Wizard Blood, Vampire Magic

Challenge

                It didn’t take long for my mother to get there and help with the mess I might’ve had a tiny part in making.  Mostly what happened was she took Marius, half lifting, half carrying him to her car, laid him in the back seat, covered him with a black blanket, and drove us back to the castle.  She didn’t look at either of us, but I could almost feel the questions bubbling underneath her neat and orderly appearance.

                Once we returned we both moved Marius back into his room, even though it took forever because of the stairs.  She took out a key at the bottom of the stairs and opened a room.  There were no light switches down here and she lit a match, then a candle.  A dark bed stood in a corner and we moved him to it.  My mother removed his shoes, socks, and made sure he was tucked in before she motioned for me to go back up the stairs.  At the top of them she finally looked at me fully and said, very quietly, “What happened out there, Christine?”

                “I.. Uh…”  She was staring very pointedly at my neck and I realized I had forgotten to do anything about the blood that was there.  It had dried and cracked, some bits flaking away, but the stain was there, on my skin and clothes.  “He bit me?”

                The tone of her voice made me flush.  “Obviously.   What happened next?”

                “He… he looked really confused, asked what I was, started vomiting, and said my blood was poisonous.”  I began to look down at my feet and then felt ashamed that I was dressed in such a silly manner while something like this was going on.  “Is he going to be all right?”

                She considered it for a minute, but finally my mother nodded.  “Yes… I suppose after a couple nights he’ll be fine.  Why was your blood poisonous though, I wonder…”

                I frowned, looking a bit annoyed at how nonchalantly she was talking about this.  “Why is it not a surprise that Marius is a vampire?”

                Brows went up and grey eyes widened, but my mother looked like she was fighting a smile.  “Why would it?  I found him here when I first started to explore this castle.”

                “…You found him.”

                “Oh yes.  We became friends after I convinced him I was not a meal.  He seemed interested in the idea of school.  Seems he had been left here for a couple decades and was most relieved I had freed him.  After a while he got comfortable with the idea of the academy and began to help.  And he’s been here ever since.”

                “And the summer dorm?”

                “His territory.  Only those he wants here are allowed to live here.”

                “That explains Ian and Elle, but why me?”

                A look of alarm crossed over the aging features and as she cleared her throat.  I knew deep inside that there was something my mother was hiding.  She looked uncomfortable and then shrugged.  “It seemed to be an easy solution.  Put you in the summer dorm, you’d probably figure out what you wanted to do after you turned eighteen… I thought it’d be out of the way for you.  Not too many people, no rules.”

                It made sense, but I could just feel that it was wrong.  Still, I didn’t want to press the matter at the moment.  Mostly what I wanted to do was escape back to my room.  Now that I felt uncomfortable and had neglected to tell my mother what I was, I wanted a shower to wash away today’s events.