“Yes, Seth, you can take the seat right next to Aralynne.”
Our biology teacher seemed quite pleased to have an extra mind to teach. Not
too many people enjoy biology, most people don’t have strong stomachs I guess.

I always liked this class. The odds of overhearing one of
the slutty airheads discussing the latest hairstyles or nailpolish colours are
pleasantly low. What is it with humans and outer appearances anyway? If they
spent even half of the time paying more attention to their surroundings,
vampires wouldn’t really be a threat to them.

That would’ve made my job a hell of a lot easier.

Seth shuffled into the seat beside me, a smile still tugging
at the corner of his lips. I tried hard to ignore him, but my curiosity got the
best of me.

As soon as Mr Nakamura turned his attention to the
whiteboard, I scribbled another note and passed it to Seth.

‘Why show
yourself now?’

I had a habit of asking straightforward questions. It has
been a while since I was assigned to protect Cara, and there has been no sign
of Seth or the Moloch. Why take so long to make a move?

He idly scripted a reply, taking his time to sketch out the
response, before passing the note back to me.

‘Have you hunted recently? Or did you forget
all of your basics already?’

If I had any blood, it would’ve boiled by now. He was
working on my nerves. This was going to be harder than I expected.

Before I could heatedly carve my response into the paper, he
skilfully tore out another page of his notebook, wrote another note before
tossing it to me.

‘Modern times sure
don’t agree with you, my dear. You don’t really fit in here...’

I rolled my eyes at the comment. Of course I don’t fit in.
I’m not human, then again, he isn’t either. I hurriedly scribbled my reply.

‘You may seem more
human than me, Seth, but you will attract more attention than me, even if I am
the bigger threat...’

I saw his lips twist into a smile as he read my note, and
once again wrote one of his own.

‘As confident as ever,
my dear, but you aren’t the biggest threat. Not compared to me. If my Master
ordered me to, I would’ve killed you decades ago...’

I’m pretty sure that I would’ve won that battle. It bothered
me that he seems so calm about the idea of ending my life. It’s as if the past
didn’t exist to him.

Then again, thinking about the things which might have been,
looking back on all those times and thinking of the things we’ll never do, is a
pointless waste of time. 

The bell came out of nowhere. The periods were shorter than
usual today. The headmaster knows that students don’t focus all that well on a
Monday morning, so our usual hour lunch break gets divided into two breaks
every Monday.  Now it was time for the
first one.

Humans practically clambered all over each other to get to
the lunch line first. I noticed a group of popular girls already loyally
waiting for Seth to join them. Good. He is already attracting attention.

“Let’s go.” I calmly whispered to Cara.  I used my hand to gently move her forward
between the rows of desks, but she held her ground, then, to my surprise,
turned to face Seth.

“You’re new here, right?” she said with her bright, innocent
smile. “What’s your next class?”

“English.” He replied calmly, giving her a dazzling smile.

“Really? That’s our next class too! You should sit with us at lunch so we can
show you where it is.”

Even if he tried, he wouldn’t have been able to keep the
smirk off his face.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes! But we better hurry up, the line can get pretty long.”
She said excitedly.

“Can I talk to you for a minute, Cara?” I interrupted.

“Uhm, sure, just wait for us outside, okay Seth?” he gave
her a nod.

“I’ll be right outside. Take your time.”

I pulled Cara back inside, feeling as if I could slap her.

Humans are so
pathetic…and easily manipulated. Why do I always get the weaklings to protect?
I grabbed Cara by her hand and pulled her aside.

I have never
met anyone more prone to life threatening idiocy!

“Cara, why
did you invite him?” the question was direct, and I expected a direct answer.

She hesitated
a while and seemed to think over her answer first, calculating all my possible
positive and negative reactions.

“I’m curious
about him. He seems cute.” Sure, and a mountain lion seems cute too, but that
doesn’t mean you should go pet it.

“Besides,”
she interrupted before I could speak again, “he’s new here. He could use the
company.” She looked nervous now and he heart was beating faster and faster with
every word she spoke.

“Cara, he has
the whole cheerleading squad just waiting to befriend him. I don’t think he
needs you. Now, come up with a better answer, I want to hear the full truth.”

“That is the
full truth!” I just glared at her.

“Your heart
is fluttering like a hummingbird’s wings and your palms are sweaty. You are
hiding something...”

“Vamp skills
again?”

“No, that’s
just common logic.”

She swallowed
again before she spoke.

“I think I
might kind of like him…” might? Kind of? Even that is totally unacceptable.
Does this girl have a death
wish?  I have to keep her away from him
at all costs.

“Don’t even
think about it…”I warned. I could hear the slight tremble in my voice. Teenagers
are clearly overruled by their hormones. She doesn’t even know the guy!

“You can’t
keep me away from him.”

“Want to bet
on it?” my eyes bored into hers, undoubtedly making her more nervous than she
already is. After a few moments, I cooled down, feeling slightly guilty for
overpowering her like this.

“Don’t be
fooled by looks, Cara. People aren’t always who you expect them to be.”

“It is
because of his name right? Seth? He’s not the same crazy psycho you are
supposed to protect me from. You are here to protect me, not to make my life
miserable.” With her words, all the feelings of guilt vanished, along with the
last bit of my patience. I was about to snap.

“Listen here
kid.” I spat out the last word. “I don’t like this any more than you do.
Yet...I can’t possibly expect you to understand...”

I don’t know
what came over me. Frustration? Rage?

“You are
stuck with me until it’s safe for you to be on your own.  Now, we will walk out of this classroom, you
will take back the invitation and we will go have lunch with your human
friends, is that clear?” As a response, she pulled her arm from my grip, glared
at me and stormed off.

Good, I
avoided a catastrophe, or so I thought…It was not until I heard her voice that
I realized the truth.

“Come on
Seth. I’m sure my friends have saved us a decent table, and I know that they’d
like to meet you too! This is going to be so much fun!”

I could feel
the anger rip through me. For the first time, I felt like killing her.