Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of this series, but I do have ownership over at least two characters that are introduced in this chapter, Julian and his human master

Warning: there is a lot of language and violence, and there may be some missed spelled words and context


Chapter Three: School trip


Snapping his head up with his eyes wide open, Julian found himself staring up at a white ceiling as he tried to slow his uneven breathing and organize his thoughts. He just had another dream of some kind, he was sure of it. But he couldn't remember it. The only thing he could recall from the dream was a hazy mist of red that smelled like a blood and someone calling out to him. Charles? He doubted it.

He then rolled back over onto his stomach, causing Vlad to shift slightly in his sleep. Julian shook his head, trying to clear it of all thoughts, before slipping out from under Vlad and October's arm. Trying to get his limps to move from their comfortable warmth of the bed, Julian managed to push himself into a sitting position before slowly climbing up to his feet.

Strange… it feels as if the pain in my legs has disappeared – thought Julian as he stretched the upper half of his body, yawning, letting his tongue loll out of his mouth. After he shook his body, ruffling his tangled, soft black coat of fur, he leapt down from the bed and onto his paws, barley feeling any pain in his back legs at all.

Julian pushed the bedroom door open with his nose and made his way down the small hallway, or to more precise small library area, before stopping at the top of the stairs. Though his legs were healed, or at least they felt like they were, he wasn't so sure he could make it down the stairs.

Taking a deep breath and releasing it through his nose, he placed one of his front paws on the first step and then the next, he kept moving one paw in front of the other as he made his way down the stairs until he reached the floor below. I did it! I really did it, he barked, making his way to the kitchen, which was filled with the rich fragrance of food.

Padding his way into the kitchen, Julian was greeted with the delicious smell of beacon, eggs, and toast, and just like last he noticed another scent mixed in that smelled an awfully lot like blood. Did someone hurt themselves? He shook that thought out of his mind as he butt his head against Nelly's leg as she continued to make stir something in the pan on the stove.

Smiling, the young woman turned her attention to Julian. "Hey there," she cooed, scratching behind his ear causing the black wolf's tail to happily sway behind him as he allowed his tongue to loll out to the side in a grin. "I bet you're hungry, huh?"

Julian sat back on his hunches and barked out an agreement, his tail thumping loudly against the floor. He then looked over his shoulder, not noticing Nelly rummage through a cabinet, and found Vlad and his two friends racing into the kitchen. Julian noticed that Sprat was wearing a different pair of black clothing than he had on yesterday, while Vlad and October still wore the same.

"Looks like everyone's up due to the smell of food," smiled Nelly, pulling out a medium seized bag of dog food from the cabinet before closing its door. Julian jumped up onto his hind legs, placing his front paws on the counter, and snatched a small piece of beacon off the plate. He loved Nelly's beacon, it tasted as good as Charles's.

He barked a few times just before Nelly wrapped her arms around his torso and pulled him gently away from the counter, being mindful of his 'hurt' legs. She placed him down on all fours as he whimpered. He was hungry, couldn't she at least bend the rules at best. Charles fed him people food before, so why couldn't he eat at least one or two pieces of beacon?

"No," answered Nelly, placing her hands on her hips as she stared down at Julian from behind her glasses. "I have a bowl of dog food for you over there in the corner." She pointed off to the side and following the direction of her finger Julian found a bowl of dog food with a bowl of water right next to it in a corner.

He looked back at Nelly as she placed some plates on the table in front of each person, handing Vlad a glass cup of red juice and the other two a glass of orange juice. Julian stared at the cup of red liquid as Vlad chugged its contents down, snatching a piece of beacon from Sprats plate before tossing it over by Julian's front paws. But he ignored the freshly cooked meat.

His eyes were trained on Vlad and nothing else. I could've sworn that liquid in Vlad's cup smelt like blood. Though he couldn't be sure, Julian knew that smell well. It was in his animal instincts to know the smell of blood. Maybe it was his imagination, but Julian doubted it.

Shaking his head, he took the piece of beacon off the floor and swallowed it in one bite before making his way over to his bowl of dog food. Come to think of it, though he felt this connection with Vlad, he knew nothing about the boy. For all he knew Vlad could very well be one of those bloodsuckers that have chased him down for four years, trying to kill him.

Glancing over his shoulder, Julian watched as Vlad made his way out the room followed by his two friends, all laughing and joking around. What was he thinking? There's no way Vlad was one of those things. Even if he was he was different from them. He had saved Julian's life instead of trying to end it.

He was the young wolf's savior, and now his new friend.

Barking playfully, Julian followed after Vlad, finding the boy by the front door with his two friends. He butt his wet nose lightly against the boy's hand before licking at the tips of his fingers. Vlad pulled his hand back a bit, still keeping his eyes on his two friends.

October threw her backpack over her shoulder. "Well, we have to head home since school starts in two hours and we didn't… or at least I didn't bring any clothes." She glared at Sprat, who was grinning pulling something out of his pocket that smelt sweet like candy.

"I had everything planned out," grinned Sprat.

"Planned my ass."

October scoffed in annoyance, crossing her arms over her chest as she continued to glare at Sprat. She glanced at Vlad, smiling briefly as she said her goodbyes, and opened the door. "See you guys in class," she called over her shoulder before closing the door behind her.

"I gotta go too, see ya later, man," grinned Sprat before he, too, left out the door, closing it behind it him. Weren't friends suppose to go to school together? Or maybe he was just thinking too much. People who were close didn't have to be together all the time. Julian turned his head slightly and watched as Vlad made his way back up the stairs to his room, most likely to get ready for school.

He barked at the boy to get his attention, which seemed to work for the boy turned slightly to look at him with a smile on his face. He waved at the wolf before continuing his decent up the stairs. Julian sat back on his hunches, waiting for Vlad to return, even though he knew it might be awhile.

He had to admit, though the boy was tired due to lack of sleep, he was strong. Vlad's dreams were plagued with nightmares of some kind, but even so he was having fun with his friends and now getting ready for school, acting as if none of that had happened last night. Or he was just trying to forget all about the dreams.

If only I were human – thought Julian, dropping his upper body down on the floor, laying his head between his two front paws as he blew a puff of air out of his nose. If he were human like those two, Sprat and October, then he would be able to help Vlad a whole hell of a lot more than he could being a wolf. But even if he could turn to a human what if Vlad didn't want his help or wouldn't acknowledge him, he would be a stranger, after all.

Humans were lucky, admitted Julian, staring at the closed door in front of him. He then perked his head up when he saw Nelly by his side calling up the stairs toward Vlad that she had to go to work early. She smiled at Julian and said her goodbyes, kissing him on his head, before she made her way out the door.

Great, now I'll be stuck with that idiot cat – he growled in his thoughts, climbing up onto his paws, and made his way into the living room. He hated cats, but Vlad's cat, Amenti, seemed to be attached to him, or she just loved the warmth. Speaking of that cat, Julian glared at the feline curled up into a ball on the couch, near the arm of it. Great, now he needed to find another place to sleep.

He then looked over his shoulder and noticed Vlad by the door, rummaging through his backpack, making sure he got everything. Julian found that the boy wore nothing but black over black. Black was his favorite color also, but Julian didn't know the boy had shared his taste. Then again having a pelt of pure black helped in that category, he loved his fur coat.

Zipping his backpack up, Vlad tossed it over his shoulder by one strap and opened the front door. "Be good while I'm gone, okay?" he said, turning to Julian with a smile. The wolf tilted his head to the side, wagging his tail. Vlad chuckled at the response and shut the door behind him, locking it.

Now what the hell am I suppose to do for nine hours? – he sighed in his thoughts, dropping to his hunches, but his boredom didn't last long when an idea appeared to the forefront of his mind. The wolf rushed over to the front door and examined the lock, wondering how he should open it. If he were human he would just did what everyone else did, but he's not.

Jumping up onto his hind legs, Julian placing his front paws on the front door, wrapping his teeth around the lock and twisting it to the side, like he saw Nelly do earlier. He then heard the click announcing the door was unlocked. Now the problem relied with how to open the door.

….

Sighing, Vlad dropped in his seat next to Sprat, who appeared hyper off of his pixie sticks. He really wished he could've had this class near the end of the day instead of first thing in the morning, seeing too much nakedness wasn't good for his body, or his mind. But then if he did have this class later he would be alone again, that was something he didn't want.

"Soooo… are you guys going to keep Julian or what?" asked Sprat suddenly, turning sideways in his seat, his leg bouncing up and down slightly. Yup, he had his pixie sticks.

"Who knows, but I believe we might end up keeping him," answered Vlad, resting his forehead against the cool surface of his desk. "Nelly already treats him like he's part of the family and plus I think he likes it there with us. I mean… well, he doesn't seem to hate us or anything."

Sprat tapped the eraser to his mechanical pencil against his chin, as if he was real focused on thinking, but Vlad knew better than to believe that. He chuckled slightly, and just when Sprat opened his mouth to speak the bell rung, announcing class had started.

Sprat sat straight in his chair, facing forward slightly, while his body still faced Vlad's, Vlad however just stared at his teacher as if he were bored, leaning his cheek against his knuckles, his elbow resting on the flat surface of his desk as he slouched forward in his seat. He just couldn't believe how stupid or immature his classmates were as he watched them ask question after question.

Everyone knew the answer to the questions had something to do with gonads, but in order to hear the teacher stammer, it made Vlad groan as he rolled his eyes. It wasn't really that funny to hear a teacher stumble around with their words, it was actually pretty embarrassing. How were you going to expect the students to say it now without laughing their asses off?

….

Sniffing the ground, Julian made his way through the neighborhood to a large school building. He didn't expect the streets to be so deserted, but it was, and he was glad for that. He didn't want people panicking over a wolf walking the streets as if it were a common stray. Then again, Julian didn't think that would matter much anyway. He was a wild animal, though tamed, and still was considered dangerous.

Julian looked carefully around the parking lot, making sure there were no humans around, and then dashed out from the rusty old truck he was hiding under, making his way up to the front doors of the school. He stared at the doors as he tilted his head to the side. Okay, he got to the school by following Vlad's scent, but now what was he suppose to do?

He didn't think it would be a good idea for a wolf to just walk on in as if he were another student as well, late for his morning classes. This was one of the times being a human would come in handy with, too bad he wasn't one. Pushing the door open lightly with the top of his head, Julian stuck his head into the building.

Julian never been in a school before, but he had to admit the front of the school was pretty huge. Wonder what the rest of it looks like? He then shook his head. No, I gotta focus on finding Vlad! After making sure the cost was clear Julian pushed his way through the door, and padded down the hall, trying to find Vlad's scent through all the others.

He didn't know why he wanted to follow Vlad, but he just found himself following Vlad's scent. That wasn't the original plan; he was actually planning to explore the surrounding area that was Vlad and Nelly's home. All well, at least he was going to see what school was like for the humans, and he could see Vlad again.

Sticking his head out to look around the corner, Julian found that just down the hall stood a… rat man... he was making his way toward Julian with two young teens behind him – one was a girl and the other was a boy. He then caught the eye of the boy as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. The boy stopped in his tracks, staring eye wide at Julian.

He didn't look scared, just surprise, noted Julian as he felt his tail thumping against the metal wall, the sound echoing around him. But the girl was a different story. She took one look at Julian and… screamed. And boy could she scream. It had not only made Julian flinch, flattening his ears to his head, but the boy too ended up covering his own with his hands as he grimaced. The rat man was a different story.

Julian ducked back down the hall with the strange man following right behind him, yelling at him.

….

Hearing the lunch bell ring, Vlad raised his head from where it lay on his math book, noticing everyone getting up and leaving. He found his two goth friends with Andrew waiting for him by the door. Sighing, he closed his math book and stuffed it in his backpack before tossing it over his shoulder.

"Hurry up, Vlad, or we'll be late meeting Kristoff at his class," called Andrew, leaning his back against the door way, crossing his arms over his chest. "And knowing that dude he'd probably leave without us."

"True," agreed October, twirling a strand of her raven hair around her finger.

Vlad opened his mouth to say something, but Sprat beat him to it by grabbing him by his arm and dragging him out the room passed the other two. Andrew withdrew from the wall, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his tattered black jeans, and followed right behind them with October by his side, hands folded behind her back.

Before he never had lunch with anyone but Henry and Meredith and her best friend Melissa, but now he was having lunch with a whole different crowd. Though they've been hanging out for a few weeks, these things were stuff Vlad was still trying to get use to. He wasn't use to having new friends; he didn't want any, after what had happened with Joss. Joss was Vlad's other best friend, but after getting a stake in the heart it left Vlad with trust issues about people.

But these guys, though Kristoff made it clear he didn't really care much for his presence, were different. Or at least Vlad hoped they were. He didn't want to get another stake through the heart; the first time was painful enough. But after hanging out with them for awhile Vlad knew he could trust them. Maybe he could trust them enough to go that gothic club The Crypt which they invited him to before that is if Nelly let him.

Vlad pulled to a stop at the entrance to the cafeteria, catching sight of Henry taking a seat at the popular table by some guy Vlad never seen before. He wished things could go back to the way it used to be, but he knew it wouldn't, at least not with Henry hating his guts.

Shaking his head, Vlad allowed Sprat to drag him over to their table on the far side of the lunch room in a small corner where Kristoff sat eating his lunch. He didn't know why he should care anymore; Henry and him were no longer friends. he had the goths and he also had Julian, though he was an animal that wouldn't be able to understand a lot of things.

Man, I must be really lonely – thought Vlad, taking his seat across from Kristoff with Sprat taking a seat next to him, while October and Andrew sat on the other side of the table with Kristoff. He was a real mess without Henry. Okay, maybe not a real mess but somewhere along those lines.

"Hey, Vlad is it true?" asked Andrew suddenly, around a fry in his mouth.

Vlad raised a brow at the goth in confusion as he watched him steal another fry from Kristoff's tray. "Is what true?" he questioned the goth as he also took a fry from Kristoff's tray, which had the silver haired teen glare at him. If only he had his special 'ketchup' it would taste so much better than having it plain.

Sprat grinned leaning over for a fry as well, nearly getting his hand stabbed by a fork courtesy of the silver haired goth. "October was just telling him about that wolf you and your aunt took in," he answered, popping the fry in his mouth. He then reached for another, but got his hand smacked by Kristoff.

"Get your own food!"

"Fine," stated Sprat with a frown, placing his hands on the table as he pushed himself up out of his seat. He then made his way to the lunch line, crossing his arms. Vlad would've gone with him if it weren't for the fact that everyone was now staring at him, waiting for him to answer.

Sighing, Vlad combed his hair back out of his face with his hand. He really didn't feel like talking about this right now when he could feel Henry's gaze on him from across the lunch room, and not just his but also Meredith's. She was probably upset for him avoiding her for the last few weeks. Henry… well, Vlad didn't know what was wrong with him. He just suddenly started acting like this.

Well, I might as well get this over with – Vlad sighed in his thoughts, opening his mouth to speak. But before he could get the words out he suddenly heard a few students start to scream and the annoying voice of Snelgrove. Glancing over his shoulder, Vlad found the high school principle fall flat on his face and Julian weaving in and out of the legs of the people near by, trying to get out of Snelgrove's reach.

"Julian?" questioned Vlad, rising to his feet.

The wolf seemed to spot because he started barking, his tail wagging happily behind him, and dashed his way over to his table. Julian leapt up over a table, knocking a few trays over, and fell into Vlad having him fall to the floor. Julian continued to lick the mess out of Vlad's face as Vlad groaned in pain.

Opening one of his eyes, Vlad found the wolf now laying his down on his shoulder, tail still swaying side to side in an excited manner. He heard the giggling voice of October and Sprat, who had come back from the lunch line with a tray in his hand. "Yeah, I missed you too," grinned Vlad, patting Julian on his head.

"So this is Julian?" asked Andrew, leaning over the table along with Kristoff, staring at the scene before them with slight interest and surprise. "Yeah, and he's totally in love with Vlad," giggled October.

Vlad glared at them for a brief moment before turning his attention to the principle making his way over to them, his little mouse nose twitching. Great, now he was going to get a huge scolding from the rodent man. That was something he really didn't need at the moment, especially when he was hungry.

"Mr. Tod is this animal yours?"

"Umm… I…" Vlad laughed nervously as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. Julian wasn't exactly his pet, though he really wished the wolf was. Nelly probably wouldn't mind if they kept him. But she still hadn't decided whether too or not. So of course Vlad had no idea how to answer that question. "Well, you see, sir…"

….

Seriously, what was up with the strange dog? – thought Henry, his eyes trained on the huge black animal in Vlad's arms. The thing was so huge Henry was having a hard time believing that Vlad was able to carry that thing as he followed Snelgrove out of the cafeteria. But there he was with one arm around the dog's torso while the other supported its weight.

"I wonder when that loser got a dog?" giggled Chelsea, gaining more laughter among the table of populars. Their laughter had anger start boil in Henry veins. He hated when people laughed at his best friend, no matter who it was. But his anger quickly turned to guilt.

Vlad was no longer his best friend, he severed that link between him and the half-vampire after he told Vlad that he had more in common with these people then he did with him. Now Vlad had new friends, people he seemed to be able to get along with a lot better than him. Vlad no longer needed him. He was easily replaced in just a few months.

Then he shook his head and sat back down. What the hell was he talking about? Vlad brought this whole thing upon himself always ordering him around, not giving him a chance. He had other friends too, who needed Vlad.

He did, though he hated to admit it, even unconsciously.

….

Maybe I didn't think this out well enough…

Julian watched as the rat man was pacing back and forth behind his desk with his hands folded behind his back as he sat back on his hunches next to Vlad, who sat in a wooden chair in a slouched position, arm thrown across the back. He appeared relaxed, but Julian could tell otherwise. He was nervous with small beads of sweat pooling on his upper brow and his eyes filled with panic. Was this rat man supposed to be scary?

Hey, Vlad, whimpered Julian as he butt his head against Vlad's leg, trying to get the boy's attention. Vlad looked down at him, raising a brow in question as Julian stared up at him with his tongue lolled out in a wolfish grin. Don't worry so much about this rat man he can't hurt while him here. He didn't know if Vlad would get his message or not, but the boy seemed to because he calmed down and smiled at him.

"…and I can't believe you would bring… Mr. Tod!" yelled rat man, glaring at Vlad, which caused Julian's fur to stand on end and a growl to rumble in his throat. He didn't like this man talking to Vlad in such a way, even if he was an adult.

Vlad turned his attention to the man behind the desk as he smiled sheepishly at him. "Yes, sir?" Julian wanted to laugh at how Vlad had said that. He sounded as if he were an innocent child, too bad he didn't have that kind of charm because the rat man's left brow twitched with annoyance.

The man cleared his throat, his squinty eyes trained on Julian. "Well, since you were obviously not paying any attention to a word I said, I'll cut to the chase. You will be serving a detention later after school and you'll be writing an apology letter, also I'll be notifying your guardian of this. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," groaned Vlad, tilting his head back a bit.

Julian didn't know what a detention was, but he could tell Vlad didn't seem too happy about it. This is all my fault, whimpered Julian, laying his head on Vlad's leg, watching as the rat man picked up the phone on his desk, dialing a number.

"Hello?" questioned the rat man into the phone. "Ah, yes, I'm calling to let you know about Vladimir Tod." He waited a bit, and Julian thought he heard Nelly's voice through the device telling him something. "Oh, no, he didn't get into any fights today. It's just he brought a some type of dog here… yes…yes…"

Feeling a hand comb through his tangled mess of black fur, Julian turned his head slightly to look at Vlad finding the boy looking right at him with a small smile gracing his lips. Then suddenly rat man placed the phone down and snapped his eyes to Vlad.

"You can go back to class," he stated. "But the dog stays in my office until school lets out."

"Yes, sir," sighed Vlad, pushing up out of his seat and headed for the door to the office, but before he left he looked over his shoulder at Julian with a smile gracing his lips. "Jules, I need you to stay here for a bit, alright?" Julian didn't answer he just tilted his head to the side, his tail swaying behind in a slow motion.

Glancing over his shoulder, Julian found that rat man was now seated in the chair at his desk his chin leaning on his folded hands as his elbows rested on the desk with his squinty rat trained on Julian. This guy's not just a rat in human form he's also a creeper. He wished Vlad would return quickly. He didn't know how long he could sit here with this rat's eyes constantly staring at him.

Someone please save me!


The End