The dark haired fledgling lay on his bed in his room late in the day going over the last few hours of his new life. Already, he'd found a way to live his human life once again. That made him smile, though he wasn't sure how to hide it from his roommate and probing psychic teachers. Stevie Rae had come back to visit him again. When he'd returned to his prison, she'd tracked him down, which was funny, since she'd really simply known where he would be and waited there for him. The vampyres' ways of knowing things made him feel violated. He wasn't even safe in his own head, then again, thanks to their goddess, he was very well aware of that.
The blond country bumpkin had given him a piece of paper of all his classes. Apparently he was going to start attending school the following week day. He'd sighed, taking the paper without another word, as he'd been in a good mood. He supposed that'd been a bad idea, as she probably thought he was warming up to her now. Not even in the slightest.
He rolled onto his side, going over the schedule once more. It'd been so long since he'd last been in school. He'd started off in school, learning about colours and shapes and spelling, but when it'd come apparent to everyone that he was above such a petty level of learning, his parents had yanked him out of school to learn on his own. At first it had been really fun, but he quickly grew tired of the regular schooling his parents were giving him and moved on to learn his own way. He'd spent most of his time in the local library, where he'd eventually learned how out of touch he'd been with people. Sure, he'd been somewhat nice to people that talked to him, but they… they acted so strangely. He even tried to be normal a few times, collecting enough information to string a few petty conversations together so that he could seem less strange to his peers. That, of course, didn't work, since it was much harder to think before speaking, for him. They'd say something, and without thinking of the proper way to answer, he would say his real opinion and once again be that weird kid in the library. It had been then he'd learned that if they couldn't bother to try and learn his ways, as he'd tried for them for so many long months, they weren't worth his time. He'd run away from home then, living on his own in the forest, buying books with the money his parents left him, figuring he'd do well enough on his own, mixed with the money he'd earned through anonymous writing, finishing his schooling online. And years later, the Tracker found him and marked him against his will.
He sighed, looking through the classes. He had something called sociology. That sounded… social. Next was spells and rituals. He doubted they did anything more than lighting herbs on fire and chatting with their damned greedy goddess for half an hour. Lunch came next, and then Literature and Spanish. He hated learning other languages. Especially Spanish. He didn't dislike the language itself, nor the people, but it was just too… hot. Speedy, warm, red, he didn't like it. he liked English. From Britain, a nice cold rainy place where people could sit in front of a nice fire and read a damn book instead of leaving the house into insane temperatures. Willingly. His last class almost made him snort in derision. Equestrian studies. A class about horses? First all these cats and now horses. Big, stinking beasts that could kill you in an instant if they wanted to. Yeah, sure, they were pretty, but it bugged him that there were no dog studies, or sea-creature studies, or anything involving any other animal. Seemed a bit biased. Then again, this whole place did seem kind of biased. Sexist as it was, though most wouldn't see it. he didn't care that women had power, hell, sometimes he liked the idea of a women-run world, but that wasn't really any more fair than what the humans were doing. It would be nice if for once a powerful group or species could, he didn't know, make an actual paradise without hating each other or being unfairly biased and giving certain people less wages, or deciding someone's worth based on how big a piece of their anatomy was.
He sighed again, ignoring his views of the world he used to be a part of. That was his old life, now he had to deal with the ridiculous religious-politics the vampyres functioned with. He sat up, gently moving the curtain on his window enough to let him see outside. It was still a cloudy day, but it was steadily getting darker. He had a perfect view of the statue woman with upraised hands in front of that temple thing the vampyres liked to use for worship. He wondered if he'd be forced to go there sometime. The full moon was coming up soon, wasn't that when they did their elements circle casting thing? He sighed, resting his head on the pillow beside him.
His bedside table was adorned by a lovely wine glass, along with a little baggie filled with that exotic liquid he'd slowly begun to covet. As he watched the liquid bag, his mouth filled with saliva, his stomach churning hungrily. Would it always be like this? Did the regular vampyres have to deal with this constant, nagging hunger? He groaned and sat up once more, grabbing the bag. He held it in his hands, staring down at his reddened hands through the thick, plastic material. Maybe it wasn't so bad. At least it tasted good. It wasn't bad for him. It was… like a drug that made him feel better. Like if… if humans got addicted to… vegetables. Red vegetables… that came from other humans.
He sighed, slapping a hand to his face. "I'm horrible." Mark muttered to himself as he brought the bag to his face. He carefully ripped the bag open, upending it, wanting to intake it as fast as possible so he didn't have to think about it. Ignoring the disappointment that plagued his still thirsty body when he ran out so quickly, he stood and entered the bathroom.
He undressed, pausing by the mirror to look at his pale form once again. God, the black mark on his face looked strange. And he was so pale, more white than he'd been when he was human. He'd at least gone outside during the day as a human. He gently touched his chest. It was strange, looking at himself now. He was more beautiful than before, but… he felt as if he'd give up anything in order to be human again, even any kind of good looks.
A smile tugged at his reddened lips as the thought of that girl and his little sister swam through his mind. Maybe not all his good looks. He pulled off his pants, batman boxers and socks to hop in the shower, letting the water remove the bits of blood that had missed his lips.
The following evening, he found himself in a classroom with windows facing the dark courtyard of the school, and again, the temple they used for worship. He sighed, sitting at the very back of the dimly lit classroom.
Soon, in walked the teacher with her long dark hair, flowing gown and ridiculous number of intricate tattoos. She was proud and held herself with an air of confidence. High Priestess Redbird looked to be in her element, helping people to learn, or whatever. She started a lengthy lecture about various women of power who were either subjugated by humans (Usually men) or revered and then caught in a war and raped, or something. Mark had no interest. Sure, to a girl this had to be incredibly interesting, but to him it was just an extremist feminist going on and on about the unfairness of (male) humans. It did, however, bug him that she never seemed to talk about male vampyres, unless in passing, or mentioning an accomplishment like a movie, art, or music.
Of course, in this predominantly female-controlled community, males wouldn't have been put in a place where they would be subjugated or raped. They said it was better than the humans' way of life because they appreciated the men in their culture. This was bullshit, because the humans were far more equal than that. Not everyone was treated equally, of course, there were many men and women who despised each other and constantly tried to take away rights from each other, but the women were certainly more than just appreciated.
And Mark certainly appreciated Lily.
Mark was then caught up in thoughts of her. Her human face, lively, pink skin, her amazing lips and eyes. He sighed, smiling out the window like a dork. He didn't even notice that Professor Redbird had been trying to get his attention.
"Mark!" She cried at last, making him look up suddenly.
"Yeah, what?" Mark replied, feeling irritated at his day dream being so rudely interrupted.
"Were you listening? I asked if you knew about the-"
"No, I haven't, and I probably don't." Mark sighed, standing up. "I thought this was supposed to be school, not let's-talk-about-all-the-bitchy-famous-women for an hour. So not only are we thrust into a retarded culture we didn't want anything to do with, but we're also forced to accept some bullshit classes that teach us about shit that doesn't matter? Are you fucking kidding me? Doesn't anyone take math or something here? Or do we just learn about how fucking sexist you all are?" By the end of his statement, he was yelling over the uproar he was getting from the other students. Professor Redbird, of course, hadn't joined in the fray; she merely looked at Mark sadly. As if she knew he was slowly killing himself with the hatred of his own new species.
Sick of her expression, he grabbed his bags and left, shoving passed a few students who seemed to think he gave a damn about their opinions. He went outside, too sick of the school to stay inside another second. He walked over to a ruined, decrepit looking tree that was a split in half, burned, and looked as though it had gone through a great deal of terrible things. He sat under it, wishing he had anyone he could call or, anything really, to just… talk and calm down. He would go and see if he couldn't find Lily or her sister, but it was early in the morning, she'd be fast asleep. He sighed, running his fingers through his hair in a motion that showed just how stressed he was.
"You okay?" Came a voice that made Mark jump. He looked up to find Drake, the red marked fledgling. "You look tense as fuck."
"…I am." The younger fledgling sighed again, relaxing his hands. "What are you doing here?"
"Our High Priestess asked us to come back and ask you to reconsider joining the Dark Daughters and Sons." Drake explained, "She was really adamant."
"Like I care. I don't want to join your damn club, okay?" Mark snapped, "I don't even want to become a vampyre."
"…Neither did a lot of people."
Mark frowned, looking at Drake with growing confusion. "Well yes, of course, but… why can't we say no? We don't get any choice in the change, and I don't think that's fair. I made it quite plainly clear to the tracker that I did not want to be changed."
Drake slowly sat down next to the dark haired teen. "…Do you mind telling me what happened when you were marked?"
Mark paused, staring at the blond with a frown that seemed to be growing. "Why do you want to know?"
"Because I want to prove that not all fledglings or vampyres are shitty people, like you seem to think." The older teen explained simply. The answer had taken Mark aback, his confusion only serving to get worse.
"…Well, I was sitting in my lounge, writing one of my stories when he knocked on the door. I looked through the peep hole and told him to fuck off. He ignored that and said some stupid line about night choosing thee, or something. He broke in, which pissed me off, and I told him to leave me alone because I didn't want to be marked, for any reason, and I grabbed my shot gun, which I had hidden in the room. He did something, and I guess that's when I was marked, because I started to pass out. I got a shot in him before I passed out. When I woke up it was in the ambulance going to the school."
"He marked me when I was asleep." Drake stated suddenly. "I had to leave my parents, my girlfriend, and my dog behind. They didn't want anything to do with vampyres."
Mark stared at the blond. He'd thought he was just a pile of muscle meant for Celeste to stare at, but this deeper side made him… uncomfortable.
"And then I rejected the change and I thought how unfair it was. How could the goddess do that to me after she'd taken away everything else? But then I came back a red fledgling, and, well, I'm better, at least." The older fledgling shrugged, smiling down at Mark. "I'm just glad my mark is normal." He added with a smirk.
"Oh shut up." The dark haired fledgling huffed. "Why don't you hate everything about this place, then?" He asked softly, "For ruining your life?"
"My old life wasn't all that good. I'm cared for and loved for who and what I am here, whereas before I had to work so hard just to get any kind of praise for anything. I couldn't be a singer or a teacher or whatever back home. I had such high expectations that it would have been impossible for me to be what I wanted. Now, I can just be myself." Drake smiled.
"…What do you want to be?" Mark asked.
"A painter." The red fledgling explained, "I want to paint beautiful pictures for everyone to see. What about you?"
"Well… I write." He answered, "I write romance and adventure sorts of stories."
"See? You're not such a bad guy, I don't really understand why you make an ass of yourself rather than try and make the best of your situation. Being a vampyre isn't all that bad. You live a lot longer and you look a lot better, and you even have a better life, usually." Drake explained.
"Yeah, well, I wanted my human life." Mark hissed.
"You can't have it anymore, so you might as well get used to this one!" Drake burst suddenly. "You have so much to benefit from this, why can't you just enjoy it?"
The younger teen glared at the blond, and finally looked away. "Whatever."
"Hey." Drake frowned, grabbing Mark's face in his hands to turn him toward himself. "What about this, you let me paint you and show you the beauty of what you've become with this new life, and I'll stop bugging you. Deal?" The dark haired teen stared at Drake with a frown.
"I don't give a shit if you-"
"Deal?" Drake interrupted.
"…Fine." Mark hissed, shoving the other fledgling's hands away from his face. "Whatever. I'll come over on the weekend."
"Good." Drake smiled, "I'll see you then. Maybe you'll get used to your life by then." He gave the disgruntled teen a wave before he left, returning to the school.
REVIEW CHALLENGES
What are your thoughts on Mark now?
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GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE.
I have a plot now! YEAH. Won't ruin it, of course, but hoooooooooo shiet, son, I love it.
I know I take a while to update, but I work part time and it's hard to write for long spaces of time, so I do short bursts and try to get as much crammed into a chapter as I can so it's a decent read.