The Vampire Hunter

Chapter Three

I wake up at 6:30 and get dressed for College, uniform. Perfect. Yet another thing I miss about Louisiana. I walk downstairs and cram some food down my throat. Hannah is already up.

“Morning Leila.” She says sweetly, for a 14 year old.

“Hi Hannah.” I say with the same tone.

“Ready for College?”

“Nope. You?”

“Yeah, I’m so looking forward to make new friends at school, actually getting to meet people outside of the family. It will be loads of fun!” She grins at me.

Hannah Taylor is the sweetest girl I know, but do not be fooled. If she even suspected that you were hiding a pair of fangs behind your lips, you’d be dead within seconds.

“You do know you have to do work, right?” I raise my eyebrows at her.

“Of course, I’m not stupid. I’m looking forward to that too. Learning something other than how to kill people.” Her grin widens.

I laugh at her and grab my bag full of all the stuff I think I will need.

“Have a good day, sis.” I tell her as I shove the last bite of bagel into my mouth. I practically run out of the door just so my parents can’t give me a lecture before I can get out of the house. My plan was to get out of the house’s sight as quick as possible, and then leisurely stroll the rest of the way. However, the plan changes.

As I walk down the footpath to the house, I am shocked to see Lloyd walk out of another house a few doors down from mine. Great. Now that I actually see him again I pray he doesn’t see me. But to my luck, he does. He gives me a wink and continues to walk down the street. I meet those blue jewels he calls eyes, and then glance down at the uniform he is wearing. He goes to college?

You need friends, Leila. I roll my eyes and run to catch up with him.

“Hey!” I say smiling at him as I manage to meet his pace.

“Wow, you’re actually being sociable!” He says sarcastically whilst looking at the floor. Somethings wrong.

“What’s up with you then?” I ask, I assume he might just not be a morning person.

“None of your business.” He snaps.

“Okay, sheesh. Are you going to college? How old are you then? You look older than a college student.” I feel a bit pushy but I just want to make one friend. Just one, please!

“I’m 17, and yes.” He replies, still moody.

“Okay, seriously, what’s up with you today? Are we switching roles or something?” I tease.

“As I said, none of your business, okay? Now butt out.” He snaps at me again.

“Come on Lloyd, I will find out, so just tell me now and maybe I can help?” I say trying to be nice.

“You can’t help, now be quiet.” He says coldly.

I obey him and shut up. Something was wrong, seriously wrong. Yes I’ve only ever talked to him once before. But being able to understand emotions is something I’ve had to spend more time learning than the average person. I’ve been trained to tell if people are humans or vampires. Vampires supposedly have no emotions, or they act like they don’t. Humans do, and Lloyd is definitely showing his. Even though we are walking, I can see that his hands are shaking. And his beautiful blue eyes are drowning in anger and frustration. He must just be having a bad morning.

We arrive at College and with and no help from Lloyd, I find my way to the reception. The lady sitting at the front desk is smiling so wide that it’s almost a bit disturbing to look at her. Her name tag has the words ‘Mrs. Jackson’ printed on top of a flowery background which seems to fit her image perfectly.

"I'm, err... New here." I say shyly, for some unknown reason.

"Oh yeah, Leela... Is it?" She says, smile growing somehow.

"Leila." I correct.

"Isn't your brother Riley meant to be starting with you today?"

Crap, I was so caught up in getting away from Hannah and trying to cheer up Lloyd that I completely forgot my brother was meant to be in college with me.

"He's coming in a bit later..." I say unsure of whether someone can do that on their first day.

"He can't do that, he needs to be in right now registering and getting his college ID photo taken with you. I'll get hold of your parents and ask them to get him here now." Her massive grin has gone, suddenly the flowers on her badge don't suit her anymore. But right then, as she begins to dial my parents number in walks a very tired scruffy looking boy that's meant to be my brother. I didn't think anyone could make the posh sophisticated uniform we have to wear look scruffy, but right in front of me was exhibit A of yes, you can.

"Mister Taylor! Why are you so late on your FIRST day? And what have you done to your uniform?" Mrs Jackson screeches.

Riley's uniform was ruined. he had some kind of reddy brown substance splattered over his blazer and shirt, his tie wasn't even done up properly. His school shoes weren't even on his feet so he was showing off a fancy pair of green and blue striped socks. What had he been doing? Did he get hit by a bus on the way to college or something?

"Sorry... Errr... Miss?" He says unsure, obviously not noticing her flowery badge... somehow.

"I should think so too, please call me Mrs Jackson. Okay you two, this way. We need to take your ID photos." She says as if to yank us towards the door with her eyes.

While we are walking towards whatever room we are going to for our photos, I ask Riley why he is so scruffy. He rolls his eyes and grins.

"Stop acting so clueless Leila, you left for school before me and I didn't know which way to go. I saw a guy walk towards the woods by our house. He looked suspicious so I followed him. Simple."

I tilt my head to one side and ask, "Were you right to follow him?"

"Oh absolutely." He nods. "He was feeding on a poor squirrel, obviously a vampire. So I staked him with a tree branch." A grin plastered across his face. This is why normal will never fit into the Taylor family’s vocabulary.

I grab him by the tie that hangs loosely around his neck and pull him down a separate corridor., Mrs Jackson doesn't notice us and keeps walking down the ahead.

"You what? You're meant to leave the hunting to Mum and Dad unless you're defending yourself! He wasn't actually hurting anyone, Riley!" I shout in a whisper.

"But what makes you think he the only one in town? Me killing him is a good thing Leila. If these monsters are finding their way to tiny places in the middle of England, then the vampire crisis really is as bad as we thought." I roll my eyes at him, my brother is delusional.

“Just think of it this way, one down, more to go.” He grins at me and continues to follow Mrs Jackson who is far ahead of us now.

And then I realise, the reddy-brown substance on Riley's shirt was vampire blood. Images of my brother shoving a tree branch through someone’s chest sends shivers down my spine. Despite being in Pavington, our past continues to follow us.