I wake up in bed feeling hella groggy. I feel two soft bodies pressing firmly against me. Unsure of who they are, I sit up and rub the blurriness away from my eyes. I look down to see Shizumi on my left and Hanneke on my right. I pat their heads softly and slowly. “Good morning,” I say softly.

Both girls groan softly and look up at me. When they see that I'm awake and stroking their heads, they bolt right up and kiss both sides of my cheek excitedly.

“Oh, thank God you're okay! We were all so worried.” both girls exclaimed.

“How long this time?” I ask.

“Close to two weeks.” Shizumi says.

“My wounds were that serious?”

Hanneke nods. “Yeah. All six of us took turns sleeping with you.”

As if on cue, there's a knock on the door.

“Come in.” I call out.

The door opens. In comes Jesi, Jeni, Aaboli, and Rebecca. All of them seem to have a mixed expression of joy and sadness on their faces. I'm confused by their expressions as they sit down on my bed.

“What's up girls? Everything okay? I'm hurting like hell, but I'll recover.” I tell them reassuringly.

Rebecca speaks first. “We're glad you're okay, but we have a whole new barrel of pickles.”

Jeni nods. “Yeah. You know that demon Hezukael? He issued another challenge to us.”

I looked at Jeni perplexed. “So? We train and get stronger. That way when he comes back, we kick his ass.”

Jesi looks at me angrily. “Unfortunately, it's not that simple, dumb-ass. He outed you as a vampire to the whole fucking campus. We're fucking done here. Half the campus is up in arms and wants you gone.”

“And everyone else? What about them?” I ask.

Aaboli responds, “Fortunately, because they see you as someone with abilities, they're standing behind you, believe it or not. They're just disappointed you weren't honest about your powers.”

I look around at the girls. “What about the staff? How are they taking this?”

All six girls let out a collective sigh. Shizumi speaks up. “Well, that's the elephant in the room. They want to talk to you as soon as you wake up. It didn't sound good.”

I let out a sigh of my own. “Well, shit, I guess it was just a matter of time. I guess I should face the music.”

I get out of bed, walk over to the dresser to put on some underwear and socks, and then over to the closet to finish getting dressed. As I leave the bedroom, Hanneke calls out to me.

“Should we all come with you to lend moral support?”

Sadly, I respond, “No this is something I must do on my own.”

Rebecca reaches out and slaps my face. “Damn you! How dare you play the damned bloody martyr! You do not have to fall on your sword for us!”

Shocked by her actions, I look at Rebecca. “Well, shit, what the fuck am I supposed to do, Rebecca? I hid my true abilities from the university, and I fought an S-Class demon without the support of my team! Not to mention I got MY FUCKING ASS BEAT! I won't be surprised if I get fucking expelled for that! So, yeah, I'm playing the fucking martyr! I'll do what it takes to save the team. I won't take you down with me.”

Surprised by my response, Rebecca backs down. “Oh. Yeah. Well. When you put it that way. But I won't let you take no for an answer. We ARE going with you. We're your teammates and your lovers, and as such, we won't abandon you.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

I let out a heavy breath. “Fine. I guess I'm not winning this argument anytime soon. Shizumi, Hanneke, go get dressed let's meet up downstairs in a few minutes.”

We all head out of the door of the penthouse towards the dean's building to test the waters of fate. On our walk over, we could hear some students protesting my privilege to be on campus and other students counter-protesting to keep me on campus. An angry student throws a piece of trash in our direction and hits me in the face. Rather than give them the satisfaction of getting angry or lowering my head, we keep walking and ignoring them. I hear the angry shouts of students calling me a demon and the girls whores ringing throughout the campus. It's really beginning to piss me off, but once again, I don't let it show.

We finally get inside the dean's building and go up to the third floor where our class dean is. I knock on the door and tell the girls to wait outside.

“Come in.” the dean says.

I cautiously walk into the dean's office.

“Please, take a seat, Chris.” Dean Thompson motions me to a chair.

“Uh, thank you, ma'am.” I sit down.

Dean Thompson takes a sip of coffee from her cup, then places it back on her desk. “Chris, do you know why you're hear today?”

“Uh, not particularly, but I kinda have a guess.”

“It seems we have a bit of a conundrum. You are a bit of a controversy. Not only did you hide your true abilities from this university, but you decided to face down an S-Class demon. Your actions, though noble, did save lives, but it has also put us in deeper turmoil. There are some questions I'd like to ask. Your answers will not only determine your future at this university, but your team's as well.”

I stare down Dean Thompson with honest determination. “Ask your questions. I have nothing to hide.”

Dean Thompson smiles at me. “Good. Let's address the elephant in the room. Are you a demon?”

With defiance in my voice, I yell out, “Hell no!”

“No need to get defensive, it's just a question. Next question; Do you feed on humans?”

With this question, I really had to choose my words carefully. “You see, it's complicated. I don't need human blood to survive. But I do drink to heal and recover stamina. I take only with permission. I must have permission in order to feed. The only exception is when my power is unsealed. Then and only then, do I take without permission. And it's only the blood of my enemies, never an ally.”

Dean Thompson looks at me observedly. “I see. And your powers are currently sealed?”

“They are.”

“Who has the power to unseal them?”

“Sorry, I can't tell you that.”

“Why?”

“To do so would put their very lives at stake. Their safety was entrusted to me by their father.”

Disappointed, Dean Thompson moves on to the next line of questioning. “What are your true intentions at this university? Do you intend to protect humanity or enslave it?”

I angrily stand up out of my chair. “What is this, the fucking Spanish Inquisition? I want to protect humanity! Have my actions not been picture fucking clear?! I've laid my ass down for you assholes and this is how you fucking treat me?! What the ever-loving fuck! I just recently got my fucking ass kicked trying to fucking protect this fucking university! Give me some goddamned fucking respect!” My aura begins to glow and my fangs begin to grow. I give out a low growl and bare my fangs instinctively.

This action puts Dean Thompson aback. “I'm sorry, Chris, I didn't mean to offend. I have to ask these questions in order to render judgment. Please calm down.”

My aura fades and my fangs retract. “Fine. Do what you have to do.”

Dean Thompson lets out a sigh of relief. “Based on today's line of questioning and your past class performance, I'm rendering the following judgment. You and your team will be suspended for the remainder of the winter term. You will not lose any credit and you may return for the spring term. I will make sure that you and your team will not be penalized toward graduating from this university. Your suspension begins immediately. You're very lucky that your exemplary performance has afforded you this luxury, Mr. Johns. Don't make this mistake again.”

Shocked at the decision, I stammer out, “T-Thank you. But may I ask, why is my team being suspended as well? They didn't fight an S-Class.”

“True, but they were complicit in hiding your true abilities. And the team must be punished as a whole, right?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Very well. You're dismissed. See you back in the spring.”

I leave the office with mixed feelings. The girls circle around me in anticipation.

“Sounds like things got heated in there for a moment.” Aaboli said.

“So, what's going to happen?” Jeni asked.

I look at all of the girls. “We got fucking lucky. We're only suspended for the rest of the winter term. We can come back in the spring. And we don't lose any credit towards graduating. Our suspension starts immediately, so let's go pack our shit.”

Hanneke perks up. “Well it could have been worse, we could've been expelled.”

I turn towards Hanneke. “You're right about that.”

Jesi asks, “So where do we go? What do we do?”

I turn to Jesi. “We go home. We train. And I learn how to unseal my power permanently. I want some fucking payback.”

We all head back to the penthouse and pack up our things to begin the trek back to the Davis household for the inevitable scolding that we're going to get for our suspension.