Allison sighed heavily when she sat down in the driver’s seat. Aryna had already gotten herself out of the backseat and into the passenger seat. Allison pulled her seat belt on and pulled away from the curb. Aryna smiled at her.
“You are an excellent big sister, and beacon.”
Allison rolled her eyes.
“I’m begging you here, just do not remind me of that conversation.”
Aryna laughed. The high school was only a two-minute drive from the elementary school. Allison pulled into a parking spot. The school had enough for each student who was old enough to drive and then some. Winters were so bitterly cold here the System’s Alliance and Church of the Dark Mother had ensured they could get to school and not freeze to death randomly. Allison was in for a surprise when she reached her locker. A scene from her first day of school was replaying over again as Tyler once again was taking forever to get his things. She stood behind him with her hands on her hips and addressed him.
“Are all of you dome kids this slow, or is it only the ones who have been in a coma for three months?”
Tyler looked back at her with a smile. Allison leaned on the lockers.
“How did you get out? Good behavior?”
Tyler had some issues standing up. Allison could tell he was still lacking muscle mass without her scanner. She knew that feeling well. While the doctors could get you ninety percent of the way there, the last ten percent was a steep hill littered with physical therapy and exercise. She offered her hand and pulled him up when he took it.
“We can swap lockers if you want. I don’t think anyone would complain. That way you won’t have to kneel down.”
Tyler shook his head.
“It’s fine. I’m getting better every day.”
Allison opened her locker and got her things prepared for her morning classes. Allison slapped her locker door and it slammed shut she heard the headmistress clearing her throat behind her. Then the woman’s Indian accented voice.
“We prefer you not abuse school property, even if you are the Dark Mother’s chosen.”
Allison blushed.
“Sorry, headmistress, I will not do it again.”
The headmistress glanced in the direction of Sister Silra’s classroom.
“Well, carry on, let’s set a good example for our new students.”
Allison would have been rushing to class, but she decided to take it slow with Tyler. Ajay must have forgotten just who Allison was because he quipped.
“I can’t believe how boring Allison is, she went on one date with the guy and he slept for three months.”
Allison clutched her tablet to her chest and ignored him. Dark Mother’s daughter or not, she was on thin ice with the headmistress after an incident with her history teacher. Things had gotten heated, and she had insulted his parentage, his educational qualifications and his general intelligence. The headmistress had a three-strike rule. Allison had used her last strike, so even a minor infraction would end with a call to her mother, she had been on her best behavior. Perhaps Ajay had learned that the dhampir had no teeth. Apparently Hope had heard him because after a wink at Allison the British girl grabbed him and spun him around.
“Oy you sexist prat, she don’t owe you anything, shut it and keep it shut before I rip your joystick and bullocks off and stick them in that cunt like mouth of yours so you’ll stop spewing that vileness.”
Ajay laughed at her; Hope shoved him into his locker and grabbed his jaw.
“Remember, I make it a habit of getting the boot from schools.”
Allison rushed over and grabbed Hope’s shoulder.
“He’s not worth it.”
Hope clenched her other hand into a fist. Ajay seemed hopelessly overpowered by her somehow. She addressed him again.
“When she’s the calm one, it’s time to be scared.”
Hope released him. Allison caught Sister Silra disappearing into her classroom. The Sauroid had witnessed the whole altercation and let it slide. Which was how she liked to do things. Allison respected that about her, in fact it was one of the reasons she was her favorite teacher. If she could pretend she didn’t see it she would. Allison wasn’t sure if it was just the natural tendency for light side Sauroids to be conflict averse or teaching interpersonal skills by letting the jungle sort itself out.
Allison sat down in her usual seat. Tyler had gone ahead because he needed the extra time and he didn’t like conflict either. Allison glanced around herself. It was a strange year. Instead of people avoiding her, people were actively trying to sit near her. Trixie, who Allison would have been happy to have despise her had swapped seats with a boy to sit beside Allison, on the other side, Tyler had chosen to stay beside her. Aryna sat to the front and to the left. Hope had taken up the seat in front of her, and Tajinder, who was a very open and flamboyant gay boy took up the final spot. He was also a cheerleader. The only one who was into other boys, the other four boys just liked dancing and gymnastics, much to Tajinder’s dismay. Around them were some more of the cheerleading squad. Allison had actively tried to avoid taking any role besides showing up, but the squad still voted her to be the cheer captain. It had been unanimous, and at least one of them actively hated her. To make her life more miserable, Trixie was her assistant captain.
The class had eight new students. Thankfully, the school hadn’t been even near capacity yet, it was meant to support a settlement of thirty thousand people, before the refugees, Eden Prime, now New Alexandria, had ten thousand people. Even now there were still several seats free. Allison recognized one of the girls, and one of the boys. They were staying at the embassy, and she had been there a couple of days volunteering with the younger children, mostly to make Robin familiar with them so she’d know people at her first school. The other six were obviously not orphans. One was still wearing a cast on their wrist. Bone regeneration was an expensive business, at least in the System’s Alliance, so was reserved for emergencies, or soldiers, and of course, those willing to pay. If she had been at the embassy, it would have been healed already. The League did not charge for medical treatment. Sister Silra returned to the room and slammed her tail into the ground several times to quiet the class down.
Allison tried not to laugh when the non-orphan students did a double take at Sister Silra. It was conceivable none had ever seen a non-human in the flesh before, and Sauroids with their razor sharp predatory looking teeth could give people the wrong impression, much like it had Tyler in the beginning. Sister Silra lifted her hands and lowered them.
“For those new to the school, I am Sister Silra. I am your religion teacher. To start the day off here we have the Dark Lady’s prayer, the System’s Alliance pledge, a reading from her book and announcements. If you do not know the prayer, you will find it on your school tablets just read along. This is a religious school, while you may not believe, which we as followers of the Dark Mother believe is your absolute and undeniable right, we do expect you to at least respect her in her own house.”
Allison went through the motions for the prayer, the System’s Alliance pledge used to be different, when she actually believed in it. After the mess with her mother, then Robin and the commune she was starting to have her doubts in the System’s Alliance as an entity. The shiny exterior hid a pretty tarnished core.
“I, Allison Wanjala, solemnly pledge to uphold the ideals set forth by the governing board of the System’s Alliance. I will be my best self. I will strive for greatness. I will respect the sanctity of all sentient life. I will bring the light of civilization to the furthest reaches of the universe. I will protect my fellow sentients. I will be a champion of freedom and justice. This I swear, as a citizen of the System’s Alliance.”
The class sat down. The reading today was the same as it always was on January eleventh, it was the accepted anniversary of the Dark Mother’s sacrifice. It would be a religious holiday, and was on Sauroid Prime, everywhere else, not so much, the System’s Alliance didn’t celebrate religious holidays. Christmas might seem like an exception, but it had lost its religious significance over the centuries, at least for the majority of the population. Now it was an excuse to give people time off so they can give gifts and spend a lot of credits. It wasn’t the whole story, just the bits that made her look good. It skipped over the part where she turned thousands of vampires into pillars of ash.
The Dark Mother recalled the words of her brother, the son of the lord, “Sister, it is my time to make the sacrifice of love, in time you will face this choice, and you will realize it is not a choice, but an inevitability. On that day, you will embrace your husband as a dutiful wife should. You will say, my husband, I am sorry, I have been a poor wife. Please, take me back, so I may lay by your side. So, I may serve and honor you as a wife should. In his arrogance he will believe you. And in his arrogance, he will find his end.” The Dark Mother looked at her husband. She saw only the great deceiver behind his eyes, she looked at her daughter and her sister. In that moment she knew, the sacrifice was to be hers alone. She sheathed her sword and held up her hands. She spoke as Christ predicted she would, the words tasted like poison on her tongue. She declared herself a terrible wife and pledged to submit fully to her husband. In his arrogance he believed her. In his arrogance he found his doom. She kissed his cheek as they embraced and she spoke to him intimately as a wife should, but her words landed as poison to his soul. I see you great deceiver, you have not fooled me, but I have fooled you. I would never submit to you. I may be a wife, but I am no slave. Your arrogance is your doom brother. For I know the secret that will end you. He had but an instant to understand his folly, as they vanished from the world in a flash of holy light.
Allison pondered the story she had read a few versions. The stories of the Dark Mother had shaped her life and beliefs more than she would like to admit. Sister Silra started the class after the announcements.
“Well, first of all, welcome to all of our new students, and welcome back from the holidays to the rest of you. Today as we observe the anniversary of the Dark Mother’s sacrifice, I would like the class to apply the lessons from the story to our lives. So, I would like everyone to write a few paragraphs, describing how you can use self-sacrifice to make your life better.”
The class groaned. She put her talon to her lips.
“I know this is a very hard assignment, self-assessment always is, but it is a valuable skill that you can use outside of school. Before we can truly understand ourselves, we must understand others, for it is through our reflections in them that we can see our true selves. So, would anyone like to volunteer to tell the class the lesson from this story, why we call this Sacrifice Day?”
One of the new girls who had been sitting up straight the whole time and paying rapt attention held up her hand. Allison rolled her eyes and thought ugg, keener. Sister Silra motioned to her.
“Go ahead Candace.”
Candace who had a know-it-all inflection to her voice said.
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“Everyone knows from earlier in the story that the Dark Mother, her sister and her daughter were supposed to face him in the final battle together, but the Dark Mother went alone, ensuring they survived and making her death almost certain. She loved her sister and her daughter, so she sacrificed herself, like we should be willing to do for our families.”
Sister Silra’s tail slapped against the floor gently.
“Excellent, use of context, but I am sorry Candace, you missed something important in this story.”
Candace would have ruffled feathers, if she had any, she did not look pleased. Sister Silra tapped her chin with her claw. Her tail started slapping the floor while she pointed another talon around the room seeking a victim. Finally, she landed on Allison.
“Allison, what is the lesson from this story, what sacrifice did the Dark Mother make, what could be more of a sacrifice then her life?”
Allison blushed and shook her head. Aryna looked back at her encouragingly. Allison sighed.
“It’s probably wrong but if I have to answer. She sacrificed her pride, she always said that a true mother will die for their children. Giving her life to guarantee Eyre’s survival wouldn’t even have given her pause. She hated being subservient to men. Having to say out loud she’d serve him would have been unthinkable to her, that's why the story said: The words tasted like poison on her tongue. It wasn’t saying she was lying; It was saying the words disgusted her and made her feel sick. That’s why other versions say: It tasted as bile on her tongue.”
Sister Silra’s tail was full on slapping the ground.
“Yes, exactly right, though, why did you say Eyre, instead of daughter?”
Allison blinked a few times and realized she had said Eyre’s name.
“Sorry, Sister, I must have misspoken.”
Sister Silra looked over the class.
“Of course, well, Allison is correct. The story tells us that sacrificing our lives is easier than sacrificing our pride, our prejudices, and our need for revenge. That is what you will write about, how can you improve your life by sacrificing any, or all of the above. As a Sister of the Dark Mother, I would also ask you to consider making one such sacrifice to honor her sacrifice today, if you are a believer, even if you are not, you may find it is good for you.”
Tyler raised his hand. He quickly pulled it down when he noticed people looking at him. Allison loved how shy he was, she thought it was cute. Sister Silra noticed his hand and motioned toward him.
“Tyler, you know this is a safe space, no need to be shy, what is your question?”
Tyler looked around at everyone, then at Allison, she nodded at him, trying to encourage him. She wished the world could see the Tyler she knew. He stammered a few times before finally asking his question.
“Sister, how do we sacrifice revenge? I… I don’t understand.”
Sister Silra waved for Candace to lower her hand, she answered him directly.
“We sacrifice our need for vengeance by offering forgiveness. Revenge is a symptom of pride and hate. Pride is like many toxic substances, in very small doses it is beneficial, it lifts us up, but when pride pushes us to avenge ourselves or others it is dangerous. That pride leads to anger, which leads to hate. It is the hate that fuels our need for vengeance. To sacrifice our revenge, we must sacrifice our hate, and our pride. We must forgive the source of our hatred. This does not mean we forget. We must never forget so we may learn from the past. Forgiveness is the balm that heals your wounds. You are doing it for yourself not for who, or whatever wronged you. It is first aid for our souls.”
Allison shrunk into her seat. She immediately thought it was her he was talking about. She’d left him in a coma, she was the reason he was so weak. He would likely never be able to see his father again. She pushed her tears back so only a bit of moistness clouded her eyes. She stared at the blank document on her school tablet. How could she forgive anyone else, if she could not forgive herself? She hadn’t written a single thing down by the time class ended. Trixie had to nudge her to let her know it was time for their next class. Allison stood up and held her tablet to herself. She didn’t quite get out of the room, Sister Silra stopped her with a softly spoken.
“Allison?”
Allison turned to her. Sister Silra pointed to Allison’s tablet.
“You didn’t write anything down.”
Allison sighed.
“I’m sorry, I’ll get it done.”
Sister Silra shook her head.
“No, it is fine, you get an A.”
Allison protested.
“I can do the work. Just because I’m her biological daughter doesn’t mean I should get a pass…”
Sister Silra tapped her desk with her talons.
“No, that is not why. This is an exercise to show you understand all the meanings of self-sacrifice. Allison, you have displayed your knowledge of this subject time and again, especially this year, just this morning I watched you ignore your pride when Ajay prodded you. On two occasions that I know of you have risked everything to save others. I am sure you have aptly displayed a thorough understanding of the exercise. Which is what the grading scale set out by the System’s Alliance indicates an A rating, I would make it an A+ but I heard your shouting match with Mr. Mohammad, that was an instance where you let pride get in your way. Go on before you’re late for your next class.”
Allison trudged to her next class. The day wore on. She was pretty confused when Tyler sat down for lunch with her and her cheerleading friends, like nothing was wrong. She was on her way to return her dirty dishes and lunch tray when she almost ran into a very large boy. Large was hopelessly inadequate to describe what she assumed was a senior until she saw how youthful his face was when she looked way up. He was six foot eight inches and if he was less sturdy, he might have been a basketball star. He was definitely one of the refugees from Yellowstone. She spoke quietly.
“Sorry, excuse me, wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”
She moved to step around him he moved to block her path. She looked up at him.
“Do you need something?”
He shoved her shoulder when he spoke she wondered if whatever growth hormones he’d been taking to get so big by grade 9 had also damaged his brain.
“I don’t like you; You look funny.”
Allison didn’t take the bait she was not willing to risk a call to her mother by engaging this neanderthal in any form of conflict, be it verbal or otherwise. She shrugged.
“Sure, whatever. Guess that’s your right.”
He shoved her and she went sprawling. He was so strong she wasn’t sure if she could have resisted without dipping into her blood vitality. She took a deep breath and wondered what the guy’s damage was but still, the thought of dealing with her mother being called by the school kept her from even acting to defend herself. She just got on her knee and started putting the fallen dishes back on her tray. She had made the mistake of turning her back on him. She felt something cold dripping down her hair and back. She felt her fangs coming out; She pleaded with her body. Please no, please no, please no. Not now.
Allison wiped the sticky peach juice from her face and stood up. She’d managed to keep it together so far. She hoped he had enough fun but was sorely disappointed when he pushed her back down and high-fived his smaller friend. This time she hit her head on a table causing it to shift. She smelt her blood before she felt it. There it was: The beast was truly almost unstoppable once she was hurt. She looked up at him from the floor.
“Leave me alone, I won’t be able to warn you again.”
He laughed.
“What are you going to do about it little girl? Everyone says you are scary; I don’t see it. Quit picking on kids. Or I’ll really get started.”
Allison looked down at the remnants of a bowl of guacamole splashed across her chest. Then he spit on her face. By this time the blood from the cut on her forehead had reached her lips. There was no controlling her vampire side now. It tasted blood and it wanted more. Before he or his friends reacted, she was on top of him. She grabbed him by his throat and lifted him up with one hand while he was tall enough his toes were still on the ground; It was pretty obvious he’d fucked around and was about to find out. Her eyes were glowing gold and her fangs were showing. She sounded feral when she spoke.
“You wanted me angry, well Tinkerbell, you got your wish, wanna see me get started?”
The promise of superiority and security his size advantage had given him had been proven quite false and a trickle of yellow liquid pooled at their feet. She threw him into his own mess with what was probably too much force. There was an audible crack that made everyone in the vicinity wince. She looked at his friends who were falling over themselves to get away. She turned to the cafeteria.
“Now if anyone else has a problem with me, now’s the fucking time.”
She looked around at a cafeteria full of terrified faces.
“Don’t be shy? Who else wants to try their luck? Besho? Are you tired of sending morons to do your dirty work? Wanna try me? Any other new kids want to give it a shot? Get your fifteen minutes of fame on social media?”
The kid on the ground was trying to get up and Allison pointed at him without looking in his direction.
“Stay down, kid.”
He stopped trying to get up. Allison turned to the unlucky soul who pushed his luck too far. She spoke quietly.
“If I see any portion of this show up on the Alliance-net, I will release all of my footage, from you picking the fight to you peeing yourself. I’m going to leave the cafeteria and get cleaned up. I’m going to do something for you that you don’t deserve, you ungrateful shit. I’m going to give you a third chance after you squandered the second chance that I gave you when I risked my life to stop your colony from being turned into an irradiated crater.”
Allison left the cafeteria. The staff of the cafeteria had a non-interference policy and would call teachers in to deal with discipline issues. The one who happened to respond today was the headmistress. She saw Allison and frowned.
“Allison, are you alright, who did this to you?”
Allison pointed back into the cafeteria.
“He is going to need medical treatment. I will go clean myself up and change into my gym clothes and come to the office to wait for my mom.”
The headmistress touched near the cut on Allison’s forehead.
“We need to take a holo of your injury first.”
Allison sighed.
“It is already healed, headmistress. Now it’s just blood. I can send you all of my recorded feed.”
The headmistress looked quite upset, Allison had been panicking but as she made her way from her locker to the girl’s change room and cleaned herself up. She just became resigned to her fate. She could have pushed harder to resist. It was on her. Mostly she felt bad for the kid who her scanner told her had a broken collar bone. She was sure Besho had used him as a cat’s paw, like she always did. Allison had her uniform wrapped in a bundle in her school bag. She watched the kid walk out of the headmistress’s office. He had an ice pack on his shoulder. He was between a bearded bear of a man who looked downright pissed and a slip of a woman who was maybe five feet tall. The kid’s eyes never left the floor. She overheard the man speaking after they left the office.
“Since when was it okay to hit a girl? Your mother and I are ashamed, they took us in, and the first thing you do is beat up a war hero? We raised you better than this get used to living like a hermit because you are grounded from everything.”
Allison leaned back on her chair and closed her eyes. She heard her name being called by the headmistress. She sighed and stood up. She looked around the office, her mother was nowhere to be seen. This caused instant confusion. The headmistress motioned to her door and then one of her seats. Allison closed the door and sat down. She hung her head.
“Ma’am, it’s okay if you call my mom. I shouldn’t have fed the troll.”
The headmistress held up her hands and whispered a prayer to the Dark Mother before addressing Allison.
“Allison, you have been an exemplary student, since the incident with Mr. Mohammad. No late arrivals. No discipline complaints. You have been engaging in your classes. In fact, I was starting to wonder who had replaced the real you. I reviewed the footage with Walter’s parents. They agree, he was out of line. They agreed we should handle this in the school and not involve the authorities, small wonder, since their son was the aggressor and according to the video, you saved them.”
Allison’s hands went to her mouth.
“Oh, that’s classified. I am in so much trouble.”
The headmistress held up her hands.
“I did not show them that part of the holo-recording. Their son’s actions that led to the physical altercation and your warning were sufficient to get my point across. A boy that big throwing you down was a very bad look for him. I still need to discipline you; You are suspended from the cheerleading team for two weeks. I hate to lose you but, actions have consequences.”
Allison blinked at the headmistress. That wasn’t a punishment, that was, a gift. She realized the headmistress knew that, but the board wouldn’t, Allison decided to play it up.
“Headmistress, we have a competition in three weeks. I can’t be away from the team, I’m the captain, don’t punish them for my actions. How about detention? In school suspension?”
The headmistress shook her head.
“I know how much cheerleading means to you, but I am sorry, extracurricular activities are a privilege. We may have to rethink your position as captain when you return. The example you set today was anything but good. Go back to class, I have notified your afternoon instructors you are excused from wearing a school uniform. I expect more restraint and better choices from you going forward.”
Allison left the office. Two weeks off from cheerleading was something to celebrate, her mother not being involved was another thing to celebrate, of course she still had to live down her rant in the cafeteria. Allison sunk into her seat when she reached her history class. They were studying the history of FTL travel. She could just ask her Aunt all about it, but then she’d fail again because her history teacher thought history could be interpreted and not just known. Her whole conflict had come about when he denied the existence of anything that survived the Grey. Oh, and he also denied the existence of vampires. He claimed they were just a biological experiment by BMC, and that they were clones BMC was using to maintain control of the government. Mr. Mohammad was a conspiracy nut and Allison despised his delusions. Of course, no school board in their right mind would keep him employed if they knew this, but they didn’t because he kept his radical beliefs hidden behind an anonymous online handle. Allison would love to tell everyone about it if for no other reason to shut her mom up, but she’d only found it out because she abused Zebra’s attack daemons and spider daemons to investigate him.