Blood Isn't Always Thicker Than Water

Um, excuse me?

“Yes, I agree,” Lady Ivy said, venom still apparent.

And didn’t I just feel loved? I’ll bet Monty’s left ear that they’re talking about me.

“So you’re going with the same plan as you did in 1912,” Lady Ivy deduced, somehow still sounding venomous.

Unremarkable Dude affirmed, leaving me itching to know what the hell happened in 1912. “Do you have any recommendations?”

Lady Ivy stayed silent for a few seconds. “I’m not sure…” she murmured. “I’m stuck between the Prince’s two brothers, the purebreds Fallen Royce and Ross III.”

“Well,” the youngest-looking dude sitting around the table said—he was to Unremarkable Dude’s right—hands clasped on the table in front of him, “why don’t we just ask the Prince for his opinion?”

Nods all around.

“Alright, Caspian, come on in,” Youngest Dude said, staring through the crack in the door, right into my eyes.

Whoa. Freaky.

As the red flush in my cheeks faded—yes, I blushed, sue me—I stood up straight and shook Sandy off of me, then straightened out my cloak and walked in.

Everyone was staring at me. Even Lady Ivy, who still had on her golden handcuffs.

I bowed my head a little. “Good afternoon, gentlemen.” Lancaster stood a bit behind me, twiddling his thumbs. Sandy shut the door and leaned his back against it, blue eyes raking over everything in the room.

Youngest dude stood up from his chair and walked straight over to me. “Prince, do allow me to introduce myself. I am Dyrren Nephtali, ninth member of the Vampire Senior Council.”

He got that senior part down pat.

“Would you like tot take a guess at how old I am?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Eighty.”

He snickered. “Oh, I’m well past my prime.”

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

“Prince Caspian, tell me…” Youngest Dude was walking in slow circles around me, as if appraising me from every angle. I just stood stationary, eyes following him when they could. “At what ages is a vampire considered to be in his or her prime?”

I blinked. “Define prime.”

He laughed. “You are quite the character. And since I’ve taken an immediate liking to you, I’ll tell you the answer.”

“Um, okay…” I told him uncertainly.

“A vampire’s prime age is considered to be within twenty-five and about eighty-three years of age. All vampires reach their prime at twenty-five, and for most it ends somewhere between the ages of eighty and eighty-five. For some it lasts longer, and for some it’s shorter.”

“How long did yours last?” I asked.

He came to a stop and stood straight in front of me. “My prime ended when I was ninety-four.”

I nodded. “Good for you.”
His chiseled-looking face softened into a crooked smile. “Yes, very good for me. Right now, I am one hundred twelve.”

I blinked. “Wow. Congratulation.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t congratulate me. Herman over there just had his one hundred fifty-first.”

The only man that looked older than Unremarkable Dude waved a frail hand at me.

I gulped. “Nice.”

“Now Caspian—you don’t me calling you that, do you?”

“I prefer ‘Cas’,” I let him know, with another little nod of the head.

“Is that a nickname?”

“Yes, sir.”

He sighed. “Fine. Cas. Do you feel that because of age you are inferior to this Council?”

I nodded readily.

Dyrren Nephtali glared at me. “Well don’t. We are not your superiors. We are merely like…oh, what is the human equivalent…the Cabinet?”

“That doesn’t mean anything to me,” I admitted.

“Then never mind. I guess we’re kind of equivalent to the human term of ‘teacher’. We’re here to share our knowledge and opinions with you.”

“So…can I drive my car whenever I want?”

He stared insipidly at me. “That’s one thing you don’t have control over. That car is to only be used during certain dire circumstances.”

Yeesh. So uptight. “You also want me gone, right?” I asked. “You know I heard a bit of what you were saying. What’s so unsatisfactory? Am I too young? To…um…un-level
minded? What’s wrong with me? I…” I took a gulp. “I really wanna be Prince.” It was true. I felt really attached to the position now that I had it.

Dyrren smiled gently at me. “We’re not going to take you away from your rightful place forever. We were thinking just until you get properly educated.”

I deflated. “What?”

He smiled craftily. “That’s right, Cas. College.”

My eyes widened in horror. “Oh fuck no.”

Then the entire Senior Council erupted in laughter. “Don’t worry, My Prince!” one of them said. “You can go to a vampire college! That way you won’t feel out of your league.”

At least these guys sorta knew how I felt. “I guess that’s a bit better,” I mumbled.

“Yeah, do not let it get you down.” Dyrren put an arm around my shoulders. “Besides, where we want you to go, there’ll be girls.” I glowered darkly at him, and he frowned. “Um, there will be guys as well…”

I rolled my eyes. “No, that’s not it. I just want to know more about the school itself right now, not the people attending.” I was also painfully aware of Lancaster’s presence standing behind me.

Dyrren nodded. “I would like to say I know the feeling, but I don’t. Also, you will be required to come back to this manor for at least three days every month. I need to give you lessons on etiquette and family history and vampire history and…royal stuff.”

I stared at him in horror. “Okay, it’s settled. You are all trying to make my life Hell on Earth.”

Dyrren chuckled. “Well, Cas, to get to the top, you’ve got to claw your way up from the bottom.”

I stared at him for another second then looked down. “But my fingernails are history!”

Well, anyway, once we finally got together with everyone and started talking, we all came to a decision. More like Dyrren, Unremarkable Dude and I all debated—Unremarkable Dude refused to call it arguing; he said it wasn’t a politically correct term to use—and then told everyone our choices as to what the future would contain. The most pressing matter was who the hell was going to stand in for me as Prince while I was off at school. But we didn’t mention the fact that I was actually going to college. I don’t really know why. We just referred to my getting educated as “going away”. After five minutes, I firmly stated that Fallen was regent, and that was final. Everyone stayed silent and shared awkward glances after that for a couple seconds.

I expressed my want to reform the vampire government. I was told to wait until I was properly educated, which was probably going to take—at least—three years.

Other decisions we made that night: Samantha was going home. Tomorrow. George and Pete declared that they were going to start a campaign. Or something like that. They wanted to spread the word that vampires and Guardians could live together in peace. Jon told us all that he and George had separated from the rest of Panic! at the Disco so they could dedicate all their time to the campaign. When I asked Pete in alarm if he was leaving Fall Out Boy he said that he wasn’t. But he still had to go back to his home soon. His family needed him to return. And apparently his cell phone reception was lousy.

Hannah told every one of us firmly that she was fixing the manor up. She had money, and if she had to, she would spend all of it just to get this place up to a satisfactory level of living—her level of satisfactory living, since she was staying here. With this subject up in discussion, I reminded Fallen not-so-gently about the fact that he still owed me a fridge. He glowered at me and said, “Do you want me to be regent?” I told him that he should think about what he’s saying before talking like that to his Prince. And he told me, with all the sincerity he could muster, to shut up.

“Okay, I need to get a head count of everyone who’s staying in this damned place,” Hannah announced. “So if you’re planning on staying here for the next week, put your hand up, and keep it up!”

I chuckled to myself and put my hand up in the air. Hannah was such a kid. Freaky McHorrific scuttled over to be next to Balto and Monty who were lounging in front of the fire. I was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the table. No one felt the need to tell me otherwise, and if they did, I had an argument prepared. This was my manor—screw that fact that I sold it—therefore my table, and I’m the fricken Prince of Vampires. Shut the hell up.

And we talked about the little things that I had absolutely no interest in that I can’t even remember. At the end of it all, the floor was opened for anyone that had a question to speak up. But no one really wanted to discuss anything anymore so we all started talking with someone. Dyrren came over and sat in a chair next to where I was sitting on the table. He got to get a nice look at my profile from my left.

“How are you, Caspian?”

I sighed into my fingers. “Not that great, to be true.”

“If you ever need me, I’ll be staying at this manor, too. Feel free to talk.”

I stared silently down at the table for a minute, then said, “Well…I do have two questions.”

“Yes?”

“When you say ‘Prince of Vampires’, are you talking about vampires as in the ones in the US? Or am I actually the leader of every last vampire in the world?”

He smiled tartly. “The world, except for four other countries that still have a remaining line of purebreds. They’ve separated themselves from the Ross reign.”

Oo, I didn’t know that. “How many purebreds are left?”

“Well, there’s you three here in the US, fourteen in China, nine in Greenland, four or five in Ellesmere, Canada, and in Ireland there is only one left.”

“Poor guy,” I commented.

“Hmm. What was your other question? Or were those your two?”

“No, I have one more. Which school am I going to? Not an Ivy League, right?”

Now he pulled a Me Move and blinked at me. “Caspian. Do you seriously think that you’re going to be attending a human college?”

I shrugged in self-defense. “Well, gee, I dunno! Where else am I supposed to go?”

Dyrren smiled, a bit of a faraway look in his eyes. “Com on, Cas. I have
something to show you.” He picked up a black briefcase that had been leaning against the wall and asked me to take him to a room with electrical outlets. I took him to Troy’s floor, into
the TV room. Somehow Sandy, Monty, and Lancaster ended up in there with us. I swear, they all had some sort of internal sensor that told them where I was at all times.

“Um, alright…” Dyrren Nephtali said in slight wonder when he noticed all the people and the animal gathered around/on me. I had attempted to sit on the couch—cape still on—and found that a certain gelly vampire was latched onto my back, yet again. Then once my butt had come into contact with the cushions, Monty leaped up next to me and placed his head on my lap, looking very comfortable. Then Lancaster carefully sat down about two feet away from us, eyes looking us over.

“Prince Caspian, would you mind introducing me?” Dyrren asked while plugging in a laptop that had seen better days.

I nodded even though he wasn’t really looking. “Sure. My border collie is Monty.” I pet his soft head fondly. “The liquidy guy on my back is my personal servant Sandy who used to be King William’s and my dad’s servant. He’s weird and sticks to me like glue. And then there’s my human friend, Lancaster. I met him at a music store.”

Dyrren nodded and pressed the laptop’s power button. “And for those of you who do not know me, I am Dyrren Nephtali, ninth Senior of the Council.”

“’Tis pretty sick,” Sandy commented.

“A word of caution for the human,” Dyrren continued while watching the screen show its loading page and stuff. “Do not, under any circumstance, attempt to get within a mile of the school the Prince will be attending. Your stench of live blood will be absolutely…irresistible,” Dyrren said.

My eyes widened. “So you guys weren’t kidding before? There’s a fucking college for vampires?!”

“No we weren’t, and yes there is,” Dyrren said patiently, beginning to open up an internet browser.

I huffed. “So much for my uneducated life…”

“If you didn’t go to school,” Lancaster began with a frown, “then how did you learn to read and write?”

I gave him my best “duh” face. “Logan.”

He rolled his eyes. “Should’ve known. He brought you up here, right?”

I nodded. “So, Dyrren, what do you wanna show me?”

He pulled up a website and turned the computer toward me. “This is something you can’t find on the human’s Internet. You have to use the vampire web world. It’s called the VeinNet.”

I smirked while leaning forward to check out the screen. It was dimmer than any computer I’d used before. My eyes enjoyed the break from the bright, vivid pixels. This was much better.

“You will be going to…” Dyrren began to announce, “George Ryan Ross II University.”

I studied the VeinNet page in front of me. There was a picture of a white, stone and gargantuan building that looked like an army fortress with Corinthian columns. “Whoa,” I said expressively. “How many people come here?”

“A thousand could fit in there with room to spare…” Lancaster said in awe, staring enraptured at the screen. He seemed to be enraptured by something almost all the time.

“Actually, last time I heard, forty-eight students were attending,” Dyrren admitted. He pulled the laptop back toward him, clicked a few things, then flicked the roof of his mouth with his tongue. “I am proven wrong… There are currently forty-seven students enrolled for this upcoming school year.”

“Including me?” I asked. When Dyrren shook his head, I smiled and said, “Then now it is forty-eight. So you were right!”

“Naw, he wasn’t,” Sandy pointed out in his all but emotionless and slippery voice, losing me completely.

“But…” I said, eyebrows pulled together. “Forty-seven plus one is forty-eight, right?”

Dyrren and Lancaster nodded.

“Then…Sandy, what the hell are you talking about?”

Sandy sighed. “I’m your personal servant, Cas. Where you go, I go. I’m going to this…George Ryan Ross II University, too.”

I sighed. “That’s really a mouthful.”

Dyrren nodded, pushing the laptop across the coffee table in front of us again. “A lot of people call it G. Ross U. I know the Council does.”

I nodded. “That’s much better. Let’s hope I can remember all this…”

“I can go, right?” Sandy asked Dyrren.

He nodded. “I don’t see why not, since you’re required to be with the Prince. I’ll get you two put in with a recommendation by tomorrow at the latest.”

“No entry exams or SAT’s?” I asked.

Dyrren blinked. “Huh? What are those? Do humans need to take a test to get into college?” He looked repulsed.

I nodded. “Um, yeah.”

He shook his head. “What is their world coming to?”

I let out of humorless laugh. “You don’t wanna know, Dyrren. You don’t wanna know. So. Are pets allowed?”

Dyrren pointed to the computer. “See for yourself.”

I sighed and started scrolling through some stuff. After two bring minutes, I finally found something. “Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—no.” I
stared gloomily at the laptop. “Sorry Monty, no such luck for you. You’re stayin’ with McHorrific and Hannah and Lancaster and Fallen and Mr. Nephtali.” I looked questioningly at Lancaster. “You are staying here, right?”

He nodded. “Now that I know vampires and Guardians exist, I just can’t go back to my normal life. I…I want to help out Fallen any way I can while he’s standing in for you. I wanna help you, too…” he hurriedly added in the end.

I smiled. “Thanks.”

He snorted. “Really, I don’t feel like I have much of a choice. My heart is with you guys now. I know I must sound like a girl, but I don’t exactly care. I don’t think it was chance that had us meet at my work place. Destiny’s got something in store for me, and it’s not back with my parents. It’s going to happen here, whatever it is.”

He sounded so sure—not to mention cheesy. But anyway: how could he be so sure? It didn’t exactly seem possible for me to just put my fate into destiny’s hands like that. I had to believe that I had some sort of control in my life, or I wouldn’t want to live it. I’m not a believer of karma and destiny. Okay, maybe karma. However, it’s just simply not in my nature to accept destiny. My fate’s going to be made by my decisions, not someone else’s, thank you very much.

“When does the year start?” Sandy asked. He was half-asleep on me, lazing around as always. I just accepted it. How could I say no to someone who could effortlessly latch themselves onto me, and altogether encase me?

“Um, September eighth,” I answered him. “Hey Dyrren, where exactly is this place?” Silence answered my question. “…Dyrren?”

Oh no! He went and had a heart attack and died! Or a mass murderer came and killed him and stuffed him under the floorboards! What will the Council say? I didn’t do anything! I’m innocent!

I squashed down that irrational part of my head and figured that the guy must have just left the room.

Then Samantha’s words from earlier came back to me. “Cas… What happened to you?” I recalled her worried yet disgusted look.

I put my head in my hands and mentally answered the question. King Liam had happened. Jeremy dying had happened. My car had happened. Sandy and Ass Squared had happened. My cape had happened. It was all making me think differently—more rationally. I was beginning to push the irrational, over-thinking and excessively random part of me into the back of my head. I was trying to squash it out of existence.

No. That wasn’t a part of me. It was me. I was irrational, over-thinking and excessively random. A new me was emerging. Prince Caspian was emerging.