, bulleting for the Room. A light rain was starting
to fall, and she turned her heated face up to it. She enjoyed the cool feeling
that the little patters left on her face.

She entered the Room in a flurry.
She wanted her brother. She wanted her sister. She wanted Manny and Dean and
Terrence and Bobby and Nate. She missed them all so much. Silo made a move
towards her tentatively, and she shook her head at him. With a flick of her
hand, she opened the locker into Dewdrop
’
s
across the room, and the dragon hung his head low, entering the large room
before him. He was sad that he couldn
’
t
help. She wanted to sulk alone. That was just how she was.

It felt like her chest was ripping.
She wanted to hold them, just hold them. She would give anything to go back in
time and spend even more time with them, to covet each and every moment. It was
like she had died or something, or they had died! But they hadn
’
t! It would help if she knew she
would see them sometime soon, but she didn
’
t because of stupid Janette and Bill. Because of
herself… She had to be a stupid vampire! A damned creature of the night!