Fangs (Young Dracula)

Chapter Six

When I got back to my house, dawn was about to break and the sky was streaked with pink and orange. I stood outside as the sun rose up, bathing me in its warm glow as I shifted back into a human. As I stood up, shaking slightly as I slowly got used to being in this body again, I noticed a note stuck to the front door.

Prising it off with fingers still freezing cold from last night's chill, I opened the door and staggered inside. I unfolded the small piece of paper, which was covered in a Vlad's unmistakably neat handwriting, and began to read:

Lauren,

I'm sorry that I couldn't stay until the morning, but I had to get back home before dawn or [there were a lot of crossings out at this point] my father will probably ground me. Please come into school today - everything will be fine, I promise.

Vlad.

I put the note down and quickly washed and then dressed into my school uniform. I could tell that it contained lies, but, for some bizarre reason I couldn't find it in myself to care. Everybody had secrets, and Vlad's seemed to be greater than most; maybe even as great as mine. Anyway, I thought I trusted him about the mind-wipe, which may sound stupid, but there was definitely something inhuman about him. So maybe there was a chance that it could be true.

Stuffing the note in my blazer pocket, I quickly forged a letter from my mother saying that I had been ill for the past few days. This wasn't my first time doing it either - I had studied my mother's scrawling handwriting meticulously until I had it perfected and I had written a couple of letters to my teachers at my old school which were supposedly from her, to excuse me from things that I didn't want to do. Then I grabbed my backpack, swung it over one shoulder, and made my way out of the house.

It only took me about ten minutes to walk from my home to the school, but it felt like hours. Every step I took was heavier than the last, as though they were weighed down with dread.

What if Vlad was wrong - what if he'd lied? What if he hadn't mind-wiped them after all? I still had my doubts about that, obviously. I'd be an idiot if I didn't. Sure, I was a werewolf, but that didn't mean that I just believed everything on the spot, without a shadow of a doubt.

I had just got to the school gates when it hit me.

Avoiding sunlight. Wiping people's memories. Throwing fireballs. Teleporting.

It all pointed to one thing - the truth.

When I got into school, I checked my watch to see how long I had until lessons started - about ten minutes - and then hurried straight up to my classroom. A couple of people turned to look at me as I walked in, but most of the class didn't seem to care.

Glancing round the room, I saw that Vlad wasn't there yet, and, to my relief, neither was Ruby. Once she saw me she would probably bombard me with questions about where I'd been, and then she wouldn't leave my side for the rest of the day. Ruby was just that type of person.

I left my bag in the classroom, and darted up and down the corridors and around the school, slowly realising just how maze-like the place really was.

By the time I spotted him I only had a couple of minutes until class. He was standing outside one of the doors that led to the house, reading something. I wondered why he was here, but then I remembered that he was the son of the school's owner, Mr. Count. He was standing with his back to me, deeply immersed in his book, and so I made my way towards him.

When I got to him, I glanced over his shoulder, trying to see what he was reading. It was a huge book, quite old-looking, and smelling, to be honest, with yellowed pages and covered in elegant writing. It looked at least one hundred years old. I wondered what on earth he wanted with a book like that, but before I could try to decipher the writing, he snapped the book shut and turned to glare at me.

"Lauren!" he gasped in surprise when he saw it was me.

"What, did you think I was such a coward that I'd just stay at home?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him indignantly.

"What?" he snorted. "No, of course not!" He paused, before looking sideways at me. "So, you believed me when I said that I had wiped everybody's memories, then?"

I shrugged. "Why not? It's hardly the weirdest thing I've ever heard. I am a," I leaned close to him and whispered in his ear for this bit, "werewolf, after all."

He nodded, looking a bit uneasy.

"And I need to talk to you, Vladimir," I hissed, quietly. "Somewhere...private."

He sighed in defeat, as though he already knew what I was going to say. Maybe he did. "Alright. Fine. Lead the way."

I took us to a small cupboard, hidden away in the mass of winding corridors. He pulled the light switch, and we were immediately immersed in glaring yellow light. I glanced around the room, at the hanging spiderwebs, towering piles of old books, and everything coated in a thin layer of dust.

Vlad coughed and ran his finger along one of the shelves behind him. It came away grey, leaving a clean line where he had put it, and he pulled a face as he glanced at it.

"Somebody really needs to clean this place," he remarked, looking around in disgust.

Privately I agreed, but I kept my opinions to myself and got straight down to business. "Vlad," I said, looking him straight in the eye. "I know what you are."

He sighed again, exactly as he had done only a few minutes ago. "I knew you'd find out eventually. What with being a," he did a strange little hand gesture, "you know..."

"A werewolf?"

"Shhhh! Not so loud!" He glanced around. "Someone might hear!"

I laughed. "Not in here, Vlad. Calm down!"

He did, but he still kept on looking round nervously. "Look, maybe we should skip school today. You know, just so I can show you around?" He scratched his head and fiddled with his collar restlessly. "I mean, if you don't want to then..." His voice trailed off.

I smiled at him. "Yeah, okay. I've left my bag in the classroom though, and some people might have seen me, so that might be a problem..."

"Don't worry, I'll sort it. Just wait here for a second."

He disappeared in a whoosh of air that hit me in the face, making me jump back in surprise, and then reappeared a second later, now holding my bag. Was I ever going to get used to that?

"Be careful!" I scolded him, my chest heaving. "There were loads of people in there when I left! Someone must have seen you!"

He completely ignored my last statement, and pulled out a glass vial of a strange, clear liquid.

"What is that?" I asked, confused.

"Stasis spray," he explained, looking pleased with himself. "It blocks out your breathing and your scent, so you'll seem like a real vampire. Apart from the fact that you won't burn in sunlight, and you'll still be immune to garlic, and you won't be able to turn into a bat or teleport, you'll still turn into a wolf..."

"So, apart from that, I'll be just like a vampire!" I chuckled.

Vlad seemed a bit embarrassed at that. "Just lay low and keep yourself to yourself, and you'll be fine! It's just so my father and sister don't suspect anything. They've got a bit of a grudge against werewolves. Mostly because my mother ran off with one when I was quite young. Just...be careful, alright? I don't want you getting hurt."

"I'll be fine Vlad!" I reassured him. "Anyway, it's only for a little while, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, only for a bit." But I could have sworn he looked disappointed.

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