The Vampire University

Chapter 1

The university was a single massive building of 642,300 square feet and was, for most of it, 3 levels tall, at least on the surface. It also had a few towers that were another 3 levels higher. Now this was only what was on the surface. It had another 3 levels of basement for a total of yet another 642,300 square feet of space.

Not all of this area was available to everyone in the university. Some had restricted access areas. But these areas weren't just locked. NO! At the very least a code was needed for some as well as a code and handprint for the more sensitive areas.

One of these areas was the Security Office which was housed in one of the towers. Yes, the tower had windows, however, these weren't just any windows. These windows were bulletproof glass and not easily penetrated.

There wasn't any part of the university that couldn't be monitored in more than one way. There were operable cameras that covered every square foot of the building, both inside and out, with only a few well chosen exceptions. And restrooms or even personal bathrooms were not one of these. If the space was larger than 20 square feet, meaning larger than a coat closet, it had an operational camera.

In addition to this were the infrared cameras that kept track of the entire grounds of the university. All 152 acres of the estate were monitored by normal visual and infrared means. There were motion sensors, microphones, and speakers everywhere.

The Security Office was more the Security Complex since it took up the entire tower, all 6 stories of it. It was constantly manned by 24 vampires, 24 hours a day. There were 3 teams that made up the Security Team. They cycled through each one so that one was working, one was off – totally off – and one was simply resting prior to having a shift.

Every continent had at least one Vampire University and each varied in size. This university represented the North America and it was the second largest of them. The one located in Europe was technically the largest but only in numbers. The one in Africa was largest in terms of acres of space.

Each university had different bloodlines and certain bloodlines had been at war for generations. Every university was always on alert for not just Dragomis, since seemingly everywhere had these things, but also assassins or spies from rival bloodlines looking to assassinate and eliminate a rival bloodline.

Now why this much space for a university? In comparison the Campus of USC was 226 acres and unlike the Vampire University that was mostly trees, the University of Southern California was not. The University of California, Los Angeles was 419 acres. Arizona State was 664 acres. Florida State University was 487 acres. And Northern Arizona University was a whopping 829 acres.

The Vampire University presently had just under 5,000 students with an academic staff of 355 Vampires. In addition, there was a total of 156 dedicated fighters. These were all Dampires and always had been. They were led by one person and one person only and he answered solely to the Queen. She was a Molarias. Also 15 Vampire maintenance men or women.

Everyone here was a Vampire. There were 3 types of Vampires: Dampires, Molarias, and Dragomis. Molarias were mortal – yes, mortal – with Royal Bloodlines. There were bloodlines that could be traced back thousands of years. The Dampires were half-human and half-vampires. They were the protectors of the Molarias.

Then there were the Dragomis. Now these were everyone's worst nightmare. They were meaner, uglier, stronger, and typically bigger than any other Vampire.

Dampires and Molarias look like normal humans and most likely would never be spotted. That couldn't be said about the Dragomis. They had bloodshot eyes, pronounced fangs and claws, and typically didn't wear clothes of any kind.

Dampires and Molarias could have offspring, meaning infant Vampires. Dragomis could only be created by being bitten and drained of enough of their blood and then had it fed back to them. One lonely little drop was enough to change an individual from human, Dampire, or Molarias, to a Dragomis.

\0/ V-V \0/

Rick was on his way to the library after checking on today's class of fighter training. It was a small class and today's class was all hand-to-hand which told him these young people were the new green recruits. It was just the first step in weeding out those that weren't going to make the cut.

The library was silent since all the kids were or should be in class. But it wasn't unheard of for couple of them to skip a class and get in some extracurricular activities deep in the library.

However, as he walked around some of the stacks he got a beep on his earpiece. He was betting it was Security alerting him to a couple of kids doing just that. Rick responded into his cuff since he was wearing a communicator. "Castle."

"We have a camera down. Row 6, sector 11."

"On it." It was also not impossible that one of the kids tried to get cute and cover the camera after finding it since not all cameras were that easy to spot. That or get really cute and spray paint it. It didn't damage the camera itself, just the cover would need to be replaced. Then he got another beep. "Castle." Maybe they had just left.

"Another camera, row 6, sector 10." Castle was becoming concerned. That meant it was leaving the outer wall and getting deeper into the library. He would question how the camera could go down and be tampered with while not seeing who did it later. Troubled, he picked up speed. He was just about there when he got another beep. "Row 7, sector 11."

"Shit!" Something was clearly going on. He was just arriving when he heard something followed by smelling something. It registered in his brain. Automatically each hand reached for a weapon. He selected his weapon of choice. They started out as a handle and a blade of about 6 inches. A quick flick of each one once and he had a blade that was now a foot long. Another flick of his wrist and he had a blade that was 18 inches long. Now he was ready.

He saw the eyes of the first one as they glowed their normal red color and got ready for his accomplice. Then Rick got surprised which didn't happen often. The first one bowed down and his sidekick used him as a launch pad to leap at him.

Rick swung and took his head off, then quickly stepped to one side and let both parts go past him. His partner was right behind him and Rick swung. He should have taken his arm off but his blade embedded in the Dragomis' bone. What he really didn't need was to get bit.

Rick had no choice but to let go of his blade or be trapped holding it. His swing was blocked with his other blade followed by taking his head off and seeing both pieces fall to the ground.

"Dragomis! How did you two get in here?" His first guess was a breach in a wall somewhere. But how did they get this far? He knew they had cameras everywhere covering every acre. This should have been impossible.

Then he heard worse. He looked down the space and saw one rushing him. His free hand reached for a weapon and threw it. It hit him in the eye and pierced his brain, causing him to crash to the floor.

However, right behind him was yet another one that was charging him. Rick didn't think he had the time so he raised his sword and let him run right into mouthfirst which went into his brain and killed him instantly. Then what should never have happened did. It broke his blade and ruined it. Then things got worse. These Dragomis had yet another cohort.

Rick pulled out another throwing weapon and threw it. He watched it enter this Dragomis' nose and disappear into his brain; he crashed down onto his dead sidekick.

Castle worked at pulling out his still useful blade, stepped slowly past his dead foes, and found a hole in the wall. He brought his cuff to his mouth. "Control, I have four dead Dragomis and a breach in the wall at the end of Row 6."

"Control, we copy. Team of two headed your way; another team of two is going to search the grounds," Rick heard in his ear.

"Four." It wasn't unheard of but what had him concerned was how they got to this point. It should have been impossible. Totally impossible, unless.

Rick raised his wrist to see his device and change the channel to a personal one. "Alexis, you copy?" Rick waited a moment and heard his daughter answer.

"Copy, Dad."

"I have four dead Dragomis in the library with a break in the wall. I need you to find Kate and don't leave her side for any reason. Copy?"

He couldn't see Alexis raise both eyebrows. "I copy." That had Alexis moving. She knew where Kate should be and took off at a run toward that location.

They both knew Kate was the last of the Kozlovsky family. If she was killed that would be the end of that bloodline. Her parents had only had the one child and it was a girl, Kate. They in turn were both dead, leaving Kate the last of her bloodline.

\0/ V-V \0/

Rick watched as his team of two showed up ready for combat with weapons out. "Clean this up quietly. I don't want to start a panic. I'll get maintenance out here to fix the wall."

"Yes, sir." They both knew who was in charge here and it was Castle. He was the best of the best of them.

Rick left them to it and moved quickly toward the Security Tower. These four had made it this far and he wanted to know how they'd done that. He had fears and trepidation.

\0/ V-V \0/

Kate was right where Alexis thought she would be and ended up standing right next to her with a hand on one of her weapons, watching everywhere and everyone but Kate.

Kate was on her mat and up on her toes and had her hands on the mat with her fingers spread wide. All that was holding her up were her toes and her fingertips.

"Alexis." Kate loved Alexis. She wasn't her child but she could wish. She knew those boots well. Except she didn't say anything so Kate raised her head and turned to look at her. She saw Alexis standing there with her head on a swivel and her hand on a weapon.

That had Kate immediately standing up next to her. "Tell me."

Alexis ignored that and asked, "Are you done?"

"I can be if I have to be." She wasn't but she could quit.

"Good. Come with me." Alexis took her by the hand and began walking, requiring Kate to catch up and end up walking next to her.

"Where are we going?" Kate knew Alexis wasn't a lesbian and while she wasn't either she might be willing to be talked into it if she was. But only because Alexis wasn't her daughter.

"Somewhere private," Alexis answered tersely and kept walking till she hit a door leading outside. Once outside she continued walking till they were farther out on the grounds but still university grounds which were well kept. There were a few Vampires walking around to get where they wanted to go.

"This is what you call private?" Kate asked but only stopped when she did and realized that Alexis had also let go of her hand and put it on one of her weapons.

That was one thing Kate knew about Alexis. Her father was Richard Castle. He was the best of the best around here. There was no one more capable, powerful, or respected than him. Other Vampires had tried to take his job and were proven to be found wanting in just seconds.

"Dad encountered four Dragomis in the library with a wall breach," Alexis relayed and kept looking around her for anyone suspicious, doing anything she didn't like.

Kate knew two main things about Alexis. She was only 18 years old and while that might be young even for a Dampire, she had shown that she was well-trained by her father. She was also at least equally armed compared to her father, if not more so. She was betting Alexis had weapons hidden in her hair, under her skin if that was possible, in her shoes, her belt, or perhaps strapped to her legs. Hell, for all she knew she had a weapon hidden where most men never got to see.

"Okay, what has that got to do with us being way out here instead of letting me finish my yoga class?" Kate might be a princess but she wasn't combat trained. A dog could disarm her without even trying, she was betting.

Kate saw Alexis looking at her. "They got across the grounds, through the wall, and into the library, Kate. How did they manage to do that? Do you know how many cameras this place has? Or how many motion detectors and microphones cover all of this place's grounds?"

"Oh!" Kate hadn't thought about it like that. Now she was looking around. She might be almost 30 and about the age of Alexis's father but she also knew she was the very last of her bloodline. It was why Rick had come down on her telling her that he was assigning Alexis to be her own personal guard. No one got to her unless they went through his daughter.

"How many?" Kate asked quietly.

"Dad said four, all dead now." Alexis didn't hear that from her dad exactly but he was capable of handling twice that number easily enough. She was willing to think he could handle eight of them. Though it might not be easy.

"Four in broad daylight. Now what do we do? I'm going to need a shower soon. Yoga causes me to sweat." Kate watched Alexis grin at her. "Shut up." All Vampires had excellent eyesight, smell, and hearing that was better than the common human. Alexis's grin only got bigger as did Kate's.

"Fine. Your room. Front door." Alexis caved in since if she was forced to do what she was thinking she didn't need for Kate stinking up the place.

\0/ V-V \0/

Alexis was wandering around Kate's quarters that were very soft and feminine. It looked like Kate. It resembled nothing in her own quarters. It only told Alexis that she was a protector and Kate was Royalty. She was happy that her dad had assigned her to Kate. She really liked Kate. In a different reality Kate might make a great mother. Hers certainly wasn't.

She was still looking the place over again while Kate took a shower and then walked out wearing only a towel. That was one more thing about Kate. She was taller than most female Vampires, including herself. She had the longest legs she had ever seen and she was very pretty, even with wet hair and no makeup that she seemingly always wore.

"Would you like a shower? I can double and triple lock all the doors. I don't have any windows and I'm not on an outside wall. Unless you think they'll come through the roof." Kate didn't wait for Alexis to answer. She walked over to the first of two doors, checked the main lock, and then set the rods in place at the top and bottom of the door. After that she picked up a chair, wedged it under the door's doorknob, and tested it.

"Happy?" Kate inquired.

"Just do the other door." Alexis then caved in and went into her bathroom to take a shower.

It took Alexis a lot of time to strip. She was wearing a black leather top that had long sleeves, a black corset that was cinched tight, black leather pants, and black boots with lots of straps that had heels and almost came up to her knees.

First, though, all of her weapons came off followed by her clothes. Black thong, black bra, and finally her communication wristband and her earpiece. Finally she turned on the water and let it run till it was hot enough and then took a shower. It actually felt pretty good to feel the water flowing over her body.

She was so thankful that she'd finally developed. She had put up with a lot of jokes from other girls that she was going to be flat-chested forever. What she hadn't done, however, was lose her virginity. She was dedicated to her job and right now her job was to protect Kate.

\0/ V-V \0/

Kate watched as Alexis walked out of her bathroom wearing only a towel. Her skin was much more pale than hers. It was just her natural color. She was also grinning at her.

"Shut up," Alexis told her and saw her grin get even bigger, causing her to grin too.

"Feel better now? And I really want to see how you get back into all that." She really wanted to see how Alexis put that bustier back on. That thing looked like it should take all the oxygen out of her lungs.

"Sorry, I'm not an exhibitionist." Alexis continued grinning at her. She'd noticed that Kate had switched to wearing something soft and feminine and pretty. It fit her.

\0/ V-V \0/

Rick was sitting in a secure room inside the Security Tower watching the security film of the grounds. However, he also had help. He had a computer program helping him watch.

One of his screens suddenly caught his attention. So he moved it to the middle screen, blew it up and backed up, and played it again. "SHIT!" What he saw had him raising his eyes to look out into the main room. He didn't want to give himself away.

There was only one way this could happen. Someone in this tower had modified the video footage and silenced the alarm. THEY HAD A SPY!

Rick raised his wrist behind his screen and adjusted it to a personal setting. "Alexis, do you copy?" He was formulating a plan.

What he couldn't see was an almost naked Alexis only wearing a towel run toward Kate's bathroom. "I copy, Dad."

"I need you two to each pack backpack, be dressed for outside, and meet me in the east wing. Copy?" Rick knew she was going to have questions. Hell, he would.

It took her a moment. "Copy that."

Rick killed his screen and left his secure room and the Tower. He had to gather a few things before meeting his daughter and Kate.

\0/ V-V \0/

Kate and Alexis looked like normal humans and had backpacks on their backs filled with the things Alexis had approved of. Kate had tried bringing bits and pieces that she didn't really need but to no avail.

They both found him standing there waiting for them and he had something in one hand. "What's happening, Dad?" This wasn't normal. She had even been challenged where to hide all her weapons, two of which were swords just like his two and she couldn't afford to hide those.

"Those four got in because the security feed and sensors had been tampered with. I found the evidence but not who did it. It could only have been done inside the Security Tower." Rick hated to do this but it was the only plan he had.

"We have a spy." Alexis wasn't stupid.

"I'm betting more than one and I'm pretty sure they want Kate." Rick looked at her and she was still as beautiful as ever. If she wasn't a Royal he might be tempted to date her and maybe it would lead to something. But she was.

"Take these two, they're yours." He handed over two cinched black bags. "You're going to need what's inside. Take this." He handed what appeared to be a credit card to Alexis. "It's a loaded card, not a credit card. It has one million in it."

Alexis looked up at him. She wasn't sure where she liked this was going.

"Here are the keys. A black metallic Gold Wing Tour Airbag Automatic DCT. It's sitting in the lot waiting for you. I haven't gone anywhere near it to give it away. The scanner is also in your bag. Scan it before you drive off. The helmets for both of you are right where they should be." Rick wasn't done yet but Alexis broke in.

"I don't like this, Dad." Alexis was positive she hated it now.

"Take this, too." He pulled a Glock out from behind his back and handed it over followed by two clips. "They're silver bullets."

Alexis sighed. She took it all and turned to face Kate. Alexis used the weapon to indicate that she wanted Kate to turn around and glared at her when she delayed.

Kate felt the weapon and clips going into her backpack and when it got zipped closed again she turned back around.

"I want you two gone from this university. We've been infiltrated and until I can find them you're both safer out of here. Take the bike and ride. Pick a destination and go there. Far enough away that they won't think to look there. Don't tell me where. What I don't know I can't tell," Rick told them.

"OH, DAD!" Now Alexis felt tears. He was talking about the possibility of being captured and tortured for information and that hurt her heart.

"You know our personal codes. If I don't respond properly or someone else does you know to stay gone. Your job is to protect Kate and I expect you to do just that." Rick wrapped his arms around her one last time and listened to her sniffle trying to keep from outright crying.

Rick looked at Kate. "Alexis will take good care of you and you need to take good care of my daughter."

"Like she was my own," Kate vowed. She even wished the redhead was.