Blind As a Bat [1st book complete]

What Is Trust For

I shrugged at the offer, "I'm sure I can find it on my own; it's not far from here."

"Well, it seems like I'm headed in the same direction," He replied, almost slinging an arm over my shoulder, but really just jostling me forward to start walking before he released me, "C'mon."

I sighed internally before walking forward, using my cane properly as it's supposed to be used. I often don't really need it for most things since many sounds around me can cue me into what was where, but it was important to show it to others so that they would believe that I was indeed blind. If I did what I could do, it would be harder on me towards humans and vampires. Often it was important to show strength towards fellow vampires so they don't harass you, but in my case, I was already weak no matter what I did. Simple as that, and since that was the case, I just used the opposite to my advantage. Showing that I was blind made them underestimate me regularly, enabling me to often get away with much lighter harm without anyone realizing.

Of course, this morning was definitely not one of those days. I could often lessen blows by turning with the fists just right so there was pressure and the person could tell in the heat of it that they made a hit without realizing that it hardly did anything. Also, playing up the weakness made them get bored much faster, because while they had the upper hand, I did all the things to make them lose interest in my faster. First, I didn't beg or crawl or lick their shoes. While this annoyed them, keeping myself in a weakened position did not actually cause their fury to be incited. Second, I did not cry out or tear up, but I did make appropriate grunting noises in response to the abuse. Third, while being submissive, I did not cower. So, by doing this, they got bored fast and I hardly got hurt at all. 

"What are you thinking about?" He asked on my right side. We had turned left in the direction of my classroom.

I shrugged, avoiding the truth, "Just making sure I don't get lost."

"What classroom are you heading to?"

"Ah, D2," I figured it was better to succinctly answer his questions than ignore him. While I was a vampire, we were at school and he was much bigger than me. It would be weird if I could take someone with his dimensions cut out of the jock cloth.

"I'm in C10, we're just down the hall from each other," He shifted and i heard him put his hands in his pockets, his backpack shifting from the change of position. "I'll walk you."

We continued on until we reached the hall, "Hey, wait here for a sec, kay?"

He had grasped my arm, so I nodded in response as he took a couple steps away. I heard a door open, "Excuse me," I heard him say into the room.

"You're late. If you don't have an excuse, turn around and head to the office," what I assumed was his teacher replied, her tone sharp.

"I ran into this blind kid who was lost. He's right outside," He had leaned to the side so I could probably be seen through the door.

"Five minutes," Was the teacher's response, "I expect you back by then."

She went back to teaching as he closed the door. I was already moving forward, so he jogged to reach me, "Lucky we ran into each other. Now I still have my pass I can use later."

I didn't reply. I hadn't expected anything from him anyway. Right?

He slapped me on the back when we reached my class, "Thanks again." It sounded like he grinned before quietly jogging quickly down the hall in the opposite direction of his class. 

I went into my class. I'm sure the teacher saw me, but didn't bother to call me out for being late. I sat at my table, taking out my supplies and placing them strategically on my table. It didn't really matter too much if I even came to most of my classes, the teachers recorded their lessons on their computers and sent it via e-mail to me anyway. I listened to it, or printed out a braille version of it. Of course, there were schools for 'disabled' kids specialized for such problems, but several factors made it impossible for me to attend one of those. 

First, none were nearby, let alone within our territory. Second, none were even under our power, because owning a school for the disabled showed weakness not strength. Third, I made it work because there was no choice but to make it work. This was the only school in the area we occupied, actually pretty much shaking the blurred border of our territory. It's by no means small, our territory that is, but most of our land was industrial, waterfront with ships for trade, and strategically placed buildings we own for businesses or as condos and apartments. We were just pretty distant from the suburbs, where most schools were more commonly expected to congregate.

A few minutes later, I heard him as he quietly jogged back to his classroom; the door opened and closed. It wasn't until the class was half over that I realized he never even asked me for my name or offered his. 

Short and sweet, but don't worry- why? Because I already have another chapter finished. Not the next one, but the one after and it's quite long. I also plan to work on the next chapter today. Who knows, I may publish three in one day... Now, if only someone would give me critique or props on SOMETHING.

Now onto chapter commentary. Wasn't that mean? Or was it?