Night Class

August 14th, 2019

Wednesday 8:30am

Getting through history, my free period, and Chemistry was rougher than I had thought it would be. I’ve learned that every student I had met in History are the same ones in my other classes. Apparently, each class stays the same after each rotation. However, I’ll be meeting different teens on different class days, but they’ll be in all of my same classes for that day.

Kieran and I compared schedules and learned quickly that we have almost all the same class times. We share Mondays and Tuesdays together, but on Thursdays he has more advanced classes than I do. It makes sense in a way considering he’s already up-to-date on vampire history and culture.

I got to my room just after 8:30pm and didn’t leave after that. I had learned that eating schedules here are pretty standard. Breakfast is at seven, lunch is at noon, and dinner is served at 7:30pm every single day. I’ve learned that they actually have a very decent selection of human food in the cafeteria. I had pizza for lunch and some baked spaghetti for dinner. There wasn’t a single blood bag in sight. According to Kieran, the vampires can go to a separate area to drink blood. It’s like their own personal cafeteria. I’m sure that Natalia forced them all to start using it since I’m not used to seeing them drink it yet.

So, during the lunch and dinner period I got to see Ehren and meet a couple of his friends in the process. One of them was less eager to call me anything other than my title, but after some coaxing, she finally gave in. Vera Remington, a sweet girl with auburn hair and blue eyes with a hint of green in them. She had quickly taken to letting me know that the library isn’t the only fun spot on the grounds. A few of them like to leave the academy and head into the woods not far from here. There’s apparently a treehouse in the area that they frequent to get away from the full-bloods.

Nicolas Romans had been overjoyed at breaking the norm of using titles when speaking with court members. His words. The boy was obviously different from the other vampires with his tan skin, rich brown eyes and dark chocolate hair that is obviously constantly shaved to a particular length. You could tell from some of his very loud expressions that he’s Hispanic. He would constantly mutter something in Spanish or throw insults at others that would glare at us in the hallways in his native tongue.

I learned that my watcher, as Kieran and Natalia referred to her, is a girl named Rhea Whitmore. I briefly spoke with her after dinner and she kindly let me know that she’ll be escorting me from now on. I felt a little bad about that since I had gotten so used to having Kieran around, but it’s probably for the best. The poor guy had been on edge the entire day thanks to my constant up and down heartrate. He looked ready to pass out when he finally dropped me off at my room last night. I’ll have to think of a way to repay him for putting up with me all day yesterday.

Now, I’m standing in my room with a pair of leggings on while holding a navy-blue sweater up to my naked torso. My hair’s up in a messy bun today so I figured I’d just dress lazy, but then I remembered that Kieran is stopping by with Ehren to escort me to the treehouse since Rhea will be busy with finishing an essay she’s behind on. Apparently recreational day is just a free day to work on skills, catch up on homework, and socialize with other students. Both the day and night class students participate in it meaning that all of us have Wednesday as a recreational day. I’ve heard from whispers in the dining hall though that it’s been lax lately with enforcing the different classes to participate in engaging with one another.

A knock at the door has me scrambling to pull the sweater over my head. A glance at the digital clock on my nightstand lets me know that it’s only eleven. We still have an hour before heading to the treehouse so they shouldn’t be here yet. Upon opening the door, Romans rushes past me and into the room. the air around us feels as though it’s filled to the brim with electric currents now. I’ve noticed that when these vampires rush around like that, using some kind of untouchable speed, they cause these feelings each and every time.

“Romans?”

The dark-haired vampire is now sitting on the edge of my desk with an expression that screams trouble. “I may have made an uh-oh.”

“An uh-oh?”

He nods fast as he runs a hand through his hair, just barely though considering it’s nearly shaven. “I may have said something out of the way to a vato and now a group of them are looking for me.”

“Vato? Do you mean a guy?” I ask him.

I barely understand Spanish and he likes to throw it in from time to time during our conversations. I respect the multi-language ability, but I suck at it.

He nods again while motioning for me to shut the door. “They won’t look here. The danag’s tend to stick to their own hallway. Puta’s.”

Well, I don’t need to know Spanish to know that he probably just said something not very nice about the guys he’s referring to. I can only assume he has a knack for pissing off others judging by his very cool and bad–boy exterior. He doesn’t seem the least bit sorry over it either.

“Alright, well I guess you can just chill here for the next hour until it’s treehouse time.”

Romans glances over at me and lets out a dark chuckle, sending chills down my spine in the process. “I don’t think that is a good idea, senorita. Knox would not be pleased. You should probably even deny me being in this room at all if he asks.”

“Kieran? I don’t think he’d care and besides, it’s not like he and I are together.” I cross my arms defiantly as I stare the vampire down now. “I can hang out with whoever I want Nicolas Romans.”

Romans smirks at me, a hint of admiration glinting in those nearly black eyes. “Then I guess you and I will be getting along quite well, Izzy. We both care nothing for silly little things like titles or letting others speak for us. I like that about you- I admire it.”

As much as I don’t like having people calling me princess, I’d still refer to Natalia as Queen if she asked me to, but I’m not about to tell him otherwise. If he’s content with calling me anything other than Princess Isabella than I’m all for it. As for Kieran making the poor guy think that he can’t hang out with, I’ll deal with that later on. No use in starting some trouble in their friend group already.

The hour flies by with Romans at the foot of my bed flipping through one of my many books I borrowed from the library. He’s currently reading one of the Latin ones and slowly translating it for me. His handwriting is surprisingly neat for a guy. I’m more than thankful that he agreed to help me out with this stuff while I study for a test that we have tomorrow afternoon. Apparently, being new to the school doesn’t serve as an excuse to not take the test for vampiric history, even if I have no freaking clue about their history.

A knock on the door has Romans looking at me with pleading eyes. He must actually be worried about Kieran saying something about him being in here with me. I’ll have to make it known right now then that I don’t plan on keeping any of my newfound friends out of my room. I’d let Romans chill in here just like I’d like Kieran, Ehren, or Vera if they wanted to. I’m not about picking and choosing when it comes to friends and I’m definitely not sexist.

I stand to my feet as Romans scrambles to his, knocking the book and notepad onto the ground as well. I shake my head at him as I open the door to reveal Kieran and Ehren waiting patiently. Well, Kieran is smiling as he takes in my appearance and Ehren looks as though he wants to be somewhere else. Anywhere else.

“Hey guys,” I say as I slip on my brown loafers. “We’ve been waiting on you.”

Kieran nods at Romans as he slips past me to get into the hallway. Ehren however, narrows his eyes on the dark-haired vampire and mutters something under his breath that I don’t catch. Judging by the look of fear on Nicolas’ face though, I can assume he did. I’ll have to ask him about that after we’re away from the two men.

Kieran glances down at me as I close my bedroom door. “You ready to see the top-secret base of operations?”

I can’t help but giggle in return. “If you mean your treehouse in the middle of the woods, then yeah.”

“Hey now,” Kieran says while holding his finger to his lips. “We can’t be telling everyone about it. Try to at least attempt to keep the secret.”

We make our way down the hallway as a group. Romans keeps tossing an orange rubber ball into the air and catching it as it falls. He’s not even watching as he walks down the staircase. The guy obviously is well-balanced. I’m sure all of the vampires are though. It would only make sense considering their apparently stronger, faster, and even better with their senses than humans. Reading up on those books in the library were nothing compared to the run-down Romans gave me while studying earlier.

Leaving the academy was actually a lot easier than I had thought it would be. No one asked us where we were going. Nobody even noticed we had slipped out at all. Maybe this place wouldn’t be so hard to get away from after all. If it ever came down it that is, but hopefully nothing makes me feel like running is the only option.

The wooded area surrounding the academy is more beautiful than I had initially thought. The trees are nearly as tall as the highest tower of the building. Each one sporting a nice array of leaves ranging from fiery red to burnt brown. The farther we travel into the dense thicket of woods the more I realize that Vera isn’t with us. I’m alone with three guys in the middle of the woods. No, I’m alone with three vampires in the middle of the woods.

Against my wishes, my heartrate starts to increase at the small realization that we’re alone out here together. Almost a few seconds after the spike in heartrate, I feel something hit me like a ton of bricks and the air whips around my body, making me feel as though I’m flying. By the time I open my eyes again I notice that the scenery has changed. I’m no longer surrounded by tree bark and fallen leaves, but branches and fresh leaves still attached to branches.

A small pressure against my hip has me looking down and noticing a hand placed firmly on that same hip. I glance up to see Ehren’s face just peeking over my shoulder. I want to scream, jump, shove him, do something, but I’m too scared that I might fall as a result. So, against my better judgement, I stay silent and just watch as Romans starts coaxing Kieran from the edge of a breakdown from down below. Guilt eats at me once again at the sight of Kieran struggling with his control all because I can’t keep my heartrate down.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper out, hoping that he can hear me from up here.

“He says it’s fine,” Ehren says quietly into my ear. “You have nothing to be sorry about anyways. This is all part of learning for him.”

I nod while clutching at the branch in front of me. I look out across the vast expansion of trees. It’s like a sea of autumnal colors. The way the sun shines down on the trees just right lets their colors reflect like strobe lights onto the forest floor beneath us. I can see my breath in front of me as I let out a sigh of content.

“I’ve never seen anything this beautiful before,” I say while gripping the branch harder.

Ehren’s lips just barely brush against my ear as he says, “I have.”

“Of course, you have,” I laugh out as I lean forward a bit more. “You get to see this anytime you want. I’m human so I tend to spend most of my time on the ground.”

I can feel his grip tighten on my hip and glance back at him only to find him already staring down at me. Those blue eyes of his seem striking now in the sunlight that barely streams through the open branches around us. It wasn’t until now that I noticed just how close we are. His entire chest is pressed into my back and his hand is almost touching my stomach now. My sweater rides up just a bit, allowing his cool fingertips to graze the bare skin showing just near my bellybutton. It takes everything in me to keep my heartrate normal for Kieran’s sake. Obviously, Ehren is just doing this so I’m not somewhere close to Kieran while he’s calming down, this has no other ulterior motive. Right?

Kieran shouts out from below us, “I’m fine now! You guys can come down!”

Almost immediately I’m spun around to face Ehren entirely. His jawline is hard and tense as he looks anywhere but my face. Maybe I hadn’t concealed my nerves that well after all and now he’s uncomfortable being this close with me. It isn’t like I feel for him in that way or anything, but he is a good-looking guy and I am teenage virgin. Of course, I’m going to be nervous about a guy basically holding me Tarzan style in a tree.

I can just imagine Ehren now, brooding expression and all. “Me Ehren. You human.”

I shake the thought from my head as Ehren bends us at the knee and, without warning, jumps. There isn’t even enough time for a scream to leave my lips before we’re touching the ground once more. Almost immediately I step back from the grumpy vampire and turn to face Kieran instead.

“Are you okay? I didn’t mean to get nervous or anything like that-“

Kieran holds a hand up to stop me. “It’s alright, really it is. You can’t help it any more than I can help my problem.” His eyes light up as he stares into mine. “We good?”

My lips tilt up into a genuine smile. “We’re good.”

Romans and Ehren walk ahead of us now as Kieran nudges me from behind. We walk side-by-side now along the barely visible dirt path, probably only there from constant foot pathing to the treehouse. Kieran’s hand once again barely brushes mine like it did in the hallway and heat spreads across my cheeks. It’s starting to seem intentional at this point, but I’m not going to say anything about it just yet.

“You like the school so far?” Kieran asks politely.

I find myself nodding automatically, but the jury is secretly still out on lunch with the verdict. “It has its charms and whatnot. I guess every school technically has something bad about it though.”

“I wouldn’t know,” he admits. “Crux Academy is the only school I’ve ever been to. Before this I was homeschooled like most vampires are.” I give him a raised brow and he shrugs it off. “We vampires can’t actually go out into the human population until we’ve graduated from Crux. Here, we learn how to control thirst and predatory urges, something we would struggle with out in the real world. The majority of us are fine with it, really, but there are some who seem to think that we shouldn’t be hiding what we are at all.”

“Wouldn’t that bring problems for you guys though if people knew the truth?”

He chuckles out, “Yeah, it would. Think torches and pitch forks from the village people. Only, nowadays it would be molotov’s and bullets.”

“Sounds kind of like the village people need to get you know you guys a bit better, if you ask me.” I bump his elbow gently in the most playful way I can. “You vampires don’t seem so bad.”

His smile brightens up as he stares down at me now. “You humans don’t seem so bad either.”

The treehouse in the middle of the woods is just that. A ten-foot rope ladder and unlatching a wooden hatch finally lets me see the grand reveal. I must admit that I’m actually impressed. There are battery powered string lights in Christmas colors all around the ceiling of the four walled box. Four beanbags are sitting out around the room. They look an awful lot like the ones from the library. A criminal amount. I know there would’ve been a fifth one up here, but we had seen it on the forest floor before climbing up. It was ripped to shreds. Brown cloth and stuffing surrounding the trunk of the tree.

“So,” I say quietly as I look around the room. “What exactly do you guys do for fun up here?”

Romans leans against the only wall that has an opened hutch for a window. His black leather jacket only enhances his bad-boy image that I’m sure he’s worked super hard for all these years. The ripped skinny jeans though, not the right look on him in all honesty, perhaps in a jean color rather than black to add a bit of color to his outfit.

“Sometimes we just come up here to relax.” He flexes his arms out and stretches like he’s about to take his own little cat nap. “Other times we hide out here from the danag’s.”

Kieran immediately looks at him with hard at eyes and Ehren jumps between them, placing a hand on his chest to keep him in his own corner. “Relax. You know he doesn’t mean you.”

I glance between the two as Romans shrugs. “It’s true. Like or not, that’s your name. You are a danag and we are dhampir’s. We’ve accepted it and so should you, amigo.”

Kieran nudges Ehren’s hand to the side and takes a seat in the beanbag farthest from the door. The one right next to where I’m standing in the corner. I can tell easily that he and Romans struggle to get along with one another. I’m sure they only stay around one another for Ehren’s sake. Both of them seem to be close to the guy and I doubt either of them would stop seeing him because of something like not getting along well with each other.

“Can someone explain to me what those things are?” I ask out loud.

Ehren now looks slightly uncomfortable as he glances at Kieran. The brunette sitting behind me is no longer focused on us at all as he stares out the window next to Romans. His eyes are bright, glowing even, in a way that sets my hair on end. It’s not from feeling like prey though, it’s from a different kind of fear. A fear that Kieran might hurt someone, but I’m not sure who exactly. Probably Romans if I had to take a guess.

You can feel the tension in the room as Ehren finally clears his throat. “The council- It’s been a thing for a while now that we’ve always referred to vampires as half-bloods or full-bloods, but there was new terminology passed by the courts about ten years ago and it started some controversies between the vampires. Full-bloods are what we would now call danag’s and half-bloods are now dhampir’s. Neither side cares much for the new terms, but we have to use them when in official cases. At the school, many of the danag’s make sure they call us half-bloods dhampir’s, almost like it’s an insult, but the jokes on them.”

Kieran now looks up at Ehren in surprise and Romans chuckles out, “Because we don’t care what we’re called. We’re vampiros either way.”

Ehren walks over and places a hand on Kieran’s shoulder firmly and gives it a squeeze. “I honestly don’t care about the terms, K. They don’t bother me in the slightest. You’re a danag and I’m a dhampir. It’s fine.”

Kieran shakes his head and grips Ehren’s arm. “No, I don’t accept those stupid ideals forced by those old farts. You and I are way more than just danag and dhampir. We’re brothers, man, and I don’t know about you, but that means more to me than their new terminology.”

I can’t help but stutter out, “Y-You’re brothers!”

They both turn to look at me and both of their expressions are ones of, ’Are you stupid?’ The looks make my cheeks heat and I have to look away from them. Instead, I make eye contact with a smirking Romans which is just as bad. Finally, the hatch opens up from the floor and Vera’s auburn head pops up through the hole.

“Hey-a guys!” She exclaims as she rushes to close the hatch back. “What’d I miss?”

Romans lets out a laugh before saying, “Izzy just found out that Kieran Knox and Ehren Knox are hermanos. La tomó el tiempo suficiente.”

Vera gives me a sympathetic look and rubs my arm. “Don’t sweat it. They may look alike but personality wise they couldn’t be the farthest from one another.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding and thank her for her kind words. The two brothers next to me are discussing whether or not Ehren is really okay with being called a dhampir. Now it makes sense as to why Kieran was in his room when I had wanted to ask about the blood. The only other thought I had had was that they were together...

Well, that’s just awkward. Thank God, I didn’t ask them about it. That would’ve been even more awkward.

I glance up to see Kieran with a look similar to fear on his face as he pushes his brother off of him while Ehren gives him a confused look. The other only waives it off as Vera moves over towards the other corner and opens a small blue cooler I hadn’t noticed before now. She brings out three vials, each the size of my middle finger, and hands one to each boy. She then grabs her own out and in the other hand she holds a glass bottle with something similar to bubbly water in it. The vials have liquid that looks not only thick but almost black in color. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s in those. Blood.

Vera holds out the glass bottle to me and I gratefully take it from her. After a careful sniff I take a swig and am pleased to realize it’s sparkling water. Not that weird kind either, you can almost taste the money that was used to buy it.

“Do you mind?” Vera asks as she holds up the unopened vial in her hand.

I now notice that none of the boys have opened theirs yet either. It’s like they were waiting for me to admit it was fine for them to drink it in front of me. Did they really expect me to say no?

“You guys never have to ask me that. I promise.”

Romans immediately pops the cork from the vial and I watch as the dark liquid slides down the tube and into his mouth. His lips are tucked tightly around the end like he doesn’t want to lose even a single drop. He pulls the vial away from his lips and I notice the stains on the inner lining of them, making it seems as though he’s had a busted lip. A single dark red droplet drips from the edge of his lips, but is taken captive by his tongue before it can roll off. In that process I finally see them. Fangs. The two top canines aren’t as sharp looking as you’d expect from a vampire, but what catches me off guard are the smaller fangs right next to them. Four fangs total, all of them on the top and only his two front teeth separating them from each other. I realize now that the smaller fangs have always been there, but the ones next to them, the ones that are just a tad bit longer, they definitely extended downwards a bit to become more prominent.

I should be scared right now. I should be fighting to control my heartrate, but in all honestly, I’m not the least bit worried. These four teenagers may be bloodthirsty vampires, but they’re also my friends now. They’d never hurt me and now that I understand that, I’m not about to ruin it by worrying every time they need to eat or every time Kieran feels a little out of control. Everyone has their own issues and their own flaws. Vampires are no different from us humans in that way, I guess.

“No sending Kieran into a frenzy at the sight of us drinking blood?” Romans asks while licking the last of the blood from his lips.

Shaking my head I admit, “No. You guys need blood like I need water. I don’t mind it.”

Vera waives her vial in front her as she asks in a sing-song voice, “Do you wanna try some?”

It takes everything in me not to just shudder at the thought of drinking from that vial in her hands. She hasn’t even opened hers yet. I glance back at Kieran and Ehren to see them just staring at me. Kieran’s vial is completely empty, but Ehren is fiddling with his and it’s only half gone. It’s like everything in the small room has become almost too quiet. Vera starts to pull the vial back from my area and against everything in my judgment, I grab it from her hand.

They shouldn’t feel like drinking blood in front of me is something they need to ask if I’m comfortable with. I shouldn’t feel sick at the idea of them drinking. And the only way to get over this fear of it is to participate as if it’s a normal thing. With a flip in my stomach, I pop the cork from the vial and bring it to my nearly trembling lips. As much as I really don’t want to do this, I want them to be at ease around me and know that they can just be themselves.

I force my lips to part and the thick, cold liquid drips into my mouth. The first instinct is to spit it out, but I hold it in and pull the vial away. The blood sits heavy on my tongue and has something strange about it. The usual copper taste is there, but there is something else right there, just below that. An almost fruity flavor that has me staring at the vial in wonderment. A part of me almost wants to put it back to my lips and sample just another taste, but then the other part is screaming, ‘Put it down!’.

I hand the vial back to Vera who is looking at me as though I’ve grown three additional heads. I look back to see the boys giving me the same expression, even Romans.

I lick the blood from my lips as Kieran stands to his feet and says, “Okay, I think it’s time to get back. Rhea’s probably done with her paper and I’m sure she’ll be hunting you down.”

I nod, ignoring the fuzzy feeling started to swarm in my chest and the pressure building up inside of my head, and start making my way towards the hatch in the floor. I can hear everyone else moving around and turn to see Romans jump from the window in the wall. Vera follows after him and next is Ehren. I look down the open hatch to see them all three standing next to one another on the ground and talking. A hand touches my back and I nearly jump. Kieran is giving me a questioning look as he glances between me and the opened hatch.

“Should I go first?”

I glance back at the window again and ask, “Why aren’t you jumping like the rest?”

He smirks down at me and grabs the hatch door as he places a foot on one of the ladder rungs. “I’d like to make sure you don’t feel left out.”

His words make me glance at the window once more. I slowly walk over to it and peak my head out just a bit. About fifteen feet from the ground is how high we are. I’ve already drank blood, why not add jumping from a treehouse to the list of weird today.

Taking a deep breath, I shout out below to the vampire in the leather jacket, “Hey Romans!”

I can hear him clearly as he shouts back, “Sí, chica!”

“Catch!”

I lift my leg over the sill and before Kieran can grab for me, I jump. The air around me seems like it’s disappeared. I can’t even scream from the air leaving my lungs. The thing that shocks me the most though? The exhilarating feeling rushing through my veins as the wind whips my hair around like party streamers.

Within a few seconds I feel cold leather against my cheek and fight with my eyes to open. I look up to see Romans staring at me with a mixture of fear and amusement.

He slowly starts shaking his head as he says under his breath, “Estúpido humana.”

I can’t help but smile and let out a string of giggles. He laughs as well and I toss my head back, letting my hair fall over my shoulders and down his arms. The jump had knocked it loose from its bun, but I don’t seem to care much about it. Romans arms tighten around me and I now notice he caught me bridal style. The dhampir is strong and that makes me wonder just how strong the danag’s are.

“Are you insane?” Kieran’s voice breaks us from our laughing fits.

I glance over to see him already on the ground in front of us. His eyes are glowing and they have veins protruding from around them. Some of them are black and some of them are blue. I should be scared, my heart should be pumping furiously, but I feel nothing. It’s as if I’m numb to the sight before me, numb to the idea of being hurt by him. I feel light, like I did when I drank with a friend of mine back home, Jackie, for the first time when we were sixteen. The earth spun just like right now and my inhibitions were lowered just the same, but I don’t remember drinking any alcohol recently.

“Crap,” Kieran mutters from in front of us. “I think it’s the blood. As far as we know, humans have never tasted our blood before. This could be a side effect from it.”

“Our blood?” I ask him.

Kieran sighs and motions for Romans to hand me over like I’m some puppy and it’s his turn to hold me. I let him hold me bridal style though with no complaints. He doesn’t make a face as he adjusts me and he never even makes a noise. Strong.

“The full-bloods-”

“Danag’s.” Romans of course has to correct him.

Kieran glares past me, but I can’t look away from him. “The danag’s drink human and vampire blood mixed together. It’s so they- we don’t get overwhelmed by the taste of human blood on its own. All of the blood provided here by the academy has vampire blood mixed in with it just in case a danag accidentally drinks one that would be meant for a dhampir.”

“That makes sense,” I tell him. I lean my head back and just stare up at the nice blue sky. “I feel light as a feather. Like I can take on the world. Like I can take on a school full of vampires who could easily kill me.”

The trees sway gently towards the tops as the wind pushed through the forest. White clouds saunter by across the sky like they also have not one single care in the world. It’s then that I realize I no longer feel the pain and the sadness when I think of Melanie and Dad. I can see them in my mind clear as day. Dad with his dark hair and brown eyes. Melanie with that cheery smile, blush on her cheeks that seemed permanent, and the thick blonde hair she got from Mom. Those brown eyes were the only thing she got from our dad and seeing them now in my mind, I feel nothing. No love, no sadness, no regret, no guilt. It’s all just gone.

“I can’t feel anything,” I whisper.

Kieran’s arms tighten around me as he asks, “What do you mean you can’t feel anything?”

“I don’t feel sad anymore when I think about them, my family. I can’t feel the sadness or the pain when I think about them.” I glance up into his glowing blue eyes and ask, “Will I ever feel it again?”

The one who speaks up is Ehren. “Sleep it off and we’ll see if it comes back when you wake up.”

I nod and lean my head against Kieran’s chest. I can hear it now, feel it even. His heartbeat is there just under his skin. The thumps that push against my tearstained cheeks lulls me into the darkness. I welcome it with the hope that when I wake up, I’ll remember just how much I should be missing my family.