Crescent College was located deep into the North Maine Woods; an abundant forest reserve which boasted of nearly 3.5 million acres of land. The taxi we had taken from the Ashland Airport had been driving for a while on the road in the woods when Agent Krischov suddenly asked the driver to stop. We came down and after he paid the guy, we were the only ones standing by the side of the road. As a matter of fact, we were the only ones around the woods for as far as I could see.
"Well? What do you think?" Agent DeMontera asked smiling at me.
"Uh I think we're in the middle of nowhere," I responded looking sideways.
"Just follow me," Agent Krischov said walking into the woods.
For the next 15 minutes, we navigated our way through tall trees, broken tree branches, logs, wild bushes and sprouts, crossed over tree stumps and small lakes. After a while, we stopped and Agent Krischov pointed at a spot and said, "There it is''.
"Where?" I asked. "All I see is trees, dirt and more trees''. I was seriously beginning to think we were lost and I was feeling tired.
Agent Krischov ignored my remark and said one word, "Dispel".
Where he had been pointing at began fading slowly and revealed a huge black and white gate with the initials 'C.C' crested boldly on it.
"Whoa," I said in amazement.
"That right there is what we call an illusionary spell," he said. "Dracula passed down some easy magic tricks to us before he died. This is one of them. If you're an ordinary person who just happened to come around this are, you would see nothing unusual. We also use it when hunting rogues. Stops people from seeing what we do basically".
He walked to the gate and stopped just in front of it and got on one knee. Using both his hands he cleared off some dirt from a piece of wood on the ground. While he worked silently, I watched curiously as he pulled of his gloves and bit his thumb. Blood seeped out immediately but he didn't show any sign of feeling pain. I knew he must have done this plenty of times from the way he worked quickly and with a sense of purpose. With his blood soaked thumb, he planted it firmly but flatly on the wood in front of the gate. For a while, nothing happened, but then a loud creaking sound filled the air as the gates slowly opened by itself.
"What was that?!" I asked excitedly staring into the dark space in the gate.
"It's a blood-identification mechanism. It tells the difference between a vampire's blood and a human's blood," he answered.
"So it'll only work for a vampire right?"
"Exactly".
Without another word, we walked past the gate into the dark space which had a clearing at the end with light coming out from it.
"I guess this is a tunnel right?" I asked.
They both nodded their heads while we walked on to the end of the tunnel. What I saw next was indescribable (well it was then, but I'm pretty sure I can describe it now).
Crescent College was huge, and I mean really huge. Three and four storey buildings were almost everywhere I looked and their structures were breathtaking. There was also a golden statue of a man dressed in an old suit and a pipe in his hand. People were swarming all over the place and coming out of or going into the school buildings. As we walked past different people and buildings, I noticed that nobody seemed to pay much attention to us. The environment also was nothing like being in a forest. I couldn't even see any tree no matter how hard I looked. Were we actually in the woods?!
We got to a small building which looked a little bit plain compared to the ones I had seen earlier. Inside was moderately furnished and a woman was seated behind a large mahogany desk typing on the desktop in front of her.
"We're here to see Mr. Frank," Agent Krischov informed her taking off his coat.
"Yes sir," she replied without taking her eyes off the screen and dialed a number on the intercom beside the desktop. After a few moments on the call she said, "Mr. Frank will see you now".
She directed us to a door at the end of the hallway which had 'Principal' marked on it. Agent Krischov knocked gently before opening the door slowly.
The office of the principal was well furnished and was very cold. The Air conditioning system at the corner of the room was just one of the multiple electronics situated in the office. There was a 48 inch high def TV highly placed on the wall opposite his seat, a printer beside his desk, a desktop similar to the one I saw before and a mini refrigerator. Seated behind the walnut desk which had stacks of neatly arranged paper, some folders, a desktop and a black telephone was an elderly man maybe in his late sixties or seventies I guessed. He wore a crisp black suit which reminded me of Agent Krischov's pair. Standing up to return Agent's Krischov's handshake, I noticed how tall he was and the exquisite silver wristwatch on his hand.
"Mr. Frank, it's nice to see you sir," Agent Krischov said taking his seat.
"Ah please, the pleasure's all mine," Mr. Frank replied in a soft tone so low I struggled to hear him. Turning to Agent DeMontera, he kissed her cheeks while she did the same before sitting.
"I see you've finally completed your mission," he said bringing a bottle of wine and two wine glasses out of his fridge.
"Yes sir," Agent Krischov affirmed.
"Now then Mr. Darmian," he said looking at me while turning the wine into the glasses. "Nice to meet you, I'm Pierce Frank". He extended his hand to me which I shook hoping to surprise him with my firm grip. I was however disappointed when he said, "I'm your Principal from today, so I look forward to working with you".
"Ok," I said.
Taking a folder from his desk, he said, "It says here you're eight years old, lived in New York, currently in grade 4, athletic and… restrained a burglar". He raised his eyebrow at me.
"Yeah, that's true," I confirmed.
"Now Mr. Darmian, we're going to forget whatever happened in the past and try to focus more on your future. Is that okay with you?" he asked nicely.
"Yes sir," I answered warming up to his friendly smile and voice.
"Fantastic. Now over here in Crescent College, we don't have grades like you're normally used to. We have years instead. Every vampire is expected to begin their education from the age of 3. There are 18 years, so you graduate from college at 21. You're 8 years old, so in your case you're supposed to be a year 5 student, but you've never really had any standard vampire education so we really don't know which year to put you in".
"Do I have to start all over from the first year?" I asked horrified with the idea of learning with 3 year olds.
"No. Well at least not from year 1. Because the human educational curriculum and ours is different, you have to take an entrance exam for us to properly access your abilities and decide whether you can start from year 5 or any of the lower years. You understand?"
"Yes sir''.
"Your first exam will be centered on basic numerical operations, simple English construction, and so on. Simply put, it will be things you've done up till grade 4. Your second exam will be advanced arithmetic questions, complex calculations, history, chemistry, physics and construction of English tenses which is what vampires from year one to five study.''
"Um… what's chemistry?"
"Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just by looking at you I can tell you'll fit in nicely as a good year four or five".
"I hope so," I said looking at agent Krischov who laughed nervously.
"Any questions?"
"Yeah, this has been bothering me since I came; who will come to pick me up from school?"
"Oh that won't be relevant. You'll be living here".
"Like a boarding school?"
"Exactly. Everybody here stays in dormitories. Even the teachers".
"But can't we leave once in a while?"
"Nope, our blood identification system only recognizes Agents and teachers, not students."
"Wow".
"Only during holidays are students allowed to go back to their home, and that won't be till December".
"But… I don't have any," I said looking at the ground.
''Don't worry Darmian," he said patting my shoulder and looking straight at me. "We'll take care of all of that. Don't bother about it".
"Thank you sir".
"No problem. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get your questions printed and then you'll begin immediately. You can wait in the exam hall".
"Ok,'' I said standing up nervously. How would my score be?! What if I failed?!
"Darmian," Agent DeMontera called out to me interrupting my thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"Let's go".
***************
The examination hall was at least 70 yards long and about 50 feet tall. It was basically a large room with seating desks arranged neatly in rows and columns. Standing at the door of the hall, it finally dawned on me that it was time to say goodbye… again.
"So," I began, "I guess this is where we say goodbye".
"You're right," Agent Krischov noted.
"Well, it's been an experience with you Darmian,'' Agent DeMontera said with a small hint of sadness in her voice. "This mission was the first in a long time which I actually looked forward to".
"Thanks," I said a little bit downcast.
"For now, we have to report back to our continental agency".
"Europe right?"
"Yeah. How did you know?"
"Well," I began looking at Agent Krischov, "You're obviously Russian, but I have no idea how you managed to get your accent."
"Long story," he simply said smiling for the first time at me.
"And you're either Spanish or Portuguese. It was kind of obvious".
"Not bad kid," Agent Krischov said, "We might never see each other again, but I feel like I'll remember you for a long time".
"Yeah me too," I said.
"Take care of yourself," Agent DeMontera said squeezing me in for a hug.
Agent Krischov gave a handshake while she gave me a kiss on my cheek (that felt awesome!) before walking away and disappearing into the crowd of people bustling about the school. Taking in a deep breath, I walked into the hall and took my exam.
***************
Thirty minutes later, the results came out. I completely aced my first exam, answering every single question correctly. It was a slam dunk exam with a big fat 100% score firmly planted on my answer sheet. My second exam however was entirely different story. I scored 37% and honestly speaking I didn't even think I would get 10% when I saw the questions.
What the heck is -3?! Is that even an actual number?!
I had to guess most of the answers and it turns out that a lot of them were spot on. Even though my score was low, for a person who never did anything related to the questions asked, I got accepted into year 5 since it wasn't my fault I had no proper vampire education and my score wasn't too bad.
After my acceptance, Mr. Frank gave me my uniform which was a grey button shirt, a blue tie and blue trousers. He also gave me some money which I later learnt could be used to buy books from the college library, buy clothes at the college boutique and buy coffee at the college café. I also got a student handbook, ID and my own room key. He showed me the boys' dormitory and the girls' dormitory. Each year had its own separate building which was at least 100 feet tall and had about 500 rooms.
My room was a small but comfortable space which had a bedroom and bathroom. It was the first time I ever had so much space to myself and my own personal bathroom. My room also had a TV but I was disappointed when I found out it only showed the news during weekdays. Sports and other entertainment channels came on during the weekends. It also had a bench press which I used to improve my physique. That night I slept like a baby after having all my energy drained.
Luckily for me, the school year had just begun so I was only about two weeks behind other students. During my free time, I immersed myself in books which Mr. Frank gave me to catch up with other students and cover the year one to four curriculum. And then, it was Monday.
According to my schedule that morning, I had industrial chemistry. My first two days (Saturday and Sunday) hinted at me that I had already become quite well known. It seemed almost everyone talked endlessly about me since I was the first person ever to begin college at 8 years (and because of my good looks…hehehe). However, I didn't have any real friends, just some people who asked me a lot of questions about myself and where I came from.
The class would begin by 7:30am so I made sure I woke up early, wore my lucky socks, combed my hair and tied my shoelaces (I don't do this very often). When I entered the Chemistry lab, a few seats were empty and the ones that were occupied were mostly huddled into small groups where discussions were going on. I walked briskly and purposefully to the seat at the last row and sat down. A few moments later, other students began trooping in until everyone was seated. Then, a young and petite woman wearing a simple black skirt and green long sleeved shirt walked in holding a textbook in her hand.
"Good morning Miss Lily, it's nice to see you. How are you today?" the class chorused in unison.
"I'm doing great, thank you," she replied quite cheerfully. "Before we begin, we have a new student in our midst today".
Uh-oh.
"Would you please come out and introduce yourself," she asked sweetly looking at me oblivious of the panic attack she was sending me into.
Calm down, calm down, I told myself walking slowly to the front of the class. I hate doing this stuff so badly.
"Ok uh," I began wiping sweat off my forehead and holding my twitching hand in place, "My name is Darmian".
"Darmian what?" a girl asked.
"Just Darmian. I uh… didn't get to know my parents".
"Oh".
"Yeah," I said dreading the awkward silence that followed. "I'm 8 years old, I'm from New York and I like baking".
"Is it true you punched a man in the face," a boy asked out of the blue.
"No. I actually tackled him," I answered proudly sending whispers across the class.
"Ok students that's enough," Miss Lily said wearily.
"Have you ever kissed a girl?" another boy asked smiling smugly at me.
I felt my face go beet red in shame while I stammered trying to answer him.
"That's enough!" Miss Lily shouted. "Todd, I will not tolerate your attitude. Keep it up and you'll get detention, do you understand?"
"Yes ma'am," Todd answered feigning remorse. As soon as Miss Lily took her eyes off him, he smiled wickedly at me.
"Did you really score 100% on your entrance test?" a boy wearing glasses (probably a bookworm) asked me.
"I did, but only on my first test, "I answered finally breathing again.
"What's your opinion on anime?" another boy asked.
"What's that? Is it some kind of food?" I asked innocently causing the class to erupt into uncontrollable laughter.
"Settle down people," Miss Lily voiced out reducing the laughter to small chuckles. I stood there in the middle of it all. Never had I ever wished that the ground would just open up and swallow me like that day.
"Okay Darmian, thank you very much. You can go to your seat," she said before I walked back slowly to my seat.
For the next five mutes, I kept on replaying everything that just append in my mind hating every single moment of it.
"Psst," my seatmate called out to me.
I turned to my right and saw him. It was the guy who asked me about anime. He was as tall as me and had wavy hazelnut hair. He was grinning broadly at me while I frowned at him.
"What?" I fumed at him.
"The name's Scott Travers," he introduced.
"So?"
"Hey, I'm sorry for what happened. I didn't know you had no idea what an anime is".
"Thanks I feel better already," I said rolling my eyes.
"If you want I can show you some".
"Some what"
"Anime".
"No".
"Please"
"No".
"C'mon dude'.
"No way".
"It'll be fun, I promise".
"Yeah right".
"Everybody loves anime… apart from her," Scott said pointing at a girl seated in the second row. "She's a sadist".
"I'm busy," I lied already becoming tired of our conversation.
"Ok, what if I tell you that—''
"Scott!" Miss Lily called.
"Yes ma'am," he answered startled.
"Were you listening?" she asked frowning at him.
"Of course I am," he lied.
"Wonderful. Then could you please come to the board and help us write out the reaction between white phosphorus and air in a limited supply which I just finished explaining," she said casually.
Scott shot me a look which anybody could've read easily; Help me!
Standing up slowly and reluctantly he walked towards the board and took the black marker from Miss Lily's extended hand. "Okay, the uh…reaction right?" Scott stammered while uncapping the marker.
"Excuse me Miss Lily," a sweet voice directly in front of me called out.
"Yes Zoë?" she answered taking her eyes of what Scott was struggling to write.
"Um your spelling of February is wrong," Zoë said pointing at the date at the top left hand side of the board.
"Hmm," Miss Lily said thoughtfully checking it out.
I don't know whether it was just coincidental, but whatever Zoë was doing was working well in distracting Miss Lily. Her attention was diverted and Scott glanced at me. Quickly, I mouthed 'P4O6' to him twice which he wrote on the board without wasting a second.
"Zoë, I think my spelling is—''
"I'm done," Scott announced to her.
"Really?" she asked squinting at him and then checking what he wrote. She took her gaze off the board to the entire class still watching us closely. It was all I could do but not smile.
"That's correct," she said slowly. "Take your seat let's move on."
Scott did an awkward bow grinning from ear to ear before taking his seat. "You're welcome mademoiselle".
I couldn't hold back my smile.
***************
After the class was over, I met Scott outside talking to a girl who kept on slugging him in the shoulder.
"You're lucky jerk," I heard her say giving another serving. "You owe me big time".
"Right! I know! Ow!" Scott said pleading.
"Glad that's over," I said meeting up with him. Then the girl turned to face me.
Her face was just stunning. Her blonde hair was neatly coiled into two beautiful long braids and her blue eyes were so surreal. It was like staring into the ocean. Her facial features were almost too perfect. I had never seen any girl who looked so dazzling before. I could only gawk at her like a fool. Even her uniform; a grey button t-shirt and blue waist skirt which all the girls were wearing somehow looked special on her.
"You know Zoë, he's the only person I actually owe," Scott said rubbing his arm.
"I don't care; you're paying for my starburst cappuccino this week," she said strutting away only after saying, "Boys are just crazy".
"Wow," was all I could muster after she left.
"Seems like someone has a crush," Scott jested noticing my dreamlike voice.
I was about to give him a punch of my own when my stomach rumbled. Little guy was going through much it seemed. That was when I remembered that I skipped breakfast to get to class on time.
"You okay?" Scott asked noticing my hunger.
"Not really. I need to grab some food at the cafeteria. I feel like fainting. Didn't have any breakfast this morning".
"Oh boy. Next class is in five minutes. Software designing and you know Mr. Rick won't allow you into class if you're late?"
"Delay him then".
"What?!''
"Remember you owe me".
"Argh… fine".
"See you in five," I said exiting the chemistry block.
In two minutes, I was sprinting across the college grounds to the cafeteria which was as long as two football pitches. Thankfully, the year one and two kids hadn't begun their brunch so the cafeteria was mostly empty. At the end of the hall, I met the lunch lady Mrs. Baker who was well liked by both students and teachers.
"Hey Mrs. Baker" I managed to say while catching my breath.
"Ah, Darmian. I see you've settled in quite nicely," she said dropping the newspaper she was reading earlier.
"This is a little bit late but can I get breakfast?"
"Sure, why not? Today's menu is chocolate bagels, waffles and strawberry milk."
"Sounds interesting".
"But all the waffles are finished. We got a huge rush for 'em this morning."
"Awww".
"Sorry son".
"It's okay. I'll just have the bagels and milk instead".
Smiling at me, she served me two bagels and a small carton of milk in a brown paper bag which I thanked her for. It was already four minutes into second period when I was done eating. I was about to dash back when Mrs. Baker called me back.
"I reckon you're gonna need this to get some more energy," she said handing me another bagel while winking at me.
"Thanks Mrs. Baker!" I yelled sending echoes in the hall while I stuffed it into my mouth and ran back to class. She might be 76 years old but it seems her heart never gets tired of showing kindness.
***************
I took the last turn to get to the computer lab when I almost crashed into Scott and Mr. Rick who were standing outside the class discussing something.
"And so you see Mr. Rick, I think it's better to have...oh! Look who just came," Scott said after seeing me.
"Yes but you were about to say something… again," Mr. Rick said sounding flustered.
"You know what?" Scott said entering the lab, "It's not important anymore".