Her mind wondered pensively as she ran her thumb over the plastic edge of her pen. She was biting the inside of her cheek to keep from clicking it again. She couldn't afford one more sideways glance from the snobby guy sitting in front of her. He was one of those hipster types. The button-down shirt he sported was way too pressed and self-conscious for him to wear to an early lecture.

Chloe let out a small breath as she shifted in her seat. The sweatshirt she wore covered up the nasty cut that was spread across the edge of her neck and down her shoulder. It was weird. The laceration moved almost like puncture wounds- not a straight shot from a fall of a scape.

It burned now- itching like a bug bite. She inadvertently scratched at it through the black fabric that was covering her torso. It was hot in the room, or at least to her it was. Everyone else was quickly pulling their sleeves down to their wrists to keep distractions to a minimum. Weird.

"Professor Aurum is pretty boring, huh?" The voice made Chloe's already numb fingers grow cold. She clicked the pen- that same boy with the sharp green eyes shooting her a childish scowl.

"What are you doing here?" She asked harshly, not even bothering to look to her left. She sat at the back of the auditorium for the pure solidarity of it all- but now that she was in a shaded corner of a large room, she regretted the choice.

"I'm not allowed to show any interest in Greek Mythology?" Beca's voice raised in the form of a question.

"You're not enrolled in this class.' Chloe tried her hand at a bit of banter. It was clear this girl wouldn't lose interest in being a pain in her ass anytime soon.

"I am now," She spoke softly, settling into the auditorium seat that creaked under her weight. She smelled so thickly of cinnamon. It made a headache edge towards Chloe's temple as she clenched her eyes shut and leaned her head back. The light from the projector was deadly. She didn't even question why the brunette had picked up a class halfway through a term.

She was quiet as the woman in front of the room droning on. She was young- fresh out of college herself. Not many people wanted to dive into the world of sex-driven Gods. She got the job easy enough and ha a slack way of teaching that Chloe appreciated.

Her stalker shifted her position, moving closer to Chloe. Again, with that spice riddled scent of her. She had never taken that much notice to the smell things carried- but now it seemed to be the only thing that mattered. She squeezed her eyes tighter.

"Oh, you're feeling it, aren't you?" Beca asked, a hint of a smile in her words.

She finally gave her attention to the girl. Sitting up straighter than she was a few moments ago. The muddy blue gaze stared back at her, curious and expecting some type of answer. "Feeling what?"

"Miss Beale," Professor Aurum's voice cut through the audience. The whole group of half-interested college kids turned around in their seats to get a good luck at the girl who was trying her best to stay hidden. "Do you have an answer for me?"

The woman pushed her hand against the top of the desk, the spotlight that was on her looed golden against grey eyes. She had mousy brown hair and deep painted lips. They were red like an apple a kid would produce the week before finals.

"Can you repeat the question?" She asked, not confidence in her voice.

Aurum let out a small breath, knowing the girl wasn't paying much attention to the lesson at hand. "What three Olympians divided the regions?"

Three. Right, they had gone over this before. The red-head knew they had, it was sometime last week. She had taken care to get those names in her notes if nothing else. She cleared her throat, a nervous habit. "Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon."

Beca beamed next to her. "Smart and pretty, you're just the whole package, aren't you Chloe?"

The ginger ignored her as the professor just nodded in surprise. Even without paying attention the answer should have been recalled quickly, and it was. She didn't' have any room to object further, and instead went into the assignments due before their next meeting.

The lights raised against the once dark space as the class dismissed. Chloe had never been more grateful to get out of a room before. She caught the edged stare of her instructor but didn't say anything as she tugged the edge of the fabric over the purple bruise of her shoulder. Beca seemed to cock her head at the woman herself, earning a pensive glare before standing from her seat and following Chloe out.

Her phone buzzed as she exited the building into the sunny courtyard, she cringed away as she pulled her hood up, fishing her cell out of her back pocket. Beca stopped with her, crossing her arms over her black t-shirted chest. She cleaned up nicely from last night- her hair flowing over her shoulder as she cockily watched her new friend.

"That your pal Gallagher?" There was a bit of jealously lacing her voice. Something Chloe cocked her own brow at.

"Yeah, actually." She shook her head as she shoved her phone away. She was annoyed- there was no reason for her to give Beca the time of day. Nothing stopping her from storming off from an undone stranger. "Thankfully no one dropped dead today."

"That's a very optimistic way to look at things." Beca pointed out as the red-head scoffed and started to walk towards her dorm. It took a few seconds of the younger girl staring after her longingly before she followed.

"Listen, what the hell is your problem?" Chloe stopped suddenly, turning quickly on her heel. It made her feel sick to her stomach. This was almost worse than a hangover. "I tasered you last night and you still can't take a damn hint?"

Beca laughed lightly, shoving her hands into her pockets as she got a good look at the girl in front of her. She was in rough shape. Her eyes were sunken in, a dull blue instead of the vibrant ones she remembered from last night. Beca felt a twinge of guilt- one she would never let Chloe catch wind of.

"You're hungry," Beca stated instead.

"No, no I'm really not." She shoved past the girl "I'm sick to my stomach, so if you'll excuse me."

She was shocked as a cold grasp wrapped itself around her wrist. It was electrifying. Such a slight touch sent chills up her arm as she stifled a shudder. It was the same allure that kept her in the graveyard last night. The same type of feeling that rooted her in her spot now. She breathed in.

"Mm, you're not craving a burger Chloe," she continued as the girl turned back to face her slowly. "Maybe one that's a little underdone."

"You're fucking insane." Chloe yanked her hand away, gasping as she hit the warmth of someone who was behind her. Miss Aurum. Papers were scattered across the ground, Chloe's natural instinct kicking in as she knelt down and hastily started to scoop them up. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, Chloe, no harm done." She spoke smoothly, her hair falling into her eyes as she started to pick up papers herself. The two of them shared a few moments of silence as the college student and young teacher stood. She handed over the term papers she had collected, making sure not to look at any of the red markings that littered the paragraphs. "Thank you,"

"No problem," She gave a weak smile as she took a step back, fully expecting to run into Beca. Instead, there was nothing, the darker woman had vanished completely. So that was the trick? Talk to other people instead of running.

"Actually, I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time." The woman surprised her.

"Sure, of course," She spoke- not really knowing what this was about. Attendance, or maybe a missed assignment a while back. She was quite frankly still shocked that the woman knew her name, most professors didn't' even bother. The students were just paychecks to them. But Aurum was different.

The woman motioned for her to follow her into one of the nearby buildings. It was brick and mortar, the large stone columns something Chloe never got a good look at. She stayed far away from the offices- but the truth was, they looked just like normal ones. It was the same in the city. A few teachers glanced up from their works as the two of them walked by.

"I'm sorry to pull you away from your life like this," She mumbled, shifting her bag in her grasp as she shuffled with her keys. She opened her office door- against the scent was overstimulating. "I just noticed your new… friend?"

Her office was sleek, a large painting of the God's hung against the drywall. There were a few statues near a huge mahogany bookshelf. It was lined with gold and red, different volumes of Latin lined every compartment.

"My new?" Chloe trailed off slightly as she wracked her mind "Oh, Beca. No, she's not my friend. I barely even know her."

Miss Aurum nodded slightly, stepping to the other side of her desk as she lowered herself into the leather chair. "Please, sit."

"Thank you," Chloe spoke softly. She was admittedly relieved to have a place to sit. She was tired, exhausted like the time she got the stomach flu after the county fair. Her stomach was bubbling. "I know she just transferred in…"

"She did, I saw her on my roster just this morning." The woman nodded, "Are you feeling okay, Miss Beale?"

She went back to using the last name again. It made Chloe's anxiety spike again. "No, but I'm sure it's just a cold. If this is because of showing up to class today, I sat in the back-"

"Is that nasty bite on your shoulder a product of a cold too?"

Chloe snapped her mouth shut, her hand instinctively moving up to her throat. She flinched away from the cold touch. It was stinging. Painful. "I should go," She hastily tried to stand but wavered.

"Chloe, do you know what the Strigoi is?"

"No," She lowered herself back down "I don't think so."

"They're troubled souls." She said, leaning back in her chair. "People who couldn't find peace in their lives, so they're doomed to spend death in search of something more. A purpose."

"I'm not sure I'm understanding."

"The Greeks had a lot of tactics to explain away things," Miss Aurum stood, walking slowly to the front of the desk. "Like wedlock, and shockingly enough, being a ginger."

Chloe swallowed roughly, leaning back in her seat as she stared up at the woman. She had a natural way with words. One that didn't' feel like she was talking down to someone. She was instructing them. Teaching them.

"How do you become one?" Chloe asked eventually.

"Well, a lot of ways. Sin, mostly, but the Greeks believed that if a cat walked over a grave after someone passed, they'd come back as the demon that lived inside of them all along."

"That's morbid," Chloe finally said, lifting her head up slightly. She still wasn't sure why exactly why the teacher had pulled her so deep into her office just to give her an impromptu lesson about Greek demons.

"Beca is your cat." Miss Aurum folded her hands in her lap.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"You do," She said, "You don't want to but you do."

The two sat in a labored silence. She was getting it, pulling the pieces together. The whole elaborate story that was coming back to her in a hazy mess. The way she blacked out after a certain amount of time with Beca. How she woke up with a large bite on the edge of her throat.

"I have to find Beca," She mumbled, knitting her eyebrows together.

"Something tells me she'll find you."