I’m not even sure how to react to the information I received from Priscilla. She… should I believe what she said? Was she lying to me? I… don’t know who I can trust… First the dean tells me something ridiculous like he knew one of my ancestors, and then Priscilla tells me that he was lying and that he had tried to pull the same trick on her when she was the human student. Why would either of them want to lie to me? I just cannot get a hold of the situation I am in. I am still excited for this day at school however because… who knows what else I could learn? True or false, any information that could keep me alive, that I believed would keep me alive, I would use at some point. Hopefully I'll keep my wits about me as I continue through this school year, let alone this quarter. But before I can think of the future, I must stay in the present so I can live to possibly see said future. I made myself breakfast and got a shower then dressed. I paused when grabbing my clothes because I saw Priscilla’s was still in my dorm room. She had put her old clothes where the new ones had been for her to wear. I was just confused by her desire to change in front of me, and why she thought it necessary. My face flustered at the thought of what happened last night, but it would be hard to forget about that anytime soon. My mind raced for what felt like hours as I walked to the front entrance of the school to get ready for P.E. Many of the things I was thinking of had to do with vampire-human relationships, and just how old everyone in this school is. Humans aren’t allowed to celebrate their birthdays or to even know how old we are because we were indoctrinated to believe we didn’t deserve those luxuries. Even with the situation humans are in as cattle, what could we even use to celebrate things such as birthdays? How many should I have had? How old was I? I looked as old as the other students, but Priscilla and the dean have said they are far older than their looks let on. How long do vampires even live for? Who’s the oldest vampire? Who’s the oldest human? Before I knew it, I was already dressed for P.E. and already running around the track for the morning. I hadn’t even noticed the stares I would normally get from the other students. It’s like my brain shut down while I was thinking such ridiculous questions. But how old was I? Could I ask the dean? Priscilla maybe? I can’t even guess how old I am with my peers because I do not know how to gauge a vampire by their looks with them looking so young. I could possibly ask the anatomy teacher. He would have the best information as to how old I am. If I were to be turned, would they tell me? Class was half way through now and we were playing a different game than soccer. The coach had called it “flag football.” Although the flags were a bit cumbersome to get on and keep on, it was fairly fun, but I would always get out first since I wasn’t as fast as the other students without constantly pushing myself. Soon the games had ended and the coach called us in to tell us what was in store for next week. He looked towards me when speaking and told me “Since you have to stay on the school grounds, you’re more than welcome to use this field to keep your physical abilities in check. Just leave me a note in the locker room for when you are using it and when you finish.” I nodded and the bell rang. We all went into the locker room and changed, getting ready for our next period. Math was somehow much more upbeat than the other days. It could’ve been because it was almost the weekend, but the teacher still seemed gloomy. The class, once again, wasn’t very difficult, but the teacher handed out pre lesson plans for next week about the kind of curricular we will be dealing with throughout the rest of this quarter. The class flashed past in no time at all. Once I set the lesson plans into my bag, the bell rang and we all set out for our next class. I just remembered that yesterday, I seemingly skipped lunch. I will ask the people I sit with if I in fact did go to lunch. Did I perhaps block what happened? I’ll find out soon enough. History was interesting for this day. We not only spoke of human countries, but also vampire countries. How long they ruled for, when they went extinct or changed names, and even who had ruled them. Many human and vampire countries overlapped with the same ruler being a vampire. One that was rather interesting to hear about was a country called transylvania. While it wasn’t a country, humans believed it to be the birth of vampires hundreds of years ago. In this class, the teacher doesn’t say where vampires got their start since it was seemingly common knowledge among my peers, so I raised my hand and asked. “What was the first vampire country?” The teacher smiled as if intending to laugh but held it back seeing who I was. He sighed and said “No one remembers the name of the country. It’s not a legend since we live in this day and age, but all records of it have been lost to time. The humans had such records stolen from the monastery that the Original vampires hid in, but they kept those records in a library in an ancient city called Alexandria. There was a great fire that had ruined all the knowledge stored in the library, and the records along with the knowledge that the humans had stored went up in flames. Myths say that it was an enraged vampire that started the fire, not knowing that the records were kept in the library. But no one, not even a vampire, is alive from that time expectedly.” The teacher ended his explanation and went back to the lesson. The other students started snickering and leering at me like they were better for having known such information, but I was too invested in writing down that information to save it for later. After a while, the lesson ended, and much like the rest of the classes I have had so far, the teacher handed out lesson plans for next week. Now it was time for lunch and my meeting with my “friend group.” I still wasn’t used to them being so friendly towards me, but maybe today would be different. As I got my food and sat at our usual table, the friend group showed up behind me and sat with me. It sent chills down my spine that I hadn’t heard them, but I noticed one was missing. It was Nathaniel. I was confused and asked “Nathaniel not joining us?” The other’s stared at me like I was crazy. One of the other’s piped up. It was Nathaniel’s friend that would always sit next to him. He spoke up and said “The uh… The dean had him expelled because he tried to drink your blood yesterday… Do… did you forget that happened?” I sat there a little dumbfounded that such a thing happened. I just sat there staring blankly at his empty seat, feeling a little sad that we only had spoken, like really spoken, only once. I just took another bite of my food and said “I must’ve blocked that memory…” The others sat in somber silence as we all finished our food a good while before the lunch bell rang. When our food was gone, that’s when the conversations started up. Everyone was trying to not be awkward about it, but they couldn’t help it. They elected Nathaniel’s friend to speak up. Jace he said his name was before asking me “So… what is it like to be in that situation?” I looked toward him as I drank more water and said “It’s like I am constantly being hunted, and when he had pounced, I just shut down. Almost like I had accepted it.” With nothing left to say, the other’s just went back to talking to themselves until the bell rang. Priscilla was oddly quiet as well. She would normally be the one to ask me such a question when she felt like it. But she looked subdued. Like she was being hunted herself. Once the bell rang, we all started for our fourth periods, eventually walking in different directions. Music class wasn’t anything special. I’m not even sure why I was put into this class because, even though I was more coordinated than some of the students, I wasn’t any good compared to others. But the class was still bearable because of the teacher, Ms. Typing. We all played the music nearly perfectly this time around, which please Ms. Tylin, but she still pointed out mistakes among the students, her usual sharp tone not faltering when a student bared their fangs at her for pointing them out. The class soon ended and Ms. Tylin had said “In the middle of the week, we will be getting another piece of music just as hard as this one was to learn. We will switch between the two every now and again so I can test your skills in not only remembering how the song goes, but how many songs you can play one after the other. Dismissed.” Right after saying that the bell rang. Some of the students laughed at the coincidence, but didn’t stay long. I made my way to anatomy very quickly to try and talk to the teacher for my fifth period. Luckily I had just made it in time before anyone else had arrived, so I got ready to ask my question. When I stopped in front of what would’ve been his desk, I found a different teacher there instead. I stepped out to look at the classroom number, and the teacher laughed and said “Don’t worry Simon, you’re in the right class. Mr. Schreiner had been let go because of unsavory practices he was performing.” The newer, and younger looking teacher stood up and said “My name is Philip. Philip Arronov. I’ll be your new teacher from here on.” He held his hand out for me to shake it and I sort of backed away out of reflex and he looked sheepish as he realized that I still wasn’t used to life here. He put his hands away and said “Maybe another time. Please, take your seat.” I walked passed Mr. Arronov rather briskly and took my usual seat., waiting for everyone else to arrive. Everyone was rather sluggish when entering and I wondered why. They all looked… dead. More than usual at least. Everyone except Priscilla was acting weird. Mr. Arronov clapped his hands together and started speaking after everyone was seated. “Alright! Welcome to anatomy, I will be your new teacher, Mr. Arronov. Some of you may wonder what happened to Mr. Schreiner, but he will no longer be teaching here. So unfortunately, you will have to be with me.” He gave a smile that felt like it had shook the whole room. Not only myself, but everyone else had gotten a cold feeling after he said his name. I shivered because of the smile, but everyone else recognised the name. No one spoke up. Mr. Arronov started his lesson holding the smile. He was a natural at being a teacher despite the imposing aura he exuded, and the constant predatory smile he never got rid of. He touched on older subjects we had already learned so he could grasp our current knowledge and he clicked his tongue when figuring out that we had only just learned of the blood healing that Mr. Schreiner demonstrated. He looked around and said “I believe the teachers are lacking here if that is all you learned from Schreiner. Shame how this seems to have fallen.” There was a confused silence, but Mr. Arronov did not elaborate. He started to speak faster than Mr. Schreiner, making it difficult to understand him. Everyone else seemed to be fine after a while, but I was behind by a good margin. Priscilla spared me a glance and just sighed, continuing to take her notes. The class ended far quicker than it should’ve. Mr. Arronov finished with a twirl and laughed, like this was exhilarating for him. He snapped his fingers and the bell rang. He looked at his watch and said “Right on cue.” He waved off every student, especially so at me. When I left, I barely heard him say “Hope you survive meat bag.” I turned around to look at him, but the door closed too quickly. I hadn’t noticed, but I broke out into a cold sweat when I exited. The sheer pressure made me realize that whenever he looked around the room made everyone take a gasp and hold their breath. I almost ran away from that class room, not wanting to be there any more. I sat against my locker wall and just looked at the blood stain next to me. Something about Mr. Arronov felt off. Like he was trying to get the reaction that he was looking for. Not from everyone else, but solely from me. He deepened the enigma that was this school. Picking myself up, I grabbed my things for my last class, wanting the comforting silence that would’ve been my heart and brain. Walking into the class, everyone could smell the sweat on me and turned to see that I was in distress. I, for better or worse, had gotten used to the feeling, so I just sat down and waited for class to begin. This class went back to exploring previous vampire rulers, the class eventually ending on Alexander the great. Nothing was known about him in the current day and age. But he was a striking figure in both human and vampire societies. Not only conquering most of the known world at the time, but also being a fantastic ruler from the vampire’s perspective. Even statue busts that portrayed his face looked imposing. Something wasn’t right about the busts. I couldn’t put a finger on why it felt off, but I would have to figure it out for later. The bell rang for the last time, for me at least, and everyone made their way out. I couldn’t stop thinking about Mr. Arronov and his smile. His curly red hair and wicked look in his eyes made him look like he was trying to spit fire from his eyes while fire erupted from his head. I walked up to the dean’s office and gave it a firm knock. The right door opened slowly for me to enter, and I entered looking for answers. The dean looked towards me and said “How can I help you Simon?” I stopped in front of his desk and asked “How old am I?” He laughed heartily at my question, his body buckling over from the sudden surprise of such a question. He wasn’t expecting such conviction and seriousness from a question so simple, but when he stopped and looked at me, he sighed and said “Are you sure you want to know Simon? You might regret the answer you seek.” I looked at him with disgust for the first time and said “I am not believing the tale you told me of my ‘ancestor.’ I know for a fact I am human because of the experiment Mr. Schreiner had conducted. You will not confuse me with more conjecture.” The dean smiled and asked “Now what student uses such language? Especially when they come to learn? If you must know how old you are, I cannot tell you.” I looked angry and leaned up against his desk, speaking in a way that felt familiar yet foreign. “If you cannot tell me then why am I even bothering asking such a simple question to an imbecile?” The dean held up a hand and said “I may not be able to answer your question, and you may have the privileges of being a human in this school, but I will not tolerate such a personality if you persist. I truly do not know how old you are. You just appeared out of nowhere one day, and your ‘parents’ made your interest in this school known. This is not a lie, I can promise you that.” I knew he wasn’t lying… but why did I know that? What am I? Could his previous story be true? Was I really the great great great grandson of a human-vampire relationship? I tightened my grip on his desk and just stormed off to my dorm room. The dean chuckled to himself, and everything afterwards became a blur of emotions, and actions I have no recollection of… That’s when it hit me as I lay down to sleep. Alexander the great… Looked like pictures of my grandfather. What pictures? How did I even know what my grandfather looked like? I barely even remember my parents… if they really are my parents. Who am I?

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