I’m not even sure how to react to the information I received from Priscilla. She… should I believe what she said? Was she lying to me? I… don’t know who I can trust… First the dean tells me something ridiculous like he knew one of my ancestors, and then Priscilla tells me that he was lying and that he had tried to pull the same trick on her when she was the human student. Why would either of them want to lie to me? I just cannot get a hold of the situation I am in. I am still excited for this day at school however because… who knows what else I could learn? True or false, any information that could keep me alive, that I believed would keep me alive, I would use at some point. Hopefully I'll keep my wits about me as I continue through this school year, let alone this quarter. But before I can think of the future, I must stay in the present so I can live to possibly see said future. I made myself breakfast and got a shower then dressed. I paused when grabbing my clothes because I saw Priscilla’s was still in my dorm room. She had put her old clothes where the new ones had been for her to wear. I was just confused by her desire to change in front of me, and why she thought it necessary. My face flustered at the thought of what happened last night, but it would be hard to forget about that anytime soon. My mind raced for what felt like hours as I walked to the front entrance of the school to get ready for P.E. Many of the things I was thinking of had to do with vampire-human relationships, and just how old everyone in this school is. Humans aren’t allowed to celebrate their birthdays or to even know how old we are because we were indoctrinated to believe we didn’t deserve those luxuries. Even with the situation humans are in as cattle, what could we even use to celebrate things such as birthdays? How many should I have had? How old was I? I looked as old as the other students, but Priscilla and the dean have said they are far older than their looks let on. How long do vampires even live for? Who’s the oldest vampire? Who’s the oldest human? Before I knew it, I was already dressed for P.E. and already running around the track for the morning. I hadn’t even noticed the stares I would normally get from the other students. It’s like my brain shut down while I was thinking such ridiculous questions. But how old was I? Could I ask the dean? Priscilla maybe? I can’t even guess how old I am with my peers because I do not know how to gauge a vampire by their looks with them looking so young. I could possibly ask the anatomy teacher. He would have the best information as to how old I am. If I were to be turned, would they tell me? Class was half way through now and we were playing a different game than soccer. The coach had called it “flag football.” Although the flags were a bit cumbersome to get on and keep on, it was fairly fun, but I would always get out first since I wasn’t as fast as the other students without constantly pushing myself. Soon the games had ended and the coach called us in to tell us what was in store for next week. He looked towards me when speaking and told me “Since you have to stay on the school grounds, you’re more than welcome to use this field to keep your physical abilities in check. Just leave me a note in the locker room for when you are using it and when you finish.” I nodded and the bell rang. We all went into the locker room and changed, getting ready for our next period. Math was somehow much more upbeat than the other days. It could’ve been because it was almost the weekend, but the teacher still seemed gloomy. The class, once again, wasn’t very difficult, but the teacher handed out pre lesson plans for next week about the kind of curricular we will be dealing with throughout the rest of this quarter. The class flashed past in no time at all. Once I set the lesson plans into my bag, the bell rang and we all set out for our next class. I just remembered that yesterday, I seemingly skipped lunch. I will ask the people I sit with if I in fact did go to lunch. Did I perhaps block what happened? I’ll find out soon enough. History was interesting for this day. We not only spoke of human countries, but also vampire countries. How long they ruled for, when they went extinct or changed names, and even who had ruled them. Many human and vampire countries overlapped with the same ruler being a vampire. One that was rather interesting to hear about was a country called transylvania. While it wasn’t a country, humans believed it to be the birth of vampires hundreds of years ago. In this class, the teacher doesn’t say where vampires got their start since it was seemingly common knowledge among my peers, so I raised my hand and asked. “What was the first vampire country?” The teacher smiled as if intending to laugh but held it back seeing who I was. He sighed and said “No one remembers the name of the country. It’s not a legend since we live in this day and age, but all records of it have been lost to time. The humans had such records stolen from the monastery that the Original vampires hid in, but they kept those records in a library in an ancient city called Alexandria. There was a great fire that had ruined all the knowledge stored in the library, and the records along with the knowledge that the humans had stored went up in flames. Myths say that it was an enraged vampire that started the fire, not knowing that the records were kept in the library. But no one, not even a vampire, is alive from that time expectedly.” The teacher ended his explanation and went back to the lesson. The other students started snickering and leering at me like they were better for having known such information, but I was too invested in writing down that information to save it for later. After a while, the lesson ended, and much like the rest of the classes I have had so far, the teacher handed out lesson plans for next week. Now it was time for lunch and my meeting with my “friend group.” I still wasn’t used to them being so friendly towards me, but maybe today would be different. As I got my food and sat at our usual table, the friend group showed up behind me and sat with me. It sent chills down my spine that I hadn’t heard them, but I noticed one was missing. It was Nathaniel. I was confused and asked “Nathaniel not joining us?” The other’s stared at me like I was crazy. One of the other’s piped up. It was Nathaniel’s friend that would always sit next to him. He spoke up and said “The uh… The dean had him expelled because he tried to drink your blood yesterday… Do… did you forget that happened?” I sat there a little dumbfounded that such a thing happened. I just sat there staring blankly at his empty seat, feeling a little sad that we only had spoken, like really spoken, only once. I just took another bite of my food and said “I must’ve blocked that memory…” The others sat in somber silence as we all finished our food a good while before the lunch bell rang. When our food was gone, that’s when the conversations started up. Everyone was trying to not be awkward about it, but they couldn’t help it. They elected Nathaniel’s friend to speak up. Jace he said his name was before asking me “So… what is it like to be in that situation?” I looked toward him as I drank more water and said “It’s like I am constantly being hunted, and when he had pounced, I just shut down. Almost like I had accepted it.” With nothing left to say, the other’s just went back to talking to themselves until the bell rang. Priscilla was oddly quiet as well. She would normally be the one to ask me such a question when she felt like it. But she looked subdued. Like she was being hunted herself. Once the bell rang, we all started for our fourth periods, eventually walking in different directions. Music class wasn’t anything special. I’m not even sure why I was put into this class because, even though I was more coordinated than some of the students, I wasn’t any good compared to others. But the class was still bearable because of the teacher, Ms. Typing. We all played the music nearly perfectly this time around, which please Ms. Tylin, but she still pointed out mistakes among the students, her usual sharp tone not faltering when a student bared their fangs at her for pointing them out. The class soon ended and Ms. Tylin had said “In the middle of the week, we will be getting another piece of music just as hard as this one was to learn. We will switch between the two every now and again so I can test your skills in not only remembering how the song goes, but how many songs you can play one after the other. Dismissed.” Right after saying that the bell rang. Some of the students laughed at the coincidence, but didn’t stay long. I made my way to anatomy very quickly to try and talk to the teacher for my fifth period. Luckily I had just made it in time before anyone else had arrived, so I got ready to ask my question. When I stopped in front of what would’ve been his desk, I found a different teacher there instead. I stepped out to look at the classroom number, and the teacher laughed and said “Don’t worry Simon, you’re in the right class. Mr. Schreiner had been let go because of unsavory practices he was performing.” The newer, and younger looking teacher stood up and said “My name is Philip. Philip Arronov. I’ll be your new teacher from here on.” He held his hand out for me to shake it and I sort of backed away out of reflex and he looked sheepish as he realized that I still wasn’t used to life here. He put his hands away and said “Maybe another time. Please, take your seat.” I walked passed Mr. Arronov rather briskly and took my usual seat., waiting for everyone else to arrive. Everyone was rather sluggish when entering and I wondered why. They all looked… dead. More than usual at least. Everyone except Priscilla was acting weird. Mr. Arronov clapped his hands together and started speaking after everyone was seated. “Alright! Welcome to anatomy, I will be your new teacher, Mr. Arronov. Some of you may wonder what happened to Mr. Schreiner, but he will no longer be teaching here. So unfortunately, you will have to be with me.” He gave a smile that felt like it had shook the whole room. Not only myself, but everyone else had gotten a cold feeling after he said his name. I shivered because of the smile, but everyone else recognised the name. No one spoke up. Mr. Arronov started his lesson holding the smile. He was a natural at being a teacher despite the imposing aura he exuded, and the constant predatory smile he never got rid of. He touched on older subjects we had already learned so he could grasp our current knowledge and he clicked his tongue when figuring out that we had only just learned of the blood healing that Mr. Schreiner demonstrated. He looked around and said “I believe the teachers are lacking here if that is all you learned from Schreiner. Shame how this seems to have fallen.” There was a confused silence, but Mr. Arronov did not elaborate. He started to speak faster than Mr. Schreiner, making it difficult to understand him. Everyone else seemed to be fine after a while, but I was behind by a good margin. Priscilla spared me a glance and just sighed, continuing to take her notes. The class ended far quicker than it should’ve. Mr. Arronov finished with a twirl and laughed, like this was exhilarating for him. He snapped his fingers and the bell rang. He looked at his watch and said “Right on cue.” He waved off every student, especially so at me. When I left, I barely heard him say “Hope you survive meat bag.” I turned around to look at him, but the door closed too quickly. I hadn’t noticed, but I broke out into a cold sweat when I exited. The sheer pressure made me realize that whenever he looked around the room made everyone take a gasp and hold their breath. I almost ran away from that class room, not wanting to be there any more. I sat against my locker wall and just looked at the blood stain next to me. Something about Mr. Arronov felt off. Like he was trying to get the reaction that he was looking for. Not from everyone else, but solely from me. He deepened the enigma that was this school. Picking myself up, I grabbed my things for my last class, wanting the comforting silence that would’ve been my heart and brain. Walking into the class, everyone could smell the sweat on me and turned to see that I was in distress. I, for better or worse, had gotten used to the feeling, so I just sat down and waited for class to begin. This class went back to exploring previous vampire rulers, the class eventually ending on Alexander the great. Nothing was known about him in the current day and age. But he was a striking figure in both human and vampire societies. Not only conquering most of the known world at the time, but also being a fantastic ruler from the vampire’s perspective. Even statue busts that portrayed his face looked imposing. Something wasn’t right about the busts. I couldn’t put a finger on why it felt off, but I would have to figure it out for later. The bell rang for the last time, for me at least, and everyone made their way out. I couldn’t stop thinking about Mr. Arronov and his smile. His curly red hair and wicked look in his eyes made him look like he was trying to spit fire from his eyes while fire erupted from his head. I walked up to the dean’s office and gave it a firm knock. The right door opened slowly for me to enter, and I entered looking for answers. The dean looked towards me and said “How can I help you Simon?” I walked into his room a little timid at first, unsure how to start this conversation. He saw that I was a little tense from something and closed the book he had been reading when I entered his office. After marking his place in the book, I walked over and he asked “Is something the matter? Did a student try to harm you?” I shook my head and said “No. It’s nothing to do with the students. It’s… Mr. Schreiner… Mr. Aranov told us that he was let go because of the stunt he had pulled with using my blood to fix an injury he had. Did you really fire him? Mr. Schreiner had told us you gave your blessing for such a lesson, and I even agreed to let it happen, which is the main thing…” The dean looked just as confused as me and asked “Who is this Mr. Aronov? I don’t remember that name being on the roster for potential teachers.” I sat back in a chair after that realization and said “He is a… very dominating person… Not just in physique… But also demeanor. He has fiery red curly hair…” The dean suddenly stood up and said “You said red hair?” I nodded and asked “Why does that matter?” He rubbed his eyes and said “Well… you’ll find out some other time. Right now, you’ll just have to deal with him. Look out for his charm. It doesn’t work particularly well on other vampires, but it works especially well on humans.” I sank further into the chair and asked “How am I supposed to deal with him for now if he can use his charm… to…” The dean sighed and said “Even though he may have appeared here suddenly, he must still comply with the school rules. No one is exempt from it. Not even HIM.” I slowly stood up, my legs shaking as I was just terrified of what would happen if I wasn’t constantly on guard. I looked at the dean and asked “And… another thing. How old am I? I know all vampires are so much older than humans, but to be forty years older and still look so young? I had no idea that would…” The dean cut me off once again, making me slightly infuriated with how often he did it. But he sighed, not explaining how old I was, simply shooing me away. And yet again, he gave me a non-answer. He started closing the door and said “Remember Simon, do not fall for Aronov’s tricks and charms. He has only one goal from the looks of it. Stay safe, and have a friend escort you back to your dorm room.” I couldn’t say anything to that so I simply nodded and left. I looked around for a friend to escort me, but I couldn’t remember their names at this time. I wasn’t confident in myself anymore. Then, I ran into Priscilla. Their next period wouldn’t start for another hour or so, but she was sitting in front of one of the classrooms waiting for it to start. I wondered why she wasn’t hanging out with the others, but this was a benefit to me. I walked up to her and asked “Long day?” She looked up and she looked… different. It’s hard to say… But she looked more animalistic. Like she wasn’t fully… human anymore. I wasn’t paying attention to everyone else when I was walking up to her, but now I noticed the rest. Their eyes were darker, redder. Their ears were more pointed as well as their noses looking like knives. Their skin looking like a thick leather instead of soft human skin. Everyone was looking like they were the old, the ancient drawings, of vampires. Perhaps there was some truth to those pictures after all. Priscilla was trying to speak to me, but I was going into a panic attack when I noticed her teeth. They weren’t normal anymore. They were razor blades… They were only incisors. Jagged, sharp, dangerous. I nearly passed out, but then I snapped back to reality when I finally broke out of the fog that had taken my vision. Priscilla finally looked normal again. I rubbed my eyes and looked once more. She was Priscilla again. I… what did I just see? What do vampires actually look like? Did I see their true form or something? Was I hallucinating because of all the stress I was being put through? “...mon. … Simon. Earth to Simon. There a problem?” I shook my head a little to break out of my thoughts and said “Yeah? Oh… sorry, thoughts were just… rampaging around like usual.” She had an incredulous look on her face and said “uh huh. And I eat normal food. What’s wrong? Someone try to attack you or something?” I shook my head again and said “No. But I do have something to ask that pertains to that. Could you walk me back to my room? If yes, can you take your old clothes out of my closet? I fear they’re stinking up my room.” She laughed and said “There you are. Yeah I can do that. And no, I’m not doing that. Those clothes looked fine, but they were OLD. Like, my days as a human here old. I don’t want those rags again.” I sighed and gave a grumpy glare to her and asked “Not even if I would owe you a favor later on?” She silenced me and said “Don’t go saying that around here. Especially as a human. And, no. Not even for a favor. They’re just… too old.” She looked like she was hiding something from me, but I was just glad that she would walk me back to my room. I gave her a smile and asked “Shall we get going? Or do you want to continue waiting for your date with this class?” She snorted at the remark and pushed me back a little. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would, but I got the hint. I started walking down the stairs and out of the school. Priscilla stayed close to me, knowing what I was going through. But soon, my thoughts would be enveloping my mind again and they ranged from what the dean had said about Mr. Aronov, to why Priscilla looked the way she did when I walked up to her. But soon, I thought back to when she had told me that she was originally a human here and it made me wonder aloud “How long have you been here?” I had asked this question in a low voice, but she heard me anyway and said “Ever since I was turned. For vampires, the juvenile phase lasts A LOT longer than a human's juvenile stage. Most vampires go to school for at least a hundred years. Many of the students that are in the higher grades are from my days in school.” That was a little surprising, but also made some sense. If vampires theoretically could live forever, when they’re young, they should learn about all the history they could and learn from their ancestor’s mistakes, much like humans. But their history is a lot more complex than ours. I let my thoughts run wild for a moment and then asked “If… you don’t mind my asking, how old were you when you got turned, and how old are you now?” Priscilla nodded knowingly and said “I know why you want to know, but it’s ungentlemanly to ask a woman her age. Especially when you have only known each other for a week.” That comment made me blush from embarrassment, making Priscilla laugh heartily. I smiled. I’ve been smiling a lot more lately. A lot more than before. Mainly with Priscilla. My smile faded as I thought back to her appearance when I had found her. I wanted to ask about it, but couldn’t find the words. Priscilla stared down at me. She was a good deal taller than me, mainly because she wore heels that added three inches to her height, but she was a full head taller than me even without them. She grew more curious about what I was thinking about, considering that I was stuck in a nightmare of… my own making? Why was I in a nightmare? Had Nathaniel actually drank some of my blood? Had he… turned… Before I could finish that thought Priscilla snapped me out of my brain and asked “Thinking about Nathaniel? About… how he attacked you?” I shrugged and said “Partially. I still don't remember when he had attacked me. All I do remember is that he had come to talk with me after the dean had…” I sighed and continued “Nathaniel looked rough. Like he was forcing himself into blood starvation… But then, if he attacked me, why am I still alive? I should be dead, or at least turned. Why am I still walking and talking like a hu…” Suddenly, I went back to the bullshit story the dean had told me about my ancestor, how he had a child with a vampire, and that I was a descendant of that bloodline. Priscilla was getting a little fidgety and didn’t say anything, just staring ahead and saying “Oh. Looks like we’re here.” I looked up and said “Oh… Right. Forgot that’s why we were walking.” Priscilla smiled calmly and said “Just… Let me know if you need my help alright? I know the fear you have, and it’ll get better. As long as you trust the friends you make.” I nodded, a little concerned and asked “What, are you leaving the school or something?” She looked down and said “No… Not yet at least. This is my final year here.” I just stood there in silence, a blank smile on my face trying to process the information for me. I turned around and opened the door slowly, not sure of what to say. I turned my head to the left and looked at her from the corner of my eye. Her animalistic face was back, making me go pale. I hastily said “Night… Cya tomorrow.” Priscilla was disheartened by that last interaction, but understood what he felt in some way. She turned and walked back to the school for her next class. I was in one of my chairs, head hanging. I brought my hands up to my head and rested my face in my palms, and my elbows on the table. I rubbed my face and groaned. It was the weekend now. Should I even go meet her? She spoke with me earlier in the week about some incredibly important stuff. Did she already talk about what she wanted to tell me? Or… was it a trap? Would I see another face that she hasn’t shown me? Would tomorrow be my last day as a human? Would I be dead? Would Mr. Aronov come and find me before that happens? I have no clue. All I know is that… I feel different than before. But I need to sleep. I was exhausted.

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