New: The Fluke

THE CLASS CALLED “CHANGE” HAD BEEN . . . interesting, to say the least. I hadn't really thought too hard on it, trying my best to just go with whatever was thrown at me. Cullen had already worn me out where concentration was concerned, so I was hoping I wouldn't have to focus too much in this class. Of course, life was never nice and liked to smack me in the face whenever possible. This was no exception.
Ms. Mira Farthing—a tall, skinny woman who was obviously more interested in spells than appearance—was my instructor. Her voice was rather nasally and annoying, but her kind patience made up for it. It also helped that she had a quiet nature, making me feel unnaturally calm in her presence. All in all, she faded easily into the background even when she was the only other person in the room. It made me pity her even as I wondered if that was a skill she could teach me too, but I would keep that to myself.
Transfiguration, as I learned the class was actually called, focused on a large genre that spanned from changing water to milk or other such spells, changing the glass it came in to another object altogether, and, finally, changing yourself into an animal of some sort. That last didn't come until farther in the semester and seemed to be the cause of many of the students having nonhuman extremities. It was daunting, to say the least, and I wasn't sure if I was looking forward to it at all. It required extreme focus and confidence—of which I had one, the other was obviously lacking and depended on the situation. Thankfully, Farthing hadn't made me do anything other than fill out a questionnaire that was rather on the personal side.
After Change, or whatever it was called, I had shuffled myself back to the Training Grounds for "Obstacles", grimacing as I read the name. Physical labor, that's what it said. I did not like to move unnecessarily, and, if the title was anything to go by, I would have to move a lot. Considering I was to be the only one in the class since the school was probably already asleep, I couldn't just hang out in the back, claim injury, or disappear to sleep under a tree like I had done countless times at Gyn. Man, I was in deep water.
The teacher smacked me over my head and I resisted the urge to hiss and snap my teeth at her. That was the third time she'd whacked me for not making it through the course in time. They were called "obstacles" for a bloody reason! Of course they were going to slow me down! I didn't even exercise on a regular basis and she expected me to run through shooting ranges that were intent on skewing me with blunted arrows, crawl under and through areas that a pixie would have a hard time dealing with, cross a beam suspended over water, jump a multitude of walls, swing from randomly placed grips that did nothing but slip out of my hands and still cross the finish line with time to spare? Uh-uh. Not happening in this life, my next, or the one after that. Of course, she would send me into my next one if she kept up with this pace.
"Come on, Hallowe," she reprimanded, her hands on her hips and her brown eyes spitting fire and disappointment. "Enough resting. Go and do it again. Your time is crap. I've seen grandmas run faster than you."
"Again?" I sputtered, giving her a disbelieving look from where I was bent over trying to catch my breath. "You're insane!"
She seemed to think for a second before shrugging as if in agreement. "So what? Crazy got me this job. Now get off your skinny ass and get moving."
Defiantly, I parked my "skinny ass" on the ground, the dusty track creating a cloud as I thumped down. I shook my head. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that rest is just as important as hard work?" Not that I ever believed in hard work, but that didn't matter a wink.
"Does it look like I care?"
"Obviously not," I wrinkled my nose at the small woman, not hesitating to show my displeasure. She was petite for some that was so obviously an adult, but she was powerful. Her presence demanded attention even when she just stood there. She had an air about her that would make a vamp proud, but right now I was just hating her stubborn authority and obvious lack of understanding for my physical inabilities. "You still haven't even introduced yourself properly, you know. What happened to manners and propriety?"
She shrugged, crouching next to me in a very mannish way to draw in the dirt with a blunt finger. Her medium-length, damaged red hair fell over her shoulder. "Who cares about propriety? Besides, you've read your schedule. It has my name there, so I shouldn't need to repeat it."
She didn't. I knew her name, but that wasn't the point. Of course, I was just trying to distract her before she made me do pushups or something of the like and I passed out from exhaustion. Sybel Tosh had a way of working you until your very bones ached and she seemed to take exquisite delight in forcing others to their limits. I hadn't felt so tired since. . . Well, I'd never felt this tire before at all, so she was making her way onto my black list with increasing speed.
"Aren't we going to do anything other than run obstacle courses?" I asked, leaning back on my hands and wondering when exactly it was that my lungs started to feel on fire.
"We aren't going to do anything," she corrected, giving me a discouraging look that twisted her rather plain features into a sort of creepy-like prettiness. Strange. I had never come across a woman who looked better angry than smiling. "You, on the other hand, are going to run this course until you stop getting hit with things and can finish with a decent time." She turned her attention back to her dirt drawing, reaching out with her arm to get a larger scape. "Your balance is great; your strength when it comes to holding yourself up sucks. You run at amazing speeds on flat stretches of land, but throw something in your way and you're slower than molasses on a cold day." Her face scrunched up. "And what's with the bubble-thing? You've gotta stop that. We can't keep taking a break in the middle of a course because you can't control your water-works."
She stood, patting her hands to get the dirt off, and sighed. "We've got a lot of work to do. We've got to strengthen your body first. You're not gonna be able to do this easy stuff—which you've made painfully obvious—with no muscle." She started walking away, waving at me to follow. "Come on, hot stuff. Break's over."
Standing, I wiped my hands on my pants and frowned after her, wishing that I could tell her that I was as athletic as she was fashionable. That would probably earn me another smack, though, and my head still hurt from the last one, so I kept my mouth shut. Instead, I looked down to see what she had been scrawling in the dirt and my eyes widened in surprise. There, outlined in great skill and wonderful detail, was my profile from the top of my head to my shoulders. Underneath it in swirling, beautiful handwriting were the words Welcome to Obstacles, Basil. Let's get along. Sybel.
I looked back at the small woman and sighed. Dammit, why did she have to go and do something cute? This class would have been so much easier if I could hate her.

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BY THE TIME Potent Spells—my last class—was over, it was broaching on two in the morning. I still had a couple hours to kill before the school would wake up and I could get dinner, so I decided to sneak into my and Avery's room and do some remodeling. I finally had a solid idea in mind after everything that had happened today. When Avery's alarm had gone off at three-thirty, I was putting on the finishing touches.
Avery yawned, stretching and making his over-sized shirt fall off his shoulder to reveal the stars etched into his skin. He fumbled out of his bed and came over to stand beside me on the edge of his half of the room. He scratched his stomach. "That's pretty awesome, Basil. What made you come up with it?"
I scanned my half of the room, smiling smugly. The floor was still that glass-over-water effect, but I had shrunk the room considerably, lining the corners with trees that grew so tall and lush, they created a canopy over the room. Twinkling in the leaves and branches were bluish-white lights to give it a sort of star-like roof. It smelled like the rain forest and gave off that kind of feeling—which was perfect and exactly what I had in mind. My bed, too, I had changed into a giant monster of dark cherry-wood with a massive headboard and clawed feet sitting snug against the far wall. My dressers I had hidden in the trunks of the trees sort of like camouflage. All in all, I thought it looked rather nice. "It's a mix of Gyn's cafeteria and a pool, I guess." I shrugged. "I just wanted it to be more outside than in."
Avery yawned again. "You certainly accomplished that." He turned and walked over to his dresser. "Lemme get dressed and we'll head down for food."
When he had on these awful white and red plaid jeans and a black shirt, had messed with his hair, brushed his teeth in the bathroom he made appear in the middle of the room, he finally claimed he was ready and we left. It was nearly four by then and I was hungry enough to start eating his creepy stuffed animals.
The school was littered with students moving sluggishly through the Pavilion and towards the food on the upper levels. Some chatted, some were quiet, others yawned and some seemed to already be practicing spells. Avery and I bypassed them all and went through the door that led into the school. No one was in the halls; they were completely empty aside from the fading moonlight and the creeping predawn. I was going to have to watch the time closely and make sure I didn't get caught with the sun up in this death-trap.
"You're awfully quiet," I commented as we crossed the bridge to the Clock Tower. It was true. Avery hadn't said much of anything. He was just. . . there, really. He didn't seem like Avery when his mouth was shut and the fact that I was even a little worried about him worried me.
The boy folded his arms behind his head, seeming to lounge as he walked. "I'm just not a morning person."
"Neither am I," I agreed with a smile, "but my reasons may be different than yours."
Avery snorted out a laugh. "Yeah. No kidding." He let out an explosive breath, reaching his arms over his head to stretch. "Okie dokie. Let's tackle these steps." He grinned at me as we reached the bottom of the tower. "Race you?"
I scoffed. "Trust me, you can't beat my speed."
Avery's bright eyes sparkled, livening up. "A little cocky, aren't you?"
"Ha! More like you're the one that's cocky." I crossed my arms as we stopped at the bottom of the clock tower steps. "I'm a vampire, remember? Enhanced abilities."
His pretty face turned into a pout a second before it became curious. He glanced at the stairs with rising mischief. "How fast do you think you can make it up there?"
I frowned, thinking it over. I wasn't the fastest vamp, but I was faster than any human could ever hope to be. "A minute maybe? Probably less. But that's from bottom to top."
"Damn," he breathed, his whole demeanor screaming envy. "So from here to the top would be only a few seconds." He grinned. "Glad you're on our side."
I smiled, unable to help myself because, honestly, I was glad too. They were all so genuine I wanted to puke, but it was nice knowing I was accepted so easily somewhere after spending years not knowing where my place was. Being a vamp with excessive water control left you low on the latter of power and likability where the community was concerned. I hadn't been a Halve so I hadn't been picked on too much, but I hadn't been recognized, either. I had just been left alone unless some random female vamp had wanted me for my face—not that I hadn’t gotten my share of girls trailing after me in the long run, but still. All of those people didn't even measure up to Avery's pinky, and I was just fine with that. I would trade them all for him in a minute.
We walked normally up the steps, both of us lost in whatever thoughts happened to be going through our minds. The tower seemed eerie in the early morning and I recalled that Gyn had never felt like this. It was almost a desolate feeling, but it seemed more along the lines of nostalgia than anything. Almost as if the world was waiting for something to happen. There was just too much of all of that floating in the air to make it easy to relax.
Avery opened the door when we reached the top, and walked into the room to see Caine, Cable and Vincent all with plates of eggs, sausages and other breakfast foods. Aisling sat in the back corner with her legs crossed and a bowl of cereal in her lap. She merely glanced at us before tackling her Cheerios again.
I looked over at the table in the corner and watched a whole group of new foods manifest on it. My mouth watered happily in anticipation and I eagerly grabbed a waiting plate, going after the steaming ham and corn they had there. After grabbing a fork and knife and some water, I went and snagged a seat a few feet away from Aisling, ignoring the glare from Caine.
"So," Cable said around a mouthful of pancakes. "How was your first day?"
"Yeah," Vincent agreed. "Who're your teachers?"
I listed them off and they nodded, giving out advice on certain dos and don'ts. It really wasn't anything I hadn't figured out, but that was okay. They were being nice and I actually appreciated the information.
"What did Cullen have to say?" Aisling asked, glancing at me. "Your water ability must have been a treat."
I shrugged. "He said I need work and that's to be expected. I've got to work on dropping my defenses quicker."
"What about the other elements?" she asked.
"He wants to start with wind first and then earth. Fire will be last," I looked at them. "What about you guys? What's your specialties?"
"I'm pretty good at everything," Aisling said in a matter-of-fact voice. She wasn’t boasting, I realized, just stating fact and that was both sexy and intimidating. "But I'm fast. Jumping is my thing. That and wind."
"What are you talking about?" Caine admonished, finishing his eggs and waving his fork at her. "You've held the record for Tosh's hardest obstacle course for the past two years."
My brows rose as Aisling just shrugged. "That's nothing special. I sucked just like everyone else in the beginning."
"Did you?" I asked curiously. If she really had been awful as she claimed, then maybe I could catch up. If I could catch up, I could pass her and then she could stop looking at me like I was inferior and we could get down to the business of getting to know one another on a more intimate level.
"Of course." She frowned at me as if I were missing a very obvious point. "That's why we're here: To train. I trained and now I'm faster, smarter and more capable." She took another bite of her cereal. "I still need more work, though." She placed the bowl to her lips and drank her milk down. I watched her throat work, my eyes falling on the vein pulsing under her skin. I didn't need blood for another day or so, but she made me want it. She made me want her. When she brought the bowl back down and licked the milk from around her lips, I felt parts of me stir to life.
"Basil," Aisling said quietly, her eyes starting to turn white. "Please don't look at me like that."
"Um, yeah, dude," Caine started with slight fear. "Why are your eyes red?"
I blinked, looking away from Aisling and down at my food, trying to control the butterflies that had suddenly settled in my chest and calm my hunger. Suddenly, my ham and corn didn’t look overly as appetizing anymore. "You tell me why Legs' eyes go white and I'll tell you why mine go red."
Awkwardness and silence filled the room, but I hadn't regretted what I said. There were secrets here and I wasn't about to spill mine if they wouldn't spill theirs. The river flowed both ways in this case and, even though I liked this special group, I wasn’t going to spill my blood if they didn’t trust me enough to spill theirs.
I shoved a piece of ham in my mouth and tried not to imagine it being Aisling’s neck when Avery said, "So. . . My specialty is fire and levitation." He wiggled his black-painted fingers at me, winking his eyeliner-ed eye.
"Yeah," Caine muttered angrily. "The evidence is in my garbage."
"What's in your garbage?" I asked him, willing to go along with the change of subject. I turned my attention to Avery, who was smiling wickedly, when Caine didn’t answer. "What's in his garbage?"
"Plants," Avery said happily. "I'm also really good at making glass."
"And Tarot Cards," Cable put in for him, leaning over the back of the couch. "You should have him do a reading on you. He's really accurate."
"Scary accurate," Vincent agreed with a shudder.
I would have to keep that in mind, though I had no idea what they were talking about. "Okay. Cable? What can you do?"
"Wanna see?" she asked excitedly, jumping up from the couch. "Wanna see?!"
Everyone, including myself, was on their feet in an instant, shouting, "No!"
Cable's eyes turned big and watery as she pouted, sitting back on the couch with a "humph".
"So . . What is it that you do, Cable," I asked, eying her warily. Although I had had a first-hand experience with her chaos, I still wasn’texactly sure what it was that had been launched my way.
"Death spells," she muttered.
"She's Ms. Keller's favorite pupil," Avery said with pride, patting her on the back as he reclaimed his seat. "She can't wait until she's old enough to take the class."
"Neither can I," Cable agreed solemnly.
"She's also a little monkey," Caine teased affectionately. "You should see her swing from things."
"I prefer 'ninja'," Cable sniffed indignantly.
"Monkey," Aisling teased quietly and I watched Cable blush.
"You wanna tell him what you're good at, Caine?" Cable snickered, eager to getthe attention off herself for a change.
"Try: Being scared of Penelope," Avery grinned, making Cable laugh.
"Shut up," Caine muttered, rolling his shoulders uncomfortably. "She's creepy as hell."
"I have to agree with Caine on that one," I said with a nod. "That girl is just scary."
Caine seemed to look at me with new eyes, happy that he had found an ally. "I'm good with plants," he told me suddenly, his expression bright and eager to be accepted. "So, uh, if you need help with earth magic, I'm your guy."
"Thanks," I told him a little gratefully, an odd feeling of kinship and apprehension stirring in me. I wasn't sure I would take him up on the offer, but it was good information to know as I turned my attention to his brother. "Right. . . So what about you, Vincent?"
Vincent's fork paused and his eggs dropped back onto his plate with an audible splat. His face colored as his mouth shut and he scratched his head, embarrassed. "Ah, well. . . I'm good at hand-to-hand combat."
"Cullen's the only one that's bested him," Caine said, his eyes glowing proudly and Vincent's chest swelled with obvious love as his own eyes shone. "You should see him mess with light, though. He's amazing."
Vincent's face was red, but his smile was huge. "I'm not that great."
"Are, too," Avery agreed. "He's the best of our generation at it."
"How do you 'mess with light'?" I asked, thoroughly confused.
Avery stood and I watched him light his paper plate on fire, disintegrating it in his hands as he walked over and placed his utensils on the table. "Vince, what time's the sun gonna rise?"
My heart pounded. Bloody hell, I had forgotten all about the sunrise. I spun to look out the window, fear burning through my veins. The sky was golden, the sun not yet over the horizon, but close enough for me to know I had only—
"Twenty seconds," Vincent told us confidently, confirming my suspicion. He started counting down.
My heart pounded and I rose quickly, my nearly-finished plate of food forgotten on the cushions. I ran for the door, reaching it just as Vincent cut off at fifteen. I threw it open and looked around, quickly taking in my surroundings.
The stairway had windows and I couldn't make it all the way back to the dorm before the sun rose. This little alcove was the only windowless room in the whole damn place and even then it was just shadowed sunlight. I was going to be burnt badly, but at least I wouldn't fry. I curled up into the corner of the wall next to the stairs. It was the darkest point and, though I was pissed I didn't get to use my newly made room, it would have to do.
"What are you doing?" Cable asked with obvious confusion as she poked her head out from behind Avery's body. They were all crowded in the doorway, watching me with varying degrees of concern and curiosity. "Why are you sitting there?"
I pointed to the growing sunlight creeping up the stairs. "I'm a vampire, remember? The sun burns. If I'm in it for more than a few minutes, I'm toast. Literally." And since I only needed blood once every three days or so and I was already stretching myself, my skin was like paper to a candle. Shit, I was in such deep water, and it was getting overly hot in here.
"You said you can run faster than a normal human?" Avery asked, thinking.
I gave him a serious look. The wheels were turning in his head quickly and I, for one, was up for anything that could help. But I couldn’t see how my running skills had anything to do with this. "Of course."
"How long would it take you to reach the dorm?" he asked.
My brows came together. "A couple minutes, maybe three? Why?"
"Vincent," Aisling commanded, her gaze on me. "Can you hold the school for that long?"
"I don't know." He looked worried and that made me worried. What were they plotting? "The school has a lot of windows, Ais'."
She nodded, but I said, "Whatever you're thinking, it's alright. I'll just stay here. It's no problem."
"It is," Aisling said and pointed up ominously. "Sunlight."
I looked up and tensed. There was a skylight. A fucking skylight. I wouldn't survive past noon. "Damn whoever made this bloody tower."
Cable reached over and pulled me to my feet, her pink eyes worried but serious. "Run, Basil. As fast as you can, okay?"
I swallowed, looking past her to see Vincent muttering something, his eyes closed. "I'm not liking this," I whined, terror slipping through my veins.
"No choice," Avery quipped and he winked at me as the area around us suddenly darkened to a predawn glow and I suddenly realized that Vincent was going to try and darken the whole school for me. "Let's see how fast you can really run, huh?"
"Go," Caine ordered with such force behind it that I couldn’t help but obey. "Now."
I didn't wait, throwing a "thanks" over my shoulder as I sped down the stairs. I ran through the tunnel within a few seconds, coming out on the third floor of the school. I ran around to the other end of the hall, almost bumping into a few people as I rushed by before fumbling for the door. There were shouts and questions, but I didn’t stop. I shot through the second door, my heart pounding fast as I dashed down the sickeningly long hallway that just seemed to fill with more people as the seconds ticked on. By the time I had made it around the length of the second hall, I could feel the sun starting to slip through Vincent’s spell.
"Fuck," I cursed, panting. I wasn't going to make it through the Pavilion. I had only seconds left, but I prayed that Vincent could hold it longer.
As I opened the door to the Pavilion, my heart sunk as I realized I had less than that.
Morning sunlight poured through the ceiling, coating the room in golden light. I hissed, backpedaling into the growing morning light of the school entrance, glancing briefly behind me and knowing Vincent couldn't hold the school for much longer. It seemed the blumbering giant had forgotten to cast his spell over the Pavilion. That was nearly six-hundred feet of sunlight before I got to the shelter of the dorm house. I didn’t have a choice. I was going to have to run and hope to god that whatever damage was done, it wasn’t permanent. Damn it all, this was going to sting.
Steeling myself, I clenched my fists and charged, gritting my teeth as I hit the first onslaught of sun. My skin sizzled almost instantly, my clothes starting to smolder where it became too hot underneath as my exposed skin took the worst damage, starting with a sunburn and then turning worse—far, far worse. Still, I ran, jumping down into the dirt with a cloud of dust before racing straight across the arena, leaving more dust in my wake. People watched, some screamed, but none of them moved, none of them helped. By the time I made it to the door, my hands were fried, blisters bubbling on the skin and bursting. My face was probably just as bad, if not worse, and I tried to quell the scream that made its way up my throat from the pain. However, the hot, burning tracks of my tears were something I could not stop.
Something heavy fell over my head and I hissed in pain, letting out a yelp, still trying to get the knob on the door to turn. Unfortunately, the blisters that had popped had secreted juice and blood making the knob slippery and unable to turn. I looked up at whoever had dropped whatever over my head and was shocked to see Cullen there, his expression pissed and concerned. His big hand gently removed mine from the knob, peeling my shaking, melting fingers from the metal and he picked me up. It was a good thing too, because I couldn't move anymore. My legs were useless, stiff and the skin under them showing through from where the cloth had been burnt away, the muscles on fire as I tried to keep myself going, my body using all its energy to heal the damage it couldn’t keep up with. I would have fried where I stood even if I had gotten the door open. The sun was boiling my skin and I whimpered as Cullen’s hands held tight to me, breaking my sensitive skin even as he shielded me as much as he could.
He pulled the giant jacket over my head, but not before I caught a glimpse of an out-of-breath Shott, my Runes teacher, standing a few feet away trying to catch his breath. "Jason," Cullen ordered sharply.
"Got you covered," the man's voice sang out.
There was the muttering of Runes and then cool relief settled in the form of shadows around me as the sun disappeared. I let out a breath of relief, but I was burned so bad that even that hurt and it turned into a broken sob that even I couldn’t be ashamed of. Absently, I wondered if my skin had turned black. I was shaking so hard and my breaths were coming in ragged gasps as I tried not to curl into a ball and cry. I had no doubt that the tightness and the gross, stinging feel of the blisters bursting and oozing were signs of second degree burns, but I couldn’t see anymore, so I couldn’t tell if the numbness in patches of my skin meant that it had been burnt to a crisp or been left blissfully untouched.
The murmurs of the students were a buzz that I just wanted to disappear. My head felt as heavy as my eyes were swollen and I laid it gingerly on Cullen’s chest, unable to hold it up any longer.
Gently, Cullen removed his jacket, going slower when I hissed as the jacket clung to wet pustules and scraped tender flesh. "Basil," he said in his lilting voice when the jacket was gone. "I'm going to take you to the hospital wing. Every movement will probably hurt, lad, so I'll be apologizing beforehand for that."
"S'okay," I was able to get out. The shaking was getting worse, my head getting dizzy and my hair soaked with sweat from the pain and heat as I tried to stay as still as possible.
"What is it that we should give you?" he asked. "We're not in the custom of healing vampires."
My mouth was dry and I wanted to swallow, but the knowledge of how much it would hurt stopped me. "B-Blood," I hissed out from split lips then remembered that they only had stored packs. I cracked open my eyes to let him know I was serious. "Fresh blood."
Cullen frowned in the darkness, but nodded. He shifted me and I gritted through the pain, trying to hold back the tears that would no doubt burn their way down my cheeks. "Jason, follow us and keep the shadows strong." Cullen smiled at me. "You've got some wonderful friends, there, boyo.” He heaved in a heavy breath, his hands tightening on me. “Seems I wasn't quick enough, and I'm sorry for that."
"Just get me out of here."
I closed my eyes, unable to keep them open from the swelling and concentrated on forgetting the pain as Cullen took each jarring step forward, his pace quickening as the seconds passed. But I really didn't care as much anymore. Suddenly, the thought of fresh blood was the only thing that filled my mind. If I hadn't been so badly burned, I might have attacked Cullen, but, then again, I wouldn't be craving it if I had just paid a little more attention. I wanted blood and I wanted it badly. I needed it. It would heal, it would help, it would taste so good. Just the thought nearly had me crying in relief. But the tears would have to wait until I got to the Infirmary.
Even so, as we spun through the halls, I wondered whose blood they were going to let me drink. I wondered who would volunteer. I hoped it was Aisling. My mouth watered in anticipation—even if it couldn't open wide enough to use it.