IHasCupQuake Is A Vampire?

Chapter 15

Kat

I take a deep breath, even though I really don't need to since I'm a vampire now, and look around nervously. What a regular human, AKA me before, would hear is people chatting, messing around, running on the grass. What I hear now, besides the regular background noise, is hearts pounding, blood flowing, muscles retracting. Taking a deep gulp and trying to ignore the blood coursing through everyone, I open up my thermos of warm blood, quickly take a sip, careful not to drip any, and cap it back up.

I walk over to the steps of the school where Taylor is sitting and try to act like my regular self.

"Hi." I say, forcing a smile and trying not to show my fangs. It almost feels like a real smile.

"Hey!" Taylor says, standing up and gesturing to the girl next to her. "This is Miriam, she was visiting family for a few weeks in Israel."

"Hi!" The girl says, standing up. She has long, braided black hair, pale, papery skin, bright green eyes, and is a few inches shorter than Taylor. "I'm Miriam. Yeah."

"Cool, I'm Katherine, but you can call me Kat." I say, shaking her hand. Then, Miriam whispers something in Taylor's ear.

"She wasn't last time." Taylor says back to Miriam.

"What are you talking about?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh . . . just Zoey's new plastic surgery. Her nose doesn't look any better and her lips are gigantic!" Miriam's eyes widens, and motions with her eyes over to Zoella Andrews.

"Yeah, she does look like a clown." I agree, although I think that's not what they were talking about. "So, you guys want to go to class?"

"Sure." Taylor says, looking at Miriam, and Miriam looks at her. Do not tell me they have something devious planned.

We walk up the steps, and when we go inside, Taylor grabs my arm and drags me down the hall and into an empty classroom. Miriam locks the classroom door, closes all the windows, shuts the blinds, and closes the laptop on the teacher's desk. After taking all the necessary precautions, they turn to me.

"Okay, what happened while you were absent?" Taylor asks.

"I just had the flu. I'm fine now." I shrug, gripping my warm thermos.

"Kat, you can tell us what happened. You can trust us." Miriam says.

"I just met you guys a few weeks ago! I mean, I trust you, but not enough. It's kinda personal." I say. "Can we go now?"

"Kat, it's okay to tell us what's going on." Taylor reassures.

"I'm sorry, but I was just sick. That's all there is to it." I say, and walk over to the door. "Let's just go to class."

I pull the doorknob, but instead of opening the door, I tear off the doorknob. "Damn." I swear under my breath.

"You can trust us, Kat. You really can. We can help you." Miriam says.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" I scream, throwing the doorknob onto the floor, denting the tile. I didn't even throw it at full force.

"Then explain this." Taylor speeds over to me, grabs the thermos, and speeds over to the sink. She uncaps the thermos despite my protests as Miriam holds me back.

"No!" I hiss, baring my fangs as blood drips out of the thermos and into the sink. Red, delicious . . . blood. And she's pouring it all away.

I push past Miriam and snatch away the thermos. "Don't you dare do that!" I say, hissing.

"So, do you admit to being a vampire?" Miriam asks, crossing her arms.

"No!" I scream. "Just shut up!"

They only want to help you, Kat., the voices say in my ears. They start to get louder. THEYONLYWANTTOHELPYOUTHEYWANTTOHELPYOU.

"Agh!" I scream, covering my ears. "SHUTUPSHUTUP!!!! SHUT UP YOU STUPID VOICES!!!"

"Kat!" Miriam screams. "Just listen to us and it'll stop!"

I grit my teeth and lower my hands from my ear, and the voices start to go away. I straighten my posture and look down.

"Fine." I whisper. "I'm a vampire."

Miriam speeds over next to me. "How did it happen?"

I gulp. "My real dad . . . he . . . he . . . he did it. He broke in one night into my room and made me drink his blood."

"Wait, you were already half vampire?" Taylor asks, surprised. "Half hearer and half vamp is rare."

"Yeah, I guess. He had been looking for me for a while." I shrug. "But my adoptive mom finds me and it turns out she's a vampire too and she's been helping me with stuff."

"Kat, who's your dad?" Miriam asks. "We'll track him down if you want."

"My mom is already." I say. "But his name is Ian Lovegate."

Miriam and Taylor look at each other. "Wait, Ian Lovegate?"

"Yeah, why?" I shrug.

"Do you even know who this guy is? He's one of the most powerful rogues in California!" Miriam shivers.

"And you're his daughter!" Taylor says, gasping. "Are you sure you heard that guy right?"

"It'll say it on my birth certificate, I'm his daughter."

"Wow." Taylor leans against a desk. "Oh my gosh, I'm friends with a daughter of some really horrible rogue."

We remain silent for a minute.

"So what do I do?" I ask.

"Your mom will get killed trying to get him." Miriam says. "So, just try and lay low. Don't be alone in the house without someone else."

"Okay." I nod, taking the top off of my thermos and taking a huge drink. The warm blood flowing down my throat comforts me, and I drink it all. "Great. This was supposed to last me longer."

"We can get you more. We have a secret store in the basement. Might be a bit cold, though."

"That's fine." I say, my stomach rumbling. "How much longer until class starts?"

Taylor glances at the clock. "Looks like we have fifteen minutes. Should be enough time to refill your thermos."

"Cool." I nod. "Let's go."