Not Even Human

Chapter Three

I felt myself begin to hyperventilate, my hands were shaking, and all I could focus on was Gabriel’s limp body. He had been so nice to me, so funny, maybe even charming. Victoria’s arms enveloped me, and I shook my head as she shushed me, as if handling a sleepy baby, in an attempt to calm me down.

“I killed him.” I whimpered out, barely even being able to form a coherent thought through the shock. “He’s dead.”

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay.” I looked at her in confusion, and that was when I noticed that nobody else had even bothered to look at Gabriel’s corpse twice. Was this supposed to be normal?

I could see Victoria’s smirk and I grumbled under my breath, “This isn’t funny.”

“It’s a little funny.”

“So he’s not really dead then?” I kneeled before him, taking his head into my lap. Victoria sat beside me, a smile formed on her lips.

“Nope. All vampires are immortal, and can’t die the way humans can. I mean, there’s more to it, but yeah. He’ll be okay. I mean, mixed vampires are more complicated because-“

“Mixed?” I furrowed my brows as I hesitantly ran my hand through his hair. I was surprised to see his glasses had fallen off, and his eyelashes were long and beautiful.

“You know, half-human, half-werewolf, half-witch-“

“Those exist too?” I say as I look at her in surprise, and she laughed.

“Wow. You really are clueless.”

I scowled and looked away, focusing on Gabriel’s facial features. His cheekbones were prominent, his jawline was sharp and strong, and his lips were slightly plump and still as pink as the first time I saw them. His eyes were almond shaped, with double eyelids. I lightly traced the back of my hand against his cheek, wondering if he was as soft as he looked. He was.

The loud gasp from his mouth made me jump in surprise as his eyes shot open, and I saw a small flash of amber, or was it another color, before he sat up facing away from me.

“Gabriel.” The relief was overwhelming. I felt so bad, even though I know he came back to life, I felt so guilty for killing him. I could feel the tears prickle my eyes, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. I swear...“

I trailed off as Victoria silently handed him his glasses, and he sighed in content as he put them on. He turned around, a charming smile on his face as he looked at me. I felt bad, wondering why he wanted the glasses. He was playing it off, but I wondered if he worried about me seeing his eyes.

“So, you really are a royal. How intriguing…” Gabriel suddenly noticed my sullen expression, and the glisten in my eyes, “Hey, it’s okay. It was an honest mistake.”

His hand covered mine, and I exhaled as the dreadful feeling in my chest dissipated.

“Sorry. I don’t know why…” I cursed under my breath, wiping away the wetness in my eyes. “God, I’m stupid-“

“Hey.” His sharp tone made my eyes widen, and I looked up at his serious expression. “There’s no way you could’ve known,” His voice was softer this time, and soothing.

“Yeah.” I nodded, then chuckled awkwardly. “I was so scared, heh. I thought you were dead, like, permanently.”

Gabriel shook his head as his signature grin appeared, “Can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“I’ll try harder next time.” I scoffed, rolling my eyes at his flirtatious tone. He laughed, and for some reason, it was more infectious than before.

“Ahem.” Victoria cleared her throat, and I withdrew my hand from his in an instant as I covered my face in embarrassment.

“So Gabe,” He looked up at his sister with a raised brow, “Where were you taking her before all this transpired?”

“Ah.” He stood and extended an arm out to me. I took it, but was pulled a little harder than I should’ve been and bumped into him. He smirked cheekily as I was pressed up against him, and I frowned as I pulled away.

“You did that on purpose.”

“So what if I did?” He bit his lip, no doubt on purpose, and leaned forward. “You gonna kill me again- OW! For f**k’s sake!”

“Quit it!” Victoria held him down by the neck, her fingernails clearly digging into his skin, and I winced. She let go when he pushed her away, and rubbed his neck with a grimace.

“You didn’t have to scold me that hard, Vic…” Gabriel frowned, and his sister crossed her arms with a scowl.

“You need to stop flirting with everyone.” I pursed my lips, feeling awkward as she berated him, “Stay focused. This may not be imperative for you, but it is for her. She needs to learn about who she is.”

He nodded, his expression looking a little guilty when he glanced at me. He silently walked away, and I followed after a brief wave goodbye to Victoria. She simply looked away, and with that, we left the training room.

On the same floor still, we walked through the halls in awkward silence. There were a lot of different areas for a lot of different reasons, and I distracted myself by reading the labels by the doors. Lunch Room, Med-Bay, Classroom…

Gabriel stopped in front of wooden doors, with intricate designs that made it look elegant. The label read, ‘Library’. He opened the door on the right, allowing me to walk in first, and I nodded in thanks. I gasped in awe as I took in the surroundings of the library.

There were so many books, and lovely paintings on the walls that were so detailed. I haven’t read much lately, but when I was a kid, I loved to do it almost everyday.

“I take it that you like this room,” He said, his tone both sarcastic and genuine.

“Yeah.” I scoffed at him in amazement. It was a big library. “Do you know how many people would kill for something like this?”

“You know, there’s even a manga section-“

I was walking away before he even finished his sentence. Manga? Yes, please.

I jumped in surprise when I saw him in front of me, his head coyly c****d to the side.

“And I thought I was easily distracted.”

I narrowed my eyes. He laughed and led me to the opposite side of the library. I glanced back at the other side, sighing at the thought of all the manga just waiting to be read. I’ll come back for you, my sweet.

“Considering how you don’t know much about our species, I thought I’d give you a little tutoring in vampirism.”

“You thought it’d be a good idea to be my tutor?” I raised an eyebrow. I didn’t think it was absurd that he’d offer it, but I was pretty sure that his dad was the one that gave him the idea.

“You kind of need one, don’t you?”

“I guess I do.” I shrugged, not really knowing what else to say. He pulled out a chair for me at a table, and I sat down as he walked away.

“I’ll be right back.”

I nodded, drumming my fingers against the table. The sun was shining in from the windows, and I looked around in curiosity. There was no librarian, but a whole library. I was looking at the selections in sections from afar, the signs above that said what genres there were, and was impressed in the range of them.

He was back in less than a minute, holding what appeared to be clad leather books, three of them, about two-thirds the size of a regular history book. I raised a brow, “What is that?”

“Our history.” He smiled at me, his glasses glinting in the lights. “It shows the history and bloodlines of the Royal vampires… it’s updated continuously-“

“Wait, how? I mean, children could be born any minute.”

“Well for one, it’s magic: the witches spelled it a while back. Two, we only have three out of five of the royal vamp lineage books, so we’d have to locate the other two to be sure-“

“What if I’m not in any?”

He looked pensive before shrugging, “Then we’ll locate your dad and interrogate him. Simple.” I laughed as he opened one of them. “Come take a look.”

I stood and walked around the table, leaning in with him over the book. This was his history, and I smiled at the way the family tree seemed animated.

“Huh. You were a cute baby.” I smiled as my fingers traced over his small and chubby face. The small baby smiled inside the small circle, and Gabriel blushed.

“Shut up, yeah?”

“What the f**k are you doing here?”

I looked up, immediately recognizing the guy at the entrance.

“Nico?” I scoffed. Figures, it was obvious now.

“Wait, you know my little brother?” Gabriel’s hand traveled to the curve of my waist, and I glanced at him in question. He didn’t even seem to notice the action, so I ignored it as well. Though it felt nice, and I wondered briefly what it would feel like to have it travel lower.

“Gabe, why must you take every girl?”

I raised a brow, and Gabe chuckled.

“What do you mean?”

“I find a suitable, apparently vampire friend in my school and you make her a simp!” He walked closer, slamming his hand on the table in annoyance.

I laughed as Gabe stuttered in confusion, “Wh-What are you talking about? Wait, you guys go to school together?”

“Today was my first day, yeah.”

“Yeah, so she’s my friend.” Nico sped over and took a hold of me. I smiled in amusement at their pettiness.

Gabe smirked, “Well, I met her first at the grocery store. So-“

"You guys are being ridiculous. Can you just help me find my lineage?"

"Lineage?" Nico asked, curious.

"Yeah, she's a royal. Apparently, a long lost one."

"Lost?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"She didn't even know what she was until an hour ago." Gabriel explained, talking as if I wasn't here opening another lineage book. Nico furrowed his brows, looking at me with an examining eye. I frowned. "So either she's some illegimate child-"

"Wait, I'm confused. Does being royal mean I should've grown like a royal palace or something?"

"No." Nico chuckled. "But you definitely would've gotten training. An arranged marriage, probably. Usually all the royals are well-known by the others, but only two have gone underground. Nobody even knows what they were called anymore."

"Either way, you should be in one of these books. If not, then you're probably in the other two."

"They were burned in an accident. Every royal family has copies though." Nico gave me a reassuring smile.

I squared my shoulders. "Okay, let's get looking then."