Chapter 2 – It’s Only Natural

Chapter 2 – It’s Only Natural

By the time I had spent nearly half a year at Forreston, when the other girls had just gotten used to my being there, another change happened.

Due to funding from the government for their complete integration system, and donations from an unnamed source – which I suspected was Kellan – Forreston Girls and Boys merged as one. Then, the vampires came.

As one of the first Drakees, I was also one of the first to trial the new school integration system. In the month when I would’ve turned seventeen, most of the other Drakees started becoming eligible for school enrolment. With the number of new vampire students suddenly rising, Forreston decided to open its doors and not only become co-ed, but also co-spec.

On the day that the new students arrived, the principal addressed the whole school at an extravagant assembly. Callie and I sat to the side, and I heard her snigger when we saw the generously sized principal walk onto stage in a black robe.

“She looks like a turkey going to a funeral,” Callie muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

“Why does she wear that black robe?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe it represents academia or something,” Callie said offhandedly. “What I’m more interested in are those.”

‘Those’ were the reasons for the waves of whispers washing around the hall. Seated onstage, behind the mourning turkey, were the twenty new vampire students. A congregation of physical perfection, their eyes smouldering as they scanned the crowd. And me, of course. Without a doubt, the first presence they noticed when they’d walked onto the stage was mine. Most of them were pointedly ignoring me, but the guy on the end was blatantly staring.

“I never asked why vampires look so hot,” Callie said. The principal wasn’t making an effort to quieten the human students, nor did they seem as though they would comply.

“It’s nature,” I replied, still not looking away from the Staring Guy.

“Well, I’m glad you weren’t vague…”

“Why do cheetahs run fast? Why can giraffes survive being in quicksand?” I broke my silent connection and looked at Callie instead.

“To eat? To live?” Callie replied, holding my gaze. That’s what set her apart from the masses of other stunned students to me; I know that my gaze is unbearable when I want it to be. But Callie’s eyes never skittered away when I focussed my attention on her.

“Exactly. You know that we can’t enter a property unless we have the consent of the people living in there, right? So we’d all be screwed if humans just all hide in their houses.”

“And this relates to you being good looking because…?”

“Most of the time, a human would be less wary and more open if the person confronting them is good looking. That’s why humans are always trying to look presentable, to be fashionable. We look -”

“Hot.”

“- appealing because that’s how we can get a human to consent. On top of that our pheromone levels are enhanced, and we have an almost hypnotic…” I trailed off. “That guy’s still staring at me.”

“What did you expect?”

“Actually, I thought they’d come up to me, disregarding all the humans around them, and bow to me.”

“Seriously?” Callie laughed. “You didn’t seem like the narcissistic type.”

“I’m not. The times when I’ve encountered other vampires, they’ve all done that.”

At this point, the grieving poultry finally cleared her throat and uttered a polite “excuse me” into the microphone. She at the podium usually dwarfed the relatively empty stage, but today there were twenty, almost glowing figures taking the attention away from her darkly robed presence.

As the lamenting fowl started on a long speech about the honour of schooling such “special” students, I noticed that most of the other new students were now looking at me. I nodded and gave a small wave. That one guy smiled back.

Then he stood up, and Callie whispered, “Do you think he’d sound like Dracula?”

“Good morning, fellow students of Forreston High.”

I smiled as the assembly collectively and audibly gasped at the smooth and sensual voice that belonged to this male vampire.

“Our voice, too, attracts humans,” I added. Even Callie couldn’t help but sit up straighter to get a better look at the speaker.

“My name is Brandon, from the House of Troy. It is an honour, for me and for the nineteen behind me today, to be a part of this historical…”

My smile grew bigger as I recognised the speech that Kellan had asked me to pen down ‘as a whim’. So he was the unnamed contributor after all.

“Sez, you see the guy with the brown hair on the very right?” Callie whispered.

“Yeah? How can you not? He’s huge.”

“He’s yummy.”

I almost did a double take. Dignified, feministic Callie had just described someone as ‘yummy’. I wanted to pick her up and shake some sense into her.

Then again, I thought, maybe this is sense. She’s only reacting to her hormones.

“I wouldn’t know what to say. I’ll get back to you when I’ve sampled his taste,” I replied casually. Just as I wanted, a few curiously shocked faces glanced my way.

“…This is definitely a monumental step away from the prejudice and fear that had thus far divided our species. For today, we attend school together without difference -”

“Bullshit,” I muttered, glancing at the adoring faces of the other female students.

“- and tomorrow, we can all live together harmoniously, without anything to separate us.” Brandon ended his sentence with an inviting gesture of one arm, smiling a non-fanged smile. I silently gave him props for veering away from my speech and seamlessly working in some Co-Ex Propaganda.

Around us, a roar of applause sounded. I’ve never seen the students of Forreston be so engrossed and, pardon the pun, sucked in by such an obvious publicity stunt. Even Callie’s dazed claps held some sincere and excited notes to it.

As Brandon returned to his seat, he passed Mr Yummy, who gave him a discrete high five. As Brandon sat down, I swore Mr Yummy made eye contact with Callie. I nudged her.

“What?” she hissed. I’ve not seen Callie annoyed with me many times before.

“Seriously? Him?”

“Look, you may have most of the girls at the school drooling after you, so it may not have occurred to you that someone else could be considered as -”

“Which girls have been drooling after me? I didn’t think Forreston had any girl-on-girl.”

It seemed that, even as a vampire, I had to endure one of those moments where your surroundings suddenly become silent as you’re saying the worst part of the sentence.

~~~~

“It’s not so bad; not that many people heard you, really.”

“Cal, you pointed at me and laughed.”

“Didn’t mean anyone heard you,” Callie grinned, skipping ahead and turning around to face me. Then, as smooth as Brandon’s voice, her expression changed to an inexplicable blank.

“I heard you,” murmured a voice close to my ear. I caught a strong whiff of spicy cologne, and jerked away to see Brandon’s red eyes staring back at mine.

“You’re a vampire. You’re meant to be able to hear things dogs can’t, let alone something that half the hall heard,” I replied pointedly at Callie. Judging by the lack of the usual retort, I knew Mr Yummy was behind me even before I smelt his scent.

I turned around – Brandon was too close to my face and I felt the urge to bear my tots and snarl at him – and took my first proper look at him.

Unlike most of the Nobles and Purebloods, Mr Yummy – who I later found out, was named Damien – wasn’t thin. Tall, yes, he was half a head taller than Brandon, who by human standards would be considered rather tall.

Vampires are mostly thin because we lack the need for the nutrients humans depend upon. The only reason we drink human blood is because our blood does not reproduce itself, and as we go about our day, we derive energy from the translucent blood that is in our veins. That was why our skin is pale and cold. In fact, we need to stay cold, as the heat depletes our blood faster. That is perhaps where the myth about the sun came from.

Damien wasn’t thin, and he wasn’t pale. His hair wasn’t whipped-butter blonde like Brandon’s, nor was it coal black, like mine, but a rich milk-chocolate colour, short and curling around his collar. Unlike Brandon, who indubitably was missing a tie to show off the smooth skin around his throat, Damien’s uniform was immaculately put together. And, unlike Brandon who exuded self-confidence and (metaphorically) branded a “do-me” sign on his forehead, Damien was quiet, polite, and infuriatingly mysterious.

“It is an honour to meet someone from the House of Dante,” Damien said, bowing slightly.

“Likewise, from the House of Irving,” I replied. He took my hand and brushed its back against his warm lips. Our lips and, by association our mouth are the only parts of our body that hold any amount of warmth. Understandable, because no one really enjoyed an ice cold tongue grazing one’s skin as it lapped up one’s blood.

“And the House of Troy?” Brandon interjected, kissing my hand as well.

“I’ve heard about you lot. For such a masculine name, your household sure have a lot of female escorts.”

“Wine is defined by their beauty, and only beautiful wine will do it for me.” Brandon’s ranking had to be pretty high, to use ‘wine’ so casually.

“What are you talking about? Wine is defined by their maturity,” Callie responded, but lacking the usual gusto she had around me. Plus, she never even looked at Brandon once.

“Well, I guess you’re right, Miss, maturity does turn me on,” Brandon smiled expansively, his incisors showing just a hint of vampirism. I wanted to laugh at his shameless attempt at being suave. When Callie still didn’t take her eyes off Damien, Brandon scoffed and turned to me. “Well, Sera – excuse my familiarity – it would be great if you could join us for morning tea. There will be some quality snac-”

It was more or less known in the immediate group of friends Kellan kept that I refer to those who feed us as ‘escorts’. Judging by the suddenness with which Brandon swallowed his unfinished word, and by the first sliver of emotion Damien showed – weary disbelief – the House of Troy and Irving are well acquainted with that of Dante’s.

I glanced at Callie. Deciding to make her day, I replied, “If only Cal can join me, with complete guarantee of safety.”

Then, Damien spoke, completely stealing my thunder away, “If I may, I can personally guard against any unbecoming advances any of the other students may make.”

Sighing, I smiled and said to Damien, “Stop talking like a tool. And yeah, knock yourself out.”

In a blink, Damien was beside Callie, offering his arm for her to take. Maybe acting like a tool was infused into his Irving blood. Or maybe it was just natural for him to act like that; after all, vampires have wants and desires too.