Chp 10: Change

Damian looked at me worriedly, but loosened his grip on my legs. Chris's grip didn't slacken any, though.
"Are you okay, Marie?" I looked right into his eyes. I was still panting unneeded oxygen into my lungs, but I responded breathlessly anyway.
"How would I be all right, Damian? I'm a prisoner now, from what you've just demonstrated. Isn't it enough that you changed me into a vampire and ruined what was left of my already miserable life? Why couldn't you just let me be?" He winced as I said it. I just kept staring into his eyes, but it didn't seem to faze him. What I had said did, though.
"I know that... and I am truly sorry for it. I don't want you to think of yourself of a prisoner. And I never would've changed you unless it was for the command I was given. I was ordered to change you, and believe me; I never would've if it weren't for that."
"Save it. I don't want to hear your excuses. Especially your apologies. I think I've had enough of those for a lifetime." My voice was dead serious, and monotonous, not displaying emphasis or emotion. But Chris started laughing hysterically. Damian elbowed him in the ribs to silence him, and then looked back at me.
"I'm going to explain anyway. Maybe you'll think of it in a different light after I explain." Humph. As if that would, or ever could, happen. He continued.
"Just let me stress that you are not a prisoner. We need you for a specific purpose, and then we will let you go."
"Who is 'we' and for what exact purpose do you need me? I'm no good for anything." Damian flinched yet again, though he tried hard to hide it. Maybe if I were human, I wouldn't have spotted that tiny little movement...
"Well, 'we' is the vampire council. They've been ruling and enforcing vampire laws across the world for centuries. And for your other question, I'm not quite sure yet. But the council will tell me when they're ready." I looked at him incredulously.
"Whatever. Now what are you going to do with me?" He finally broke our little staring contest, to look down at the ground, hiding his face from my view behind his eye length dark brown locks of hair.
"We're going to the school." I tried to find his face again, and my own still emotionless.
"School?" Yay. Even as a vampire I had to go to school.
"Yes. It's where all the vampires, or, rather, newborn vampires live and learn how to be what they are."
"Are you two newborns?" Chris and Damian both looked at me with surprise and shock. Chris just laughed at me, and Damian now began our staring contest again.
"Do...we... look... like ...newborns?" Chris choked out between laughs. I now glared at him, though I was still like a zombie inside.
"No, we're not. Far from it. I'm almost five years older then Chris, but we are both over three hundred years old. I was born in the sixteen hundreds." Damian answered me. I just couldn't believe that. Although I couldn't really feel, I knew deep down I was shocked. How had these two adapted to the ages? And wouldn't they have a different view of the world if they were that old? There were a lot of things that I had to question about these two...
"Cool. So can you let go of me now, so I can get up? I really don't like lying on this earthy damp ground, you know." Damian immediately let go of my legs, though I could see he was a bit reluctant. He still thought I was going to run away? That shows how much he trusts me...
Chris didn't let go right away. He picked me up by my arms, and held tightly onto one of them as we began to make our way through the forest, heading to what I thought was going to be Chris's car.
"Can you let go of me, Chris? I'm not going to run away again. And even if I did, you'd catch me right away." I mumbled dully. Chris ignored me, and only gripped harder. If I had a circulation, it would be cut off by now.
"Chris let go of me." I said louder and more firmly. I didn't want to be touched by him. It felt by far, wrong.
All of a sudden, Damian was beside me. He took my hand lightly in his own, and nodded toward his brother to let go of me. Chris grudgingly let go. And even though I was still very angry and felt betrayed by Damian, it still felt a whole lot better to be holding his hand rather then Chris's.
We trudged at a normal, human pace through the forest, which was surprisingly easy. I wanted to run free again, but that wouldn't happen since they would probably think that I was trying to escape. Again.
I didn't trip on the giant roots and rocks like I would've before. I could probably describe my movements as elegant and graceful now, although I wouldn't really want to call it that. I hated attention. And if people from town saw me now, I would get a lot of attention. Since I was still wearing my blood soaked dress. But as I thought of that, I frowned. How had that happened? Maybe Damian had gotten some blood on me if he had bitten me, because that is how you turn vampire, right? I couldn't remember what had happened.
We were nearing the edge of the forest, and the road. I looked over the big, beautiful green forest as we walked through, taking in its gorgeousness. I didn't know if I would ever be in this place again. Maybe this would be my last walk through the forest. I wouldn't miss town or anyone in it, but I did know that down the line I would miss the forest, if I ever got feeling back. You couldn't go through the whole eternity emotionless, right?
We reached the road, and Chris's shiny black Eclipse. I let go of Damian's hand all too willingly as soon as we had gotten within a few meters of the car.
I opened one of the back doors, and got in smoothly, not hitting my head on the roof as I expected I would. I didn't bother doing up my seatbelt; what good would it do me anyway? I was already dead. Plus, I didn't think there was a chance of Chris or whoever was driving to hit something with their reflexes.
Chris and Damian got in right after me, Damian getting in the passenger seat while Chris claimed the driver's seat.
They did up their seatbelts, and then we began driving. Positioning myself to look out the black tinted windows, I gazed out at what I was leaving behind. Then we were moving too fast so that everything was blurring. I couldn't pick anything in particular from the green blur that was the forest, or the grey blur that was the road, but I could swear I saw a brownish-crimson stain on the side of the road as we sped up, and left my old life behind. I wonder what had happened there.

It looked like the color of dried blood. And only a few minutes after making that assessment, then disregarding it, I made the connection between the dried blood on my clothes and that of the stain on the road.

"Wow, you are messy, aren't you?" I mumbled it under my breath, not meaning for anyone to hear it, but obviously Damian did.

"What are you talking about?" I looked over at him.

"When you bit me, you got blood all over the place." I motioned to my dress, and then said, "It's all over the road back there too. You must have bled me dry," I began to joke without humour, and Damian looked very lost. Chris looked astonished.

"You bit her? You were supposed to use the needle."

"I did use the needle. You know that." He snapped at his brother before turning back to me.

"I didn't bite you Marie. Don't you remember how you died?" I thought for a moment. Of course I did. Apparently he had used a needle to inject me with… something so he could change me into a vampire.

"Yes, obviously. You changed me into what you are, and now I'm dead." Damian looked like he wanted to roll his eyes, but knew better than that.

"Well, yes in a way. But you have to be at the point of death before you're changed. Then I inject you with my blood and you become a vampire." Realizing what he finally meant, I glared at him.

"So essentially you killed me twice: once to change me, then you actually changed me." My voice held no accusation, but I'm pretty sure without meaning to, my eyes did. Damian looked just as lost as he did before. Then comprehension crossed his face.

"You just don't remember how exactly you died. Do you remember any of last night?" Concentrating, I began to retain bits and pieces of the night before.

I recalled that my mom had been acting weird for some reason all night. And so had Damian, gazing at the top of my head every few seconds all day, and all of his unexplained apologies… then mom had dragged me to a dance…. Had made me wear this dress… Guys were bothering me at the dance… I danced with Damian… Then mom was driving us away from the dance, a little bit agitated then… and that's all I could remember.

"Yes. I remember most of yesterday, and everything before that. I just can't remember how I died… it must have been done by one of you though." I glared at them both. Chris's face remained emotionless while Damian sighed, seeming a bit frustrated.

"I'm not sure if I should tell you how, or by who. But you have to know that neither of us did it." Now my glower only focused on him.

"Spill it. Now." He shook his head tightly.

"I can't tell you. It's the one reason why none of us are supposed to remember anything before we were transformed. You're not supposed to remember how you died, or anything before it. Now you have to live with the things you did before you died forever." I became curious momentarily.

"How do you know all of this?" He looked out of the window ahead of him now, and sighed.

"I've been alive a very long time, Marie, and I'm just like you. I can remember how I died, and everything before it." More intrigue sparked within me.

"Really? Then how did you die?"

"A mob killed me. They thought I had been involved with vampirism. I wasn't. Until Nathaniel- the top council member- changed me. I got a stake through the heart. A few seconds later Nathaniel showed up and transformed me."

"He did it in front of people?" His brow puckered.

"Obviously not. He got us away from the crowd first, out into the country before he bit me."

"So back then vampires bit people to change them?"

"Yes. But they realized it was more efficient to transform people by injecting people with their blood then biting them. There is a more concentrated amount of venom in our blood. When they started to do that, vampires were almost immune to sunlight. Our senses weaken when we step into sunlight. Some even become delirious. But I was one of the lucky ones, and am able to walk in the sunlight. The other not-so-lucky ones can't go into sunlight without losing all their heightened senses. They essentially become human again when they step into the light, but it's only temporary. And when you have enemies, it's not such a good thing."

I guess that was understandable. It was only too bad that when you stepped into the sunlight that you wouldn't be able to stay human.

There was a silence as I digested all the information. And there were only a few more questions I had to have answered before I would be able to sit silently and obediently in this car.

"You still haven't told me how I died," My voice came out unusually calm.

There was a long silence, and I began to wonder if he was going to answer me or not. But then I heard him breathe heavily.

"I told you, you don't want to know. It's best if you don't."

"And I told you I don't care, I want to hear it." He groaned, frustrated.

"You don't want to hear it. It's going to hurt you Marie." I rolled my eyes, confident that it wouldn't be that bad.

"It can't be that horrible." I wished at that moment that I could see Damian's face for his reaction.

"It is. I don't think even the way I died could measure up to what happened to you." That really confused me. Could there be anything worse then being chased by a mob of people who you knew, driving a stake through your heart?

"I still want to know." There was another awkward silence, and I think he was determining whether or not he would tell me.

"You know how you died, don't you? Why can't I? There really isn't a difference." At that he turned around to look me straight in the eyes. His eyes were barely green anymore. There was a tiny rim of it around his pupil, but other then that his eyes were coal black. Plus, there was a fire burning in them. It put me on edge; I'd never seen him lose his cool like this.

"Yes, there is Marie. You were killed by someone who's been fairly close to you all your life, murdered in the most brutal way. It was absolutely horrible to watch. And I can't believe you were put through that. I could've stopped it if I wanted to, but I didn't. As I said before, even if you don't remember, it was your fate. No one is even supposed to remember what happened to them. I'm not going to say anymore." I could feel the shock on my face, and immediately my mind tried to make sense of what he said. Someone close to me…

He was facing the front once more, and I couldn't see his face in the side mirror; he was angled in a position so that I wouldn't be able to. My face had a defiant stare on it.

"You know, I will be able to figure it out. I'm not that stupid. And from the information you just gave me, it narrows it down a lot considering that I barely had anyone close to me." He didn't say anything. And as twilight fell across the forest we were still driving through, my mind was working in overtime. The only people that had been really close to me were my dad, and he wasn't a possibility since he was dead. The there was Damian, and he said he hadn't killed me, but I didn't know what to believe on that one. Then there was Janet. But she hadn't been really close to me; she just hated my guts because I always hung out with Damian and when I didn't want to. Other than that, I really didn't know why she hated me.

Was it possible that Janet had been at that dance that I had apparently gone to, and she smashed my skull in with one of those ice swan punch bowls? That would explain why there was so much blood and how I woke up with no memory of the event, but I don't think Janet could have that much muscle in her pipe arms as to kill me with a punch bowl…

So that only left me with… my mother. And as I came to the realization, my eyes widened. My mother had killed me.

The memory flooded back. My mother driving us along a back road, her drawing a knife up from in between the console and the seat, her stabbing me, driving it in deep and my blood flowing profusely from the wounds she created on my chest and stomach. I felt like I was going to be sick, even though now that was entirely impossible. Oh my god. I remembered the intense pain of the blade going all the way into me, the way the metal felt inside me. My fingers traced absently over where she had stabbed me, not feeling a scar but dried blood.

The feelings may be even worse than the wounds she made. I couldn't get over the fact that she had done that to me. I knew she hated me, but to go to those extremes to get rid of me? Why not just kick me out? I had thought the exact same things, too when she did the deed. Now I remembered every single little detail in perfect clarity.

"You remember." Damian's voice pulled me off my train of thought, and now I was staring at the back of his head, trying to control the emotions coursing through me. He must've been able to tell by my facial expressions.

"Obviously." I failed miserably at my attempt of sarcasm. I felt like I was on the verge of tears, and my voice was very strained. It made Damian turn around to look at me worriedly.

"Are you all right?" I couldn't say anything right now, even though I wanted to scream at him that no, I was not in fact, all right. What on Earth made him think I could be?

Damian's eyes widened for some reason around the time I felt something icy cold and wet roll down my cheek. I reached up to touch it, and drew back my hand to see my fingertips were a shiny iridescent colour.

"You're crying," He said in amazement. What was the big deal? Everyone could cry, couldn't they?

"What's wrong? Haven't you ever seen someone cry before?" I was trying vainly to cheer myself up with sarcasm, but yet again it didn't work. Pearly tears were now rolling freely down my face.

Damian's eyes remained wide and fixed on my face.

"I've never seen a vampire cry." I grimaced.

"Are they really that tough?" He looked away from the tears on my face to my eyes, and then he rolled his eyes.

"No. It's just that, we can't cry."

"Why not?" He sighed.

"Well, when you turn, all that is left is blood and venom. We don't have any other bodily fluids. And unless you're crying blood, which it looks like you are, then we can't cry. It's virtually impossible to cry for our kind, and it looks like you've broken that reality rule." Oh great. Even as a vampire I was set apart, different from other people.

"Well I think what I am right now is breaking reality rules." He let out a small laugh.

"Well, I guess. That's what I first thought." He turned around and started to stare out the window. Much like I wanted to do right now.

Looking back out the window, I realized it was no longer twilight. It was dark out, and I could see everything crystal clear. It was amazing… I could pick out and distinguish everything in clarity. The heightened senses and abilities was a plus, but was it really worth it? Living forever in the darkness? I had yet to know if I could step into the sunlight without becoming human temporarily. I also had yet to know why I, of all people, was picked out of billions of other people on the planet to be turned. Why me? I was no different than other people. Actually, on the other hand, I was probably worse. If I was not good at doing anything as a human, what made being a vampire change everything?

I breathed heavily, trying to calm myself down for what was coming. Apparently we were going to some kind of vampire school. And I had to keep my cool and be absolutely open minded for all the time I was to be there, because otherwise I would probably break down and go into a hysterical fit, screaming that everyone around me was a lunatic and that this was all one big joke. And thinking about that, I would probably have to do that the rest of my damned life. Great. Just great. Life would be loads of fun for the rest of the eternity. And I couldn't help asking myself how I had ended up in this mess in the first place.

We sped down back-roads for the rest of the night. And none of us said another word, either, even though I had many questions that I still needed answers to. We could've been driving for hours, but I wasn't counting. Right now, I wasn't in a particularly good mood, as anyone could tell. I had just been changed into a vampire, been whisked away by two apparent vampires, and now was heading to a school of some sort. It would probably be more like an academy. I just couldn't picture a vampire high-school…

Suddenly Chris turned onto a gravely dirt road surrounded by very unkempt trees and bushes. I was surprised he was able to see it since it was hidden from view by most people, but he had probably had to do this many times, so he most likely knew the way off by heart.

Out of the blue, although not literally, came a huge, and what I presumed to be, ancient building. The dirt-gravel driveway led up to massive black-iron gates. Like the kind you see lining mansions and huge important buildings in movies. They were mostly overgrown with ivy, just as the old red bricks of the building were. The building itself must have been as big as two massive mansions put together. It must have been the biggest building I had ever seen. I'd only ever seen buildings like this in text-books.

Past the bars, the path we were on led up to the front, then branched off to the right stopping at what looked to be the entrance to an underground parking lot.

At first, the big building seemed kind of ominous. But as I examined it more closely, taking in the many huge windows and old architecture, it seemed more and more… I don't know, homey, I guess you could say. I know I didn't, and would never belong anywhere, but this was probably as close as I would get.

Chris started doing something that distracted my attention from what I assumed to be the school looming before us.

He pulled a pair of dog tags out of his pants pocket, and rolled down the window. There was a scanner attached to one of the brick poles the bars were connected to. Chris scanned a bar code on one of the dog tags. I noticed there was also his name on it, and a pair of black angel wings.

A few seconds after he had scanned the tag, a small beep came from the scanner, and the bars slowly opened, allowing us onto the grounds. As soon as the bars were open wide enough for us to squeeze through, Chris revved the engine and raced down the path, turning right and then turning into the opening.

It took us mere seconds before we emerged from the tunnel that had brought us down to what looked like a dungeon, but cars were parked everywhere.

The ceiling was dripping with precipitation, it was dark and dank, and immediately I smelled a musty scent. Exactly what you expected an underground parking lot to be.

Chris didn't have to look for a spot; he took one right beside a black Audi R8. Speedily, he turned off the engine and got out. But I hesitated before getting out. A thought crossed my mind to run.

"Come on Marie, we have to go to the office to get your dorm room number and paperwork." Chris said sharply. In a flash he was on my side of the car, opening my door for me, and motioning with his hand for me to get out. I scowled at him as I got up and out of the car in one graceful movement. It would have to take me a few days to get used to that.

Chris closed my door behind me, and locked up; meanwhile I noted Damian was frowning at Chris. I shrugged it off, not bothering to ask myself why, and turning away to look for the way up through the school. And just then, a thought crossed my mind. How on Earth would I fit in at a vampire school if I couldn't fit in at a regular school? Would people accept me? It would be a lot harder for me here, since I didn't know anyone except Chris and Damian. At least I knew who the people were, and what they could do in Salmo. But then again, did I even know Damian and Chris? They could've been making up everything before to make it easier for them to get closer to me. That thought just put me in a worse mood than I was already in.

"Are we going to bring her up there dressed like that?" Damian inquired Chris quizzically and incredulously.

Chris huffed.

"We have to. We can't take her any other way where people won't see her, and I don't have any clothes for her unless you have some in your car. Besides, she still has to tell Shelly what size of uniform she needs. It might take a little bit longer too, because Shell might have to hem the uniform. I've never seen a girl as small as her before," He said the last two sentences under his breath, like he didn't really mean for me to hear them. At that moment, I felt like turning around and doing something childish like sticking out my tongue, punching him, or doing something silly like that. Thank-god I didn't. I just ignored him, making sure my back faced him at all times.

But then I looked down at my ruined, dirtied dress and I began to worry. I couldn't let the first impression the people in this school got of me be me wearing this. It looked as if I had just stepped out of my tomb.

Blood stains were everywhere on my dress and dried on my skin. Then it was ripped and some parts, had mud on it from being on the forest floor. I looked more of a mess then I usually did. I glanced over at the boys worriedly.

"Umm, guys, I can't go up there like this. Don't you have a sweater or something I could borrow?" Chris shook his head.

"I burned all my old clothing. Other than going out on jobs with Damian, I never need casual clothes." I looked to Damian. He nodded, sending relief through me.

"I have a sweater in my car." He ran over to the Audi R8, unlocked it, and began to rummage around in the back seat.

Waiting patiently as I could at the moment, I looked over to Chris who was staring at me with a blank look on his face. I frowned.

"What?" I almost hissed at him. He shrugged, and kept on looking at me.

"You have no idea…" He said ominously, and grimaced. I cocked my head to the side.

"What do you mean?" But Damian cut him off. He had returned form his car, and was now handing me a plain black hooded sweatshirt. I took it form his extended hand.

"It is probably way too big for you, but since you wear things like that all the time, it will most likely not be a problem, right?" I nodded, slipping on the sweater over my head easily. He definitely knew me.

"Thank-you." He nodded in response. Chris began to walk quickly toward a staircase, and Damian and I followed right behind him.

As we started to ascend, I began to ponder over Chris's odd words. I had no idea what he had meant by them. I had no idea about a lot of things at the moment, so what exactly had he been talking about?

It seemed like seconds later when Chris pushed open a door with Damian and me behind him, into a grand hallway. It was spectacular.

The hall was very spacious; it was almost like a lobby. And the walls were some sort of dark wood, lacquered so much it was shiny. The floor was white marble, and the ceiling was very high up.

I stared at the hall's impressiveness, until I realized how crowded it was. There must have been at least a hundred people traveling through it, walking through it to get to different hallways just as ostentatious as this one leading every which and way. There was a door far away down the hall, which read 'Main Office' and I guessed that's where we were headed. Damian and Chris started to move into the crowd, but I paused yet again by the door of the stair case. People hadn't noticed me yet, and I didn't want them to notice me ever.

"Marie, come on. We have to go." Damian said quietly from where he had stopped a few feet away from me. I looked at him. It was amazing how he wanted to soothe me when he knew I hated his guts right now.

"I really don't want to be seen like this." I whispered fiercely. He sighed, and held out his arm. My eyes were questioning.

"I'll try and hide you then." Oh. He wanted to hide me from view with himself. I internally groaned. I didn't want to be anywhere near him at the moment. But it was the only way I would be able to get past this crowd without them seeing me… I sighed, and joined him.

He wrapped his arm around me, almost making me invisible pressed into the side of him as he started to make his way swiftly through the crowd. We met up with Chris half way down the hall, and he smirked when he saw us, but I could see a hint of irritation also. What would he be irritated about?

And a few meagre seconds later, we were at the door to the main office. I sighed, thankful, as Damian let go of me. Well, it had worked. As we passed people, I made sure they didn't do a double-take or seem to look particularly interested if they saw us. No one did, and I was tremendously relieved.

We stepped through the door, and the first thing I saw was a huge mahogany desk, with a twenty-year-old woman behind it looking like she'd been pulled out of the forties.

In a pink professional-looking blouse, short voluminous red hair, pale white skin, and blood red lipstick, she looked like the standard house-wife of the forties.

"Hello, Shelly." Chris called brightly. The woman, according to Chris who was named Shelly, looked up from her computer and gave Chris a beautiful white-teethed smile. She definitely looked like she came form the fifties, it was eerie. She had a sharp chin, angular features, and protruding cheek bones. I couldn't get over it.

"Hello Chris. How are we today?" Her voice was old fashioned too, yet beautiful.

"We're great, thank-you, Shell. We've come to pick up Marie Alexander's paperwork and dorm number." She looked behind Chris who was leaning on the desk to stare at me. I was half standing behind Damian, and I edged behind him one more inch. She smiled at me.

"Welcome Marie." I nodded slightly, acknowledging her. She turned back to her computer and typed something in. When she had found what she needed, she looked back up at me and announced, "Your dorm number is thirty three. We have thirteen floors, and your room is on the eleventh, where most of the girls' dorms are. The top two floors are the boys' dorms and the eleventh and tenth are the girls' dorms. Chris and Damian will show you everything." I nodded shyly again and stored that information away for future reference. Shelly started to sift through some papers on her desk and gather them up. Her desk was very organized for the most part.

"Boys aren't allowed in the girl's dorms and same applies for the girl's in boy's dorms. There's an exception for the people who are mates, but they aren't allowed to sleep over. They have to be out by ten PM max. Here are your forms." She held out a fairly large stack of forms which Chris took from her. She looked past everyone to me.

"Do you know your size? I need to get you a uniform." A uniform? Oh great. I wouldn't be able to wear casual clothes, and they also wouldn't able to be baggy. The whole time I was here, I would be uncomfortable. I let out a tiny groan before I answered her.

"I don't really know… I usually wear size five or seven." Shelly's eyes held a bit of exasperation, but I could tell she was trying to be patient with me.

"Step out from behind him, I'll check to make sure." I looked up to Damian, and he nodded a reassurance before I stepped out into her view. She clucked her tongue in annoyance.

"Take that sweater off, dear. It looks way too big for you, and with it on you I can't tell." Groaning yet again, I stripped the sweater off in one movement over my head, and held I to my side, looking away, not wanting to see Shelly's reaction to my vulgar appearance. I heard her let out a tiny gasp. Then I heard her chuckle. I looked back at her to see a surprised expression still on her face, but she had humour in her eyes.

"What did you do with this one, boys? I don't think I've ever seen a person come back with them in worse condition than you are." I looked down at my toes again. Why was I more embarrassed than anything else at the moment? Shouldn't I be glowering at them murderously for what they did to me? I would've, if I had been normal. And that was another thing to thank Damian for… now I didn't know who I was anymore.

Now I could actually feel things for a change… the numbness had worn off back in the car, and now I didn't have it when I needed it most.

Shelly looked over me one last time, and finally came to a decision.

"I think you're about a… 2. I think I may have your size. You're extremely small; are you eighteen?" I shook my head slightly.

"I'll be eighteen in a few weeks." Her eyebrows rose, and she looked between me and Damian, a smile, almost a smirk on her face. I looked at her quizzically as she turned away, walking to the back of the very roomy office and into yet another room. I covered myself up with the sweater again, wrapping around myself slightly in case someone came in.

I heard a quiet, 'Ah!' from the other room, and all too soon Shelly was at her desk, holding a small plaid skirt, long sleeve white blouse, and a formal-looking black overcoat. I went up to her desk to take the clothes form her hand, and took a step back again. She sat back down and began to work again, and I guess that was our queue to leave. Damian was the first to turn around and exit, then Chris, then I, but just before I could leave, Shelly spoke once more.

"Damian will show you around, looking into class rooms and such. Make sure to fill out those forms as soon as possible. I need to know what classes you will be attending, and I will squeeze you into one. Orientation will start in a few days, and your actual classes will start a week and a half from now so you can get used to finding your way around the school. Once again, Marie, welcome to the Atrum Angelus Academy." I nodded, and exited out into the hallway to find Damian waiting for me, my papers in hand. He handed them to me, and then he began to lead me down a hallway. I followed robotically, my mind wandering off in different directions.

Atrum was my middle name. It meant 'dark' in Latin. My mother had gone through a Latin stage for some reason, and she just wanted to have my name in Latin, but my dad wouldn't have it. So my middle name was in Latin. And angelus… I think it meant 'angel'. I picked up a few words from my mother earlier and what else would angelus mean? It was remarkably close to angel, so why not…?

Why would this academy be called 'Dark Angel'? Oh well. No point to wondering about it. I had enough to think about at the moment as it was.

Suddenly, we were at a door labelled '33'. This must be my room. Somehow, we had gone up many flights of stairs, and walked through who knows how many hallways without my noticing and seemingly in seconds. Wow, I was oblivious.

"Marie? Are you alright? This is your dorm." Damian's voice brought me back to reality, and now I was looking dazedly at his concerned face. My eyes widened, and I shook my head, snapping out of it.

"Oh, yeah, I kind of dazed off there for a minute. Sorry." I slight smile touched his lips, but not much more than that. He seemed to be concerned still, and I could see some other emotion he was trying to keep hidden from me for the moment, but I couldn't identify it. A second later, he had a poker face on, so I was completely unable to read emotions on his face or in his eyes, yet alone the one he had on before. I frowned faintly.

"Okay. Well, I better go get changed… Oh, wait a minute." I was about to enter, but I stopped, a thought crossing my mind. He looked at me expectantly.

"Do I have a room mate?" He nodded. I bit my lip, and he stared at me weirdly for a moment. Uh-oh -an awkward moment. How could a simple little question like the one I had just asked make an awkward moment? I had to ask myself that.

"Uh… who is it?" What a stupid question to ask. He probably didn't know.

It seemed like he had come out of a daze, just like I had only minutes earlier, and he focused on my face, immediately answering my question to cover up what he had just experienced. He was confusing me right now.

"I think it is Katherine. She heard earlier that she was getting a new roommate, and she had been excited ever since. Go inside and meet her." Oh. It shocked me for a moment, but when I realized that this had been planned much earlier, a lot earlier than I had known, I narrowed my eyes in annoyance and anger. For some reason, that just really got to me. And especially the fact that Damian hadn't told me anything before, before he had gotten involved with my life and did it without my consent, or without me really knowing what was going on in the first place.

Damian was starting to turn away to leave, but I stopped him, pulling him back by the arm. He stared at me in surprise. At that moment, I think I looked as dejected as I felt.

"Why didn't you ever tell me? And don't give me the excuse that I wouldn't understand, just tell me. Please. I think I deserve to know." Damian lightly pulled his arm out of my grasp, and looked down at the floor, sighing before he would look up at my saddened face.

"I didn't tell you before, because I didn't think it would really matter if I told you anyway. As I've said before, people are supposed to forget their past when they're turned, so they can start out new. I didn't think you would remember, and that's why I didn't tell you. Honestly, there would've been no other reason I wouldn't have told you. I don't think you would have run away screaming like I said before; you are too open-minded and strong for that. Plus, you're very curious, so I think you would've stayed to investigate anyway. Is that a satisfying enough answer?"

Yes, it was. It went beyond that. I was stunned. So stunned, that I had nearly dropped my things. No one had ever told me those kinds of things about myself, and I was quite surprised that he would think like that about me. How had he picked those kinds of things up so quickly? I don't think even my parents knew that much about me.

Realizing that my mouth hung slightly open, and a little bit too much time had passed, I closed it and answered him.

"Yes, I guess. Thank-you." And with that, I handed him back his sweater, turned the knob of the door, and entered the room, closing the door quickly behind me. That had almost been too much for me to handle, and I felt like collapsing. My knees felt weak.

I heard almost silent footsteps turning away from the door and heading in the opposite direction. I breathed a sigh of relief, closing my eyes and relaxing.

Then I heard a small gasp. Opening my eyes in alarm, I looked to find two vampires sitting on an armchair, one female with long red wavy, curly hair flowing down her back and the other a male with fairly long black hair that was grown down to the middle of his neck. I noticed how petite the girl's figure was compared to the other vampire she was sitting on.

I immediately straightened up, staring at them with shock. But I think their shock overpowered mine as they looked me over. The girl was the most surprised.

Time passed, us just staring at each other in surprise, but I had to break the silence.

"Uhh… Hello. Are you Katherine? Because if this is your dorm I think I'm supposed to be your new roommate…" As soon as I said it, the girl's eyes brightened up, and she stood op from where she was sitting on the guy's lap, and came over to the door hastily to meet me. Now that she was up, I could tell she was even smaller than I had thought. Her figure rivalled mine, and I don't really now why I was thinking about it. It was probably because Shelly and the others had gotten me thinking about size.

The girl grabbed my hand roughly and shook it, over-excited as far as I could tell. She was beaming at me.

"It's Kathy." I frowned quizzically, not understanding what she was talking about. She answered the questioning in my frown.

"My name is Katherine, but I prefer to be called Kathy, if you don't mind." Her words were almost blended together by how fast she was talking. I heard the guy laugh in the background.

"Slow down Kathy, you're talking so fast the poor girl can't understand you." Kathy took no notice of him, and pulled me over to one of the couches to sit down. As she did I looked over the room. It was very large; it had two grand windows on the far wall with black shaded curtains hanging in front, then there were two beds one on the far right wall and another on the far left wall, also shaded from the window with black drapes. Then I could see what looked to be a bathroom door leading off from in front of the bed. Then there was this living area with an armchair, coffee table, love seat, and couch all spaced out evenly and comfortably. There was a large armoire off to my left in the corner, far away form where I was now sitting with Kathy looking intensively at me. There was a lot more to take in about this room, but I had to pay attention to the now bouncy Kathy. From the way the guy was reacting, I guess this was normal for her to be this jumpy. I sighed, trying to calm myself to tolerate her attitude.

"So, you are…? They didn't tell me your name." I held onto my uniform and papers in my lap, trying not to show annoyance about how I knew nothing before…

"Marie Alexander. Nice to meet you," I held out my hand to shake, but Kathy pushed it away and dove in for a hug. She squeezed me tightly, almost suffocating me, and I just patted her on the back. The guy chuckled.

Upon hearing his laugh, Kathy let me go and turned her head in his direction with an evil smirk on her face. The guy's face paled somewhat.

"And this is William Henry Lexington, or rather known as 'Reap' because people say he reaps his misery anywhere and everywhere he goes." All of a sudden, he was gone from the arm chair and standing beside Kathy in front of the couch. It startled me how quick it was; in a blink of an eye. He punched her in the arm playfully, and grabbed her in a vice grip, messing up her hair, meanwhile saying, "You know I don't like to be called that." Apparently she didn't like that. A scream erupted from her, almost blood-curdling, and I had to cover my ears.

And in the next moment she was out of his vice grip and back on the couch, straightening her hair out again.

"Not so hard, you know I don't mean it." She complained. He started to laugh again. I just stared, an innocent bystander. Kathy looked back at me, a little embarrassed now. It was almost impossible to believe now that she could be anything else but flighty. Not the best first impression on me.

"Sorry. I don't know what got into me." I nodded it was okay when Will piped in.

"She can get into those real spunky moods, but usually she's very sensible. Sometimes you can find her in a calm temperament, but only once in a century," She stuck her tongue out at him, and then turned back to me.

"Well… I guess you have to go change. But then you have to come right back, and we'll get to know each other a little, okay? Just the basic things… I'll get to know you better over the semester." She was grinning again. I groaned aloud, rolling my eyes to show my annoyance.

"I have to fill out these forms…" I was staring at Will apprehensively, and Kathy noticed. I didn't want to talk about myself, especially around Will. I didn't know why, but something in me went uneasy at the thought of talking about myself around him. She took the hint.

"Oh, don't worry. I will help you with those forms. I just have to send Will away for the night." Will didn't think too much of this that I noticed. But who knows? It looked like he was a very hard person to read, under his impenetrable stoic facial expressions. And, plus, I'd just met him; I couldn't read him. Kathy probably could, though. It looked like they'd known each other for awhile.

Kathy got up from the couch and headed over to the door, closely followed by Will. She opened the door and stepped out, Will following hastily beside her. She left still smiling at me. I was left alone in the huge room momentarily. And I took that time to think, and just look at my surroundings.

How on Earth would I survive while I was here? And it wasn't just how would I fit in, or how would I cope with myself and everyone else around me. It was something I hadn't given a thought before. I would have to drink blood.

If the legends were true about them, I would son be getting thirsty and I would go out and kill. Fangs sinking into a stranger's throat, and draining the precious life from their veins…

My hand moved up unconsciously to my mouth, checking my teeth to see if they were sharp and pointed. They weren't, and it confused me slightly. Maybe your fangs grew when you were stalking your prey…? Oh great. Now I was thinking like a predator. And it was scaring me. I didn't want to be this, and didn't want to take an innocent person's life. It felt wrong even thinking about it. What would I do when the time came? Would I claim a person's life? I probably wouldn't have this problem if I'd forgotten my humanity, like I should've, but I hadn't and the thought of killing someone, almost a fellow being, for their blood was horrifying. Maybe why that's why no one had a problem taking another's life, because they had forgotten what it was like to be human. So, in my case, it was really a blessing and a curse that I didn't forget. I would have to face the problem of depriving myself of blood, which I didn't know what the consequences were yet, and then remembering my humanity, making me more human than pretty much anyone here, except to Damian of course. He had said he didn't forget either.

All of a sudden, Kathy burst through the door, making enough noise to distract me from my thoughts. It was odd for me to hear this well, and I had to remind myself that she had only opened the door, and that she was jumping to and fro making loud noises to bug the hell out of me.

Swiftly, and finally silently, she came to sit beside me. When she saw my scowl, she had a questioning look in her eyes.

"Sorry. I'm just going to have to get used to the fact everything is so loud." She frowned then, perplexed.

"Was it ever quieter? I've always heard this loud. It's great; what are you complaining about?" Oh. Oh. That's when I realized Kathy didn't remember before she was changed.

According to her, she'd always had this kind of hearing. I immediately shut-up about it, not wanting her to find out my secret. Of course I didn't want her to know. She was still a stranger, and even then I didn't know if I wanted to share anything with her. Though, she did seem the type that could keep any secret and be loyal. I was surprised with myself about how quickly I had picked that up.

"Well, I guess you should go get changed now. I'll help you with the forms when you get back, and we have to talk meanwhile. Go take a shower and clean up. I'll be waiting for you." I wasn't looking forward to the 'talk' but I did want to ask her some questions… questions about being a vampire. That would be awkward. I think she assumed I knew everything.

I got up from the couch, crossing across the room to what I assumed to be the bathroom. I left my forms, but kept the uniform, hanging it on the door knob when I closed the door behind me.

I turned in a full three hundred and sixty degree circle, looking at the very grand bathroom. Well, greater than anything I'd ever been in. There was a white marble sink, full size bath tub, and a roomy shower, everything rimmed with gold. Everything about this place was both huge, and white. From what I'd seen so far, anyway. Apparently, I still had a lot to see.