"Geez! Doesn't that kid ever talk?!" Zell ran up to Squall, his eyes rolling.
"What 'kid?'" Squall asked calmly.
"That Alex kid…the new one!"
"Adam Minamoto?" Squall asked.
"Yeah! I've known that kid for at least half a month, and he hasn't said one word to me yet!" Zell waved his arms around wildly, trying to make a point.
"Maybe he doesn't like you."
"Who doesn't like me? C'mon man, he's gotta know I saved the world!"
(I saved the world. You helped.)
"…"
"Hey, where's Rinoa?" Zell suddenly asked.
"Oh, she's…" Squall stopped, realizing he had no idea to the whereabouts of his girlfriend. "…here somewhere."
"Oh. Well, tell her I said hi. I'm gonna go find Alex and make him talk!" Zell ran off before Squall could correct him on the name.
Later, Rinoa sat in the Quad, gazing at the plain walls. Her eyes scanned everything critically; she seemed to be looking for something. Someone sat down beside her, and she looked over.
"Hey." Squall smiled. "Where were you?"
"Here. I was…waiting." Rinoa responded dully.
"For who?"
"…You. I was curious about Adam."
"What about him?" Squall narrowed his eyes, perhaps in jealousy?
"Where did he come from?"
"…"
(I'm not supposed to give out that information, but…)
"Please?" Rinoa smiled, her eyes flashing.
"…A school called Ainaveltsac."
"I've never heard of it…"
"Why'd you wanna know?" Squall asked curiously.
"He is just so…mysterious. He's said two words to me in the month I've known him, and that was 'I'm sorry' when he bumped into me in the hallway."
(You've got a heads up on Zell.)
"So he's a quiet person. His social standings don't matter in this school; his academics and fighting stances do. And both he happens to be extremely dedicated to." Squall said to his girlfriend, slightly angry at her questions toward the new student.
(I am the Commander of this school, the leader and here I am participating in the activities, the gossip I've always hated. I shouldn't be talking about my students. I shouldn't even be here. I should be doing work, not hanging around an socializing.)
"I know…I'm in his class." Rinoa was saying, not noticing that Squall wasn't with her. "But…" She looked at the ground. Squall glanced at her, facing the silence for a reply. "He's so shy. So quiet. He looks so sad all the time…and so scary."
"Scary?"
"Well…I've never him eat…and his skin is so pale. In the dark, it's like…"
Something clicked in Squall's head.
"Rinoa, have you ever seen him in the light?" he asked her suddenly, seeing the startled look on her face.
"Uh…no. Was he at the party earlier, in the sun?"
"I don't think so…Zell might know. He was looking for him."
"For what?"
"He complained about Adam's quietness too." Squall frowned. "When Adam bumped into you, did you touch his skin?"
(I can't believe I asked her a thing like that…)
"Um…slightly. He always wears those baggy clothes, so… But I felt his arm, because he swerved into me. I think he was pushed…"
"How warm was it, if you noticed?" Squall prodded, not liking his questions one bit. What was he thinking? Why would Rinoa care how warm Adam's skin was? Why would she notice?
"…Freezing. There was no warmth to it…at all. It was like…death in a temperature." She snapped her head up, realizing what she said.
"Vampyre!" They shouted in unison.
"Wait." Squall raised a finger to stop Rinoa's outburst from coming. "I don't know too much about Vampyres. We should research this first, and then make our conclusions. Maybe he's just a loner, or one of those Albino people. That would explain why his skin is so pale and why he doesn't go into the sun, because his eyes are sensitive to the sun."
Squall considered his own words.
(No…Albino's don't have any hair on their bodies. His hair is surely not a wig; he moves around too much in battle for it to be so.)
"We'll research them tomorrow, okay?" Squall smiled. "Tomorrow in the light."
"But…what if he comes after us?" Rinoa asked.
"…" Squall pulled a cell phone from his pocket, dialing a number.
"What are you doing?" The black haired girl asked.
"…Calling Nida. I'll have him…" Squall paused as the phone was picked up. "Hey Nida? Could you get Neo on the phone?…You haven't heard from him?…Well, what about Sion?…He disappeared too?" the first hint of fear appeared in Squall's eyes. "Could…yes, I will tell you why…Listen, could you get someone to research Vampyres for me? The data will have to be due tomorrow."
He paused for a moment, listening.
"Someone who is good on the computer…What are the names of the students who didn't have classes today?" he listened to Nida's voice on the other line.
"This…Cloud Strife guy…and Rena Lanford. Have them both work together and get the paper to me…Yes, I will extend their curfews…Okay."
Rinoa watched Squall quietly, observing his actions. She was still scared stiff of Adam, or perhaps of the situation in general.
"Yes, I'll tell you the problem later. Right now it's late…yes, tomorrow! Once I have Cloud and Rena's research on my desk tomorrow, and once I confirm my suspicions, I will tell you!" Squall began to lose his temper; he was scared too.
"Goodbye." He closed the phone and walked over to Rinoa, embracing her tightly.
"Maybe he isn't a Vampyre. He could be fooling with us." Rinoa smiled, hoping for a positive reaction from her boyfriend. She received a negative one instead.
He scowled.
"Not likely. He seems too dedicated to his work to be fooling with us."
"W-will you sleep in my room tonight?" Rinoa knew she sounded meekly seductive, but she honestly didn't care. She wanted to feel safe, and the only way was to have Squall with her, protecting her.
Despite the sexual tone in Rinoa's voice, Squall nodded, his eyes far away and his lips pursed.
"Yeah, sure." He stood up stiffly, tucking the cell phone away and held Rinoa closer to him, feeding her heat and comfort.
That night, she lay comfortably in his arms, her eyes wide open and focused on Squall's. He was already asleep, his face completely angelic to the eye. A small smile rested across his face, a comfortable smile. It was like he had completely forgotten about the Vampyres. At the moment, he was dense from sleep…and helpless. If Adam were to come into the room to sample their blood, Squall wouldn't be able to fight back. In the night, humans were free game for the Vampyres. Even the strongest people had weaknesses. For humans toward Vampyres, the night was their disadvantage.
Regardless of the security that she felt next to Squall, Rinoa couldn't sleep. Not a wink was to be gotten until it was clear Adam wasn't a Vampyre.
She thought about her knowledge of a Vampyre. She had written a paper on them in 8th grade, a rather bad piece of work with hardly any useful information at all. She hadn't wanted to do the research then…but now she realized that she should have. What did she remember…? That Vampyres were not always hostile. Could this be the case with Adam? Perhaps, but… Vampyres were also immune to time's passing, and they did not age.
Also, Vampyres were hard creatures to kill, and the only paths to their demise were to use a wooden stake, holy water, or a religious symbol of some sort. The last two, the holy water and the religious symbol, were hard items to find, as only the Ancient Centra had produced them and they were now an extinct species. The only hope was to use a wooden stake, and only Esthar made them anymore. Besides, it wasn't guaranteed they would work, because the Vampyres could have developed some immunity to them over the centuries that had passed between the present and the past, in which a Vampyre had roamed the streets much too freely, preying on those who were innocent.
Nothing else she could remember helped, and she wasn't even sure what she did remember helped much.
The trail of thought coming to a conclusion, she reluctantly decided on sleep. If she was going to help Squall with the research, she had to be well rested and patient.
That being thought, she turned towards Squall's sleeping form, wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes, imagining Squall in the flower field with her…alone…
But as Rinoa drifted to sleep land, Squall had thoughts of his own. Unbeknownst to Rinoa, he was as awake as well, wondering if Adam was a Vampyre. If he was…Tessa most likely was one as well. And since Adam and Tessa were as strong as Squall and Rinoa were, if they truly were Vampyres, then…the battle might last forever.
Squall hardly remembered anything about a Vampyre, much less how to stop one. He hadn't been required to study them for the Ancient Centra course's final exams, so he hadn't.
What he did remember (from what Neo had told him), was that a Vampyre sometimes couldn't cross running water. But who knows if that would be true now? It had been over 1000 years since the last Vampyre had been seen. Maybe they didn't even exist any more, and this Vampyre thing was a hoax. But why would someone fake a Vampyre's appearance? Maybe it was a cover-up…some fake Vampyres went into 'hiding' to get Neo, the Vampyre genius, away from Garden so that the real Vampyres could attack…
(No…that wouldn't fit right. I've got to get my head on and stop dreaming! My job isn't to think up stories, it's to protect the students of this school! They need me!)
All thoughts shoved aside for the moment, he rested his stiff body against Rinoa's and let all of the shoved away thoughts fly out the window unanswered as he settled his brain down for sleep.