Lulu has never been so tired in her life. After all, she knew about love only from the yellowed pages of novels and from the stories of undergraduates. And here, as a bonus to fiery kisses and exciting touches, she received from her mentor numerous bites in the most unexpected places. It's good that they didn't hurt and practically didn't bring any discomfort. And still, Lulu was insanely happy that she was able to spend time with her lover.
After luxuriating in bed, Lulu finally opened her eyes and stretched.
"Sophie, are you still asleep?"
There was no response, as there was no one nearby. This fact, like a contrasting shower, immediately brought Lulu to her senses and made her stand up.
Fortunately, when she took her robe from the nightstand, there was still a familiar under it, which meant that Sophie could not have gone far.
"Bonbon, good morning," Lulu said to him, throwing her clothes on the bed.
"It's not a good morning at all," he woke up. "I was deprived of the spectacle, so I did not restore my strength at all that night."
"Bonbon, please tell me, where did Sophie go?"
The familiar sighed heavily and replied:
"Think for yourself, rack your brains. She sucked a decent amount of blood out of you."
"I see, to the bathroom," Lulu guessed and ran her hand over the wound in the neck area.
It has practically healed, leaving behind a slight roughness.
"Strange," Lulu thought aloud. "For some reason, I want Sophie to bite me again."
"Lulu, do you even understand what you have doomed yourself to?" The bear turned his head towards her. "Vampire bite is addictive. Especially since Sophie likes your blood, and that's not very good for both of you."
"Not good for both of us?" Lulu blushed. "But it's so wonderful that she likes me at least in some way."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Thinking that it was Sophie who had returned, Lulu happily ran to open the door. But if she thought about it a little bit: why would the mistress of the room knock on her own door? Then Lulu wouldn't be in an awkward position. It wasn't Sophie at all standing on the threshold, but Mrs. Krivda, accompanied by Felix. And, frankly, they were very surprised that a half-naked girl was found in the teacher's chambers.
"Lulu?!" Krivda exclaimed. "I thought you were in your room?"
"See! She's with her, this nasty witch is her accomplice!" Felix pointed at her with his finger and shyly turned his gaze away so as not to contemplate the uncovered girlish charms. However, his eyes kept squinting in that direction.
Lulu took a step back and shook her head:
"I absolutely do not understand what it is about? I had to spend the night at Mrs. Sophie's, as we brewed potions until late."
Only now did she realize that she should have put on at least some clothes. Lulu covered her chest with her hands and rushed to the bed, where her robe was waiting for her.
Krivda and Felix followed. The head of the Academy examined every corner of the room, and looked into the closet and even under the table. And the teacher of protective charms snatched out a magic wand and began to pronounce various spells that showed hidden things from the eyes. But he could not find anything forbidden.
Soon Krivda came up to Lulu and asked her:
"Where is Mistress Sophie?"
"I do not know," she spread her hands, a blush of shame still remaining on her face. "The mentor recently left the room."
"You see!" Felix pointed his finger at Lulu again. "This thing is out hunting."
"Felix, could you look for Sophie in the dungeon?" the head of the academy said dryly, showing with all her appearance that she no longer wanted to see him next to her.
He understood the order:
"Of course, as you wish."
And he ran out of the room, leaving Lulu alone with Krivda. Not understanding anything, Lulu stared at her questioningly:
"What happened?"
"One student was attacked," Krivda explained. "She was bitten in the neck and sucked a decent amount of blood. Most likely, a vampire did it."
"But why do you think it's Sophie?"
"Lulu, I know exactly who she is," sighed Mrs. Krivda. "Don't defend your mentor, she's the only vampire in our academy."
"She couldn't have done that!" Lulu insisted. "Because…"
— Why couldn't she do it? — Krivda looked at her shrewdly.
"She doesn't need it," Lulu replied guiltily.
"I thought so. Do you know what she'll get for it?!"
"Nothing, she got my consent," Lulu said without the slightest regret. "Sophie couldn't bite the girl, which means there's another vampire at the academy."
"Of course, soon I will have a whole hotbed of the damned here," Mrs. Krivda was indignant. "Lulu, I am very unhappy with your behavior, so you will be punished!"
"I ..." she wanted to resist but remembered in time that the head of the academy should not be contradicted. "I hear and obey."
"That's better," Mrs. Krivda personally escorted Lulu to her living room.
"What about breakfast?" Lulu asked finally.
"Nothing, you'll sit here for a day without food, it's good for the figure," Krivda closed the door behind her and put a magic lock on it so that Lulu could not get out.
Lulu could only mentally say: "I hope Sophie found a place to hide, and even better if she left the academy grounds at all."
A deathly silence reigned in the room, which was eventually broken by quiet rustles. They came from the closet as if there was a mouse, or even a whole fat rat with such red eyes, a long tail, and sharp teeth. Lulu shuddered at the image of the black-brown creature that appeared in her head. Out of fear, she completely forgot that she knew how to conjure, so she prepared to hit the troublemaker with a weighty textbook — the only suitable weapon at hand.
"Whoever you are, get out of the closet immediately!" she said in an imperious tone, though her voice trembled a little, indicating the growing tension.
And how could she not be afraid here, because Mrs. Krivda mentioned some unfortunate student who had almost all her blood drained? What if there was the same bloodsucker in her closet?
But this one never wanted to go outside, so Lulu took the initiative. She abruptly opened the closet door and hit the uninvited guest with a textbook with all her might. There was a dull thud, and someone wrapped in a robe fell out. The unknown man had long black hair and snow-white skin. Turning him over on his back, Lulu involuntarily dropped her weapon:
"Sophie?!"
Lulu clung to her and began to rub the bruised place with her hand. Sophie clearly did not expect her own assistant to use force against her, she pushed Lulu away and grabbed her bruised head:
"Everything was used against me, but the book is too much."
"I'm sorry!" Lulu apologized. "I thought I had a vampire in my closet."
Sophie looked at her and suddenly laughed:
"You guessed right, but I didn't do anything wrong to you. Or are you taking revenge on me for tonight?"
"Why should I take revenge?" Lulu's face flushed. "I liked everything."
"I'm glad to hear that. But I should apologize too because I couldn't resist biting you in places where I shouldn't have."
Without listening to the rest, Lulu pounced on her teacher and hugged her tightly:
"Tell me you didn't bite another girl!"
"I have nothing to do with it, really. In the morning I wanted to go to the bathroom. And on the way, I found a student in the hallway. She looked really bad, so I wanted to call someone for help.… Well, then I saw that someone had bitten her... and... I was scared…"
"Mrs. Krivda knows that you are a vampire," Lulu did not let Sophie out of her arms.
"With your help, of course, she found out," she sighed. "But it doesn't matter anymore. By all means, I need to find the one who turned my sister. Everything indicates that this creature is hiding in an abandoned wing."
"You can't go there! Death is waiting for you there," Lulu knew about the future and did not want Sophie to die.
"Lulu, I'm already dead, cursed by my own sister! What you're hugging is just a soulless creature that has to drink blood to survive!"
"Don't you dare say that! I will never consider you a soulless creature. I love you…"
Pressing her lips to Lulu's lips, Sophie felt that unique taste that made her feel so light at heart that she wanted to sing and dance. And the pleasant warmth emanating from Lulu made her forget bad thoughts about the past, in which Sophie had to live all alone and accumulate only anger and hatred for those who tried to stand in her way to revenge.
"Thank you for being in this world," Sophie said. "But there is no escaping the inevitable. I have to find out the truth!"
"Okay, then I'll help you," Lulu calmed down a little.
"I don't need your help. I'll do it myself!"
"But how can you cope if the whole academy is looking for you? Do you want to go into the hands of the Inquisition?" Lulu retorted.
Sophie had fear because no one in their right mind wanted to get into this dungeon of the Inquisition. This place was located in the mouth of a dormant volcano, where the heat was unbearable, and elementals with immunity to magic and steel served as guards. Every day there was shouting and screaming from endless tortures by inquisitors who became madmen for the sake of their work. They enjoyed mocking the prisoners.
"No, but I don't want to put you in danger," Sophie shook her head.
"I can fight," Lulu showed her the ring. "And I won't let anyone offend!"
Sophie understood that the assistant could not be persuaded just like that, so it was easier to accept her help. She had to tell everything she had learned about the mysterious vampire lurking within the walls of the Witch Academy.
"Do you think he lives in an abandoned wing?" Lulu asked.
"Yes," Sophie nodded. "There is no other suitable place for a vampire's lair."
— And Bonbon was not captured? — Lulu remembered about the familiar.
"No, he left this world for a while. He said that he needed to meet with his old friend."
"For what?"
"I don't know, he always acts in his own way, as if..." she bit her lip. "He doesn't care about my orders at all."
"How can a familiar not obey?"
"No, Bonbon ever was, and is, and will be a demon. And even if he linked his fate with mine, it may not have deprived him of free will. And even if he linked his fate with mine, it may not have deprived him of free will."
"Then..." Lulu wanted to ask a question, but Sophie put her index finger to her lips.
"Shhh! The less you know, the longer you will live," she made a serious face. "Therefore, we will leave unnecessary questions for later."
Lulu puffed out her cheeks:
"It's not fair, because I'm your loyal assistant!"
"If you ask a lot of stupid questions, I'll bite you!"
"Yes, my lady," Lulu parodied Bonbon. "And what do you want to do now?"
"I don't know... We need to wait until the search team calms down and decides to take a timeout. And then we'll go in search of a bad vampire."
"It's a great plan," Lulu agreed with her.