aria grabs her phone from her bed and leaves. she feels very confident in her outfit. she heads straight to the common room. she gets to the lobby where she sees some male students she's never seen before. they stare at her and she smiles. confidence boost! she keeps walking. she knocks on the common room door, and Finn opens.
'Hey'
'Hi, Jackson said I could come early is that okay?'
'sure, come in' he eyes her as she enters. the warriors are standing, bottles in hand talking to each other.
'Hi guys' the guys whirl around to her and all say hi.
'Where's Jackson?' she asks. Heath pipes up from across the room
'he's getting wet.' she glares feeling awkward.
'He's showering' he laughs. Aria is relieved. She laughs, Finn does too.
'So when you said he was out, you meant he was hunt in right?' Finn looks at her
'Yes, that's what I meant' aria nods. At least he won't be hungry tonight, not that aria would mind really. She looks around awkwardly. She realises she doesn't really know the other warriors. She was over to the group and smiles. Lucas talks to her.
'So aria, do you feel like you've settled in now?' He is always smiling.
'Uh, yeah I think I am. I'm unsure what to do during the day though. But so far so good.'
'Great, so where are you from?' The olive guy speaks.
'I'm just from the city.' She smiles.
'Ever travelled?' He sips his drink.
'No, I haven't. This place is the furthest away I've been' she laughs. He smiles.
'Julian's from Greece' heath speaks up. That explains the skin tone.
'Wow, it must be nice there.'
He smiles 'Yeah its amazing. Very scenic' he nods.
The conversation goes quiet again. She needs a drink. She turns and heads to the fridge. Just before she gets there, someone turns some music on. Pop stuff. Aria recognises the song but can't think of the name. She opens the fridge and gasps a little. Every shelve is full of bottles and bags of blood. She knew this was normal, but it still caught her off guard. She takes a breath. A cork catches her eye in the back of the fridge, she pushes some bottles aside and pulls it out. Its wine. She reads the label carefully. Heath taps her on the shoulder, she looks up
'That's for you' they return smiles. Heath puts his glass in the sink. Aria places the bottle on the bench, and opens a draw from underneath, looking for a cork screw. Heath reaches for the bottle
'Let me help' he picks up the bottle in flicks the cork upward with his thumb and finger. It pops, and flies across the bench. Aria is shocked. Heath gives her a proud look and walks back to the group. She laughs. She won't get used to the strength thing. She takes a glass that's already on the bench and pours it full. She leaves the bottle on the bench and takes a sip. She's unsure what to do now. She looks behind her and wonders where the stair case leads. She decides to see, and she walks up stairs. At the top is a corridor lined with doors and a glass door at the end. She walks slowly down it. She notices a door cracked open with a light on. She looks inside, being silent. Its a bathroom. She shouldn't look. She won't. She backs away. She heads to the glass door at the end and opens it. The breeze hits her face. She walks up a few stairs in front of her. She's on the roof. She's breathless. Its beautiful, she can see all the way to the city from here. She walks to the edge and stands there, admiring the view. She grins. This is amazing. She stands there for a long while, sipping her wine. She's so relaxed. She hears the door open behind her. Jackson is back.
'Hey'
'Hi. I see you've found the roof.' He smiles
'Yeah. Its so pretty up here.' She looks back out at the view. He stands beside her.
'I also see you've found the wine' he chuckles and so does aria.
'The guys downstairs seem to be having fun.'
'Any excuse to drink' Jackson laughs. Its quiet for a moment. Aria feels a hand go around her waist. Jackson pulls her close for a hug. She smiles.
'So... um...' aria begins. He looks down.
'I know what happened the other day wasn't planned...' she takes a breath. 'But, I don't know... does that mean we're like, an item kinda thing?' Aria can't put sentences together properly. He kisses her on the head.
'Do we need to be an official item?'
'Well... no. But I was just thinking...'
'Aria, you've only been here a week or two. We don't need to rush.' He kisses her head again then pulls away and walks back downstairs. Just like that.
'Right. Well that didn't go as I'd hoped...' she rubs her head. She feels a little rejected.
She also heads inside again. As she's walking down the corridor she hears banging and thumping noises. She frowns. What the... she walks down the stairs. Its hectic. Several guys are running super speed around the room, guys are shouting. She stops almost at the bottom of the stairs. She watches the mayhem. Its so loud, he ears are ringing. Shes stunned and scared. Jackson is in front of her at the door. He sees her and frowns
'Aria get back!' He yells, he runs toward her, trying to push her up the stairs
'Jackson stop! What's going... hey!' He's shoving her up the stairs backward, and she's in heels. This is dangerous.
'You're gonna push me over, stop!' She yells as she pushes back against him, trying to force him down. She needs to know what's happening.
Jackson extends his fangs. Aria is furious.
'Don't you dare!' She shoves him back.
'Aria, do you want to die?' He snarls.
'Abso-freaking-lutely' she forces past him. She gets off the stairs and everything stops. Everyone freezes.
Kai is in the middle of the room, frozen. Heath, Finn, Julian and the other warriors surround him, they're almost panting. Kais fangs are out and his eyes are red. Literally. His eyes are locked on her. He growls and smiles an evil smile.
'So much for the bitch not being here!' He yells, looking at Heath. Every vamp in the room has their fangs out. Aria is offended. She frowns, about to confront him. She takes a step forward, but Jackson is in front of her
'Jackson, fuck off-' he gives her a little shove backward to shut her up.
'Kai, you're being a psycho...' Jackson says
'No, see that's the thing. I'm not. I'm just being a normal, real vampire.' He laughs, proving jacksons point.
'You have to go, don't make me force you'
'She should be dead! She should be rotting!' He yells. Aria is shocked. She can't breathe, and she really is scared now. Jackson must sense it, he steps back and reaches behind him, placing a hand on her arm, still facing the others.
'No she shouldn't.' Finn speaks up
'Dude, you're fucking crazy! How much meth...' Kai cuts him off
'None! Just two humans...' he stares at Jackson, he snarls in response.
'You're protecting her like she means something to you. Don't make me puke all the fresh human blood I've had...' he laughs again. He's high on humans. He's crazy!
'You don't need to do this. We can help you convert...'
'No!' He screams. 'What's up, chief? Jealous cos' I nearly drank your girlfriend dry?' He spits. Arias heart drops. She feels like she'll be sick. Tears roll down her face. Jackson growls, and In an instant, Kai runs forward at Jackson. Their movement is a blur. Aria can't move. Suddenly Jackson goes flying across the room, and into the pool table head first. He slumps. In a second aria is against the wall. Kai has pinned her. Her feet dangle, Kai has her by the shoulders.
'I never finished what I started. How rude of me' he grins. Aria and even move, but in her head she's screaming.
Kai sinks his fangs into her neck. She screams, loud. It hurts; she then feels nails into her side, deep. Why isn't anyone helping? Aria says her goodbyes in her head she thinks this is the end.
The sudden withdrawal of fangs and falling a foot to the ground brings aria back to reality. She opens her eyes. Kai is in front of her, mouth open covered in blood. Eyes glazed. She looks down and notices a sharp point of wood through his chest. His body turns grey, veins harden. The wood suddenly disappears, and Kais body falls dead to the ground. Jackson holds a bloody stake, which seems to be a leg of a coffee table. This when it hits her. She's numband a man is dead in front of her. Jackson drops the stake, just as her knees give way. He catches he before she hits the ground. She lands softly. She's fine. Jackson grabs her face.
'aria! Fucking shit' he pulls her close and lays her back. The warriors are beside her.
'Fuck!' Jackson puts his thumb against his fang and draws blood. He brushes it against the wound and heals the bite on her neck. Aria feels nothing. She knows what's happening though.
'Jackson, her side.' Finn calls from above him. Jackson is frantic. He brings a wrist to his mouth and bites it, making blood gash out. He lifts aria a bit, and presses it against her mouth.
Aria feels hot liquid fill her mouth. She has no choice but to swallow. Its sweet and delicious. Aria feels alive, full of energy, like she wants to run around all day. She comes to and recognises what's happened. She doesn't want to stop drinking. She grabs Jacksons wrist and presses it harder against her mouth. He gasps. Aria lavishes the sweet life being poured into her mouth. She takes mouthful after mouthful.
'Jackson, make her stop.' Heath says. Jackson shifts on the floor
'Aria you've healed now' he doesn't pull his arm away. She's on a high. She can't stop. Jackson is stern now.
'Aria, stop.' He drags his arm from her grip. She sits upright, following it. He looks at his wrist, which heals in a second. Arias fully conscious now. She looks around. Jackson grabs her close to his chest, she buries herself into him. She mumbles against him.
'I'm so sorry, I should've listened...'
'Shush. You're okay and that's all that matters' his eyes well. Jackson pulls away. Aria looks down at herself. Her white lace shirt is stained red covered in holes.
Julian hands her a glass of water. She smiles at him.
'Hey, come here...' Jackson leans forward and wipes her mouth. She touches it too. She's covered in his blood. It finally clicks that she drank him.
'Oh my god, I'm so sorry I didn't...' he cuts her off
'Its okay. Don't stress.' She places her glass next to her untouched. She sees Kai on the ground. She freezes. She tries to calm down. She starts to hyperventilate. He nearly killed me... twice... it clicks in her head. She bursts out crying, shaking violently. Everything's caught up to her now. Jackson hugs her tight.
'He... but why...'
'Let's talk about this later, okay. You need a shower.' She's still panting and shaking. Jackson turns to the guys.
'Thankyou for everything. I appreciate it. Can we have a few minutes alone please?' The guys turn and leave. Finn says he's getting the headmistress. Jackson helps aria to her feet and ushers her upstairs. She glances at Kai again. He deserves to be dead.