Dmitry
I'm terrified to say the least. Never in my life did I ever think I would become a refugee. It's a petrifying thought, knowing that fleeing your country was the only way to survive. There's no place for us in Russia, not anymore. They'd find us. They alway did. Our only option as a small family of four was to pull together a chunk of my dad's savings and go.
We have always been a poor family. My father had to bust his ass every day to put a roof over our heads and to send my brother and I to school. Hardly any clans ever took us in, so we were mostly on our own with no financial support. Father had booked the flights and before we knew it, we had arrived in Colorado, in the United States, a state where the supernatural are abundant. But what could we do? Four vampires with barely any money, no place to stay, no jobs, nothing. Getting to the States was surprisingly easy, but now we are at a loss of what to do.
Mother suggested we go to a refugee facility seeing as we were now refugees. My father had grimaced at the idea, saying it was below us, and that we need to keep our dignities in tact.
"Either that or we live out on the street! Or perhaps you'd like to spend all of the money we have left on a motel room which will lead to us being homeless in the end! A refugee camp is our only hope," she had reasoned but my father only shook his head.
"What about food? I really don't see a refugee camp offering out blood to anyone! Perhaps we can find a new clan, I'm sure Americans are more welcoming." And that was the end of that conversation. My father had made a good point about the blood. Back in Russia, he had worked at a slaughter house. After years of working there, he had become an expert at extracting blood from the animal corpses and secretly stowing it away in the back of fridges. Every night, he'd sneak the blood into his bag and bring it home to us to feed on. It wasn't a lot, we were all starving and weak, but we learned to share and adapt to such little food.
In the beginning, life in America was incredibly difficult. Our English was broken, but we worked hard on studying it every day. In a few months we had stayed in three motels, one kind family's home for free, lived under a bridge and in a random forest. Father had then found a job and we had found farms to break into to kill animals in order to feed. We weren't proud of it but we had to do it in order to survive. Feeding on humans is, and will forever be, forbidden.
During the day I would go out in the blistering sun and explore my new surroundings. Using my heightened senses, I tried desperately to find any vampires. I would know them when I saw and smelt them. Vamps have learned to hide in plain sight in the human world, but no vampire could ever hide from another. Not for long at least.
...
"Dmitry, are you ready for school?" My mom asked as she peeked into my room.
"Yes, mama. I will be down in a second."
When we had arrived in Colorado, it conveniently was the beginning of what is known as Summer vacation in America. My father used this as an opportunity to find a way for my brother and I to go back to school somehow. Back in Russia, I had just completed grade eleven and I was set on finishing school. Fortunately we found a clan who took us in, but only after desperate begging from my father. But it all came at a price. We have to work to stay there and never once have we felt as though we fit in. They see us as servants, not as their own kind. But it is worth it if it means we have a roof over our heads. At the end of the day, beggars can't be choosers.
I have always gotten good grades at school, so I was able to obtain a scholarship to the local highschool. School was starting today and words could not describe how anxious I felt. I have been practicing my English everyday, I just prayed that no one would mess with me. I decided that I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to finish my education and to survive.
I bounded down the stairs with my backpack, hoping that I had packed everything. My mom was sweeping and she looked up at me with a gentle smile. I offered a tight-lipped smile in return. I knew she could sense my nerves, I could see the sympathy in her moon dust eyes.
"Are you ready to go or what?" The calm silence was interrupted by an obnoxious groan from Vincent. He is my age and son of the clan leader. Arrogance and asshole-ness rolls off of him in waves. His father had kindly allowed me to hitch a ride with him to school. I simply nodded in response to his question, though it took everything in me to not snap at him.
"Is that really what you're wearing?" He asked while glancing up and down at my body. "If you're going to be seen with me, you have gotta try harder than that." I arched an eyebrow at him before looking down at my attire. A simple black crewneck, black cargo pants and an old black pair of converse I had thrifted. Basically my whole wardrobe was thrifted. Second-hand clothes is all we could afford. "Are you trying to look like a poor goth?"
"Goth?" I questioned, looking up at him with a puzzled look on my face. I wasn't familiar with the word. He sighed then pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"Whatever, look it up. Now let's go. I have people to see."
Vincent's car is extravagant. I hadn't been in many cars in my lifetime but I know that this one is special. The exterior is a sleek, shiny black with a glistening, metallic finish. The interior is a vibrant, crimson red, the colour of blood. It reminded me of how hungry I felt. The technology in the vehicle took my breath away. Never in my life had I seen a car with a touchscreen inside of it. It's another kind of luxury that I've never been exposed to. Clearly I wasn't good at hiding my amazement as a smug grin plastered itself onto Vincent's face. He started the engine by a push of a button and we were on our way. On the way I made sure to memorise the route in case I ever needed to walk. Something tells me that Vincent won't be so generous ever again.
We drove in silence until a thought popped into my head. "Vincent?" He simply groaned in response. "Are there many vampires who attend this school?" I asked, making sure my accent didn't sound too thick.
"There's a fair amount, yes. Werewolves too." My eyes went wide at his response.
"Werewolves?"
"Yeah. Yuck, the repulsive things. We stay far away from them. We stay out of their business and they stay out of ours." It's an age-old rivalry. Vampires and werewolves have hated each other since the beginning of time. At this point it's second nature, something we're all taught from a young age. Vamps and wolves don't mix, and that's final. In Russia we had seldom come across wolf packs, but whenever we did, we were greeted with hostility. I must admit, indoctrinated or not, I hated them and the thought of going to school with them left a bad taste in my mouth.
"I am staying far away from them," I stated while gazing out the window.
"Good. It's better for everybody that way."
...
When we arrived at school, I hadn't even closed the car door yet before Vincent was locking it and swiftly walking away from me. He made a beeline for what I assumed was his friendship group. They're all vampires. Vincent told me in the car that the vamps and wolves choose to stick with their own kind. He also made sure to warn me that if I told a human about what I was or ratted out the vampires, I'd be dead. I noticed his friends' eyes on me, some I recognised as clan members. They seemed to be snickering, presumably about something asshole-ish Vincent had said about me. I sighed then walked into the building, ignoring judging stares by other students.
Vincent had made it pretty clear that I was on my own, which meant I had to navigate the school without any help. Fortunately getting my class schedule was surprisingly easy. Finding my locker and first class however, was not. It was not a surprise that I was late to first period, math.
"Nice of you to join us Mr Petrov. You're new and don't know the school so, I will give you grace. My name is Miss Clarke. Take a seat and then we'll begin." I knew my face was burning from embarrassment at the teacher's words.
"I'm so sorry." I cringed at how thick my accent sounded. I ducked my head and swiftly walked to the only empty seat. I glanced up at the guy who sat behind my new desk. We made eye contact. There was something weird about his expression, I could practically hear the cogs turning in his head. I frowned at him in confusion and that's when his scent hit me. Wolf. Gross. I swiftly sat down after the strange encounter and tried to ignore the fact that I was now sitting so close to a goddamn werewolf. His presence put me on edge.
...
At lunchtime, I sat by myself in the cafeteria. Nobody had made the conscious decision to speak to me and welcome me, but I didn't care. I stand by what I said, I'm not here to make friends. My eyes scanned the room, it was so obvious who the vampires were. They were the students who were pale, who weren't eating lunch, the ones with metal flasks (the kind you put coffee in) that so obviously contained blood. I could smell it from where I sat.
A few eyes were on me. Word had spread fast that there was a new student from Russia. Most of the people who looked at me were vampires, and they knew I was one of them. I could tell they weren't gossiping, because they weren't dumb. They knew I would be able to hear them - if I had the desire to eavesdrop - with my keen vampire hearing. I'd simply tap into the sense like flicking a switch.
It was obvious who the wolves were too. They were the ones scarfing down their food like, well, hungry wolves. They were also the ones who gave me insanely dirty looks.
While my eyes moved across the room, they met familiar green ones. The wolf from math. We made eye contact for a brief moment before I broke it and looked down at my book. My left hand started to fiddle with my chain necklace. I could feel his intense gaze on me. 'What the fuck is his problem?' I wondered to myself.
I couldn't help but notice how his features were so different to mine. His skin has a warm, golden tan, his eyes are a foresty green and his hair is a chocolate brown. Even his appearance screamed werewolf to me. But I guess you could say the same about me. My skin is milky white, my hair jet black and my eyes an intense cobalt blue. Hell, if I pursued acting, they'd one hundred percent type-cast me as a vampire.
There was just something off about the dude. I decided to make it my personal mission to avoid him at all costs.
"So you're our new little Russian babushka, huh?" I looked up at the voice and frowned.
"Babushka means grandmother-"
"Whatever, I'm Star and I couldn't resist coming to introduce myself. When I heard there was a new vamp joining the school I knew I had to check 'em out." The dude spoke loudly. I cringed at his bubbliness, eyeing him with an arched brow.
"I'm Dmitry," I said cautiously and he grinned.
"It's good to meet you, Dmitry. I must admit, I've already heard a lot about you. Word travels fast here, especially amongst the vamps." My eyebrows lifted at his words. What could he possibly have heard about me?
"And what exactly has been said about me?"
"Man your accent is sick," he chuckled before continuing, "I know you're from the same clan as Vincent, and that's a pretty big deal. Oh, and that you fled from Russia, battling poverty and desperation on the streets of America."
"Great, so everyone knows I'm a charity case," I grumbled. He gave me a tight-lipped smile of sympathy.
"Vamps around here, they're clique-y and stuck up. Most of them come from high class and wealth, they just can't relate to you. They may look down on you now but they'll warm up to you. You know our kind, we're not very affectionate, accepting people."
"Don't worry about me. I don't care about making friends. I came here to finish my education, not to be accepted socially by my own kind. I'm fine on my own. I like being on my own," I explained while closing my book.
"Huh, so you're a loner. I figured. But one day if there's a moment where you don't feel like being alone and you wanna make some friends, I'm not as cold-hearted as the rest of 'em." He smiled but it was soon overcome by a very serious expression. "Oh! And stay away from the wolves if you can help it. You know our kinds don't mix." I gave him a firm nod before I gazed back at that guy.
"Speaking of wolves, who is that? He keeps making eye contact with me and it's really weird. There's just something about him that seems off." Star's eyes followed mine to the table where he sat. Thankfully he was in the middle of a conversation.
"Oh, you're talking about Kennedy, Kennedy Keller. Son of the alpha of the most powerful pack in Colorado. Man, I hate him, he's always like 'look at me, I'm the alpha's son and everyone loves me and I'm so attractive and perfect.' Yeah, I'd stay away if I were you. He's probably just trying to make you uncomfortable since you're the newbie, who also just so happens to be a vampire." I couldn't help but chuckle at him mocking the wolf. I liked this guy. He offered me a cheeky grin.
"Well it was nice meeting you, Dmitry. See you around, and remember, don't let the vamp bastards get to you, and stay away from the wolves, especially Kennedy." I simply waved as he began walking away.
My eyes met Kennedy's again and I glared menacingly at him to which he returned the nasty look. Yeah, I was definitely going to stay the fuck away from him.