Cassian Legacy: The Vampire Prince

Even though I arrived with ninety percent of the uniform on, disheveled and flustered, none of my teachers brought up the subject. It seemed I was allowed to look this way one day out of the month - at least other kids got away with it more than once. I handed in every assignment and quiz I had finished, except the essay that I had written for English which sat on the floor of my bedroom several streets away. I still couldn’t believe I had left it…

But once I arrived in English, Dr. Edwards didn’t ask where my essay was. He greeted me by smiling, and instantly related the news that Finn Tierney found my paper on the floor in the south hallway and directed the material to him rather than go about searching the student body for me which was completely ludicrous because I suspected that Finn knew exactly where I was.

The interesting component here was that he hadn’t used compulsion on the man. He had typed, printed or hand written a huge assignment and plastered my name on it so that I would get some sort of grade, plus he made sure it was turned in on time with an elaborate lie that wouldn’t make it look like I cheated. Bravo, Finn. Most days I’d be angry about this type of behavior, but I didn’t care at this point. I was exhausted, and tired of looking like I rolled out of bed.

Once I hit the cafeteria, I was ready for the end of school. And it was in there that one of the older Prefects took it upon themselves to bar my entrance into the room until I presented myself in the official school uniform. They caused a scene. Already several people watched in earnest, wondering what the outcome would be. Unfortunately for the two of them, Finn chose that moment to walk up and excuse us both, allowing my entry into the noisy room. For once I had the perfect answer of how I could avoid the thunder dome, but that simple idea was tossed into the dumpster in a matter of seconds once Finn manipulated their words.

I abhorred the thought that I might have to thank him publicly so I threw him an exasperated look and hurried away to the table where my friends talked before he could say anything more. The good thing about only carrying assignments you handed in was by the time your classes were over, everything you carried was gone. I had nothing, except my keys. I stomped past his table where his bodyguards sat, and flung my body into the open seat near Nate.

They stopped conversing upon my appearance, and each one of them took turns judging my clothes and wild hair. Though they never said a word, I imagined the thoughts that went through their minds. Obviously they knew something was wrong. It wasn’t until Seth fell into his seat that the conversation opened up again.

“So what happened?” he continued our chat from chemistry. “You look a little upset with Finn.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Of course I was upset with him, but I didn’t want Finn knowing that. Some part of me knew he listened in on this conversation. “It’s not Finn. I was up all night studying and nearly didn’t make it here.”

“Where’s your bag?” Mallory noticed I didn’t have it in my possession. She peered under the table, making sure I hadn’t brought it with me. She wouldn’t be disappointed.

“It’s at home.”

All at once they gave me looks of pity and understanding. And then they did something I never thought would happen, at least to someone like me. They all took pieces of their food off their trays and handed them to me. They even handed me a spoon and a piece of a napkin, so I could eat something. I had apple slices and a half of a banana, the crust and part of left over pizza, which Nate sawed away from where his teeth touched it, shredded chicken, and a cupcake all pushed in front of me. I stared at the food and looked at each of them in return.

“I can’t have this,” I whined. Hadn’t they noticed by now I didn’t eat here?

“Why not?” Krista cocked her head.

I pushed the selection back towards them. “You guys eat it.”

“I don’t need the cupcake,” Krista said. “I’m trying to watch my figure.”

The rest of them mumbled excuses like that, though I was sure the two guys commented on the fact of being full rather than gripe about their weight. They weren’t going to eat it, and they wouldn’t take it back even though I tried sneaking their food back onto their plates when they weren’t looking. Whatever the outcome, I ended up eating the stuff and found that it tasted good, much better than what I expected. I hadn’t eaten a lot of human food in a few hundred years, so I expected it to taste bland and boring, like it was stuffed with vitamins and minerals for the general populace.

Toward the end of lunch they all discussed what plans they had for the weekend, but didn’t make anything definite. With about five minutes left to go, the atmosphere shifted, and Finn stood up, facing in my direction. I heard him move the instant he set his foot on the ground and his chair was displaced backwards. As he walked towards us, the students behind him quieted down. Several couples and neighbors stopped talking and looked in our direction, noticing that he approached our table.

Almost at once, my friends realized the sudden change in climate. Krista’s jaw dropped open and Nate tried to manually shut it, until she swatted him away, closed her mouth, and pointed right at Finn. Then Nate naturally looked alarmed by his sudden presence at our table, and Seth’s eyes went wide while Mallory froze in place. Only I replaced my calm demeanor into a taciturn, suspicious façade.

“I saw you didn’t have anything to drink,” he began, staring right at me. “So I got you one. I think you’ll like it.” He set a smaller bottle of grape juice down before me. It was already open, and the rich scent of blood filled my nose.

Mallory looked like she wanted to taste the contents of the bottle, not even knowing what was hidden in its depths. It must’ve been a huge honor to see him offer one of his specially bottled drinks to someone else. He walked away from me, without waiting for an answer.

I stared at the thing, and heard him mumble from somewhere near the door. “It won’t drink itself, and you could use it.”

I gritted my teeth. How did he know? And yet how dare he? I don’t know what angered me more, the fact that he knew about the blood or that he offered me a share in his partaking of the stuff. All this time he had been drinking blood over at that table, in view of the entire student body, disguised as mediocre sparkling grape soda, otherwise known as cheap wine for eighteen year olds. No wonder he felt so at ease. No wonder his complexion was always flawless. And no wonder his compulsion was so powerful.

I was so angry right now my fury didn’t even encompass the entire room. I didn’t dare touch the bottle. If that stuff was meant for vampires then that meant the blood was human and not synthetic. The others had no clue what the contents held, they wouldn’t even smell the difference until their nose got near the neck.

Mallory’s hand snaked out and she nearly touched the bottle, “If you’re not going to drink it…”

Before she could lay her hands on the object, I snatched the thing out of her reach and stood up. “I need to return this.”

The four of them clamped their mouths shut like they tried to keep their laughter inside, but I saw their bodies shake and ripple with the effect. In fact, other people had the same reaction.

I stormed my way out of the lunchroom hearing whispers of Finn’s exploits flood my ears as I passed. The other kids were awed by what he accomplished, and I wondered if he knew what exactly he did himself. Before I completely left the dining hall I overheard one girl telling her pack of friends that this was how he picked out his booty calls.

I resisted the urge to find out who said that and make them change their mind, as it was idle gossip, lunchroom chit-chat that only ended with more rumors and speculation than the actual truth. Besides, it was better that they thought we were some insanely in love couple when we weren’t, rather than her find out the truth of things.

When I emerged into the hall, he was nowhere in sight, having made his escape to who knows where. I sniffed the bottle, finding it smelling less delicious than the human food, but still nonetheless alluring. I tasted it with my tongue, only to see if I’d like it. I didn’t. I found the nearest sink and drained the sucker before throwing away the bottle. He’d never know the difference.