Vampires

Prince Caelestis had his younger brother beside him who I recognised as Prince Kayin. Prince Kayin was in the year below his brother and he looked very similar, just a little shorter and more muscular. Beside them however was someone who I had never met. A small girl, she had the same red eyes as her brothers. This was likely Princess Elvira. It would be her first year.

Yami noticed me staring, “Your eyes don’t deceive you, he did get hotter.”

“Right,” I smiled and looked away from the prince.

With the addition of the students from the Hirasawa mansion, Mrs Bedwyr followed behind them and walked up to the double doors that opened up into the main body of the school. She pushed them open with some effort, having to use her horse body to brace, once the doors were open she turned to the crowd, “Come in, Come in, Third Years lead to the grand hall!”

Yami, Modesta and I stepped to the front to be among our third-year classmates. There were some that were taking control of leading the first years. Such as Ephvangeline Hirasawa, of course, she was a werecat and top of the class. She and the Prince had a crazy rivalry. They were both titans of power and their clashes were legendary. I watched as the Prince avoided her but led the vampires in on his own.

I moved to be behind him and caught the end of a conversation.

The Princess whispered to her brother, looking dejected, “You’re still the hottest one here.”

“Of course I am,” He replied without looking down at his sister.

She wasn’t entirely wrong I supposed.

We walked into a massive room. It would have been a ballroom if the castle were functioning as a castle but instead, it is used as our assembly room. A big chandelier hung from the ceiling. The walls were painted and decorated with such detail yet time had taken its toll and it was dull. There was a stage in the corner of the room, likely for a band but now the principal stood upon it. Everyone quickly took their seats.

Mr S watched over us patiently, I had always wondered what kind of Alpha was he back in his day. He stood tall and proud with a few scars over his face and hands, I would guess there would be many more.

He started to speak and everyone quieted down, “Welcome back, I’m sure this will be a great year where we will achieve many great things. And it is nice to see so many new faces among us. For those who don’t know me, you can call me Mr S and I’m the principal here. I’m not really one for speeches so I’ll pass on to our healer.”

A woman in a neat doctor’s uniform stood up and walked up to the mic with a sweet smile, “Hello I’m Mrs Szandor the school’s healer so if you have any problems don’t hesitate to come to me. These days, the gods know we could all use a bit of help.”

There was a little bit of murmuring amongst the students as Mr S stood again.

“I’ll now introduce you to your Coordinators. I am your werecreature coordinator, Mrs Bedwyr the greek coordinator, Mr Jervis the fae coordinator, Mr Tsukuda the minor myth coordinator, Miss Gristlecharm the magic coordinator and Mrs Fhaolain your predator coordinator,” He pointed to each of the teachers, “Now please go to your coordinator so we can begin.”

Each of the teachers were standing around the room but I walked up to Mr S, and he led us to our homeroom. Each day would begin with a homeroom class where we would be with our myth type and then we would break out into our year level classes.

For myself that meant I would be with the werecreatures. That included werewolves, werecats and one werefox.

As we were walking an arm wrapped around my waist and I was pulled into someone’s body. I looked up into the brown eyes of Lucius Amane. Behind him were Rome Aname, who I knew was now in second year and who I assumed to be his younger siblings, Rose and Haven. The Amanes weren’t part of a pack; they also lived at the Hirasawa mansion, a little bit like a parasite. One could say they were their own little pack but they acted more like rogue wolves than anything. Their parents were neglectful and it shows. Yet with the year above me gone, they were my only friends left in homeroom. I certainly wasn’t going to spend time with the Hirasawas.

“Hey Lucius,” I let him keep his arm around me.

“Did you have a good break?” He smirked down at me knowing full well that my break had been full of the Luna teaching me about the pack.

“Yeah it was just wonderful,” I said through gritted teeth.

Rome patted me on the other shoulder, “Should have joined us we had heaps of fun.”

We walked into the classroom. These classrooms were set out like a lecture hall of a university more than a high school. With a backboard at the front and a desk for the teacher then curved ascending benches for the students to sit in.

As we walked in Mr S stopped us. He looked at Rose Amane.

“How unusual,” He said.

She looked a little confused by this.

“Yep she’s our sister,” Lucius stated proudly.

We took our seats at the back of the room. Mr S’s shock at Rose came from the fact that she was female. Years ago female wolves just stopped being born to wolf packs. Rose and I were the last generation to exist. Now only male wolves are born. It is likely some kind of curse that the myth hunters had placed upon us. How they managed to curse the entire werewolf population. That was the true mystery. But it had changed werewolf politics in a huge way. Lunas were now far more important than those who they mated with. They were the true heads of the pack.

I rested my head in my hand completely lost in thought.

I would be Luna in one year, that’s why I was being trained by the Luna now. I was sent to this school to make connections that would one day aid me as I became Luna over Ryan the son of the Alpha and Luna. It was a rather big deal. If it were another time he would be the next alpha and be attending the fancy school off the pack’s lands. My bloodline was strong and my pack was proud of me. Rose however while still being a rare female wolf did not have a strong bloodline as I did. Still, I don’t think the Amanes quite realised what they had with her. But then again how could they, they had no connection to werewolf society outside of me. I wasn’t about to lecture them either.

Lucius poked my cheek, drawing me away from my thoughts. I looked up at him.

“Hey look a werebat,” he whispered.

I looked over to the front of the class and there was a new student introducing herself. Kaipo Park had dark hair dip dyed blonde.

“That’s different,” I muttered.

I looked at the front, Rose was standing there beside her brother Haven. Then there were two new Hirasawas as if Ephvangeline wasn’t enough. Crimson Hirasawa, had long golden hair and a red lioness tail and her brother Arlen Hirasawa, was effortlessly handsome with shaggy white hair. I winked at him and he averted his gaze. I felt Lucius chuckle.

The bell rang and the Hirasawas quickly ran off to their next class but not before saying goodbye to Mr S. Rome and Lucius scoffed at them.

I looked to the younger wolves, “You know where you’re going right?”

Rose and Haven looked at each other, “we have a Fae class.”

“I’m guessing you don’t know where the Fae wing is do you?” they both shook their heads, I sighed, “up one floor and to the left you’ll find all the Fae classrooms but don’t worry Mr Jervis will probably be there to help you.”

They nodded and rushed off.

As I made my way to the front of the classroom Mr S stopped me, “How is the Blue Star Pack?”

“We are going quite well, fewer attacks than last year,” I replied.

He nodded, “I’ve been hearing that all over, it makes me wonder if they are planning something.”

“I don’t think we will ever really know,” I dipped my head to him and followed Lucius to our first class of the day, Vampire Studies.

Ms Kirishima stood with a sweet smile at the front of the classroom as we all entered.

Lucius and I sat towards the back, the vampires were already inside. There was Prince Caelestis and two female vampires sitting either side of him. He had this smug look on his face already, I could make out the outline of the tip of his fangs.

Lucius nudged me in the ribs, “What are you looking at him for?”

“I … ummm…” I stumbled.

“I see how it is.”

As the last of the students piled in Ms Kirishima started, “Hello class I will be taking the Vampire unit this year, my name is Ms Kirishima. It’s good to see that we have a mixture of vampires and non-vampires in this class as ultimately these classes are about understanding.”

Caelestis chuckled softly, “Yeah understanding.”

Lucius smirked beside me.

Lucius had never liked Caelestis in the past, though Caelestis’ rivalry was focused on Ephvangeline, Lucius liked to consider himself Caelestis’ rival as well. I doubt Caelestis thought much of him other than annoying. Lucius seemed to have something to prove, there was always this desire to be the top dog.

Ms Kirishima started with the history of vampires. It all began with Zeus’ creation of mortals. Mortals had the shortest lifespan of any species with a soul as before there had been the long-lived Fae. Hades, who had to deal with the souls of the dead, was overwhelmed by this new creation. With no help from the other gods Hades as always had to help himself. He created vampire, a soulless creation. It would destroy the souls of mortals that became vampires. But to make up for the lack of soul vampires had to consume blood something that was touched by the heart which had a connection with the soul. However, when Hades created vampires they were the first who had no connection to mortals, they were pure vampires. These were called the “purebloods”.

As Ms Kirishima spoke about the pureblood I found my eyes drifting to Caelestis. He was a pureblood as well. A descendant of the most powerful vampires that ever lived. Sitting beside him the two girls weren’t purebloods but they were powerful with strong connections to those original vampires.

Ms Kirishima began talking about the way vampires have governed themselves throughout history. I was taking notes as quickly as I could but I could feel the chaotic energy building in Lucius beside me.

“It is important that even nowadays through the current existing war, that the remaining vampires keep their history in mind at all times and that even at dire times, the notion of peace can still exist. But not only that, but as a reminder that there is a cost to war,” Ms Kirishima turned her back to continue writing a few more notes.

Then it came, Lucius’ outburst, “So are we going to be talking about Iris and Stone in this class.”

Lucius had a cocky smirk plastered on his face yet the whole room seemed to become quiet. This was a sensitive topic on the best of days. Iris and Stone were notable vampires involved in a war that nearly destroyed the mortal world and, once defeated, were the reason the myth hunters were so intent on destroying mythical populations. But even worse, many of the parents of the students sitting in the room were heavily involved. So that is to say it was tense.

Ms Kirishima turned, seeming a little stiff, perhaps she wanted to avoid that particular topic in her first class of the year, “Yes, we will be reaching that topic as that is another notable point in history for the vampires, do you have a particular interest in the Dark War?”

The smugness was still rolling off Lucius in waves, “My dad is Mik, he worked with Iris during the war.”

He got a few well deserved death glares from some students for that one. I just wanted to curl up into my seat and disappear, why did I have to be sitting next to this loose cannon?

Ms Kirishima’s smile dropped and she turned back to the board clearly wanting to move past this.

“Oh I see. Well yes, we will be.”

Lucius smiled, happy with himself.

I shuffled away from him a little, he didn’t seem to notice. While he was so pleased with himself I looked over at Caelestis. He looked very bored and hadn't even opened his notebook. Still, even in this bored state, there was something alluring about him.