Empire of Vampires ✔️

Chapter Nine

The dreaded day of the interhouse sports tournament had finally arrived for Andrew. The day was warmer than usual but thick clouds still coated the skies. They weren't so dark, however, and the suns still managed to shine through just enough to light the field and make it warm enough for the students to wear their lightweight sports kits.

Andrew stood on the side of the field that was allocated to his house. Each of the four sides were to be decorated by a different colour and his was yellow, which was actually his favourite.

Marie had spent the entire last week going about introducing him to all the house members as if it had been solely her decision. She bounded up to him now, carrying the giant paper mâché head of a cheetah.

'Look at what Georgie made!' she exclaimed, wiggling the head in front of his face, 'Isn't it the coolest?'

'Who's Georgie?'

'You know Georgie, the girl with the raspberry red hair.' She gestured discreetly at a long-haired girl who was decorating their yellow tent with a bunch of other students. 

At least, Andrew thought she was trying to be discreet, but she exaggeratedly shook her head in Georgie's direction till the other girl glanced up at her and grinned before she went back to her work.

'Ohh that's the girl who saw your sock-'

'Yea yea, there's no need to remind me,' she interrupted hurriedly, 'Anyway, see that green-haired boy over there? That's Ciara's brother, Cayden.'

Andrew glanced over to see Cayden nailing down a side of the tent. He had the same natural, forest-green hair of his sibling, and a wide mouth, but his eyes were a bright blue whereas Ciara's were black.

'Anyway, he's dating this girl called Tara,' Marie continued, 'She's in some other house, but she's one of Georgie's closest friends, so I asked Ciara to ask Cayden to ask Tara to tell me all about her,' she finished breathlessly.

'All about Georgie?' Andrew asked, feeling a bit confounded by the long loop she had travelled in order to gather information on the redhead's name. 'Why couldn't you just go up to her and ask her yourself?'

Marie glared at him and spluttered for a moment, aghast at this awfully simpleton logic. 'Blimey! Why would I do that?' she gasped.

'Blimey?' Andrew grinned.

'What about it?'

'Nothing, it's just a word I haven't really heard anyone use.' He shrugged. 'I noticed you're into vintage stuff though,' he added, lightly touching the rainbow-coloured hippie bangles that lined her wrists.

She pulled her hand back as his fingers came into contact with her ice-cold skin.

'Are you cold?' Andrew asked in some surprise, 'You hardly ever wear your blazer, even in the courtyard on the coldest days... I thought maybe you just ran hot.'

'No, well, I just like to be constantly freezing,' she said quickly, 'It builds character.'

Andrew laughed at that. 'At least you don't have to worry about getting sick.'

'What? Why wouldn't I have to worry about falling ill? Humans fall ill all the time!' she exclaimed. How did he know she was impenetrable to sickness?

'Well, not anymore...' Andrew replied, a little taken aback, 'It's not like you could just catch a cold like back in the 22nd century. The vaccines given at childbirth are preventative of all that.. You are vaccinated, aren't you?' 

'Of course, I am!' Marie replied indignantly, knowing this wasn't true. She had completely forgotten about the advancement of modern medicine. 

Marie had spent a long time pretending to fall ill like how humans did, just to keep up appearances. She internally cursed herself for always being so careless with her words around Andrew. She was never too careful to hide it around anyone really. No one else ever paid enough attention to what she said, to think something was amiss. 

Andrew, on the other hand, was terribly perceptive. She'd never come across another human who had bothered to notice her mixed dialect, or even the fact that she didn't eat. She and James had both started visiting the cafeteria really early, before Andrew woke up and once they were done actually feeding, so that he would believe they ate human food.

'Anyway, we need to go fix this on the tent,' Marie said, quickly changing the subject as she gestured to the cheetah head.

Marie held the ladder while Andrew climbed up to tie the papier-mâché head with some ropes above the "Cheetahs" banner on the front of the tent.

Georgie was standing a few feet to Marie's right, painting black spots on the yellow tent walls to create a cheetah print.

Her raspberry hair cascaded loosely down her back and Marie noted that it looked especially striking against the sunshine yellow of the Cheetah's sports-kit. Georgie wore a matching yellow headband with a knotted top and had even done her nails with cheetah-print nail art.

'Hey, hold it steady!' Andrew yelped.

'I am, I am,' Marie assured, putting a steady foot on the bottom rung before going back to leaning her elbow on the ladder and dreamily resting her chin on her arms.

A slow smile crept its way on to Georgie's face as the younger girl continued staring at her. She finally turned to her, putting down her paintbrush.

'Hello,' Georgie greeted with a smile.

'Erm, hello person... who's name I don't know,' Marie intelligently replied, careful not to let Georgie get wind of her well-planned research.

'Are you sure, Marie? You were asking my friends about me ever since that day at the stream when you saw a fish.' Georgie smiled benignantly.

Darn, perhaps her so called research hadn't been that well-planned after all.

'You do know fish have been extinct for well over a hundred years,' Georgie teased.

What the hell, were they??! How was she, Marie, supposed to actually keep track of all these changes throughout the centuries?

'Of course, haha, I was jest- just kidding Georgie!' Marie quickly said, thinking she should really be more careful of her vocabulary.

Georgie let out a low chuckle, her eyes dancing.

'Anyway, I think we made the bestest house tent ever,' Marie declared, quickly changing the subject, 'The cheetah head you made is the best I've ever seen.'

Georgie giggled, 'Well, I think you did a great job attaching it. It looks perfect above the banner.'

'I- I did,' Marie agreed, 'I did attach it perfectly, didn't I.' She crossed one foot over the other and casually leaned with one arm on the ladder.

Georgie stepped back to admire the rest of the tent. Leafy plants decorated the inside and were placed around the tent to match the jungle theme. The entire roof was strung with twinkling, golden lights that lit up the cloudy day.

Marie stared at how the golden flecks of light danced merrily in Georgie's bright green eyes.

'We're sure to win the decorating part of the competition, and those points are added to the final score,' Marie assured her, stepping closer to count whether each eye held three flecks or four.

'Maybe we will,' Georgie smiled. She paused and glanced up for a moment, 'That boy is trying to get your attention, Marie.'

'Let him try.' Marie's blue eyes sparkled with the reflection of the green pair she stared into.

They stared at each other for a moment before Georgie glanced up again at the sound that was interrupting them.

'Oi, HEY!' Andrew yelled, looking terrified atop the tent.

'What?' Marie grumbled, turning around to glare at him in annoyance.

'You dropped my ladder!'