Today felt like any other when I woke up. The sun hurt my eyes when I opened them and my body wanted to stay in the bed forever rather than walk around and wake up. My hair was matted and a mess. My tongue was drier than usual though. I couldn’t really think as to why that would be the case but, it was fine. Doing my normal morning routine was much more of a drag for some reason. I was completely normal today. Right? Just to make sure, I walked into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. When I stared into the mirror, after my eyes adjusted to the harsh lighting, all I saw was a normal, unkempt, male human student of Redcrest Academy. Wasn’t sure why I felt the way I was but I kept doing my normal routine, freshening up. After I had finished my breakfast, not only did I notice the time, but a knock sounded from my door. Thankfully, the door was mostly window so I could see that… It was the dean. All I could think about was the last time he was here. Rebecca, her blood spilled across the floor, her headless body falling unceremoniously onto the ground, her head, held by her hair, in the dean’s right hand. I trepidatiously walked to the door and opened it for the dean. He gave a weak, almost subservient smile to me and asked “May I come in Simon?” I walked away slowly and left the door open for him, not verbally giving him any acknowledgement. He slumped his shoulder and sighed, walking in and closing the door. When I sat down at the table, I looked at the clock once again and stiffened. It was nearly 10 in the morning. Why had I slept through most of the morning, effectively ditching classes? Was I that exhausted yesterday? Did I sleep walk like I used to as a child? Why was I missing hours of my life for seemingly no reason. Before I could think of more questions, the dean took a seat to my right and cleared his throat to get my attention. I snapped my head to him in a startled haze and asked “W-w… What happened? Why did I wake up so late?” The dean leaned back and said “I was hoping you could tell me. Your teachers were getting worried that you had been drugged or taken so that you may be wrung dry of your blood. I’m… Not entirely sure what happened during your night, but you should know that I have security personnel around the school, especially in the forest. One of those personnel saw you in the forest in the dead of night. They had heard some screeching of some sort and then the sounds of footsteps going towards the noise. The person responsible for finding you has not been seen since his report just before day break when there is supposed to be a personnel change. For whatever reason, he is missing, and you are considered one of the last few people we haven’t questioned to figure out his whereabouts. Considering you hadn’t noticed that it was past time to go to school, I think an outside force took you from your room. How? I have no clue. The why is even harder to ascertain because the school is typically open to outsiders, other than at night. At night, you aren’t the only vulnerable one we have to protect. I am sure you remember the first time I came to you in this dorm room, correct?” I nodded and said “Rebecca…” The dean lowered his gaze and said “I am incredibly sorry you had to be witness to that, but she has been missing ever since she left Redcrest. The only lead we had was she was lured into the forest… Like you were. Whatever called you did it to Rebecca and turned her. She… She wasn’t normal for a vampire. Let alone a human. She was missing decades before you could even walk, and yet, when she turned up, she wasn’t turned or a human. Yet whatever means she had to stay alive for so long kept her young. It let her keep her blood, but it had gone stale…” Before he finished, I looked up at him and said “Stale? It stained my floor for the better part of a day. Look...” I leaned onto the table and sighed, putting my head in my hands and applying some pressure to my eyes as I was getting a headache just from the sheer amount of explanation he was giving. I looked back up to him and asked “Have you listened to any of the students about a massive bat with differently colored hair?” The dean nodded but didn’t say anything. I leaned back into my chair and continued “Well, that bat story turned out to be true when one of the students that I thought was a friend turned out to be the creature. Whatever he was doing, he was doing for a lot longer than I’ve been around. He should still be around the campus. Last I saw, he had orange hair. Like, atomic orange. As bright as can be. If that security guard is right about hearing screeching, then you should look into this student as he had terrorized me on the weekend when he should’ve been with family.” The dean nodded and made a few mental notes about this student. Feeling mentally exhausted now, I rub my eyes with a little more pressure just to try and relieve the pain that was behind them. After a few more seconds of this, the dean looked a tiny bit worried and asked “Is something the matter Simon?” I shook my head and said “I don’t believe so. Just another headache. I get them every now and again. They get worse sometimes, but they always pass. Nothing life threatening.” The dean nodded and got up to start leaving. Right before he left, I looked towards the forest in front of him and said “I do have two more questions to ask you though.” The dean closed the door once again and waited for my questions. Leaning back into my seat, I sighed and said “Firstly, if that student I was telling you about is the actual culprit for this, what will happen to him?” I paused for the dean to answer, and when he did, it felt just as chilling as when he had mutilated Rebecca in front of me. “The student will be tried as a Vampire adult, and at worse, be sentenced to death. At best, probably get a few decades in jail to answer for the other students he was terrorizing.” After letting my blood warm up a little more, I sighed shakily and asked “I guess this is technically three questions with this, but if he’s not responsible for the guard disappearing and me going into the forest, what’ll happen to me? And if he was the culprit, but not the reason for the guard disappearing, does that mean I got turned by him?” The dean took a few more seconds to respond, but it wasn’t truly an answer, or at least one that I was hoping for. “It’s rather considerate of you to think of such questions, but in the unlikely event that you have been turned, even in these circumstances, all you will have to do is wait for our personal investigation, which has been going on since the guard went missing, to come up with conclusions for you, instead of thinking of these what ifs.” I sighed and didn’t say anything, wanting the dean to leave so that I may sit in silence for a while longer. The dean opened the door to leave and said “And, just so you understand, you didn’t miss any school today. It was rather fortunate that this happened last night. Today is a holiday for us Vampires. Enjoy it.” I looked up at him dumbfounded and a little ashamed since I had gotten ready for school, but now looked like a fool for having gotten ready. I rubbed the back of my head and asked “On a separate note, I know I need to sign in to go to the other dorms, but what if a student wants to come visit me? Do they need to sign a paper or something?” The dean shook his head and told me “They have to be invited in by you.” He turned his attention to his left and said “You have a chance to practice that now as it seems. Good day.” He left and Priscilla took his place. She was wearing a thick looking dress that was very intricate with its lace design, but it also seemed to be rather… Fitting for her? It’s hard to describe, but suffice to say, she looked captivating in it. Her hair seemed different as well. After taking in her beauty for a few seconds, I shook my head and said “Priscilla, please. Have a seat.” She bowed her head a little and walked in, closing the door behind her and taking a seat next to me. While she looked like a painting come to life, I was still confused about her outfit, especially at this time of year. It was getting colder as fall was nearly upon us. I tilted my head in a questioning manner, making her laugh a little. She explained “I’m wearing this dress not only to get used to it, but to get ready for the Redcrest Fall formal.” I nodded my head but was still curious about something. “Is… that why you were gone yesterday?” She nodded her head and didn’t feel the need to explain why that was. I smiled warmly at her and said “You look beautiful.” She didn’t know how to respond to that and just accepted the compliment for what it was. She gave me a warm smile and said “This isn’t the only reason I’m here. I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the Fall Formal with me.” I was surprised by this but with the dress and her mentioning it, that thought did cross my mind. I nodded softly and said “I would be happy to accompany you… All I’ll need now is a suit.” She laughed some more and said “The school should have some handy for you. But I don’t know if they have your size. You are still a pee-wee.” I over dramatically pouted, being a drama queen to try and make the mood more joking rather than serious. She stifled a laugh and got up to get going. I wanted her to stay, more than I could possibly realize. But I didn’t have anything to talk about. She was occupying my mind. Every part of it. Any thought that wasn’t dancing was immediately disregarded. Before she was fully gone, she turned back and said “The dance is still a month and a half out. So there is still hope for you and that suit.” I smiled and finally thought of something other than dancing. I stood up and asked “Did you dye your hair? Something about it feels different.” She nodded and said “Took you long enough. Dyed it dark purple. Very dark purple.” I smiled and couldn’t find any other words to say. She was the same way, so she left. No other words to say to prolong her stay. When the door closed, some color left the brightly lit room. I sighed and quietly said “Cya.” What is this feeling? Why do I want to just… talk with her? Why do I never want her to leave? I’ve never felt this feeling before. I have read books about it, some here at school. I’m not sure this is a novel though. Why would such a cruel world exist? Tear a man from his family, possibly kill him in his sleep, give him hopes of a better life with someone he… admires. Why would such a tragic tale be written? The more I thought like this, the darker the room got until eventually, it was just whites, greys, and blacks. No color remained in the room. An impossible story between a human and vampire is just that. Impossible. I wish I had school today. These thoughts are suffocating. I wandered around the dorm room and found a couple of books, other than moby dick, that seemed interesting. For one thing, there was a book about schools, more specifically, colleges. This book was centuries, if not millennials old, and yet it was pristine. Every word is clear and legible. Every. Single. Word. Such as Red Crest. This school's name. But not connected like it is now. This book was written in the year 2025, and yet many of the rules were very similar, if not the exact same. The only difference being that humans and vampires didn’t officially coexist yet. But the rules were written the same, just with different… classes? Ideologies? I have no clue. It’s from such a bygone era that I can’t even find the difference between the rule of ‘never harming another student based on creed or religion.’ That doesn’t make sense. At least to me. There was probably a vampire that was alive at the time and still alive now that knows what this means. Setting the book aside, I can’t grab another book because the headache came back, full force this time. I forced my hands to my head and groaned, walking to my bed, laying myself down. The headache was pure agony. This was not like any other that I’ve had. But through the headache… memories arose through the pain and muddy thoughts. Memories that weren’t my own. I have no idea whose they belonged to, but they wouldn’t slow down in revealing themselves to me. With the first memory surfacing, I almost immediately passed out, dreaming of someone else’s life. Dreaming of a life that was centuries old. I do not know how I knew this, but I just… did. I was walking through the streets of a city… London. Big ben living up to its name. But it looks… different. Like chunks had been taken from it in a deliberate attempt to topple it, to bring down a major landmark. Whoever this dream belonged to, they were terrified of what caused it. Flying machines that dropped explosives on houses, buildings… schools. These… Planes bore a mark that was hard to make out in this dream, but it was one that everyone feared… even vampires of the time. This was London, England, 1943. And I was inhabiting the memories of one of its former residents… Before London was decimated with even more bombs… ones of such magnitude, that warfare would change forever. The Germans had no vampires. They were just pure evil in human form. And they had found a way to harness the power of the devil before any of the other world nations. A nuke.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.