LIRA: Book I

CHAPTER TWELVE: Gatecrashers

The rainy season during the month of September did not deter the students of the Imperial Academy from having fun. Kids who were bored having been confined in their classrooms for ever so long decided to risk catching colds by running around school and playing under the rain. They were still kids, after all, without mom and dad to pinch their ears. But then again, there was a one formidable Miss Amara, who could deliver a very precise message of disapproval with just one lift of her brow, making the students abandon their revelry and seek asylum inside their rooms instead.

Lira, however, had a different way of having fun during a cold, rainy day. Her idea of fun was sitting on a comfy chair, feet curled underneath her and a good book on her lap, while splashes of rain created a calming and soothing music as it hit the earth, providing her a cool but relaxing ambiance. Mari, as always, decided to throw caution in the air and plunged herself in the rain, laughingly saying, "What can a little rain do to us?" while an equally exhilarated Yumi squeaked with delight and an alarmed Lira rushing after them. Where was Ian to back her up at a time like this?

"What a little rain can do indeed," Lira snorted as her runny nose delivered a loud nasty sneeze even the dead would be disturbed. She was in the rec room with the other students. Yumi was in the infirmary, complaining of severe head ache and elevated temperature, with Mari accompanying her.

Achoo! Another sneeze again.

Nicholas, who was sitting beside Lira, rolled his eyes, pulled a tissue out of its box and handed it to her, looking disgusted.

"What? Don't vampires get sick to?" she asked as she wiped her nose.

"Of course not, Lira. We can't be afflicted with any human diseases. And we can easily heal ourselves when we get cut or stabbed or whatever," he said explained. "What do humans do if they get sick?"

"Well, if it's very severe, we see a doctor. We take medicines, drink lots of water and make sure we have enough vitamin C to increase our immune system so we won't easily get sick again."

"It's so complicated to raise a human then."

"How about turned vampires? Don't they get sick too, since they were once humans?" Lira asked.

Nicholas looked at Lira as if she was talking about aliens. "Turned vampires? Oh you mean like what humans believe when we bite them and infect them with our venom, turning them a vampire, too? Or if we let humans drink our blood on their dying breath they'll turn into a vampire?"

She nodded.

"We cannot do those things. The disease that once plagued my ancestors was not something that can be passed on through bite or blood transfusion. I have heard, though, of incidences where if you drink a sufficient amount of blood from a powerful vampire, you will share the vampires' qualities like great speed or strength. But those were just rumors."

"But that disease, it's still inside you?"

"In a way yes, though it remains dormant."

Lira nodded in understanding. "So how do you, you know, expand your population?"

"Female vampires can get pregnant, too; although they can only conceive twice. Usually the second pregnancy is very fatal to the females as carrying another vampire can cause enough harm inside a mother's womb. Even a developing fetus feeds on his mother's blood."

"You said twice. How come you have three other siblings?"

"Sev and Steph are my half-brothers. Only Philip and I shared the same mother. Our mother died after she gave birth to me."