A/N: I haven't written anything for this story in a really long time.... I'm kinda out of inspiration because they stopped showing Vampire High on TV.... I'll try to do my best though. Plus, I've been swamped with work. And to answer the question that everyone has been asking me, yes the girl from the first chapter does tie in with the rest of the story. You'll see, just be patient!!! ~m~

Dead Blood Can Love

Chapter Three ~ The New Girl

It was a few weeks later into the school year, around the middle of September. Merrill had come back to help with one or two of the lessons, but she wasn't generally around. The new vamps were still arrogant as usual, and Will had yet to reveal anything about himself. The second year students had decided that the new kids were no fun, and only bothered them when they were bored. The only thing that bothered Essie was the shortage of girl vampires. She took up this issue one night with Dr. Murdoch.

"How come we only have two girls this year?" she asked.

"We had two last year. I don't see what the difference is," Dr. Murdoch replied.

"Well, yeah, but there weren't so many guys. Now we have five to two... it's just not fair."

"Don't worry about it Essie. I assure you, the numbers will even out." He left it at that and Essie got up to go downstairs and get her stuff for the lesson of the night. She paused at the door and looked back.

"So we're losing the guys?" she asked.

"No"

"We're getting more girls?"

"No."

Essie was getting tired of that answer. She was about to use her mind-powers on Murdoch but he interrupted her thoughts.

"Don't even try it Essie. I don't know anything. Unless you want to ask the Elders, you're going to have to be patient."

Reluctantly, Essie left the room, but the thoughts of the numbers of the vamps didn't leave her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Two nights later, Dr. Murdoch was late to night class. It was one of the important ones too. They were supposed to be pairing up with the new vamps, one group of three. It was supposed to be some kind of arrangement that would benefit the new students, but was just an annoyance to the older ones. Merrill was actually here for this lesson, because she was supposed to help the pairings get along better and avoid conflicts. The students were sitting around the table and Merrill was standing at the front of it, looking impatiently at her watch.

"What's your rush, Merrill?" Marty asked.

"I'm tired," she replied. Marty's shock registered on his face. "It's been a long day. I'd rather get this over with."

"Whoa, Merrill's angry. What were you doing all day that made you so tired? Feeding, I hope."

"I was at work," she answered briskly.

"Work?"

"Yes, work. You know what, guys? I don't think Murdoch's coming. Let's get started." She picked up a sheaf of papers attached to a clipboard from the table and began flipping the pages. "Have you guys gotten to your humanitarian rights projects yet?" she asked, looking around at the students.

"No."

"Alright. How about the basic instincts speeches?" Again, a negative answer. "I guess that Murdoch will plan out some other projects for you, then. let's just put you in your pairings for now."

Merrill quickly looked over the student profiles, which gave her next to no information. That's helpful. "Ok. Marty, you're with Becca."

Marty smirked at this news. Merrill could easily tell what he was thinking. Something about Fly Girl and his usual taunting.

She continued. "Essie, you're with Will. Carl, you and Trent. And Drew..." she trailed off, wondering which pair to add him to. "Drew you'll be with--"

She was interrupted by Dr. Murdoch finally arriving with a teenaged girl in tow. The vamps were startled. Humans, with the exception of Dr. Murdoch (they weren't even sure he was human), were never allowed in the 'wine cellar'. Dr. Murdoch didn't seem disturbed by this, though.

"Thank you for putting them into pairs, Merrill," he began, "though I'm sure you've noticed we are lacking a fourth student. The Elder's just brought her in." With that, the girl stepped forward. She looked around 18 years old, with straight brown hair that was shoulder length and kind of choppy. Her clothes were the typical dark colors for a vampire. Dark tank top with a black fishnet shirt and a black cargo skirt with chunky black boots. (A/N: need a picture of the new girl? e-mail me!) Though the students now knew she was a vampire, it was nearly impossible to tell from her face. It was pretty, but it didn't tell a lot about the girl's personality. Some would say it was mysterious. Her skin was only slightly pale, not the almost complete white that all the other vampires had. There was very little else to say about her looks.

Dr. Murdoch cleared his throat. The students were staring at the new girl, waiting. She finally spoke up. "Hey." Dr. Murdoch looked at her expectantly. "Call me whatever you want to." Dr. Murdoch frowned and spoke quietly into the girl's ear.

"Try to be nice. I know you're new at this, but it'll only be worse if you isolate yourself," he whispered.

She looked up at him. "I don't like my name all that much. Give me any name."

Dr. Murdoch turned back to the assembled students and muttered under his breath, "she certainly is a mystery." The girl over heard his comment.

"My name is Mystery," she said to the students. Dr. Murdoch looked over at her, slightly surprised.

"Very well," he said, knowing that he couldn't expect anymore from her. "Mystery will be joining us in the Experiment. She knows only the basics because she was... well, that's her story. I'll let her tell it to you later. In the meantime, our final pair will be Drew and Mystery. The purpose of these pairs is to act as tutors, as well as to get used to cooperative working that is common in the human world. Your pairs might be changed later on. I'll be assigning a project to check how well you and your partner work together. Merrill will help you if you have any conflicts or difficulties. Your first assignment will be a presentation on a basic instinct of your choosing. You must compare the vampire and human variations. You may begin."

As the pairs got together, Merrill turned to ask Dr. Murdoch a question. "Are you sure that's wise? Putting Drew and Mystery together? Neither of them are very conversational."

"I guess we'll just have to see how it turns out," Dr. Murdoch replied, looking to Drew and Mystery. The two vampires had taken over a pair of armchairs beside a coffee table and were sitting staring at each other. They weren't talking and each seemed lost in their thoughts. They obviously weren't worried about the project, or even bothering to get to know the other.

Merrill sighed. "Dr. Murdoch, this is going to be a long year."

A/N: I'll give you a wild guess as to who Mystery is.... if you can't get it, well.... um. It's really easy to get it. Also, I'm going with the assumption that when a vampire is made, they lose all of their imperfections from their bodies (ie, no more asthma, good vision, good health, etc.) If anyone needs a picture of how Mystery looks, please e-mail me at morgaine@myst.net. I know it's a short chapter, but I didn't have time for anything longer. I'll try to put up another chapter in about a week.... by Friday, most likely. Thank you all for reading this far! ~m~