Today it was almost worse than that first day of class. Back then, my classmates only had their superstitions and deep set beliefs to judge me by. Now, however, someone had been attacked by a vampire, and a vampire was amongst them. I could hear their fluttering pulses, and their fear smelled thick and terrible.
I felt my fangs slide out at the smell; they’d been doing that off and on since I walked into Peel Castle. I kept my mouth closed as I moved to my seat.
I shucked off my bag and slouched into my chair. Hell couldn’t be any worse than this.
I didn’t have to look when Caleb entered the room. The same collective adrenaline rush occurred every day the minute he sauntered into the room.
He dropped a newspaper on his desk and slid into the seat next to me. “Well, shit has really hit the fan this time,” he said.
Usually once Caleb and I had taken our seats, the class would gradually return back to normal. Not today. The smell of fear lingered in the air. My fangs were going to be out all freaking day if this continued.
I picked up the supernatural community’s newspaper from his desk and read the headline.
Vampire Attack at the Douglas Cemetery
Below the title was an image of the taped off cemetery. I skimmed the story. Its author hadn’t placed suspicion on any one person, but the journalist had made it clear that he believed there was unrest within the coven. He mentioned my name, Andre’s, and Theodore’s. The article went into the numerous vampire deaths that occurred the night Bishopcourt burned, and he discussed the possible rifts that must’ve caused.
Somehow the reader was supposed to believe that this unrest led to vampire aggression. Apparently, the inhuman beasts that we were, when we got angry, our vampiric nature led us to commit horrific murders.
I threw the paper back on Caleb’s desk.
He leaned towards me and I looked at him. I heard his heart speed up. “We’re going to figure this out Gabrielle.” I could tell from the adrenaline rolling off of him and something fainter beneath that smell that he had more than just a simple crush on me.
I winced. I knew he liked me. But now I could tell that this was turning into something more than just like. I didn’t know how to stop it, and I didn’t know how to still stay his friend and partner if I tried.
I studied the headline on his desk. What I did know was that he and his family were important and respected members of the supernatural community. His feelings for me might be all that kept the Politia and my classmates from turning on me.
And as soon as I broke his heart, my world would come crashing down.
***
I watched the sun sink as I worked at my desk. I tried to focus on my homework for my politics of supernatural species class, but my mind kept going back to Andre, the murders, and my classmates’ outrage.
Behind me the door opened and Oliver walked in.
“Hey beautiful,” he said. “I wanted to check on you.” He plopped on my bed and fished around for my stash of chocolates. “You doing okay?” he asked, his back to me.
“Oh, just fine. Nothing that I haven’t already experienced.” That was a lie. The fear that oozed off my classmates was stronger and more cloying than ever before.
I closed my laptop and watched him grope around some more.
“You’re not going to find the chocolates,” I said. “You ate them all the last time you were here.”
He paused to give me a disbelieving look. “No way. I don’t eat that much.”
“Oh really?” This little fairy was in denial.
“Hmph,” he said, folding his arms and squinting his eyes at me, “that’s right Sabertooth.”
“Did you just call me Sabertooth?”
“This body is a lean, mean, man-loving machine,” Oliver said by way of answer. “I don’t just get great abs by laying around and eating chocolates all day.” He got up and peered under Leanne’s bed.
“Well I know that,” I said. “You burn all your calories gossiping. It takes a lot of energy to talk that much.”
“Now that’s just rude,” he said, pulling out an industrial size bag of Halloween candy from underneath Leanne’s bed. “Jackpot. I have just found the mother lode.”
I eyed the candy and thought about the seer club Leanne was a part of. She was there at this moment, pulling together some school activity to celebrate Samhain. The candy was probably meant for that activity. “I think she might be saving that.”
Oliver made himself comfortable on my bed. “There’s a Leanne-sized hole in the corner here,” he said, pointing to a fist-sized tear in the plastic. “Which means she’s not really serious about saving it. Plus, like I said, I only eat a few chocolates at a time.”
Before I could guffaw at this, my phone went off. I snatched it up. Oliver’s attention was now honed on me.
“Hello?”
“Where were we?” Andre said.
“I believe you were telling me to be careful just before the sun rose.” Oliver had scooted down my bed to be as close to the conversation as possible. He was now shoveling candy into his mouth at an alarming rate.
“What is it you wanted to discuss?”
I lowered my voice. “I think you already know.”