Dark Famiglia

chapter 2

As Sabrina walks through the high school campus trying to find the entrance, a young man loses control of his basketball. It heads straight for Sabrina.

The young man tries to call out to Sabrina to warn her.

"Hey, watch out!" the young man calls out.

Sabrina stops walking and sees the ball from the corner of her eye. Before she knows it, the ball hits her in the face. The force of the ball makes Sabrina slip and she falls right into the pond behind her. Sabrina twists with anger and slams her fists into the water. The young man comes running over with concern all over his face.

"Aww! Just great! I just had to fall into the pond. These were my best clothes too. Leo will laugh at me once he finds out I fell into the pond at school. So much for making a good impression." Sabrina shouts in frustration.

"I am so sorry. Are you hurt anywhere?" the young man asks as he holds out his hand.

"No. I'm fine," replies Sabrina.

Sabrina swipes the young man’s hand away and glares at him. She gets up and steps out of the pond, soaking wet. Sabrina sees that the young man can see her bra through her shirt and becomes embarrassed. She crosses her arms over her chest to hide her bra. The young man blushes for a moment but takes his jacket off and hands it to Sabrina.

"Here, you can use my jacket," says the young man, looking away with embarrassment.

"Thanks, but I can't take this. It's your jacket," Sabrina replies as she pushes it back toward the young man.

"It's fine. It would be best if you didn't get a cold because of me. Besides, you know full well that you don’t want anyone to see your undergarments." the young man says with a smile while still looking away.

For some reason, Sabrina's heart skips a beat. But ironically, how can her heart skip a beat when her heart doesn't even beat?

"Then, I'll gladly take it," says Sabrina as she slips the jacket on.

Sabrina gives the boy an apologetic smile. She looks at the young man’s profile. He is five feet and nine inches tall and has a masculine body —most likely an athlete. His skin is tanned, and he has brown eyes. He has long, black hair tied up in a braid. He would be the perfect guy in any girl's eyes—but not for Sabrina.

"I'll give it back to you tomorrow, nice and clean. It's the least I can do since you're kind enough to let me borrow it," said Sabrina.

"It's all good. I'm glad I could help. Anyway, hi. I'm Miguel. Nice to meet you." Miguel says as he introduces himself to Sabrina.

"Nice to meet you too, Miguel. I'm Sabrina." Sabrina says as she introduces herself to Miguel.

"Are you new here at the school? I heard rumors that a new student was arriving today. Are you perhaps that new student?" Miguel asks, trying to make a conversation.

"Yeah. I'm the new girl. It's my first day at a new school. Now, here I am, ending up in a pond and getting soaked to the bone. Not how I expected my first day to be. Once my brother Leo finds out about me falling into the pond, he'll start laughing at me. Typical boys don't know how hard it can be to be a girl. Men can be so confusing. My family just moved here two weeks ago. So we're still unpacking and figuring out where things are in town. Everything is still new to me." Sabrina says.

"I see. Well then, welcome to Fairfield, Sabrina. Where did you live before coming to Fairfield, if you don't mind my asking?" Miguel asks Sabrina.

"Phoenix. I used to live in an orphanage in a small town there. But that was years ago. After being adopted, my family and I lived in a small town just west of the orphanage. My mom got a job opportunity after she was forced to quit her previous job." Sabrina says to Miguel with a forced smile.

"Come on, let's go. I can lend you some spare clothes to wear after what happened just now. I know it's not much, but will my basketball uniform do for now?" asks Miguel.

"Thank you, Miguel. I'll make sure to give you your uniform back tomorrow. I'm sure you'll need it when you have a game. Besides, I was planning on joining the girl's team anyway." says Sabrina with a cheerful smile.

"Really? I thought you would pick something more girly, like the drawing club or something." Miguel says with surprise.

"Why would I join a stupid drawing club? I'm not the type of girl that sits there and is always quiet. I love doing active stuff like sports. I joined the local Karate, Judo, and Kung Fu Martial Arts schools in town the other day. I also heard that there's an archery club. I'm hoping to become the number one mixed martial arts master in this town." Sabrina says with an excited voice.

"Are you seriously going to do all those clubs outside of school? Including the girls' basketball team? I've never heard of or seen a girl do so many clubs simultaneously. I mean, I've heard of Nash Dawson being the number one Judo Champion and the number one Karate Master, but I've never heard of somebody aiming to be the champion of all the martial arts schools here in town." Miguel says. He's dumbfounded by what Sabrina is saying.

"What can I say? I'm someone who wants to show herself off big time. There's someone I want to find. I'm not getting anywhere by moping around like this and doing nothing. You could say that I owe a debt to this person. At one time, they helped me out. Now, it's my turn to help them out. But the thing is, this person is nowhere to be found." Sabrina says with a gentle and confident smile.

"Miguel, what's taking you so long? Hurry up. The school bell will ring!" another young man says, running up to Miguel and Sabrina.

Sabrina sees that the young man is wearing a basketball jersey—the same one Miguel gave her.

"Oh, Kasen. Sorry 'bout that. I accidentally hit my new friend with the basketball. She fell into the pond." says Miguel with a wry smile.

"You dummy!" Kasen replies.

He looks at Sabrina and smiles.

"Hi. I'm Kasen. Nice to meet you. I'm also in twelfth grade, a senior like Miguel. I'm sorry about this idiot." Kasen says as he apologizes for Miguel's actions.

Sabrina chuckles at Kason’s comment. She can see that Kason is around six foot two and has a masculine body, just like Miguel. Kason also has blue eyes and messy dark brown hair. He also has slightly tanned skin and a stud earring in his left ear. A classic bad-boy vibe going on.

"Miguel already apologized. He kindly let me borrow his jacket and basketball uniform while my clothes dry. Anyway, nice to meet you too, Kasen. I'm Sabrina. I'm the new girl who just transferred here. I'm in twelfth grade as well," replies Sabrina.

Suddenly, a familiar scent fills the air as Sabrina's body trembles in fear and longing. She does everything she can to control herself and not let out her vampire self. On the other hand, she smells another vampire on the school grounds. She can’t tell if it will attack or if it has a reason for not attacking the students. The last thing Sabrina wants to do is reveal her true identity to her new friends in an attempt to save their lives. She hopes nothing will happen and that Jayden is safe from harm.

"There's no mistaking that scent. It's him! Jayden is here. I've found him. My entire body is trembling to see him. But there's another vampire here, and it is exceptionally powerful. I hope you're not in trouble, Jayden." Sabrina says, thinking to herself.

The school bell rings as a crowd of teenagers runs to their classes.

"Let's go. The bell is ringing," Kasen says, grabbing his book bag from the other side of the school courtyard near the pond.