Dmitry
I don't know what it was about that wolf but everytime I saw his face, it would put me in a bad mood. The devil must really be on my side because he just so happens to be in almost all of my classes. His presence alone was enough to make my skin crawl. But, at the end of the day, my education was on the line, so I tried my best to ignore him and focus on the teachers. I refused to make any more awkward eye contact with Mr Keller.
It was at the end of the school day when I had had my first real encounter with the prick.
Honestly, I pride myself in being really good at minding my own goddamn business. It urks me when people try to pry into my life and bother me when I clearly don't want to be bothered. And minding my business was exactly what I was doing until I felt a rough shove to my left shoulder. My textbooks had successfully fallen out of my hands due to the harsh, and utterly unnecessary, impact.
"What the fuck?" I yelled in annoyance then looked up to find familiar green eyes.
"You don't need to hog the whole hallway! Watch it, vamp!" He warned darkly yet quietly, insuring that no human students heard the 'v-word'.
"Are you kidding me? I'm literally standing right by my locker! Maybe you just need glasses to see where you're going. I thought wolves were supposed to have good eyesight," I spat. I may have sounded confident, but deep down I was praying my English was okay and what I had said actually made sense.
He glared menacingly at me then moved dangerously close. "I've seen you around all day. You're the new vamp from across the pond. Disgusting. Not only are you a vamp but you're a foreign vamp." My eyes narrowed at his words. Nothing like a sweet combo of prejudice and xenophobia.
"Ah, yes, that's me, I'm Dmitry, the disgusting foreign vampire. And you're Kennedy Keller, the alpha's son who just so happens to have a little obsession with me. I'm so thrilled to have my first fan!" I replied sarcastically.
"Oh shut the fuck up! And how do you know my name anyway? As if I'm the one with the 'obsession'." I smirked at his question then rolled my eyes.
"It's kind of hard not to hear about the school's biggest dick, KENNY." I teased and he glared.
"Don't call me that, DEMI-"
"Do not fucking call me that!" My sudden outburst shocked him, his eyes grew slightly in size and his brows furrowed. NOBODY calls me Demi.
"You know what? We're pre-disposed to hate each other and it seems we already do. I don't know you and you don't know me. Let's keep it that way, okay? Talking to you is a waste of time and I need to go. Stay away from me, disgusting wolf." And with that, I picked up my shit and stormed off. Fucking hell, he pissed me off. Everything about him just gets under my skin.
No wonder Star told me to stay away from him.
...
After I stormed off, I found myself in the parking lot. Unsurprisingly, Vincent's sleek sudan was nowhere to be found. Thankfully I remembered the way home. I could get there in a few seconds if I wanted to by simply using my incredible speed, or I could shift into my bat form and fly. But I opted for a quiet stroll. I wanted to get to know my surroundings better and honestly, I needed to cool off after Kennedy had my blood pressure sky-rocketing. Fuck him.
One downside to my afternoon stroll was, of course, the sun. When a vampire is born, they're kept inside during the day and homeschooled until they turn ten. At ten years old, they receive a unique piece of jewellery made of a special metal that will allow them to walk in the sun. Each piece is carefully crafted for every individual. Some have necklaces, some have rings or bracelets or even earrings. It's kind of a right of passage for the Night Children. It symbolises a vampire being able to live some-what of a normal life.
My left hand absentmindedly fiddled with the chain around my neck. It was one of those super thick, chunky chains. When I was a kid, it fit loosely around my neck but as I've grown, it's become more of a choker. I love it and I need to be careful with it. If a vamp loses their item of jewellery, they don't get a new one. It's a mammoth responsibility.
Sure they protect us and allow us to walk in the sun, but our skin and our eyes are still extremely sensitive to UV rays. We get burnt ridiculously easily and can become temporarily weakened by the sunlight. I was really kicking myself for not packing my cap and sunglasses, but to be fair I WAS relying on Vincent for a ride home.
I walked with my head down, my cobalt-blue eyes in narrow slits as I squinted due to the harsh sunlight. 'I really hate the sun. How do people like it? How do people voluntarily tan and go to the beach and do anything in these devil UV rays?' I thought begrudgingly to myself.
I could feel my sensitive skin burning through my clothes. My energy levels were dropping and fast. Thankfully, it was transitioning into fall so the sun's intensity would begin to decrease as the weeks go by. I was starting to feel hot enough to take my crewneck off until a sudden giant wave of water engulfed me!
"WHAT THE FUCK?" I lifted my eyes and found Kennedy sitting in a car laughing his ass off.
"You motherfucker! You just drove through that puddle and splashed me!"
"Oops, looks like I really do need glasses to see where I'm going. My werewolf eyesight just isn't too keen." I glared darkly at him.
"But hey, you should thank me! You were clearly burning up so I thought I'd cool you down! Poor thing, you little vampies and your sensitive skin. I'd offer you a ride but I don't want a fucking disgusting, soaked vamp in my gorgeous car. See you around, DEMI." And with that, he sped off.
My skin wasn't the only thing that was boiling. My blood had become lava.
"Fuck you!"
"Woah, woah, calm down. Need a ride? I can practically smell your flesh burning from here." I looked to the side and found Star who had just pulled over next to the sidewalk.
"Thanks, but because of that asshole I'm now drenched. I'm sure you don't want water on your seats," I sighed.
"Nonsense, hop in. I'll just have the maids clean it. I see a fellow vamp in need, and you know how bad it is to be exposed to the sun for too long." I ignored the blatant declaration of his wealth. He has maids who'll clean anything for him, including his fancy car with leather seats. He simply needs to toss his keys into the hands of an awaiting maid and dazzle them with his charm. 'Make it shine!'.
"Thanks, Star, but I really want to be alone right now." My eyes scanned the area and I saw that no one was there. The coast was clear. I used my last bits of energy and shifted to my bat form. I needed to get home fast before I pass out.
...
When I had arrived home after my dirty puddle-water shower incident, I snuck into my room without anyone seeing me. A plus side of it being the first school day was that no teachers prescribed any homework. I took advantage of that and opted for a shower to wash off all the grimy shit that had been splashed onto me. The water, although on the coldest setting, didn't really help much to ease my scorched skin. Curse that devil star that heats the earth.
I changed into some comfy attire then face-planted onto my rock-hard bed. When the 'Night Children of the Blood River' clan took us in, they made sure to give us the shittiest living quarters as they considered us to be outisders, even though we're the same kind. My room was tiny with a single bed that is hard as concrete. The very few clothes I own fit into a small dresser. Thankfully, I do have an en-suite, but it's nothing special. Just a shower with a broken door, a toilet and a single sink. But, I couldn't be more grateful to have a roof over my head and for the first time in my life, I feel safe.
My door suddenly opened and I inwardly groaned. I hate it when people don't knock. I flipped over onto my back and found my older brother, Nikita. He offered a tight-lipped smile before sitting down at the foot of my bed. He held a metal bottle in his hand.
"I just came to see how your first day of school was. None of us saw you come in." His voice was soft. Nikki's always been a very gentle soul. I sat up and moved closer to him.
"It wasn't great," I simply replied and he frowned at that. Always the concerned older brother he is.
"Why? If somebody hurt you, I'll-"
"No one hurt me, Nikki. Let's just say all the vampires haven't exactly been welcoming...well, except for one. And the wolves despise me, just because I'm a vampire. But that's obviously expected, I despise them for being wolves," I explained and he gave me a look of sympathy. Nik crawled over to lie down against my pillows and he pulled me gingerly to lie next to him. I lay my head on his chest. Nikita and I have always been super close and affectionate. His presence is my biggest comfort in life.
"I'm sorry, pup. Did you at least make any new friends?" He asked using his special nickname for me. Baby bats are called bat pups. Not to be confused with wolf pups. Vampires prefer to call those wretched creatures Cubs when referring to them.
"Not really. But, I do think I've made a new enemy." He chuckled loudly at that.
"Why am I not surprised?" It's no secret that I'm not exactly the most social person. But that doesn't matter, I don't want friends nor do I care about making them. "So who is this enemy?"
"Kennedy Keller, son of the alpha of the local pack. He bumped into me in the hallway when there was plenty of space for him. And then he drove by me, making sure to go through the puddle right next to where I was walking. I had a wave of dirty mud water splash me!" He chuckled softly and I groaned at his lack of sympathy. He should've been comforting me, not laughing.
"Sounds like something out of a movie. And of course your new little enemy is a wolf. As entertaining as your encounters with him sound, he's one of them so just stay away from him." I let out a hum in agreement. I refused to give Keller the time of day again. I care about my education and the only reason why I worked my ass off to get a scholarship was so that I could finish school then fuck off. I didn't need any distractions. Keller isn't worth my time.
However an idea did pop into my head to get back at him.
Nikki suddenly lifted the bottle he had brought in and held it in front of my face. I could smell the contents. My eyes met his kind icy ones and I smiled. Honestly, living a life filled with poverty had conditioned my body to be able to function on very little food. It's a super destructive habit, but I sometimes go days without eating. Even being taken in by a clan who has a great supply of blood for everyone hadn't changed my eating habits. There's never a shortage of food, and yet Nikki still has to practically force-feed me.
"Drink. It's a command, not a suggestion. You're pale, even more than normal." His voice had a tender seriousness to it. His tone full of concern. After my little afternoon walk in the sun, I know I needed fuel as my internal battery was drained. Silently, he unscrewed the lid then held it to my mouth, tilting it slightly so the contents could slowly pour in. Deer blood, my least favourite. I held back a grimace but couldn't help but sigh at the satisfying sensation of being nourished.
Once the bottle was empty, Nik withdrew his hand and sealed the container. I wasn't completely full, but it would do. I could get by on way less. I licked the corners of my lips then lay my head back. Nikki chuckled then pecked my forehead.
"You should get some rest, you're working tonight."
I couldn't suppress the groan that escaped my lips.
...
I had been walking around the forest for hours. In exchange for a roof over our heads, we have to work. My mom cleans and cooks, my dad helps hunt for food and my brother and I have shifts at night to patrol the surrounding forest of the clan house. It's to make sure there are no threats lurking about.
I won't lie, the forest is creepy as fuck at night. It's kind of like the typical movie scene where the moon shines brightly through the leaves and an eery mist crawls along the forest floor. I made sure to tap into my keen bat hearing to ensure I could hear any danger before I see it. There were a bunch of landmarks in the forest that we used so that we wouldn't walk too far and get lost.
My eyes wandered up to the night sky that was littered with twinkling stars. It kind of reminded me of freckles. I then gazed at the moon, it was full. The wolves were probably out howling or whatever the hell it is that they do during a full moon. Or maybe they were busy losing their shit like they do in the story books. I couldn't help but chuckle. If only humans knew that the very 'fictional' species they write about exist amongst them in their everyday lives. And, for the most part, do not align with their creative descriptions.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of feet hitting the ground. I could hear it, far in the distance. Someone was running, and fast. As a vampire my eyesight, like my hearing, is impeccable therefore I looked in every direction but couldn't see anything. I was completely alone and I couldn't spot any movement. My heart rate began to increase as I tried my best to find what was making that noise.
The footsteps were getting louder. I continously span around, looking in every direction. Dizziness plagued me as I spun in three-sixty degrees. The person running was getting closer but the closer they got, the more the feet hitting the ground didn't resemble a person. It resembled an animal. That comforted me as these forests were filled with deer who ran around all the time. That's probably what it was.
The great thing about having animal qualities is that you can kind of turn them off like a switch. So after assuming the creature was a deer, my super hearing started to decrease as I no longer felt the need to use it. I had been out for hours now, it was probably time to get back anyway. It was when I turned around that I froze in my tracks.
There, in the distance, was a wolf.
"Shit!" I whispered under my breath. Werewolves aren't supposed to come here, this is vamp territory. We stay out of their zone and they stay out of ours.
My fists clenched at my sides as our eyes locked from a distance. So THEY were the one running. The wolf started to run once more, gaining ground towards me, thus raising my pulse. I knew I could shift and fly back to the house to get backup, but there was something inside of me stopping myself from doing that. I needed answers.
The wolf was getting closer, their chocolate fur glistened in the moonlight. Their eyes shone with determination. It was too dark to decipher their colour.
"Stop! Don't come any closer!" They kept coming.
"You shouldn't be here! Wolves are supposed to stay off of our land! How did you even get here without being seen by the others?" Still, they ran toward me.
"Leave now before I do something you'll regret!" The mysterious wolf had succesfully closed the distance between us. I held my breath, expecting them to do something violent. But instead, the wolf only decreased it's speed dramatically, instantly decelerating. They walked a few steps until they stood right in front of me. I frowned in utter confusion.
"Who are you? What are you doing here? Shift immediately and show yourself, you coward!" I cringed at the audible shakiness in my voice. Whoever this wolf was, they clearly didn't like to listen and they didn't want me to be able to track them. They were masking their scent. The canine simply walked around me, circling my body. I tensed up. They then smelled me, inhaling deeply, before looking up. Our eyes locked and for a moment I felt like I was in a trance. It felt like all of my hatred for werewolves had dissipated.
"Who are you?" I whispered.
But instead of a response, the wolf broke eye contact and bolted off. In a blink of an eye, they were almost out of sight. I wanted to follow them, I knew I could catch up but I stayed put.
What the fuck just happened?