The Sunwalker- Heirs of the Night

6- New Blood

Conte Claudio entered the classroom and called for everyone to sit down, which they did.

"Today we will learn about our strengths. As you know, we are all strong-"

The Elder was cut off by Lars.

"And some-"

Lars was cut off by the Elder.

"Are stronger-"

Conte Claudio was cut off by Lars, who got to his feet and began walking around the classroom.

"Strongest, thanks for the introduction." Nadja snorted amusedly. "We, the Dracas, are first of all the smartest, as we moved to a place where there is no sun for two months."

"Lars av Dracas!"

Conte Claudio began chasing after Lars, who easily avoided him by darting around the room.

"And, we control the northern light, the only natural light except fire and moonlight that agrees with vampire nature."

The Elder attempted to stop Lars multiple times, but he pressed on and avoided capture.

"The cold air sharpens our minds."

Lars climbed up on his desk and began hopping over from desk to desk. Nadja followed him with her eyes, trying not to laugh as the Nosferas Elder struggled to catch up to him.

"We have won every clan war and, if we didn't win it, we weren't in it."

The Dracas girls exclaimed their support for what Lars was saying. Nadja also chuckled, amused by this scene.

"We have more rubies, more power, because we are the best."

Conte Claudio finally got hold of Lars, pulled him down and pushed him back into his seat.

"Lars av Dracas, sit yourself down and you only speak when I tell you to speak. All children in this school follow the same rules."

Nadja closed her eyes and tried to call forth the Dracas power. There were many presences in the room, but one felt closer somehow. Perhaps because she had connected to his consciousness before. She latched on to it.

"Quite the show, that."

Though he didn't reply, Nadja could see that he was smiling. The Elder got ready to keep teaching, but was interrupted by the Vamalia girl.

"Yeah, right."

"Excuse me, Alisa?"

Everyone looked over at her. She shook her head embarrassedly. Conte Claudio made them all get out their notebooks and started writing something on a blackboard. Once again, class was interrupted because of the Vamalia girl.

"Alisa von Vamalia, are you paying attention? Stand up. Tell us your clan power, Alisa."

The girl only stuttered. Inger av Dracas stepped in for her.

"We don't need to learn about the power of love, do we? The Vamalia are so small and their power is weak. I don't know why they even have a-"

"Stop it. Alisa, continue."

"Is it true your parents got so drunk on love that they walked into the sunlight?"

Asked Fanny.

"What if she gets us all loved up? Then we forget who we are and destroy ourselves."

Inger added. Malcolm agreed, as did Nadja.

"Yeah, it's true, the love power can really backfire."

"Well, I'd be willing to walk the sun with you, in any case, Vamali-."

Nadja was broken off mid sentence by Conte Claudio.

"That's enough! Sit down, Alisa. Let us move on to the mystery of the four disappeared clans, their powers lost to us all across Europe. Upiry of Romania, astralprojection. Caminada of Switzerland, invisibility. Tova of Holland, moving in water. Lycana of Ireland, shapeshifting."

The Elder pointed at each clan name on the board as he mentioned them. Nadja could see an empty space that had surely carried the words Belov of Russia, walking in sunlight, until she had shown up a couple days prior. Seeing it brought a wave of sadness over Nadja. She was all alone.

"What happened to the Lycana ruby?" Asked Malcolm.

"The Upiry stole it from them during the clan wars." Said the Pyras girl.

"The Upiry was once under the protection of our great ancestor."

Conte Claudio paused, urging the class to fill in for him. "Lord Dracula!" They chanted, again and again, louder and louder until he was satisfied.

Nadja sat drinking her red with Lars and Malcolm in the dining hall later that night. Suddenly, Nadja heard something in her mind. She closed her eyes and tried to listen in to what it was saying.

"You.. cry.... how..?"

What? Nadja opened her eyes again, utterly shocked. Cry? Vampires didn't cry, Nadja had never cried in her life. She began to wonder whether what she heard had anything to do with her at all. Maybe someone was playing tricks with her? The Dracas girls, perhaps? She doubted it was Lars. Nadja looked over her shoulder and over at Inger and Fanny. They didn't look in her direction. The Vamalia girl got up from where she sat alone and left the room in a hurry. Lars looked at her as she left, something the other Dracas girls also noticed as they came over to them and began talking to Lars. Malcolm leaned over to him and whispered, so only Lars and Nadja could hear it.

"Don't tell me you're actually falling for a Vamalia?"

He did not reply, and the Dracas girls left to go to sleep. The others got up too and Nadja nodded towards the girls as they walked.

"Those girls, they're in your clan, no?"

"Yeah. They're my cousins, sisters. Inger and Fanny." Lars replied and they each went to sleep in their coffins.

The next evening, Nadja awoke to the sound of a commotion. She opened her coffin to see the Nosferas heir, Luciano, chanting something in Italian with a hand on each of Inger and Fanny's shoulders. The two girls seemed to relax, and Nadja wondered what had happened. Whatever it was, it seemed to have been something that could be desanctified. Holy water, perhaps. Their perfume bottles lay beside them, after all. A commotion sounded in the other room, which the Heirs all went to investigate. What they saw made them all hiss in disbelief. Conte Claudio was pinning down a girl while some shadow held down a wolf. A wolf aboard the Elisabetha? 

"She's telling the truth." Lars said, evidently having read the girl's mind. 

The Contessa pulled her husband off of the girl.

"She's telling the truth."

Lars repeated while The Contessa helped the girl up.

"She's just a child. I'm so sorry for my husband, he hasn't been feeling like himself lately. Let him apologize."

"I'm so sorry for my behaviour just now. I haven't been sleeping. Welcome to our school."

Conte Claudio said, after a few moments hesitation. Nadja stared. This girl had just shown up with a wolf and, after having been attacked, she was welcomed to their school just like that, where she would be learning to use the other clans' powers? The girl turned nervously to face the Heirs. They hissed and stared angrily at her. Alisa on the other hand, went over and introduced herself. Nadja left. She had better things to do than watch a wolf girl. Nadja found an empty room and practiced using the Vikla power, as she still had difficulties controlling it.