WARGAMES, wednesday tv series

3 - REAL MONSTERS

"My kind?" Was the only think she said. It didn't sound like she was offended. There was no sound to her voice. It was consistently monotone. That freaked him out more. Alora knew what he meant. It didn't bother her. He had clearly recognised her from her peculiar indigo uniform and lumped her with the rest of the outcasts he had heard about. Only he didn't know she was the worst of them. 

"Well...you know, weirdos." Her gaze burned him, and he winced. "Sorry."

She continued to stare. That's all she did, stare. She removed her eyes and looked back out the window. "I'm meeting someone."

"Your friend, Dracula?" The boy chuckled to himself as if to lighten the mood. Alora did not find him funny. 

"Bram Stoker is an ancestor of my best friend." Ex best friend but this was no time for technicalities. Bram Stoker had written his novel based on Vlad Dracula, the ruler of Romania during the 15th century. He met one of Vlad's ancestors during a trip around Eastern Europe. The entire Dracula line were known to be infamous vampires. The vampire shared his stories with Bram Stoker and then turned him into a vampire for equal measure. Hence why Mira was born a vampire and not a normie. 

"Of course, he is." The barista muttered as he could imagine that much crazy coming from a Nevermore student. "I thought you Nevermore students weren't allowed in Jericho. How did you get out?"

Alora snapped her head to the barista, finally frustrated. "What part of 'meeting someone' did you not understand? Go away."

The boy's eyes widened at her outburst. "Sorry, I was just trying to be polite."

Alora allowed herself to look the boy in the eyes this time. "Normies are never polite about us."

The boy wanted to protest. He wasn't like everyone else. Yes, he thought she was weird, but he didn't hate her for it. He wanted to know more. But there was only so much he could do. He couldn't force her to talk to him. "I guess I'll leave you to it then."

The barista walked away, and Alora muttered a thanks to God in her head. The door opened again for the Weathervane Café. Heels clipped along the brown hardwood floors. They walked ten steps before they stood in front of the witch. Alora saw the indigo uniform in her peripheral vision. She knew she was right. Her eyes trailed up the Nevermore uniform to the strands of medium brown hair and then the face that tied it all together. 

"You." It seemed Alora was in fact meeting with Dracula. Mira Stoker stood in front of the girl with a sour look on her face. She seemed just as unhappy to see Alora which was surprising since she sent the invitation. Mira slid into the seat in front of Alora. It made sense now. Mira hated Alora. As the new queen bee, she couldn't risk anyone catching her sharing a word with Alora. However, Alora wasn't sure if meeting in a public place was for Mira's safety or hers. "Isn't this a surprise."

"I'm not happy about this either." Mira told her. She too, crossed her arms in front of her chest. Here were two stubborn, angry girls against each other. 

"Well, then tell me what forced you to speak to me today." Mira grew angrier. She forgot how much she could hate Alora Thorpe. She never used to hate her and after spending so long away from her, she forgot how annoying and emotionless she can be. Mira reached into the pocket of her striped blazer and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She took the liberty of unfolding it herself before handing the picture to Alora. 

Alora snatched the paper out of Mira's hand mostly for emphasis. She wanted Mira to know that she was angry too. She looked down at the piece of paper. On it was a drawing, one of a figure standing over a body in what looked like the Nevermore courtyard. On closer inspection, Alora that the body was in fact her and she could not make out the figure. Mira watched her face closely, but Alora's face remained blank. She gestured the paper to the vampire. "What is this?"