Every two weeks… Uh yeah... It hasn't been like a month…. Oops?

You probably don't want to hear that I blew you off for mass-watching tv shows.

Please forgive me?

Ingrid seemed to think that the more she said it then the more likely Vlad was to believe it. So far it was just plain annoying and it gave Vlad doubts about the slayer's word and trust. He guessed that was partially what Ingrid was aiming to do.

But it was just so infuriating having her give cryptic warnings and encouraging him to massacre the slayer's guild every time they met which, as they lived in the same school, was pretty frequent.

"They're just going to turn on you in the end." She had called when they passed in corridors.

That's why he was going to school again. He'd had a ridiculous amount of time off with the most stupid absences so he'd probably get a raw deal from the teachers as it was pretty obvious he hadn't really been ill but he needed an excuse to escape his harpy of a sister.

"Vlad!" The sharp tone snapped him straight out of his thoughts and he spun round to face the threat. It was Miss McCauley. His muscles that had been coiled to attack relaxed and he murmured a quiet 'Yes?'

"It's been over a month since you attended school." If he wasn't already a ghostly white he probably would've paled further. He had been too busy and just hadn't felt he wanted to go back to the mundane existence of pretending to be human. He hadn't kept track of the time.

He opened his mouth to give an awful excuse.

"You were not ill Vlad." He bit his own lip in defeat as Miss McCauley's brown eyes bored into his eyes blue ones.

"I'm sorry Miss… I just didn't feel up to it." Before she could say anything else Vlad continued to his English class.

Miss McCauley was worried about a student. Considering she was the head teacher of a high it wasn't that uncommon but she'd been awful worried about him for a while especially after he and his girlfriend had broken up. The student had never really interacted with any of the other pupils, for a while she'd even wondered if he was bullied but no, it seemed he apparently preferred being alone. He'd spent the two years he'd attended Garside Grange totally isolated until Erin.

Erin had been so sweet and kind, the two students had ended up being in a very sweet, very strong relationship for several months until… Well she wasn't quite sure what happened. Erin left and Vlad retreated from school even further, a whole month without school.

She was seriously worried about Vlad and that was why she was heading straight to the Count's quarters to discuss Vlad and how she could help him.

Swiftly she headed down the dark corridor noting the very patchy work at the repair of the roof; perhaps she could also mention that to Mr Count when she spoke to him. Conveniently Mr Count found her before she had to look at any more of Renfield's terrible handy work in repairing the roof.

"Ah, dear Miss McCauley, how can I help you?" Vlad's father seemed to be in a fantastic mood, she wondered if his package that he'd be rejoicing about recently had arrived.

"It's about Vlad." The delighted smile vanished.

Vlad shifted uncomfortably as he felt the sensation of being watched. He did his best to ignore his screaming instincts to find out what was watching him.

It took five minutes of staring at the graffiti on the table until Vlad gave in and looked round. Becky. He gritted his teeth. He wasn't actually sure what her intentions were but she probably hadn't recovered from the beating her pride took at his and Erin's hands.

Their eyes met briefly and she gave him a dazzling smile until the steely coldness of his eyes dowsed her happy curiosity. Her brown eyes moved elsewhere and Vlad turned back to the front where the teacher was handing out their task.

Death – Write a piece with this as the theme, it can be a narrative, poem or any kind of creative writing.

Vlad thought about how death had treated him.

Not good.

"I still don't see how Vlad could possibly be worrying you!" Mr Count seemed to be painfully unaware of the potential psychological effects that the isolation and loneliness could be having on Vlad – he also didn't seem to care very much about Vlad's absence from school either.

"Vlad hasn't been to school for a month and he hasn't interacted with anyone for a month." She was all too aware of the walls Vlad seemed to be building around himself.

"He's had me, his father; who else could he possibly need? "

"He needs positive communication with others of his age." She said firmly wondering how a parent could be so clueless of their child's misery – she was very sure that Vlad's current state was nothing short of despair and she so wanted this to change. She'd seen Ingrid come back from a dark place and now she wanted Vlad out of that same ditch. Gloom seemed to be genetic in this family.

Mr Count opened his mouth to say something, probably something fantastically oblivious and rather insulting so she talked first. "And… I would also like Vlad to have a therapy session." She crossed her arms. "Adele is a very well-established child therapist who's helped numerous youths Vlad's age and she is willing to come immediately as a personal favour to me."

"Vladimir does not need help." It was obvious the thought of his son needing help offended him as Mr Count answered with a huff. "Vladimir is perfectly fine, I assure you."

"Why don't we ask Vlad?"

Vlad hadn't moved for fifteen minutes. With no need to keep blood circulating or breathe he'd simply not moved, too busy thinking. Oh bats. Was he becoming one of those brooding vampires who spent all their time thinking about how much they detested their existence? Probably already too late considering the hatred he held for himself.

He was pretty sure it was Becky who he could feel staring at him – she probably realised he hadn't moved for quite some time – and if the teacher had looked up from his book at all he'd probably be staring at Vlad too.

They had around half an hour left until the assessment was over and Vlad still hadn't written a single word on his paper and he didn't intend to. He just couldn't. He couldn't fall back in with the uneducated world of oblivious humans. Now more than ever he found the urge to chomp on a breather so hard to supress. They didn't know or understand and it grated on him like crazy.

He felt superior to them, humans. He hadn't ever wanted to feel the arrogance that he was feeling over the humans but it was true. He could hear thirty thumping heartbeats in the room and over a hundred down the corridor. He could smell the garlic and cheese being used in the home economics rooms in the next hall along. He could see a bird nesting within the thick branches of the willow in the grounds. He was better than them in every physical way possible. It made him feel far too dangerous to be near them.

It also made him feel hungry, and worryingly smug. He sighed showing the most evidence of life he had during the lesson. Feeling a little less broody and a little more amenable Vlad wrote one word on the page.

Half an hour later the teacher didn't seem to appreciate his contribution to the task. "You may have had a lot of time off school Vlad but that is no excuse." The teacher's voice was firm and restrained. It reminded Vlad of Bertrand; the vampire tutor was always so stoic and doing everything to hide the fact that he might have weaknesses.

Vlad hadn't really understood that until he really entered the big bad world. Not until Ingrid had proved that any emotion less than vindictive indifference could be used against you in the harshest way possible.

A small very angry cough alerted him to the fact he hadn't shown any signs of hearing the teacher, or any signs of actually being alive. He blinked and gave the teacher a mumbled apology. That apparently wasn't good enough and the teacher opened his mouth – probably to give a stern reprimand- but was beaten to the draw.

"Mr Martin," Miss McCauley was stood in the doorway, shadowed by his father, with a concerned expression. "Could I take Vlad off your hands now?"

The teacher responded with a gruff scowl. "Please do."

As the head teacher escorted Vlad away slipping a comforting hand round his shoulder David Martin plucked the student's assessment off the desk.

It said 'cold'.

Vlad sat next to his father looking extremely uncomfortable – apparently it was genetic since Mr Count's face held the same expression.

"I think you should speak to a councillor Vlad." The student in question gave her an uncharacteristically vicious scowl.

"I do not need to see a councillor." He responded sharply. Miss McCauley returned his glare.

"Don't you? Because it seems to me you've barely spoken to anyone positively since Erin departed the school." The temperature of the room seemed to drop twenty degrees at the mention of the ex-student and Vlad's expression was positively thunderous. "I understand that whatever happened between the pair of you is private but your wellbeing matters to me Vlad," Her expression turned slightly pleading as she continued. "And I must insist you have one session at least with a councillor to work through any issues."

"I do not need to see a councillor." Vlad said again firmly.

"You don't need to or you don't want to?"

"I don't need to see a councillor."