" You were such a tiny bean , when I last saw you " she said , drawing her hands closer as if she was holding an invisible ostrich egg " I could pick you up in my arms " she added , her eyes crinkling in laughter.
Mia looked at the woman , her face was glowing like an iridescent bulb . The woman might have been smiling but something about her told Mia , that she wasn't a woman she would like to cross .
Her mother who have finally gotten out of her shock after being covered in soot and dust , scampered on her feet .
" You're trespassing , I wouldn't do it if I were you . I say you leave my house , right now !"
" Ah , Josephine , its lovely to see you too , how many years has it been ? when was the last time we met ?" said the woman as she turned around to face her mother " Oh that's right , wasn't it when you insisted that your daughter was completely normal ?"
Her mother went pale , flailing her hands jerkily , trying to find a way to retort .
Mia frowned , she thought that the woman was being a tad bit rude . Yes , she might not be at the top of everything , it wasn't to the level where she won't be called normal . But then again , what would be considered normal by a woman who just resurrected out of flaming fire ? .
" Anyways - Mia " said the woman as she turned her back to her mother " A very happy thriteenth birthday, your father would be so proud to see you "
Mia didn't know what her father would be proud about . There was nothing great about her , her grades were average, four out of six days she brought red remarks from her teachers and she fought in school with the boys in the class who made rude jokes about her acting like a guy .
However , Mia was too excited to care about these little minor problems , the mention of her father had set some sort of fireworks inside her .
" My - My father , You - You know him? "
" Of course I do " chuckled the woman
" Then - Then , where is he ? and who are you ?" Mia had hundered or even thousands of questions for the woman , she wanted to ask each one of them but when she spoke only one stupid question came out of her mouth .
" Ah , Forgive me for my imprudence . Haven't introduced myself , have I ?" she leaned closer to Mia and placed a soft , careful hand on her cheek as if the woman was afraid of breaking her , just like how Mia had broken the table . The woman's touch was incredibly warm , it seemed to warm her insides down to her toes " I'm Professor Serafina Dragniere . I will be your teacher in the Guardians academy , Onyx . "
" I'm sorry , I don't understand what you mean " when Professor Serafina didn't explain further , Mia asked .
" Of course , yes " said Professor Serafina frowning " I don't suppose your mother would have told you anything now " , she shot a very angry look at the Campbell's , who cowered under her gaze .
" So where should I start , maybe I should start by explaining about our world ?" fixing Mia with a confused look .
" Stop ! " her mother have finally found her voice " You're not allowed to tell her , I say ! Stop " she spoke in a commanding voice .
Mia was rather surprised at her mother's courage who didn't seem to falter under the furious look that Professor Serafina was giving her , when Professor Serafina spoke each word of her trembled with cold fury .
" Did you just dare to tell me what can I do , Now Josephine , Its bad enough that you decided to keep her away from her identity and to hide her under your weak protection . What were you going to do now that she had reached her awakening? Lock her or bind her in chains ? You cannot control the children of night , Josephine , as you ought to remember "
" Kept? What from me ? " asked Mia eagerly .
" STOP ! YOU CANNOT ! " yelled her mother gasping in horror .
" Mia, you're not exactly human " said Professor Serafina ignoring the shouts of protests " You're a creature of night , a being that the known ones fear "
There was silence in the dining room , Erica had stopped screaming . Only the sound of gentle drizzle can be heard from the outside .
"A what ? no , you're mistaking something here" Mia was prepared for anything but not this , what did professor Serafina meant by she wasn't human , she had seen herself in mirror , and Mia thought she looked quite human in her reflection !
" I know its hard for you accept it . But you need to understand or the veil will shut itself off , you cannot deny your believes , Mia . Not now " Professor Serafina stared at her as if waiting for her to understand it.
" No , My mother is human " said Mia
" And what about your father ?"
Mia turned silent for a few minutes then stammered " He should be a human too - I - I don't look like a monster !"
" Dear Nyx" winced Professor Serafina " Don't say that word , when you're with your peer mates , they will give you a good beating if they heard it . "
" She is not going , you're not taking my daughter away " said Her mother who still looked pale in face yet angrier than Mia had ever seen her . She moved in forward wiping the soot out of her face .
" She is Michael's daughter as much as she is yours , you cannot keep her " sighed Professor Serafina .
" And he had never been there for her ; had he? I am the one who brought up and I refuse to let you take my daughter and make her a freak of nature like you ! I swore that I won't let her become what she shouldn't be ! If anything you don't need to worry about it , Its nothing so bad that I can't stamp it out of her !"
" A freak -? You know , You have always known !" said Mia " You knew I wasn't a complete human !"
" Knew ? Of course I knew . How can I not ? With what your good for nothing father was , How could you not be ? You might think that this is a lot rather exciting but let me tell you its not ! These monsters will tell you how exactly perfect and execllent he is - But I can see the truth - he is nothing more than a freak ! A complete aberration to the society , turning animal blood into something much more consuming for him and his abnormal supporters ! He felt quite proud of not harming any human for their blood but at the end -" here her mother took a very deep breath and then continued " He is still a monster who needs to consume blood , human or not for his survival . He charmed me with his false promises of love , said he is as close as to being human, as I am . But it was only when I spent an year with him , did I realize that there was a grave different between almost human and in being human !"
Mia had gone very white . She tried to take as much information as she can ,finally finding her voice she said " Blood ? He - He is a vampire ?" .
She turned to look at her mother and Professor Serafina , hoping that anyone would refute her , tell her that she was thinking wrong but nobody did . Her mother was looking at her , with an stony expression on her face and ProfessorSerafina gave her a sympathetic smile .
" A half vampire ? That's what I'm ? No - that's not possible "
" Not possible eh ?" said Professor Serafina raising an eyebrow " I bet you have outstripped many running car on just your feet, cannot sleep at night can you ? Don't feel any hunger until the meat is undercooked ?"
" That -"
" Cannot sit still in class , bet you fought a lot in the school ,must have beaten the strongest of them and yet remain unscathed?"
" How do you -"
" You have the blood of a Guardian in you , your mind is haywired for protection and defence of the weak , as Guardian you are impulsive as your reflexes are lot developed than normal human . You cannot will away the urge to fight , your skin is harder than an iron shield , its proves beneficial when you are engaged in a battle , believe it you're a half vampire, one of the creature of Night " .
Mia swallowed , her mind was reeling with so many questions , she didn't knew where to start .
" It doesn't matter , whether or not believe she it ." said her mother , throwing a dirty look at Professor Serafina " She isn't going ! I know why you're doing this Serafina , but you cannot do this , after what he had done to you , How can you stand , doing his bidding like a sorry minion ?"
" I would rather hope you don't speak about it Josephine , It won't bode you well " said Professor Serafina , a raging look of anger surfacing on her face .Under her furious look , Her mother's courage faltered once again .
" but my father " said Mia quietly " Why didn't he come for me before? "
" That's exactly what I -"started her mother but Professor Serafina glared at her shutting her off .
" Your father was engaged in the battle against the dark one's " said Professor Serafina in a low , quiet voice " When your mother decided to run away with you , your father had no idea . He was busy protecting our world , fulfilling his duty as a Guardian . By the time the war ended you were already born , we came for you but your mother insisted that you didn't inherit anything from him ,and your father believed her , of course you look too much like your mother except for your green eyes . Your father didn't want to distrup your life as human and thought it was better for you and him , if he stays further away from you . That was the plan - but then you started showing signs of awakening and the order was alerted , they sent letter about you nearing your awakening and we set out to see whether it was true or not - and its rather distrubing to think that your mother lied knowing what the strength of a half vampire can do " .
" War ? What war ?"
Professor Serafina sat down staring at her with a weary expression " it all began with ' Him ' rising to power , our world have seen someone like him . "
" Him ?"
" We don't call his name .His name became a taboo when he defied Goddess Night with his actions , if you take his name you will suffer a pain even unbearable to a non human "
" Oh "
" Well , he defied the laws of nature , inhuman as we are , we all have a fatal flaw , a weakness that can kill us . But ' Him' cannot , I don't know what he did but he somehow , got over his . No matter how hard we tried , he would always return , never to be harmed or killed . Some of us got scared of him , some were attracted to his power and strength ,seeing how he completelt got rid of his fatal flaw . Terrible times , the most darkest I have ever seen - it stopped only when your father stepped in , fighting 'Him' . He killed ' Him ' , how no one knows but he did . I suppose you will be quite famous in the academy with him being your father " .
A painful throbbing was going on her mind as a familiar chilling voice once again resurfaced from beneath her memories - a very cold and cruel voice . But she wasn't there ! The war ended before she was born .
" So I was right ! " snarled Erica making Mia jump , she had forgotten that they all were still there" I knew it you were not normal ! Didn't I say your father was a freak - now what do you have to say ? You good for nothing dratted miscreant- "
Erica had gone too far because Professor Serafina leaped on her feet . She clicked her fingers making a loud snap and -
Sparks flashed ,a low hissing sound , like that of lighting the match stick and a terrible scream and the next second , Erica ' s entire head was on fire . She jumped around , flapping her hands on her head trying to put the fire off , howling in pain or fear .A sulfurous odour wafted over to them , and Mia wrinkled her nose .
Her mother roared , pulling Erica into the bathroom nearest to the dining room . Stuart followed behind them , Poppy casted a terrified look at Professor Serafina and see too rushed behind her family , slamming the door of the bathroom.
Professor Serafina looked down at Mia .
" Don't look so surprise , didn't I tell you ? There are many more other new ones then just vampire " said Professor Serafina with a small grin .
" what are you ?"
" A descendent of fire breathing Salamander of course , a fire demon "
" And what did my mother meant ? did my father did something terrible to you?"
" Its getting late , we have already lost quite sometime " she said loudly " Lets go , Gotta purchase a lot of things for you and then you need to pick your ride as well , of course that's if you are coming with me"
She flipped her bushy hair back and stalked out of the front door .
Mia casted a look around the room, then she too turned around and followed Professor Serafina out in the cloudy darkness.