Hell Hall

Chapter Seven

Biology. I'd already dissected a frog before and some owl pellets, much to my distaste, but not like this. Never before had I listened to a vampire casually sip on the blood of the poor amphibian behind me, without a care in the world. Watching a witch dip the legs in some potion hadn't exactly crossed my mind before either. Apparently, fairies liked to eat frogs as well, razor sharp teeth showing under their full lips.

Drake was sitting on the other side of the room, the only other zombie in attendance. It would seem that we were the oldest of our class. With a jolt of guilt, I remembered that he was supposed to be graduated and gone, and that he wasn't because of me.

That's not true, I reasoned. It's his own fault he left. There's no need to feel bad about something he did to himself.

"Look at her," Angelica whispered loudly from a few rows behind me. "She looks so lost! Poor little corpse, not even able to pass bio." Her group snickered and sipped their bloody drinks, ignoring the rambling of the ancient teacher at the front of the room, his fairy teeth just as sharp as the students he shared his race with.

"You're right," I replied snidely. "I think I need another frog. Perhaps you could go outside and get one for me? Oh, that's right-you're allergic to the sun. Poor little vampire girl, afraid of the light." I didn't need to look back to know I'd upset more than just Angelica. Judging from the growls that had erupted behind me, I'd touched more than just a few nerves. "What's the matter?" I egged them on. "Miss the sun?"

"I've never seen it," she snapped, her voice dangerous.

"What?" That surprised me and I looked back at them, shocked to see how upset they truly were.

"You don't know anything, do you?" She grinned sickeningly and laughed, rolling her eyes, the anger still rising from her like a heavy blanket that covered every part of me. "I was born a vampire, numbskull. There hasn't been a mortal turned in over one hundred years. The witches made sure of that." Shooting a dark look across the room to a group of the aforementioned, she growled again, picking up her frog and smashing it in her hand.

"Angelica, I'm sure your father would be displeased to hear that you interrupted class again." The teacher had somehow appeared right at my side, his face covered in a look of annoyance.

"Sorry, Mister Withers. I was only explaining how things work to our new student." She smiled serenely, but her eyes had murder written in them.

"Ah, yes. Miss-" He stopped to check a paper in his pocket, stowing it hastily as he cleared his throat. "Woodruff is it? Kindly save your questions for after class."

"Yes, sir," I mumbled, turning back to my project.

The rest of the day passed in the same agonizing pattern. It was just like normal high school, except the cool kids could actually tear you to pieces if they wanted. Angelica made more than a fair amount of jabs, but I ignored her for the rest of the day, feeling like she shouldn't be pushed as far as any normal bully.

Finally, night fell. I could feel something rise up from the school itself, like everyone had released a collective sigh at the same time. I was in the dorm when it happened, working on some math homework I'd been assigned. All at once, things seemed more relaxed than normal.

"The magic is back," Lilly said from across the table I was working at. "Do you feel it?"

"I do." So that's what it was. Everything looked the same, the dorm a blandly decorated, generic feeling space that belonged to every girl in attendance here. But it was obviously different than it had been mere seconds before. It was as if the walls themselves were breathing in relief, the air dancing where it had laid still all day.