Edgewalkers

The Originals

Without Sophie, I entered the classroom she'd brought me to. I'd missed my first class of the day due to the tour but was warmly welcomed by the teacher and introduced to my peers as "the new girl in town, who they should treat with respect and kindness". What worried me was, when she continued to state that they should keep me out of the "usual school drama and trouble". Why was that something she had to instruct the other students on? Let alone right in front of me?

The teacher then asked me to sit down next to a boy in a leather jacket, who eyed me with a cautious look as I followed the order. While the teacher continued with class by telling us about what we would tend to this school year, the boy leaned over to my desk.

"So, you a part of any of the gangs yet?" he asked.
"The gangs?" I whispered back. Did he mean a friend group of some sorts?
"Apparently not," he chuckled. "What you into? More the nature type? Or are you more of a biker girl?"

"Are you serious?" I wanted to know a bit perplex. Why would he ask me if I was a biker girl?
"Yeah. Man, who gave you the tour? You seem to know almost nothing about our school yet," he complained.
"Sophie," I answered and immediately, he nodded in an understanding manner.

"That girl never tells the newbies about the rules. If you're lucky, she'll tell you at lunch. "

He leaned back into his chair, shaking his head a bit as if he couldn't understand why Sophie hadn't told me about the "gangs". This was so bizarre though. What exactly did he mean by the term? It could basically be anything: harmless or perhaps troublesome. I just hoped it was the first one.

Right after my classes ended, I headed to the cafeteria. In chemistry, we'd worked in groups and everyone had asked if I had been introduced to the system yet, which made me even more curious as to what Sophie hadn't told me yet.

As promised, she was waiting for me at the entrance and together, we walked over to one of the tables. The entire cafeteria was filled up with people and it seemed like everyone knew where they should sit. Furthermore, there were such heated looks passed around between different groups, I was already worried they would jump at each others' throats.

I sat down next to Sophie and her sister, who was introduced to me as Jane-Anne, and finally pulled my eyes away from the weird atmosphere in the room.

"Can I ask a weird question?" I started, and Sophie nodded, smiling. "Why is everyone so fixated on their groups in here and also, what is up with the gang talk?"

"So you heard already." Sophie sighed. "I'm sorry for not mentioning it before, I figured it might be too much at once but since you asked, let me try to explain."

I followed her pointing finger over to a table next to the door. Some of the students sitting there looked a bit angry, a few even yelled at another group, others however appeared relatively normal.

"Those over there are who we call the Vamps or Fangs," Sophie started. "If I were you, I would stay away from most of them."
"Why?" I wanted to know.
"Some are fine," Leigh-Anne said, "but most are into illegal stuff. They take drugs, are involved in vandalism and some occasionally steal from the locals."
"Say what now?" I let out, a bit shocked.

How come this was just such a casual thing to say here? If they really were such criminals, why wasn't there anything done about it?

"Yeah, no kidding. In case you're wondering how this just happens: it isn't so easy. The network isn't only in school, they actually spread all across town. There would be no way of catching all of them."

Sophie's finger moved on to another group, which included the boy with the leather jacket from today's class.
"Those are the Howlers. Stay away from them too if you can. They're not as bad as the Fangs but bad business, nevertheless. Most are bikers or racers. You wouldn't believe how many illegal street races we got here weekly. And the craziest thing: once a month, they gather to see how many criminal Fangs they can catch in one night."