Auroras Academy

Chapter 11

My stomach growls, I glance at my roommate whos fast asleep and not f*****g every living breathing thing for once. After my last period I decided to skip dinner, heading straight to my dorm. I couldn’t stand the stares and whispers anymore and the bone regrowing tonic made me exhausted. However, it left me starving.

I check the time next to my bed and see a flashing red 12:32. It's late. But as my head rests on my pillow I’m wide awake. I toss and turn for a while but I eventually give up trying to go back to sleep.

Rolling out of bed I slip on some old tennis shoes not bothering to tie the laces. Faintly, I remember seeing some sort of kitchen in the common area. There must be food in there. I make my way down that dark hall, to the bottom floor. The freshman girls had the entire left side of the dorms whereas the boys had the right side. I find the kitchen hidden in the corner empty with the light off.

I gag when I see the squishy bags of blood hanging in the fridge. Snatching a Dr.Pepper and a few eggs, I crack them into a bowl, whisking them together. There weren't many things I could cook but scrambled eggs were always an easy one. The eggs sizzled in the pan as I hummed softly to myself.

When I came back early it gave me time to finally call my Aunt and call her and call her again. She didn’t answer a single time, all straight to voicemail. It wasn’t strange for her to go off the grid every now and then. She was a bit of the strange eccentric type. We would make dreamcatchers and stay up late eating ice cream instead of forcing me to do my homework. When she botched a job interview she would come home crying and It would be my job to cook her dinner and make her feel better. We took care of each other. At this point we were more like sisters. She isn’t that much older than me either.

When she found me she was barely 23. I don’t know how the state let her keep me but she wasn’t one to give up. She fostered me for almost 2 years before officially adopting me. No one knows who my parents are or where I came from. I just appeared at a church one day where my aunt happened upon me. She refused to have me call her mom, opting to be the cool fun Aunt instead. She always had strange notions like that.

I scrape my eggs from the pan, salting and peppering them. As I’m finishing engulfing my midnight eggs I hear a thump and a shoosh. I click off the burner. Voices come from the boys side stairway. I quickly flick out the lights, ducking behind the counter as a group of boys emerges from the right hallway. As my eyes adjust to the darkness I make out the group of males fumbling with a large black duffle bag in between them. Each pulls the bag in different directions causing them to bump the doorway.

The bag was large, almost 6 feet long and heavy judging by the three boys struggling to carry it. Is that… a body!?!

“Here, this way.” One whispers, dragging them towards the exit. Oh my gosh! They were disposing of a body. I had to find someone. I had to do something!

My legs started unconsciously following them, leading me outside. They crashed into the doorway dropping the bag but quickly hurling it up, barely making it past the buildings shrubs. I’m surprised they haven’t been caught by someone else. After they make it past any obstacles they start to pick up speed. I wait until they reach the edge of the woods before darting off after them.

I swear I was caught when they dropped the bag, making a clattering sound. A male appears from the trees with pale skin and green eyes coming from the opposite direction. I dart behind a tree as he glances in my direction.

“Everything here?” I slowly peek around the trunk of the tree to see the green eyed man poking in the bag, his pale skin glinting in the moonlight.

“Yep,” One of the men replies, kicking the bag with his foot and unrolling it. An assortment of weapons are strapped in ranging from pocket sized daggers to full sized battle axes. I even spotted a spiked metal ball connected to a chain. The pale man examines them before shaking the man's hand that kicked the bag open.

“Perfect, I’ll mention this to the clan.” The pale man pointedly looks at the other two who grin at each other. He kneels down, his hands spread hovering over the weapon’s. His forehead pinches in concentration and in a blink of an eye all the weapons are gone.

“That’s sick!” Two lackeys high five, laughing. The pale man smiles, turning to them, standing to his full height.

“Pretty cool, right?” The pale man asks, stepping forward. The two look at each other like they need each other's confirmation, nodding. The pale man grips their shoulders, his fingers digging into their shoulders.

“But if anyone were to hear about this though…” he reaches past the two and in a flash he has the double sided battle ax I saw earlier, pinned against both their throats.

“We understand, sir.” The lackey’s eyes are as wide as saucers and they nod vigorously. The pale man shoves their chests sending them flying. He revels in their fear watching them scramble away sprinting off into the woods.

“You didn’t have to scare them off like that. They weren’t going to tell anyone. The Boss is going to be pissed off that you’re scaring off all the new recruits.” The man who kicked open the bag stated, arms crossed in disappointment.

“But now they are for sure not going to tell anyone. And once this hotshot newbie, Max Grefford, is dead, the Boss will have nothing but praise for me.” I gasp when I hear the plan for Max, and the pale guy’s head whips around. I slam myself against the tree, chest heaving.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. I hear steps crunching leaves as they near my hiding spot.

“Ah, what do we have here?” The pale man's voice drawls circling around the tree. His hand rests on the bark above my head, but my eyes are focused on the battle ax resting in his hand.

“I was ah at the… bathroom! I got lost coming back from the bathroom. Sorry!” I knock my knuckles against my head saying “stupid me” playing the perfect ditzy girl. I side step around the pale man but the second man steps forward, blocking my path. “Excuse me,” I mumble but the second guy catches my arm.

“Do you see anything?” He growls, his coal black eyes pinning me in place.

“Nope, nothing. I was just coming back from the bathroom.” I shake my head, playing it cool. The second guy seems unimpressed with my improv. Maybe I should have picked something more original than the bathroom.

“Let’s just take her with us. I’m going to be late for the match.” The pale man complains already edging away from us. The second man rolls his eyes and they both turn, the second guy yanking me with him. I shake my arm, ripping at his grip.

“I can walk by myself.” I glare, he releases me but the soreness where his fingers dug in remain. They lead me farther into the woods. Who was I to think I could be some sort of vigilant. We walk for a minute or two before coming up on a light filled clearing. In the center is a makeshift ring much like the one from CTE classes yesterday, just a smaller replica. The ring is surrounded by barbed fencing where two boys are throwing punches until a burst of flames ignites from one of their fists. The other dodges, nailing the other in the gut.

I look away as my captor pulls me with him towards a man sitting slouched on a large wooden chair like a throne. This must be their “Boss”. Other smaller chairs surround him filled with giggling girls, throwing themselves at him. His arm is draped over the armrest with the other holding his chin up looking incredibly bored. A glass rests in his outstretched hand filled with a thick red liquid that he swirls. When he spots me his eyes light up.

“Is that a present for me? Derek you shouldn’t have.” The Boss winks standing up with a flourish and tilting his head back with his glass. I gag to see his mouth coated with red after he took a long gulp of the liquid, ahhing at the end.

“I caught her snooping in the woods, must be new.” Derek shoves me forward, falling but the Boss yanks me up against his chest. His hand digs into my hair taking a deep breath.

“She smells divine.” I struggle against his hold elbowing his hard chest but he doesn’t budge. Instead his arm tightens around my waist and he pulls me down onto his lap.

“Let go of me! Who the hell do you think you are!” I growl, anguished, squirming in my seat.

“Oh it speaks!” The people around him laugh. “Shhh the matches are about to start.” He presses his finger to my lips and I want to take a chomp at it. But his soulless black eyes have me freezing. In fact, they almost all have black coals for eyes. There is no way I could forget them after my first day here. Vampires. I glance to the ring to see the pale green eyed man, arms raised edging on the crowd and a cloaked figure standing stock still on the other side of the ring.