Hailey Bryer and the Werevampire Curse
Chapter 1:
An Infectious Touch
A full moon was resting overhead, illuminating a vast and thick forest. Sprinting through the trees, like a gazelle running from a predator, was a medium height girl, who had just turned seventeen that night. Her hair was so blonde that it nearly mimicked the luminous orb above, which was shocking compared to her medium tanned skin. As she continued to sprint between the thickly woven trees, she could hear howling behind her. The girl's eyes were a light orange color, and her cheekbones were slightly high. Her cheeks filled out the rest of her face, and her lips were slightly thicker than average. She had multiple piercing in both ears, and resting in the middle of her bottom lip was a small silver ring.
Her nose was sharp, yet slightly wide. She was heaving, resting her back against a nearby tree. When her right leg moved back, she winced as it touched the bark. She couldn't help but look down, realizing that her calf was bleeding. "Shit…" she muttered, looking back up at the sky. Sweat had been pouring off of her by what felt like a gallon full per minute. When she lifted her arms, her hands began shaking. The fear that had been running throughout her body like a raging bull refused to cease its movement. She leaned forward, holding tightly onto her legs as she tried harder to get air into her lungs.
At that time, she had been wearing short white jogging shorts, a matching pair of running sneakers, and a short sleeveless tank top. Her hair had been tied up into a ponytail to stop it from touching her back. She felt so uncomfortable, with the sweat sticking to every inch of her skin. She needed to get back to Walsh University, her witch and wizard school.
It was sort of like Hogwarts, but different since it was held in the mountaintops of Colorado Springs, Colorado. "Come on Hailey, you can do this… Y-Your life depends on it." she muttered. Her lungs were burning, and that felt odd to her. She had been an avid jogger for over three years now. It was always a way for her to clear her head before exams. Seeing as she was going to start her seventh and final year at Walsh, she figured she needed to get the rest of her things packed. But some force seemed to be stopping her, or some thing. As Hailey stood there with her lungs on fire, mental images of the beast that attacked her flew through her mind.
It was a ghastly looking thing, that stood halfway up the trees, which was around twenty five feet tall. It's arms were thick with rippling muscle, as well as its legs and the thing's feet looked like they were eight times the size of Hailey's own. The beastly man's chest was wide and burly and his skin seemed to be as pale as the moon itself, with a very slight tinge of gray. "It's the face that I can't get out of my head thought…" she whispered. She could see it clear as day, as if she was introduced to that thing just now. It had huge sharp ears, a long face with a round chin, yet wide jaw.
His nose seemed to be sucked in, but still protruded a bit. His hair was buzz cut, and was the only thing whiter than his skin. When he hissed at her, two giant fangs could be seen, dripping with fresh blood. They looked as if they were at least a foot in length apiece. "But his eyes… They were as black as a demon's!" Hailey shook her head, still groaning from the pain in her right calf. It was still bleeding profusely which began to make her feel a bit nauseas.
Her stomach was gurgling, burning hotter than her lungs ever did. She heard that beast roaring off in the distance. "Fuck… Fuck, fuck!" she was panicking now, with her adrenaline bursting through the roof of her skull. She immediately pushed off of the tree, and sprinted as fast as her legs would carry her. The beast was only ten feet behind her, she knew because she could hear trees snapping only five seconds after passing them. Please help me God… She thought. Her face had been perspiring heavily, and her clothes were soaked at this point. Just ahead, an incline could be seen.
Rising up the side of this hill had been a small pathway, made specifically for the students and anyone who wished to walk down there. Despite the fact that her heart had been beating out of her chest, Hailey pushed through the agony and began ascending the mountainside. The faster she ran, the more her legs would burn, but no matter how fast she went, that thing was always just behind her. Please… Please help me! She pushed even harder, sprinting at full force, using the trees as a form of leverage to help her traction.
The paranoia that had taken over her seemed to be the one final thing that pushed her through his pain. Her leg had been bleeding the entire time, making her feel woozier than ever. She was nearly at the top of the mountain though, watching as the sun began to appear. It was slowly running down the pathway, and somehow she knew she had to reach it. If I just push a bit more… Her eyes were locked on the dirt ahead of her; she refused to give that beast a second of attention. Her survival instincts had kicked in over twenty feet back as she saw the sun getting ever closer to her.
Almost there Hailey! You're almost… FUCK! She felt some sort of giant clawed hand grab onto her injured leg. Immediately it made her fall, and scream in pain. The sunlight was just inches from her finger tips, so she dug her hands into the soil and pulled. Adrenaline is an amazing emotion, causing even the weakest of people to do inhuman things. "Let go of me!" she screamed. When she looked back, those giant soulless eyes gazed back at her. Fear was peaking at this point, making her ears ring all the while. Her heart seemed to be beating up in her throat now as she was brought face to face with the beast.
The way that this thing's eyebrows furrowed, made it appear all old and wrinkly. It hissed, making Hailey nearly vomit once again. Its breath felt hot and smelled of rotting flesh and old blood. She was hanging way above the ground now and internally freaking out due to the plummet below her. "What do you want?" she asked. The beast just smiled at her, watching as his flesh began to bubble. Slowly, yet surely, he began to shrink. He didn't let go of her until she was only half a foot from the ground, and he made sure she grabbed onto a tree first.
The man continued to shrink, with steam pouring off of him as he did so. Every now and then he would let out the tiniest whimper, but that was it. Finally, after a short few moments, he was average size, and lightly tan. His hair had changed back to a copper red, and his body had reshaped to a human form. His nose grew back outward, widening a bit, and his jaw fizzled back to a normal shape. He had his hands covering his privates, but other than that, he seemed relatively unaware of where he was.
"Who are you?" his voice was deep, which matched the tallness that he had. He easily towered over Hailey, and she was five feet, nine inches tall. "I could ask you the same thing! Look what you did to my leg!" She turned a bit, showing off the thick claw marks. The man shielded his mouth from the shock, quickly locking his gaze onto her eyes. The way that the man's piercing crystal eyes looked at her, filled her with such sorrow for some reason. She sighed towards the leafy ground, kicking some of them around.
"My name is Ferdin. I hail from Ireland, but have been raised here since I was ten years old. Please don't tell me that I… Oh, damn it!" He pounded a fist onto a nearby tree. "What did you do to me?" The confusion was now growing ever more deeply, which began to scare Hailey. She approached Ferdin, reaching for his face, since for some reason, she was attracted to him. He had a chiseled jaw line, an above average sized lower lip, with a perfect upper one to support it. "My god, you are handsome…" She couldn't believe she just said that.
Her eyes instantly shot open in horror, and she backed away. "I… better go!" She turned to run, but Ferdin stopped her. He held onto her arm, tight but not hard. "Please don't go, not like this. You deserve to know what I did to you." But Hailye wouldn't have it. She yanked her arm out of his grasp, gazing angrily at him. "You just stay the hell away from me! You think that I'm completely oblivious to what you are?! Sure, judge the girl with blonde hair, she's too ditsy to know what's going on around her!" She took a slight step towards him, refusing to lift her gaze off for a single second.
The sun had come out even more now, warming the top of her head. Ferdin couldn't help but feel threatened as he stood there looking at Hailey's bright eyes. The way that they shined in the shadows cast onto her face was too much. "I know what you are and I'm pretty sure what you've done to me is irreversible now. I was still in a state of shock when I asked what you did to me, but now I know. Now that I had time to really recompose myself…" She backed off again, shaking her head slightly. "You sick, twisted person… Now I'm cursed! DO YOU HEAR ME! YOU SON OF A BITCH?! YOU CURSED ME!"
Hailey's eyes burned from the horror and sadness, but she wouldn't cry, not in front of her attacker. Ferdin reached out for her once more; she just stumbled back a bit. "I know what's gonna happen. I read all about you, now that I think of it. It was one of my year six lessons, to research a magical beast and learn all of its abilities and how to find them. I was interested in the full moon related beasts, and found out there was much, much more than just lycanthropes. I read there were were horses, were birds, were unicorns, were elephants and way more than that. But the one thin that drew me in the most…"
"Th-That one… beast. It was the were-vampire. The weird type of full moon related beast that transforms into a semi-giant vampire as soon as the full moon can be seen after the sun sets. And it just so happens the only way a curse can be transmuted is through physical contact and under the full moon. I'm gonna turn into one next month… I need to get a hold of the counter curse. Damn it! What was the healing spell again?"
Hailey began muttering incoherently to herself, as she traced every last bit of information in her brain. Then it clicked, Ferdin could see it in her face. She just spit towards him and sprinted as fast as she could up to Welsh's east gate. She withdrew an eleven inch, ivory colored wand, and pointed it at the gate. "Alohamora!" she yelled. A light flashed from the tip of the wand and the gates creaked open. She ran inside, allowing the iron bars to shut behind her and lock once more. All she wanted at that moment was to distance herself from her attacker as much as she could.
She ran through an enormous courtyard, which had a giant marble fountain in the center. Standing on top of a replication of Hogwarts, was Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasly. A small figure was carved at the base of the school, which was that of Voldemort. It was his dead body, resting with wand in hand, and dead eyes gazing up to the sky. A plaque was placed in front, with the names of all who fought during the final battle of Hogwarts. And to the bottom right was a special section for all who died. Rest in peace. Hailey thought.
She didn't know much about the other witch and wizarding schools of the world, but she did know every single one heard the story of Hogwarts. They all knew about the boy who lived and all that he lost in the process. As she stood there, the sun continued to rise, casting a very strong warmth amongst her aching body. She felt a twinge of pain in her leg, bringing all of her attention back to that of her incident. Come on Hailey, just clear your mind. You know where you put that magical spell book for year six students. Just remember.
She sat at the edge of the fountain, listening to the trickling sounds of the water splashing around. Behind her sat a giant castle-like building, which was ten stories high, and had an even taller tower on each side. The walls were comprised of solid marble, just like the fountain. A long cobblestone walkway branched off, away from the fountain in four directions. It went south towards the main gates, east towards the forest, west towards the main road and south, up towards the school. Bushes lined up each walkway, standing only a few feet tall, to add a bit of symmetry to the paths.
Then a thought made Hailey jump. "Oh that's right! I always keep my books in my trunk until I need them." She slid her wand back into her pocket and trekked her way up to the school. Trek wasn't really the word; she more so limped her way up. The pain had went beyond agonizing at this point, as the fresh flaw marks continued to sting and scream in pain. She ignored this and kept pressing onward, getting closer to the school by the second. Two big pine trees stood on either side of the front wall, which really added to the beauty of this place.
A giant solid black stone door stood before her, with two images carved and painted onto it. On the left side was a shield with an ox head printed onto it. Its eyes seemed bright, shining with encrusted diamond orbs. The diamonds indicated that this house was strong, but also knowledgeable. It showed that any student in that house had not only the muscle to carry out a task, but the ability to see more than others. On the right side, a tiger head was carved. This animal's eyes had deep red rubies encrusted into them.
The tiger represented not only agility but strength as well. Like the bulls, this house was full of very strong students, not just physically but mentally and spiritually as well. But unlike the bulls, who could see things, the tigers had an uncanny ability to react fast to certain situations. They could also master the art of a tiger's agility by the time they graduated. The bulls had to hone their foreseeing skills tremendously throughout their time at Welsh, whilst the tigers had the gift embedded into their very minds. The blood red eyes indicated, however, that the tigers had some sort of foresight as well.
If they touched the blood of someone, they could see exactly what he or she did in their life. Whereas, the bulls could see it coming from years away, which could be contributed to the strength that bulls have naturally. Hailey's mind began aching as she stood back, thinking of it all. She happened to be sorted into, Tigrior, which was the name of the Tiger's house. Bullshnire is the name of the opposite house. However, Hailey was a bit different than all of the students here. She had a bit of Bullshnire abilities within her, seeing as she could always see the future, even back when she was very young.
She even predicted the night she was going to be attacked by Ferdin, back when she first started this school and laid eyes on him. He happened to be sorted into Bullshnire, which she was thankful for at this point. All the way up to this year, she had tried her best to make sure that night never happened, and yet she was unsuccessful. As she stepped into the school, that constant wincing pain reminded her of her failure. She sobbed a bit, as she walked into the main foyer. It was just a very tall, yet long hallway that lead to another pair of black stone doors.
Along the floor was a very wide carpet, consisting of the two houses. The left was all white, with waves of black and grey spreading throughout it. And on the right, the fabric was a deep red, just like the tiger's eyes outside and had waves of a darker red and black woven into it. Hailey had always loved her house's colors, especially when she got to wear her robes. She checked her iPhone, gasping as she saw the date and time. It read: Thursday September 10th, 2015. The time was: 6:50 A.M. She needed to heal that stubborn wound, before anyone saw it. Withdrawing her wand, Hailey cleared her mind and imagined the spell book appearing before her.
As she flicked her wand up, she muttered, "Telaccio spell book, year six." She felt the her free hand droop a bit as a thick book appeared in it, as if it had materialized right then and there. She smiled, gazing down at the thick leather cover. Telaccio was a spell she had created back when she was only in her sixth year at Welsh. Her intelligence always prided her, reminding her of how smart Hermione Granger was. This spell in particular was a variation of the Accio spell, which is used to summon an item to the caster. She wanted a way for an item to just disappear and reappear wherever she was, no matter how far away she was from the item.
So she spent the better half of the sixth year, perfecting this spell until it was completely flawless, and then she submitted it to the U.S. Board of Magic. They were so impressed by her and the incantation, that they offered her over one and a half million dollars for the rights to it, which she gladly accepted. She flicked her wand again, muttering the words, "Telaccio school robes." Just like the book, her robes appeared.
They were pure black, with a crimson red trim and a tiger head stitched into the left side of the chest. Her first name had been stitched in red underneath the emblem. She also had a custom Quidditch robe, which had her last name: Bryer, stitched in big bold black letters. She had been playing this famous magical sport ever since her second year. As she stepped through the second doors, she slid the robes on, which hid her wound perfectly. Despite this however, Hailey still wanted a way to heal it, so she began flitting through the spell book, under the healing section. Inside the entrance room, it was tall, and completely round.
Straight ahead stood two elevators, the left had a bullhead on it, mimicking the front doors, and the same happened on the right with the tiger. On the right side of this massive room, were five sets of doors, each of which lead to a different class for magic. She needed to get to Transfiguration, which was the furthest door to the left. She began walking towards it, with her nose still pressed into the pages of her book. There were multiple spells, including: The Mend Bone spell, or the Seal Deep Wounds spell. She looked at it, with her eyes burning from fatigue.
"It says I have to rotate my wand twice counter-clockwise and on the third spin, go clockwise and say, "Defleshapero." As kids began to walk by her, out from the eating hall, Hailey tried her best to hid the wound. She leaned up against the walls, directly next to the Transfiguration classroom. Come on, move! She kept waiting, holding her year old book, as she did so. It took nearly five minutes for each and every student to sift into their own classes.
Hailey cursed under her breath, and pointed the wand at her leg wound. She made sure that the hem of her robes were lifted so she could get a good look at the gashes. Her hand rotated counter clockwise, one. She did it again, two. Then she finished the last part of the spell, muttering: "Defleshapero." A sizzling feeling took place, forcing her to drop her book and wand, as she grasped the singing leg. A small yelp issued from Hailey's mouth, whilst the wounds were being forcibly burnt shut by the magic. Within seconds, her calf wounds were no longer visible.
She couldn't believe it. A spell that was hard for even adults to pull off, she had just done like it was nothing. A small gasping giggle escaped her lips as she smiled down at the sweat covered leg. "That was some impressive spell casting Miss Bryer." A thick Southern accent met Hailey's ears. She gazed up, realizing that Professor Daniel Mass, was staring at her. This man was a tall one, with a stoic stance he always took. His hands would always be partially inside his business coat pockets, with his thumbs sticking out. He was over six and a half feet tall, and was of average muscle size.
His nose is long, crooked and has huge nostrils. This feature constantly reminded Hailey of Dale from the Walking Dead. It was this man's nostrils that was most memorable to her, that was why she recognized Professor Mass so easily. He had a huge handlebar mustache, that was dark brown. His hair had been greased back, and his eyes were medium sized and a deep purple color. Other than the nostrils, the other feature that drew Hailey's eye all the time, was the long stretch marks on his hands and forearms. This matched the similar markings near his ears and cheeks as well.
"Are you gonna come into class, or am I going to have to usher you in?" he said jokingly. "Sorry, sir! I was just…" "He stopped her there, with his hands up. "Just get into class Hailey. We'll be learning about transfiguring yourself into animals today!" He smiled brightly at her, and ushered her into the classroom. When the door shut behind her, he continued to stand outside, with a confused look on his face. He knew those scratch marks and they weren't normal. Not even that incantation she did would be able to heal what caused those markings. He knew that cuts caused by a curse would never truly go away, but fade. With a sigh, he turned and entered the classroom, not noticing the nakedness of Ferdin who had just entered the main doors.
Chapter 2: