Chapter Eight: Vampires, Typhruszes, and Long Striped Gloves

this is where Ari, Kaydra, Alex and Tao and their bunch run into each other.

Ari's Perspective


Well, what is there to say now? Uhm... My arm got better.... Except for an ugly scar. Now, I have two of them. Both on the same stupid arm!!

I got to know Kaydra, and I admit that she's a pretty cool person. She's just not too great at first impressions.

Cedric sounded like he'd provide our supplies because of such short notice, and that Kaydra and I are going to be 2 out of 4 of our roommates for the years we're going to spend there. I think it's a lot easier to do something like this if you don't have anything much to leave behind.

The dorms were the most beautiful things I've ever seen on planet Earth. It looked like the Hilton or any other suite of the like.
It shouldn't really be called a dorm. The womens dorms were all lined up on the sides of the hallway like apartments would, which led downstairs to combined men's and women's "homeroom", or the group of students I am going to be schooling with.

Our homeroom name is Fyreheartt, the Class of which the students are trained to become Ryders. It sounds like there are beings of all sorts, like werepeople, merpeople (how does that work? Water tanks instead of beds?), vampires, elves(that's me apparently,) Warlocks, Enchantresses, Exorsists, and Humans. That kind of relieved me because of the thought that maybe I won't be considered a freak anymore.

I decided that I'm going to try to keep the Royal thing quiet. All I need is to be waited on and pampered like the princess everyone thinks I am. No, shoot me now, I never said that.

The bell rang, signalling that school classes were about to begin. Kaydra and I had the first 3 classes together.

I was really happy to find a friend from the Humanlands that knew somewhat what I was going through. Kaydra introduced me to her new friend Kaoru, whom just by looking at her facial expressions said that she was the very intellectual type. She too was a blonde, slim as a twig and prettier than any prep you could find in New York.

We talked for a while and soon I had two friends instead of just one. The bell rang for lunch and we edged toward the cafeteria.We got our trays filled and went to find a spot to sit in the circular room. I looked up from my tray and saw a group of people that looked like they had walked straight out of a fashion magazine.

One was white haired and silver-eyed (a guy), two had Jet-black hair and red eyes (both guys), one was a brunette, (a guy) and one with auburn hair and red eyes(The only girl.) They all seemed to have the same facial features, so I guessed they were related. They were the types of people that some girls from where I'm from would drool over. Even though they were in relatively loose clothing, you could tell all of the men had a strong build, though the brown haired guy had a one up on muscle, and the white-out one had a one down.

They all huddled over their own little table, talking in hushed tones and laughing at whatever one of them had just said. The brunette had a very quiet expression, but you could tell he was listening to whatever they were saying. When he smiled, it seemed as if the group took a heaving breath of relief. Girls were gazing intensely at the brunette, attracted to him just like a moth to a flame, but he seemed to take no notice of them all. The pale one had a crooked smile on his face that was rather comical. I guessed he was the brunette's best friend.

The albino and one of the black haired people looked freakishly alike -- like someone made a white-out copy of the other. The other one with black hair seemed to be the oldest one of the bunch, with a bright white streak in his disheveled hair.

I was especially interested in the brunette. His shaggy hair was a deep Sienna brown with a fringe that licked the top of his intense Ocean blue eyes. He had a tan, which looked really funny because he was standing next to the colorless man, whom I guessed was Albino. We locked eyes for what seemed as long as 2 minutes. His eyes stared steadily at mine, and then what seemed like pain and sorrow flooded into his expression, and he tore his gaze from mine. I wanted to know why he looked at me like that. My eyes must have glazed over or something, because Kaydra started giggling at me and pulled me down with my sleeve to the seat.

"I see you've met the Royal Vampire Family." she giggled, making faces at me.

"No...I haven't. Who's the brunette? And did you just say ROYAL VAMPIRES??!? How do you know this if you're new here too?"

I looked them over carefully. They wore normal clothes like the rest of us; leather jackets, jeans, muscle/tee shirts... Nothing out of the ordinary...

"I read the travel guide and some other books and teen magazines about this place so I knew more about this place once we started. It would seem that they would prefer not being royal, I think. You've noticed that they blend in pretty well, beside the fact they look like models -- which, I've heard, is actually a defensive tactic, aka, the "it's harder to kill a pretty person" ploy. They wanted the whole royal thing to be kept low, but you know how well that worked out."

I slumped over my tray, bemused.

"And the one you had a googley-eye match with is named Alexander. He's a funny one. You know, his parents were both vampiric, but somehow nature screwed up on him and he's a full-blown elf. Whoops- Alex. He prefers to be called Alex."

"Why did he give me that look that seemed so... so...-"

"-Lliiike he just got hit upside the face with a book?? Yeah, I know he gave you a look similar to one that you'd receive from Johnny Raincloud, but I remember reading in a magazine he used to be the happiest person you'd ever meet. But, things went wrong for them. Really, Really wrong. One of the Royal Families had been killed off, along with Alex's best friend and his parents. But I'm thinking that girl he called his friend was a little more than "friend" in his book. Not that he'd be the one to admit it. So..... yeah. He's had a lot to swallow in the last few years. He and the Hyperions were called for responsibility over Aleron when he was 12. The pale one and the one that looks like his copy in full color are the twins, Edvard and Tao. Byron, the oldest, was only 15. Hardly old enough to understand all that happened in Aleron's history, much less run the country. And I'm shutting up now, because they're headed this way. Anyone summon the Vampires on purpose??"

"No." I answered quietly, finding the one named Alex staring at me again. With the same pained look on his face. I looked away and noticed Tao smiling at either Kaydra or me.

He bent forward and smiled, saying, "Hi! I heard you guys are new here! Just thought I'd say hello. My name is Tao." he held out his hand for us to shake it. I did so first, because Kaydra was too busy blushing, and he beamed at me. It felt as though an electric current buzzed through my viens -- literally, not emotionally...I don't think.

"Hiya. And what's your name?" he grinned wider at the expression on my face.

"Ah...Ari." I said, looking at them all. Up close, they all looked freakishly familiar. I don't know why. Like they were part of something missing from me. But I feel like that all the time here. I'll get used to it, I guess.

"Ari, huh? And what's your last name?"

"McCa-wait... no... that guy said it was... uhm... Artisan... no, Artesian... I'm sorry. Come back and ask me when I actually remember." I smiled sheepishly.

Tao smiled back, but the rest of them froze for a brief second, a peculiar look on their faces. But it disappeared before I could figure out what it meant. Alex turned around and talked to the Auburn chic. What's his problem???

"Sure thing." he said inbetween laughter. "And... your name??" he said, turning toward Kaydra, who had fox ears poking out the sides of her head.

"Kaydra.... just... Kaydra. No middle name, no last name, and I gave the name Kaydra to myself, OK?"

His eyes narrowed. "Wow. I'm sorry about your parents then. That does mean that you're an orphan, correct?" (At which point I lose interest in the conversation, because I've heard this multiple times in our last 3 classes. So, voluntarily, I slip into La-la land.)

Kaydra's Perspective

"Yes. And... don't be. You can't miss something you've never had. or...can't remember. For most of my years its just been me and the dog." I said, looking over at old Cale.

"Dog?" Tao asked. Somehow he'd missed my gray, huge, wolflike dog that's the size of a horse sitting next to me.

"Oh! Dog." he said, shifting uncomfortably at the sight of the huge mutt.

"Yup. But I guess you could say that's one of the things that made Ari and I such good friends. You know, we're almost like twins. The appeal we have toward intimidating and somewhat dark things is one thing, but we've both been orphans for as long as we can remember. I call her my evil twin." I teased, elbowing her.

She was so far gone so quickly that she'd forgotten to put a sign that read "Off to La-la land" on her lap. Being as kind as I am, I elbowed her hard in the side, causing her to come back quick, and fall off of her stool onto the floor.

Ari's Perspective

"Ari! you missed it! We were just talking about how you're my evil twin because we're both orphans that no one really knows what to do with!!" Kaydra whined playfully.

I twirled my finger around in circles, glaring. "Yay."

At that time they all were staring down fiercely at my left arm. The one that is the cause of my wearing long sleeved gloves under my short sleeves. My unfaithful glove slid down off of my upper arm and revealed a long, blood red scar that was edged in a sickly purple color. It is large, thick, and still going strong out of everyone else's sight. What's worse? It's not just one gross red mark across my arm, but two gross red marks, like fang marks. Think snake bite. Now think very large snake bite, in a streak like a comet and might as well glow too. Now you have my scar. I quickly pulled up my black-and-white striped glove and pulled down my shirt sleeve to hide it again.

They didn't stop staring.

"W-what have you got yourself in, Ari?" Vikki asked concernedly.

"I-is that what I think it is??" Tao asked, warm smile gone, replaced by a horrified expression. Great. Now I'm a freak again.

"No. No it's not." I said quickly.

I stood up and got back onto my stool. Now even uninterested Alex was staring at me again.

Eddie, whom I had thought was the sweet shy one, came up behind me and yanked off my glove. He nearly missed the blow I aimed at him. "Give me my freaking glove!" I squeaked, my jaw clamped shut, tears threatening to burst. I fought it off with a glare. I decided it was better to be on the ground now, so I sat back down on the ground.

Tao fell to his knees, fear in his eyes. "That.. that's.. but it can't be... That's most definitely... That's gotta be a Typhrusz wound." he said hollowly. He reached forward to touch it, but pulled it back, sitting back up on his chair.

"Nobody... Nobody survives the Typhrusz. Not one. They all die slowly and painfully within a month's time. At least that's what's been said... Are we... standing next to the single survivor of the Typhrusz?"

"B-but there has to be someone beside me who had survived it.. It can't be as dangerous as you claim it to be..."

"No. That... beast feeds off of one's soul until it's gone, and then rips up the remains and leaves it for scavengers." he said. "And by the looks your scar... It's attack was pretty recent."

What, is it Make Ari Uberly Humiliated Day today??("Indeed it is." Kaydra whispered.) Do I have Look Here written across my forehead?? Because if I do, please tell me, and I'll gladly wash it off("Sorry, it's permanent.") At least they haven't seen my stomach. ("Touche...yet.")

"Ari... you don't have any clue how lucky you are. The victims of the Typhrusz have their death note signed when they're attacked. Everyone who had died of this beast has a tragedy behind it. I knew someone who was attacked by the Typhrusz. We were out in a wooded area when we were attacked by one of these beasts... she...she died in my arms. She never even woke up." he said, his head in his hand. Byron stood up and placed his hand on his brother's shoulder.

"But Alex has a story of his own that is by far the most tragic. There's
nothing worse than death by this beast." Byron said. Some of the others looked like they wanted to kick him. "And I'd bet he's going to hit me for bringing it up." He stepped back, hands up in surrender.

They all looked at Alex, ready for him to tell his story. This is a really weird group we have here. I've only met these dudes about 15-20 minutes ago.

Alex's Perspective

I slowly looked up at Byron. Why did they always do this? They know as well as I do that I'm not going to end this without storming out of the room or falling apart. Do they think I enjoy talking about this? I looked at the girl with the scar, who had the same look of fear that I felt. She had the same look of fear as her. She was scared to death when they came to get her. She knew where they were taking her. My mind raced, creating a condensed video of my past again.

Well, I guess I'll just sit here and make a fool out of myself again. For her. Not for the girl.

I took a deep breath and was just about to start when Vikki, my temporary favorite of the day, slammed open the doors of the cafeteria and screamed, "RABID HAMSTERS!!!! RUN AWAY!!!!" Most of the cafeteria got up and ran out screaming. Wow. ADD much??

Kaydra, Kaoru and that girl were smarter than the average bear. I could tell by the looks on their faces they knew very well there weren't any hamsters out there, but they just joined in, the girl the most enthusiastic about it because quite obviously she wanted out of here too. I laughed as I saw her pick Eddie's pocket and slip her glove on without him even noticing it was missing. The doors shut. Vikki came up to me and smiled mischeiviously.

"There...are no rabid hamsters, are there." I said, knowing the answer and giving my best attempt at a smile for the moment.

"Say thank you." she cooed, with a cheesy grin that reminded me of Tao.

"Not yet." I said, counting down from three.

By the time I had gotten down to my last finger, the doors opened again, and it was Kayra and Ari, that girl, who came back to get their bags.

"Why did we run again??" Ari said, acting as if she weren't the one who started the flailing of the arms down the hallways.

"I...D...K..." Kaydra said in perfect chat-speak.

Ari's Perspective

I realized I made a problem. One of those problems where the person throws up their hands in surrender and says, "My Bad."
How, you ask? By that simple falling of the glove, the school knew me as "The Freak that Beat the Typhrusz" within the next 2 hours. It literally spread like a wildfire.

Now I'm a freak among freaks. Joy to the world...

People were giving me looks that spread from looking like I was a fragile porcelain doll to looking afraid that I could kill them in 2 seconds flat with nothing but my hands. I don't know which one I hate more. Both
made me feel like proving the second one correct.

Fortunately, Kaydra didn't.

We took the supplies from our last 3 classes back to our dorm and grabbed the others. Apparently our other two roommates had decided to move in. One looked down at my scar and blushed. Great. The other one, with carmel-colored hair stood up and smiled.

Her fangs jutted out from under her lips.

"Hi." she said cheerfully. "My name is Raye." As I got closer to her to shake hands, I noticed a rune on the nape of her neck. I forced myself to forget about it.

"And the quiet one over there is named Auria." said Raye. I noticed she looked relatively younger than the rest of us.

I subconsiously avoided Tao and his bunch for a while, which is kind of hard considering I found out I have a lot of classes with them, and he could tell. He came up to me later the next day and apollogized for making me the spectacle of the year. I said it was alright, and I couldn't help blushing. What is wrong with me?? I thought to myself. I couldn't possibly.... like him in the way that my concience tells me...

I shook it off and found Kaydra, walking straight to our first hour.

Apparently, I have the same classes with Alex as I do with Tao, which means a lot of them. Aye aye aye, this is gonna be a long year.

Alex acts as if I have insulted him in some way. How, I don't know.

I try my best to ignore him and get on with my life as best I can without running into trouble. I found out that there's a lot about Tao that I admire... His personality, his tendency to always look on the positive side of everything, the fact he respects me and the rest of the girls without being perverted, which is basically impossible anymore... gasp. I should stop talking about him. It's not like I'm Trying to, but my mind always ends up wandering back to its resting place... Tao. If anyone brings him up, I jabber on about him until I force myself to shut up before I blow my cover. But.... oddly... it's almost as if he feels the same way too. He actually waits for me after class so we can walk to our next class together. Its strange to me because I've never really had someone act like that towards me before.. at least.. I doubt that I ever have.

Wanna know what else? I think Kaydra has got it REALLY bad for Alex. And he doesn't seem to care. Yeah, he would've been my first choice if it weren't for the fact he acts like am a disease. Ah well, I must admit, I feel sorry for Kay. She has problems with her taste.

Well, I'm getting tired. Lights out, and I'm going to try my best to get some sleep, but I already know how well the outcome's going to be.

Alex's Perspective
Tao will not stop going on about the new girl. No, not Kaydra, The other new girl.

It's made me ashamed of myself for looking straight at an Ari look-alike and not recognize her until a while later. Tao keeps telling me that it isn't just pure coincidence that they have the same looks, attitude, personality, character Period, but the Girl I knew is dead. No, people can't rise from the dead, and I'm purty sure that this has to be a trick of some sort. I really am trying to be the happy, funny guy I used to be called, but it ain't gonna happen if people keep bringing this up. I thought that people had almost decided to move on, but right after that meeting, everyone's favorite person is Ari Artisan. I can't get the real one out of my mind as it is now. It makes me so angry that someone would march over and claim that they are part of the Victims of the Massacre.

The freakiest part about it: The name Ari. The girl I knew was named Ari. The Dark ones took her, tortured her and then killed her. She knew they were coming for her. How she knew, I don't know. She came running toward my family begging us to hide her. We didn't know what she was talking about until the next day when the window was broken in her room, blood spattered on the floor and her bed unmade.

But that's beside the point. That Ari isn't the one I know. Heck, I could point out at least 10 girls named Ari in this very Hall...okay, maybe not, it's not a normal name, but that's not the point. What's worse, Tao seems to be convinced. Keeps telling me to give her a chance. I told him to leave my chances alone and get rid of his. So, he starts hanging out with her and ditching me.

Should've known this would happen.

I just hope I'm wrong about thinking I know what he's thinking... And if what I'm thinking about what he's thinking is right, he'd better stop thinking that because he'd be thinking very unthoughtfully. He seems to get friendlier with her every day.

And I'm not jealous, so shut up!

Breaking me out of my thoughts, the "he" in question passed me, putting a hand on my shoulder, and saying " I don't care if you believe me or not. You still owe me five bucks." And he left class.

Stupid bet.