I briefly greeted Cassius when I returned home and told him the cliffnotes of the beach trip; I spent most of my time with Magnus and Chrysanthemum, chatting and looking at the aquatic creatures (which were in the tidal pools, sort of), and I remet Cormac, who became instant friends with Chrysanthemum and I. Cassius was ecstatic; he looked forward to having them both visit someday, mostly because they were my friends and he was happy I wasn't lonely in Warlington.

I ate spicy noodles as Cassius watched a sports game he was super into. It was kind of funny, suddenly hearing him shout in disappointment or excitement for the team he was rooting for, whatever it was. You already know I don't give two shits about sports, so that's that.

Then, I went into my bedroom and rummaged, searching for my record player and vinyls, which weren't actually mine but Cassius let me have them because I liked old shit. I ended up finding them underneath my bed; I really need to put these in a better place. I set up everything, turned it on, and, soon, Michael Jackson's Bad started playing. I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling as the epicness played in the background. After a while, I lip synced but only to two songs. When I ultimately grew bored, after the vinyl had finished, I stopped listening to music and just laid there in bed, my thoughts wandering.

Why did Chrysanthemum act weird towards the end? Are the Soren Phoenixes really vampires? Are the Lycanthrope natives actually werewolves like their legends say? Only time would tell me those answers.

Within thirty minutes, I fell asleep. And you know what happens when I'm dreaming. …So, let me tell you what I dreamt about, anyway!

I was in a forest instead of a meadow, a car, a bed, or on a school desk. Why? I don't know; I just was. And Maverick wasn't there, so I wasn't having any epic sexy times with him in a dream, for once. It was a huge bummer. It was dim; I could hardly see anything. Then, Cormac was suddenly there; he was trying to get me away from danger. I hesitated because what if someone else was in my dream, like Chrysanthemum? Even in a dream, I wouldn't leave her behind. And, then, suddenly, Cormac was a massive wolf with maroon fur. I thought he was gonna attack me for a second, but instead, he stood protectively in front of me, looking in the opposite direction. That's when Maverick appeared, skin sparkling like a disco ball again; only, he had vampire fangs. Sensing no danger from him, I stepped around wolf Cormac and made my way towards my soulmate-to-be. Before I reached him, wolf Cormac jumped over my head and snapped his jaws closed around Maverick's head. I fainted.

I woke up with a gasp, staring wide eyed at the ceiling. Then, I looked at the time; it was, like, seven in the morning. Ugh, why did I have to wake up so early? I was still dressed in my clothes from the day before, so I took off my awesome shoes, gathered some more clothes, and went to shower. Then, I put on my even more awesome punk-rock outfit; buckles and studs galore. Then, I went back to my room and got on the computer; the Internet was fucking slow as balls but I had nothing better to do with my life since Maverick wasn't around and my three friends were probably still snoozing.

I ate five hot pockets while I waited for shit to load; three ham and cheese ones, and two philly steak ones. I was hungry.

After eating, I put the record player and vinyls inside my closet since literally nothing was in it, because all of my clothes were wrinkled up in my dresser drawers. Yeah, I wear somewhat wrinkled clothing; sometimes, it's extremely wrinkled. I don't care. High school would be behind me eventually; why would I care what the bitches and hoes thought of me? They are the ones that are gonna amount to nothing.

The Internet was finally working with me, somewhat. There were pop-up ads every now and then, but I got rid of them. I googled vampires and werewolves, together and separately, to see what I'd get. I already knew basic vampire knowledge; sunlight is a no-no, they drink blood, they are pale, and the typical lore. I knew slightly less about werewolves, but still basic stuff; full moon, vampires are bad, bites are bad, and…yeah, that was basically it.

I wanted to see if there was anything else I needed to know, in general, about both, other than the basics I knew. Unfortunately, of the millions of links that showed up, many of them basically said the same basic knowledge I already knew and then some; most importantly, ninety-nine percent of the links I clicked about vampires depicted them as sinister but I purposely chose to ignore their warnings and listened to the one percent that stated there are some good vampires out there. Oh, and with the werewolves, it was mixed; they are bad, they are good, they are misunderstood, they shouldn't be underestimated, etc. I wasn't as interested in them, but I wanted the knowledge anyway. As for both species combined, there were some hybrid legends but, mainly, the links were about the rivalry and wars between the two. I don't think any of them gave much of a reason as to why they hated one another; I assumed it was an undisclosed personal vendetta.

With that done, I shut down the computer, feeling like I mostly just wasted a few hours of my life.

Seconds later, I instantly became bored. So, with vampire and werewolf research out of the way, I decided to go through the next item on my checklist; figure out what the fuck was up with Chrysanthemum. I called her on my cell; she picked up on the first ring, which surprised me, especially after how she was at the end of the beach trip.

"Damn, you answered hella fast," I commented.

"I need to apologize for yesterday," she stated. "I'm sorry for behaving so rudely. Cormac's story about the Soren-Phoenix family caught me off guard and…I needed to think about some things." Regarding them; she didn't say it but I felt like that's what she wanted to tell me. I mean, they were the topic of interest; it made sense to assume that.

I bit my lip, wondering if I should ask. Within a few seconds, I made up my mind; she wasn't gonna talk about it without a little push. "What things?" I asked. She was silent. "…I won't think you're crazy. Cormac's story made me think about some things, too." Well, not really; I've already been thinking that Maverick and his family were not human (mostly just Maverick, though, to be honest) but the story did make me think about them (mostly Maverick) being vampires.

"…Since they've shown up, I've always felt that something was… a little off about their family. No one else seemed to think so, though." She paused. "I thought it was just in my head. Then, a few years later, you showed up and the feeling got worse when Maverick vanished from school for a few days, all because you sat beside him; yeah, I know about that, thanks to Constantine. He thought it was hilarious." I cursed him in my head; he must have talked about it while I was internally monologuing. "…Then, the accident happened. Iris… He wasn't anywhere near you."

"I know," I immediately responded before my brain caught on to what she stated. "Wait, you saw him teleport, too?!"

And just like that, hesitant, bashful Chrysanthemum dematerialized. "Is that what he did?!"

"Well, maybe not teleport, but I was watching him the entire time the accident occurred. He was standing at his vehicle one second and, then, the next thing I knew, he was throwing me onto the ground to save my life. He wrecked the side of Scout's truck, dude! With his bare hand! The fucker gaslit me then and there, saying I was just seeing shit because of the head injury he gave me. And the same argument happened in the hospital afterwards." I was rambling but I didn't care; I could finally talk to someone about it, someone who wouldn't think I was insane.

"That's insane!" Chrysanthemum exclaimed. "I wish I said something sooner, but I thought I was just imagining things again." She scoffed. "If what you say is true, I don't understand why you still want to get with that asshole."

I faked a gasp. "Flower angel! Such language!"

She snorted. "It's true, though; he made you feel crazy."

"Well, he tried to make me feel crazy but I'd witnessed the entire thing, so I didn't believe a goddamn word he said about it," I said. "Then, he ignored me for, like, a month, only to talk to me and be all 'you shouldn't be near me' when he was the one who started talking to me first. And, then, that same day, he asked me to sit with him. At least, I think it was the very same day." I sighed happily. "And he's never gonna ignore me again. He'll be mine soon; I know it."

"Really?" She sounded exasperated. "Iris, of all the men and women in the world, you choose him? A gaslighting, supposed vampire?" Ah, she doesn't believe it entirely. Soon.

"Yep!"

She sighed. "I'll pray for your soul's safety, then."

"You do that."

"…I'm glad I'm not alone with this anymore," she softly stated.

"Me too," I quietly replied.

There was a noise in the background. "I've gotta go. Chores. Thank you; I really needed to get that off of my chest. And, again, I'm sorry for how I behaved at the end of the trip yesterday."

I smiled to myself. "You're welcome. And it's fine; it's not everyday you learn that vampires and werewolves could actually exist. And with what I've gathered on the Internet, and with basic knowledge I already knew, I figure that they truly are vampires but not the ones we hear stories about. I mean, clearly; we've seen them during the day and they haven't caught fire."

"Iris, the sun hardly ever comes out," she pointed out. "It'd be difficult for them to spontaneously combust."

Make up your mind; either you believe entirely or you doubt they are vampires. You're so lucky I adore you, my flower angel. "…Fair point." I pouted. "Well, I'll let you go now."

"Tell me if you find anything else. I don't want to be caught by surprise again."

"I'll do my best."

"See you tomorrow, Iris."

"See ya, Chrysanthemum."

I heard her groan, because of me calling her by her full first name instead of her nickname, before the line disconnected. I put my cell down, sighing in relief. I had a friend who knew about Maverick and his family. I wasn't alone in knowing their secret; she knew about them and, though he didn't realize it, Cormac knew about them. And it had to be true; nothing else explained how Maverick was so fast, how he felt so cold, how his whole non-biological family all looked hot and extremely pale, how his eyes changed all of the time, why he said no to the beach trip, why he wasn't there on a rare sunny day, etc. Vampirism.

There was no doubt in my mind; it was definitely vampirism. I wasn't gonna tell anyone else because two people was enough, even though one of them didn't actually believe in the true story behind the legend; I repeated myself, I know, my thoughts are repetitive, I'm not sorry. I wasn't gonna be smart about it; I was forever gonna avoid Maverick's advice of staying away, especially since he broke his own advice anyway by talking to me. Gosh, my soulmate-to-be is really confusing, I thought. If he ended up hurting or killing me someday, so be it; it was likely meant to happen. And he saved my life, so, he totally couldn't be that dangerous; he was but I didn't care then and I don't care now.

It's far too late for me to get out of this. Really, it is; remember when I kept telling you that I'm currently dying? Well, I'm currently dying. Because I stuck with my obsession with Maverick. I mean, I chose love-lust over kicking him out of my life forever. Being a normal human being was no longer in the cards for me; crazy shit was gonna happen. And if I somehow manage to live, crazy shit is still gonna happen, to me specifically.

The remainder of the day went by painfully slowly. I read a book, skimmed through other books, made food, made more food a few hours after that, and I spent pretty much the entire time in my room, outside the trips to the kitchen to make the food I mentioned twice. Also, I constantly sang The Banana Splits theme song underneath my breath, just because.

I went to bed.

I woke up the very next morning. I briefly spoke with Cassius about the weather; it was nice again. I ate food; it was good. I left for school, after Cassius left for work; I just wanted to sleep some more, so I was a bit grumpy.

I made it to the school without an accident. Unfortunately, I was too fucking early; hardly any of the other students had arrived. I groaned, getting out of Thelma. I sat on the pavement beside her (I'm still referring to my beautiful Thelma) and pulled out a notebook from my backpack; I started doodling. It was mostly just smiley faces and poorly drawn expressions. I wasn't really much of an artist. If I claimed to be before, I was lying.

Before long, Constantine showed up and sat across from me. I ignored him the best I could. He messed with my hair; I sprained his finger. No, I'm not kidding this time; I truly sprained his finger when I grabbed and twisted it. The only sign of pain he gave was a quiet whimper. Despite that, he asked me out on a "date"; I knew what he really wanted. I told him to just keep fucking Erica since she actually wanted him, unlike myself.

Not too long afterwards, many students began showing up. It was finally time to head for class. And so, I headed for class. And then, the next class. And the next class. In one of the classes, which I shared with Erica (and had forgotten about sharing such a class with her, for some reason), she bugged me nonstop about a trip to a dress shop; she wanted me to just…be there as she, bitchy Heather, and my flower angel Chrysanthemum picked out something for their dance dates. To make her shut up, I reluctantly agreed.

The Soren Phoenix family wasn't at their usual table during lunch. I wasn't that sad about it, for once; maybe for twice. Maverick, technically, warned me. Plus, I knew their secret of vampirism, so obviously, they wouldn't be there during a sunny day. I purposely sat as far from Erica and Constantine as possible, preferring my besties, Chrysanthemum and Magnus. And Magnus' future boyfriend, Kenji.

The rest of the school day was boring. As per usual when my Maverick wasn't around for me to ogle.

As soon as I returned home, Erica called me to cancel the shopping trip; she was banging Constantine that night instead, for the millionth time. Good for her; I'm being sarcastic. I hope the foreplay sucked ass, considering I wounded one of his fingers. Anyway, she told me that the shopping trip would be the next night. …Why the fuck did she want to shop at night, though? Unless she expected us to be there all afternoon. Ugh, shopping for dresses really shouldn't take that fucking long… So annoying.

I ate food. I texted Mother Dahlia. I did random shit for the remainder of the day; mostly, I reread books. I also spoke with Cassius about the shopping trip; he agreed, though reluctantly because he didn't seem to like Erica but he also seemed rather fond of Chrysanthemum, though he never met either, I don't think. I went to bed. I had more wet dreams; they were the same as the previous one I mentioned to y'all, so I won't explain them a second time.

The next day came. It was sunny once more, which meant still no Maverick and still no non-siblings of his. I wore decent clothing, for once; so, no fancy leather shit or a school girl uniform, just regular, normal teen clothing of trendiness. Classes were boring, like always. Erica and Constantine were even more annoying, like always. Chrysanthemum and Magnus were awesome, like always. Silent Kenji was sort of growing on me.

Erica told me that Heather canceled. She was gonna be doing something more exciting, apparently; she was probably just getting laid, like Erica was with Constantine all the time. Nonetheless, I was relieved, even though I didn't really want to go dress shopping. Chrysanthemum would look lovely in anything; Erica would look like an ugly hoe in anything. I didn't see the point in needing a second, or third, opinion about some damn dresses they'd probably use once.

I dropped Thelma and my school shit off at my home. Then, I got into Erica's vehicle; I purposely sat in the backseat. Then, we went to pick up Chrysanthemum, who had dropped her car and school shit off at her own home. She purposely sat in the backseat with me.

We began making our way to Haven Demoness.