A Sanguinary Rose

Time, Fire and Blood

ON MONDAY my locker had the word 'slut' scrawled in big red letters across its metal surface. It was hard to miss.

My heart thumped against my ribs and my eyes stung as tears welled in. Students glanced, pointed, and stared at it. It was as though a spotlight shone over it and they were waiting for someone to step in. If I walked past it, no one would know it was mine. Or would they? If I waited, I could take whatever I needed once the hallways emptied.

Intimidating Melanie didn't seem to have worked. If anything, she doubled down her abuse. Word about my 'escapades' at the party buzzed all around school: how I had locked myself in the bathroom with different guys and how I had made the master bedroom my playground. I wanted to swallow my tongue, then choke Melanie's windpipe if that didn't kill me, and then die again. As if to drive it all home, one of her stooges had hung a banner above the school notice board in the commons that read 'Scarlett is a Harlot.' Who knows how long it hung there before a teacher removed it.

I couldn't be gladder I wouldn't need anything from my locker in my first cryptology lesson.

When I arrived, I froze at the door. Not that I couldn't recognize the twenty faces in the classroom. Quite the opposite, I recognized almost everybody, and it hit me hard what kind of lie I had been living in.

To think people I had bonded with, talked to about my secrets, invited over to my house, had never been human all along, and it never occurred to me to question it. I was talking mainly about Tiffany, who pretended not to see me after a curious but regretted glance.

I could hear the whispers—more of Melanie's lies, 'a vampire,' or 'I feel sorry for her.'

"Hey, Scarlett," Anja called, waving her arms, which drew even more attention. "I saved you a seat."

I sank on my chair next to her. "Hey. Why... are you purring... now of all times?"

"It's exciting we finally get to be classmates, isn't it? Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"No, not at all. It's just I'm not used to, you know, a girl purring. Still not used to it..."

"Ms. Rosenbaum," Mr. Royce called out my name from his desk. "Mind introducing yourself to the class?"

I mind. I stood up, blushing at Oliver-levels, avoiding looking at anyone for too long. I felt exposed, naked, open like a book with pictures depicting the most embarrassing snapshots of my life. People might point and say 'Scarlett is a Harlot.' "Well, I-I'm Scarlett. Nice meeting you." Glancing around me, I spotted Eli with that odious smirk on his face, sitting at the far corner in the back of the class. Alan sat closer to the front. Our gazes met for less than a second. There was a dangerous glint to his eye. I sat back down before Mr. Royce gave me permission.

"On your feet, please. I'm about to put you in an uncomfortable position, and for that I must apologize beforehand. It's all for the sake of time and a quick introduction to the class so we can get moving," he said, before turning to the rest of the students. "Can somebody name what she is?"

A harlot. They'll all say so.

Nobody said anything. But people's hands were raised: Anja, Oliver, Eli, Alan and a few others I didn't know by name. Tiffany hadn't raised hers and still refused to meet my eyes.

The teacher gestured at Anja. "Ms. Lynn, mind telling me how you identified her as a vampire?"

"I... well, she told me. Or Oliver told me, I don't remember." She giggled.

Mr. Royce rubbed his temples. "Mr. Roth?"

He was now referring to Eli. The rascal balanced the chair on its two hind legs. He gave me a sly look. "I can sense the demon within her."