My eyes slowly creeped open, sunlight immediately streaming in from my eyelids. It was as if it had been waiting for its moment to strike.
I yawned, sitting myself up in my bed. Looking around, I saw my room, still as bare as the day I came.
"I really need to get something to liven the place up a bit," I mumbled to myself as I grudgingly got out of bed. My body ached, and my stomach bellowed in hunger.
Leaving the room, I saw Ivan sitting on the couch, watching the news as he sipped on some coffee. This was a rare sight to see, as he would typically be cooped up in his room, or on his phone or smoking.
"Good morning, Ivan," I called, raising my hand for a small wave. "Weird seeing you out here so early."
I walked to the fridge and grabbed a few pieces of pepperoni. It wasn't my first choice, but it was something.
"Good morning," he said after turning his head to me. The bags underneath his eyes were vibrant, showing colors I didn't imagine possible. It was clear that he had just pulled an all-nighter. "I have a test today in my Necrology class… Shit sucks ass."
"Why sign up for Necrology?"
"Eh. Parents were always strict, so I was like, 'imma branch out from the Witch household and learn more about what Zombies learn', and lemme tell you, I regret it all…"
"Yeah, I can see why that would be irritating," I said as I looked down to multiple textbooks laying on the table slightly in front of the couch. It showed pictures of dead bodies, and information on how if a human has a certain attribute in their DNA, they can reanimate as a zombie, with the downside being they lose all memory of their family and friends.
After groaning once again, he started jotting down more notes onto index cards. I prayed for good results for his test as I got ready to attend my own class, Vampire Basics.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened on my walk to the classroom. It was just a smooth sail. Entering class, I sat in my seat next to Damien, who once again offered me a hand and shared his textbook.
"Where were we last time?" I asked him, grabbing my textbook from the backpack I had recently started carrying.
"We were… Oh right," he mumbled as he flipped through the pages, ultimately ending up on a page that looked like the beginning of a new section. The words "Shapeshift" were big and bold, clearly giving a hint to what the section detailed. I was excited, seeing as this would finally be time to learn a new ability other than Translocate.
"Finally!" I excitedly said to myself to the shock of Damien.
"You okay?" He gently patted my shoulders, making sure I was alright.
"Yeah, I'm just excited to finally learn something from this hellish class," I replied.
"If you say so…" he said before turning his attention back to the textbook. I did the same, reading everything as closely as possible.
Shapeshift: an ability exclusive for Vampires that would allow for easier movement and communication with other vampiric users. Shapeshift turns the user into a bat, giving flight and supersonic hearing.
Typically, it is used for quick and easy fights, like hunting prey, or gathering intel. While not many people will, it can effectively be used alongside Recon, a skill I would have to learn later on.
In order to use Shapeshift, I would have to focus on all the blood flowing through my veins, and imagine the same amount of blood onto the body of a bat. Only then could I use Shapeshift. I would definitely have to try that later on in the day, however.
We continued to study what was written down in the book until the class ended. On the teacher's words that time was up, everybody rose from their chairs and began to leave the room. I learned a valuable ability today, and have to test it out promptly.
Sitting alone in the grassy field slightly outside the academy, I rested in a meditational position.
In order to properly utilize the skill, I would have to concentrate on my entire body. My veins, muscles, bones—all of it. I had to be sure that I had basic control over myself.
Next, I had to imagine myself in the body of a bat. This was trickier. I didn't know much about the systems of a bat. All I really knew is that they typically went out in the dark, had supersonic hearing, and could fly. Eventually, I came to enough of a realization where it happened.
I felt small. Opening my eyes, I saw myself at grass length, barely taller than the tallest blades. I looked at my body. I didn't look like a bat. I had bleached white fur with patches of black scattered about.
This is cool as hell!, I thought to myself, stretching myself out. Let's see if I need to learn how to fly, too.
I jumped up in the air, flapping my newly acquired wings…and all that happened was my face impacting with the ground.
Ow…
What could I be doing wrong?
"Having trouble?" a voice called from behind. It was Damien. "Quite the stellar design you got on your fur, huh?"
"Oh? Yeah, I dunno. It just happened," I replied.
"Your parents must have been heretics if you're that color…"
"Heretics?"
Heretics were people that drank human blood, and lots of it at that. With the governing system, vampires—and other creatures alike—were prohibited from attacking or preying on humans.
The system was set up during a war between vampires and werewolves when a group of vampires drank human blood to gain an edge over the enemy. By the end of the war, a total of fifty humans died, with countless deaths between the creatures, too.
"Yeah, Valerius told me that it was prohibited…" I said as I transformed back into my human form, exhausted. "Huh…?"
"You feel tired?" Damien inquired. "That usually happens after a while. Shapeshift takes a toll on your stamina. You'll definitely need to train on that."
He was right. I felt tired, on the verge of passing out. If I didn't turn back when I did, then I would've lost consciousness and flopped onto the ground.
Damien reached into his bag, pulling out a can. "It's cow blood." He extended his arm trying to give it to me.
"I've never had blood before… I've heard it's like a drug," I replied. I hesitantly grabbed the can, the liquid inside swashing around.
"Go ahead. It's sweet, almost like candy," he said with a chuckle.
I decided to trust him enough to take a sip. Just like he said, it tasted like sweet candy, comparable to cotton candy. I then chugged it down.
My body felt lighter, like I had just woken up. "Oh my, I feel amazing."
"That's what happens when you drink blood," he interjected. "That there is lamb blood. Make sure you don't drink too much."
"Yeah… I wouldn't want to become like my parents," I said, trying to ease the pain I felt. I just couldn't believe that my family was like that.
That I'm the son of heretics.
"Attention all students… Attention all students… Curfew is near, please make your way to your dormitories…"
An announcement rang out. It was new. After the attack on Loopenick, there had been a curfew.
"Guess it's time to go back now," I mumbled to myself. Damien had left an hour or two before then, and I was alone trying to master control over the new form.
It was not as easy as it sounded.
I got up and made my way to the dorm before something stopped me a few minutes into my walk.
"Why should we have to suffer the consequences of what the Apostles have done?"
A woman, roughly the same size as me, was standing in front of a crowd of people, yelling.
"What is this woman on?"
"People like her need to just shut up…"
Hearing those words, the girl grew angrier. "You may not believe this is a threat to you, or your families, but if this threat gets any worse, then you could possibly kiss your life goodbye!"
She babbled on and on, rambling her ideologies against the Apostles of Wrath. While I agreed with some of her points, there were some that sounded idiotic. The Apostles wouldn't hunt random people. Only those that were tied with them.
"But," one student called out, "couldn't you just blame this on that guy? What's his name…Jacob Lavua?"
"Yeah, weren't there signs written to kill him?"
"I saw it in the newspaper. It looked like it was drawn with blood!"
The crowd began roaring, with one student in particular being centered: Zofia Makanov.