Blood Wars

Chapter 6

I let Cleo and the two other girls lead me to the cafeteria. "Kara, these are my friends, Christa and Emma." Cleo says when we reach an empty table. I take a good look at them. Christa is a dark-skinned beauty with intelligent eyes. She has near perfect posture for a day walker and I can tell by the way she carries herself that she has a level of confidence that most of these pimple plastered humans lack. Emma is almost the exact opposite. Her skin is pale, not vampire pale but light and milky with reddish brunette hair. She seems like the type who spends way too much time out of the day putting herself together. The type you can easily imagine practicing conversations and facial expressions in the mirror. Where Christa's aura reads confidence, Emma's reeks of low self-esteem. Cleo clears her throat, reminding me that silent appraisals are considered rude amongst humans.

"Nice to meet you," I lie.

"So Kara, are you hungry?" Christa asks.

Am I hungry? It's taking every ounce of self-control I've never had to keep me from grabbing a straw and jabbing it into one of their necks and slurping until the burning pain of bloodlust subsides. "No." I say.

Emma gives me a snotty but knowing look. "Let me guess, you're on a diet too?"

"You have no idea." I reply. Emma's judging eyes soften.

"I totally relate." She says.

"Come on Emma, you are not fat, just eat something, it won't kill you." Cleo says.

Emma simply rolls her eyes.

They start pulling out chairs and sitting down so I follow suit. Both Cleo and Christa pull out packed lunches from their backpacks. Surprisingly, there is no fake human lunch packed in my own bag, so I just sit there.

"So Kara, did you just move here?" Christa asks between bites of her sandwich. I shake my head.

"Homeschooled." Cleo offers, although it isn't true. I attended school, a century ago, with other privileged vampires. But since I can't say that I nod along.

"Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?" Cleo asks. "I mean the cafeteria food isn't gourmet or anything but it's passable." She gestures over to the front of the room where several carts of food are displayed. The three of them begin recounting the fascinating events of their high school morning.

"I think I'll check out what they have," I quickly stand up before their conversation bores me to tears for the first time in my extensive life. The cafeteria doesn't have much to offer, and even less for a vampire. After a moment I decidedly grab a cup and fill it with hot coffee. A quick glance in the direction of my "new friends" confirms that no one is looking at me. They are however, discussing me. Thinking they are out of ear shot, Cleo asks them what they think of me. The consensus seems to be that I'm "quiet but nice enough." While they discuss my likeability, I reach into my pocket and grab out a vile of blood. This one isn't from my parents, but from my dear Dorian. With the cap open my senses instantly sharpen when I catch a whiff of the human blood. The portion is less than what my parents presented me with but I'm so relieved to smell it that I'd take a single drop at this point. Since I am currently filled to the brim with docile blood, I know I must start slow. Quickly and steadily, I pour the thick red liquid into the coffee. Stirring it together, I watch the two liquids meld with each other. I secure the lid and slip out of the cafeteria with my lunch. Down the hall I spot the brown double doors leading to the outside quad. The second I'm outside I feel a great deal of tension leave my body. The voices of my "peers" fade and are replaced with the beautiful sounds of nature. The gentle wind caressing the branches of the trees rustling their leaves. The cheerful chirps of nearby birds, The scurrying of squirrels in the bushes. There doesn't seem to be anyone else outside and for a second I wonder if eating outside during lunch is even allowed. Not that it would stop me, if I was caught, I could simply play the ignorant new girl card. But then I spot a boy leaning against a tree, holding an open book instead of food. He doesn't even glance up and I'm glad to evade yet another obligatory new student conversation.