Chapter Eight
The door had barely closed behind Rean and Elliot before Evander started up with his urgent conversation.
"Instructor, are you sure my parents are alright? The Provincial Army burned the ranch down and tried to blame me for it. I got the impression they didn't know where my parents where, since they were planning on interrogating me about it, but if you found them…"
"They were in the hidden bunker under your house," explained Sara, "completely fine. Your father was scared by the fire, but your mother got him into the bunker safely. I'm afraid it's not all good news though, they've got_"
"My sister, I know. I overheard them talking about it while I was locked up. I've already got a plan in motion to track her down. Shouldn't take more than a couple of hours." Sara paused and glared at him in mild annoyance.
"You're so competent it's frankly annoying. I don't know why I ran all the way over here if you already know everything."
"Sorry," Evander shrugged apologetically, "I swear I don't do it deliberately, things just happen to me."
"Like all the information you need just suddenly landing in your lap? If only the Bracer Guild had half your luck, all investigations would be a cakewalk. Well I'm assuming your plan involves the 'oh so lovely' Captain Claire, I know," she said, holding a hand up, "you can't talk about it. So let me do the talking. Both your miraculous escape from prison and your plan to locate your sister are the work of the Intelligence Division who you managed to contact from prison using that communication device I totally know nothing about." Now it was Evander's turn to glare at her.
"You know," he said, copying her earlier statement, "you're so competent it's frankly annoying."
"Oh please," said Sara, "did you think those spooks could plant a spy in my class without me being a hundred percent aware that's what they were up to?"
"If that were true…" said Evander, skirting around his promise not to discuss things about his deal with the Intelligence Division, "why would you allow that hypothetical situation to continue?"
"Oh, I don't see a problem in letting them have their fun. Class Seven has nothing to hide. Besides, what are they going to do? Order you to assassinate me or something? I'd like to see you try."
"I'd think…" Evander was struggling to get around his oath, "if there were such an agent, they'd have never agreed to do any harm willingly. And if the issue were forced, they would find some way around it."
"I know," said Sara, smiling at him benevolently, "and that's why I'm prepared to let it stand. But enough dancing around the issue. I want you to rejoin the rest of Group A and continue with your field study. When you get the location from your source, tell me, and I'll rendezvous with your parents and join the rescue with them. I don't want you anywhere near the action."
"No way! You can't ask that! It's my sister I have to_"
"You have to support the rest of your group," said Sara firmly, "who have already been incredibly put out by these circumstances. Your sister will be in good hands, but there is more going on here than just her abduction. I'm relying on you of Group A to complete this field study to the best of your ability. That means working as a team to assess the whole situation and resolve everything in a way you find satisfying. Sometimes the most readily apparent threat isn't the only one, or even the most pressing. Your hometown needs you Evander."
"The other part of the scheme," said Evander, "you expect us to deal with that? Why? What's the purpose of all this?"
"Expect you to deal with it? Not at all. If you all wanted to, you could complete your assignments and just head back to Trista without lifting a finger to help Celdic. But would you be happy with that? Would Rean? Would Laura? I think I know you all better than that."
"Don't you get tired of being right all the time?" demanded Evander, groaning. "Okay. I'll stick with the others. But please, get my sister back safely."
"Of course. I'll do everything in my power. But I wish you hadn't involved 'you know who,' I'm afraid once your family gets tangled with them, they'll never get loose."
"I know, but I was desperate."
"The desperate often make the best targets for their sort," said Sara grimly, "but there's nothing to be done about it right now. Focus on the mission and don't give up hope. We'll get through this."
"I hope so. But if we could just have five minutes were there wasn't some sort of chaos going on it'd be nice," said Evander, "I really don't need the aggravation right now."
"Instructor!" Rean burst through the door again, this time with Alisa and Laura in tow along with Elliot, "there's some sort of fracas going on at the market!"
"What did I just say!" complained Evander.
"Excuse me?" said Rean, "I just said there seems to be some sort of brawl going on in the Grand Market. Thought you might want to know."
"So?" said Sara, "I'm a little bit busy right now. But you can take Evander and go and investigate if that floats your boat."
"Busy?" asked Elliot.
"Yeah, really important business."
"Your drink is ready!" called the waitress, waving Sara over to the bar.
"Uhuh," said Alisa, glaring at her, "really important business?"
"That was just bad timing," said Evander, "she really does have_"
"And your meal won't be long either," continued the waitress.
"Okay! I'm having lunch!" said Sara, "what can I say, a girl's gotta eat right?"
"A girl?" said Alisa, "yes. An old hag? No."
"An old hag!? I'll have you know you that I'm only_"
"Leave it," said Rean, "or we'll never hear the end of it, you coming Evander?"
"Wouldn't miss it," said Evander, hopping off his bar stool after polishing off the last of his apple juice. "I might know some of the people involved, not that it'll help much. My name is mud around here." He started towards the door before quickly turning back to glance at Sara. "You'll be here when I need to pass that info on, right?"
"Sure, unless they run out of beer," joked Sara, winking. "Now scram kids, go out there and be heroes. I'm too exhausted after all that running around to deal with this right now."
Scene Break Here
When Group A arrived at the market, they found two merchants trying their best to kill each other right in front of a group of horrified onlookers. From what little they could glean from the pair's incoherent shouts of rage between attempts to throttle each other, the dispute was in relation to a prime market stall spot.
"I don't get it," muttered Evander, "the Duke is supposed to handle permits, I've never heard of a double booking before. This is ridiculous."
"How do we want to handle this?" asked Rean, "Evander, do you know either of these men?"
"Sure, I think I recognize the younger man. Marco, I think, he's a local. The other man I've got no idea. But I'll try and defuse this."
"Um," started Elliot, but it was too late, Evander was already interposing himself between the two fighting men.
"Did we seriously just hear a plan that involved Evander defusing something?" asked Alisa incredulously.
"It could work…" said Rean, trying to be supportive. He needn't have bothered though, because the moment Marco the merchant caught sight of Evander, he flipped out even worse.
"Stay out of this, vampire!" he yelled. "We don't need you or the rest of your freakshow of a family to finish this!"
"A vampire!?" scoffed the older merchant, "typical country bumpkin nonsense! There's no such thing as vampires. Besides, he's walking around in broad daylight."
"Who are you calling a country bumpkin!? You pompous ass!" raged Marco.
"Back off you hayseed yokel! I'm from Heimdallr! I don't need to put up with this!"
"I don't care if you're from the moon," interrupted Evander, "calm down right now!"
"Excuse me!? Who are you!?"
"I'm the rock steady crew!" said Evander, descending into nonsense in record time, "who are you!?"
"Merchant Heinz of Heimdallr and this is my market stall!"
"I don't see your name on it," said Evander, rolling his eyes.
"You, smart aleck you! I have a permit!" he thrust a paper slip in Evander's face triumphantly, unaware the boy could barely read. Evander squinted at the permit, tongue poking out as he tried to read the words.
"I'm sorry, but this is all Ancient Zemurian to me. Total gibberish."
"Ha!" said Marco, "I told you! Your permit is as phony as you are! I have the real one!" He then proceeded to show Evander his permit next, blissfully unaware that the boy was borderline illiterate and had been saying the permit was gibberish because he couldn't understand it, not because it was fake.
"This one is just as bad," said Evander after another unsuccessful reading attempt. "Sorry, both of those mean nothing to me."
"Huh? Neither of them has a permit?" asked a third merchant. "Then who owns the spot?"
"I do!" slurred a drunk man in a dirty park rangers uniform, staggering into the market, "I deserve it! I've lost everything else!"
"What are you selling?" asked Evander, apparently unaware that the man wasn't the least bit serious. "From the smell of your breath, I'd say booze."
"You!" he said, pointing at Evander and seeming to sober slightly, "blood sucker! I saw your sister! She thought I was passed out, but I saw her! She's a vampire!"
"Slow down, you're drunk!" said Evander hastily, "two sips and you're about to trip! You're not a drinker, I can see it in your leg. You're wobbling."
"Shut up leech!" roared the drunk former park ranger, and then threw his empty liquor bottle right at Evander's head. Evander snatched it out of the air without even flinching, startling the crowd. "See! A fiend walks among us!"
"Did someone mention my mother-in-law?" joked a man at the back of the crowd, trying to defuse things. "Listen," he continued after a smattering of laughter, "the inspector already said both these men are fakes so_"
"Inspector? That's not the uniform of any agency I recognize!" protested Heinz. "Where are you from, boy?"
"Thors Military Academy but_"
"A high schooler! You have no authority! Just like a bunch of country idiots to come up with a plan so idiotic!"
"I didn't send him!" yelled Marco, "I barely know the guy! He lives outside of town with a bunch of weirdoes! If anyone hired him, it's you!"
"Excuse me," market manager Otto pushed his way through the throng and addressed the two men. "What appears to be the problem here? Is there some way I can assist?"
"He's trying to steal my stall location!" yelled Marco and Heinz simultaneously, each one pointing at the other. And then, pointing at Evander, "he said my permit was fake!"
"But," Otto took a closer look at Evander to make sure it was really him, "how would Evander know? The poor boy can't even read." There was a stunned silence as everyone tried to process just how ridiculous this all was, that was only broken when the drunken man started laughing hysterically.
"Shut it!" said Evander, looking terribly embarrassed, "I can read! A little anyway! At least I'm not a worthless drunk!"
"A worthless drunk!? I'll kill you college scum!" The drunk lunged at Evander, and the two fighting merchants took advantage of the opening to go back to knocking the stuffing out of each other.
"Oh well, he tried," said Rean, "Let's break this up!" He raced over to the brawl and pulled Heinz off Marco while Laura was swiftly behind him to restrain Marco as well. Elliot and Alisa teamed up to drag the drunken man off Evander, who probably would have been able to defend himself if the man hadn't seized a string of garlic and tried to strangle him with it. Evander was staggering around, his allergies flaring up and making his eyes water and his skin go blotchy.
"Unhand me you ghouls!" roared Merchant Heinz, "who are you thugs supposed to be!?"
"Thugs? I beg your pardon, sir," said Laura icily, "but we are official students of a registered military academy. I believe that gives us more than enough authority to make a citizen's arrest."
"More high schoolers!" scoffed Marco, struggling to get free, "I want to see someone in charge! Now!"
"I'm the market manager," said Otto, "and I have the authority to mediate this dispute. If the two of you would just calm down for a moment, I'd be happy to sort this out. And for now, I'll have you know that the students of Class Seven act fully with my authority while they are present on their field study."
"Even him!?" demanded Marco, pointing at Evander. 'He's a mad vampire!"
"He's a young man with an illness. Nothing more, nothing less," said Otto firmly, "and yes, even Evander. He is a member of Class Seven like the others. And a fine student I'm sure."
"I wouldn't go that far," said Alisa.
"Hey!" complained Evander, rubbing his eyes furiously as he tried to aim a glare at her, "what have I ever done to you!?"
"You said my hair was dyed you little_"
"How did you know about Class Seven?" interrupted Elliot abruptly, trying to stop another incident, "is everyone in Celdic telepathic or something?"
"I believe the word you're looking for is telepathetic," Evander 'corrected' him. "And no. That's just my family."
"Oh, I'm sorry for the confusion," said Otto, "but I'm responsible for assigning your tasks for this field study so I know all about your special class. I would have met you in person this morning but I've been away on business. If you wouldn't mind waiting for me to sort this out, I'd be glad to have you over to my house for a cup tea to formally welcome you."
"We accept," said Rean, thinking this might be a good way to find out more about just what was going on around here. "Thank you for the gracious offer."
Scene Break Here
It didn't take long for Otto to lay out the situation here in Celdic, after getting up to speed himself of course. While he'd been gone petitioning the duke, all these vampire attacks had been going on, a fact he'd been unaware of having not seen the latest issue of the Imperial Chronicle. He explained to Group A that he suspected that this was all a ploy to drive through the massive tax hike without opposition and that the double booking was a deliberate act designed to spread discord. He'd come to a temporary solution for now, but he feared worse was to come. Despite this, he wanted Class Seven to continue as usual, and not get themselves dragged into a feud with the Provincial Army on behalf on Celdic. That was all pretty standard, things only got weird for Rean, Elliot, Alisa and Laura when Otto turned to Evander and asked him with a perfectly straight face if his family had anything to do with these vampire attacks. They'd been sure all this vampire stuff was nonsense, and didn't expect a serious man like Otto to pay any heed to it. Evander's reaction only made things even more confusing for them, when he all but admitted his sister was in fact behind it.
"I'm so sorry Otto," said Evander, "but the story is true. My sister is attacking people around town. Just her though, not my parents, they're victims as much as anyone else of this scheme. But the army has captured her and is forcing her to hurt people as part of this conspiracy you were talking about. I'm trying to fix it but_"
"That's alright Evander," said Otto, holding up a hand to stop him, "I appreciate your honesty. Normally I wouldn't have paid any heed to such stories, but our former park ranger swore blind he'd actually witnessed an attack and I owe it to his years of service to at least hear him out. I know no one in your family would do this willingly, or else I'd have never agreed to let you stay so close to town when Sara informed me of your natures."
"Wait, what's going on here?" demanded Alisa, "what are you two talking about?"
"Oh. You haven't told them, Evander?" asked Otto, "I'm so sorry. I should have spoken to you in private. I just figured anyone living so close to you would have been told."
"Told what?" asked Elliot, "what's going on?"
"Is this about your addiction, Evander?" asked Rean, "and the way monsters behave around you?"
"I suppose now is as a good as time as any," said Evander, sighing, "I'll understand if you want me out of Class Seven after you hear this, but I should have told you on day one. But Sara said things would be tense enough with the experiment class that revealing what I am right up front would throw things completely out of whack."
"I'll give you some privacy to discuss this," said Otto, standing up and heading for the stairs. "Please, call if you need anything."
"What you are?" asked Laura once Otto had left the room, "what's that supposed to mean? You are strange to be sure, but you appear as human as anyone else. Are you going to try to tell us you're some sort of a monster? A flying feline? A giant beetle? A ball of slime? You're human Evander, I laugh in the face of anyone who thinks you monstrous because of a skin condition and a few personality quirks."
"Thank you, that means a lot. I wish I didn't have to disappoint you, but you're wrong. I'm not human. Not entirely anyway. There are a few different names for what I am, here in the west I suppose you'd be familiar with ones like dhampir or half-vampire. We call ourselves Children of the Half Moon, but that name probably doesn't come up much. My sword master says there are similar creatures out east called Jiangshi. It doesn't matter really, it just means we share blood with the king of fiends. That's why monsters call me 'brother' or run at the sight of me." There was a moment of shocked silence after his confession and then Rean spoke up, eying Evander contemplatively.
"You know, when I put the pieces together, I thought it might be something like this. Master Ka Fai told me about the Jiangshi a few times, particularly a story about how you could repel them by making them count grains of rice. The day I met you, you were counting cobblestones. Machias said you were skilled at mathematics, and Fie mentioned something about you counting caltrops during our orienteering exercise. Then there's your problems with garlic, water and sunshine, all common weaknesses of vampires. You have a professional athlete's strength and speed without spending so much as a minute training and your senses are sharper than a bloodhound's. Not to mention those weird psychic abilities of yours. It all adds up."
"I figured you were close to catching on. Jusis and Gaius already have. So has Emma. I guess know that you all know, there aren't many of our classmates left to tell. Assuming I'm still even one of you after deceiving you like this. I suppose all of you have questions?"
"The addiction you spoke to me about," said Rean, "the food or drink or whatever you said was bad for you when I asked you were you were distracted and disruptive in class. It's blood, isn't it? That's what you're addicted to."
"Yes," Evander nodded, "I wish I could say otherwise, but I have inherited the weakness that full vampires have. A thirst for blood. But please, hear me out before you panic. Full vampires fall into torpor without blood. It's painful for me to go without it, but as a dhampir I don't need it to stay conscious. And I swore to Sara I'd never consume another drop again as part of the deal that led to me attending Thors. If you've learnt anything about me this past month, it's that I keep my word."
"This is all crazy," said Elliot, "but what's even crazier is that I believe it. Like Rean said, when you add it all up, it makes sense. Especially after what we saw at the practical exam. But I guess the first question I have relates back to when we first met and I thought you had rabies. I know it's not rabies now but… can you infect people?"
"No," Evander assured him emphatically, "the curse in us is too weak to pass on through a bite or any type of wound. In the worst case, you'd get sick with flu like symptoms, but then your body would repel the weak curse like any other infection. We can't make others like this, but there's enough human in us to have children the normal way. They come out as Children of the Crescent Moon, and they don't have the thirst or any of our physical abilities. I'm learning they have far greater psychic abilities though, because they aren't distracted by the thirst."
"These psychic abilities…" Alisa trailed off, as though she couldn't quite believe she was indulging this story. "We've seen those. But what other things can you do?"
"I can't turn into a bat or anything like that," said Evander. "But I have an enhanced healing factor allowing me to recover from most injuries in a matter of seconds. And though it makes me terribly thirsty to do it, I have a few other gifts. I can sharpen my senses even further just by concentrating and sometimes if I stay really still, I can make it nearly impossible to see me. A kind of invisibility. I don't think I can compel people to do things through words alone, but some people are scared that I can," he added, remembering the RMP soldiers who'd arrested him for the racetrack incident. "People say my voice is strange, but that's it."
"Like you're singing, or reciting poetry," said Alisa, "even when you're saying the most mundane things. Your voice has a musical quality. But it doesn't make me want to do what you say, so I think you're right that you don't have that power."
"I have a question," said Laura, speaking up for the first time in a while. Her face looked quite strained as she looked at him, like she was struggling to hold her temper. "Have you ever earned anything in your life?"
"Excuse me?"
"Your speed. Your strength. Your resilience. All of it comes from a curse you were born with. Not from hard work or learned skill. Is there anything in your life you've actually fought for? Worked at?"
"I trained with my swords_" Evander started to protest but Laura cut him off.
"Yes, in a style you could only gain proficiency in through the gifts you were born with. Nine out of ten people could never even attempt to practice such a school of swordsmanship and those that could, would not have advanced so rapidly without your powers."
"I understand," said Evander, "I completely understand that you must think me a fraud sullying the way of the sword. But please, remember. I didn't ask for any of this," he added, unknowingly echoing Beryl's earlier words to her.
"I know," said Laura, her features softening slightly, "but still, I struggle to accept it. I don't think I can respect a skill that one has not worked for."
"And therefore, you can't respect me?" surmised Evander.
"I didn't say that. I'm sure you have many admirable qualities. But the ones I admire most in a person, in you were not earned."
"What can I do to change your opinion of me?" asked Evander, looking pained.
"I don't know. But maybe I'd respect you more if you could prove to me that you'd worked for something. Just one skill or ability you had to put effort into learning."
"I'll try," said Evander, "if it means we can be friends again, I'll try. Now, are there any other questions or should we move on to trying to figure things out here?"
"Are there many more of you out there?" asked Elliot, "I get the feeling if there were huge numbers of dhampirs or vampires running around we'd have heard more about it. The stories wouldn't have sounded so silly."
"Dhampirs? Well as far as I know, my family are the only four in all of Erebonia. There might be others we don't know about, and more in other nations, but I just know of the four of us. And in a country with a population numbering in millions, I suppose that makes us pretty rare. True vampires though? I wouldn't have a clue. I've never met one."
"Excuse me, what do you mean you've never met one?" asked Alisa, "how were you cursed then?"
"My adoptive parents don't talk much about my birth parents," admitted Evander, "they've always said they'll tell me when the time is right. All I know is that both of them are dead, and I mean dead dead, not undead and still running around, and that I ended up this way because my mother was infected shortly before giving birth to me. I'm told that's the usual way this works. The other way is when the curse is too weak to fully infect someone into a vampire and leaves them as a dhampir instead. Something about different types of vampires with different strengths, I don't know too much about that."
"And Sara knew about all this when she invited you to the academy?" said Rean.
"Yes, she was assisting some Septian vampire hunters when she found our home at Half-Moon Ranch. She observed us for days and when she realized we weren't ravening mindless beasts she tried talking to us rather than attacking. I guess we convinced her there was enough human in us to save, because she agreed to help us fake our destruction in exchange for a few concessions. I was to swear off drinking blood and promise to attend Thors Military Academy when the time came, among other things."
"Banning you from blood, I get," said Alisa, "but why demand you attend the academy?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Evander shrugged, "probably something to do with why we've mixed nobles and commoners and exchange students into this class."
"Why you specifically? I get that your parents are too old but why not your sister? Or both of you?" asked Elliot.
"My sister is the other type of dhampir I mentioned earlier, she wasn't born this way, but turned into it against her will. So, she has a much harder time with this life than I do, and her hunger is far worse."
"Elliot brings up an interesting point with age," said Rean, "but aren't vampires supposed to be immortal? Where does that leave you?"
"I couldn't tell you for certain. We're either immortal or age incredibly slowly. My parents look like they're in their early twenties and say they appeared to stop aging around that time. So, I guess once I get to adulthood, I won't get any older either. Whether that'll be permanent or not, I don't know. Look, I know you weren't too thrilled about the sleeping arrangements even before this, I'll understand if you want me stay far away. I swore not to drink blood, but that probably doesn't mean a lot to you."
"Let's not rush into any decisions," said Rean, "this is big news. Why don't we all go and speak to Sara first? She what she has to say about all of this?"
"I agree," said Laura, "this appears to be yet another secret our instructor has to answer for." So the students made sure to thank Otto for his hospitality and then headed off for the inn to speak to Sara.
Scene Break Here
Sara must have been drinking the whole time they'd been gone, but it would be a mistake to think the alcohol had made her any less sharp than usual. When Group A came in through the door, she took one look at their faces and knew what was up. She looked forlornly at her half full mug of beer and then pushed it away with a sigh before spinning around on her stool to face her students properly.
"You told them didn't you Evander?" it came out like a question, but it was more a statement. Evander nodded mutely all the same. "I suppose it couldn't really be avoided, and I guess sooner was better than later with all this happening right now in Celdic. Before you even ask, yes, it's all true. Not a prank or one of Evander's delusions. He really is a dhampir I was supposed to destroy as part of a joint taskforce with the Septian Church. Obviously, I decided otherwise. Evander is no threat to you, or anyone else for that matter and while I don't want to be so crass as to come right and say respect my decision or else. You have to respect my decision or else."
"Classy as always, instructor," drawled Alisa, "classy as always. And I suppose that whole thing about forcing Evander to compete in the practical exam alone was your last little test to see if he could handle his hunger before you sent him out with us?"
"Bingo! Give the lady a prize! Aren't you a sharp one? All of you are rather sharp, I should start calling you my little box of knives. But yes, even after regenerating from a broken rib, I was still able to bring him back to his senses fairly quickly. Besides, Evander always keeps his word, isn't that right?"
"Yes, no matter how annoying I might find it," grumbled Evander, "you're enjoying this, aren't you? First you tell me to keep a low profile and now you don't even care that I flat out told them?"
"Evander you silly boy, all I meant was that you shouldn't walk up and introduce yourself as a fiend-blooded half-vampire on day one. I wanted everyone to get comfortable with you first, and for you to get comfortable with them. Coincidentally, why did you pick now of all times to tell them? Did you figure that hiding your nature was too stressful while your sister is missing?"
"No actually, Otto just kind blurted out some vampire stuff, figuring they already knew."
"Oh. Yeah, I can't blame him for thinking that. It is the kind of thing you usually tell people pretty early into knowing them," said Sara, smirking.
"Exactly," said Rean, glaring at her, "I don't know who would think sneaking a half-vampire into a school without telling anyone would be a good idea. No offence Evander."
"I didn't sneak him into the school!" protested Sara, "both the principal and vice principal know and approved it. Well, Van Dyck did anyway. The less said about moustache man the better. And if Beatrix is half the medic, I give her credit for, she figured something was up with Evander in her very first lesson with him. Don't think I didn't hear that story about a student with no pulse."
"And you don't think Evander's classmates should have been on the list of people made aware of his condition? It would have saved a lot of suspicion and confusion if you just came out and told us," said Rean.
"What was I supposed to say? Congratulations on joining Class Seven, by the way, Evander's a dhampir. See ya!"
"Maybe not in those words exactly," said Elliot politely, "but a little heads up would have been nice."
"And isn't it a little strange that the market manager of Celdic knew about it before us?" asked Laura, "considering that we actually live and study with Evander?"
"Unavoidable I'm afraid. Informing the local authorities about Evander and his family and getting their permission for them to stay in the area was one of my conditions before I'd agreed to help them avoid the vampire hunters. Since Otto is the closest thing to a leader around here, not affiliated with the church like Father Zirbel is, it had to be him. He's known longer than anyone else around here. And might I say he took it quite well. Certainly, better than you lot, barging in here and interrupting my peaceful afternoon libations."
"Yeah, well what' done is done, I suppose," said Rean, "but what's this about Evander's sister being abducted and forced to hurt people? How can we help?"
"You don't have to do that," said Evander hurriedly, "I'm working on it already, and you don't even know her. I couldn't ask you to put yourself in danger for a perfect stranger."
"Maybe we don't know her," said Rean, "but we do know you. And maybe I'm only speaking for myself, but I see you as part of Class Seven whatever blood is coursing through your veins. It's like Laura said, we've studied and lived together for the past month. We fought together in the old schoolhouse. We've had the same ups and downs over these last few weeks and I never once felt you were dangerous or threatening. And even if I didn't know you, I wouldn't leave anyone to suffer like that if I could help. So if there's anything I can do to help your sister, you just have to ask."
"I don't know how you could even say all that with a straight face," said Alisa, "but I guess corny speeches suit you Rean, because you have a point. Sometimes you annoy the hell out of me Evander, and I don't think I'll ever quite get used to you, but you're one of us, no matter how weird you are. And we have your back."
"Agreed," said Elliot, "I don't know anyone else anyone else who could get arrested twice, make ten million mira on the horses, and annoy every single instructor at Thors all in the space of a month but you did it with ease. You're a weird dude Evander, but a cool dude. Our weird, cool dude."
"Hey! You used my lingo! It's catching on!" enthused Evander. "How about you Laura? Are you really okay with what I am? I don't want to stay in Class Seven unless everyone is entirely comfortable with me."
"Evander, I wouldn't care if you were a full vampire after getting to know you somewhat. In this last month I haven't gotten even a hint of danger from your presence. You've provoked me, to be sure, in your weird and brash style of making friends. But I understand you better now. Was this why you refused to duel me? Because of your hunger?"
"Yes," admitted Evander, "the same reason I wouldn't duel Rean. You're just too good and I'd have to dig too deep to even stand a chance against you. I didn't want to provoke my hunger like that, so I refused to fight you. I'm sorry for the offence I caused."
"You have no need to apologise. I should have looked deeper for the reason behind your refusal, instead of flying into a childish rage. But I would not reject you because of how you were born Evander, it was not your choice, like you said. And if you ever did cross the line, I am confident in my ability to defend both myself and everyone else in Class Seven if the need arises. And if you need my blade to rescue your sister, you have it."
"Aw, how touching!" said Sara, "sadly, none of you, not even Evander, are going to be dealing with this. I'm going to be handling this, as I already explained to Evander some time ago. All I want you to do is continue with your field study and keep your eyes open. Is that clear? Now get those glum looks off your faces. Dinner is on me!"
Scene Break Here
Actually, dinner was on the house, Sara wasn't that generous, the meal was already paid for in advance by the academy as part of their field study deal. They didn't need to know that though. What they did want to know however, was just how Evander's dietary requirements worked exactly. Everyone in Class Seven had been baffled by Evander's diet even before the revelation that he was a dhampir. Knowing just made things even more confusing.
"I remember how we joked around on the first day of school about wondering how Evander could eat like that and still be alive," said Elliot, watching Evander wolfing down dinner. "How little we really knew."
"My eyes are black and red," sang Evander randomly, spraying crumbs everywhere, "I'm a quarter past undead! But seriously, I think I'm technically still alive. Whether I'm healthy or not in the conventional sense, I don't know."
"I thought vampires couldn't eat at all," said Alisa, "that they couldn't sustain themselves on anything but blood."
"True," admitted Evander, "and even for a dhampir, blood is a far better food than the stuff full humans eat. If you'd met my family, you'd see they look much healthier than me, because they still drink blood. I must make do with this, and it barely sustains me at all. So, I have to eat a lot just to maintain baseline health."
"Doesn't it taste like ash though?" asked Laura curiously, "or like something else repulsive?"
"No. Unless it's really strongly flavored, I can't taste food and drink at all."
"Oh, like a miner?" asked Alisa, "all the dust gets into their system and makes it so they can barely taste anything. I've seen miners eat the spiciest foods out there without even flinching."
"That's interesting," said Rean, "were you involved with the mines over in Roer Alisa?" he asked, trying to find out more about the girl who as of yet hadn't deigned to reveal her family name.
"What? No! I just read a lot is all. I don't have anything to do with heavy industry!"
"Alisa, you are so shady it's not even funny," said Evander, "and that's coming from a half-vampire. Were your parents criminals or something?"
"No! Don't pry into my life okay? It's none of your business."
"Sheesh, calm down. Save the drama for your mama."
"Believe me, she wouldn't be interested," she pushed her plate away, leaving the few scraps she couldn't finish, only for Evander to eye them hungrily.
"Whatever, are you going to finish that? Or can I have it?"
"Knock yourself out," said Alisa, "if you're eating, you're not asking obnoxious questions." Evander shrugged and took her plate, scraping its contents onto his own before going back to shoveling food into his mouth.
Sara moseyed over from the bar where she'd gone to personally fetch her next round of drinks because apparently the waitress was too slow. In reality it was just that no one drank quite as fast as Sara.
"Are you kids all still getting along?" she asked, grinning, "I'd make a joke about not feeding the animals," she said, noticing Evander had Alisa's plate, "but I don't think Evander would appreciate it."
"You'd be right," muttered Evander, pointing his fork at her accusatorily, "there's nothing animalistic about me."
"Er, you've got sauce all over your face," pointed out Elliot, causing Evander to glare at him and hastily wipe his face with the back of his hand.
"Point. Proven," said Sara, laughing, "but enough about that. In case you kids aren't keen on the idea of sharing with a blood sucker I've gotten permission for Evander to sleep down here in the common room tonight. Never say I don't do anything for you."
"You didn't have to do that," said Rean, "if Evander swears, he doesn't drink blood anymore we believe him. Besides, we've been in the same dorm for a month and none of us have woken up with bite marks on our necks."
"I don't have to drink from the_" Rean kicked Evander under the table and gave him a look that said 'not helping.' "I mean. Yeah. I don't want to put the innkeeper out. If the others are fine with being upstairs…"
"It's fine. You probably won't sleep anyway," said Sara, "president of Insomniacs Anonymous that you are. Besides, the two us still have some business to sort out after the others have retired for their beauty sleep," she said, looking pointedly at where he was hiding the orbal communicator in his pocket.
"Oh yeah," he supposed to tell her when the Intelligence Division got back to him with a location for his sister. "That's right. Down here it is then. Probably for the best. I get that you are trying to be supportive, but you'll probably sleep better with a locked door between us."
"You said your family still drinks blood, right?" asked Elliot, "so you weren't joking when you said your sister bites?"
"Not in the slightest. But I don't think she'd bite friends of mine. That'd be like stealing food off my plate if you'll pardon the expression."
"I don't think I like the comparison," said Alisa, glaring at him. "We aren't food."
"Uh yeah. I should have worded that better. Think of it like a territory thing. Two vampires don't usually hunt in the same area. You're in my area, and even if I'm not hunting you, it's terribly bad manners to attack people in my orbit."
"That doesn't sound much better," said Alisa, "like we're your subjects or something, under your protection."
"I guess, but I know full well you don't need my protection and I wasn't trying to imply that. I just wanted to reassure you that my sister or my parents wouldn't drink your blood because it would be insulting to me."
"And what about full vampires?" asked Rean, "would they respect that?"
"Like I said, I've never met one to ask. But my gut says no. They probably think that dhampirs are weak jokes and don't respect our domains."
"So Celdic is the domain of the Half-Moon Clan?" asked Elliot.
"Sort of. We have Otto's permission to stay here, and feed in a limited fashion. In exchange for stuff like patrolling for monsters and helping with town functions. But claiming domain over groups of humans is more of a full vampire thing. We don't have any real power over these people's lives."
"I just don't like thinking of true vampires hiding in the shadows, hunting people like animals," said Elliot, shivering at the thought. "Treating people like cattle or slaves."
"I'm pretty sure I'd know if any where around," said Evander, trying to reassure him. "Trista is clean, and if I sense any lurking around, you'll be the first to know."
"You know," said Sara idly, "I've always heard rumors about a vampire hunting in Saint Arkh. Might be worth a look into."
"Can't you do something sane with your spare time?" joked Rean, "you'll never met anyone normal if you go around hunting vampires on your days off."
"Yeah, you should be scouting out the retirement villages," said Alisa, "that's where people your age hang out."
"I'm not old!" protested Sara, "I'm only twenty-five!"
"Wow! Do people actually live that long?" asked Evander, his face a picture of false sincerity and wonderment.
"Ugh! You kids are awful! When I was your age I treated my elders with a little more respect."
"Was this during the War of The Lions?" asked Elliot, the picture of innocence.
"Not you as well! I swear, Fie is corrupting all of you!"
Scene Break Here
Night fell over Celdic and gradually the citizens retired to their beds, including Rean and most of Group A, until only Evander and Sara were still awake in the dead of night. They were camped out in the common room of the Weathercock Inn, awaiting a call from the Intelligence Division. Sara was still drinking, though at a much slower pace as the night wore on, and Evander was pacing around the room like a caged animal. Finally, Sara broke the tense silence by starting a conversation.
"Are you glad you finally told them?" she asked him.
"Kind of?" said Evander, shrugging expressively, "I mean it looked like they took it well, but appearances can be deceiving. And things are going to change, I know that. You can't drop a bombshell like that on people and not have them look at you differently."
"I don't know," said Sara, "if anyone can handle this, it's Class Seven. I think there are more than a few secrets left to be told."
"On the same scale as mine?"
"Maybe. That would be telling. But we're talking about you. Does it feel like a weight off your shoulders?"
"It is a relief. I don't like lying to people, and there was only so long I could avoid talking about this. I'm just not cut out to live among normal people. Eventually they notice I'm not quite right. My appearance, my speech, my behavior. Something tips them off. It's in my blood."
"True, there is the blood of fiends running through your veins. But you focus too much on that, and ignore the fact that humanity lives in you too. Your parents were human, exceptional people and you take after them more than you know."
"Do you know who my birth parents were?" asked Evander, stopping his pacing and staring right at her.
"Oops. Forget about that. Let's just say I have my suspicions. Besides, blood calls to blood. Maybe the universe has been trying to tell you this whole time."
"Yeah, I'm sure twelve-hour history lectures from Instructor Thomas are just chock full of details about my personal life," Evander rolled his eyes. "Save that hocus pocus for people who believe in it."
"Says the dhampir."
"That's a cheap shot and you know it Instructor."
"I'm just saying, a dhampir who doesn't believe in destiny is like a genie who doesn't believe in ghosts."
"Yeah? Well, a musician without his instrument is like a shoemaker without a toilet seat."
"That doesn't make sense."
"Exactly."
"I'm too sober for this conversation," grumbled Sara, swigging the last of her mug and heading behind the bar for a refill when a voice came from Evander's private communicator.
"Starving Leech, do you copy? The information you requested has been confirmed. Are you alone?"
"Bit late for that isn't it?" asked Evander, "if I wasn't alone every man and his dog would have heard that and I'd have a long series of awkward questions to answer."
"Is this the Starving Leech or not?" demanded the man's voice from the other end.
"Yes, who are you supposed to be?"
"I'm Jimmy the Lock! I work the comms!"
"You! Your little stunt with the horses got me into this mess! I'm not talking to you. Put someone on the line with some sense."
"You want to talk to my supervisor?"
"Yes!"
"Please hold." There was an audible click and then his voice resumed. "Talk to this loony, would you? He's driving me crazy!"
"Sorry about that," Captain Claire's voice came through the communicator, "I have no idea who let him work the comms. We were supposed to give three clicks as a signal for you get somewhere private before speaking."
"I know. I remembered. Shame your man didn't."
"Again, I apologize. Are you alone?"
"No I'm with the," he looked over at Sara and struggled to come up with an appropriate codename. A pain strobed through his head, nearly knocking him over as he saw a vision. A dead man from a dead land calling Sara a wounded lioness. "The Wounded Lioness," he blurted out without thinking.
"Who?" asked Captain Claire and at the same time, "what's that supposed to mean!?" from Sara.
"Oh, your instructor?" continued Claire, having either heard her voice or deciphered that rather cryptic nickname.
"How'd you work that out?" demanded Sara. "From wounded lioness? Who are you calling wounded!?"
"It matched up with your file," said Claire, which explained precisely nothing.
"Is her wound alcoholism?" asked Evander innocently.
"Hush you! Let's ditch the cloak and dagger spy stuff for a minute," said Sara, "I know what's going on here and I want in."
"That wasn't part of the original deal," said Claire after a long pause, "We were to find Evander's sister and he was to locate his parents to assist with her extraction."
"Yeah, well now I'm altering the deal. I know where Evander's parents are and I'll bring them to the rendezvous point. And participate in the rescue op. I don't trust your lot as far as I can throw them."
"I'll be there personally to oversee the mission."
"Forgive me if that doesn't reassure me."
"I assure you, I'm extremely competent."
"It's not your competence I doubt, but your moral compass."
"Fine. Your presence was already accounted for in our variables anyway. The RMP squad in charge of this mission will be moving out shortly. Meet us at these coordinates," Claire rattled off the numbers. "Icy Maiden out."
"Icy Maiden out," mimicked Sara, "bet no one gives her crap about her age. I'm leaving. Stay here Evander. I want your word you won't follow me."
"I promise, I won't follow you. I might go out for some fresh air to clear my head, but that's all."
"Good. If everything goes well, your sister will be free and clear by morning. Ciao!"
Scene Break Here
Evander was true to his word; he didn't follow Sara as she bolted off into the night. He did however go outside for some fresh air, which put him in precisely the wrong place at the wrong time. He was wandering around the empty markets, breathing the crisp night air, when a series of hushed voices reached his ears. He quickly faded into the shadows behind one of the stalls and watched the situation unfolding. A gang of hired thugs, still dressed up like the park rangers they were impersonating, skulked into the Grand Market, armed with bats and metal bars. You didn't have to be a genius to work out they were up to something nefarious. What exactly, Evander intended to find out. Either the easy way or the hard way. The easy way involved nothing more than a bit of light eavesdropping. He focused his hearing on the group so he could easily discern their hushed whispers.
"Alright, the orders were to smash up this stall front and center and the one in the back corner. Don't damage any of the goods, we'll be taking everything not nailed down as part of our pay for this op, so any damage is coming out our pockets. Only those two stalls, don't so much as sneeze on anyone else's property. Our employers want to have a clear-cut case of what happened here tonight. Two victims, two perpetrators, all nice and neat."
"It would have been, if I hadn't been here," announced Evander, emerging from the shadows with a superior smirk on his face.
"Who the hell are you!?" demanded the thug leader.
"The rock steady crew!"
"Wait a minute, it's that damn vampire!" hissed one of the thugs, "what do we do chief? We can't fight a freak like that!"
"Listen to your smart friend," said Evander, "I'm good at two things. Drinking blood and kicking ass and I swore off blood."
"Smart huh? Yeah, we do have smart friends," said the thug leader, "Comrade G knows how to deal with a vamp like you," the thug produced a spherical object from his pocket and held it up into the moonlight.
"An avocado!?" said Evander, mistaking what was clearly some sort of grenade for an expensive piece of fruit. "Who is Comrade G? How did he know I'm allergic to avocados? I had one on toast once, spent the whole morning puking afterwards!"
"Very funny," drawled the thug leader, thinking Evander was joking, "you won't be clowning around after this though. Vampires have heightened senses, that's true. What you don't hear so often though is that those senses have a huge drawback. Heightened sensitivity comes with them. When this goes off, the boys are I will barely notice. You, however? You'll be crippled."
"Goes off? That's your plan. You're going to stand there until that avocado goes rotten? Are you guys on drugs or something_" The thug pulled the pin on the grenade and rolled it over to rest at Evander's feet. Moments later a foul-smelling cloud of gas billowed up from it, assaulting Evander's nostrils like a punch to the face. A flash bang would have disabled Evander. So would a sonic grenade. But this, this stink bomb, it was both silent and invisible and utterly disabling to a vampire who could smell week-old blade oil like it was fresh as a daisy. Evander's head practically exploded in a burst of sensory overload. He fell to his hands and knees, clutching his head and rocking back and forth. The thugs all laughed their heads off, like it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen. Evander let out a dull groaning sound in response before desperately trying to crawl away from the smell. He could barely move, his brain was consumed entirely by that disgusting scent, unable to process anything else. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and blacked out, slumping senselessly to the ground.
"That actually worked!" said one of the thugs, sounding amazed, "I can't even smell anything, but he folded up like a house of cards. That was awesome!"
"Yeah, well it's only temporary, so let's hurry up and get the job done," said the leader. "Leave him there, with any luck they'll blame him for this too. Get the sneaky little leech out of the way." With Evander hopelessly disabled the thugs got to work smashing up and looting the stalls. By the time Evander would be in any state to deal with them, they'd be long gone back to their hideaway. The game was well afoot here in Celdic.
Scene Break Here
Evander awoke to a ringing sound. That wasn't unusual so to speak. He often awoke to strange sounds, both real and in his head. What was unusual was waking up lying on the grass looking up at the night sky, with both his nostrils feeling like he'd been inhaling broken glass or something. It took him several stupefied seconds to figure out that that ringing was his Arcus, and even longer for him to remember how to answer the thing.
"Yeah?" he mumbled, "this is Evander, what do you want?"
"Evander!" it was Rean, "where the hell are you? I came down on to the common room to see if you were alright and both you are Sara were gone. Sara's not picking up and I've been calling you for ages."
"Oh. Sorry. I was attacked_ I was attacked!" Evander suddenly recalled just what had happened to him and sprang upright, looking around at the shattered stall around him. "Damnit! They got away!"
"Who got away!? Who attacked you!?"
"I don't know. There were five or six or them. Dressed up in some sort of uniform. Not soldiers, something else. They came here to smash up some stalls. Just two specific ones."
"Let me guess," said Rean, "Marco and Heinz's stalls, right?"
"Damn, you're right! This is going to set off a powder keg when they find out!"
"Don't worry about that for a moment. What about you? Are you alright?"
"I think so. They disabled me with some sort of stink bomb. I just woke up right now. I'm still at the Grand Market."
"Stay right there. I'll go fetch Otto and send the others to back you up in case they come back or anyone comes across you and gives you trouble. Just hold on alright!" The line went dead, and Evander slumped back to the ground, massaging his nose.
"What a night," he groused, "what a bloody night," he sighed and looked up at the stars. "It's always something in this town. And I get the feeling tomorrow is going to be even worse. Oh well, buckle Evander. It's going to be a bumpy ride."