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"Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions." -Albert Einstein
Year 2113. 10:00 AM. Academia Astra, A City.
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Pretzels were never my favorite snack.
Nevertheless they held a special part of my heart after that day. Regrettably, I never found out who that little boy was.
Four years in the Academia had passed and I had made some other friends. It got easier after joining student clubs.
Even Lizzie's consistency in causing me problems became easier to dodge as the days went by.
The Academia itself proved to be not as sketchy as I originally thought.
Save for the fact that we had enormous school grounds which had everything inside it; it could pass as quite normal.
It had club activities, sports events, school fests and the academic stuff which had been harsher than other regular schools. The academics had been a struggle even for me. But, if I strived with everything I got, chances were I could probably make the grade.
If anything, the Academia appeared to be somewhat close to an actual superior training institute or similar to what might have been a conservatoire for a brand new kind of army.
It was bizarre in a way since we were given extraordinary activities analogous to skill trainings. A lot of that involved what featured survival techniques or life skills.
Sometimes it substantially felt like they were priming us for a survival game in a world saturated with dangers.
Still, I was thankful that my stay in the Academia did not equate to finding my corpse dumped outside The Walls.
Then again, I still had not met with the lord.
I could be wrong.
While I had never got wind of any alarming incidents, I couldn't shake the little doubt that inhabits the depths of my mind. I had chosen to be wary of other realistic situations that might arise.
Each semester, the specialized tasks got more and more unorthodox.
And because we were mostly kids with powerful cognition and curious air castles, it did not take long for stories to float around.
That being said, Academia legends were famous and passed down from one year level to another.
These hearsays were so diverse which were practically about whatsoever a creative mind could invent.
Like ghost sightings in the dorms to as absurd as human experiments in the Academia Headquarters.
Lately, a new rumor began circulating among us.
The whole kit and caboodle started with the building in the west of the dorms which was off-limits to all the students.
It was supposed that a seventeen-year old senior once attempted his infiltration skills in one of the building's floors and what he saw was a nightmare that had come to life.
Outrageous rumors were that he was found dead the next day. With his body completely drained of blood, sporting cuts and wounds all over.
The most distinct one was a deep bite mark on his neck. Two fatal punctures on the length of his left external carotid artery.
I shrugged for the nth time since we sat on the richly varnished wooden bench.
"I'm telling you vampires," I said with the best serious voice I could muster. "They just do not exist."
I was talking to my seatmate, Alexia Wheatley. We were seated side by side in the medical research facility within the infirmary, waiting for our names to be called for the blood testing.
Hence, her newfound energy and persistence regarding the vampire chatters.
Lexi transferred into the Academia a year after I did. We instantly became friends during Year II Studies. She possessed pretty grey eyes and soft curls on her adorable ash blonde hair.
"They had to be real, Sky," Lexi insisted. Her eyes were wide and bursting with excitement. "It would be so scary but. . . it would be so cool if they hid one in the HQ."
HQ was our abbreviation for the academy's headquarters. That was one of the few areas which were restricted from the student body. A perfect setting for the birth of all kinds of tales.
"Do you think we will meet one?" She grinned at me.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her. As much as I would have loved to play the role of a wonderful friend, I was just not in the mood to humor her.
"Among the legends, I would think the human experiments would be most possible," I said nonchalantly.
Because none of them were remotely possible. At least that was what I assumed.
I never believed in those apologues. They were labeled fantasies for a very good reason.
Besides, there was no official news about a corpse or a missing student.
If anyone was killed, Butchenberg or Scarlett would have warded us off the west wing.
It would be ridiculous.
If vampires were real then mermaids, werewolves, zombies, faeries, aliens or whatever mythical creatures should be existing too.
"But what if they are hiding among us? They might be pretending to be human." She gasped then half grinned at me.
Lexi wriggled in enthusiasm under her baby pink patient gown which was the female design counterpart of the blue patient gowns provided to male students.
"If they were real, we would be blood bags by now." I watched as her grin faded into a scowl from the corner of my eyes. "Because, Lex, immortal—remember? They'd outnumber us."
Lexi scoffed. I knew she would try to convince me into her vampire obsessions.
She was in love with an old vampire novel with characters that had shimmering skin.
It was an excellent book, really. I knew because I read that previously. Just that I never adored the idea of being bitten and getting my blood sucked by the person I'd love.
Also, I hated having my blood drawn out. It was never a pleasant experience for me.
And by experience, I meant undergoing blood tests with all those injections and stuff.
Just like today.
Best explained why I was in my worst mood.
It was just one of those days when all students had to line-up in the infirmary, get checked, and have the yoctochips adjusted.
This was a regular routine in the medical research facility of the Academia much to my dismay.
As they said, one of the perks of being an Academia student was you get examined every month or two just to ensure that you were mentally stable and healthy.
I deemed it was a way to figure out if any of us were infected with the world's deadliest virus. The one virus that killed nearly everything and everyone in the old world.
It was most lethal because it had no cure, could incubate for unpredictable days or years, and then would flare up devoid of any known cause.
Still the scariest mystery in the medical department to this day, in my opinion.
Being constantly under observation was toxic. While it was not entirely pointless, I still was not fond of visiting the research facility.
I had established strong displeasure towards it and thought the place was eerie. It had always spooked me ever since the first time they sent me here.
Something about the long narrow hallways, the cold stern ambiance, and the extreme silence was vexing. It made me squirmish whenever I was around this part of the school.
It felt like I was being watched all the time.
I shivered, causing me to rub my palms on the soft pink material of my patient gown.
"Vampires are terrifying but beautiful. They're strong and charming," Lexi continued blabbering. "You just don't know how to appreciate them. Because you're secretly hang up on that pretzels boy."
I snorted but did not dare to argue.
When I shared with her that one time tryst with my mysterious friend, she developed a comprehensive novel-like fantasy about him and me.
However with the amount of years that had gone by left lacking any trace of him, I at times considered perhaps that snippet of my life did not happen at all.
Maybe I just imagined about it as an aftermath of starvation and he was not real.
My eyes shifted to the walls and landed on the digital clock mounted on it. I tried to focus on the blinking digits to dull Lexi's voice and her relentless teasing.
"I think I would date one when I grow up," she sighed.
I failed to resist a groan. She was not yet done with her vampire worship.
"Right, he will love you if your blood type matched his food preferences," I replied sarcastically.
'How could one love a monster?'
A moment ago she was terrified of it and the next thing I knew she planned to date it.
I couldn't help but conclude that Lexi might need fixing of some loose screws.
"You have no romantic bone in you," she remarked. "We're just kids. We don't make sense. Because we shouldn't. We should be free to enjoy romance fantasies, Sky."
I smirked at her comment.
That's where she was gravely mistaken.
I was a sucker for fairytales. And I had treasured more than enough romance fictions.
But she did not need to know about that.
"I do not need romance, Lex." I gave her a sharp glare. "I need better scores."
I lied. Like any hypocrite would.
Half because I want her to stop talking nonsense love stories. While the other half was because I need to pep talk myself into that lie.
Of course, I still fancied fairytales. I daydreamed about those and delighted in the cheesy feelings whenever I read about sappy endings.
I was also nothing more than a child. But, unlike her, I wasn't free and my focus had to be centered on becoming the best and getting my life back. Crushes or any distractions weren't welcome till I obtain the top student spot.
"Understood, Skyler." She smiled at me, her eyes saying otherwise. "Because you need to impress Lord White in exchange of a favor."
Before I could verbalize an epic retort, we heard a door opening.
"Alexia Wheatley?" a nurse called from the receiving desk.
"Here," Lexi answered, raising one hand. She stood up and winked at me. "If someday, you meet one you have to tell him to date me."
I offered her a dismissive wave of my hand and languidly nodded, watching her follow a nurse into the other room.
It was pointless talking some sense into her head.
Because that fan girl—she was beyond salvation.
"Sure, if that would ever happen," I whispered.