Hidden Fangs

Chapter 11 - Examination

Sebastian was waiting for Melissa to wake up impatiently. He wasn't sure what to think, but whether she became a vampire or not, one thing was certain. He would stay with her. She saved his life, countless times, and it was his fault this was happening to her. He was pacing around the house when he heard footsteps.

You awaken to the sound of breathing next to you. Dazed and hungover, you reach for a knife. You grab the knife that's hidden next to you bed, and stop just before you stab the man in the stomach.

It's just Sebastian.

Wait, why the hell is Sebastian here anyway?

You reach for your flask of blood, not wanting to deal with the hangover or the scent of Sebastian next to you. Your flask, is empty. You reach for the other flask, wondering if you grabbed the alcohol one and not the blood one. That one is empty too.

Great, I drank both of them. I really don't feel like getting up, but I also don't want to sit here next to Sebastian's scent.

As comfortable as you are sleeping next to him, the smell of his blood is just too overbearing. You get up reluctantly and leave.

***

You return later, after having found someone to feed off of, and see Sebastian and Jake sitting in the dining room, "Where'd you run off to?" Sebastian asks you with a flicker in his eyes.

You shrug nonchalantly, "Oh you know, just trying to not tear out your throat." Obviously you are still grumpy from yesterday.

Sebastian snorts at your attitude, "Well, if you're this pissy at me, try not to kill anyone today."

"What?" You look over with your eyebrow raised.

"Remember? We all start guard duty today. Well, we have the evaluation, we will probably start in a few days," Sebastian smirks at you bewildered face as it changes back to being grumpy.

"No promises."

Jake decides to ask, "What is the evaluation for?"

"The evaluation is usually sparring of some sort and demonstrating any skills that you have in front of judges. It decides what rank you get as a guard. These ranks mean nothing for status, but everything for strength. The higher the rank, the more dangerous missions you are sent on," you explain to him gruffly.

"Why doesn't it do anything for status?"

"The guards learned a long time ago that strength doesn't equal loyalty, or smarts. If a strong idiot leads everyone to death, then it's no better than having a weak person lead."

"Wait, so we will have different assignments based off strength? Will we be separate then?" Jake asks worriedly.

"Nah, the stronger you are, the less restrictions you have on what you do, including your teammates. Since I have magic, most of them won't give a shit who I take on a mission. If I wanted I could probably take you guys straight into vampire territory and they wouldn't object."

"That sounds like a horrible idea. Also why do they let magic users have so much freedom?"

"Dumbass, it's not freedom. Usually if they are aware of a magic user, the person is spied on 24/7. The illusion of freedom is how they keep you loyal. Also, it's believed that the more time you spend around someone who can use magic, the more likely you'll awake it yourself."

This time, Sebastian was surprised as well, "How does that work?"

"You guys really should pick up a book every once in a while. I use magic by manipulating mana, and I can only manipulate mana because I about got myself killed. There's two main ways to access mana, one is like I said, near death fighting. The other is to be around a denser mana flow. When I use magic, it's takes the mana is steal from others and sends it into the air so I can manipulate it. Enough talking, let's get kick ass," you sneer impatiently. You're itching to beat someone up, and this would be the best shot.