She got dressed in less than a minute, grabbed her backpack and rushed outside. The hallway to her dorm was empty. Everyone was already in the school building. She ran over there as quickly as she could. Upon reaching the entrance, she found a map on the wall and tried to remember which class she was supposed to have first.

  “English Lit!” she shouted to herself, as a few other students, probably feeling as lost as she was, circled around her, in an effort to find the right classroom.

  “You going to English Lit?”

  Mina suddenly heard a voice behind her and wondered how, lately, everyone seemed to start talking to her when she was turned around.

  “Yeah?” she replied, hopeful that someone else was going and was as late as she was, so at least, they could share the punishment.

  “Come on, it’s this way!”

  The girl gestured at her to follow her and Mina did as she was instructed, running after the girl down the already empty hallway. The girl turned left, then right, then up a small flight of stairs, then a swift right and the classroom was the last one on the right.

  “I never would have been able to find it on my own,” Mina admitted and the girl laughed.

  “I know,” the girl replied. “Took me three weeks to learn the route. I’m Reeba, by the way.”

  “Lucy,” Mina smiled, trying to sound sincere.

  The name was still new and she had to make a conscious effort every time someone asked her for her name, otherwise her cover could be blown before she even got to Dante.

  “Now, let’s get in before Mrs. Whittmer comes and sees we’re late.”

  Mina rushed in after Reeba and tried to find an empty seat, preferably somewhere in the back. Unfortunately, all of the safe ones in the back were already taken, so Mina just sat down wherever she could. She could almost feel the piercing gazes all around her but she tried not to pay attention to them. Of course, it was a given that everybody would stare at the new kid, for whatever reason. It could be the clothes, the hair, or just the way someone walks. It’s never anything logical, though. She just didn’t want to give them any additional reasons to keep staring at her once this initial curiosity had passed, so she just slumped down into the seat and remained quiet.

  A few moments later, a woman waltzed into the classroom on heels much higher than Mina expected from a teacher here in the middle of nowhere. She was wearing just a little too much makeup, especially taking into account her age. Again, Mina was unable to pinpoint her age, even roughly, because she seemed old, but the gleam in her eyes, the way she carried herself, the way she spoke, revealed a woman of much younger age. Then, Mina remembered where she was. Of course all these people were much older than they seemed.

  “Alright then, settle down everybody!” she voiced herself, not overly loud, but loud enough for everyone to be able to hear her.

  It took a while for everyone to do as they were told and Mina could only hope that she wouldn’t have to do the usual new kid introduction. Being in the line of work she was, Kellam took it upon himself to home school her, though Mina knew of the usual school experience, because she started going to school as a young child. Only once they were left all alone, did Kellam take over full custody of her and make sure she was doing well, both physically as well as psychologically ever since. He managed to make everything interesting. With him, every subject was an adventure just waiting to be discovered, he knew exactly how to create that connection between a student and the subject matter. Mina had always thought, if he wasn’t a vampire slayer, he definitely would have been a teacher and an awesome one.

  The very thought of him brought tears to her eyes. For the last two weeks, she’d been immersed in planning for this trip, so she hadn’t even had time to sit down and be sad about everything that had happened. Not that it would do much good anyway. At least, that was what Kellam always used to say. It was better to use that energy to try and come up with a solution, than sit down, throw in the towel and just cry. Crying had no purpose.

  So, Mina bit down on her lower lip, in a futile effort to displace the feeling of discomfort and pain, and gazed forward, waiting to hear what Mrs. Whittmer would say next.

  “I see we have a new face here,” she spoke, addressing Mina, who just nodded, feeling helpless. “Why don’t you stand up, dear, and tell us a little about yourself.”

  Mina sighed heavily and gazes, like arrows, flew her way. Despite this, she stood up, defiantly.

  “My name is Lucy Wing. As Mrs. Whittmer already said, I’m new here. I basically arrived yesterday evening and was almost late because of that.”

  A little chuckle of laughter spread throughout the classroom.

  “Well, I had no idea!” Mrs. Whittmer suddenly interjected. “I shall have to have a talk with Mr. Colt. He should have left you to rest today. That was quite a journey you undertook.”

  Mina smiled weakly. She knew these people were enemies, all of them. At the same time, it felt nice to hear someone say those words and offer some understanding and compassion.

  “Thank you,” she replied, “but I’m alright. I need to catch up with the rest of the class, so I don’t mind starting right away.”

  “Now, that’s the spirit!” Mrs. Whittmer clapped her hands joyfully. “I love seeing such enthusiasm in students!”

  Mina kept on smiling a little awkwardly, until she was gestured by Mrs. Whittmer to sit down and then everyone was instructed to open their books to page 17, as they were about to discuss the Byronic hero in Romantic literature of the 18th century.

  Mina wasn’t really listening, even though she loved the subject. It was something that they shared with their mother. They used to spend evenings together, cuddled up on the sofa and their mother would read them the classics. Moby Dick. Madame Bovary. Gulliver’s Travels. The Mysteries of Udolpho. She and her brother knew them all but when they were forced to flee their home, their sanctuary, they had to leave their books behind.

  Suddenly, Mina was shaken from her thoughts by the school bell. She rubbed her eyes. She felt drowsy, as if she had fallen asleep during class. She waited until most of the other students were already out and then she made a dash for the door as if her life depended on it. Sometimes, she actually felt like it really did. A second later and she realized that she had left her pen on the table, so she turned around, and bumped into someone who was just behind her.

  “Sorry…”

  She bent down to pick up the notebook that had fallen out of someone’s hand. The notebook was filled with sketches and drawings, some more, some less detailed, but all very good. Whoever did it had some major talent, that much was obvious.

  “Did you draw these?” she asked, giving it back to the guy, whom she recognized was sitting to her right during class.

  “Yeah,” he raked his fingers through his hair as he replied, with a coy smile on his face.

  He was tall and lean, much taller than Mina. She had to look up at him to be able to see his eyes. He was wearing a dark sweatshirt and Doc Martens boots. If she could imagine a textbook vampire from the modern times, he would be it. Strong, protruding jawbone, glowing smile, sharp canines, skin that hadn’t seen the sun in ages. Mina knew that nowadays, vampires had evolved and they weren’t as affected by sunlight anymore. There were pills or creams which could sort that out easily. Sometimes, she wished she lived back in the old days, when vampires were much more easily killed. Things used to be so simple back then, unlike now.

  “You like them?” he asked, seeing she had gotten lost in her thoughts.

  “They’re awesome,” she nodded. “You’re really talented.”

  “Thanks,” he grinned. “I’m Hendrik.”

  “Lucy.”

  “Like in the novel? But your surname isn’t Westenra?” he asked.

  “Yeah, my mom was really into Dracula,” she laughed at the irony of the situation, but also at the fact that he totally didn’t and wouldn’t get it, until it was too late.

  She had chosen her name exactly with the novel, Dracula, in mind. Seeing her real name was Mina and Mina would eventually be Dracula’s downfall in the book but Lucy died in the end, she felt it was only appropriate to have Lucy as a fleeting character who was only a means to a climactic end.

  “Yeah, those are tough shoes to fill,” he nodded, still grinning, not realizing how deep in thought she was during this entire conversation.

  “Luckily, he’s already dead,” she concluded.

  “Or is he?” he wondered aloud. “You can never really tell, you know, until there’s a body and even if there is a body, it could be someone else’s. Or that body could be in such a deep coma that it’s barely possible to feel a pulse and you just go on and pronounce a still living person dead.”

  “You know, I never really thought of it like that,” she smiled back.

  She had to admit, he knew some interesting stuff. He’d probably be a fun guy to have a coffee and a casual chat with if the circumstances were different.

  “Am I interrupting anything?” Reeba peeped through the door.

  “No, no,” Mina shook her head. “I was just heading out. Keep drawing, Hendrik.”

  “Only if you’ll be my muse,” he winked at her.

  “I guess we could arrange that,” Mina raised her eyebrows and walked out of the classroom like a queen.

  “Do you know who that is?” Reeba squealed right into her ear, as they were walking down the busy hallway, towards their lockers.

  “Not really but I have a feeling you’re gonna tell me,” Mina smiled.

  “Hendrik Zane is like the ultimate heartthrob around here.”

  “He’s not bad,” Mina shrugged her shoulders, “but I’m not interested. I have other stuff to attend to.”

  “Other stuff?” Reeba shook her jokingly by the elbow. “What’s more important than those eyes, than those lips, than those arms? Seriously, tell me.”

  “I need to focus on school right now.”

  Mina opened her locker, hiding Reeba from plain view. She wasn’t looking for a sidekick or anything of the sort and she definitely wasn’t looking to get involved with a vampire, while she was searching for her lost brother, who was probably kidnapped by someone here. Why were things always so complicated?

  “Who says you can’t focus on school and enjoy some Hendrik candy on the side?”

  Despite what she was telling herself, Mina liked Reeba. She seemed funny. A nice girl who wanted to help someone out but she couldn’t get close to anyone. It was too dangerous.

  “Listen, that’s all fine and dandy but I gotta head to my next class.”

  “What do you have?” Reeba rushed after her. “Is it chemistry?”

  “Mhm,” Mina nodded, walking without even looking at her.

  “Great! We can go there together!”

  Whether she wanted her there or not, Reeba wouldn’t leave her side. She sat next to her during chemistry class and then during every subsequent class that week that they shared together. Somehow, fate would have it that their lockers were next to each other and Mina knew she wouldn’t be able to shake her off that easily.

  Then, she started thinking, maybe having someone by her side wouldn’t be so bad. Might come in handy if worse comes to worst. She didn’t know what to expect. So, maybe, just maybe, she could have a friend in this place full of enemies, at least until it was time to lay her cards on the table and reveal her true identity. What would happen later… well, she’d cross that bridge when she got to it.

  Chapter 6

  After biology class was finished, Mina knew that Reeba wanted to hang out but she just wasn’t up for it. She wanted to snoop a little around their botanical garden and see what kind of plants they had. Actually, she wanted to see what she could use in case she needed to fight any of these vampires, who outnumbered her about a million to one. She never had such bad odds before, so she knew that she needed any help she could get.

  She had dinner at the cafeteria. It was some of the worst foods she’d ever tried but she couldn’t complain. She needed sustenance and couldn’t be picky about either food or drink. She waited a little longer, until she was sure that most of the students were out of the main building and either back in their dorm rooms or just out in the main yard. She hoped no one would be as keen as she was to go to the botanical garden after school hours.

  The botanical garden was located in the far west part of the main building. There was no key, it was constantly kept open and Mina was grateful for this little favor. At least she didn’t have to break in there to find out what she needed to know. She went in and, immediately, became impressed by the size of the garden and the number of plant species it contained. It was all arranged neatly, carefully, with little clusters of similar looking flowers and herbs growing cozily next to each other. Big plants with huge leaves hung from the ceiling, ivy hung to the walls, climbing all the way up to the window sill and a few benches were scattered around the place, allowing visitors to enjoy the view while resting.

  To the left, there was a door. It was heavy, with only a small window of about four inches and seemed to be locked. There was a red sticker on it but it didn’t really say anything. Mina approached it, pressing on the door handle. It wouldn’t budge. She pressed her face against the cold glass, trying to see inside but all she could see was more greenery. She didn’t really recognize any of the flowers or plants inside. Not that she expected herself to.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” someone told her and she immediately turned around.

  “Why?” she asked, now facing a boy slightly taller than she was, wearing a pair of thick rimmed glasses.

  His hair was pushed to the side, in a mild pompadour style and it occasionally fell over his square, black glasses.

  “Those are the forbidden plants,” he explained, eyeing the door behind her.

  “Forbidden plants?” she repeated.

  “You know, plants that can harm us?” he explained, but it was more of a question than a statement.

  “Like what?” she asked, pretending not to know which plants those were.

  Obviously, this guy knew more than she did, so she might be able to squeeze him for some more info if she played the role of a lost little girl who had no idea what was going on. Guys usually fell for that crap.

  “Well, they keep roses there, blackthorn, buckthorn and hawthorn, as well. Holly and Juniper. Also, wolfs bane and rowan,” he nodded importantly as he spoke.

  As she listened to him, she realized, he was cute, in a nerdy kinda way. She always liked intelligent guys and preferred them to jocks.

  “Then, I better not go in,” she moved back, raising her hands in a mock surrender gesture.

  “Well, you won’t die,” he shrugged his shoulders, “you’d just be in a lot of pain.”

  “No, thanks,” she shook her head.

  Actually, Mina knew of several combinations which would make those plants, not only painful, but lethal, to vampires, but this was no time for such conversations. Still, it was useful to know that she could sew in a blackthorn plant in her clothing when she went to see Dante. Also, she could make a stake from hawthorn, while carrying a bunch of rose petals in her pocket. In addition, a rowan cross couldn’t hurt, either.

  “So, what are you doing here?” he asked her.

  “I could ask you the same thing,” she snapped back, feeling attacked.

  Or was it just her general state nowadays? She wasn’t sure anymore.

  “Whoa there, easy,” he pulled back. “Don’t feel attacked. I’m just asking.”

  Mina felt bad. He was right. It was only a question but she’d been feeling on edge ever since she got here and for the right reasons, too. She was all alone on enemy grounds and she couldn’t let her guard down, not even for one second. Dante could be watching, he could make his move at any second. Maybe what she was told, that he wasn’t here, wasn’t really the truth. She couldn’t know anything for sure right now. The only thing she could rely on were her own two eyes.

  “Sorry,” she murmured, “ever since I got here, I haven’t been able to rest properly,” she handed him the first excuse she could think of.

  “New place?” he wondered.

  “Everything,” she continued, remembering her made up origin story, “ever since my whole clan was wiped out, I can’t relax. I’m constantly on edge, I feel like they’re after me all the time.”

  As she was talking, she felt like it wasn’t all made up, as if a part of it was really true. She felt like vampires were her enemies, always trying to kill her and her brother. Only now, she’d switched roles, but that same fear, that same threat was still there, almost palpable, never leaving her side.

  “I know what you mean,” he nodded, sitting down on a little bench which was located right behind them.

 

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