Sorry guys, I kinda disappeared for a while, didn't I? Well, here's your next chapter. Review!

Chapter 3:Concealment

It has been about a month since I sent in those papers. A month since I decided to change my life. A month since I chose to leave the safety of my home.

The bus had come that morning on August 23 around five in the morning. Kristine and Harold had been back from their honeymoon for a few weeks, and, ever the overdramatic, she had to have her teary goodbye as I left.

"Did you pack your clothes?" she asked.

"Yes, Kristine," I answered for the millionth time.

She pursed her lips. "Did you pack your quilt?"

I nodded. "Yes, Kristine."

"Did you bring Bindi?"

I looked down at the cat in my arms, brow raised. "Yes, I believe I did, Kristine."

She hugged me tightly as the bus outside honked once again, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. That right there was almost enough to make me change my mind, but some part of me wouldn't allow that. It had already made it's decision.

So as I finally left the house, bags in tow, with Harold helping, I made my way to the bus. It had reclinable seats, and a compartment area overhead. After Harold loaded my bags in the bottom, I hugged him with whispered goodbyes, then got on the bus.

The driver smiled. "Hello, there, Ms. Stilhouse."

I wasn't surprised he knew my name, he probably had a list somewhere. I was surprised, though, at the aura I felt around him. His aura was cool, like the one that guest speaker had had. Like the water at the YMCA. And his eyes were a brown so dark, they were almost black.

I took his hand with a nod, hoping he didn't notice how stiff my spine had suddenly become. Then I moved quickly away down the isle to a seat in the back, far from the others. I put my carry-on in the overhead compartment, after taking out a book to read and the iPod Nano I only listened to on long trips. Then I sat down and reclined in my seat, turning on my iPod and opening the book to where I'd left off. Bindi settled in my lap for the trip, dozing on and off the whole time.

The trip wasn't very eventful. A few words from people who sat close enough to me that I could hear them, whom I quickly discouraged by answering in with single syllables and shrugs. Some were bold enough to pet Bindi and ask questions. I just refused to answer. Then there was one who thought to sit next to me. I got rid of them with a few glares and moving my bag from the overhead compartment to the empty seat. People got the idea quickly enough not to come near me. After all that, it settled down quickly. The bus had only about six people on it, myself included. Two boys, and four girls. I felt sorry for the boys.

We were told we were almost there around three in the afternoon. I didn't know how far we'd driven, nor did I know what state we were in. The pamphlets had left that out. But there was something...odd about the area. We were about a mile from the town, we were told, and I felt something. It was a magic spell, I noted. That was something else I'd learned, that spells give off an aura that matches their owner, so you could tell who cast the spell. But it also had a feel, so you could tell what kind of spell it was.

This spell was cold, like the coldest temperature in a bathtub cold. Either a witch or a mage then, and not particularly powerful. Then there was the spell. It had the feeling of velvet running along skin. A concealment spell, then. A big one, too. It seemed to cover the entire area. I shivered when we passed through it, about a half mile from the town. Why, I asked myself, would a school need a mage to put a concealment spell on it?

Did you feel that? Bindi asked. Her eyes were wide.

I nodded slowly, not looking at her.

What do you think it was?

I shook my head. I wasn't answering out loud because it would catch attention if I were seen speaking to my cat.

She was silent after that, and the bus drove peacefully through the town. The scary thing was, there was no one on the street. It was like the entire place was deserted. The others on the bus noticed this, and started to murmur excitedly to each other. They shut up when they saw the reason why a few minutes later. Everyone in town, it seemed, had gathered at the school. Which equaled to the aforementioned two hundred and fifty students plus teachers. They all broke into cheers the moment the bus pulled into the school's parking lot. We all piled out of the bus, and the driver led us into the school. I was tense every step of the way, because once I'd set foot of the at bus, I'd been able to feel the auras of those around me.

Almost every single one was as cool as the bus driver's.

I held tightly onto Bindi as we were led to the cafeteria, which was actually a cafetorium, if the high ceilings and curtains surrounding a stage on the room's far side were anything to go by. The six of us filed on stage as the rest of the town's population followed in to crowd the stage. I stared back at the crowd, and met eyes that, while they had color, were all so dark you almost couldn't see it. Just like the guest speaker's. Only a few people had normal colored eyes among the whole bunch.

A man in a suit came onto the stage then, and smiled at us all in a way that I believed was meant to be reassuring, since some of the girls were beginning to wring their hands and cast nervous glances at the crowd.

The man then called for silence and walked to shake the hands of each person, whispering something in their ears and averting his face to smile so only they could see it. The crowd was silent when the first girl passed out, a look of horror on her face. Then, when he did the same with the second girl, she passed out. So did the next person, a boy. Then another girl passed out. Finally, he'd reached the second boy, the person before me. The crowd seemed disappointed.

"Bindi," I whispered so quietly only she could hear it, as I watched the others-still unconscious-being carted off stage. "What is he?" I knew there was something different about this man, he wasn't human. Not many in this crowd were. The cool auras they all exuded were too different, too unnatural. And if whatever he was doing and saying was enough to shock those girls and that boy into unconsciousness, then that only increased my certainty.

Bindi uttered one word. But it was enough to explain some things. Why they pamphlets didn't give out the location of the town. Why these people's eyes were so different. Why they exuded such a strange aura. Why the other people from the bus were passing out in fear.

Vampire.


So, here's the preview, as per usual.

'"Do you remember the government representative you had come to your school at the end of seventh grade?" I nodded. "They read the minds of all the students, but the few they find who they can't read they mark down and have information gathered on. We then access those people's blood work, and confirm whether or not they are VC+."

"Wait a second, the government is in on this?"

He smiled. "Of course, who do you think provides our funding?"'

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