Chapter Six
I was awake before the alarm went off. I lay there watching as the minutes ticked away. The screeching of the alarm clock echoed through the quiet house. I rolled out of bed and trudged to the bathroom. It was the first day of another day of school on our continuous hunt. I was going to apply and enroll at the only promising place in the town. Later I'd have to check out the two cemeteries. I had to be the only teenager whose parents made her go to creepy cemeteries at night, alone.
"Are you ready?" Mother asked as I descended the stairs.
"I suppose."
"Do you have everything?" Father asked.
"Backpack, notebooks, pencils, and my jacket," I replied.
"I'm not talking about those, Alyssa."
"Yes, I have that," I mumbled.
I opened my coveted black case one last time before we left to make sure all my tools were inside and ready for use. They were.
When we reached the school it wasn't that big but it was creepy, dark, and a bit ominous. I got chills and mouth went dry; the same thing happened when I met Adallan for the first time. A good sign, depending who you asked.
"Are you alright?" Mom asked.
"Yeah, just got the chills."
"Good," Dad said.
"Yeah, good sign. Maybe this wretched mission will finally be over."
Dad held the heavy front door open for mom and I. We were the only people in the hallway. It was eerily quiet.
"I don't like this," I whispered.
"Maybe they're conjuring spells or in the dungeon," Mom whispered back.
The inside of the building wasn't what I expected. Large windows opened out to the forest beyond the border of the school. Towering oaks and pines brought in a wonderful scent of freshness. Sunlight streamed in showing off the wood detailing of the floors, banisters, and walls. It was an old, beautiful building.
We found the headmistresses office on the second floor. The oak door was adorned with a simple gold plaque that read "Mrs. Amelia Heart".
"What a name." I said, rolling my eyes.
"Be nice, Alyssa."
"Sure thing, Mom."
Dad knocked and there was a shuffling from inside. The door knob turned slowly and the old hinges creaked open reluctantly. We were greeted by a tall and statuesque blonde woman. Not what I thought a headmistress in a school for monsters would look like. Of course, I'm not sure what I thought she would look like. Her solemn face softened into a wide smile showing pure white teeth.
"You must be the Johnson's!"
The Johnson's. That's who we are in this town.
"Yes. Miss Heart?" Mom asked, looking at her skeptically.
"Yes. I know. I know I look young. I was a bit of a prodigy when I was in school. I graduated college when I was seventeen and have been teaching ever since. This is actually my first year as headmistress at this particular institution."
"How nice," Mom replied not taking her icy stare off the woman.
Her senses were going crazy. I could see her nostrils flare, her eyes dilated and narrowed. Something was in the school.
"Please come in and sit down. We'll go over Alyssa's application and see what we can do." She wasn't even fazed by the hostility that was oozing from my mother.
"Melissa, relax." Dad put his arm on mom's shoulder to calm her down a bit and we followed the woman in.
Her office was lavish. It was a dark green with black carpets. The heavy mahogany desk sat in front of a wall length window that had a beautiful view of the schools courtyard and the outlaying tree line. Book cases were along two of the walls and filled with what appeared to be extremely old books. Miss Heart sat in the plush seat while we sat in the leather arm chairs in front of her. Her smile was intoxicating. She sat back and read through my application and qualifications.
"So you moved her from Washington?"
"Yes."
"Why did you move?"
"Work." Dad replied.
"What sort of work do you do, Mr. Johnson?"
"I'm a neurologist," he replied.
Of all the degrees dad had neurology was his favorite. The human mind fascinated him.
"Interesting," she said, not looking up from the file folder.
"Alyssa, it says here you were on your schools soccer team."
"Yeah."
"Did you like it?"
"It was fun."
"I see. Well, you are definitely smart enough for the school; however, we only accept special and gifted students."
"What do you mean?" Mom asked coldly.
"Well, children with special talents seem to fit in better around here."
"What sort of talents?" Dad asked.
Miss Heart looked at me, her smile disappearing. "Alyssa, I know you and your parents didn't come here just for your father's work."
"Oh?"
"The only students who come to a small town like Clifton Heights is for our school. What is it that you can do?"
"Do?"
"Yes," she replied.
"Well, I um..." mom cut me off.
"You're right. We're not here solely for my husband's work. He was offered a position in a neighboring hospital but our daughter has been exhibiting a few talents, as you put it, was drawing un-do attention to her. Life was becoming increasingly difficult and after much research we found your little school."
"What sort of talents?" Miss Heart asked.
"She seems to be stronger and faster than a lot of the other kids. She also excels at martial arts. She took one class and was able to defeat the teacher."
"I see. Normally we take on students with a bit more, odd, talents, but I can see that your situation is dire. Welcome to our little school, Alyssa. Classes start in half an hour. I'll have the secretary print out your class schedule and get your books for you."
"Already?" I asked surprised.
"Yes."
"Okay," I said.
"Please wait in the main office while I finish up some paperwork with your parents."
I got up and walked out of the lush office and down the hallway to where the main office was. Inside a pudgy, little woman was happily typing away at an ancient computer. She looked up and her chipmunk cheeks were a bright red and she started to giggle.
"Alyssa?"
"Um, yeah. That's me."
"Wonderful." The pudgy woman giggled.
She did a bit more typing and I heard the whir of an old printer. The school definitely needed an update. When it was done she got up and waddled to the corner. She ripped off a piece of paper and waddled back to the main counter.
"Here you go, honey. Wait just a jiff and I'll get your text books for you. You're taking the advanced classes right?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Wonderful." She giggled again and scurried to a back room.
I stood there drumming my fingers on the desk waiting for her when I heard the door behind me open and slide shut. I turned my eyes to the left and saw him standing there. His dark hair was a tousled mess and his face expressionless. If his hair hadn't moved I would've thought he was a statue. I stood there staring into his blue eyes. His porcelain skin was flawless and contrasted against his dark head of hair. I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something different about this boy or that he somehow looked familiar. His expression never changed as he stared back at me. His perfectly, beautiful face didn't move. His eyes locked on mine. I was mesmerized.
Blake.
"Hun?" The pudgy secretary called to me.
"Huh?"
"I said your things are ready."
"Oh okay. Thanks."
"Here is your class schedule and here's a map of the school grounds." She placed the folded piece of paper on top of my books."
"Great," I mumbled. I looked around trying to find him. My heart thudded against my chest. Even if this wasn't the nest there was a vampire here. Perhaps not a dangerous one, but one none the less.
"Have a great first day and please have all your teachers sign this." She handed me another sheet of paper listing all my teachers on it."
"Yeah, sure," I said as I stuffed my books into my shoulder bag.
"What can I do for you, Blake?" I heard her giggle as she greeted the boy.
It is Blake! What is he doing here!
I didn't wait around to hear what he needed. I wanted to get to my first class and find out if we were right or not about the nest. I could find out about Blake later. I scanned over my schedule. It seemed to be a normal high school class schedule. Nothing odd, no Vampire 101, Ghosting for beginners. My first class was Advanced English.
Great. English. As if I haven't had enough English classes to last me a life time.
I looked on the map and saw that I had to make my way all the way across campus. I groaned and began my trek to English. It was bad enough being the new student but now I'm new and late. I could see the top of the building I needed. The courtyard was silent. The windows for the classes either had blackout curtains or they were tinted. Either way that was odd. I just put my head down and kept on walking. I got the feeling that somebody was following me. I turned and saw the boy again. He was walking rather quickly in my direction. The same expressionless look on his face. I slowed down and moved to the side. He glided right past me. I don't know what it is about him but I felt this immense attraction to him. His t-shirt fit snuggly against his muscular torso and his jeans hugged at his hips. His hair flowed gently in the wind as he walked to the building I was heading toward. What were the chances we'd have the same class? I stopped and stared as I saw him walking up the stairs that seemed to wind around the front windows. The only windows that weren't blacked out. He stopped near the top and peered down at me. He cocked his head to the side and there seemed to be the slightest hint of a smile playing at his lips. He turned and was gone.
Damn you, Blake. What are you doing here?
The stairs leading to the classroom were long and narrow. They reminded me of dungeon stairs. I shuddered remembering my lovely tour of the Tower of England. It was an awful place back then and now it's a tourist attraction. At the top there was a hallway with doors on either side. At the top of the stairs was a small sign that read "English Department".
"At least I know I'm in the right spot. Okay so I need room number 2-2-5," I said to myself.
I walked down the lonely, dark corridor looking at the doors, which were all numbered. I found the room I had to be in half way down. I heard mumbling from the other side and groaned as I realized class had begun. I turned the knob and slowly opened the door. Everything got quiet. I stepped over the threshold and handed the slip of paper to the teacher. He was a tall man with dark curly hair and piercing emerald green eyes.
"Miss Johnson, please tell us a little about yourself." He said, not looking up from the paper.
"Great," I muttered under my breath.
"What was that?" he asked, peaking up from under his glasses.
"Sure thing." I smiled. "Well, I moved here from Washington with my parents."
"Did you always live there?" he asked.
"Um, well, no. We've moved around a bit."
"Why's that?"
My face flushed red. No teacher ever really cared.
Stop asking questions!
"Well, for their jobs and I'm a bit different than other kids."
"We all are," he muttered.
"Right," I said, nodding my head.
I looked up at the students for the first time and everything seemed normal, but then I gasped. This was definitely the right place. I was smack dab in the middle of a monsters den.
"Please close your mouth. It's impolite to stare," he grumbled.
"Oh, right. Sorry. I'm just used to being the only odd one."
"Well I'm Mr. Corwin and welcome to Advanced English. You can take a seat at the back next to Derek."
A blonde haired boy looked up at me. He stared from behind dark sunglasses. He didn't look long. I saw a girl with long blonde hair kick him in the shin and he quickly looked back down. I assumed it was his girlfriend. I smiled at her and took my seat. I just got a dirty look. A black haired girl was sitting on the other side of me.
"Hi, I'm Chloe."
"I'm Alyssa."
"Don't pay attention to Herades, she's jealous of all the girls here."
"Herades?"
"She's one of the demi's," Chloe whispered.
I stole a look at the gorgeous blonde girl. "What's a demi?"
"You really are new aren't you?" She laughed.
"Yeah," I said, turning red.
What did I walk into?
"She's a demi-god. Her father is one of the Greek gods."
"Really?" I just about shit my pants.
If I kill a demi-god will that bring the Greek Gods down on us? I can handle monsters, not Gods.
"Yeah. So what makes you a freak?"
"What?" I snapped.
"You know, what's wrong with you that brought you here."
"Oh, um, I'm really fast, super strong, and I became an expert in Martial Arts with one class."
"That's it?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah, I guess. Unless more starts to happen. I could grow a tail. Why are you here?"
"Well, have you ever heard of Imhotep?"
"Bad guy from the Mummy movies?"
She groaned and shook her head. "Yeah, him."
"Yeah I've seen the movies."
"Well, the real guy. The ancient priest. He's my dad."
"Wow."
"Yeah."
"Is he as bad as in the movies?"
"Not anymore. He's chilled out since I was born."
"That's, just, wow."
"Yeah. See why you're lucky."
"Yeah."
"What's with Derek's glasses."
"Son of Medusa. If he doesn't wear the glasses he'll turn everyone to stone."
"Wow."
"He has two sisters."
"Is everyone something here?"
"Yes."
"I see."
"Who is she?" I asked.
"That's Daniela Iup."
"Iup?"
"It's Romanian for wolf."
"Let me guess..."
"Yup, werewolf. There are a few werewolves and were-cats."
"How do they get along?"
"When they're not in were form they're fine. Were form tends to be chaos."
I sat back in my seat and looked around the classroom. This was it. It was real, but they weren't the savage monsters I'd encountered throughout my travels. They actually seemed like normal teenagers.
"Ladies, do you mind if I continue class?" Mr. Corwin interrupted.
"Sorry, sir," we both replied.
I was glad for the interruption. I had a lot to process. My parents had no idea they just dropped me into a whole world of trouble. At least it would be if anyone ever found out who I was. I sat in the class staring at the book but not paying attention. I'd had this same subject hundreds of times in hundreds of schools. My mind drifted through the different scenarios that could take place. One thing was certain; as soon as I got home we were sending a letter to the Hunter's Guild. My heart was thumping. I could hear it in my ears. Looking up, I saw the same guy from earlier staring at me. I threw a piece of paper at Chloe, when she looked at me I motioned to the guy who had put his head back down.
Don't you ignore me. I know you know who I am.
"What's his deal?"
"That's Blake. He's a vampire." She said it as though of all creatures here, that was a bad thing.
"A vampire." I kept my eyes on him, willing him with my mind to look back up.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I croaked out.
I looked back at him and he was staring again. The look on his face sent my blood cold. I swallowed hard and tore my eyes away from him. He was stone faced, a complete turnaround from ninety years ago.
"He is single," Chloe whispered from her book.
"So?"
"You haven't stopped staring at him for ten minutes." She giggled.
"Oh," I said, feeling my cheeks flush.
A bell resounded through the halls, class was over. I got up, slowly put my books into my bag, and left the class. I felt a shove from behind. I turned to see Heradas standing there.
"What's your problem?" I asked.
"I saw you staring at my boyfriend," she yelled.
"I wasn't staring at anyone."
"You were staring at Derek."
"Whatever," I mumbled as I turned to go to the stairs.
She reached out and spun me around by my shoulder bag, arm cocked, ready to hit me. She let her fist fly and I ducked out of the way, sweeping my legs under hers, knocking her on her back. I jumped up and stepped on her wrist.
"Don't try that again."
"What kind of freak are you?" she yelled, pulling her arm from under my foot.
"No worse than you," I snapped, picking up my bag and walking to the stairs.
"You'll never belong here."
I spun around and looked at her. "And that's different than any other school I've been at how?"
She had nothing to say, at least not while I was still there. I left them all standing there. I wanted to leave, to run away and get started on our plan to destroy them.
I looked at my schedule and saw that I had history next in the first building. I sat on the grass next to a tree and stared at the papers for a few minutes.
If I leave now there won't be an element of surprise. They'll know I'm the hunter when we return. If I stay I have to put up with that snooty bitch.
I sighed, picked up my backpack and trudged to Early American History.
"Hey," Blake said, walking up beside me.
"What." I growled.
"Put the claws away."
I looked over at him. The sun shone off his pale, white skin and he was smiling.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap."
"It's alright. I saw what you did to Herades."
"Oh, that. I guess I went a little overboard."
"No, she's had it coming to her."
"I probably shouldn't have been so rough, though."
"You're still the same, Alyssa."
"Yeah. Unfortunately."
"Why are you here, Blake?" I asked, stopping halfway across the courtyard.
He shrugged his shoulders and looked up at the sky.
"And how are you enjoying this beautifully, sunny day?"
He held up his hand, on it was a golden ring with a blood red ruby in the center. I gasped when I saw it. It was the same one that Adallan wore.
"I have that ring."
"You have one of them."
"How many are there?" I asked.
"Two."
"I see."
"Why are you here, Alyssa?"
"You know why I'm here."
"This isn't the place for you. There aren't any monsters here."
"I'm just doing my job, Blake. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Leave them be."
"What is your problem?" I asked.
"Your Guild. They're not protecting the greater like you think. At one point in time they did good in this world, but not anymore. Now they send out their mercenaries to kill the innocent."
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"Look around you, Alyssa. Do these kids seem like monsters?"
"No."
"How did you hear about our little school?"
"My mother found out about it. A hunch or something," I replied.
"There is a reason they're so picky. There is a reason it's so far out of the way," Blake said, walking away from me.
My mind was swimming.
"What class are you heading to now?" he asked.
"Early American History," I said.
"I'll walk you."
"Why?"
"Despite what you are, you're still Alyssa. I remember fighting that coven with you all those years ago."
He walked me to class that day and every day after that. He helped me to ease into the pace of things. We became close. Closer than I ever thought I would be to him. I was able to see into his life, his existence. He wasn't a mindless killing machine. He had feelings, a heart, personality, and was able to show compassion and love. Everything I was taught that monsters didn't have. I was growing closer to all of them.