Flying above the little town where he used to call home gave Vlad a peculiar sensation. At first it was wonderful, the wind under his wings, soaring high above any breathers. On the other hand, it would have made his younger self disgusted. In his thirteen year old mind, nothing could be more unnatural than shapeshifting into a bat, and enjoying it. Vlad felt guilty. He was enjoying what he thought he would have hated, but past was past.
He and his sister landed in a nearby alleyway, close enough to the school but not too close. They were there early, which was intended. Vlad had packed a few bottles of blood- Well he thought he did, but he hadn't. He'd forgotten the danm bag at home! "Oh bats." He muttered, which caused Ingrid to turn around to say "bat brain!" just quiet enough so her brother wouldn't hear her. Now the night would get ten times tougher to get through. Just the thought of the hall full of fully grown breathers, blood pumping through their veins, practically begging them to rip it's owners throats out, made their mouths water. Trying not to think about their old classmates as food, Vlad distracted himself hiding their capes because he had, again, forgotten the bag they were supposed to be hidden in. Nothing exactly screamed 'im a vampire' than wearing the stereotypical black vampire capes. The fact that he and his sister were a few shades paler than they had been when they attended school, and both their hair was now black didn't exactly help.
Remembering the food problem, Vlad looked over his shoulder at his also worried sister. Not because she was scared to bite a breather for blood. No, Ingrid would do that without any command. She was nervous regarding if anyone recognised her as the murderer from all those years ago when she was sixteen. Vlad guessd this and mentioned the handy trick of hypnosis to his sister, which was now a lot calmer than she had been. Now, all they had to do was find a 'disposable' breather that no one would notice if they disappeared. They eventually found themselves a rough looking man that looked quite close to death anyway. He must've been an alcoholic because both Dracula siblings could smell the drink off him. It still didn't help make Vlad feel better. He'd done such a thing multiple times after his 18th, regrettably, so it wasn't completely new to him. He felt incredibly guilty even looking at the man that had been walking across the street a meer five minutes ago. They took turns drinking from their victim, that Ingrid had originally bitten until he was drained dry.
They were careful not to get a drop of blood on them selves whilst disposing of the body. If they turned up, covered in blood, it wouldn't exactly look normal, would it? They both realised that a small drop of blood that had made it's way down Vlad's neck. It had stained his shirt, but was lucky tucked beneath his collar. It just meant Vlad had to be a little careful for the next few hours. Relieved, both of them flitted off to the car park of their old school, to actually attend this thing.
The Branaghs had finally arrived, after a scenic route to McDonald's. Robin nor Chloe got anything, but Paul and Ian were scoffing big macs down like dogs. All of a sudden, Ian turned round to Robin and said "Do you reckon Ingrid'll be here tonight?" with a mouth full of half-eaten burger. Rather repulsed by the contents of Ian's mouth, Robin just shrugged as an answer. Ian then turned around to Chloe and started teasing her. The hypnosis Vlad had put in place on their minds had caused the twins to believe Chloe had a massive crush on Vlad. However, the hypnosis didn't have the same affect on Chloe, which still believed Vlad, her and Robin were just good friends. Even after Chloe brought up the twins practically stalking Ingrid, he kept going on, and on, and on about it, to the point where Chloe's eyes seemed to practically turn red, although they didn't obviously. Stuff like that only happened in vampire films.
The twins had finally stopped eating so everyone in the car could actually get into the school for the reunion. Robin was the last of them to get out of the car. He'd clearly stated that they should go in later, to get a low profile, but the twins wanted to be centre of attention, so they were early. They walked in and were greeted by their old head mistress, Miss. Harker. She shook hands with all of them, but when it came to Chloe, she was asking question after question about Oxford, how things were going, and what she wanted to do when she left. The brothers watched in amusement. Chloe seemed to be uncomfortable, but was enjoying the attention for her success. Her teacher was now asking for copies of her acceptance letter, so she could frame it and place it on the wall outside her office. Essentially because she wanted to make the school look better. The place had really gone down hill.
Paul and Ian were by now in a mood for a drink but their mother had told them to stick together. Honestly, they were all legally adults, although some didn't act that way. Eventually Paul had reached the point of picking Chloe up, and carrying her to the hall. "Thanks for that!" she said, although it was rather sarcastic tone. The twins went on to grab two large pints from the makeshift bar the school had set up. Chloe went off to find her old school friends. Robin was now alone. Again.
Vlad and Ingrid walked up to the entrance. By now the car park was littered with breathers, smoking, gossiping and meeting old friends. However, the majority of them had now stopped what they were doing. They seemed to lack the ability of not blatantly staring at someone. By lacking, it was probably closer to completely missing that ability. Both of the Dracula siblings exchanged looks, mixed between amusement and discomfort. They kept heading towards the door, heads down, trying not to make eye contact with anybody.
Upon entering the reception area of the school, they were again greeted by a lot of stares. At this point, Vlad and Ingrid were anxious. What if they knew who they are, what they are. This thought disappeared when Miss Harker approached them with clearly mixed emotions. She seemed happy and welcoming, but clearly disliked Ingrid and didn't try to hide it. She then proceeded to try making conversation with the clearly disinterested siblings. "Vladimir and Ingrid Count! I haven't seen you in years. How's everything, is your father doing well?" She asked. They had to fight the giggles that were pushing their way through their sealed lips. They knew their father always had a way with the female, and one or two male teachers of the school, which always made them both cringe. "Umm.. Yeah, Dad's doing alright." said Vlad trying to end this conversation as quickly as possible. He could hear Ingrid sniggering at something behind him, just loud enough so only he could hear. "Im glad to hear it. So where did you go then? You disappeared as quick as you arrived here." Proceeded Miss. Harker, clearly trying to keep a conversation going. "Dad bought a property he'd had his eye on for a while. Garside Grange Independent Day School, mabey you've heard of it?" explained Vlad. "Oh the school in England that was on the news a few years back, with the dangerous roof? It closed eventually didn't it?"questioned Miss. Harker. "Yeah, that's the one.." answer Vlad awkwardly. He didn't actually know the school was on the news. It probably happened when he was travelling. Miss. Harker had tried to ask something else, but she couldn't because Ingrid had quite literally, dragged Vlad away from her.
Ingrid was still clutching Vlad's arm, and was leading him quite forcefully outside. She then burst out in a fit of laughter, which her brother quickly joined. The fact that Miss. Harker had been so obvious with her questions about their father practically killed them. It was hilarious. Vlad had to try not to let any laughter slip into the conversation, he didn't want his ex-headteacher thinking he was disrespectful. Although the fact that he wouldn't want her to find out that they were vampires, made the whole disrespectful thing quite small in comparison. Ingrid had been laughing at the whole 'my old teacher thinks my dad's attractive thing' but was also laughing at the fact that barely none of the breathers recognised Vlad and some not even Ingrid. 'They must've joined after we left' Ingrid thought to herself. She knew that she'd changed a little, and Vlad quite a lot, but not that much. What Vlad was wearing wasn't helping anyone recognise him either, she'd clearly expressed this to Vlad back in Garside. Ingrid told her brother this, and made him laugh even more. When they'd finally stopped laughing, they headed back inside, this time avoiding everyone.
They got to the hall's door, but there was a horrendously long queue to get in. They waited in line for a little while before Ingrid remembered what their father told them the last time they were here 'Draculas don't queue.' Ingrid proceeded to grab her little brother by the wrist, and once again dragged him, this time to the front of the queue. They got their hands stamped, just like any other school party. They walked towards the large blue doors, receiving multiple dirty looks. They had passed through these doors many a time before, years ago. It felt strange looking at them again. They then realised, this was it. They'd see all the breathers they went to school with again, and in Ingrid's case, some that she'd ruined the lives of. Getting over the initial hesitation, Vlad opened the door.
This chapter came out longer than I anticipated to be honest, but what can I say.
I'm also gonna through it in here now, forgive me for any spelling mistakes I might have missed. My first language isn't English so I'm not as good at writing. I can speak it fluently, just not used to writing in it.
Hope you'll RR ~ Minty
