The Living Game

(2) Being a Fake Professor Is Fun

Alek's POV

"Alekzander!" A high pitched and whiny voice called. I winced inwardly, cursing my bad luck that didn't let me escape the house without having to talk to anyone, but turned anyway.

"Yes, ma'am?" Annoyance was thick in my voice, despite my trying to be sincere.

I was weirdly tired from the dream I'd had last night. This girl had been sitting on my bed and I'd bitten her. She was beautiful, but I'd never seen her before in my life. There was just something about her that captured your attention, whether it be her flaming red hair or her beautiful eyes. The dream felt so real and when I woke up, I was thirster than I'd been in a long time. Because of that, I'd had to go out hunting and needed to again soon.

Eliza Stafford, my "mother", was standing the kitchen, holding a knife precariously while she chopped up some lettuce and tomatos. I didn't understand why she bothered trying to act like a human in front of the neighbors. She was constantly inviting them over for dinner and making all these disgusting meals for them. It was degrading.

"I'd like you to stay for dinner." She looked away from me, her knife cutting the vegetables so fast no human would have caught it. I could feel her threat, even if she didn't voice it.

She needed to impress these humans because it was special to keep up a good image so that no one got suspicious. Plus, if we made everyone like us, when something did go wrong no one would suspect our family. I'd heard it a million times.

I wasn't afraid of her. She could act like the big, bad boss of the house but the truth was I was stronger, faster and had better instincts than her. Unlike my brother, I didn't do everything she wanted. "I've got plans." I muttered, grabbing my leather jacket from the coat rack.

As I finished speaking, my brother, Jamie Gray, came running down the stairs. Despite us being biological brothers, we looked nothing alike. He was tan where I was pale; he had short, spiky, brown hair and I had fairly long and messy brown hair. He had hazel eyes while I had blue. I was taller than he was but he was slightly more muscled than I.

We were also different in personality and opinion. Jamie would spend all his time with one of his many girls, while I preferred to spend most of my time alone or with my closest friend. Not that I didn't have just as many girls as he did, I just didn't usually stick around in the morning.

Jamie has never been a goody-two-shoes, or anything near it, but he's got a much louder inner voice than I do. And Jamie has about half a ball, which leads to him never saying no to a request from his mommy.

Unlike myself, he was grateful for her interference in his life, for her going against the laws of both humans and vampires alike. When she turned him, he got eternity and he's never minded.

"I'd stay, but I've got to go out for a bit, as well." Jamie apologized, looking sincere. I knew he hated these dinners just as muchs I did, though simply because he hated to pretend for stangers that he didn't care about. I didn't blame him.

Jamie and I left together, slipping out just as the neighbor's car pulled into the driveway. Our mother had bought an old, average-looking house when we moved here. She's wanted to fit in and said that anything like we'd usually have — something audacious — would attract far too much attention.

"Alek." Jamie called before I could get away from him. "Are you going to hunt?"

I nodded without turning around or stopping my fast pace towards the edge of the woods. The neighbor may have see me but who cares. Eliza could deal with that, if need be. I'm sure she would come up with a perfectly good excuse, such as that I was looking for a flower for her or something.