Our Deathly Love

I groggily opened my eyes, glaring, because I was being shaken. Realizing it was a hand, I angrily slapped it way, but sadly to no avail, I was not tired anymore and I had a feeling like I would not be allowed to go back to sleep. My head pounded from falling asleep with my headphones in again. So I pulled them out, whipping my head toward Jasper, who had an amused smile on his face.

"We are here, sleeping beauty, It's time to get off the bus now!" he said getting up, his eyes watching me wearily as I grabbed my bag, shoving my headphones into it quickly.

The bus was filled with noise. Everyone was excited to get off the bus and stretch their legs. I watched as the bus driver pulled next to a large pile of some sort which was covered by a large green tarp. There was definitely something going on. I wondered, curiosity getting the better of me, what was under the tarp. I noticed none of the other buses where near us. I was worried. Where were the other students? I had no choice, though, but to get up and exit the bus, which was hard to do accounting for the number of students pushing from the back of the bus. I walked forward hitting my side hard on the side of one of the seats, a quick pain filled my side. But of course as I said it was minimal and nothing to really worry about.

What was something to worry about was when I was walking down the bus steps, my bag got caught on the railing causing me to start to tumble down the stairs. Jasper, who was right in front of me, would have been taken down as well in my fall, if Mikey hadn’t yanked my arm hard. My arm hurt horribly from where he had grabbed me, although I was knew I was better off having a sore arm then taking down someone in a clumsy mistake. I quietly thanked Mikey for his help, which he returned with a fanged smirk.

At seeing that, I walked quicker and closer to Jasper.

The fangs meant Mikey was a Vampire. He may not have been the type that attacked me but he was still one of them... See, there are two types of Vampires.

The Made Vampires, other wise known as the damned or Strigoi, the ones from your nightmares that haunt you, the ruthless ones, the ones from the old stories. They have blood red eyes; they are sensitive to light, although I don't think, unless you left them in direct sunlight for a day, it would kill them. They have to drink blood every day, or they would start to get sick and die. For good. Made Vampires can't become Ghosts. The Vampire that attacked me was a Made Vampire.

Mikey was obviously the other type. He had to be a Born Vampire, Moroi. The Born Vampires were just that, Born Vampires. Some of the Magic-Community thinks they are a mutation, a strand of evolution changed. I have no opinion myself personally. I only care about facts, what have been proven true, not speculation. The facts are that they have no set eye color, or have to drink blood every day; more like once a week, maybe more if sick or weak, or they will start to die like the damned. Sunlight varies, but from what I heard the most they can get is a painful sunburn.

I should not be as shocked as I was. He did walk quite Vampish, a bit on the sly side- if you know what I mean. Obviously quick if he was able to stop my fall.

But I had bigger things to worry about because when I stepped off the bus, the driver who was now standing outside the bus pulled back the tarp, handed me a gun, a bag, and a white tee shirt with a green stripe down it.

I stared worriedly at the gun. This was not in the pamphlet. I still walked forward, following Jasper.

"Don't worry its just a paint-ball gun," Jasper said, pulling his tee-shirt over his head; it had the same green stripe on it, like everyone that got off our bus.

Chloe, Arya, Mikey, Jasper and I found a spot to sit down on. The grass itched my skin uncomfortably as I sat down. We all seemed to dump the contents of our bags at once. Curiosity blooming in our eyes. In the bags were:

• • Safety Glasses
  • A map of the school
  • A map of the grounds
  • A map of the forest
  • Ten packages of 50 paint balls (green) 500 in all
  • A first aid kit
  • And last, a note from Pandora.
  
  
  
  Dear students,
  I know we have a long way to go for us all to be friends, so what better way to get out that bent up anger and rage then a fun game of paint-ball? You have all been split up into teams by the bus you arrived on. Put on your glasses and shirts, and get ready for further instructions by your drivers.
  P.S. Be nice to the grounds! And have fun!
  
  
  I thought the note was funny; as well as, Jasper and Chloe who let out a hoot of laughter. Mikey, on the other hand, muttered he did not support gun use. But even he seemed excited.
  
  It took another five minutes for everyone to get off the bus and get all set up, which gave the five of us time to talk.
  
  I found out some very interesting things, like Chloe was an only child. Arya was a triplet, but only one of her siblings decided to come with her. Mikey was in a band, called 'Your Pesticide Love.' Jasper was an orphan, which was not surprising, seeing he was a Ghost. I offered that I was an only child. I did not offer the fact that it was because my parents never had the chance to have more then one kid.
  
  After everyone was in the loop we were ushered over by our driver/teacher. She had long curly brown hair, like my mother's. Her face was narrow and had a natural blush. It was easy to tell she was a bit of a hippie. It wasn't that hard to tell she wasn't all there, if you know what I mean. But she moved with surprising ease in her long homemade floral skirt. It was easy to tell it was homemade because no store would be caught dead selling that ankle long brown and mildew yellow-checkered flower print skirt! It shockingly reminded me of some of the outfits my mother had made for me, seeing as we didn't have a lot of money after dad died. For the two years it took for them to process the insurance policy, money was more than tight. Of course, even with it we still struggle, mom made most of my clothes. I've had plenty of bad experiences with her sewing abilities.
  
  Although I feel bad for the guilt trip I gave my mother for sending me here, I was not guilty for the trunk load of new non-home-made clothing. I refused to come here in homemade rags!
  
  So I instantly felt an understanding for the woman, my new teacher, even if the clothing was choice not a necessity.
  
  So unlike the few bratty girls who were snickering, I listened.
  
  "Okay now, when the air-horn goes off, you guys are going to want to disperse, because somewhere on the grounds or in the castle there are five flags with your color on it, and five flags for each of the eight teams, colors on it. The point of this game is to keep your flags safe, and to capture the other teams flags. The only way to get a flag is to find it or, to shoot the person who has it. Don't hit any green team members though; this is a team activity not a loner activity! Oh yeah, if you get hit you have to go back to our bus. Each time you get hit a piece of one of your maps will be torn off. If you find a flag you have to keep it for the rest of the game.
  
  Now, when you hear the second sound of the blow horn drop your weapon, and come back to the bus, flags or no flags! Good Luck!" the woman smiled at us, her teeth a pearly white, as we started spreading out at the sound of the horn.
  
  Arya, Chloe, and I took off towards the woods, which stood near us. I'm guessing we could use our powers because as soon as we made it into the woods, Arya smirked, as two little white wolf ears popped out of the top of her white hair. Her eyes changed into a yellowish-brown color, she looked positively weird. Chloe, on the other hand, was messing with her gun a determined look spread on her face.
  
  "Now most of those punks won't be able to sneak up on us!" Arya said smiling, walking forward on the green pathless area.
  
  "The question is do we take the path, which most likely will have flags but more likely will have more people on it, or do we not take the path?" Arya mused to herself.
  
  "I say we take the path, it will be too hard not to because the forest is too dense to travel. Plus even with you being a Wolf we could get lost. Only Fae would know how to stay off the path successfully and not get lost," Chloe stated, heading over to the dirt path a few feet over. Arya seemed to agree because she followed Chloe. I didn't want to be left behind; alone in these creepy woods, so I hustled after them.
  
  The path, if you could even call it that, seemed no more then a dirt stripe in the forest that curved on the green forest floor. The map said it ran around the castle, about eight miles around and three miles deep. So obviously I was not willing to go off the path. I was not the type of stupid girl that would get eaten by wolves, because I went off the path. Yes, I know I have a problem and I accept that openly. But anyway, getting back on the subject, the only way out of the forest and away from the castle was the eight cement roads that ran through the path straight to the castle and different parts of the grounds. Which explained how we hadn't seen any of the other teams.
  
  It took us fifteen minutes of jogging. Okay, jogging for Chloe and Arya, and me walking slowly and then sprinting when they passed a turn. They obviously ran, sadly I had not seen a reason to run as a sport before, so I was lacking in the area. They did wait for me, though, but it was obvious I was slowing them down. It took us fifteen minutes of following the path to reach the first flag.
  
  Arya and I had been following behind Chloe who was taking the front; her weapon loaded with the bright green paint, ready to take down anything that may lie in our path. It had been when they were waiting for me to catch up that Arya saw the first flag which was hanging in a tree. Grabbing Chloe's arm and ushering me over she pointed silently, so if anyone was near they would not hear.
  
  "Great, how are we going to get it down?" I muttered thinking hard. The tree's trunk was too thick and the branches were far too high up for us to climb.
  
  "Easy peasy," Chloe said. Taking off her white poofy-sleeved over shirt. I could see on her back that there was a tattoo of gloriously white wings; feathers so real looking that if I reached out, I would be able to touch their glossy softness. I stared in amazement as the tattoo started to stretch, morph, and pop out of her back, making a pleasing sound, the pure white feathers gleamed and sparkled in the light. Chloe looked extremely soothed from pulling her wings out. Leaving me amazed as I gawked at her.
  
  "Watch the tree as I go up, I don't want any surprises," Chloe replied bending her legs, and jumping up. Her wings flapped once, twice, three times before she made it up to the branch.
  Arya's ears moved, and twitched on her head as she listened. Suddenly she jumped turning her attention to a bush that covered up part of the forest view. If some one was going to sneak up on us, that would be the way to do so. Arya pumped her gun, and shot three rounds into the bush, receiving a boy who stumbled out. I suddenly recognized him to be the boy from the bus, the one that knew Chloe.
  
  "Stop firing, god damn-it! I’m on your team, Arya!” He yelped rubbing his bare arm where Arya had got him. At the sound of his voice Chloe soared down holding the bright green flag, a scowl held on her face.
  
  "Watch your language, Tristan, I know you have no pride, or morals, which explains why you're here, but seriously. At least pretend you’re civilized." Chloe replied, anger clear upon her face as she huffed at Tristan.
  
  "Well, Princess, you're here too aren't you... Bet you're only here; not because you want to be, but because it would look great on your daddy's next campaign... I can see the tabloids now: 'Vote for Comberfeild, the man who knows his fans!' Doesn't that sound correct Chloe? Please correct me if I missed anything." Tristan spat out bitterly as he crossed his arms, his eyebrows raised questioning what she would say next.
  
  "You don’t know crap, Tristan! Well, at least my family loves me... At least I belong in somewhere besides hell! Face it, Tristan. You have nowhere to go, besides shacking up with Oliver in your little hut of sin! Face it; Pandora, and Oli-kins are the only ones who really care about what happens to a little twerp like you, so next time you want to call me princess get your facts straight or go home. By the way, Tristan, where exactly is that for you anyway?" Chloe snarled, giving him a look that scared even me. Saying those words, she stomped away.
  
  “Tristan, I’m sorry, you know how she gets. I actually could not tell which insult was worse.” Arya replied with a sense of reproach as she shook her head in disappointment at Chloe’s direction.
  
  “So many insults to choose from, I don’t know my favorite might just be the insinuation that Oliver and I are gay for each other. Which we are not.” Tristan stated looking at me, as if tying to push this upon me, so that I would not think as Chloe did.
  
  “I don’t know the whole you are an outsider, blah-blah-blah, shit sounded pretty emotion filled to me.” Arya added laughing before nodding to Tristan.
  
  “I think that we need to go get Miss Storm-out a lot before things get any worse.” Arya added smirking at Tristan.
  
  I watched as Tristan nodded before walking back into the bushes he had come out from, only pausing to direct Arya, "Oh, yeah, the Red Team's coming this way, so you'd better go get Crazy-Chloe and run."
  
  "Crap!" Arya mumbled, running after Chloe whom we found staring daggers at a tree trunk only a few feet away, yet still out of sight. Not bothering to comfort her friend Arya grabbed a hold of Chloe and I, and ran into a nearby bush, just in time to see the Red Team storm past where we had just stood only seconds before. Arya, deciding that the path was too dangerous, tapped into her wolf senses, leading us toward to what she believed to be in the direction of the castle.
  
  We walked for another ten minutes following behind Arya. Those ten minutes were pure agony; my feet felt like they were going to fall off. I couldn't feel the arches in my feet. Of course, I kept my mouth shut; Chloe was wearing high heels, and hadn't complained one bit so far. So if she wasn't complaining, I wasn't going to complain.
  
  The woods started to lighten up; the trees becoming more and more sparse. I could start to see a castle in the distance, as well as hearing the sound of running water, which probably was from the stream, which Arya was choosing to follow at the moment. If bears eat us, I blame her. Of course, Arya could probably eat a bear if she really wanted to, but that's not the point.
  
  The point was, perhaps Arya had been right after following the stream, we arrived at a pond, which had a dock attached to it. The dock was made of an old deep brown wood that creaked and groaned as we walked over it; I would have thought Chloe would've toppled off, but apparently, she was very stable. I, on the other hand, felt that I would fall over even if I didn't take a step.
  
  
  Sadly, there was a flag in the water.
  
  
  "How the heck are we going to get that?" Chloe motioned angrily toward the water. "I can't swim! Especially not in this water!"
  
  "All I can do is doggy-paddle," Arya sighed. "And there might be alligators!"
  
  "There are no alligators in Romania," I explained, rolling my eyes. They both looked at me; I finally gave in. "Okay, fine, I'll get it." I walked toward the edge of the dock, trying not to fall over. I shed off my bag and shirts, wearing only my panda tank top on my upper body, and dove into the water. It felt icky and slimy, coating my body as I swam. I unhappily had to put my face under the water to make my strokes worthwhile. As I approached the flag, I noticed that it was attached to something floating in the water, suddenly wondering if Arya was right about alligators in Romania, but that thought was suddenly shoved out of my head as I remembered that it gets down to 5 degrees in the winter. Thankfully, it was just a floating tree limb. As I grabbed it, I heard a ripping sound. "SHIT!!" I sighing as I realized that I had ripped the flag.
  
  "Watch your mouth!!" I heard from a distance. Obviously, Chloe did not approve of my colourful language. I shoved the stupid flag into my bra and I began to swim back to the dock. My legs began to feel heavy as I swam back; I realized I had stupidly left my shoes on. I began to slow down increasingly as I approached the dock.
  
  I kept my head low to the water and tried to swim with my upper body. As I reached the dock, I tiredly grabbed the old thick wood, thinking, 'How in the hell will I ever pull my fat ass out of the water?! I started regretting eating all those crepes from past desserts... and snacks... and dinner.... and breakfast.... and whenever I felt like I wanted a crepe... When suddenly a set of arms grabbed my wrists, yanking me out of the water.
  
  "Damn, Arya, lay off the 'roids!" I panted, plopping down on the dock; I heard a chorus of manly laughter, and one not-so-manly voice. (go figure)
  
  "Yeah, Arya, stay off the steroids!" the not-so-manly voice laughed.
  
  "Shut up!" The voice closest to me snapped back.
  
  Jasper.
  
  "Looks like someone needs to lay off the Twinkies," Jasper mumbled to himself, grabbing his back.
  
  "Excuse me? Do you want me to kill you?" I stared up at him angrily.
  
  "Well, thanks for the flag, anyway," he smirked as he grabbed it straight out of my bra.
  
  Okay, he passed the damn line, swinging my hand back I slapped him; he fell into the water, causing another rupture of laughter from Tristan and Mikey, the two dunces. "You guys wanna join him?" I growled angrily.
  
  Really, one wet asshole was not enough for me.
  
  "Calm down, princess!" Tristan said as he rolled his eyes.
  
  "I am not a princess!" I exclaimed, standing up, abruptly planning on attacking him like Jasper only managing to fall back over onto Jasper, who was climbing back onto the dock. He tried to push me back onto the dock, but ended up groping my butt "accidentally". The dunces had another roar of laughter.
  
  Note to self: Fucking kill them later on.
  
  Tristan threw a flag at me. "Dry off. Your shirt's see-through," he said, trying not to laugh. I wrapped the flag around myself, steaming slightly. I really wanted to kill them now. I wonder if I would get expelled for it...Wait! Then I so needed to do it!
  
  "I'm leaving. Let me know if you guys find another flag." He added nonchalantly ripping his shirt off, showing toned abs and arms. Why do guys feel the need to do that every five minutes, if they have a good body? not that I am complaining; just wondering.
  
  I saw, on his back, a tattoo like Chloe's, only it was black and oily-looking. It morphed and changed, like Chloe's, but it looked like it hurt, and made sickening popping noises. Not saying a word, he flapped his wings and took off toward the forest. Jerk. I hope he hits a tree.
  
  Mikey helped Jasper out of the water, because like hell I was going to. Grunting, Jasper picked up his gun, turning around slightly, seeing the Orange Team coming out of the forest. "Crap, we have to go!" he said hurriedly, grabbing my wrist, the one that Mikey had injured, and ran off the pier, dragging me in tow.
  
  "We can't leave Arya and Chloe!" I added bitterly, as I tried to pull away from him.
  
  A paint-ball couldn't hurt that bad, right?
  
  I watched as an orange paintball flew past my head hitting a tree. I watched wide-eyed as the tree splintered under the attack of the flying paint.
  
  And; I totally stand corrected!
  
  "They're getting another flag, they'll be fine!" he replied. "But we won't be if they catch up to us!" He ran faster and faster, ripping me behind him, bright orange paintballs making marks on the trees in front of us. We ran as quickly as our feet would carry us toward the castle. I watched as Mikey flung the deep brown oak doors to the castle open, and we all ran inside, Mikey closing the door behind us, locking it soundly. Jasper and Mikey collapsed at the door, listening to the paintballs hitting the door with a sickening noise. I set down my bag and put my shirts back on; I was freezing. Obviously, the castle either had AC, or was naturally cold. I would be pissed if it was the latter.
  
  I had my hands on my hips, facing the guys, looking at the entryway: the walls were a brownish-peach color. I knew we had to hurry up, because there had to be more than one entrance to the castle, and the sound on the other side of the door had stopped. I glanced around, noticing that there were three arches that led to other hallways. Groaning, I noticed there was a flag above the center arch. "Mikey, Jasper, get off your lazy asses. We've got work to do," I explained, pointing at the center arch. They both groaned in unison, staring at the stupid flag. It was bright pink.
  
  "How are we going to get it?" Jasper and Mikey both mumbled at the same time, looking up at the high arch.
  
  "Mikey, you know cheerleading, right?" I asked him. "When they do the three-person pyramid?"
  
  "I used to be on top, babe!" he smiled. "I know all about that stuff!"
  
  "I'm not holding your fat ass up," Jasper mumbled, slamming his hand into his face.
  
  "I'll go on top. You guys just hold me up," I said, shaking my head as I walked toward the arch. Mikey and Jasper placed themselves on both sides of the arch, bending down so I could get into position, which entailed me stepping one foot on one hand, and their other hands grabbed my lower calf. They hoisted me up; I grabbed the top of the arch to steady myself, the other hand grabbing a corner of the flag. Shit! It's stuck!
  
  Did I mention I was never a Cheerleader? Add that to the fact that I could not get the flag down, and I was moving because Mikey and Jasper had no strength at all.
  
  "What, did they superglue this flag to the damned arch, or something?!" I mumbled angrily, pulling back on the flag; my fingers slipped, ripping the flag off the wall. I started to stumble. Jasper tried to steady me, but his hand ended up slipping and ending up higher than he expected.
  
  I let out a gasp, kicking out my foot, causing not Jasper to let go, but Mikey. Dangling in the air, holding onto the damn arch, I suddenly realized why we had to learn such important things in P.E., like chin-ups. Damn you, P.E. association!! It took a minute for the guys to actually get a hold of me again and help steady me so I wasn't dangling like twelve feet in the air!
  
  "Oh, it's a good thing you didn't fall!" Mikey smiled up at me. Suddenly, a large ringing shook the building, causing the guys to let go of my feet (AGAIN!), and causing me to fall. I let out a short scream as I tumbled down; when I had first started to fall I had reached out for the wooden arch, trying to grab a hold of the landing I barely missed, my wrists hitting the corners of the arch, unable to grasp anything I fell on both my wrists and my butt. The flag landed over me, causing me to be in total darkness, which scared me more than the fall.
  
  "Oh-my-god, get this thing off of me!" I screamed, ripping the flag off my head. Jasper stared at me; Mikey was laughing.
  
  "You smell really good, Emmy," Mikey giggled.
  
  "That was random, Mikey. Why'd you say that?" Jasper asked him.
  
  Jesus, thanks guys. I just fell like twelve feet, and they're wondering why I smell good.
  
  I subconsciously slid my fingers through my hair; the guys were just staring at me. "Oh, that's why she smells good to you. Emmy, you need to c'mere so we can.. um..." He pointed at his arm.
  
  "What are you..?" I asked as I felt my arms. I felt something wet and sticky. Raising my arms, I just stared at them.
  
  "Um, Emmy? A-are you going to stop the bleeding?" Jasper swallowed nervously. "I think you hit a vein."
  
  "Or three," Mikey corrected, licking his lips hungrily. "Are you, by chance, AB-?"
  
  "I never really thought about it," I replied groggily, laying my head against the wall. My eyelids starting to get heavy.