All is Well

Life couldn't have been better for Jack Kiersted when he got accepted to the University of his dreams.

 

ALL IS WELL

Jack Kiersted raced across the pavement, it wasn't that he was running, but walking very fast, so that his feet seemed to race across the neatly paved stones. But today his heart was racing too; he felt exhilarated, hardly noticing where he went, his feet seemingly flying on their own, if anyone could be intoxicated by happiness, he very nearly fit for he seemed to be living a dream, he had done it. It was the day the results had been announced for the exam he had taken and he had won a scholarship to TUSAR (Tareton University of Science And Research, Tareton referring to the ancient philosopher who envisioned the University, no one knew for sure if he was a human or a vampire though each race claimed him as belonging to theirs), the most prestigious university one could ever dream of getting into. Such an event would have been an occasion of joy for anyone, but to him it meant more than that. It meant he was set for life. Quite literally. His father had made it quite clear to him that it would be impossible for them to pay his college fee and he understood the weight of those words very well. It was not that they were poor, in fact they could even be considered belonging to the middle class, with all of life's essentials but not the luxuries, but recently his father had been facing a lot of problems in business (which by the way included selling parts for automobiles), so much so that he had to borrow money putting himself as collateral. His father had AB-ve blood, something only he and his father shared in his entire family. Since it was a very rare variety and quite liked by the vampires, you could get quite a lot by putting it as collateral.

He had been against it from the start but his father had been hard pressed and had had no other choice. But now that he had won this scholarship it meant father had one burden off his shoulders. He had always wanted to pursue fluid mechanics as a career; physics being his favourite subject and if he had missed this scholarship, he might have been forced to give up his education.

But his efforts had paid off; he had managed to not only qualify but had secured rank 2nd amongst all candidates who took the exam, human and vampire alike. So if everything went well, he should be leaving by next month or so.

His only fears were for his dad's business, right now he was getting a huge order of parts for a new model of car, and if that order turned out well, they may be able to make it. But if things didn't turn out well, his father would be taken to the Blood processing plants and drained till the blood equalled the amount borrowed. That thought in itself was unthinkable to him. If it were to happen what his family would do, his father being the only earning member. What would his mother do? How would she take care of Paul and Sara, his siblings? Paul was 13 years and Sara 10, both completely dependent on their parents. It was death sentence to them all. Well not to him since the University would pay for his lodgings, food & even pay him a certain sum at the end of each month for his other expenses and he was bound to get a job after completing his education in such an esteemed university. But still his heart couldn't bear to think about his family that way.

But right now was not the time to think about that, he could already see the house in a distance, so right now was the time to give them the good news, especially his father who had been so upset over not being able to afford his education.

"Hey Jack" he turned on hearing the familiar voice. A skinny boy with straw coloured hair came running towards him. It was his best friend Tom Brighton.

"Hey Tom" he cried waving as the boy came to a stop before him.

"So how'd it go? Did you make it?" he asked tom.

"Yup, made it all right" but his eyes dropped to the ground and he didn't quite look all that pleased.

"Great, then what's the matter pal? "Jack asked clapping him on the back.

"Well I got the 66th rank" Tom said in somewhat dejected tones as they started walking along the neatly paved and somewhat bland streets of Town towards his house.

A frown appeared on Jack face. Tom had made it fine, but with this rank it would be difficult for him to get the course of his choice. TUSAR had 1050 seats which were further divided into around 97 courses, each having a certain number of seats. Tom wanted to pursue organic chemistry, which had only 30 seats. So for him to get into that course almost 37 people before must choose another domain.

"Well cheer up man." He said trying to sound bright. "You made it; you are assured a place in TUSAR isn't that enough?"

"Well I suppose so... I just have to keep praying for luck I guess "he said quietly shaking his head…"So what about you? What rank did you get?"

"Well..." he said nonchalantly "Its 2nd rank" he added in deliberate bored tones, watching Tom's reaction right now would be priceless.

"What? "Tom's eyes widened in shock and his mouth opened to a perfect "O". "You gotta be kidding"

"Nope" he said a smile creeping upon his lips in spite of himself…"That's right".

"Man that's totally cool. You could get into any course you want, I feel so jealous, though I must admit I expected this all along, what with the way you were studying and all. So by how many points did you miss the first rank?"

"Three" Jack said sighing.

"Awl, man…that's too bad. It's a just miss"

Jack nodded. Winners and losers in TUSAR were decided by a thin margin. The entrance exam itself was a complex and multidimensional process involving several layers of filtering, including problems in advanced physics and chemistry, mathematics, quantitative aptitude, logical puzzles, a test of knowledge in zoology & botany and not to mention a psychometric analysis & stress test to boot. The whole examination procedure took nearly a month and if a candidate were to clear all of this he/she still wasn't accepted until they qualified a physical evaluation by TUSAR 's physician, since health was considered an important criteria for the full functioning of the brain…though the vampires were exempted from it, there being no such thing as "health" for them.

So that makes you eligible for the Cash Award huh?" Tom interrupted his thoughts.

"Yup, that's right." He said. The first three to qualify the exam were given a Cash Award…"Our family could use a little money right now…though I wish I had come 1st …"

"Awl, man" Tom sighed..." Here I am with 66th rank and praying to get into my course, and you're upset you didn't come 1st? "

"Come on Tom, if you missed the 1st rank by just a few points wouldn't you be feeling as well?"

"Ok, ok I get it." Tom said holding his hands up…"So who did come 1st? Human or Vampire?"

"Human…Name's Glen McAllen…Aged around 3o I guess. Don't tell me you didn't look it up?"

"Well I was kinda upset with my rank and all, didn't pay much attention to anything I guess…and 3rd?"

"Vampire…Petrutia. Physical age 24…actual around 70 I think…"

"Well doesn't that make us the youngest candidates to qualify?"

"Yup that's right" he said quietly…TUSAR didn't place age limits on who took the exam. If you can pass their entrance you are eligible for their courses, age didn't matter one bit was what they believed. He was sixteen and Tom seventeen…the youngest two to qualify, the previous record being 18…."We're heroes Tom…at least in Town."

Town was the name given to the city of humans who were protected under law and did not have to pay Blood Tax. Each one of the families or their ancestors here had done something to be recognized by the Government to be exempted from the annual levy of blood that was paid as tax to the vampires. Jack's family had Tax exemption for 12 generations due to his Great great (he didn't know for sure how many greats) grandfather saving the life of a vampire. And Tom's family had an exemption period of four generations.

"Well I guess we have to be really grateful for what we have" he said turning to look at Tom….

But Tom backed away.

"Hey don't scare me like that man" he said holding up his hand….the sun was setting and the light had reflected sharply across Jack's eyes. He had a peculiar eye colour, it was a rich golden yellow with a tinge of copper-brown mixed in it, in a way that seemed make his eyes look like that of a cat's. So when the sun reflected on them the effect was to make them look so much brighter like fire or the eyes of a predator at night, this was further emphasized by his hair which was a thick mass of pure jet black, in sharp contrast to his pale skin, the combination along with a lanky body and chiselled features made him look rather attractive, but that didn't mean his eyes didn't make people uncomfortable and even his close friend Tom wasn't an exception.

"Hey sorry pal…"he said backing away…"Didn't know it'd still bother you…"

"Well it still bothers your mom..."

"Sorry…" he said sighing, he didn't know why he had this features, his entire family had a combination and blond and brown hair. And they all had either grey or green eyes. His father always said it was a genetic thing and an ancient ancestor might have had these features.

"Don't be… sometimes it's what looks best about you…make's the girls crazy about you …" Tom said with a sly smile.

"Not my fault…"

"Doesn't mean I'm not jealous through… you got the looks and the brains man...not fair" he said wistfully.

"Well you don't look too bad yourself…Chesley's loves you…"he said, Chesley was Tom's girlfriend…

"Well yeah…I suppose… well speaking of that you gotta find yourself a girl man…now that you're free…"

"Maybe…well I've never given it much thought before; with how worried I was about getting into TUSAR …you know our family's condition…."

"Well Laurine's crazy about you…what do you think of her?" Laurine was a girl at their class who had a huge crush on Jack.

"Hmmm…I don't know…never really felt anything for her… she's not my type I guess…."

Tom rolled his eyes.

"The hottest girl in school's not your type!"

"Well she's pushy and sometimes seems plain dumb…I'd like someone more on my wavelength I suppose."

Though she looked fine, it had always seemed to him that she never really had any depth to her character and was only after him because of his looks, in other words he'd classify her as the "dumb blonde" though she had recently coloured her hair pink, a disgusting colour if you asked him.

Tom rolled his eyes again.

"Now the genius starts talking!"

"Ok ok…let's cut thie topic and talk about something else….We are leaving next month right?" He said hurriedly.

"Yeah we'll first have to choose our courses and a week later we'll join the actual course."

"I wonder how it's gonna be?" he wondered quietly.

"Well do you even have to ask?" Tom said in excited tones "It's almost a 100 times as big as Town and they've got all sorts of equipment' s and the best professors in the worl-"

"Not to mention some of the things you only get to see there" Jack cut him off…

"Like the giant artificial ocean they created…for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion…"

"Its 90000ft deep and with perfect salt concentrations too…"

"And their botanical garden is the only place where diaphanum lux grows…"

"Isn't it a plant that's transparent but glows at night?"

"Yup"

"I also heard the library is cut out from a whole mountain…and some of the reading rooms are actual caves."

"How cool could that be?"

"Totally"

"And we have sunlight too! Just like in Town"

Jack nodded.

Sunlight was usually blocked off from most cities, due to its harmful nature to vampires. There were some exceptions like Town or TUSAR and he had heard of some human cities wealthy enough to afford sunlight, but they were generally rare and some even believed them to be myths. And of course the inhabitable wilderness that lay to the north of Trantil Mountains was always sunlight filled, but there were no humans or vampires to feel its effects. He had never actually seen how it was done, since he had never left Town but he had heard there was some gigantic membrane like roof made of some metal that covered cities and blocked off sunlight. He shuddered at the thought of living in such a city.

"And you know what the best part is? We don't have to pay blood tax…. ever." Tom said interrupting his thoughts.

Even though TUSAR admitted both humans and vampires extreme caution was taken to separate the two and make sure one did not harm the other. Since only the top intellectual brains attended the University it was considered a loss to society to shorten their lives and was the reason why humans accepted there were exempted from Blood Tax, which was extremely lucky for Tom, as the Brigton's Exemption period ended with Tom's generation…which meant had he not been selected for TUSAR he would have to pay the tax once he was 18.

"Yeah that's right…I'm happy for you Tom, I truly am." He said with genuine relief. He knew how much Tom had been worried about this though he had tried not to show it…and he only felt true happiness that his friend wouldn't have to suffer the way the rest of the humans did outside of Town.

"You know I think we truly are lucky." Tom said with a small smile…"In this world where humans work as food for vampires and even those with regular jobs are forced to pay Blood Tax …makes you wonder…aren't we the privileged ones? "

A small smile crept over Jack's face…"you're right Tom…so let's just make the best use of everything God gave us" he said.

They had reached his home.

"Come on Tom" he said clapping him on the back…"Why don't you come in for a cup of tea? I have the reference books I borrowed from you."

"No, no…my parents will be dying to know if I've made it…I gotta give them the news."

"Ok…see you later then." He said turning to walk into the gate.

"Wait…"Tom cried after him…"What do you say we go to "Stop & Shop" this Saturday to check out some things we might need for TUSAR ?

"Sure…see you on Saturday then" he said waving…

"Sure…Bye" Tom waved back as he turned to 2nd street where he lived.

He too hurried across to his home, his pace picking up as he imagined his parent's reaction to this unexpected news.

---

Sara opened the door, her blond hair was tied back in her signature ponytail and her pale green eyes shone bright with anticipation.

"Congratulations" she shouted excitedly smiling at him.

He blinked taken by surprise. Were they all expecting this news?

"How'd you know?" he asked her….

"Well, its only expected the way you kept studying." Paul answered him, as he came running down the stairs. He was a chubbier version of Sara and was a bit stout in the middle. Unlike Jack who was slim and tall, Paul looked cute and chubby, but he more than made up for it with his cheekiness. Jack could see he was wearing his favourite yellow Tee shirt, which was again getting tight, still it something which he wore only on special occasions, like this.

"I see…"Jack said grinning wildly, today it was just seemed so hard to hold his smile even for a second…"And I thought I would surprise you guys…"he said shaking his head.

Paul smirked…"Surprise? Hardly….What I am surprised however is that you are still alive…Honestly the way you kept working…all night long, without sleeping or eating…I thought you were gonna have a brain attack or something…"

"Oh, shut up Paul…"Sara snapped at him…"there's no such thing as a brain attack"

"Oh, there is, you're just too dumb to know that…" he snapped back, tugging her pony tail…Sara always hated it when he did this…

"Oh Paul, you jerk." She cried snapping his hand off and pushing him back...

Jack rolled his eyes.

"Oh, give it a break you guys. At least today"

Sara smiled at him.

"Yeah, I'm so happy for you Jack" Sara said hugging him. "I'm so proud of my brother."

He hugged her back.

"Thanks, Sara" he said smiling softly...

"So what's your rank? Paul asked

"Second"

Paul rolled his eyes.

"It's not fair, man. Now everyone's gonna expect me to do the same" he said sighing graciously.

And before Jack could reply, opened the door and bolted out.

Jack ran after him.

"Hey where you going?" he shouted after him.

"To Sam's" He said turning back, Sam was his best friend "C'mon isn't it obvious? I gotta brag about this news to all my friends."

"Okay. Then be sure to tell them about my greatness and what wonderful brother you've got." Jack cried after him with a sly smile. Paul wanting to brag about him was a rare event, it would be foolish not to take advantage of it.

"Only if you promise to show me around TUSAR " Paul said waving before racing out on his bike.

"Then don't forget to tell them I'm your role model too." Jack cried waving back.

"Never! I don't lie" Paul yelled, as he passed the gate.

"That itself is a lie!" Jack cried after him, chucking to himself before getting back inside.

"Mom and Dad are waiting for you upstairs" Sara said as he entered.

"Okay" he said running up the stairs. Something smelled good as he passed the kitchen, probably his mother had made something special for dinner, he thought smiling.

---

His father smothered him in a warm hug just as he entered.

"How'd you know dad?" he asked returning it.

"I don't have to know anything to love my son, Jack. "he said dropping a small thin parcel on Jack's hand.

It was a long rectangular packet wrapped in silver wrapping paper.

"Go on open it" his mother said smiling.

He opened it to reveal a long thin black box, made of some wood, ebony most probably judging by its colour, held with bronze clasps. He undid it to reveal a thin black pen resting on a dark red velvet rest. Its body was made of shiny black enamel; and there was a ornate silver metal work of some bird with its long wings spreading across the length of the pen. The cap was of the same black material, with tiny silver stones set across a silver clip, so that when closed the stone formed the eye of the bird. There was a larger silver stone encrusted at the top of the cap. It looked very expensive.

"It's a Phoenix…We had it custom made for you…" his mother said smiling.

"Yup, nib crafted with silver and coated with rhodium and ruthenium, aerodynamically integrated into barrel." His father said with a gleam of pride in his eyes.

"But dad…custom made? It must have been expensive…"

"Does it matter? Do you like it?" his mother asked in a gentle voice.

"Yes…but still what if I hadn't made it? It would've been a waste…"

"No Jack, this gift is not because you made it into TUSAR . This is a reward for your effort. Whether or not you made it, the effort remains the same and by God I know how much you worked for it" his father replied smiling.

"Oh dad, thank you so much" he said hugging his father again.

"But why the Phoenix? He asked pulling back.

His father looked kinda embarrassed.

"Go on dear, tell him" his mother gently prodded him.

"Uhm...I know it's kinda dramatic…"he began in a low voice…"But I thought it symbolized you…you never give up, no matter the odds and you always rise out of any situation…even when I said I couldn't pay.."

"Okay dad I get it…"he said laughing…his father sometimes got a bit sentimental, but that was one of the things he had always liked about him. His father, an average man with his flaws, his love, his mistakes, his desire for his son's happiness…at that moment looking at his father's slightly embarrassed face lit up with a small smile and his mother's patient face he felt so much love for his family and so at peace with his life that things just seemed to be happening straight out of a dream.

Horrors of course awaited him, as did the protagonist of any story, but right now everything was perfect in his tiny world inside of Town and as of now that was all he cared.

Author's Note

So that's it people, the first chapter to just give an introduction to the world and the characters. The actual story would only begin in the following chapters. The next chapter will be about an unexpected even in Jack’s family and how his life is turned upside down. And think of TUSAR as kinda like Harvard. So review and tell me your opinions, as I really value them and it would really encourage me to keep continuing.
Also diaphanum lux means transparent light in Latin.

Reviews

[Horizon K.]

Great start with a fascinating and original world. My only critical comment is there is a lot of superfluous description. The trick for all of us writers is to try to say more with less words.

[FictionQueen]

Thanks :)
Ya I know, but its so hard when it comes to putting ideas to words.

[Jhansi Ki Rani]

The Descriptions were very well thought out, and you seem to paint the picture almost perfectly. I like the dialogue as well, it is extremely realistic and you're style is very unique, I can't wait to read more!

[FictionQueen]

Thanks :)