4:
"Vampires?" I ask incredulously. Then I scoff, laughing slightly. "No, there is no such thing."
"Well, this is what I want to talk to you about, you see Katie, look at me, look, what do you see?" I shift in my chair, this guy is making me feel uneasy, what nut believes in vampires? He is still eyeing me so I gaze straight at him, my eyes taking in every detail of his face. His complexion is pale, like a milky colour, but there are traces of dark bags under his eyes, as if he had just recovered from a black eye. His eyes, that weird red with the dark rings around, that seemed to seep into the red like my dark ring seeped into the blue, except his is thicker. Framed by dark blonde lashes, he had high cheek bones, and his face did seem a little gaunt. I shrug.
"Yeah, so what."
"Wait, what do you mean so what? Right, look at my teeth" Rolling his eyes he opens his mouth slowly, gleaming white teeth, yeah, so what, why is he so both-
"OH GOD!" I yell, jumping out my chair. Four front teeth, then where the canines should be were thick, yet defined and quite sharp looking fangs, quite big and I watch wide eyed as they elongate, then shrink back in.
"You see, I'm a vampire, how else could you explain that?" I shake my head, my hair swinging about, no, it's not possible, so what if he had fangs, he could of just had some weird surgery. "Look at me, we need to talk, this is incredibly serious." .
"No, No its- it's not possible!" I stutter, no, I can't accept it. My thoughts reel to vampire films, how they drained people of blood and killed so many. I glance up at him, he's stood up but with his fingertips lightly touching the desk, his forehead wrinkles with worry.
"But it is, please, sit down, otherwise you may collapse. I want to tell you this because..." He bites his lip, as if contemplating on telling me.
"Like hell I'm sitting down, you might eat me!" I yell, backing towards the door, if I turn round he might go for the kill.
"Don't be absurd, I promise to not harm you in any single way, sit down." I didn't dare disobey even though everything in my body is telling me to run, his voice is to... powerful. I stepped forward slightly, gauging his reaction, when he didn't move I sat quickly in the chair again. Seeming more relaxed; he sat back down and sighed. "What I'm about to tell you, well, just try to keep calm about it." What could he possibly say that would shock me even more? I gripped the armchair, digging my nails into it.
"Katie, that day when you had the accident, you died."
"Ok and where is the punch line?" I laughed, laughing is better than running away in fear.
"No punch line, you see Katie, to become a vampire, you are either born as one, or die to become one... do you see were I'm heading with this?" My mouth is already half open as he waited for my response. Oh hell no!
"Katie, when you are made into a vampire, you are bitten by one, but, you aren't just bitten, you're killed afterwards. You have to be alive for it to work, and then after you are bitten, and the venom has entered your system - you see because vampires can release a toxin if they like when feeding or just turning someone. So if that vampire wanted you to become a vampire, then he would activate the venom, as it isn't automatically there, it's like... how do I explain... turning on a light switch, if you understand-." I nodded, they turn the venom on and off when they like... got it. "As I was saying, as soon as the venom has entered your system, you have to be killed for it to finally work. Overall the full transformation from human to vampire takes around half a year, maybe less maybe more. So, when you had the car crash, as your father told me, you were alive for a while, long enough for some vampire, to bite you. Then that vampire killed you, I don't know how he or she killed you as I wasn't there, but, now you... are on the road to transformation. What the real question is, are you a normal vampire, or a Daywalker? From the look of your eyes, you will be a day walker." He smiled, as if that gratified things. Everything I had kept inside, like the curiosity of what he had to say, the burning anger of what he says I'm about to become, Burst.
"What the hell! A fucking vampire, pardon my French, I can't be, I would know if I was turning into something! And Vampires aren't real! And, what if I didn't die when I 'crashed' - which by the way I cannot even remember - I woke up perfectly fine-"
"There you have it, you woke up... unharmed, after falling over a thousand feet and crashing into a forest. Now, explain how that is possible."
"I may not have crashed"
"But you did, and you know it deep down, I still don't know why you can't remember crashing, when your father said this I couldn't believe it, as vampires have excellent memories." He smiled, revealing his teeth... fangs, cringe. Wait a second; I felt a light bulb click in my head.
"Wait! If I'm a vampire, then why don't I have fangs?" I smiled at my smartness.
"You don't develop fangs until a few months" I physically deflated. Stupid man, making me feel stupid. "That is why your father sent you here and just think of all the benefits of becoming a vampire... A Daywalker if that, Immortality, incredible speed and strength, all of your senses will be dramatically heightened. You will have a gracefulness ballerina's would die for... and not to mention, beauty and still being able to walk around in the sun."
"But what about blood. I don't want to kill people!"
"We have donors at the academy and you don't start drinking it till you have changed fully, just think Katie..."
So I did, immortality, pretty good deal, living forever.
"And the Power!" Barry grinned.
"What power?"
"Oh, Vampires, especially Daywalker's have Power. Normal Vampires don't have much, but they still have it, Daywalker's have a lot, and there is no way to explain it, you only have to experience it to know what I mean." I'll leave it at that, seen as he's not going to explain.
"What's the difference between Daywalker's and Normal Vampires?" He keeps talking about the difference between them, even though I'm still in mid panic stage, curiosity gets the better of me.
Curiosity killed the cat, pfft, who cares, I'm nosy.
"Normal Vampires burn in sunlight, not to ash, well eventually they could, it's more like powerful sunburn, something we have from our ancestors. It's like lying in the centre of the hottest place on earth where the sun is directly above, caked in oil and having a giant magnifying glass over you."
"Good imagery." I murmur.
"Anyway, yes, a few minutes will give us quite severe sunburn - yes I'm a normal vampire - when I went outside, did you see how quick I was to get us inside. Anyway, I hope you understand me, I'm on a very tight schedule so, I will have Elvis show you to your new dorm."
"ELVIS PRESLEY?!" I screech.
"No... The driver who brought you here, your stuff is already in your room and your timetable for your classes is in Elvis's hands. Just ask for it when you get to him."
"But, I still don't know everything..."
"Well, all you need to know is on the schedule, make some new friends and ask them... I'm busy so please, some other time come back to me and I will try and answer them."
I guess this was my cue to leave. But I still had so many unanswered questions; maybe some downtime will let me think this all over. I'm surprised I'm not hyperventilating and rocking back on forth in a corner. I think I have taken this pretty well. To sum it all up... I'm transforming into a Daywalker (Vampire who can walk around in the day without being harmed) and I will live forever and have incredible speed, strength and gracefulness which I think will actually be cool, yet the downside, I have to drink blood. I have decided Barry doesn't give enough information... not nearly enough. I grab the brass doorknob and enter the entrance hall, closing the door extra quietly just to be polite. I turn round only to find Elvis right in front of me. I gasp and clutch my chest; Jesus the guy frightened the living daylights out of me.
"Ma'am if you will follow me." He turns and walks towards the stairs. My Ugg boots squeak on the polished wooden floor.
"Wait, Elvis, how come you can walk in the sun, I mean, you were outside for ages, and your eyes are like, brown, why aren't they red?"
"Oh I'm not a vampire, I'm human... I just work for them, they pay a lot." I walked beside him up the stairs. At the top there is a hallway that leads straight on and divides at the bottom going two ways. A red carpet going down the middle, reminding me of the actual red carpet they use for celebrities. It goes all the way to the bottom of the stairs we just came up, huh, I didn't even notice it. We continue down the corridor in front of us. Portraits of beautiful people line either side, with a few vases on some wooden pendulums next to it, Adding more to the effect of a home rather than a school. Doors fitted in between the paintings, two next to each other, then another painting and so on. We reached the bottom and turned left, where the furnishing is the same. After we pass a few doors, each with a silver badge and a number on them, we stop at number 434.
"Your roommate should be in there now, school starts at 9pm sharp and finishes at 3:30am, your roommate will explain everything else." Elvis taps on the door with his finger. Surely she wouldn't be able to hear that. The door swings open, and a petite brown haired girl with large red eyes stood with a huge smile on her face. Apart from the red eyes, she looks adorable. She engulfs me in a big hug, completely shocking me as she lifts me from the ground. Elvis walks off leaving me with the girl.
"Oh fiddlesticks, sorry I forgot you're still changing, I'm Arabelle, but you can just call me Ara" she offers me her hand, I shake it and she continues. "God, your eyes, you must be the new Daywalker, I didn't know I'd be rooming with you. Oh what a privilege. When word got round that another one would be coming here, everyone is absolutely ecstatic... oh come in, I'll help you unpack." I follow her inside, I'm not usually quiet, but I couldn't get a word in edgewise. On the west wall are two beds, one closest to the only window, which is tinted, had a poster above it of a rock band called 'Kiss and tell' that I've never heard of. The walls where a comfy brown, with a clock in the middle of the two beds quite high up the wall. Opposite the beds is a door, probably leading to a Bathroom, and in the corner is a TV, quite small but it had a DVD set underneath. The carpet is the same colour as the walls, not as fluffy as I hoped it would be. On the bed closest to me is my stuff, Ara goes and sits on the other bed.
"Right, let's show you around, this is my bed, that's your bed, that door over there leads to the bathroom, which might I add is awesome." I smile and head over to it. White and black marble, all of it, reminding me of my en suite. At least it has a shower and a mirror... and a toilet. No bath though.
"Yeah we didn't have the bath installed cos' showers are quicker and cost less."
I gave her a questioning look, it's like she answered my mind... she just smiles sheepishly.
"I'm Katie Lewis, but you can call me Kate." I say warmly, heading to my bed.
"This all must be so weird for you, especially the danger of being here while transforming, I wouldn't dare come here when I was changing-"
"Wait, what dangers?" Her eyes widened.
"You mean, you haven't been told!" Oh no, I don't like the sound of this, I lean back and cross my legs on the bed.
"No... I've only been told that, I will live forever, I'm changing into a vampire, Daywalker, whatever you want to call it, and that I'm not allowed to know where we are... why is it dangerous?"
"Oh shit, when you're in the changing months, your blood is extreeeemely sweet, and powerful, which tends to attract vampires... for only one reason, feeding. That's why when I changed I practically went incognito, if I were you, I'd be shitting myself right now."
"Wait, so my blood is really good so vampires will want it, and it will make them powerful, all because I'm changing... WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"Oh don't worry; did you feel the heat blast when you came in here?"
"Erm, yeah I did."
"Well that's Power, as in force-field wise, it blocks out anything unwelcome. So, no vampires apart from the ones in this school can get you, and trust me, even though you may be appetising, we never kill fellow students." She smiles, I do feel kinda better now, and at least I won't be sucked dry. I stood up and started to unzip my suitcase when a big flurry of black passed me; I cringed into the sofa and yelped. Ara stuck her arm out, a big smile on her face.
"Oh don't mind Ash" A big black crow rested on her arm, its feathers sleek and shiny.
"Are you aloud animals in here?!" I gasped, it looked menacing.
"Oh yeah" She nodded frowning slightly. "Oh don't tell me you don't know about the Bond?" She eyes me. I slowly shake my head, backing away slightly, almost cowering on my bed.
"Jesus, Barry is a poopernick; he didn't tell you much, did he?" I shook my head again.
"Right. The Bond, is well, a bond, between you and an animal that best suits your personality, for instance the crow, a majestic animal, lively and intense all at the same time. The animal finds you, you don't find the animal, and if you go looking for it you will never find it. This Bond is one of the most powerful things there is. It links you and the animal together, so for as long as you live, so does the animal, when you die, so does the animal. Ash here found me a few weeks ago, bloody hurt as well."
"Why did it hurt?"
"Well, when your animal finally finds you, it well... bites you. That's how the Bond is formed, you know when you have found your animal, well they know when they have found you because they'll try to bite the shit outta you, once the transfer of blood from you to them is made. The Bond... is there. Ash nearly took my arm off. Can you see this scar here" Ash flew and landed on her bed, and she showed me her palm of her left hand, where two - almost silver against her white skin - marks, like two dots, vertical and in line only a few millimetres away from each other. I looked closer to find smaller dots going all the way round the two dots, like two suns.
"That is the mark, we get it when we have Bonded with our animal, and we only get one in a lifetime. That taking of blood they do transforms them as well, so they are also immortal. My Ash is perfect, did you know as your Power grows over time, some vampires have even been able to possess their animal, nothing inhumane, the animal allows it. Wouldn't that be awesome if I could fly." Wow, so I will get an animal which will be mine forever and we will be linked in ways unimaginable.
"So, what animal will I get, a tiger or something?" I ask excited, I sit upright.
"Oh no, usually the animals are birds, the odd snake. There has only ever been one wolf and that belongs to Daniel, the other Daywalker here. I think you will be a... raven. But hey, you never know. Once you get the animal, your minds are linked and they are loyal to you till the end, and it's like they understand you, for instance: Watch this." She turns to Ash, who is plucking at his feathers; he straightens up as soon as he sees her. "Ash, there." She points to the window sill; the bird soars over to the window, flapping its wings as it landed. "See what I mean, over a few years people master the art of telling them telepathically, like, if they wanted the animal to go somewhere or go get something or come find them, they send out a message which only the animal can hear. No matter the distance, the animal will always hear." She smiles, revealing her fangs, it's still such a shock to me, I might collapse over information overload. I wouldn't mind an Eagle, for my animal, and if I'm powerful enough to possess it. That would be so cool to fly. I quickly unpack my things, under the beds are draws which are quite crap, but they'll do, they fit everything in at least. I would like a four legged animal more though, to be honest. Its only 7pm so I quickly shower in the new marble power shower, dressing in my favourite cotton pyjamas I settled into bed, Ara already asleep in a curled up ball sort of, Ash lying on top of her, oh god, it's going to be difficult to sleep tonight with that massive bird watching me. Right, so vampires are real, I'm turning into one, and will be fully changed in a few months when I will have to drink blood... Great.