Cassian Legacy: The Vampire Prince

Ms. Ingram was preparing for the day when I walked in. From the windows facing the parking lot I spotted several cars pull into the empty spaces. Other students and teachers arrived. Buses stopped at the curb, and people filed out clutching bags, books, and their lunches while talking excitedly to their neighbors about the weekend. The chatter already had my mind spinning. I turned away and focused my thoughts on the steady drip of a leaky faucet.

I set my bag down beside the table I usually sat at and faced her. “What do you need?”

She sighed heavily, still emptying the box onto her desk. “Found anything yet?”

I shook my head. “I haven’t had the time to go sniffing.”

She nearly laughed but caught herself. “Well, I’ve been making my own inquiries. Hopefully I’ll have evidence to back up any information you dig up from the students. You should really mingle with the others and not pay so much attention to Mr. Tierney.”

So she noticed that. “I have other friends here, Seth, Krista, Mallory and Nate. I sit with them often,” I reminded her.

Her eyes briefly flickered up and met mine. “That wasn’t what I meant.”

Out of all the people I talked with the most, Finn being the least until recently, she noticed the one that I aimed to keep out of her range of vision. “I’m sorry I’m not like the other humans here. I am what I am.”

She frowned. “You are what you were created.”

This time I rolled my eyes and chuckled a bit. If only she knew. “Are you going to chastise my life that you know nothing about or do you have any news for me?” I harshly reprimanded her. That topic wasn’t allowed for discussion at her leisure. My past was not a piece of information I wanted her to know much less dish out clues that would send her on a search for the answer to my ecliptic life. If all she wanted to do was lecture me on topics that didn’t concern her, some that she had no business in meddling with, then I might have to make a harsh decision and end her life before she harmed innocent people. I only made a deal with her because I am the stronger of us both, plus I wanted to help her particular situation, but our deal would end the moment I felt her threaten my existence.

She flinched and stopped unpacking the box. “You know what I am. No secrets you keep will be safe from me. I find out the truth of things from those that try and hide them. You should know that by now.” She finished going through the box and set it on the ground. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll keep our little deal, but I was serious about the results. I’ve been doing my own searching, actually for years now even before you came along. But most of my research derives upon Mr. Tierney and his family.”

She leaned against the white board and crossed her arms, looking at me like I knew what she was talking about. “I haven’t exactly pinpointed the minute detail that makes me leery regarding him and his friends. My research has been going on for a few years, and I know there’s something different about the three of them compared to the rest of the students. When I discovered you talking with them this morning, I thought I should warn you, though it seems that you two have become friends like you did with Seth and the others. If you plan on spending so much time with him, maybe you can tell me about his family. I’ve never met his parents and I would like to know more about them.”

I didn’t like the fact that she already had a hunch about Finn’s uniqueness. This wasn’t good. I must find a way to keep her from figuring it out, which is why I started with basic truths that everyone would know. “He’s rich, comes from a long line of Tierney’s and owns half the west side of the city.”

“I know all this. In the three years I’ve been teaching here, I have yet to meet his parents or converse with them. I’ve met everyone else’s parents, but not his, and I find that odd. I know he’s still an adolescent, but he acts like a spoiled brat. Plus he has this charming allure that disturbs me. Nearly every person inside this building wishes he would pay them attention, but he doesn’t. And the principal nearly swoons every time she spots him in the hallway. Other than you, he has no true friends.”

I nearly gave her credit for that comment. She observed more than the average person. In fact she got nearly all the details right, except a few, though it wouldn’t be too long before she figured the truth out. “Well what about Emery and Thalia?” I suggested wondering what she thought of his supposed friends.

“Those two are dating, that I am aware of. But even then, they don’t bother him much, not in the way that true friendships do.”

This wasn’t a good sign. Finn needed human friends so she wouldn’t be so suspicious of him. Only I could arrange that. My friends will become his friends.

A few students walked into the room. I glanced up at the clock. The minute hand was shy of two minutes to the start of class. We were out of time. I approached her desk and lowered my voice.

“Look, I don’t think Finn is what you’re looking for. I’ll find what information I can for you, but I don’t think that the evidence will lead to Finn and his family. Finn’s interests are particular, just like those of a spoiled rich kid. He’s a loner which is why he doesn’t have many friends. All of your work researching his family might be in vain once you find out that he’s as normal as any other student here. And if there are vampires hunting students in the school, I’ll find them, that I can guarantee you. But know this, so far I’ve yet to see proof that they’re using this building as hunting grounds,” I whispered. Thankfully the students who occupied the room were seated in the back otherwise I wouldn’t have said anything. “I don’t think you have to worry about anyone in the school preying on the children.”

Her smile wavered. She exercised a large amount of control keeping her true feelings in check. “But what about Seth? That was a compulsion attack. Too many have used their abilities on him. I’ve seen it before. All the signs are there.”

I didn’t need to tell her that I was a part of the ones who used compulsion on him. We both knew that it was my hand that cracked his mind, but how was I to know that others had purposefully erased his memories before the incident in class? “I don’t think those acts were performed here. I’m slowly discovering the hangouts of the teenagers because I believe that is where they’re preyed upon. The school is too public, too open. There’s a reason why vampires like dark alleys, even when it is cliché. Eventually I’ll dig out the source of the compulsion, but for now you need to wait. This task takes time.”

The first bell rang. Several more students hurried in through the door.

She nodded once. “Alright. I can wait a bit longer. I’ve waited all my life for this.”

I returned to my seat, though her words haunted me especially the last statement. Throughout the rest of her class, I thought about what it was I was doing. I had promised her I’d find a vampire that she could hunt. She had wanted this, plus she seemed capable enough to accomplish it on her own. Her reflexes were quick, and she had supplies at her disposal. But it was idiotic to think that she would survive against a created vampire. With the new knowledge of born vampires living in the culture where I thought only one kind could exist, I realized I couldn’t send her after the ones who had been born - especially Finn.

I was at an impasse with myself, not only for the decisions I made previously but also the ones I would have to face in the future. I didn’t want Finn’s family to be harmed, especially Finn himself, so in order for me to keep her at bay and away from figuring out what he was, I would use my intellect in coordinating events where her suspicion couldn’t be confirmed. Starting today, my friends would become his. In order for this to happen though, I would need to lie and create more lies so she didn’t poke her nose where it didn’t belong. I had promised to help her, and help her I would as long as Finn stayed out of it.

Ms. Ingram was becoming a problem, as much as I hated to admit it. I wondered why Finn hadn’t bothered to use his compulsion on her like he had with the others. Her warlock blood probably blocked the magic. There was a chance her blood had the power to repel magic from other sources. If that was the case no wonder the others were afraid of her. If they had tried using their powers of persuasion on her in the past and she ignored it blatantly, then they would naturally be scared of her. But she didn’t know about Finn and the others yet, she only speculated. Even if they had used some form of compulsion on her she obviously didn’t remember it.

I wondered if my compulsion would work on her. I could try, and see if it did. I obviously could compel other vampires, including born ones. I hadn’t known about that ability before, but it seemed to work better on creatures with magical blood in their body rather than humans. If it did work, I would make her forget about Finn’s heritage and protect his family once more. If my magic didn’t work, then I would know about her resistance. Either way, it was a win-win situation.

I resolved to try this later, and not now. There were too many people in here - too many that would know there was something not right about me. And if it went badly, then I could be in serious trouble.

Once the next bell rang after class, I headed off for German, passing Emery and Thalia in the hall for the first time. They both smiled at me while a flock of boys nearly gaped at us openly in the hallway. Their faces followed Thalia, and I realized then that they wished she would look at them the way she did for Emery and me. The focus wasn’t completely directed toward Finn at this school like I had surmised from a few weeks ago. The other two were equally surprising and shy, gaining onlookers and wannabe friends just as much as Finn’s personality did.

Calculus came and went. I got an A on my test, lifting a weight off my shoulders. I had freaked out when I learned I missed the derivative lesson, but it paid off to study the text. The book was incredibly easy to understand, as if some guy had written it for people like me who didn’t understand geek-speak.

I walked out of that class merrily and headed for English. But my happiness was short lived for what awaited me in there. We were getting our essays back today, and my stomach was in knots already. I sat down in my chair and eagerly awaited my paper. He passed it out quickly, before the bell rang, giving me a bright wide smile.

I stared down at the crisp white paper, where my eyes instantly found what I needed. My stomach unclenched, and I took a breath of relief.