I was late again. The school bell rang and I jumped in surprise. It's always like that. My father insisted on morning prayers every day and I always came to school late, every day. The school ground was almost deserted. Everybody's probably in their classes. I quickened my pace and as I made the turn around the corner, I bumped into someone. Kai. A vampire. Top of his class and president of the student body. Whoever voted for that guy? He gave me an annoyed look.
"What's your name? What class are you in? The bell rang minutes ago."
This guy's ego is over the top. He thinks he's the best. Well, I mean, he is smart, but only because they have a library of books dating way back from the medieval ages. He carries a book around a lot and those books must be very educational; I can't imagine him reading fiction. He is athletic, but only because of his vampiric nature. They are physically more capable than us after all, with their super strength and super speed. He is a pureblooded vampire, well it's not like that has anything to do with the possibility that he might be better than the rest of us. His status has just made his ego inflate so much.
"Ahm, I was looking for the...clinic. And I got lost." I lied.
"Do you think I'm a fool? You're the church leader's daughter. You must know the school's layout by now."
"Then why'd you even ask who I was? Anyway, since you know that, then you can probably understand why I'm late. Again."
"No. I don't understand. You might want to think about waking up earlier and manage your time more properly." Then he walked away.
I wanted to throw my textbooks at him, but I decided to just let it slide. The last thing I needed was my father getting called for her daughter's disorderly conduct. I made my way to class. When I came in, the teacher greeted me a good morning, although his face didn't really look like he was having a good morning. My classmates giggled and I died of embarrassment. Class went on like usual. I looked around the classroom. Humans and vampires, who'd have thought we can all coexist?
A hundred years ago, vampires were discovered and were hunted by humans. They had physical abilities beyond the humans, but they usually came in pairs or in threes. The humans hunted them in groups of ten or more, so eliminating them was easy. The vampires who were first discovered were low level vampires. These are the vampires who used to be humans. They don't look human anymore though. They've lost their human traits and have gone wild. They've lost their intelligence and ended up living purely on instinct. Of course, they still have physical limitations like that of humans and are still breakable. These low-level vampires usually move at night and can't tolerate the light. They move in all fours, like beasts. They don't wear clothes nor cut their hair or nails. They are poor lost souls. The Church led the extermination of these vampires. Later on, the question was raised, "How those low level vampires came to be." That was when the realization that there must have been a creator or creators occurred. Many innocent people were accused of being monster creators and were executed.
The execution went on and a family was discovered to be hiding one of these monsters. The mother of the family turned out to be a vampire which explained why nobody ever saw her leave the house. The father was human and has been hiding this secret for years. They had children. Half-human, half-vampire. Since the family had done nothing wrong and their children posed no threat to society, they were pardoned. Still, it was an abnormality that couldn't be ignored by the Church. The family was exiled and sent to live in the mountains. The execution went on all throughout the country. Eventually, a clan of vampires was discovered in a castle hidden in the woods. Pure-blooded vampires. The humans broke through the gates and attacked the clan, without sufficient knowledge. They were wiped out. As diplomatic as they were, they were still purebloods. They don't have the physical limitations the half-bloods or the low level vampires have because of the human in them. The leaders of the clan initially asked that they be left alone, but the Church was too stubborn to accept the children of the night, and they lost their lives because of it.
After that, the newly appointed leader of the Church decided to make peace with the vampires. They were no match for them, which was obvious. The leader thought that they could take advantage of the treaty and slowly make plans on how to completely defeat them later. The vampire leader accepted the offer and welcomed the peace. The humans depended on the vampires for security over the years. And the vampires enjoyed the company of humans. Until one night, a vampire lost control and accidentally killed his human wife and their children. After that, the laws were created. And vampire-human couples were torn apart. Their children forced to choose to live with the vampire side of the family. After many years though, society has adopted to the rules. At least, that's what we all hoped.
My family has led the Church for generations. I grew up like a princess. I wasn't allowed to go out with my friends, wasn't allowed to join sleepovers, wasn't allowed to go to parties, and wasn't allowed to live my life the way I wanted. I was a prisoner. At first, I felt very special. I was given everything I wanted: beautiful clothes, jewelry, and pretty dolls. I grew up in the castle, bathe in scented water and fed with delicious food. As I grew more aware every day, I started to feel lonely. I was always envious of my classmates every time I hear them planning a get-together. I did have friends but I could only talk to them in class. I always felt like an outsider. I couldn't tell anyone how bad I felt. When I was fourteen, I sneaked out of the house. I never really planned on running away; I just wanted to see my friends. It was my friend's birthday and I was the only one who wasn't given permission. So I sneaked out of the castle when everybody was asleep. I had been planning it for weeks and I had made observations where I could take a route without getting caught by the guards. I got out successfully and my friends were waiting for me just outside the lawn. I got in my friend's car and drove away.
The party was loud and fun. Because of the laws, our vampire friends weren't there. It was the first time I genuinely felt alive. The party lasted until almost midnight. Then, people slowly started going home. I did not even get tired with all that partying, I wanted to play some more. I told my friends I didn't want to go home yet. I mean, who knows when I'd be able to do that again? My friends decided to stay with me. My friend was happy I could celebrate her birthday with her. We decided to play some truth-or-dare and drove to an abandoned warehouse just a few blocks away. We brought food and drinks and were having fun. We were laughing so loudly and didn't care about anything. It was a big mistake. It was a mistake I've been regretting to this day. We were so caught up with having fun that we didn't notice a pair of low-level vampires creeping outside the warehouse. We were singing to a song I don't remember when I felt chills down my spine. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise. Then we heard ear-splitting scratching sounds. It was so loud; I thought my ears were going to burst. Then there came weird growls. And at last, we saw them.
They circled the vicinity, watching our every move, observing us. Then the door burst open. The two vampires moved slowly, their eyes shining with intense thirst. That was when I thought, we were going to die. There were seven of us, seven young teenagers, seven souls struck with bad luck. The vampires moved forward, and we instinctively moved back. We had nowhere to go, just the wall behind us. They stared at us, studying the expressions on our faces. One of them smiled in fascination. He must've liked the look of fear in our eyes. And they plunged forward. The warehouse was filled with screams and we ran for our lives. I held my friend's hand tightly and pulled her along. One of the vampires came to attack and we dodged it just in time. We ran towards the exit but the vampire was suddenly in front of us. Everything happened so fast, and I only remembered being struck on my torso so forcefully. I was flung so hard and hit my back against the wall. I fell on my face and couldn't move for a minute. My mind was dizzy and I felt something sticky flowing from the back of my head.
I could hear my friends screaming for help, followed by sounds of something being torn apart. I opened my eyes a little and witnessed the most horrific scene I ever saw. My tears kept falling and I was unable to move. "Stop" I said, "Please stop". The monster froze for a while then turned its head to my direction. I swallowed back the lump on my throat. There was no point in screaming. Nobody would hear me. And even if someone did, they would only get themselves killed. The thought that it was the end made me feel so bitter. Had I known it would turn out that way, I never would've snuck out of the castle. I never would've come to the party. I would've just gone home when the party was over. It was my fault. My head felt so heavy and I was starting to feel numb. As my eyes were closing, I saw the monster running towards me, with its mouth open, ready to devour me.
I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. I was back at the castle, in my own bed. My head was aching badly. I instinctively lifted my hand to touch the throbbing part of my head. I felt the bandage wrapped around it. I stared at the hand that was covered in cuts and bruises. Miraculously, I survived. Luck was on my side. My friends weren't as fortunate as me though. My father said I should be thankful somebody passed by the area and heard the commotion. I didn't dare ask more than that. I was filled with guilt. I was the one who wanted to stay up late. I was just so caught up with the momentary freedom that I did not think of the danger that might be lurking out there. Since then, I've been alone.