Night Class

August 13th, 2019

Tuesday 11:35am

Thanks to Aunt Natalia I got to spend the rest of my first day in my room, alone. It was a small gesture for her but it meant the world to me. I needed that alone time to just get my thoughts and whatnot together. Now that the initial shock of learning about vampires is gone, my brain has found other things to obsess over. Like how long it will be until one of them bites my neck or when exactly the door will open and Kieran comes back to finish the job.

It’s now just after eleven in the morning and I know without a doubt that lunch is going to be more than awkward. Where would I be eating at and how on earth would that work? I refuse to drink blood and I definitely don’t want to watch as other students drink it in front of me. Hopefully I can get away with just eating something in my room. I mean, the mini-fridge is now stocked with root-beer, glass water bottles, and some well begged for cheese cubes. I can survive on those for a few days if need be.

I lay the course sheet out in front of me on the freshly made bed. My schedule is a lot more normal than I had thought it was going to be. Minus a few things that seem out of the ordinary of course.

MONDAY

4:00pm English IV

5:00pm Mathematics

6:00pm Runes and Symbolism

TUESDAY

4:00pm History

5:00pm Free Period

6:00pm Biology/Chemistry

WEDNESDAY

Recreational Day

THURSDAY

4:00pm Vampiric History

5:00pm Blending Culture

6:00pm Budding Novellas

The layout is pretty simple. Hour long classes and only three days a week, really. I’m not quite sure what Recreational Day is, but I’m sure it will be something fun. The fact that there are no classes on Friday’s is somewhat weird but also nice. I hadn’t thought that we would be having real school lessons, but it seems like Thursday is the only day of the week dedicated to vampires and I’m okay with that. I really need to know more about them, but I need to know now rather than in two days.

I have five hours of nothing but free time until History class begins. I should take this time to either study or explore the grounds. Giles had said it wasn’t a good idea to wander around past noon, but maybe a small walk around the main area wouldn’t hurt anyone. No, I should definitely stay here in the safety of my own room. It’s for the best.

Descending the staircase while only wearing my grey sweatpants and an oversized navy sweater, the red carpet feels nice under my bare feet. I had left my elastic in my room so my stringy brown strands keep falling over my shoulder and sticking to my still wet neck. A shower at nine in the morning had seemed like a good idea considering the bathrooms were lockable and all, but now I’m regretting it as the cold air whips against my already shivering skin. The sweater and sweatpants are not doing their job of keeping me warm and I know that I’ll need to think about layering up during classes. Maybe the other students don’t notice because it’s like a vampire thing. I’m learning that they have cold skin so maybe they don’t feel temperature, at least not like humans do.

I notice a few students wandering around the hallways and making their way up and down the other staircase. The majority of them are wearing similar outfits, but some of them have on different colors. While the majority are wearing black, maroon, and gold, others are wearing beige, blue, and yellow. The ones with the beige slacks and navy-blue jackets must be the class one students. My own tailored outfits that arrived this morning to my door are the class two student’s attire; black slacks and quite a few different options on tops. I noted that there were a few pleated skirts as well, but they will most definitely not be getting worn anytime soon.

One of the other things I’ve begun to notice about the students here? Everyone is freaking super model worthy! I’ve seen more beautiful teenagers than I have my entire life of watching television shows. I mean, what gives? Is there like a beauty booster when it comes to being a vampire or were all these kids just very blessed at birth?

After a few minutes of wandering about, I finally reach a room with propped open double doors. On the inside are quite a few beanbag chairs scattered throughout the room and plenty of bookshelves. I think I’ve discovered the library. As I enter the room, I notice that to my right are three rows of plain wooden desks. Two desks are put in front of one another with two chairs one side and two chairs on the other. The layout is consistent all the way down the line. A lamp is centered in the middle of the table towards the edge, a golden stem and olive-green cover with a simple golden pull-chain.

The whole room has wooden flooring with a few rugs in some of the beanbag sections. All muted in colors ranging from green to brown. It’s giving off a modern dark academia look and I’m down for it. I could see myself wearing my brown loafers and an oversized sweater as I read through every single book in this library.

The farther I get into the room the more my glasses decide to fog up. I pull them off and rub at them. This room is a lot warmer than the rest of the building. Yeah, I’ll definitely be spending all of my free time here or in my room, where I’m the warmest.

I nearly jump out of my skin as I feel someone touch my shoulder. Turning, I see a tall man with greying hair and a slight frame. He looks as though he could pass as someone’s father. His green eyes have a slight curve to them and his peppered hair is slicked back neatly. The tell-tale ghost of a smile on his lips as he peers down at me has him giving off a very friendly atmosphere.

I get I’m barely five foot four, but seriously, everyone in this school is taller than me. I have yet to meet a single person who is my height other that Emmy girl yesterday. And even she was at least a couple inches taller.

“Good afternoon,” the man says with an airy tone, almost nasally in a way that seems oddly comforting. “Is there anything I can assist you with?”

I glance over him to see that he’s wearing a simple dark button up and beige slacks. No tie, no bow, and no name tag either to let me know whether he’s staff or some random guy walking around the school. Great.

“Uh, no thank you. I was just going to take a look around.” I give him my best smile, the one I normally reserve for parents of friends or strangers that are older than me.

He returns it almost immediately and motions towards the ceiling high bookshelves lining the walls of the room. “We have a vast collection of novels. Each section uses the Dewey system, if you’re familiar with it.”

I give him a quick nod and he continues with a brighter smile, “Excellent. The fictional section is to your right here, non-fiction novels would be over to the left, and straight back along the far wall we have books and journals on vampire history and culture.”

After escorting me around the library a couple times, getting me used to where everything is, he finally lets out a small gasp. “I am terribly sorry Miss, but it would seem as though I’ve forgotten to introduce myself to you, haven’t I?”

I waive off his apology with a small breathy laugh. “It’s okay. I hadn’t really introduced myself either, so we’re even.”

His expression changes to one bordering on amusement. “Oh, there is no need for introductions on your part, Princess. I have been informed already of your attendance here at the academy and I must say I am honored that you favor our library so.”

My skin begins to prickle now at knowing that everyone in this den of demons knows who I am. Of course, they do, I’m literally the only human for miles. How could they not know who the Queen’s niece is.

He extends his hand towards me and I nervously accept. The coolness of his skin wasn’t so much a surprise, but it still makes me jerk a bit as we shake hands. “Rupert Gilly. I’m the academy’s librarian and on-call archeologist. If you find yourself ever needing information on a certain text or even an artifact, I am the one to ask.”

I can’t help but smile at how proud he is of himself. He must take a lot of pride in his work and job title. I wish I could figure out what I want to do with my life, but I’m still torn between an author and nursing like my mother had done.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Gilly,” I say as I shake his hand up and down, keeping a firm grip while begging my heartrate to stay even. “I’m sure we’ll see a lot of one another. I’m a huge book worm.”

He seems taken aback as he releases my hand. “Dear, you do not have to refer to me so formally. Please do call me Rupert.”

“Oh no, it’s okay. I was kind of raised to always address your superiors by Miss or Mister.”

He once again gives me an odd expression before slowly nodding. “If you wish to refer to me formally, then I humbly accept. Please do feel free to browse and read to your hearts content. I shall return momentarily. Good day.”

And with that, Mr. Gilly leaves the library in a bit of a rushed way. Maybe he’s not comfortable around humans just like Kieran and Ehren. Or maybe something I had said slightly offended him in some way I’m not aware of. He did seem not only shocked but uncomfortable with me not using his first name. I’ll have to bring that up to Natalia before I attend any classes later today.

The library has grown on me in the last couple hours. Mr. Gilly had returned not long after leaving and decided to spend his time organizing the non-fiction section. I stayed in my little reading nook that I’ve claimed as my own. The brown beanbag feels comfortable as my knees are pressed up against my chest and a stack of books sits at the side of me. I had raided the entire vampiric history section, trying my best to absorb whatever knowledge about vampires that I can, but most of the books have been in Latin so far.

The few I had come across that were in English only described basic things. Where can most vampires be found in the world? England or Romania. What do vampires need to survive? Blood and little-to-no sunlight.

Apparently, vampires won’t actually burst into flames while in direct contact with sunlight, but it does cause rashes to form on their delicate skin. The skin itself is basically stone, but the ultraviolet lighting and the infrared radiation in the beams causes the skin to irritate and nearly peel off. Talk about severe sun sensitivity. And I thought I sunburned easily.

Some of the books have mentioned that they can die from many different things. Decapitation, fire, too much sun exposure, missing hearts, and strangely enough certain diseases. However, they can apparently survive drownings, broken necks, and even a stake to the heart. As long as the heart remains in the appropriate location then they have nothing to worry about, the wound will heal.

I skimmed over the anatomy section in my current book, but it felt awkward to be reading about their bodies like as if they are animals. It mentions their fang sizes and how to keep them from growing too long. There were even sections on how some would have them cut from time to time or trimmed by filing. My own teeth began to hurt when I read that part and I had to skip ahead.

Now, I’m finally at the section about their eyes. Vampires are rarely born with anything other than blue eyes. The most common coloring in order is blue, green, and brown. There have been rare cases where some have been born with yellow and even orange tinted eyes. I think that would be strange to see, but somehow, I feel like the models that they are, they could pull it off flawlessly.

The hair on the back of my neck stands at attention and I force my heartrate to stay even despite the rush of fear coursing through me. Someone is now in the library and I’ve become prey once more. This time though, I’ll need to put on my brave face considering my family and Ehren aren’t exactly around to protect me. Surely Mr. Gilly would rush to my aid though. Right?

I peer over the top of my book and scan the room nervously. Across the room my eyes meet with a familiar pair of bright blue ones. Those are the ones I’ve been fearful of seeing again the most.

Kieran.

The tall brunette begins making his way over towards me and I can’t help the sudden upbeat in my chest at his presence. He stops mid-walk and I can see him struggling as he looks at the ground. His hands are flexing a few times at his sides as he breathes in and out calmingly. The sight of him attempting to control himself has me instantly feeling guilty. He doesn’t want to react that way to me, but the predatory instincts in him can’t help themselves.

After reading about how they react to increased heartrates and the scent of fresh blood, I now know that he doesn’t mean to be this way. I had initially wanted to blame them for choosing to be monsters, but of course another section in the anatomy book let me know quickly that there are no bitten vampires, only naturally born ones. Every single one of them are born this way. It’s something they literally can’t control and considering there is no cure for it, they have to just deal with the constant urges. Putting Kieran’s feelings ahead of my own, I force my heartrate to slow to a steady pace. After a few seconds the vampire finally looks back up at me and this time, meeting his eyes does nothing to spike any fear. I’d consider that progress at least.

He once again slowly makes his way towards me and stops just a few feet from where I’m sitting. I gently place the book on the stack next to me and wrap my arms around my legs as he takes a seat in one of the other beanbags across from me.

“Hey,” he says slowly.

I can tell from his demeanor that he’s not had any practice with being this close to a human and I want to make things as easy as possible for him now. It would help me out a lot as well, if I’m planning on staying that is.

“Hey.”

He leans back a bit before saying, “I just wanted to- Well, I guess apologize properly for my behavior yesterday. I normally don’t just, you know, try and attack someone I’ve only just met.”

My laugh feels light as I slowly release the grip on my legs. “It’s okay, really. I’ve been reading a bit about vampires the last couple of hours and I can honestly say you have nothing to apologize for. It’s only a natural response, right?”

He looks almost surprised as he slowly nods before asking, “Have you just been going through every book in the library all morning?”

“Well, no, not really.” I grab the anatomy book and toss it to him and he catches it with ease. “I just figured that if I’m stuck here until I’ve finished school then I should probably at least know the basics about vampires.”

Kieran’s chuckle takes me by surprise. It’s as deep as his voice is, but it’s a lot more comforting than I had thought it would be. “That’s a smart move. However, if there’s something you want to know, you could just ask one of us, you know. We’re not as closed off from sharing our history as you might think and most of the books written on our kind are a bit dated.”

That makes sense. Even most books on human anatomy and history are a bit dated. It isn’t so hard to believe that even their books would be a little old fashioned about information. Maybe asking Kieran my most unanswered questions would be better than trying to understand Latin in the next three hours.

“Okay, well um, I was wandering about food sources for you guys.”

He nods and settles into his beanbag more comfortably. “Us full-blooded vampires need blood regularly to survive. Half-blood’s can go without it a lot longer than we can, but they still need to have at least a vial of it every other day. We both can eat human food if we want, but it does nothing for us nutrients wise. Half-bloods are the ones who eat it for that stuff. They function closely to how humans do, only they need a little blood and still can’t handle sunlight just as much as we can’t. Okay, well, maybe they can tolerate it a lot better, but we’re basically the same.”

I shift in my seat and let my legs unfold as I sit up. “You say half-bloods, do you mean half vampire and half human?”

Kieran seems to think for a moment but nods in agreement with my question. “Yes. Half-bloods like Ehren are somewhat looked down on in our society. Although, they can’t help being half human, it’s something genetic. Could happen to anyone of us.”

“Ehren’s only half vampire?”

He stands from his seat and begins smoothing out his maroon suit jacket. “Yeah, he his. It does come in handy however in situations like yesterday. He’s very much mastered control whereas I still have setbacks. His own human blood lingering in his veins keeps him from attacking humans on sight no matter their heartrate or the smell of their blood.”

Now I get why Ehren refused to leave Kieran alone with me yesterday and why he never once tried to attack me. At least I know I’m safe from him for the time being. At least until I end up pissing him off somehow, I’m good for that with humans so why not with vampires too.

“So, are there other creatures out there that I should be worried about? I’m not going to run into a werewolf anytime soon, am I?” The chuckle in my voice runs dry as he gives me a look that tells me I just might have a run in with a werewolf at some point.

Kieran clears his throat. “You won’t be running into any Lycans while inside these walls. Crux academy is home to vampires and that’s it. We don’t normally associate with anyone from their community. And I would refrain from asking about them to anyone in the academy. Vampires are not very fond of the subject.”

I take his warning to heart, keeping it close so I don’t accidentally piss anyone off here that has the potential to end my existence.

“Well, if your satisfied with your questions I can escort you to the cafeteria, if you’d like?”

I notice now that he has his arm hooked like as if he’s waiting on me to slip my arm through it so he can escort me like a true gentleman. My cheeks heat at the idea of being that close to him and I begin to tuck my legs back up against my chest.

“Um, no thank you.” I wrap my arms around my knees. “I’ll just spend lunch here in the library today.”

He keeps his arm in the same position as he says, “I’m afraid that would be a bad idea. You see Princess, Queen Natalia wouldn’t be too pleased if she found out you’ve been hiding out here in the library all day rather than socializing with the general population.” He gives me a devilish grin before stating, “Her exact words when she spoke with Ehren this morning about you being in class two.”

With his words eating at my insides, I finally stand to my feet and put my arm inside his looped elbow. “Kieran, could you maybe do me a solid and not call me princess anymore. Just call me Izzy or Bella even, just not princess or Isabella.”

He stops mid walk and nearly has me falling on my face at the suddenness of it. His eyes are slightly glowing a bit, but the hairs on my neck are calm.

“Um, I can’t exactly do that.”

“Why not?”

He looks uncomfortable now, but continues escorting me anyways. “In our society we have to refer to the elders in the courts and their offspring by their given titles. The headmistress is Queen Natalia, her son is Prince Giles, and you are Princess Isabella. It’s the way things are and always have been for us.”

I understand the whole society thing they have going on, but I’m still far from royalty. I’m not sure what I’m going to have to do to keep them from using that stupid title.

“I get that Kieran, but it makes me uncomfortable. So, I’m asking you to please just not be so formal with me.”

That seems to do the trick for poor Kieran. He looks torn as he finally nods. “Alright, Izzy.”

I can’t help but smile knowing that, since I’ve been here, he’s the first person to listen to what I want instead of just ignoring me. He also happened to use the nickname that my family and people at my old school would use. I have been called Izzy far more than I have Bella. It feels right somehow.

After nearly thirty minutes of convincing Kieran I needed to change my clothes before going anywhere, he finally took me back to my room. I went ahead and changed into some slacks and a maroon sweater vest. The white button up beneath it has been working on my nerves for the last twenty minutes. Not to mention that the tie keeps trying to choke me every time I turn my head too far to the left or right. This uniform sucks.

It’s now almost time for my first class and I’m growing more and more nervous as the minutes tick away. Kieran has been by my side since the library and I’ve grown quite comfortable with it. At first, I had been nervous about it because of the whole, trying to kill me thing, but now it’s because I’ve noticed that, just like everyone else in this school, he’s extremely good-looking.

As we walk down one of the main corridors that have classrooms on either side, his hand continuously bumps into mine and I can’t tell at this point if it’s on purpose or not. I can’t help but glance up at him every few seconds just to see if he seems annoyed by it, but he seems unbothered. Which doesn’t help my nerves any. For all I know he could have some girlfriend somewhere, watching us and planning my death.

My heartrate begins to pick up at the thought of being stalked right now by a dangerous predator and I instantly want to smack myself upside the head. Kieran immediately stops in his tracks and I start taking deep breaths alongside him, trying to get my heartrate back into a smooth rhythm.

Kieran finally unclenches his fists and looks down at me with questioning eyes. “What’s wrong?”

I shake my head and start walking again. “Nothing.”

His hand grips my elbow and stops me from walking ahead of him. “It’s obviously something if it’s causing your heart- “ He takes another deep breath before continuing, “If it’s causing your heart to race like that.”

Do I tell him what I was thinking or do I just lie? I mean, obviously he’ll be able to tell it’s a lie since he can hear my heartbeat clear as day. Maybe a half-truth won’t be such a bad idea.

“The class,” I whisper, knowing he can still hear just fine. “I’m nervous about being in class with a bunch of vampires. Especially when I obviously can’t control my heartrate that well.”

I feel his hand gently nudge mine and his thumb softly caresses my knuckles. “You’ll be fine. There’ll be someone in the class that’s mastered control. If I’m not mistaken, I believe Queen Natalia had said she’s your watcher.”

His hand grips mine this time, causing a small spike in my heartrate, but he doesn’t seem as affected by it. “You’ll be okay.”

I can only nod in response, not wanting to trust my voice in the slightest. He releases my hand and leads me to a door with three gold numbers on the front of it. 201. Kieran gives me a reassuring look as he turns the knob and opens it to reveal a medium sized room.

My feet stumble a bit as I take in the scenery before me. The teacher’s desk is at the right-hand side of the room and the left-hand side is dedicated to the students. There are different levels though for each row of desks and the levels have a slight curve in them. There are three double-seating desks in each level and three in each row going upwards. In-between each desk is a moderate amount of walkway for each level, making them look like steps to the fourth level that holds nothing but a door which is on the same side as the one we’re standing on.

There are at least fifteen teenagers in the room. Fifteen teenaged vampires who look like super models. Fifteen vampires who are just staring at Kieran and I as we stand there awkwardly. Well, I’m awkward. Kieran is just relaxing against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets.

The teacher at the front of the class is a dark-haired woman who has on a knee-length black skirt and a tucked in white dress shirt. Her hair is tucked neatly into a bun and the heels on her feet make me want to rub my own out of sympathy pain. She only looks to be in her mid-thirties which is normal I guess for teachers. The main thing that stands out are her blue eyes. The closer Kieran and I get to her desk the more I noticed that she has a hint of yellow around her iris’. They’re pretty cool up close.

“Ah, Mister Knox, thank you for finally joining us.” The woman’s eyes meet mine now with a bright smile. “You must be Princess Isabella. I’m your history teacher, Adeline Russo,” she says with an airy voice that has a nice mellow pitch to it.

I smile and shake her outstretched hand. “Please, just call me Isabella or Izzy. No title is needed, really.”

After the words leave my mouth, I can hear small mutterings coming from the other teens in the room. My nerves begin to worsen, but I keep it under control as to not incite a frenzy. I need to just get this out of the way as quickly and as painlessly as possible. Turning to face the vampires in the room, I notice Tori and Emmy in the second desk, middle row. At least I’ll know at least two people in this class, even if I don’t like one of them.

“I know it’s probably against some rule somewhere or strange of me to say this, but I would really appreciate it if all of you would just treat me like a regular student. I’m not sure what my aunt’s told you, but I really would like to just be called Izzy. I’m not a fan of the whole princess thing.”

They all stop murmuring and the room goes silent. One of the girls from the first row decides to ask, “Are you really a full-blooded human?”

Her wavy dirty-blonde hair falls graciously over her shoulders as her pale-blue eyes stare at me questioningly. This may not be as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe they’re just as curious about me as I am about them.

“Yes, I am. My dad was a vampire and I’m assuming my mom was a human like me,” I answer as honestly as I can.

One of the boys in the third row with shaggy brown hair and blue eyes speaks up next. “Do you have to drink any kind of blood at all?”

I refrain from shuddering in front of them at the idea of drinking blood, reminding myself that they can’t help what their diet is.

“No, I don’t. I eat human food like every other human in the world. I’ve never had the urge to drink it either.”

I notice that everyone is quiet now and I’m sure they have had their curiosities filled, for now at least. Without thinking about it, I decide to be brave and ask my own question.

“Are all of you full-blooded vampires in this class?”

Everyone’s quiet for a moment, no one daring to answer the question hanging in the air. Finally, Kieran sighs and bumps me with his elbow gently.

“Everyone in class two, night class, is a full-blooded vampire. Half-bloods are in class one, or day class.”

“Well not all of us here are vampires.”

My eyes meet Tori’s, but I refuse to let the glare loose, attempting to hold in any remarks that would cause her to bite me. Her icy eyes are hard as they stare me down. I can tell that she doesn’t like me much, but I don’t really mind. I’m not exactly here to make friends. She dramatically brushes her long brown locks over her shoulder.

“And that’s okay,” Miss Russo says as her hand gently touches my middle back. “We are pleased to have you here. So, on behalf of all of us, welcome to night class, Izzy.”