Braced to Bite (Book 1: Half-blood vampire series)

Chapter Thirteen

I stayed up all night working on my Tribunal presentation. Capturing Chuck wasn’t my problem. The system was my problem. And the system needed to change.

     I skipped school and continued my research. I finally fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion and awoke close to sunset. I had just enough time to shower and meet the university board member for my scholarship interview.

     I arrived with barely a moment to spare. Pam and Tim were already seated and fielding questions from a nondescript man in his late forties wearing an overcoat over chinos and a blazer, as well as leather gloves. The room temperature seemed fine to me, but I barely had a pulse. I noticed Pam clutching her sweater close together so perhaps it was a bit chilly in the room. Or maybe she was nervous. Hard to tell with her.

     “I apologize for being late,” I murmured to Mrs. Gillman, who nodded in understanding. She introduced me to the PSU interviewer, Mr. Holloway, and I apologized to him as well.

     “No worries, Ms. Blanchard, we were just getting started. I heard about your earlier, ah, ordeal and just wanted to let you know I am very impressed with your making an appearance here today, under the circumstances.”

     I nodded to him and glanced at my competitors. Pam fumed silently but Tim seemed oblivious to everything, except Mr. Holloway. The intense scrutiny didn’t seem to bother either of them so I ignored it and sat down in the empty chair.

     Mr. Holloway scribbled something on the top of a packet of information about the college, then gave it to me. A handwritten note, thanking me for coming in. Maybe I could milk the sympathy thing? Once I sat down, Mr. Holloway directed his next question to me.

     “Colby, please tell me your take on Darwin’s theory of evolution.”

     “Only the strong survive?”

     “Yes.”

     “I guess I would need you to clarify your position on ‘strong,’ Mr. Holloway.”

     “What do you mean?”

     “Well, strength is perception. If you were to ask anyone who was stronger, a cockroach or a human being, I think most people would say a human being. After all, a person can easily squish a cockroach. But, after a nuclear explosion, the cockroach will be the only living creature to survive. So who is stronger in that context?”

     “So you disagree with Darwin?” Mr. Holloway pressed.

     “If your interpretation of strong is an ability to adapt and evolve, then I would say, yes, the strong will survive. But the strongest is not always the brightest and therefore they jeopardize their own existence.”

     My fellow students were staring at me with something akin to awe and pity. It wasn’t a good sign. I was so tired and making little sense.

     “Explain, please.”

     “Let’s take the crown heads of Europe in the earlier centuries. They owned everything, had more than the peasants could ever hope for and believed they were superior. They believed it so much they thought the only way to keep the royal blood pure was to only marry others with royal blood.

     “When you narrow the gene pool that much, you just exacerbate the genetic abnormalities, increasing the chance of abnormal propagation. In other words, you get a lot of screwed-up royalty, from genetic disorders like hemophilia to outright insanity. So were they stronger? Eventually you interbreed your royal line into nothingness because none of the offspring can survive. Look at dogs.”