The car slowed down to a halt right in front of the university's entrance.
Two men in uniforms greeted them. Their dark red eyes observed Tulip and Mr. Forson.
They were vampires.
Tulip noticed Mr. Forson's grip on the steering wheel tightened, so much that his veins popped out.
"Miss Williams?" One of the guards asked
"We were expecting you." He added with a smile, showing off his pointy fangs.
With the help of the two guards, Mr. Forson unloaded Tulip's luggage. His reluctance to work with the two guards was obvious, but they ignored him, probably already used to it.
"Please step aside as I scan through your things." The scrawny of the two guards said.
[Slit eyes]
The dark red eyes of the guard turn into slits.
Some vampires undergo setting genetic mutation that grants them abilities that far surpasses that of the average vampire. Not all vampires were lucky enough to get these errors of nature. Only a small fraction, about 5%.
'Slit eyes' was one of them. It allowed it's wielder to see right through things ranging between 1km and 50km, depending on the wielder's bloodline. That is, how pure ones bloodline was, the more advance their abilities.
Tulip moved away from the vampire's line of sights, not wanting to appear naked in front of him.
"All clear!" He announced, his eyes returning to normal.
When Mr. Forson tried to help his young mistress carry her luggage inside, the bulkier of the guards stretched his arm in Mr. Forson's path, stopping him.
"I can't allow you any further." He said with a blank expression on his face. His voice was deep and rough, almost as if he hadn't had a glass of water for days.
"And why can't you?" Mr. Forson gritted his teeth.
"Protocol." The guard shrugged.
From the look of things, Mr. Forson wasn't going to back down so easily. So Tulip placed her hand on his shoulder, giving him the brightest smile she could muster,
"That's how things are here. They don't allow everyone entry and for obvious reasons too. I'll be fine."
Mr. Forson nodded in understanding and retreated, but he leaned on the bonnet of the car and observed quietly. He didn't leave until fifteen minutes after tulip was lead to the administration block.
Tulip looked around her, the university was just as beautiful as the pictures on the web had portrayed.
"You are lucky to be accepted so late." The scrawny guard, who Tulip got to know went by the name, George, commented.
"Is that so?" She asked, tilting her head in interest. It truly was odd that she was accepted so late.
The path before them was made of neatly arranged stones that created beautiful patterns.
Tulip glanced at her watch, it was 20 minutes passed nine. She let out an inaudible sigh, the registration and orientation had taken more time than she had expected.
Tulip looked around, now that she noticed, there were very few students around.
"Where are the others?" Tulip asked.
George looked around as if noticing for the first time that the students were less than normal,
"They are probably in their rooms" He shrugged.
"You will be staying there" George pointed to the building up ahead.
They walked for a few minutes before George stopped abruptly,
"This is were we part ways, Miss Williams" he smiled at her. He was kind for a vampire. Most vampires wouldn't have treated their food source with so much respect. Then again, this was CMU, a university whose sole purpose was to proof the humans and vampires could co-exist, son this was to be expected.
A woman came out from the building George had pointed. She had dark brown hair that was tied into a bun. Her steps were fast but steady. She looked like she was in her early thirties.
"I'm Gemma Lindsay, you can call me Miss Gemma and I'll be the one showing you your room ." She said with a faint smile.
Miss Gemma lead her to the very last room on the corridor of the top floor. Room 101
"This would be your room. Do tell me if there's anything you need." Miss Gamma said, her brown eyes were warm and friendly.
Tulip smiled and wished her goodnight before she closed the door with a click.
Classes would begin for her tomorrow and she was looking forward to it. She looked at her averagely sized room and her brows creased. She didn't like the position of her bed and she planned to change it.
She tried to push the bed, but it didn't budge. She let out a loud sigh of frustration. She couldn't even make the bed budge.
Tulip knew that what she was about to do was very dangerous, she had no choice but to do it.
[Half-vampire State]
Tulip's brown irises turned bright red, while her canines elongated, forming two sleek fangs.
The half-vampire State was the physical state a half-vampire enters in order to tap into the other half of themselves. The vampire in them.
In this state, the bed weighed nothing more than a feather to Tulip.
•••
(A few minutes before Tulip entered her half-vampire State)
"Old habits die hard."
"Of course they do. We wouldn't be here if they didn't." said a young man with a grin. His blonde hair was ruffled while his blue eyes gleamed with excitement.
The other had midnight black hair that blended so well with the still night that one wouldn't have noticed it.
The night breeze snaked through his hair, ruffling it . His eyes - which shared the same midnight black color with hair - fully looked ahead.
His hands were tucked in the warmth of his pocket, while his upper body was clothed in a black leather jacket.
Up ahead, they could see two people in the dark by their scent, they were female humans.
It was passed curfew, so what were these humans doing outside?
"What do you think, Alex?" the blonde haired one asked.
Alexander looked up, towards the starless skies he let out a breath of warm air, creating a screen of mist.
"So troublesome." He muttered under his breath.
Leonard smiled, ignoring his dull companion. He placed his hand in his hair, ruffling it up more.
[Half-vampire State]
The sudden chill in the already cold night caught the attention of the both ladies.
They caught sight of Leonard and Alexander.
Leo walked closer, staring back at them with bright red eyes
"L-Leo," One of them managed to say.
"That's my name." He hummed with a charming smile.
Their hearts thudded behind their ribcages, to Leo's amusement. He could hear it loud and clear.
"And what are two beautiful ladies like yourselves doing out here in the night, hmm?"
"We were just... just..-"one of the ladies began, stuttering.
"Just going for a walk. The night is lovely." The other came to their rescue. Nodding to herself.
"Is that so?" Leo asked, receiving an even firmer nod from the girls.
"Never mind all that," Leonard began, eyeing the two ladies,
"Why bother when there are more entertaining things we could do, like..." He left his words trailing, licking one of his fangs.
For some reason the two ladies shuddered. They were positive it wasn't the cold air, it was something far colder than the night breeze that enveloped them.
[Half-vampire State: Compulsion]
The color of Leonard's bright irises filled the entire white of his eyes.
Every vampire had the ability to control human by using compulsion, but it was very weak. This version of compulsion was absolute, only inferior to one vampire art.
"Bare your neck." Leo whispered. His voice dancing in the cold air.
Like robots who had been programmed to obey, the two ladies bared their necks. Their eyes had lost their light, an effect of compulsion.
Just as Leo's fang scrapped the skin of one of the girls, he withdrew sharply.
"You may go." He ordered and both ladies walked away.
Alexander's brow creased in confusion, wondering why Leo had let them go. Not that he was interested in drinking from them, it was just unusual for Leonard to do that.
Leonard sniffed the air. This scent, it can't be.
"Alexander." Leonard uttered. The playful expression on his face was now replaced with a serious one.
Alexander closed his eyes, slowly opening it to reveal a pair of bright red eye.
His brows furrowed in deep concentration. He finally understood the abrupt change in attitude for Leo. There was another half-vampire on campus, and they intended to find them
Alexander's red eyes scanned his surrounding s, stopping in the direction of Rivera.
•••
Unknown to Tulip, her transformation had filled the air with her presence, to be precise, her scent.
Tulip scrutinized her new room and nodded with satisfaction. She had moved more than the bed and now the room looked totally different.
Now that she had calmed down, her senses finally noticed the approach of two half-vampires. In her panic, she jumped to on her bed and his beneath that covers, pretending to be asleep.
Outside Rivera, Alexander and Leonard stood there facing the building that housed human females. The scent they had been following suddenly disappeared. The presence they had felt was also gone.
Even in her human state, she could sense that those two were standing outside. Their presence has half-vampires was just too overwhelming. Some of the girls even turned in their sleep.
Tulip was at least thankful that she had noticed their approach the time she did.
"She's a clever one." Alexander muttered under his breath. With his heighten sense of hearing, he heard Alex loud and clear.
Leo kept his gaze on a single window, it was clear that he had abandoned the search for the half-vampire.
"Checking up on her?
"No, I'm searching for the half-vampire." Leo lied.
"Sure you are." Alex began to walk away. His hands were again tucked into his pockets.
"And oh, Leo," He began, turn in such a way that Leo could only see one of his red eyes,
"Don't go breaking stuffs."
Leo smiled, "I can't make any promises."
Alex nodded as he walked away