I lie splashed out on my bed, dark hair fanned out on the pillow behind me, headphones firmly in position over my ears. Linkin Park blasts out of them, filling my head with scratchy vinyl sounds and electric guitars. I nod my head along to the beat, eyes shut, with a small smile of contentment on my face. The sun must have gone down at least an hour ago, as the room is even darker than usual. Luckily for me, Kimmy Jin doesn't seem to mind that I keep the blinds down all day. Not that she's ever in the room, mind you.
The door swings open, and I turn around to see her walking in. She does not even acknowledge my presence aside from a stiff nod of the head, and makes her way over to her desk where she flips open her laptop. I watch her lazily for a few moments, before making my way into a stooped sitting position and shucking the headphones off. It must be quite late if she's back home. And I need a shower.
Getting to my feet, I lean across the small room and grab my shower bag from my desk, and nervously strip down behind Kimmy Jin's back, as far out of her sight as I can. Then, I pull on my shower robe and head out of the room a little awkwardly, letting the door click shut behind me.
The building is mostly abandoned; people are generally in their rooms studying, or other... activities. Because of this, I make it to the bathroom in record timing and quickly enclose myself in a cubicle, leaving my robe outside. Then, I turn on the shower and relax as the warm water comes crashing down overhead. Shutting my eyes, I let all of my muscles relax into the warmth.
It has been a month since I came face to face with the redheaded vampire Chloe. Since then, I have heeded her words more carefully. Ever since the uproar about the dead frat boy, I have learned to moderate my blood drinking. That occasionally means that I have to drink from more than one victim a night, but that is better than being thrown into prison as a suspected murderer. Strangely, I haven't seen her whilst out on the hunt. I suppose she, as a senior, knows the campus better than I do, and perhaps knows better spots in which to hunt. However, I have occasionally felt eyes upon me and whipped around, only to be met with nothing.
That's a strange thing about her. Sometimes, it's like she's near me, but she's not. It's unnerving, but does send something of a thrill up my spine. Like... Maybe she's watching me right now. Maybe she-
"Jesus Christ!" I gasp in shock as I open my eyes and come face to face with another woman. Flattening myself against the wall, horrified, I attempt to cover myself over with my hands. Then, I get a good look at her and stop, like a rabbit frozen in the headlights. "Chloe, what the hell?!"
She smiles absentmindedly, as if completely unaware that we're both as naked as the day we were born. Unlike me, she isn't even bothering to try and cover herself up. Her red hair flows around her shoulders, and her crystal blue eyes are firmly trained into mine. Chloe takes a step towards me and, although I know she cannot hurt me, I feel a pang of fear. The door to the shower cubicle shuts behind her, and I feel the intense feeling of claustrophobia that comes with being far, far too close to somebody.
A small feeling of irritation comes bubbling up in me. "Have you been following me or something? That's really creepy. Is there a vampire help hotline I could call? Anyway, get out!"
Chloe just laughs and moves even closer. There is a familiar mischievous grin on her face and, with a burst of discomfort, I realise that her eyes are drifting up and down my body with the sort of reckless confidence that can only come to some of our kind. I, apparently, have not been blessed with it.
"Oh calm down, stop being so dramatic. I draw the line at watching you sleep. Anyway, I'm offering you another chance to join the Supernaturals. We've just got a couple of new members."
"Dude, no! Get out!"
She rolls her eyes and moves even closer, a wicked glint in her eyes adding to the generally uncomfortable situation. Her skin is now almost touching mine, and I can see her white incisors poking gently onto her bottom lip. Hers are longer and more unsightly than mine, and I'm rather surprised that they don't get noticed more often. I find myself a little hypnotised with them, and her smirk widens. Then, coming back to myself, I shrink further against the wall. If my heart still beat, it would be pounding.
"I have, however, watched you feeding. It's cute. You make these adorable little sucking noises." Chloe demonstrates, sucking her lip teasingly. I bite back a laugh at the sight, and feel a rather reluctant smile coming onto my face. Seeing it, she nods triumphantly, as if she's conquered me in some way. And, in a way, she has. For some reason, I no longer mind about either of our nudity. Slowly, I lower my arms so that I am just as bare as she is.
"Listen. What will it take for me to convince you to join the Supernaturals? I'm the only vampire there, and it does get pretty lonely. Other than me, we've got a werewolf, a succubus, a zombie, and a lot of witches... Although they're mortal." then, she thinks for a moment, as if she's forgotten someone. Then, she starts. "Oh yes! And a mermaid."
I feel a bubble of laughter burst out of me, incredulous. A mermaid?! How does that work? Seeing my expression, a semi apologetic look comes onto her face. "She really is a mermaid. She wears skirts and puts her flippers into really big shoes. She blames the penguin walk on being crippled- what?"
I'm laughing deeply, hand against the wall to hold myself up. There is a rather bemused expression on her face, and that just makes it even funnier. The idea of somebody waddling around campus like an overgrown penguin gives me enough reason to want to join this club. Perhaps the idea of maybe being around a half naked Chloe again makes me even more enthusiastic. Whatever it is... Well, I'll give it a week. It has been getting a little boring in my room.
"Dude, save me a seat. Preferably next to the mermaid."
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Leaning against the wall outside of Room 428, I silently try and remember exactly why the idea of entering this ridiculous club initially appealed to me. Perhaps it was because of the amount of bare skin on show when the offer was given, but I'm rather sobered up to the idea now. Can I just walk away now, and pretend I never even entertained the idea as a possibility? That I said it just to eject Chloe from my shower? Or would it be polite to just go in and hang around for half an hour or so, before going back to my ordinary life and pretending this encounter never actually happened?
A little warily, I take a step forward and knock, as quietly as I can. Hopefully if they don't hear my knock, they won't come, and I can slink away into the shadows. Standing still, I tap one foot a little impatiently as I wait for somebody to answer the door. Counting out thirty seconds in my head, I smile and begin to walk away, my heart lifted. Thank God... But I haven't taken two steps, when I feel a hand on my shoulder and whip around, to find myself face to face with a strange girl. She is taller than me and has dark skin, and looks rather muscular. There is a vacant look in her eyes, however, and she has an iron grip on my shoulder. It's actually starting to hurt.
"Okay, okay, let go..." I say, shrugging my shoulder out of her grip. She just groans in response, before taking me by the arm and stomping back towards the room, pulling me along with her. She has much longer legs than I do, and I find myself being practically pulled into Room 428. Feeling a little irritated at my capture, I yelp as she drops me onto the ground, and a door slams behind me. For a few seconds I just lie there, face down, before I feel somebody prodding at my back.
I can smell the strong scent of incense, and the room seems to be lit with candles. There is also the familiar human scent of blood and sweat, however, and I feel myself beginning to salivate a little. Chloe did mention there being humans as part of the group...
"Is she dead?" a voice says incredulously, and pokes me in the back again. I mumble a complaint and pull myself into a sitting position. And have to stop myself letting out a gasp. The small room is full of people; about ten or so. This dorm is bigger than mine, and the two beds are set up so that they give more floor space, but it's still relatively cramped. The others are all sitting in a circle around a mass of candles and an incense burner, and there is a clearly fake plastic skull daubed with what looks like red paint resting on top of a pile of textbooks in the centre. The lights are off, and the room is lit by flickering firelight from the candles.
"Yeah, she's dead. She's a vampire, isn't she?" another voice says, and I hear a thump and a whimper telling me that somebody has been punched for their stupidity. There are a few laughs, and I sit back awkwardly, hating it. I search for Chloe amongst the crowd and eventually find her, sitting next to a blonde woman with a cold expression on her face. She smiles at me encouragingly.
"Everybody, this is Beca," Chloe says warmly, and a few of the others mumble their replies. "She killed Rufus, the frat boy. That massive deal about the guy being found dead last month? You know, Roofie Rufus."
There are a couple of sounds of recognition at that, and a few of the others look at me a little more warmly. A large woman with blonde hair and a long skirt with turned out feet (the mermaid!) reaches out a hand towards me.
"I'm Fat Amy. Before we go through this big deal again, yes I am a mermaid. Feel free to, you know, kiss my scales or worship me or whatever... It's all good..."
I frown as I shake her hand. "You call yourself Fat Amy?"
"Yeah, so twig bitches like you don't do it behind my back. I was serious about the worshipping thing. I actually have my own cult back in Tasmania, where they had this statue carved out of alligator bones made of me. It's the eighth wonder of the world, actually. They call themselves the Fatties."
The blonde girl sitting next to Chloe clears her throat, and Amy chooses that moment to shut her mouth. I smile at the mermaid awkwardly, before looking back at the blonde, who shoots me a rather strained smile. She takes a pointed look at my ear piercings, before sighing.
"Well, we actually only need one person of each race for our meetings, but I suppose the more the merrier," she sighs. "My name is Aubrey, and I am a werewolf and the leader of the Supernaturals. I have been assured that you already know Chloe. The reason for these meetings is to work together on making Barden a safer place for both ourselves and the community."
I roll my eyes as she begins to talk and stare at the wall, doing my best to zone out on her little speech. After about six minutes of boredom and introductions, she finishes up with, "And please remember, ladies, to not sleep with any of the Slayers. Do not let them penetrate you, or they will penetrate your hearts. With a stake. Or a silver bullet. Or decapitate you. Or whatever. Just stay away from them, promise?"
The zombie girl who pulled me into the room earlier, who I have discovered to be called Cynthia Rose, lets out a low moan at that. Everyone looks at her or, in Aubrey's case, glares.
"Cynthia Rose, don't be an idiot."
"Oh Aubrey. She isn't a complete idiot, she just has some parts missing."