Chapter 1
Airiana Spark sat patiently on the bleachers next to her best friend, Zoe Stallion.
Zoe was a cute Native American with a small, upturned nose, high cheekbones, full lips, big chocolate brown eyes and clear chocolate skin. She was going through a goth phase and had been for a while. She wore the whole look, black jeans with a black studded belt, a V-neck dark blue tank top, a black zip-up sweatshirt with gothic crosses on it and a big cross necklace that sat on top of her breasts. She had thick dark glossy hair that fell the same length as her necklace. Her side bangs were pulled to the left side, framing her gorgeous face perfectly.
Airiana could tell that she was antsy and bubbly. "Where's Mark?"
"Don't know," Zoe exhaled, practically hopping up and down in her spot on the bleachers.
Airiana sighed. Our principal better be a good one.
Airiana had thick blond hair that was so blond it looked like white clouds on a bright summer day. It was the same length as Zoe's, but she did not have any face framing bangs, her part was in the middle of her head. Airiana had skin as pale as a ghost's and she wore simple clothes, black dress pants and a blue t-shirt that matched her eyes.
A man with black hair and coal black eyes stepped onto the podium. He wore a black suit with a red shirt underneath it.
Airiana chuckled. "He looks like Dracula,"
Zoe shook her head, wrinkling her small nose in disgust. "He looks creepy,"
"Hello students," he said.
The gymnasium fell silent.
"I am Drake Howard, your new principal and I am glad to be in this position,"
Airiana raised her eyebrows. "Wow, his name is close enough to Dracula,"
Zoe laughed.
The new principal went on and on with his speech, boring the crap out of the two girls, talking about anti bullying, school rules and the different sports the school was offering that year. Airiana could feel herself falling asleep, leaning onto Zoe's shoulder until she jabbed Airiana with her elbow.
"OW!" Airiana tried to jab Zoe back but Zoe dodged it perfectly, giggling at her best friend.
The principal continued talking and Airiana listened to him half-heartedly, her eyelids slowly closing again, ready to drift into sleep. "…and I would appreciate it if people didn't budge in the-" Drake's mouth fell open. Oh…my…! Drake had never seen such a beautiful girl in his life.
Airiana shifted in her seat, suddenly feeling wide awake.
Everyone was looking at her.
Airiana could feel the principal's eyes bore into her. "What's going on?" she whispered in Zoe's ear, looking around nervously.
"I don't know, but he sure has the hots for you," Zoe replied, smirking.
Airiana whimpered. Please, just quit looking at me, uh! She started to blush.
The principal finally regained his composure, slightly clearing his throat. "-lunch line. It is very rude, inconsiderate and stressful…"
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The pitiful speech finally ended and Airiana and Zoe walked down the bleachers linking arms. "He's no different from the others," Airiana sighed, "He's just like every other stupid principal except that was weird, wasn't it?! He looked at me for 10 whole seconds!! What was that all about?!"
"Ever had a teacher crush on you?" Zoe asked, laughing.
"No,"
"Well, now you do."
Airiana elbowed Zoe. "Not funny!"
Someone tapped her shoulder.
Zoe whirled around first. "Mark!" she exclaimed, taking Airiana with her, their arms still linked.
"WHOA!" Airiana exclaimed, glaring at Zoe.
"Hey Zoe!" Mark embraced her and Zoe finally let go of Airiana's arm to hug him back.
"I missed you!" Zoe exclaimed, kissing him on the cheek.
Airiana rubbed her sore arm in annoyance.
"Me too," Mark's hair was the same as Zoe's only longer and not as thick. He was also Native American and into the goth phase because he was Zoe's boyfriend. He wore black jeans with a white t-shirt that had graphic gothic designs and a big diamond cross on it.
Mark and Zoe started to kiss passionately and Airiana looked around at the crowds. The only people she knew and were friends with were Zoe and Mark. Everyone else was too snub for Airiana's taste. All the other students competed with one another to be the most smart, athletic or popular. Airiana did not care for that, she wanted real loyal friends.
Someone from behind put a hand on Airiana's shoulder.
Airiana whirled around. "Mr. Howard!" she exclaimed with shock.
Drake smiled. "Hello,"
"Airiana Spark," she said, introducing herself.
"Oh, is that your name?"
"Uh, duh," Airiana rolled her eyes but instantly felt guilty for being so rude.
Zoe and Mark chuckled. They had stopped kissing when they noticed he was there.
Drake narrowed his eyes, then smiled. "Nice to meet you. Who are your… friends?"
"Zoe and Mark, why?"
Drake smiled like he was going to laugh but than his smile dropped, staring into Airiana's eyes.
Airiana frowned, hugging herself, feeling exposed and uncomfortable and not knowing why.
"Well, I hope you get into trouble a lot so we can talk more." Drake winked and turned around walking away to chat with another pair of students.
Airiana shivered and tried to regain her composure.
"Ok, that was weird." Zoe looked at Drake's back with disbelief.
Mark grabbed Airiana's hand and squeezed it. "He better not be a pervert, or I swear, I'll fucking beat him up."
Greg, an overweight boy who was also in the gothic phase and had obviously dyed black hair that hung over his pale baby face, walked up to Airiana. He knelt on the floor and grabbed her hand as if in a proposal. "Will you go out with me?" he asked mockingly.
Several kids nearby chuckled.
Airiana ripped her hand out of his. "EW! NO!" and whirled around and stomped out of the gymnasium.
Greg looked at Zoe and pouted. "She'll never like me,"
Zoe patted his head with sympathy like he was a puppy dog. "Don't worry, she doesn't like anybody." she said in a fake high-pitched voice.
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"What do you think of Mr. Howard?" Zoe asked teasingly. She sat at Airiana's kitchen table, resting her smirking face on her hands.
Airiana grabbed two cokes out of the refrigerator and gave one to Zoe and sat down across from her. "He creeps me out."
"So not any better than the other principals?"
Airiana popped open her soda and looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Actually, I feel like he's worse."
Zoe nodded, her smile disappearing. "Me too."
Zoe had been Airiana's best friend since the 8th grade. Before then, Airiana was the popular girl but she lost her popularity when she started hanging out with the "weird goth girl" and she did not regret it in the slightest. She was glad to be rid of the popularity and all its fakeness, the constant trying to appease other people and catch up with the latest fashion trends. Now Airiana kept it simple, applying light makeup, wearing simple clothes, all she cared about was getting the highest grades in school that she could achieve and graduating with scholarships.
"You're in 11th grade now. Who are you going to date?" Zoe asked, she grinned widely, "I know it's not Greg."
Airiana sighed. "Probably no one, I haven't met the right guy yet... besides, I don't have time for boys right now. All I want is to study and get good grades, you know this."
Zoe nodded. She did already know this. "I figured one day you'd try it. Your young, live your life." Zoe stuck her tongue out at Airiana.
"I'll probably go on dates, but I won't actually date anyone." Airiana said.
"Would your parents let you go on dates? Now that's the real question."
"Yes, but it has to be a guy they trust."
Zoe smiled, leaning back in her chair resting her hands behind her head. "I know I found the right guy," she said dreamily.
Airiana grinned. "Yes, you did,"
"If I wasn't dating him, would you date him?"
Airiana laughed and reached forward swatting her friend's arm.
Zoe sighed, leaning forward and put her hands on her face. "I wonder who your guy could be" she peeked through her fingers, smiling at Airiana.
Airiana frowned. She had dreamed of love a couple times in her life, mostly when she was younger and popular but never really thought about it now that she was older and into her schoolwork. Every time she tried to dream of love these days, she could picture nothing, not even a face. Airiana shrugged, "I should study. Stick around if you want to study with me."
Zoe made a fake gag "Ew, no." and stood up grabbing her backpack. "Later." she grinned and left the house.
Airiana rolled her eyes and went into her room. Her bedroom was simple, painted baby blue walls with bookshelves full of books, fiction and nonfiction, along the walls. She picked up her history book and flopped down on the bed, thumbing through the pages. Her bed was faux fur baby blue with big fluffy faux fur pillows and a white princess canopy hanging around it. Airiana dutifully scribbled notes into her one of many notebooks, soaking up her history lesson. Her phone blipped and she frowned, opening it. A breaking news headline had posted on social media that a body had been found mutilated and drained of blood in her town.
Chapter 2
Later that night, Zoe came back, this time with Mark in tow holding bad mitten rackets, a bag of birdies and Zoe's cat Patricia in a harness. Zoe held the leash while Patricia strained against the harness, longing to be free and Zoe yelled at her cat to stop it and slow down. Airiana shook her head laughing when she pulled back the curtain of the window to see who had showed up.
Patricia was a black cat with bright green glowing eyes, and she started darting between the kid's legs, now free of the leash, chasing imaginary butterflies while the kids played several matches of bad mitten. Zoe and Airiana cursed the most, as they had the worst vocabulary out of the group and swatted the birdies with all their strength, making noises as they hit them like warriors in a sword fight.
"Jeez, its just a game!" Mark exclaimed, as a birdie hit him hard in the eye.
Mark Zoe and Airiana finally fell to the ground, exhausted, their rackets laying across their bellies. Zoe and Mark held hands and gazed up into the beautiful sunset sky, snuggling together.
Airiana picked the grass and weeds that were next to her head, also gazing at the beautiful sky.
"I wish summer was still here," Zoe said wistfully.
"Tell me about it," Airiana murmured. The air already felt a little chilly. Soon the grass would be brown, and the leaves were already starting to change color.
"I don't know if it's just me, but I feel that Mr. Howard is worse than all the other principals we had." Mark stated randomly.
Airiana leaned up on her elbow, squinting at Mark, "It's not just you, it's me too."
"Airiana just said that earlier." Zoe leaned up on her elbow as well, "How about we break into his office and fill his cabinets with whipped cream?"
Mark laughed, "Zoe, what would I do without you?" Mark and Zoe had been best friends since childhood before they had started dating. Their parents were also best friends, and they did everything together, including moving up to Pinedale.
"And what would I do without YOU?" Zoe replied. She sat up to pick up her black cat and cuddled it against her cheek.
"Did you guys see the headline about the body they found?" Airiana asked.
"Yes, I received an alert on my phone." Zoe replied.
"Me too." Mark said. "That's so crazy. Who knew such a violent crime could happen in our town?"
"You two be careful walking home."
"Yes mom." Zoe replied sarcastically.
"Shut up." Airiana sat up, picking up her racket. "Who's up for another round?"
The kids smiled at each other and got up, playing badmitten again until it was dark out.
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Airiana tossed and turned in her sleep. "Some…thing's…wrong-" Her dreams were dark, and she was so afraid, running away from a monster she could barely see in the dark, but she knew it was after her. Its breathing raspy and whispering her voice. "Airrriiannnaaa."
Airiana gasped and sat up. The darkness of her room surrounded her. Fear filled her body, and she pulled the covers up to her chin. She was so afraid and did not know why, her dream already forgotten. She felt like she was not alone. Something or someone was in the room with her. She tried her hardest to make her eyes adjust to the darkness but could only see pitch blackness.
Two red eyes in the corner of her room appeared, staring at her.
Oh Jesus…
Whatever it was started growling, its breathing raspy and hollow.
Oh Lord! Airiana flicked on the light of the lamp on her nightstand next to her and sat panting on her bed, her hand on her chest. Nothing was there. Maybe it was a nightmare? Still, she kept her light on and slowly fell back into a troubled sleep.
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Airiana leaned against the wall, her eyes wide with fear and lack of sleep. She was waiting in the hallway where most students waited and chatted until it was time for their first class.
"Airiana!" Zoe yelled from down the hall. She ran to her, giving her a big hug. "What's wrong?!" she asked when she pulled back and saw Airiana's troubled face.
"I don't know, I had a dream something was in my room yesterday then disappeared. But it really did not feel like a dream. Now I'm tired and wishing school were already over." Airiana groaned, rubbing her eyes, she had not bothered putting makeup on that morning, "It had red eyes, it growled, it sounded like Darth Vader, then disappeared."
Zoe chuckled, "Darth Vader, that's funny. And I thought something was wrong with you with how you were staring at the wall. You really didn't get any sleep last night."
Airiana rolled her eyes, "Where's Mark?"
"In the bathroom."
"AH!" Mark screamed, running out of the bathroom. The nearby kids rolled their eyes, thinking it was some weird gothic joke. He saw his girlfriend and Airiana and ran to them.
"What? What is it?!" Airiana and Zoe both shrieked.
"I saw a ghost!" Mark whispered.
Zoe doubled over laughing "You two have to STOP. Oh my god you two got me good. First Airiana's Vader and now you see a ghost." Zoe started slapping her knees, she was laughing so hard.
"I-"
"Oh my god SHUT UP Zoe, Mark and I didn't plan this." Airiana said interrupting Mark. She turned to him, "But how can a ghost be in a BATHROOM?!" she started to chuckle a little bit herself.
"I don't know! It was white with red eyes and-"
"Did it sound like Darth Vader?" Zoe interrupted, guffawing.
"Uh…yeah? I guess" Mark frowned, confused.
"There's your ghost, Air." Zoe shook her head, still trying to calm down from the giggles that racked her body. Air was the nickname Zoe gave Airiana because her hair looked like clouds. Airiana loved her nickname and felt happy every time someone called her it.
"Huh?" Mark asked, confused.
Airiana told him what she had seen in her nightmare the night before.
"I'm really not joking," Mark muttered, "I did see something and I'm not using that bathroom ever again. I'm going to see if there's any leftover muffins in the breakfast cafeteria." and Mark walked towards the direction of the kitchen.
Airiana frowned, thinking to herself. What if Mark really wasn't joking? And what if it wasn't a bad nightmare I suffered last night? What if it was real? She shook her head. That did not make any sense.
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"Want to ask the teacher if we can work together?" Zoe asked Airiana in their first class together. They always sat together if they shared the same classes.
"Sure, but I need to go to the bathroom first."
"Okay."
Airiana grabbed a hall pass from the teacher and chose the farthest bathroom from the class. She usually didn't stall like this, but she was tired and couldn't concentrate on schoolwork at the moment. After Airiana peed, she flushed the toilet, leaving the stall and washing her hands. The toilet kept flushing behind her. She frowned to herself. That's weird, maybe the button is stuck. She walked back in, inspecting the toilet which kept flushing and flushing but the button was not stuck. What the heck?
Something growled behind her.
Airiana whirled around in surprise and the lights started flickering. She slowly peeked around the stall door, clutching it tightly, her heart pounding in her ears. Two red eyes in the farthest corner of the bathroom stared back at her. The corner was pitch black even though the lights were flickering.
Suddenly the lights came back on normally and absolutely nothing was there.
The fan kicked on and Airiana jumped and screamed at the noise. Okay, this is getting weird! Airiana looked at the toilet and it was still flushing. She shook her head and left the bathroom, walking back to class.
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"Airiana!" Zoe greeted as her friend sat down next to her, then frowned. "Are you okay?"
Airiana grabbed her shoulders. "We need to be somewhere…alone."
Zoe nodded and got up to ask the teacher if Airiana and her could work on their project in the laboratory next to the classroom. The teacher nodded in approval so Airiana and Zoe grabbed their books and pencils and sat on two stools sitting across from each other in the laboratory. Airiana told her what had happened.
"Okayyy so is the bathroom haunted?" Zoe chuckled. "I swear you and Mark are trying really hard today to prank me today."
"Zoe!"
"Sorry Air. I don't know, maybe the school's haunted." Zoe shrugged.
"Oh, come on!" Airiana chuckled too. She was being a little ridiculous. Maybe the electricity was messed up and that was why the toilet kept flushing and the lights were flickering. But the glowing red eyes? Maybe her nightmare and lack of sleep was messing with her.
"Hey! It is true! It happened at other schools!"
"Like what?"
"Well a kid got stabbed by a knife and NOONE killed her."
Airiana grabbed her throat, pretending to be choking.
Zoe laughed at her friend's antics, "But that school was buried on an ancient Native burial ground, oooooo." Zoe wiggled her fingers in Airiana's face, pretending to be a ghost.
"You would be safe if you attended that school, right?"
"Uh… not really." Zoe rolled her eyes, "You only say that cause I'm brown."
Airiana laughed, "Not true! I'm just teasing."
"No one would be safe on an ancient burial ground." Zoe stated, flipping through her Chemistry book, "What should we blow up today?"
Airiana flipped through her Chemistry book but could not really concentrate. I may as well throw out my books and studying and say I give up for the year with how this school year is starting.
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Mark squeezed Zoe's hand. "What do you think of this picture Zoe?"
"Oh cute!" Zoe and Mark were chilling in his room, looking at his baby pictures. Mark's room was a small attic room filled with poster's of cars, sports and emo heavy metal singers plastered on the walls. "Now I know what our kids will look like." She stuck her tongue out at him.
Mark shook his head, embarrassed, then sweetly kissed her cheek.
"You should see my samurai sword." Zoe raised her eyebrows at him.
"You do not have a samurai sword.... do you?!"
She unlocked her phone and showed him pictures and videos.
"Where did you get it?"
"Renaissance festival last summer," Zoe gazed into his eyes.
Mark slowly put his hands on her hips.
Zoe put her hands over his. "I love you." she whispered.
"Me too,"
"Whatever happens, you will always be in my heart."
Mark smiled and gave her a weird look. "What will happen?"
"I don't know," Zoe giggled and grabbed a pillow hitting him hard with it. "You and Airiana are making me believe something bad will happen with your weird ghost bathroom stories."
Mark started to giggle too. He pinned her down to his bed and started kissing her all over. Her lips, her cheeks, her neck.
"Mark!" yelled his mother.
Zoe groaned. "Oh…I don't want you to quit."
"Me neither," Mark kissed her on the forehead and left to speak to his mother. "ZO!" he yelled from the next room, "Your mom called, she wants you to come back home!"
Zoe grabbed her bag and ran out of his room. "Bye Mark." she kissed his cheek and ran out the door stepping into the cold night air. It was pitch black and she could not see anything. She started to walk instead of run. Why is it so dark? Is there a power outage? She giggled and spun around in circles. She loved darkness anyways.
She ran into a tree. "OW!" Zoe rubbed her head, starting to laugh even more at herself and started walking normally again. She turned on the flashlight on her phone.
Something behind her growled.
Zoe whirled around, her heart pounding. All she could see was the empty road behind her, hear the faint sound of crickets and feel a slight cold breeze. Maybe someone's dog? "Weird…" Zoe turned around to keep walking, but she saw two red eyes right in front of her. She screamed in horror.
A monster stood before her. It grinned, revealing his long fangs that dripped blood from them. It was as tall as her with long hair everywhere.
Zoe ran away from it, but it followed her. Zoe had no idea where she was running, it was still pitch black out and her phone's flashlight was bouncing everywhere. She eventually saw a blue glowing light ahead and ran to it. She came upon a graveyard and hideous ghosts with rotting faces and bodies rose from their graves.
"Oof!" Zoe fell face down on the ground, the monster had caught up to her. It had jumped on her and it was chewing her apart. Zoe screamed from the pain but noticed that pieces of flesh and blood were not appearing around her head. It is like it's attacking my spirit, not my body... She punched behind her, hitting rock hard fur.
The monster stepped off her and laughed.
Zoe quickly got up off the ground, whirling around to face it, eyes wide with terror. "Who... WHAT are you?!"
"Do you really think you can defeat me?" the monster's voice was deep and guttery.
Zoe was tempted to plug her ears, it sounded so awful. Instead, she climbed up the nearest tree, her back aching. She touched her back with her hand but felt no blood, not even a tear in her clothes.
The monster followed her, climbing up the tree.
Zoe saw no choice but to jump down. Am I crazy?! I could die if I jumped! The monster was already next to her and she punched it over and over. She was so frightened she could not see. She lost balance and fell off the tree branch. "AH!" Zoe screamed as she fell. Then, everything was blurry and fell black.
Chapter 3
Zoe blinked. The sun blinded her eyes. She sat up slowly and the world spun around her. She leaned on her elbow, wincing. Whoa.
The sun filtered beautifully through the trees glinting off the newer shinier headstones of the graveyard. The birds chirped serenely, and the sun felt warm and welcoming upon Zoe's skin making it seem like nothing scary had ever happened the night before. Was it all a dream? Zoe stood up slowly and finally did not feel so dizzy. She stumbled home, walking with a small limp because her ankle and back were very sore from the fall.
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Airiana had her face buried in her hands. "God, what do we do? What's going on?" Airiana paced back and forth of Zoe's living room. Zoe's parents had called her the night before asking Zoe's whereabouts. Airiana had come straight to their house and spent the night on the couch. Now it was morning and Airiana's anxiety was taking over her. The TV was on in the background playing the morning news. Another body had been found mutilated and devoid of blood. Oh my god, what if someone got to Zoe? She peeked through the sheer curtain of the living room and saw Zoe limping down the sidewalk. "Oh my God." Airiana ran straight through the door and hugged her friend, breaking down into tears.
Zoe moaned since Airiana's tight hug hurt her sore back, "Air..."
"Zoe, oh my God, where were you?!"
"I climbed up a tree, I-" Zoe bit her bottom lip, unsure if what she remembered was just a bad nightmare from the fall and she couldn't actually remember why she climbed up the tree in the graveyard in the first place. "I um... I chased a stray cat up there and I ended up falling... I blacked out."
Airiana looked at her friend and shook her head, "A stray cat? Oh my god Zoe, I thought something happened to you. What the fuck is wrong with you?" Airiana started to giggle. "In 12 more hours, you would have been called in as a missing person."
Zoe started to laugh a little as well. Chasing after a stray cat did sound ridiculous. "I just need a hot shower and some ice. I think I sprained my ankle." Airiana helped her limp inside.
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"What do you think of this barrette?" Zoe asked.
"Oh my gosh! It's perfect!" Airiana shrieked.
"Good, then I'll wear it." Zoe and Airiana were in the bathroom messing with their hair between classes. Everything had gone back to normal after Zoe's parents got done screaming at her about a murderer being on the loose and her decided it a great idea to snooze in the graveyard like a sitting duck. Zoe's parents had brought Zoe in for a checkup with the doctor and nothing was broken.
"What do you think of black barrettes in MY hair?" Airiana put a glittery black one in her hair.
Zoe gasped. "Gorgeous!"
Airiana made a face. "Yuck, it looks horrible!" she put a blue barrette next to the black one. "There we go, perfect."
"Air! You always have to have blue, don't you?" Zoe rolled her eyes.
"Yes," Airiana and Zoe giggled.
Thump, thump, thump,
Zoe and Airiana looked at each other with wide eyes. "What was that?" Zoe whispered.
"I don't know." Airiana whispered back, willing her heart not to beat so loud so she could hear better.
Thump, thump, thump,
Airiana walked towards the wall where the thump was coming from, which was in the handicap stall.
Thump, thump, thump,
"Whatever it is, it's coming from behind this wall." She pressed her ear against the wall, trying to still her labored breathing and hear over the thumping of her heart.
The thumping stopped.
Airiana frowned, she heard something breathing. It was raspy and hollow… "You hear that?" She took a step back from the wall, her eyes wide in fear.
Zoe nodded with wide eyes. "What IS that?"
"I don't know." Airiana was walking backwards, keeping her gaze on the wall.
"It sounds familiar," they both said. They looked at each other with realization.
"Let's get out of here," Airiana said, grabbing Zoe's hand.
Zoe snatched her black purse off the sink. Airiana whirled her around against the hallway wall outside the bathroom door, leaning over her. "We are not dreaming this."
Zoe pursed her lips, "Air I didn't tell you this, but I think that raspy breathing has to do with why I fell and didn't come home last night. I thought it was just a bad nightmare."
Airiana suddenly turned around and started walking away, "Where are you going?"
"To the principal, I need to find out what's going on."
Zoe frowned. "Why would he know anything?"
"None of this started until he came here. Something's not right about him, I can feel it."
"Good luck," Zoe muttered as Airiana walked away heading towards the office.
"Macy?" Airiana asked as she entered the office room.
"Hmm?" a young lady looked up. "Oh! Airiana! What do you need?" Macy was the office secretary with thick straight shoulder-length red hair. Her hair was pulled back with green barrettes except her side bangs. A tight green dress showed off her slim fit figure.
"Is the principal here?"
"I don't think so, but you can sit in his office."
"Okay,"
"Air?" Macy and Airiana were friends for a long time due to Airiana's academic success so she knew her nickname.
"Yes?"
"I must admit that the principal is different than all the rest..."
"I know that you and I both want what's good for our school, so I'll tell you this... weird things are happening around our school."
Macy frowned "I've noticed."
What could've Macy have seen? Airiana walked into the principal's office and sat down in the chair across from his desk. She patiently waited for about five minutes. Airiana looked at the floor next to his desk and gagged.
A pool of blood was on the floor and next to it looked like to be the remains of a lab rat.
Airiana gripped the sides of her chair, trying to breathe. Gross! What kind-of sicko principal is this?! Who just leaves their laboratory experiment in their office like this? The room was creepy, empty, filling up with dust, making it hard to breathe. The fan kicked on and it sounded unrealistic, like it was breathing. That same raspy noise...
Airiana gasped. It IS breathing! Airiana slowly stood up, gaping at the fan with wide eyes. The dust was coming in and out of the fan like it was taking breaths. She finally mustered up enough courage and ran out of the room.
"Airiana? Are you okay?" Macy asked.
Airiana did not answer. She ran out of the office.
"Air!" Macy called out after her.
"I swear," Airiana said, grabbing Zoe's hand where she had left her in the hallway. "The school is like…ALIVE!"
Zoe raised her eyebrows, running after her friend, "Are you sure we're not going nuts?"
"ZOE!" Airiana cried, exasperated.
"Okay, okay! I was just kidding you, gosh."
"This isn't the time for jokes!"
"You really are scared, aren't you?" Zoe asked, concerned.
Airiana nodded.
Zoe tugged on her friend's arm, pulling her in for a hug, "Don't worry, we'll find out what is going on here. Should we go to our usual spot when we need a break?"
Airiana nodded. The two girls walked out of one of the high school exit doors that was unsupervised and walked down to the lake that was by their school. They usually came here when school drama and bullying became too much, and they needed a break. It was a sunny warm day and the lake lapped against the shore serenely, the sunlight sparkling against the water. Airiana picked weeds and grass that was next to her and threw them frustratedly in the lake. "There was a dead rat next to the principal's desk."
Zoe frowned. "So why would a dead rat be next to the principal's desk?"
"It looked like it had been dissected from a lab experiment, but I don't understand why he would do that at his desk and then leave it..."
"Cause he's a vampire," The girls screamed and jumped as a pretty, blond girl came out of the woods and sat next to the girls.
"What the frick are you doing here Lora?!" Zoe exclaimed.
"I saw him suck one of my boyfriend's dry last week in the weight room." Lora kept talking like she had not simply scared the crap out of the two girls. "Mr. Howard thought no one seen him, but I did. That is why I take sleeping pills now and I do not want to go to school, but my mom doesn't believe me."
Zoe stared at her with wide eyes.
"I just hang out here." Lora muttered.
"Wow." She nodded her head like she was conversing with a crazy woman.
"Well, um if you don't mind, we should probably head back..." Airiana got up and started walking away.
"Yeah, we should go." Zoe quickly ran after her friend.
"How does ice cream sound?"
Zoe grinned. "Delightful." the two girls walked into the grocery store that was a couple blocks away from the lake, picking out chocolate ice cream bars from the freezer.
"Should we believe her?" Airiana whispered.
"I don't know, poor girl doesn't look like she slept in weeks but a VAMPIRE?" Zoe chuckled. "Sounds like a story I would come up with."
Airiana bit her bottom lip. "It would explain the tore up mouse next to Mr. Howard's desk."
"You're not SERIOUSLY considering it?!"
"She's telling the truth," Elaine, a pretty girl with brown curly hair, said walking up to them.
Airiana put her hands on her hips, "We weren't talking to you." She huffed.
Elaine kept talking like she did not hear her. "I showed him my guinea pig and he sucked it dry, right in front of me! Then he said if I told anyone, that I will be next. You better not tell anyone this or I'm dead meat."
"Even though she already told half the school," Zoe whispered in Airiana's ear.
Airiana giggled.
"I didn't tell half the school, I only told you two!" Elaine pouted.
"So, you just hang out at the store all day instead of attending school?" Airiana asked.
Elaine shrugged, "For now."
The girls returned to school after finishing their ice cream and they almost thought they got away with sneaking off like they did until the teacher at their next class informed Airiana that Mr. Howard would like to see her.
Airiana cautiously entered the principal's office.
"I heard that you wanted to see me?" Drake asked, he opened his hand to the empty chair across from him, "Please, sit."
Airiana sat down slowly, "Yes, some very weird things are going on in this school."
"As weird as skipping class and leaving school grounds?"
Airiana looked down guiltily. She noticed the rat was not there anymore. In fact, it looked like it had not existed at all. No stains on the floor, just pure white clean tiled floor.
Drake smiled kindly, "I hear several students have been doing that lately."
Airiana frowned, "Maybe the constant changing of principals and faculty take a toll on the students?"
Drake just stared at her thoughtfully, "I heard you were a smart girl, an over achiever."
Airiana stared back blankly.
"I looked at your records Ms. Spark, you are indeed a very smart girl." Drake flipped through some papers on his desk. "You are correct in saying that constant change in faculty could take a toll on your students." he smiled gently at her. "Is that why you left?"
Airiana cleared her throat, "I um... I left the school because some weird things are happening in this school..."
"Like what?"
"The school is... haunted?" It sounded odd out loud.
Drake chuckled. "How?"
Airiana looked down, embarrassed, "The bathroom makes weird noises, I keep hearing weird raspy breathing." she looked him in the eye. "The students make wild claims that you're a vampire and I would of laughed but this started happening once you came here and I saw a dead tore up rat next to your desk last time I tried to visit with you. I wanted to visit because I thought you might have some answers."
Drake smiled. Red dripped from his fangs…
Blood, Airiana's eyes almost popped out of her head, "Are you a…." she whispered in fear.
"Vampire? Yes, I am." Drake leaned over, putting his hand on top of hers, "I can suck you dry right now, but I won't."
Airiana tried to swallow but she could not. Fear had made her throat dry, "Why are you telling me this?" she whispered, she could not seem to find her voice.
"From the moment I first laid eyes on you I knew you were special. When I looked at your academic records and saw how successful you are, I knew I had to have you."
"Have me?"
"Yes Air, I want you to be mine. I will spare your life if you are mine."
Airiana's mouth dropped open.
Drake closed her mouth with his finger gently, "Don't tease me," he whispered. He got up and walked around the desk dropping to one knee next to Airiana and breathed in next to her neck, smelling her.
She sat there frozen in shock and terror.
He gently brushed her hair out of the way, sending tingles down her spine and kissed her neck softly, "All I have to do is bite down." he whispered in her ear. "And it will be all over for you." he tugged on her earlobe with his teeth.
Airiana finally found her courage and quickly got up and pressed herself against the wall. She struggled to breath, just staring at Drake incredulously.
He continued to gaze at her lovingly, with obvious desire.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, finally finding her voice.
Drake stood up and took a step forward.
Airiana slid against the wall, away from him.
He chuckled, "It's ok Air, I won't hurt you,"
"You killed people in this town, haven't you? I-I've seen on the news... some- some deaths." Airiana let out a shaky breath, "And how do you know my nickname?"
"I've been watching you Air."
"I don't want to be yours Mr. Howard, I'm only 17. It is wrong…" her eyes widened in horror. "Does that mean I will die?"
Drake smiled, "I'll give you time to process the request but yes Air, you know my most valuable secret. I might have to do something to you if you aren't trustworthy."
"I really wanted you to be different," Airiana whispered, "But not like this...never like this. If you aren't going to kill me... may I go?"
Drake nodded.
Airiana quickly walked to the door,
"Before you go, know that I will be watching you."
Airiana met his eyes. "Noone would believe me if I told them you are a vampire anyways... you don't have to worry about me telling your secret."
Drake nodded in confirmation.
Airiana slowly closed the door behind her, her body still shaking in shock.