Monday started just
like Sunday. That alone made me shudder. The projector had a new light. A
knock at the door, and I sighed, expecting Drake. Instead, it was mom
and dad. I perked up.
"Hey, are you guys gonna get me out of here?" I asked, excitedly.
"I'm afraid not," said Atlas. "If they think you're the vampire, then he's not the one leaving school – you are."
"Merde," I cursed.
Genevieve added, "And we lose the French program altogether. Mr. Fly is
already planning to use the former teacher's salaries for new sports
equipment, and to renovate the gym – for the second time this year. He's
totally mad with power." She shook her head. "Are you doing your
homework?"
"I'm done all of it," I said. "There's nothing else to do in here."
Atlas tipped his hat up, showing his worried eyes. He was wearing a
long trench-coat, and thin leather gloves. "Look, the principal is
utterly convinced of your guilt. It's completely out of my hands now,
I'm sorry." He stood up and walked to the door.
"Look on the bright
side," Genevieve smiled, "or the dark side – you can make shadow
puppets." She put her hand in front of the projector bulb, and stuck her
fingers out to look like a bird. Then, a silhouette of a truck came out
of nowhere and struck the bird dead, with Genevieve's hand remaining
perfectly still.
She rolled her amber eyes, which shined golden in
the projector's warm light. Normally, they looked the same color as her
hair: reddish-brown. "That wasn't very nice" she said, grinning slyly.
I was caught making a block shape with my hands, and put them behind my
back. I worked up the courage to ask, "Do you like Todd more than me?"
She was taken aback. "What makes you ask something like that?"
I explained, "You're married to Todd's dad, and he doesn't have any
bone problems. He's in hockey, and he's... nicer than me. He doesn't get
angry like I do."
She was a little angry that I'd even asked such a
thing. "I don't play favourites, I love both of my children equally.
But no, you are not the same. You are each unique, in your own way. You
are both good at different things, and you each have your own path in
life. You will never be Todd, and Todd will never be you. And that's
okay with me."
I leaned against my desk. "I guess..."
"He really looks up to you, y'know. Todd. He thinks you're the coolest, wants to be just like you."
"Really?"
She laughs. "Well, not exactly. But he's always holding himself as
tightly as possible, trying to mimic you. He thinks you're very serious,
like a knight. Then he forgets again, haha."
"A knight..." I
repeated. I felt like a knight... hidden by armor, tasked with upholding
justice. Nobody else was going to do it, from the looks of things.
She smiled, and held out her key. "You get one hour. I'll stay here, you
run around and sniff the dirt – see what you can dig up."
"Wha- how am I supposed to do that?" I cried, "everyone's gonna be watching out for me."
She pulled a familiar piece of clothing out of her bag. "You'll be in disguise."
I blushed. "Yeah, that, uh, makes sense. The black dress. Smart
thinking." I took the dress, plain tights, training bra, ballet flats,
and red lipstick to the bathroom.
When I returned, Genevieve eyed me up. "Almost." She put my grey hoodie over the dress. "Yeah."
"Won't they recognize my hoodie?" I asked.
"Were you wearing it when they caught you?"
I thought back. "No, it was in my bag."
"Then off you go! Don't ask for any attention."
I threw my hands down and gestured at the dress and lipstick.
"It's monochrome, you'll do great. Be boring!"
I shook my head and left.
I walked around, adjusting to the fluorescent light. It made my eyes
hurt. I headed to the library, looking for Jules. He wasn't there, so I
ran around.
Jules was in Chemistry, no supervision. They were taking
notes from their textbooks. I walked over to him, and he licked a gob
of ice cream off his lips and stared at me. He was eating it out of the
tub.
"Are you getting a walkie?" he sneered.
"Something like
that. How did Drake fake his bites? I'm the only other one with fangs
around here," I asked, in a demanding tone. It was unusual for me to
push my voice that hard, but somehow it worked.
Jules swallowed more ice cream. "You bit him, of course. Nothing to fake."
I looked at his backpack – it was a cooler bag. I picked it up and looked inside. "Is this... FROZEN BLOOD?!"
He snatched it, baring his fangs. "It's ice cream, cherries jubilee. And popsicles. They aren't even red."
I crossed my arms and pointed at my fangs, then at him.
"Oh," he gulped. I grabbed him by the collar of his white science coat.
None of the other kids, who were watching, had theirs on. Guess he just
liked wearing it. "Okay, so Drake..." he started to whisper, "...he
turned me, fed me his blood, so I could bite him. He said he would turn
me back, but I don't think he knows how. Besides, I am FASCINATED with
him! I could write my university thesis on vampirism, after a seven-year
case study of living as one. I would be FAMOU-"
I dropped my
eyelids to half. "You're gonna be a dentist when I'm done with you,
unless you dish up the deets. What's with the ice cream?"
"Well,
milk is filtered blood, technically. Drake doesn't like it, but I prefer
it. I like it cold... when my dad yells at me, I get all stressed out
and sweaty. It keeps my body temperature normal."
"And did anyone else order a Bloody Mary?"
"N-no! Just me. I promise," he swore, hands up.
Then, Tony walked in, eating from a bucket of honey with a spoon. He
sat down next to Jules, unbothered by the scene, and burped through
shiny white fangs. I glared at Jules.
"O-okay, we got curious."
"And the honey?" I asked.
"Made from pollen, salivated to a liquid by bees. Saliva is also, technically, filtered blood," he explained.
Tony smacked his lips. "You losers done fighting?"
"Yeah." I answered. "Nobody else, got it?" I commanded.
"Okay, whatever. Your insight, by the way, was interesting. Breaking
down the word 'vampire' into its roots, 'vim' and 'pierce'. By that
logic, I am a lacpire, Tony is a melpire, Drake is a sangpire, and you
are a frucpire. Every living thing could be considered a vampire of some
kind."
"So?"
"Get to the point, Jules." Tony snored through a mouthful of honey.
"Well, you called yourself a 'grimpire'. That would imply that you were
piercing darkness or depression to feed on it," he went on.
I shrugged. "Maybe. It's tough being surrounded by joyful pricks when you're upset."
"Right, but to be thirsty for sadness... you're something of a perpetual victim, aren't you?"
I stood straight up, let him fall back into his chair, and glared with
all my might. My vision darkened, and so did the room. My shadow grew,
and crawled up the walls. Nobody but the two of them saw, everyone else
was staring up at the flickering fluorescent rods.
"Lord have mercy..." Jules gasped. Tony said nothing, just kept eating honey.
I left them. As I walked out the door, I heard Tony ask Jules "how she
did that". Then I heard a spoon clanging on the floor, after Jules
smacked it out of Tony's hand. I grinned.
Next stop: Lana. I found her in the cafeteria, eating with friends. As soon as she saw me, she recognized me and took me aside.
"Are you allowed to be out?!" she asked, tense.
"No. Well, for a bit. Are you okay?!" I asked back. "Did Dra-"
She cut in. "Yeah, I'm sort of okay. You know, You should apologize for
biting me. Especially in the dark, without warning. I gotta admit, that
was kind of romantic, though." She blushed.
What?
She
went on, "I've always had a thing for vampires. They're so...
mysterious. But you never kissed me. And now you're biting everyone?
You're either a harlot, or you're just lonely, and need someone to
commit to..." She wrapped her arms around me, and fell into me
dramatically. "If you need to feed on me... just a little bit... it's
okay."
I held her up, and stared at her blankly. "I'm not gonna do that."
"Oh, of course, you're abstaining. To help you control your ravenous
urges. I understand." She fluttered her eyelashes and kissed me on the
cheek. I blushed, and my face got warm.
"Make sure you find me when
you can't help but lose control..." she whispered, sauntering back to
the table. I was gonna have to keep her away from Drake, somehow.
Luckily, he needed the school to believe I was the only vampire around.
Last stop: the office. One question bugged me about the notes – why
would anyone agree to meet the 'Grim Dragon' in a dark room? Even if I
was as 'attractive' as the boys kept telling me, that was pretty
suspicious. I approached the secretary, Mrs. Crabgrass.
"Excuse me, I
have a note from that vampire kid, but I lost it... did I already give
it to you guys?" I asked, sounding as innocent as possible, keeping my
fangs hidden.
She looked me over, and smiled. "Oh, let me see... what's your name, miss?"
I took a second. "Griff- uh, Gen."
"Gen, let's see." She opened a cabinet, found a folder full of
handwritten letters, and put the folder on the counter. "Any of these?"
I looked up at her and her bottle-glass spectacles. Ah. The letters
were all written by the same hand, but they weren't from me at all –
each one was personalized. Some were love letters signed 'anonymous',
others had the names of their friends... it looked like Drake had found a
way to chain his victims together using whatever he knew about them.
Each target led to the next. The letter to Lana was the one that stuck
out to me. On it, he promised her a lovely surprise. Seeing the bite
marks on her neck, and remembering my own, I knew that surprise was
anything but lovely. I balled my fist up, took the letter in my other
hand, and folded it up before sticking it in my bra. Drake was going to
pay for what he did to both of us.
I ran back for Detention, but Drake recognized me as I passed his
English class. He asked to be excused while packing up, and I bolted. My
ankles were cramping again, which was exactly the wrong time for them
to start doing so. I ran through the pain.
I got to the room and tagged out with Genevieve, who'd been playing chess with herself.
"Good," she said, "my class is about to start."
"Drake's coming – stall him," I said, rushing for my backpack and dashing into the bathroom.
When I returned, my hoodie zipped up and my dress tucked into my jeans, Drake was alone.
"It was time for her class," he muttered.
"Yeah, obviously." I responded.
"Nice lipstick," he grumbled.
"Thanks, it's your mom's." I replied.
Furious, he stormed out of the room. I knew he couldn't prove a thing – I'd won this round.
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