Blur

Chapter 9: Boring vs Bizarre, the Great Battle

Chapter 9:

Boring vs Bizarre, the Great Battle

The sun is beginning to wake up in the west and I stand, readying to go inside and hide from the sun during the day. When I open the front door, Mother Anne is standing directly on the other side, holding two glasses. She smiles at me brightly and hands me a cup, "Good morning, dear."

"Good morning, Mother Anne. What did you do last night?" I ask, knowing she did not stare at the trees as they waved in the wind and listen to the crickets sing.

"I fixed our rooms so that they are sun proof," she answers. "But I am afraid they are not boredom proof," she adds, irritation in her tone.

I laugh at her comment on boredom. "I assumed we were going to have a lesson today," I tell her.

"We are. It will be on controlling one's powers. However, we never have a lesson that lasts for the entire duration of the daylight hours," she points out.

"Oh. What will we do after our lesson?" I ask.

"Luca has volunteered to continue your high school studies with you so that you can complete all of your required courses even though you are not able to attend public high school. I have to talk over some things with Baxter," she explains.

I want so badly to ask her what kind of things she has to talk to Baxter about, but I know it is no use, she will not give me an answer. So instead, I ask, "You told me last night that we had many things to talk about. What are they?"

"Oh, nothing, dear. I was going to lecture you on your behavior, but you are a good girl and so new to being a vampire. We will let your slight transgressions slide this time," she says with a wink.

I study her for a moment. Her smile is too wide, her focus is not on me, and she is fiddling with her hands. She is lying to me. That's not what she really wanted to talk about, but whatever it is, I cannot force it out of her. "Thank you for not being angry with me," I finally tell her and watch as the tension leaves her shoulders and relief flood her eyes. I notice she looks tired, weighed down by something.

"Are you ok, Mother Anne?" I ask worriedly as we reach my room.

"Yes, Amaya. I am just fine. Do not worry so much. We are vampires, immortals with no worries," she reminds me. "Now, let's get started on that lesson."

~*~*~*~

We had started the lesson at six thirty that morning and Mother Anne drilled me long and hard on control. By the time we finished five hours later, I was exhausted, 'a feat for a vampire to achieve,' Mother Anne had told me. So I laid down and rested, mostly watching teen dramas on the television and laughing at all the things movie directors had wrong about vampires and werewolves. Now I understand why Mother Anne always got so agitated with me over the many misconceptions I had.

After a while, Luca entered the room with his usual cocky grin in place and several text books in his arms. "Ready to study?" he asked, plopping down on my bed beside me.

"Not really. I thought getting changed into a vampire and yanked from my family and friends was supposed to come with the perk of being free from the prison for teenagers," I had replied but Luca mercilessly forced me through four hours of studying. Some of the subjects were continuations of what I had been working on in school and others I had not been taking such as, French and the history of supernatural beings. By the time we finished that, I had a butt load of homework, a major brain ache and only an hour and a half to prepare for dinner.

Now I sit on my bed, staring at the floor and trying to figure out a way to get out of the mandatory dinner so I would not have to face all the Weres I made a fool of myself in front of last night. Not being able to feign sickness suddenly seemed a great loss. I considered hiding again but I know that would just get me in so much trouble with Mother Anne. Perhaps simply telling the truth would get me out of it.