Half Blood Rising

I was disoriented, trying to deal with the overwhelming dizziness. The other mage was already walking towards me, and I didn't even have time to react. The blade was in deep, and I felt hopeless. He moved towards me quickly, then lifted me above the ground, mumbling something to himself, and I screamed out in pain. Damn it. I should have walked away when I had the chance, and now this was going to be the end of me. I couldn't bloody fight. I was too worn out after last night, and I could feel that damn blade scraping against my ribs.

"What are you, creature-vampire and something else?" he asked. He had his hand wrapped around my throat, and my legs were dangling above the floor. He was a fucking moron. Obviously, I wasn't going to answer, because he was suffocating me. In that moment, I genuinely thought I was dying.

His eyes were dark brown and bloodshot. I stared at him, trying to inhale the last bits of oxygen and remain conscious. What little energy I had was gone, and the world around me began spinning. In that moment, I did the one thing I could think of-I kicked him between his legs.

After all, living on the streets had taught me a few things, and considering I had no will power, that worked. He howled in pain and then released me, grabbing his crotch. I crashed to the ground, thinking that this couldn't have gone any worse. Pain exploded on my left side and I panted, crawling away. Split seconds later, someone was shouting something in Ukrainian. It was probably Pedro.

The mage was cursing me out, trying to use his magic to bind me to him. Someway, and I had no idea how, I managed to pull the blade from my ribs. Blood began pouring from the wound as I pressed my hand against it. I needed to get the hell out of here.

In the distance, I could see the other mage; he had his back turned to me, and it looked like he was talking to Pedro. Then they turned around. The other mage was still screaming in pain as I began walking in the opposite direction. My entire body felt like it was almost limbless, but I didn't want to die in this pathetic basement. I dragged my feet, panting, and tried to ignore the dizziness.

The exit was so close, when Marcus began shouting at someone to stop me. Then smoke started filling the space. I felt delirious, my strength was diminishing with every passing second. He was creating fire, and when I glanced back, I saw Pedro lying in a pool of blood. He was dead.

Several seconds later, I found the green door and pushed the exit bar as hard as I could. The bright sun blinded me, and I found myself outside in the yard.

It was bloody hot, but I knew I had to run if I wanted to live, even if my life wasn't worth it. My legs began working before my brain could figure out what was going on. The mage was probably after me, I'd heard too much. The wound was quickly closing-being half-vampire had saved me. I kept running, not looking back.

Moments later, I found an old jacket near the dumpsters and slipped it on to hide my bloodied T-shirt. The dull pain in my chest slowed me down. The wound eventually healed for the most part, but it would take some time until I was at full strength. I was still only half-vampire, and I didn't have a blood donor to speed up the healing process-this was not one of the perks.

Soon enough, I walked towards the busy street, blending into the crowd. A few times, I glanced behind me, wondering if the mage was still tracking me. My breathing was shallow, and I had to sit for a minute here and there, but I was too afraid to stop for any length of time.

Half an hour later, I found myself in the Jewish quarter near my friend Melody's place. I always said that I would never bother her when I was in trouble, but right now everything was falling apart. She had a lot on her plate herself, but I was out of options. She was the only person I knew who spoke English, and the only other person I'd gotten to know in the city.

We'd met outside one of the fountains near her home. I had overheard her conversation with her keeper, they were speaking in English. Melody's parents had died when she was very young, and she was brought up by a witch community. It had only taken me a few moments to figure out that she was a witch herself. She didn't seem very happy about it, and when she'd been left alone by the fountain, I'd walked up to her. It had been something I'd never done before. I'd normally stayed away from other supernaturals, but that day, I felt so damn lonely and I'd just taken the risk.

It was a good decision and we instantly clicked. Maybe it was the fact we were both desperate to have some kind of connection with another being.

That had been two years ago. We couldn't meet up too often, because Melody was studying and working at the same time to become a member of the coven. I wouldn't beg and I wasn't a thief, but I needed to eat, fuel my body with some energy. She lived in the Sykhivskyi district in an old town house with other witches. I wasn't particularly welcome there, but she managed to convince them that I was a friend, not the enemy. They didn't like vampires-they didn't trust them.

Her coven was strict, and Melody wasn't allowed to go out very often like most other teenagers.

Although it was healing on its own, the damn cut had been deep, and I had to tell her what I heard, get another perspective on the case. Besides, after the past shitty few days I'd had, I just needed to see a friendly face.

I kept thinking about the vampire I'd bumped into, the handsome yet arrogant blond who'd ignored me. He obviously had some sort of connection to the mages in the basement. My experience with male vampires was non-existent. I avoided them at all costs.

Well, maybe I'd been in a relationship before, but how was I supposed to know? I couldn't remember a damn thing. So, that territory was closed off. I couldn't risk getting involved with anyone.

It took me over an hour to get to the Sykhivskyi district, and I used the local bus. Sometimes they had conductors, but today I was lucky. My legs felt like they were slowly going to give out, so walking in this heat was out of the question. I knocked on the door to her house, and another witch from the kitchen let me in. The smell of freshly baked bread hit me, and my mouth started watering almost instantly.

"Jaymin, oh, my God-what happened to you?" My friend's high-pitched voice startled me all of a sudden, then she wrapped me in a warm embrace. Melody liked fruity perfumes. She was dark haired and looked a lot like a Gypsy girl from the caravan site, but apparently her parents were from the United States, as was the whole coven of witches. "Is that blood?"

Moments later, she dragged me to the kitchen filled with a few Ukrainian witches. They were all staring at me, whispering amongst themselves. I was a little overwhelmed by all the different smells. My stomach rumbled so loudly that Melody must have heard it, because she quickly said:

"You must be starving, dear Lord. Kasia, quickly give her some stew!"

"Oh, great, I'll heal quicker once I have some food in my stomach," I mumbled. She grabbed my face and looked into my vampire eyes. Her magic was strong; it flooded through my system and relieved some of the pain. Melody always knew if there was something wrong.

"Anna is upstairs, so for now, we can talk," she said. "She'll be busy for a bit. How long has it been since you've eaten a proper meal?"

"Don't really remember," I said, although I did remember. Five days ago, I'd spent the last of my money on dumplings. The meal was delicious, and since then, I had a few other bits and bobs, but nothing super nutritious.

She began giving orders in Ukrainian to the cook named Kasia. She didn't seem very happy, but five minutes later, I sat down at the small table with a huge bowl of freshly made stew. I started eating way too fast, burning my tongue in the process, because I was so damn hungry.

"Woah, slow down. You're going to give yourself a bad stomach-ache," she said, but the food was so good. She was right; I needed to savour it for a bit longer. I dipped the bread, imagining having this every day. Getting food was my main issue, and when I did have money, I had to manage it well.

"Vampire's don't get stomach-aches, remember?" I said between mouthfuls. It was then that I began to realise there wasn't going to be any more money coming in. Tristan's betrayal struck me once again (it was a hard pill to swallow), and I had no idea how I was going to survive the winter months. The stew vanished quickly, and Melody made me eat a second helping.

The wound had completely healed half an hour later, and I felt heavy but satisfied. I finally had a full stomach.

"Tell me everything that happened," Melody said, once we stepped outside. "I don't want Anna to see you here. You know how she reacts, and I have a client coming in ten minutes." It was a bit cooler in the shade and Melody pulled out a cigarette. She was a smoking witch, and I didn't judge. She tried to talk Anna into letting me stay here, but her keeper didn't want to hear anything about it. She wanted Melody to stay away from me. My friend didn't have an easy life at all. She had to work really hard, pretend to be this great fortune teller and study during the night. She didn't get paid; Anna was only giving her some pocket money. Besides, this wasn't my place, and I didn't want to be a burden. Living on the streets had its perks at times, but now I truly needed to think about relocating, or worse-getting any sort of job in order to survive.

I didn't want to worry Melody, but I told her about my unfortunate meeting with Tristan and the near-death experience at the bar. I needed to vent, at least today.

Her eyes went wide, and she inhaled more smoke into her lungs. Every supernatural in the city had heard about the Elite Academy one way or another. This complicated things a lot more. The two mages had seen my face and they would eventually track me down.

I would probably have to leave the city.

"For the saint demon, they're going to target the admission officer. You need to speak to the council," she said, and her hands began sparkling with magic.

"And tell them what? That I overheard them plotting against the most powerful school in the world?" I said. "Don't be silly, no one would believe me. Besides, I still don't know what I am, and they might want to run some sort of tests on me. I really don't want to be checked or even questioned. Tristan crossed the line. Now I don't even have an income. I can't call him anymore if I kill another fugitive." All right. Maybe I'd said too much, but she was willing to listen, and we hadn't seen each other for weeks. Melody couldn't help me, anyway, but I rarely had a chance to talk to another person who wasn't trying to kill me. "Maybe they can at least tell you who you were before, you know—"

"No, Melody, it's too dangerous," I said, sighing loudly. "I heard what they do to supernaturals like me. I have magic, and that combined with my vampire nature is a lethal mix. I just have to figure something out maybe get a job,"

She rolled her eyes. "For like one dollar an hour, no... let me speak to this client of mine. He's half-fae and he works for a mage. Maybe they can get you something. You never know," she added, then we heard the loud, slightly scratchy voice of her keeper.

"Melody, what are you doing down there? Mr. Ivanov is waiting, and you haven't even practised today!"

"You better go before she finds out I ate here," I said to her, knowing Anna was a cruel bitch. She had used her magic to discipline Melody when she was a little girl. My friend had no other options. She could run, but she would end up on the streets like me.

I had to go because she had a client and Anna hated me, anyway. Melody's face paled a bit, and she told me that she'd try to get out and speak to me in a more neutral setting. Now that she was older, she could get away at times. Anna couldn't control Melody as well as she had when she was a child. I quickly walked away, feeling more tired than before. It was probably the food I'd consumed.

The sun was blazing, and I suspected that the temperature was getting close to the mid-thirties. I'd forgotten to ask Melody for a flask of water. Now I was thirsty.

I started walking, wondering what direction I should take next. I didn't know where to go, and half an hour later, I realised I was being followed by a strange female supernatural. She was wearing plain clothes (not the colours of the High Council), but it was her eyes that caught my attention. They were glowing in a bright shade of yellow, like the eyes of a fae. I had never seen her before, and I was suddenly scared. She kept eyeing me up and down, speeding up when I did, and slowing down when I changed my pace. This wasn't good. Crap. Maybe she was with Marcus.

Panicking again, I quickly walked into the corner alley and then slipped inside a small coffee shop, thinking that if she wanted to attack me, she would have done so by now. The Ukrainian woman behind the counter didn't seem too pleased that I'd interrupted her break time. At least the place had air conditioning, and I felt so much better after getting out of the heat. It was an impulsive decision. I just wanted to see if the stranger had really been following me, or if I was being paranoid.

"How can I help you?" the hostess asked, placing a menu on the table. This was awkward. I had no money, but I was thirsty, and I could do with a drink. Silence filled the space.

"We will take two lemonades with plenty of ice, thank you," said someone else who suddenly sat down opposite me. It was the supernatural fae who'd been following me just a moment ago. I didn't even hear her walking into the café. It seemed she just appeared out of nowhere. She smiled at me and I didn't move, thinking that maybe she wasn't the enemy after all.00000☐☐☐☐☐☐☐