His shoulders stiffen as he remains with his back facing me. “Oh?”
“I’ve been having a reoccurring dream for several years now. And…”
Why am I having such a hard time spitting out the words? I swear I’ve rehearsed these lines so often that I know them by heart.
“…and it involves you. Somehow.”
“Ms. Mitchell,” he turns, and his gaze has turned from black to ringed with silver. Beautiful but alarming. “I appreciate the sentiment that you find me attractive. But you should know that you are a minor and I am your teacher.”
“No that’s not what I?—”
He cuts me off with a raised hand. “I suggest you head to your next class, before the teacher marks you tardy.”
Biting the inside of my cheek, I head out of the classroom, stifling the urge to scream at the top of my lungs.
I don’t know why Mr. Daniels won’t listen to me, but he has to know about my dream! Why else would I be here?
Max
Curling my hand into a fist, I give three sharp bangs against a closed door. If I’m not careful, I could break it in half.
The door opens and it’s a bedraggled woman whose giving me the stink eye. “Do you not realize what time it is?” She hisses but holds the door open for me to step through. Like myself, Valdine is also a teacher; dedicated to helping her students learn about the earth through learning of herbs and plants.
“I’m well aware of the time, Valdine.” She doesn’t have to remind me even as I step through the doorway. I cannot enter a room unless I’m invited, but she’s always been the sort to hear me out rather than shutting the door in my face. Turning to face her, she shuts the door and scrubs a hand across her face. Without her make-up and contacts in place, she’s allowed her true self to appear. Bright violet eyes, white hair, and rippling green skin.
Valdine surveys me from head to toe, then snaps her fingers. A ball of green light appears in the center of the room, just shy away from me. I try not to flinch at the heat, but I know she means me no harm. She’s been the only companion I’vehad since before I turned. She’s been with me as long as I can remember. “Max…you’re shaking like a leaf. What’s wrong?”
I don’t realize I’m shaking until I take an unexpected seat on her bed. Already my heartrate has increased, and I have to shut my eyes. I cannot bother to look at Valdine as I admit aloud, “Blood calls to me.”
“What about the spell?”
My eyes snap open. “It’s not working. I haven’t craved blood in a long time. And yet…something happened today. Suddenly the blood is calling to me.”
Her white eyebrows furrow as she crosses over to where I sit on her mattress but makes no move to join me.
Respectfully we are friends, nothing more, yet sometimes I’d wondered if perhaps her feelings had grown a long time ago. But our kinds can never be together, our races cannot mix. Something in the DNA prohibits us from ever doing so.
“It doesn’t make sense. My spell should’ve worked. Maybe I mixed up ingredients?” She turns and moves over to her desk, flipping through a leather bound book that has seen better days.
I watch her, tired but unable to sleep. I’ve learned to sleep the precious hours of daylight whenever I have a free period. Today however, after my English Lit session, I was forced to feed on an animal in the nearby woods to sate my thirst. Otherwise, I would’ve gone straight to the source of blood that has been singing a siren song to me.
“I’m sure I made this correctly. Do you have the vital on hand?”
Sifting through my pocket, I withdraw the small glass vital and barely a breath leaves me as I stand at her side. Valdine doesn’t even flinch like she used to when we first met.
Vampires are known for speed and agility, heightened senses, and sharp teeth. She’s grown used to me, and I admireher courage. Nothing has ever seemed to scare her, except for maybe humans finding out that she’s a witch.
I recall something of my past life when Valdine had been put to a stake to be burned, branded for being a healer, then I saved her. In return, she’d granted me the one thing I’d never asked for— immorality.
A blessing and a curse. One that we’ve had to be careful about repeatedly. History has a way of making it harder to avoid from happening again. The Salem Witch Trials were nothing of a joke, but a horror. To those humans that weren’t witches, they lost their very lives. To the witches that died, they cursed from their mouths as infernos devoured their flesh and bones alive.
Valdine takes the vital and scans the contents, turning it over bottom up, before handing it back to me. “Looks perfectly fine to me. You’re taking it as needed, right?” She glances at me, violet eyes peering up at me.
I nod, frowning down at her. “To an extent. Although today, I’ve taken more than I care to admit.”
“Do you know whose blood is calling you?” She asks, as I stuff the vital back into my pocket. Sighing, I nod again, turning to sit back down on the bed. “Well? Whose is it?”
“Dakota Mitchell.”