Psyche's Wings

Chapter 3

When we visited the school, I saw large buildings and long hallways, and rooms full of desks and chairs. There were no students, though, and an eerie stillness lay upon the place, like an empty theatre between performances.

In a little office with pictures of cats on the walls, a woman with wild gray hair asked a lot of questions and made Ari sign his name on a stack of forms.

I tried to pay attention, but it was dreadfully dull, and I entertained myself with a squishy little toy the woman handed me when I began to fidget. It was shaped like a cat, and dry to the touch, but felt as if it were made of slime. I wondered at what strange alchemy could have created such an unnatural substance, and if this was the sort of thing that I would learn in school.

The woman seemed to note my fascination, and then asked Ari several times if I had 'special needs.'

He considered this carefully, but at last told her I did not. I was glad of this, for I did not wish to be special; I wished to be like everybody else.

She made him sign an extra form or two anyway, but at last it was finished: I was a registered student at Humboldt High.

That was nearly two weeks ago; and now, with father Volkir's help, we had all the documents to prove I was a normal boy, attending a normal school, as normal boys do.

Everything was arranged, and the following morning, 'school' would begin at last.

I had learned my part well. It was like preparing for a play, but easier, as most of it was true.

My name was Fenn Dayraven, and I was from England. Ari and Soren were my fathers. I was seventeen years old, and I was adopted.

This last fact pleased me greatly. I knew it was only for pretend but, when Ari and Soren wrote their names on the fake documents proclaiming themselves to be my parents, an immense joy filled my heart.

I wanted to celebrate but did not know how, and then I got in trouble.

"You can't kiss me, Fenn—not in public, anyway," Ari had said. "That's not how children express affection for their parents. People will get the wrong idea."

The rules were confusing, but I vowed to remember them.

No kissing, and no mention of magic or of traveling in dreams. I was to feed every morning before I left for school, and if anyone asked why I didn't eat at lunchtimes, I was to say I had 'dietary restrictions' and 'bad allergies.' I mustn't let my teeth show, or my eyes shine, or reveal my inhuman abilities. Most of all, I was not to speak of vampires at all.

"Do you think I will be the only vampire?" I asked. It was late, but I was far too excited to sleep. I had 'school' in the morning. "Might there not be others like me, Soren?"

I had asked if I could call him 'father'; he had said that I could not.

"Unlikely," he answered, looking up from his book. "No responsible vampire turns anyone that young. Not these days, anyway."

"Oh."

"Don't worry about it, Fenn," Ari said.

He was writing something on his laptop, and I sat beside him on the bed. He'd said I might stay the night here, if I was too anxious to be alone.

"Lots of people are the only one of their kind at school; whether it's how they look, or where they're from, or who they love, or what they believe. There might be no one exactly like you, but there will be plenty of students who are like you in that way. It's the ones who can't hide their differences that need friends the most. Maybe you can't tell them what you are, but you should be proud to be yourself."