XII

Time had always passed quickly for an immortal, but after the sudden twists in their lives, it seemed to accelerate even more. Without even realizing it, winter was draining away, and spring was dawning. The second semester began, and it felt like a new start, this time, with Dreyon by her side, and nothing wrong in the world.

For three happy months, their peaceful lives remained undisturbed. Sam knew something was wrong the moment they had stepped onto the school grounds after Dreyon had his tattoo exchanged. He marveled at the addition around Dreyon's neck, but didn't strike up a fuss. Serena remained as sweet and supportive as ever, constantly by their sides, but always manage to find a perfect excuse to escape whenever she sensed that Dreyon and Ellis was about to get intimate.

And they got intimate often.

It was something more beastly than human, the way Dreyon was protective over her, and the way they yearned a bit too much for notice. It had been awkward at first, and while it had gotten better, it still wasn't something Ellis was very comfortable with. The animalistic emotions emerged more commonly while they were alone, but with severe self control, they've managed to not go too far yet. Kissing, sure, hugging, of course; sharing a bed with thick blankets and nightclothes in between began to occur commonly enough as time flowed, but that was it. Ellis didn't know what she'd do if Dreyon dared step across that line of privacy and intimacy. She'd probably slap him.

Yes, slapping him sounds good. It wasn't much of a defense, but it had worked once before, when Dreyon was in a half-beastly daze, so it'd probably work again.

Spring brought in a tide of new emotions: joy, mostly. Ellis discovered that when a flower was held under his nose, Dreyon would begin to sneeze nonstop. It was something everyone found hilarious, with the exception of a certain vampire, of course.

Love also blossomed in spring, and it wasn't something foreign as it had been during the winters, but an emotion that was welcomed, and the season itself seemed to kindle and nurture that hearth of beautiful feelings so it could bloom.

It was a certain day during early spring when Dreyon decided to bring Ellis out on their first, actual date, with the fancy restaurants and everything.

Well, not exactly fancy: they went to the nearest Pizza Hut wearing hoodies, T-shirts, and jeans, then strolled to the cinema and watched a Star Wars film.

It wasn't too bad though, in Ellis's opinion.

When they started home, it was past nine; the streetlamps were flickering with white or yellow light, noises were disappearing off the streets. A chilly night breeze blew, ruffling trees and bushes as it passed.

They didn't go home immediately. Instead, they decided to take advantage of the peace and strolled towards the park. There was a small buzz in Ellis's pocket, and she pulled out her phone to find a message from Serena.

Biology is stupid.

Ellis smiled and shook her head slightly, typing quickly.

I'll help you when we get back.

Serena replied immediately.

And when is that?

I don't know. Probably soo-

Something snarled.

It was common knowledge that Nightwalker vampires were mostly nocturnal: they hunted and acted at night, just as their names suggest. They also, like wolves, tend to travel around in groups or packs, very unlike the casual defense the Shadowlocks used as they roamed the daytime. It's what made the Nightwalkers dangerous: the perfection of their teamwork, their swiftness, their mercilessness and brutality.

Dreyon stumbled first, crying out in pain as a vampire – seemingly appearing out of nowhere – sank his into his shoulder and twisted his head, tearing the muscle. Blood sprayed, and Ellis froze immediately, shell-shocked.

If there was one Nightwalker here, there was bound to be more…

They emerged silently from the shadows, six in all, adding the one that had attacked them first.

Dreyon clutched his wound, baring his fangs and growling. Ellis's phone was still in her hand, and the screen was falling asleep, until her thumb moved discreetly and tapped above a name.

The vampires attacked when a phone number popped out on her screen.

Dreyon was moving immediately, his movements as smooth and graceful as his former clan mates. Ellis had seen him in a killing spree before, but that was against humans, and it had been an ugly, terrible thing; now, however, against vampires, though he was still a beast, he was a honorable lion.

Ellis clicked on the number, and the phone began to dial. She spun around, and right behind her was a vampire, about to lunge. But even if she wasn't as skilled in battling as the Nightwalkers, she was still a vampire, and she could still fight: her kick caught the vampire in the face, and his momentum injured him more than her foot. He fell, nursing a broken nose, but tried to attack again, and that was when Ellis began to run.

"Dreyon!" she shouted over her shoulder, and there was a roar of response behind her. She barged straight into the forest, and Dreyon was not far behind.

"Hello?"

Ellis pressed the phone to her ear, shouting desperately, "We're under attack! We're in the forest! Come, help, right now!"

Without bothering to hang up, simply ignoring Serena's confused cries at the other end until her friend hung up herself, Ellis pushed herself to continue running, faster than she had ever ran in her entire life.

She could feel the Nightwalker vampires several paces behind, bloodthirsty and eager to bathe in the glory of killing a rival vampire.

Trees shot past, shadows blurred – Ellis had lost all senses of directions now; they could be running in circles for all she knew. She simply blindly followed Dreyon's dark silhouette in front of her, feeling her muscles strain and ache despite her lack of heartbeat and unneeded breaths. The vampires chased relentlessly, and Ellis could sense Dreyon hesitating, wondering if he should let them chase until they drop down dead, or stop and fight.

The decision turned out to be the latter.

Both of them halted at the same time, and the vampires began to catch up; Dreyon dropped smoothly into a fighting stance, discreetly stretching his torn shoulder, which had already began to heal.

The vampires stopped as well, feral grins on their faces.

"Finally decided to stop running?" one of them – probably the leader, called out tauntingly.

But before Dreyon could retort, something streaked past them so fast Ellis didn't even notice it until a split second later, when the vampire that had spoken was screaming in agony and a beast had its teeth clamped around its throat. With a horrible snap, the vampire's head rolled, and the creature unhinged its jaw, crimson dripping from its canine teeth, letting the vampire's headless body slump to the floor before slowly disintegrating.

It was a wolf.

Ellis had seen plenty of wolves before, but never one as large as this. When standing on its two hind legs, it was easily twice as tall as her, and even when it was on its four legs, the top of its head brushed her chin. But despite its terrifying size, dripping maw, and vicious expression, it was beautiful. Its fur was silver dusted with gold, and silky in the dim moonlight, and its eyes were the most brilliant blue she had ever seen; it moved with such a grace that it made a slaughter look beautiful, and that's what it did: it killed and scattered the screeching, frantic vampires until the mild breeze was kicking dust into their eyes and the last of the screaming had faded.

And then the wolf turned to them.

Dreyon stiffened immediately, and Ellis took a nervous step back, feeling her phone vibrating in her pocket but too afraid to answer it. The wolf stared at them, nose twitching as it sniffed the air around them, but the dust got to it, and – adorably enough – it sneezed.

Ellis would have burst out laughing right there and then if a familiar voice calling her name hadn't made her freeze.

"ELLIS?! ELLIS, WHERE-" It was Serena.

"HERE!" Ellis shouted back, then cleared her throat nervously when the wolf growled quietly at her for the racket she was making.

There was loud crashing through the trees and bushes, Serena obviously trying to make herself be known. When the brunette emerged from the trees into the clearing and spotted Ellis with Dreyon, she was overjoyed… until she saw the wolf. Then, just like the rest of them, she froze, gulping nervously.

The wolf sniffed at her curiously, no longer as mean-looking, but still intimidating with its size. It looked up at Serena's terrified expression, then glanced at Dreyon and Ellis, who were just as nervous.

And then, it laughed.

At first, it sound more like barking, rough and deep and powerful, but slowly, it began to change.

Ellis had heard rumors before, but she had never thought she would see it with her very own eyes.

She watched as paws became hands and feet, fur receded to reveal bare skin, fangs shrank and flattened, and then it was a human laughing in front of them, his body shaking with giggles, his golden brown hair silvery and messy in the moonlight.

"Oh… my God…" Sam Collins, Dreyon's best friend and confidante, gasped between bouts of laughter. "Your… faces…"

Ellis had never realized what a bright blue Sam's eyes were, and when he grinned at them, his expression was wolfish. He made a little firework sound, his hands creating a mini explosion as he smirked at their shocked faces.

"Surprise."

πρωίωςτοβράδυ

Vampires weren't supposed to breed. It just didn't work that way. Things go wrong when the dead try to make something alive, but sometimes, the mistake turns into a masterpiece.

In her short half a century of life, she had joined the Nightwalkers, left, joined the Shadowlocks, and left again, the only reasons being that they wanted her.

Her mother was human. Her father was a vampire. When she was born, she aged like any other human child, until she stopped at the age of nineteen. She hadn't changed since.

With immortality, came thirst.

It made her hunt, it made her do desperate things, and the Nightwalkers, with their sweet web of lies and seduction, lured her into their trap and they fed her the blood of a Shadowlock.

It had been a young, frightened girl, begging and weeping, but when Rose bit down, felt dead blood and stale taste enter her mouth, she stopped moving.

And as Rose continued to drink, she realized that the blood gradually turned warmer, redder, sweeter, until it had the same taste of human blood. When the girl was nearly dead, Rose had let her go, and she felt beneath her fingers, the lightest of pulses of heartbeats.

πρωίωςτοβράδυ

"Her bite turns vampires into humans. We think it might be something in her saliva." Dreyon and Ellis listened attentively to Sam explain while he checked the former's shoulder and passed them clean clothes and gestured at the bathroom. "When the Nightwalkers found out, they wanted her. Naturally, the Shadowlocks, being the righteous-" Sam paused, coughing lightly and glancing at Dreyon, Ellis, and Serena nervously, "I mean, since they're rivals, they're hunting for her too. Us, the werewolf clans, want to take her in, mostly for the sake of stopping a gigantic vampire clan war that might tear the country apart."

"You want us to help you," Ellis realized.

Sam nodded slowly. "That's… yeah."

"Clan wars aren't pretty," Dreyon said, nearly growling, "but the clans don't actually care other than the fact that they are disagreeing and they want their way to be done."

"So they decide to be kindergarteners and solve everything in the ugliest way possible," Sam concluded. "That's why we need your help; and please don't be as stupid as your superiors."

"We're not," Dreyon had a proud lilt in his voice, and he held his head high, nearly sneering at his friend. Ellis frowned at him. "Give us the information, and we'll join the hunt."

"But first," Sam cleared his throat, "please go shower. Blood all over you isn't going to help you convince Rose to come with us."

Dreyon slammed the bathroom door in his face.