Chapter 3:

That Vampire, Forming an Alliance

A School For Body Stealers


A loud buzzing noise came from my phone that morning as I jolted awake from another dream about Nao. I grunted as I rose slowly from the floor with sheets falling from the large bed they placed in my room. My back didn't particularly hurt from rolling around in my sleep and falling to the floor last night, but it was quite stiff.

I still have trouble sleeping… even in a nice room like this.

I yawned loudly as I took in the surrounding area that was my dorm room. Beside my bed there was a small nightstand with a digital alarm that I hardly used. There was a closet full of school uniforms and casual clothes that I requested from the tailor. A couple feet next to it was one window covered by beautiful velvet curtains, and you could see the entire school building adjacent from it. And a little across from there was a bathroom with a nice shower setup. It seemed less like a typical dorm room and more like a luxury hotel room. I could hardly believe it had been five weeks since I was brought to Yuki's vampire school.

I groaned as I stood up and went to the bathroom to fix my hair. Then my phone went off again, and I quickly looked at the digital alarm.

Ah…I don't want to go to class today…

I heard a soft tapping from my bedroom door, almost expectantly. I threw on my uniform with my dress shirt slovenly covering my pants and opened the door.

"Oh, it's just you."

I was greeted by the face of a large grey wolf with his mouth opening wide with yellow-stained fangs. He growled standing about 5 feet taller over me. I sighed as I stared defiantly back at him. Then he started laughing heartily as he placed his sharp claws on my shoulders.

"I guess I can't trick you anymore huh! You've gotten used to us pretty fast Shizu!"

"I don't remember ordering a wake-up service from you after all. You still get a kick from changing into a wolf, Kilu?"

"Hahahaha! You slay me dude!"

This was Kilu, and he was the most adaptable Body Stealer, who could transform into animals that he devours. As I walked a little past him with my hand patting him roughly on the back, he changed into his vampire form, which was also a bit unique. Instead of having pale skin, like many of us, he had dark tan skin and black hair that he kept it cut short. He told me that he was born in South Africa but eventually moved to Japan, and incidentally, he was found by Yuki and Cleo. He was super friendly and laid back, which was probably why I warmed up to him so quickly.

"What’s with you? You know, if I didn't come to wake you up on time, Cleo would bum rush you with sleeping darts. Someone’s gotta look after the newbie, right?"

We bumped our fists together as our daily greeting and started walking towards the school building. We casually climbed the stairs when Kilu quickly stopped and pointed at a girl walking a few steps ahead of us. She had long pink hair tied up neatly in ponytails with black ribbons and skull pins. She was fairly short but not by much compared to my height. You could tell she disliked the uniform policy because she was wearing something else that was more to her fancy instead. She had a dark, gothic dress with a lavish trim and petticoat. And she was carrying a coffin-shaped backpack decorated with all kinds of pins you would find at a thrift shop. She was very fashionable and one of the few that cared about appearances around here. 

Kilu looked at me as if I knew what he was about to do. If he couldn't frighten me, he was naturally going to scare her. He quickly crept up behind her as his face changed back into a wolf. His large nose came about an inch away from her back. And I of course barely said a word, when the girl swiftly turned around and kicked him abruptly in the face, sending him flying backwards towards me. I quickly stepped aside as he came crashing into the wall.

“How dare you try to defile a young woman like me? Have you no fucking shame?! I should sue you for practically assaulting me!”

The girl’s name was Reira, and she was also a Body Stealer like us. However, she had a rare ability that allowed her to gain more “life years” from the humans she devoured. As you can imagine, many of her targets were young women. This kept her own body looking youthful and pretty, and so it was difficult for anyone to know her real age. However, there was a rumor going around our class that Reira was possibly a lot older than she’d like to admit to others…so...

“I was trying to scare you, not assault you! Besides you should be grateful I didn't try to sniff your hair or something weird, ya old bat!”

Kilu shouted as he reverted back from his wolf shifting. To be honest, Kilu and Reira argued with each other pretty often, though they were still friends… I think.
Reira growled as she hurled her coffin backpack at Kilu that hit him directly in the stomach. He dropped forward to the floor in pain.

"And we are down for the count...minus 20 points dude." I said as I looked at him with a slight frown.

“TRY?!! If you as much had your snout near my skirt, I'd kill you! Go drop dead!”

She shouted down to us and stomped off to the classroom. I kneeled next to Kilu and whispered to him.

“Can’t you both stop quarrelling like love birds and just start dating?”

“We’re not lovers! And that pompous, Lolita-wearing grandma can go to hell!”

He growled as he stood up and stomped to the classroom with Reira's bag in his hands. I honestly couldn't keep myself from grinning, while following behind him.

If he hated Reira so much, then why is he bringing her bag back to her? He's so dense.

He slammed the bag on Reira's desk, and she looked away pouting angrily.
After the usual morning brawl, we both took our seats next to each other. Kilu was busy grumbling, as another vampire whimpered from the desk to the left of me.

“What happened to you guys?”

He said gingerly, while clutching a pair of scissors in his hands. His name was Nero, and he was a little reserved for a Body Stealer. He was one of the few that was very anxious to see the success of a cure come through. He had dark brown hair, pale skin, red eyes that usually changed to silver, and was kind of shorter than me. He also had white bandages that covered his neck, and his arms, of which he refused to remove. Unlike all of us, Nero was said to have never shapeshifted from his normal form because he hates the very idea of devouring people. Even though I'm sure he still craves human energy, he told everyone that he couldn't bring himself to kill a human. And when we first met, he told me something that I’ve never heard from any vampire before.

If I ever have a craving to take a person’s life, I bite myself in order to stop it.

Honestly, Nero isn’t that much of an emo-type, but the bandages definitely tell you a different story. I can admit he reminded me a little of myself when I was younger, so I did my best to help him relax with my carefree attitude.

“Good morning, Nero! Nothing really critical happened, just the usual spat between Kilu and Reira.”

“Ah, well as long as nobody got hurt then…”

Nero spoke softly, and then turned his attention to cutting a piece of paper. I glanced at Kilu when Reira stuck her tongue out at him. Kilu grinded his teeth in frustration.

Nero, you have no idea.
But I guess it's best that he doesn’t worry about it.


As for the five non-shifting vampires, there were three girls and two guys. The three girls, Mayvis, Bunny, and Violet were apparently from the same vampire clan and knew each other before coming here. The two guys, Lau and Lucile, were brothers that were adopted by a human family, strangely enough. However, we all got acquainted without much of an issue besides one other Body Stealer…of whom, I didn't see in the classroom just yet.

Cleo was organizing her papers for a couple minutes until the school bell rang from the intercoms around the building. Meanwhile, everyone was busy chatting with each other. Then, once Cleo stood at the front of the blackboard, we all looked at her in attention.

"Welcome everyone, let's get right into our algebra lesson from yesterday."

She spoke with her usual stern attitude, and she was wearing a more office type suit that looked similar in color to the uniforms. She also took some care in obtaining a white buttoned blouse that fully covered her chest. As soon as she began rapidly writing on the board, the sliding door opened a bit abruptly, and another one of my classmates came in.

"Iris, so happy you could join us."

Cleo looked at the tardy student with her eyebrows furrowed. As you might have guessed, Iris was the missing Body Stealer I mentioned before. He had short dirty blonde hair, dark red eyes, square glasses, and was apparently the smartest in the class. I guess he was one of those highly intellectual nerds but there was a bit of a catch. He was said to have been from America, and he had a criminal record in 11 states. He was in a prison in New York when Yuki found him and bailed him out. How Yuki obtained a well renowned American lawyer, and $2 million in bail funds was still a mystery to all of us. Though he claimed he only devoured people selectively, we couldn't tell if he was lying or if he really had a preference.

Cleo quickly drew her small dart gun from her right vest pocket as they both looked at each other with equal tension.

"Tell me why you're late?"

"I was in the library, studying about the history of chemical science. I found quite the interesting tome on Persecluis and I just couldn't put it down. You did mention that as students we can do self-study on topics that interest us, right?"

Iris spoke calmly as he held the book up in his hand where Cleo could clearly see the cover. She visibly sighed, looking slightly irritated.

"Good enough, I guess. Go take your seat please!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Ugh! Anyway, let's get back to the lesson. We'll be starting with arithmetic exercises." 

I was sure that Iris just picked up that book in order to show he was studying a subject that Cleo acknowledged, which led to him being excused. However, if he actually read it or not, and the fact that he was late because of going to the library before class could have been far from the truth.

In other words, Iris wasn't just smart, he was a smartass.

After three hours of Cleo lecturing us through math, science, and culture studies, we were dismissed for lunch. Everyone went to the cafeteria, while I took Kilu aside to discuss our secret project.

"You think this is going to work?"

"Oh, it'll work. But we'll definitely need a few more on board with the plan. I'll take care of guiding Nero to the library, but I'm counting on you to get the others."

Kilu nodded towards me with a smile and a thumbs up.

"Leave it to me!"



Later in the afternoon, I took Nero with me to the library. We went into a media room that oddly enough, had no video cameras or recording equipment on the walls to monitor anyone. For some reason, the people who built this small room must have forgotten to add in the cables that connected everything up to the school's Wi-Fi network. Which caused issues for the scientists to set up any computers or cameras in the room since the electrical signals were blocked once you closed the door. This led to it being the best hideout for anyone who wanted to not be watched besides when they were in their dorm rooms that didn't have cameras either because of privacy reasons.

Nero sat on a chair as he held his wrist anxiously. I started talking to him about the details when we heard some loud shouting a little distance away from the room.

"That must be the others! Kilu really reeled them all in I bet!"

"But you think everyone will go along with it?"

Kilu opened the door with Reira and Iris not too far behind him.

"What kind of dingy old clubroom is this? Couldn't you both have chosen something with less dust?"

Reira walked in coughing slightly from the dusty atmosphere. I could admit this room was never used so it definitely wasn't as maintained like the other media rooms and the library itself.

"Quit your damn whining. You should be relieved there's no cameras in here!"

Kilu growled as Iris adjusted his glasses and took a look at his phone.

"Not to mention there's no signal in here. Seems like Shizu was smart enough to pick a room with solid walls at least. Way to use that thick skull of yours."

"Must you be a jackass every time you talk to me?"

"I rarely comprehend the meaning behind vulgar language since they all originated from multiple facets of society that no longer mesh together."

Iris said nonchalantly, while I growled at him.

I can’t tell if he really meant that or if he’s mocking me?!

"What does that even mean?"

Nero then jumped in as his eyes went wide with genuine curiosity. I sighed but decided to dismantle the conversation before it got too far off track.

"Let's just get into why we're all here then...but first off aren't we missing the non-shifters?"

"Umm, about that…"

Kilu started to say something when Iris smoothly cut him off.

"Normal vampires are too weak and may hold us back if we aim to escape this place successfully. So, I suggested to Kilu that we shouldn't bother having them join us."

"Wait, what?! But they could still help! And how did you know about the plan before you got here?"

"Iris forced Kilu to tell us so he could know all the details. Of course, I was a little pissed that he lied about this being my fan club."

"Fan club huh?"

I looked at Kilu with a slight grin, after Reira muttered that out, while Iris and Nero exchanged confused glances with each other.

"In my defense that is what she told me would make her join our club."

Reira glared at Kilu for a moment but then decided not to say anything further.

"Well then, are you going to give us a flashy intro?"

"Does it have to be flashy?"

I cleared my throat to get everyone's attention while ignoring Iris and Kilu's comments.

"As you may know, I devised our plans to escape Yuki's school because most of us are well aware that the cure thing may not be of any help for our cravings. Also, some of you are probably tired of being isolated from people which used to be the only sustenance we had in our lives. I swear that if you can put your trust in me, we'll successfully leave this fucking prison and find our own way back into society. Body Stealers or not, we deserve to live freely without restrictions! Are all of you in?"

I looked at everyone in the room, and suddenly saw the fire in their crimson eyes light up.

"I'll go even to the depths of hell with you, my friend!"

"I had no interest in getting caught up with Yuki's insane machinations to begin with after I finally got out of that god forsaken prison."

"I totally don't feel like staying here like a locked princess in a tower forever."

"Even though I came here for the cure, I trust that Shizu is right."

And with everyone's strong affirmations, I stood up with a confident smile.

"Then let's do this! From now on, we'll be known as the Vampire Break-Out Club!" 

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