Banner Picture by reignbows
Companion Song:
Teenage Dream by Katy Perry
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Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance, until we die
You and I, will be young forever
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"Akuma!" I shout as I enter the nearly empty boys' hallway on the third floor of the Ketu dormitories. I walk past the bare stone walls which are layered with benign mildew just like the girls' side, but compared to the floors occupied by the first and second year Ketu students below, I think they are pretty clean. The rooms are mostly empty because everyone has gone to the courtyard for the second round of the tag tournament, and most of our team is probably already on the field. I overslept, and Murie left me a note telling me to bring Akuma.
I bang on his door. He doesn't open it, so I bang again. I can hear him shuffling inside, but he seems like he needs a little more encouragement, so I bang one more time as loud as I can without breaking it down. Finally, he cracks the door open and looks outside with half closed eyes and a yawn. His eyes are red like he didn't have a good night's rest, and I don't blame him for it. Part of me wants to let him stay asleep, but we need him in the match and he needs to get out of his room and away from his dejected thoughts.
"Let's go, the game starts in a few minutes!" I say as cheerily as I can.
He grumbles an uncommitted "okay" while he scratches his bare chest.
"Stop touching your muscles, and let's go before Murie gets angry!" I tell him a little more strictly.
When I mention Murie's name, he opens his eyes wider and lets his head drop down with a deep exhale. "Okay," he says again but with more commitment. "Just let me take a quick shower."
"Alright, hurry up!" I say shooing him towards the bathroom.
He ignores my adorable attempts at getting him to hurry, but he does grab his towel and head toward the showers, so I don't yell at him.
As I wait for him to come back from what he assured me was going to be a quick pit stop, I see Mark run out of his room, checking his watch. I move to the side against the wall so he can get by, but he slows to a stop when he notices me.
"Hey," he says with an awkward smile that just makes me feel awkward too.
"Hi," I manage to say without making it sound too quizzical.
"I'm sorry about going off on you the other day in detention," he apologizes, "I didn't drink any blood that day, so I was just annoyed at everything. That's how I ended up in detention in the first place."
The hunger, I know it too well from the rest of my family who get irritable whenever they haven't had blood in a while. Every so often I get the feeling it affects me, too, but I don't need the blood, at least not yet. "It's fine; I get it," I tell him.
He gives me another apologetic smile, and I can see his canines are already noticeably longer than his other teeth. I look up at his eyes and see that the irises are sharp red. It almost feels like he wants another taste of blood so I take a careful step back.
"I'll see you on the field," I say.
Mark shakes his head, and I see the red disappear from his eyes. When he talks again, his teeth are all the same size. "Just had breakfast; I'm still digesting, sorry," he says before running out towards the field.
I start to think about what will happen to me after I die. My memories of the blood rage and hunger of the vampires I know makes me want to never become one of them. But I am one of them. Or, I will be as soon as I die. I just don't know if I want it to happen. I could easily get Old Rev. Tom to stop it like so many others do, but a part of me feels like that would be denying who I am. I'm not like Mark. I wasn't born human, even if I am basically a human before my rebirth. I come from the single ancient line of blue vampires who were the first of our kind, long before violets existed, so the blood sucking and killing and immortal life are a part of who I am. Aren't they?
I'm lost in my thoughts when Akuma gets back from his shower. I let him pass by to finish getting ready in his room and so I can get my mind focused on the match we're about to play. As soon as he is dressed in his fully black outfit for the day, we rush to the match.
The teams are lined up in the middle of the field as the last few members of each side arrive. Our opponents are wearing the colors of Wyvern Style and trading insults with our friends and teammates. "It's the team of freaks and wannabes! Don't touch them; you might catch something nasty!" they taunt us.
"Did you come up with that yourself or did your butler write it down for you?" someone on our side retorts.
"By jolly, we have butlers! We should let our butlers beat these... horses? Goats? Animals? What the hell are these things, anyway?" one of them insults.
"Did mommy and daddy forget to buy you glasses or are you just too stupid to know the difference?" Murie shouts back.
The energy on the field is fierce. Murie is too caught up in the trash talking to realize Akuma and I are there. Rex is also lost in the testy exchanges, laughing at the insults thrown by Notre, so we settle in as a couple more people drift in on both sides.
"Alright, enough of the insults!" Professor Kirke, the first year history teacher who's refereeing the match, steps in before things get out of control. "Are both sides ready?"
We move back to the endzone on our side as the Wyverns move to theirs. We wave our arms to show that we are ready, and the Wyverns do the same. After a repeat of the rules, Professor Kirke blows the whistle and we're off.
I rush toward the middle of the field to get a hold of a shield that will protect me from the pellets that will turn me lime green. Akuma is close behind, but I lose track of him once the pellets start flying. I almost get hit when someone from the other team uses a spell to trip me, but I manage to save myself with the shield I land on.
A Wyvern player tries to pull the shield away from my hands, but he gets hit and turns grey before being whisked away into our paralysis zone. I look back and see Mark, Teadle, and Faust standing back to back in a triangle shooting off pellets at players all around us.
Murie is next to them overexerting herself again. A flip in the air followed by another lands her in middle of a group of Wyvern students. Her large, black-tipped ears are perked and she runs up to the first, throwing him into the air for Faust to shoot. She jumps off the chest of another and lands on the shoulders of a third to avoid pellets aimed at her. One more flip and she jumps off the shoulders of the Wyvern player who gets hit with his own team's shot.
Murie isn't the only one making big plays, though. On the other side of the field, I see a couple of Wyvern players leading their shooters on a fast track through our team. The tall guy with blonde hair waves his wand around at lightning speed, dodging and ducking and striking like a professional fencer. The sorceress near him conjures up bubbles which slow down our players so the shooters they lead can target them easily. Both of them rush in my direction, and I don't wait around to see what happens next.
I ditch my shield and try to run, but a pellet hits me square in the back. Before I can even turn to see who got me, I'm teleported into the Wyvern endzone and paralyzed into a statue. I'm not the only one that gets hit. I watch from the always weirdly calm vantage point in the endzone and see my teammates quickly get tagged and teleported one by one. The Wyvern team gains ground fast.
I see Akuma again for the first time since the beginning of the match. He's casting spells without aiming and walking around like his mind is somewhere else. His mind probably is somewhere else, and it's keeping him from being our best slow-motion spell weaver. Faust yells at him to get his head back in the game, but Akuma doesn't seem to hear.
I see Rex farther away. He's dodging and running as best as he can, but in his human form, he's too slow and nowhere near agile enough to keep it up for long. He gets hit and teleported to the endzone too. Then Notre gets hit, and so does half the rest of our team.
Murie doesn't let the changing tide stop her. I watch her charge into the fray of Wyverns on her way to Akuma. "Snap out of it!" she shouts at him. Akuma gives her a nonchalant mumble, so she slaps him and shouts again.
"Agh, okay!" Akuma finally relents. He finally looks like he's shaken himself out of his rut, especially when he starts shooting out his spells at breakneck speed like a finely tuned machine gun. It's like he's channeling his sadness into anger and releasing it with every spell he throws. His aim is perfect, and with his help our team gain some ground again.
The success is short lived. There are too many Wyvern players still active for our team to keep them back. I watch as one of them runs to our endzone to pull out a few of his teammates. I try to shout so our team notices, but it's useless. Sound can only come into the paralysis zone; it can't exit.
The new wave of Wyvern students pushes our team to the limit. Murie gets hit midair while she's busy dodging two other pellets aimed at her. Once she's gone, the shooters on our team are easier prey. Teadle gets nicked, so he's transported out.
Akuma goes into a frenzy right after Murie is hit. He starts casting spells twice as fast as before, and it works for long enough to give Mark an opportunity to rope Notre out of the endzone. Notre pulls Rex and Teadle out, and Teadle pulls me. As soon as I'm free, I pull Murie out, and it's like a set of dominoes. Pretty soon, most of the Ketu team is back on the field, and we outnumber the Wyverns finally.
The tide of the game changes as we gain huge momentum. Someone on our team takes out the blonde spellcaster on their team, and I manage to distract the sorceress long enough for Notre to grab hold of her and throw her into the air for Mark to shoot. Murie helps Faust take out one of their shooters, and it's easy after that. We keep attacking, and when the last one of their team turns grey, I hear the whistle blow announcing Ketu year three as the winners.
"Yes!" Murie runs up to me and tackles me to the ground, shouting with joy. She plants a million kisses on my cheek, and I shudder when she licks my face. Sometimes I really hate her thrope personality. I push her off me just as Akuma comes up smiling and panting for air.
"We - did - it. - We - won," he says while wiping his sweaty forehead still trying to catch his breath. He seems to be in a much better mood than before.
Murie changes her focus to him, and I can't be happier. She jumps into him, and he tries to hold her up before collapsing to the ground. "We're in the semi-finals!" she shouts. Akuma lies on the ground sprawled out as Murie bounces on him repeating the phrase over and over.
I shake my head at their dramatic overacting and sit down to let them finish, but the smile on my face fades fast. I see Rex in the distance talking to Harriet. She must have come to watch the match, and I'm okay with that. But I'm not okay with the way she acts around my Rex. Both of their expressions look serious, and Harriet keep waving her arms like she's pleading with him for something. Rex puts a hand on her shoulder and I feel my stomach clench. When they lean in for a hug, my fist and teeth clench too. I can't stand that bitch.
"Don't let it worry you," Murie purrs into my ear.
I flinch at the sudden realization that she is that close to me. I turn and her giant yellow eyes are right in my face. I shiver involuntarily. Sometimes she just creeps me out.
Murie smiles and I see her sharp teeth which creep me out even more because she is so close to my face. "You have that dinner date with him later, so don't worry," she says.
I drop my shoulders with a sigh. She's right, I agree, and I need to go clean up for it.
A few hours later, I'm sitting in my chair nervously shaking my foot waiting for Rex to show up. I'm more nervous than I really should be, but seeing him hug Harriet today, especially after the spat I had with her a week ago, makes me feel like tonight is do or die. I have to get him to realize I'm the one for him before Harriet takes him away from me for another year.
I hear a knock on my door, so I do a quick mirror check to see that my black and red polka dot top really is the cutest thing I have right now. I make sure my lip gloss is perfect and open the door knowing it's Rex.
"Hi," he says with a cute smile I could stare at for the rest of my life.
"Hi," I mumble back at him. My heart is beating too fast for no reason at all, and my fingers keep fidgeting. I'm too busy trying to keep calm that I don't realize I never invited him in.
"You, uh... Want to go?" he says awkwardly.
Crap, why am I so stupid? I yell at myself in my head but answer him with a simple "yes."
"Great," he says holding his arm out for me to grab.
I put mine through his, and he leads me away. I don't know where he's taking me, but I don't care. I'm just glad to be with him, and I'm glad he didn't hold my fight with Harriet against me.
"You don't mind going somewhere off-campus do you?" he asks me.
I shake my head with a shy smile. Say something, idiot!
"Great, then I'm going to take you across the forest to the best sandwich place in the city," he says with another dashing smile.
"Across the forest? That's so far!" I blurt out without thinking.
Rex gives me yet another smile, and I feel my heart literally turn into a puddle of mush. "Not if we fly," he says.
"Fly?" I ask, confused at how he expects me to fly.
"Yup," he nods his head before taking a few steps back from me. He holds out his arm telling me to keep my distance, and I watch as he crumbles to the ground.
"Rex!" I shout worried that he is sick, but he only warns me to keep back again. Then I realize he's just forcing himself into a transformation. I know it must hurt him, so I am flattered he's willing to go through it for me.
A minute later he stands up again looking less human and more gorgeous angel. "Ready?" he asks.
I nod and he swoops me up into his arms and takes off at a determined speed. The forest is at least a couple miles long, so I wonder if he will be able to make it the whole way without stopping.
He looks down at me after a while, and I blush. I can take his beautiful eyes looking into mine, even this near to me, but I can't take it when he's carrying me in his arms too. I turn away, but I have nothing to hide the color rushing to my face.
"It's a great night out isn't it?" he asks.
I dare to look back at him, but he's already turned away, focusing on where we are headed again. Sigh. "Yeah," I say dreamily lost in the moment and my fantasies of him.
He looks back down and smiles, and I freak out and turn my head away too quickly. I almost fall out of his arms, but he pulls me in tighter and I accidentally shriek as I grab onto him closer than ever.
"Sorry," he says for something he knows was totally my fault.
I don't reply, and neither of us talk again until the edge of the forest becomes visible, but neither of us stop holding each other so close either. When we reach the treeline, Rex drops down and lets me out of his arms. The air feels just a bit colder without the warmth of his body surrounding me.
"I'll be back," he tells me before disappearing into the trees.
I know he's just going to turn back to his human form, so I don't ask questions. It's magical law not to reveal ourselves to humans, erm... overts, unless absolutely impossible. Vampires might be able get away with stating the need for blood every now and then, but thropes would never be able to claim innocence when it isn't a full moon.
Rex walks out of the woods again, looking like he did at the beginning of the date. "Let's go," he says holding out his arm for me again.
I pull my arms through his, and we walk for a few minutes until we reach the only busy parking lot in the small, quiet town.
"Welcome to The Big Score, the best sub shop this side of the Mississippi," he says while using his arm to present the restaurant like a game show prize. When we walk in, the tables are filled with people eating all kinds of submarine sandwiches and drinking the specialty frozen lemonade punch. "I know we're technically not supposed to leave campus unless we have a real reason to, but you have to admit this place is worth it."
I'm amused by his love for the place, but I decide to have a little fun with him. "We'll see how I feel after I try the food."
"Oh you won't be disappointed," he reassures me.
We sit down on a couple empty stools at the counter because none of the tables are open. I get an order of avocado turkey on pretzel bread and he orders an albacore tuna melt. "You have to get a lemonade punch from here," he says right before ordering one for each of us. "It's amazing."
I don't know why but I find Rex's energy infectious. I'm not as nervous as I was before, and I realize Rex has loosened up a bit too. He's not as quiet and reserved here with me as he is at school. I don't know if it's the restaurant or me, or if it's the fact that we aren't at Pionscor, but he's a little different than I always pictured him in school. I like it.
"It's crazy how this place is so busy and so close to Pionscor, but no one notices it, right?" he tells me more than asks me.
"Yeah," I agree. "I guess the repel charms really work pretty well."
"Yup, I think the camouflage spell was probably overkill. I don't think anyone even cares about anything other than The Big Score around here," he jokes.
I don't really see what's funny, but I laugh anyway. I don't know why.
"So..." he starts up again, hesitating a little. "I'm sorry about being so distant since the concert."
I don't know what to say, so I just stare at him.
"I... uh..." he stumbles, but I still have no idea where he's going with this. I'm glad he's apologizing, but it was my fault for getting into the fight with Harriet. He doesn't have anything to apologize for. "I was just feeling a bit weird after the concert."
"Weird?" I ask.
He plays with a strand of his hair and doesn't look up at me. "Yeah, weird. I was just freaking out a little because I was in my thrope form for so long."
Crap. "That was totally my fault. I should have let you put me down. I'm so sorry," I blurt out, but he shakes his head.
"No, it's not that It's just... I used to be made fun of a lot for my transformations growing up. I'm just... It's not... I'm just not completely over it yet."
"Oh," is all I can say. I know how he must feel. Being a vampire isn't the same, but magicals outnumber vampiric, therianthropic, and chimeric people by an enormous amount. I get made fun of all the time, but being a blue vampire only made it worse growing up because I wasn't just teased for being a 'bloodsucker.' I was also teased by violets because I was different.
I want to hug Rex to make his discomfort disappear or at least hold his hand so he knows I'm there for him, but I can't. I'm too afraid the sudden touch will push him away from me.
"I know how you feel," I finally say. "Growing up a blue vampire wasn't easy." He gives me an understanding smile but doesn't say anything, so I keep talking. "My parents always wanted me to keep the old traditions of our family and heritage, being extremely polite and classy no matter what. Even when other vampires made fun of me because I won't ever be able to sire new bite-childs, my parents expected me to stay calm and polite. 'Respect is only earned by giving it,' they always say. Sometimes I just wish I wasn't a blue vampire..." I trail my words at the end with a sigh. The memories of my childhood start to bring me down.
"I love your eyes," Rex says out of nowhere.
I look up and see him staring right into my eyes. I can feel the color rush to my cheeks again, so I turn away and stare as hard as I can at my glass of lemonade punch. Ugh, stupid, stupid, stupid! Act cool! He's just a guy. Just a guy... that I'm completely and totally obsessed with...
We finish dinner without saying too much else, and Rex flies me back to Pionscor. The entire time, I'm replaying his words in my mind. I love your eyes. Sigh. He makes me swoon, and I can't help it if I wanted to.
When we reach the Ketu common room, we awkwardly stall our goodbyes. "So... that was a good dinner," he says.
"Yeah it was - really good," I agree.
"So what are you going to do now?" he asks.
"I don't know. I have some homework, but it's not due tomorrow," I mumble hoping he has something better in mind.
"Oh cool."
"Yeah," I say.
Neither of us wants the night to end, and I run through a million ideas in my head to make it last longer. None of them really make any sense, and the ones that do require too much work that involves time travel and months of preparation.
"Hey, can you guys keep it down a little? We're trying to study," says a voice coming from a girl sitting at the table. There are other students around her, and they all look at us like we just interrupted a major religious ceremony.
"Sorry," Rex apologizes to them. "You want to talk in my room?" he asks me.
"Yes!" I respond almost too fast. I turn my head away before he notices me blushing again.
Rex's room isn't exactly messy, but there are a few things stacked in places that are meant for sitting - like his chair. We end up sitting side by side on his bed, and I can barely keep my mind calm. I'm too excited and my thoughts keep rushing to places they shouldn't be. Think, woman, think! Make conversation.
"Thanks," I blurt out.
"For what?"
"For saying you love my eyes," I say forcing myself to keep looking at him even though I'm sure my face is as red as a tomato.
This time he looks away, but I notice a big smile on his face.
"I... I love the way you are in your thrope form," I say, and he turns his head back to me wide wide eyes. "I think it's beautiful."
He slowly closes his eyes, and for some reason I do the same until mine are only half open. He leans into me, and for some reason I lean into him. No, it's not some reason. I want to kiss him, so when he tilts his head, I close my eyes and move my chin up. I purse my lips and let them separate just barely. Rex kisses me, and it feels even better than the last time.
When he stops, he keeps his forehead touching mine. Our noses are less than an inch apart. "Thank you," he says in such a sweet way that I just want to lunge forward and kiss him again and again and again.
I try to control myself, but I can't. I lunge forward so quickly that I knock him back onto the bed. We don't stop kissing, though - not until he pushes me back so he can take off his shirt. When I see his washboard abs, I jump right back on top of him. I tell myself I should have more control, and my parents' talks of proper behavior for a young lady play in my head. But I can't help it. I want to be with Rex too much, and I give in.
He takes off my top and kisses me again. We roll over so he's on top of me, and we keep kissing. I pull at his jeans and accidentally unbutton them, so he stops kissing me and sits up. I prop myself on my elbow watching him, but he doesn't get off me completely.
The look in his eyes is hesitant. I can see him thinking the exact same thing I am. I shouldn't be doing this, but I really want to. I sit up and put my hand on his chest. He looks at me with another smile that makes me gush. I pull him in for another kiss and the rest just seems like a trip to neverland. I never want to come back from this land.
I wake up the next morning cuddled in Rex's arms. A smile I can't control creeps onto my face, and I turn to look at his. He's still asleep, so I poke his nose. He wrinkles it in his sleep, and it makes me giggle. I poke again, and this time he wakes up.
"Hi," he says with a grin.
"Hi," I whisper back. I still can't believe what happened last night, but I'm glad it did. This just felt right.
Rex gets up and pulls his hair into a tight ponytail before he turns to put on his shirt, and my heart skips a beat. Just below his neck, in between his shoulder blades, there's a tattoo of Harriet's name. I have to lean forward to keep from hyperventilating. Why? Why her?
Rex turns around to see me bent over, and he asks "Are you okay?"
I try to talk, but I can't say anything because my head is spinning. I point at him and manage to get "tattoo" out. His face suddenly looks like he's seen a ghost, and I feel like my heart just jumped into my throat.
"I can... I can explain," he finally says.
I just look at him waiting for him to go on.
"I..." he hesitates.
"When did you get it?" I manage to croak out. I know I have to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"I... uh..." he stalls.
I don't like the way he doesn't answer me directly. I can only think of the worst. He's still not over Harriet.
"... Summer," he finally says as tears come to my eyes.
I don't stop to hear him say anything else. I run out of there. I can't believe I fell for it. He doesn't love me. Even if he thinks he does. He's just using me to get over Harriet.
* * *
"And you will definitely be serving the frozen lemonade punch on Saturday?" Rex asked the girl at the counter for the fifth time.
"Yes," she replied drawing out the word to show her annoyance. "For the last time, we serve it everyday, and we've never run out of it since the restaurant started."
Rex thanked her and almost asked about the food menu before noticing her pleasant smile had turned into an annoyed scowl. Instead he just nodded and headed back to Pionscor.
Having visited The Big Score for the fourth time to make sure he had the location down perfectly, he hovered over the forest looking towards the castle. Now that the dinner had been taken care of, he needed to make sure the travel to the restaurant would go smoothly too.
He was carrying a backpack of heavy weights and breathing hard as the sweat dripped off his body. There was only one thing on his mind: Get strong enough to carry Ivy across the forest without stopping. He had been too distant with Ivy recently, and he needed to make the night a spectacular one if she was going to be able to let his aloofness slide.
He was going to show Ivy a good time even if it killed him. Screwing up the night would only make him recoil into his isolation again, so with a determined look, he pulled a couple weights out of the bag and started another set of deadlifts in the air.