Abigail’s Alarm went off, waking her very quickly. She jolted up, trying to remember why she set the alarm. Once it dawned on her, she got ready quickly to go near the border of the school. She knew Camellia and Sophia were probably patrolling, so she must be careful. If she got caught, she would break her new friendship with Camellia, and she didn't want that to happen. However, she would know their guards would be up due to today's incidents. 

She opened her door carefully, wearing dark green tights, black shorts, and a loose black baggy t-shirt as camouflage during her outing. She wore dark gray shoes, though they wouldn’t help with running away due to having minimal traction. After getting down to the common area, where everyone would hang out, she looked around carefully, not letting her guard down. She exited the building through the left window in the lounging room. She gently closed the window so it couldn’t give her away later. 

The night air was chilly, and the wind had a bite to it when it blew. She stood there, letting the wind direction blow and watching her breath swirl around. She decided to head west first. That way, if vampires were out, they wouldn’t catch on to her scent. She took a couple of steps before taking off in a swift run. It took her about five minutes to hit the edge of the open ground and the connecting forest. But she still had a long way to go if she wanted to make it to the border. 

She slowed down after entering the woods and weaved through the brush and the leaves. She carefully stepped on the leaves so they wouldn’t make too much sound while trekking through the woods. She was halfway when she felt a shiver go down her spine. She looked around for an accessible tree to climb or a large brush of thorns. She decided to lean against a tree. She grabbed a medium pocket knife hanging on her shorts {The blade was made from silver}. She grabbed and opened it, waiting for her prey to show itself. It didn’t take long for a swift breeze to pass her. It came back from the other direction. A cold face was just inches away from her own. Its red eyes seem almost black due to it starving. It smiled at her, no longer human or vampire. It crouched down, its mouth widening most horrifically. She heard its jaws crack apart most sickeningly. A large tongue slowly creeped out of its mouth. This creature was known as a ‘Forgotten.’ 

Forgottens were humans who were turned into vampires. Humans usually couldn’t handle the transformation and would slowly lose their original shape. And how to think the Forgottens became more animal-like over time, and their bodies would become more deformed. 

Abigail watched its eyes glisten with pride, and its neck slowly turned in the most inhuman way possible. Its laughs and noises were smoky and hazy, growing louder and louder. Abigail took a step forward towards the creature. The creature didn’t care; it knew it had won, or so it thought. Abigail took a dash forward, stabbing the creature in its heart. The creature screamed the most blood-curdling scream it could muster. Abigail started to remove her blade when the creature leaned forward, biting her arm. 

Abigail held in her scream of pain as she felt the creature's long teeth go all the way through her arm. It bit down even harder, making Abigail start to cry from the pain. She could feel the flesh in her arm start tearing off. Abigail removed her Blade, causing the creature to let go of her arm. The beast started weathering on the ground, crying out. Abigail stumbles back a little, not being able to feel her arm. 

The creature’s eyes went from a horrid black and red to a foggy brown. It stared at her and slowly started turning to ash. “I… I am, h-h-human…” The Forgotten said, croaking slowly, remembering that it was a human. Abigail mustered her brightest smile and replied, “Yes. Yes, you are.” 

Abigail watched the creature to ash before she began to cut at her shirt slowly. After cutting it off, she started clumsily wrapping her injured arm. The pain was great and made her mind go fuzzy at times. 

Abigail noticed her vision blurring as well. “Well, that sucks.” She mumbled as she kept heading toward her destination. She couldn’t feel her arm. Until her arm hit a tree, causing her to crumble in pain. “C’mon… C’mon me. Stand up!” She growled at herself. Her breathing started to ease, the cold air seeming to cool her body, which felt on fire. Going shirtless in the woods wasn’t her plan, but the forgotten acted differently from the others she had fought in the past. 

She began to notice the woods seemed quiet, too quiet. “Of course.” She scoffed aloud. The night class probably smelled her blood. She was losing a lot of it. And they probably heard Forgotten's screams, along with the day students. Abigail knew she wasn’t going to make it to the border on the west; her body wasn’t going to allow her that, and even if she could, she would be handing over ‘Red Fox’ so quickly. 

The leaves made a soft crunch; she quickly looked behind her and saw nothing. She sighed and looked forward, only to be met by a man by the age of 20. “My, you do know how to cause trouble. Perhaps if your goal was to destroy the peace at this school, you are doing an excellent job.” The man said with a cocky smile. 

“Huh, perhaps you could go choke on a cock, then I might tell you my intentions.” Abigail retorted. 

“That’s not very nice. Especially when I come to make sure you don't bleed to death.” He replied with a smirk. 

“You smell delicious. I wonder why?” He grinned.

“Not sure. But I don’t know you, nor do I care to learn your name.” Abigail snapped.

The man had medium black hair. His eyes were a strange color. His eyes seemed to be a mix of gold and bronze. He didn't have a sharp jawline, but his face was very soothing to one's eyes. He was wearing a jade green vest with a black suit. His left ear had a shamrock earring. He smelled of a minty charcoal cologne. If Abigail didn’t like vampires, she would be drooling over him. 

“Hmm, what shall I do with you.” He mumbled to himself. 

“Leave me.” Abigail suggested happily.

He gave her a glare for that remark. His face soon turned into a mischievous one. “You don’t like vampires, do you?” His grin grew larger.

 “Hah. If I told the truth, it wouldn’t end in the way I would like it to end.” Abigail scoffed. 

“Hmm. You already told me. But not through your words, but through your actions.” He countered. 

“Fair enough.” She sighed. “So, What do you want?” Abigail asked cautiously. 

“You really will be the weak link to this era of peace. I will help you, but in return, you leave this place of harmony.” He told her he left no room for argument. 

“Very well.” She retorted. 

The man quickly picked her up and was swift in taking her to the hospital wing in the academy. When they arrived, he set her down and left. The doctor was in and ready to receive her. She was told to stay the night there instead of walking back to the dorm. And this way, they could make sure she wouldn’t collapse after bandaging her up. It was officially 4 in the morning, but Abigail didn’t mind. “So you think I’m a weak link…” She mumbled and slowly started to laugh. “That’s fine with me, Pure Blooded Prince Anthony Willow Wrynn.” She muttered with a wicked grin. But deep inside, her heart broke with great sadness.

She looked up at the ceiling, smiling at those words. She stopped looking when she heard the door beginning to open. When the doorknob clicked, it slowly started to move. After the door became big enough for a small cat to enter, it stopped moving. A tiny red fox enters the room, pausing here and there, sniffing the air. Once the fox felt safe, it ran to Abigail's bed. 

“That’s a risky move, love.” She teased the fox. “You could get gobbled up by a bunch of bats.” She joked. The fox paused at the end of her bed, its ears twitching, catching on to every word she spoke. She watched it sit and wait for her to say something else. 

“Oh, alright. You may come onto the bed.” She sighed while smiling at the fox. It looked at her and then jumped on the bed. It walked up to her and laid down on her legs. She gently pets the fox, enjoying the feeling of his soft fur under her hand. Abigail didn’t say much but kept thinking of the Forgotten. 

This wasn’t the first time a ‘Forgotten’ spoke to her. They were always too far gone to even form human speech. There had been two more incidents similar to this one. After the Forgottens had bitten her and digested her blood, it seemed as if they could think and speak once again. 

“Did you know my sister ended up going into debt, and to a vampire at that? Do you want to know how she planned on repaying that debt? But if the person they needed were to disappear, they promised to give the family 5,000 dollars a year.”

 Abigail tells the fox, who she doesn’t know what to think about. The fate of the Forgotten reminded her of her fate. Something they could never escape unless they changed and tried to overcome it.

“If I play the part of a Fool well. I can fool everyone and stay hidden.” She says softly. 

“She sold her soul, and our brothers sold theirs for power. When the time comes, I will gather enough power and won’t have to worry about that feeling of being weak.” She promises. 

The fox stares at her while she tells him this. He gives her hand a gentle lick. Then the fox jumps off the bed and trots out the door, and it comes back soon after with a small locket in his mouth. It stops by her bed, being polite and waiting for her permission. She nods and gives it a soft smile. The little fox jumps onto the bed. He wags his tail, waiting for her to receive his gift. 

She sticks out her hand so he could drop it in her palm. The locket was silver. It was round and had S.A. engraved on it. Inside was a velvet material, with a transparent, smaller round object inside the locket. Abigail sighed and put the locket around her neck. “Thanks, Alexander.”She mumbled before closing her eyes and resting. 

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The fox ran through the forest as fast as its little feet could carry him. The closer it gets to the border, the larger the fox grows. When it arrived at the border, the fox was 7’5 tall; it had nine beautiful tails. The fox shook out its fur and slowly transformed back into a man. The man in question was none other than Alexander. He began looking for the clothes he had stashed in the leaves. After smelling Abigail’s blood, he got worried for her and transformed to check on her. 

He sniffed the air and noticed a cold, wintery scent around this area. He chuckled to himself; no doubt the vampires had stolen his clothes. “Guess I'm walking home butt naked.” He laughed and began his journey home nude.