A D O N I S
Transferring into a class filled with witches and fairies made me borderline nauseous. At least the vampires I could stand. But it's necessary, I believe I'll be able to find people out more easily this way.
"And that concludes today's lecture," the professor says as he drops the piece of chalk. "Now, I'd like to do an exercise today. Partner up with the person behind you, as long as they are not the same species as you, and go out to the courtyard."
I swear under my breath. I turn around to see who it is I'm paired up with.
"You've got to be kidding," I whisper as I look at the big brown eyes belonging to Valeria.
She smiles at me. I don't.
Normally when people talk to me as much as she has been, I tell them to fuck off, and if they don't listen, I make them. But I don't with her. I suspect her of possibly being an Angel. The more I talk to her, the more I see her, the more I'm more likely to see her slip up.
Valeria stands across from me as we stand on the grass. I look down at her. The professor calls out, "Okay! Now, the person on the left, act as if you were going to attack. And the person on the right, practice your defense - but don't hurt them!"
"Tell me if I hurt you, okay?" she says. I laugh. She doesn't like this. "What?"
"You're not capable of hurting me, little witch," I state like a fact.
"Valeria," she corrects. "And I believe that I am. And after physically, hopefully, it'll hurt that ego, too."
She has confidence. But I know I'm stronger than her. No matter what she is, angel, witch, whatever, demons are stronger than any other being. And the only ones stronger than me are my father and brother. I tell her, "Try and attack me."
Witches don't fight. They use spells. I think that maybe I had gotten her, had her figured out, and realize that she couldn't do magic. But she raises her hand, it's supposed to send me flying back, I feel the energy hit my chest in an attempt to push me, but my feet remain planted.
She looks confused. She looks at her hand as if she had done something wrong. I take a step toward her, she tries to do it again, but she's unable to move me. She tries other spells, ones that are supposed to inflict pain, but I just take them while continuing to walk toward her.
Once I'm close enough, I grab her arm. She tries to get out but I turn her around and have the back of her body pressed against the front of mine, I hold her in place, and she grunts as she tries to get out of my strength. I lean down and say in her ear, "I'm not a weak vampire like the rest of these idiots."
"Weak, maybe not," she says as she finally gives up trying to get out of my grip. "But an idiot, yes."
I let her go. She quickly steps away from me and rubs her hands against the wrinkles that form on her clothing. The teacher calls out, "That's the end of today's class, I'll see you all next week! Enjoy your weekend!"
The old bell rang. But we continued to stare at each other. Maybe I was wrong, she was a witch.
"Be careful who you threaten, Valeria," I say as I start walking past her, but pause just before her. "Especially those who are stronger than you."
I keep walking. I feel her cocoa-colored eyes on me as I walk back inside. I started to doubt if she was an angel - angels typically are not that weak. But I wouldn't rule it out just yet.
𓆩♡𓆪
On weekends, you are allowed to stay out later than usual. You can stay out until 12, unlike 10 on the weekdays. Tomorrow night I will meet with my father, I'll return to the underworld, and tell him what I've found. My results so far have been lackluster.
At 1 am, I made my way to the library. It was dark. The moonlight and stars shined through the windows. Humans are constantly at the mercy of the moon, stars, and sun. All it takes is for one of them to move, to come toward Earth, to wipe them all out.
I hold the Bible in my hands. I am surprised it does not burn me. My eyes read the words on the old pages.
"The sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."
I wonder if that will happen the day I kill Gabriel. If the moon will drip blood like rain onto me.
"What are you doing out here this late?" I hear a voice say through the shut door leading to the hallway. I shut the book and walk closer to the window in the door. I see a man, I'm not sure his name, stopping a girl who looked scared. "You don't need to look scared. I'm not going to get you in trouble."
"You're not?" the girl questions.
"No, of course not," the guy says quickly. "I'm just trying to look out for you. I don't want you getting in trouble. And you shouldn't be breaking the rules, anyway."
The girl nods, and the boy smiles. He says, "Come on. I'll walk you to your room."
"Thank you, Finn," the girl smiles back at him.
Finn. I remembered the name. Angels constantly feel the need to help people, to give them advice, to protect them, to guide them. His actions raised suspicion for me.
"Somebody has the only copy of The Massacre at Paris checked out," the soft voice behind me says. "That wouldn't happen to be you. Would it?"
I turn around. Valeria stands, leaning on the bookshelf, her light brown hair wavy. I take a few steps toward her. I ask, "Have you put a tracking spell on me, and that's why you're following me?"
She rolls her eyes. She replies, "Not everything is about you, Adonis. I'm here to get a book."
She stops leaning against the shelf and reaches for a book. I recognized it as Wuthering Heights. I watch her as she quickly flicks through the pages to ensure they are still all there.
"Not like it'll make you any smarter," I say. She shuts the book and gives me an annoyed look.
"And you?" she questions. She takes a step toward me in the dark library. "Do you think you're smart, Adonis?"
I nod, "I'd say smarter than you. Although the bar is not set very high with that."
"I see now why everybody is either scared of you or dislikes you," she crosses her arms.
"You aren't, and you don't," I observe.
She gives me a confused look. She asks, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You can't seem to stay away from me," I say. There is now no distance between us. My hands had killed many, thousands, they could easily kill her. "You seem to be behind me, everywhere I turn."
"Maybe you're just looking for me to be there," she matches my tone. My face remains the same. I will not show emotion.
Her sarcasm, her banter, suddenly it all drops. Her deep eyes look all over my face, her dark eyebrows tug together. I can smell her perfume.
"They say such awful things about you," she says. She looks confused as she says them, maybe sympathetic, she was trying to understand why. She was trying to understand because she didn't know me. But the second she truly knew me, she would hate me the same way all of them do. Everybody hates those stronger than them. "Why?"
I'm not sure what to say to the short girl in front of me who holds a book she snuck out to get.
"Believe them, Valeria," I say. "It will make things quite simpler."
Before she can say anything, the door to the library opens behind me and a flashlight is on. I turn around, blocking Valeria with my body. One of the professors, in the clothes they must've been sleeping in, shines their flashlight at me. They demand, "Go back to your room, Mr. Priest, before this results in detention."
I don't turn around to say anything to Valeria. I walk forward, leaving her to stay hidden in the bookshelves. She would've gotten a detention easily. The teachers, they are a little scared of me, although they won't admit it. So they aren't as strict with me.
As I enter my room and shut the door behind me, I look at the book in my hands. Wuthering Heights. I took it out of her hands as I turned around. I don't know why. I didn't want to read it. I already had, twice.
I toss it on my desk, change my clothes, and get into my bed. I think about the guy I saw in the hallway. Finn.
I think he will be my first victim.
Word Count: 1533