Cassian Legacy: The Vampire Prince
Chapter 1

The bell rang loudly in the hall. Itwas only loud to my ears even though a cement wall stood between my body andthe speaker. That didn’t matter much anymore these days. I had gotten used tothe incessant noise it made. The first month of listening to the buzzer causedmigraines of astronomical proportions. But like most of my new schedule, Ilearned to block out unpleasant necessities that I wasn’t quite accustomed to.

I grabbed my bag and headed for thedoor, already having packed up my supplies for calculus. I was always the firstto the door and the first in the hallway, while the other kids took their timemoving their belongings into their backpacks and chatting about their plans forfuture excursions. The hall filled rapidly with teens as they meandered ontheir way to the next class of the day.

Lockers suddenly flared to life asthe boys exchanged books from their depths and girls smeared lip gloss from aninlaid mirror against the door. They all slammed the metallic doors shut, notin unison but in a series of cadences that sounded like a personal music score.I focused in on the thousands of feet that paraded on the white tile. The softpitter-patters of shoes on the linoleum floor helped with my headaches, thatway it wouldn’t explode with the painful noise from the slamming of lockers.While the white noise filled my head, I made my way to AP English.

I was nearing the door to the redbricked room when some kid ran into me. Usually I avoided people, and theyavoided me, but for some reason we both weren’t paying attention this day. Heand his buddies must’ve been fooling around in the hallway, playing tricks onone another as the girls looked on. I caught several bright faces alreadyblushing and pointing in our direction. He apologized once and continued on hismerry way, but as I took a step inside the room, my foot kicked a book. Iglanced down, noticing the unique black cover. I bent low and scooped it up,noting it was a journal of some sort. The kid must’ve dropped it when he raninto me. When I turned around to give it back, he was nowhere in sight,probably already disappeared into his next class.

I resolved then that I would feedit back to him at lunch, making it one of the only times I willingly walkedinto the loudest room in the building. I imagined that it was not as loud as Iperceived it to be, at least at times when there were no students present. Butthe room itself was designed to amplify noise, and with eight hundred studentseating, talking, smooching, moving chairs, and doing whatever else they feltinclined to do, the room itself was a thunder dome.

Twenty seven seconds after takingmy chair near the opposite side of the room from the door, the bell rang again.A few others stumbled inside, practically late as Dr. Edwards called for order.We had been studying for the upcoming AP test, which I was scheduled to takebut didn’t necessarily have to. This wasn’t my first time in this type ofclass, nor would it be the last.

I spent most of my life travelingfrom city to city, state to state, and country to country. I was fluent in overfour languages already, and had attended so many schools they all blurred intoone. I particularly liked this school – not for the environment but for thecurriculum. It was one of the best educational experiences I had ever had. Theschool wasn’t a public school, but a private one. I had to pay dues to keep upmy education, but it was worth every penny.

All of us wore some form ofuniform, even if it wasn’t enforced strictly. White buttoned dress shirts wererequired of all students. The boys wore khaki or black pants while the girlswore the same colored pants or a plaid navy and green skirt. Black shoes, whitesocks or stockings, and either the navy and green plaid ties or the navy vestwas worn with all the other pieces of the ensemble. I was fond of the vestmyself as I didn’t like things that hugged my neck. And I only wore the skirtbecause the material of the pants made my skin itch.

I crossed my legs and bent over toread the next chapter of GreatExpectations. This wasn’t the book that the rest of the class read, but Iwas further along than the rest of them. Dr. Edwards let me read whatever pieceof literature I wanted, as long as it coincided with AP testing. While theother students discussed Steinbeck, I lost myself in Dickens. Only when it cametime for the pop quiz did I put the book away.

The quiz wasn’t too bad, but it hadessay questions along with multiple choice ones, all designed around an actualAP test. I briefly wrote down my answers, cited sources, and handed in thepaper. I completed it earlier than the rest of the class, and so I was excused.

I didn’t have long before the bellwould ring, signaling the start of the lunch hour. Since I needed to give theboy his book back, I headed to the dining hall, arriving ahead of the rest ofthe flock. I chose a cozy table in the back of the room by the nearest exit,and put my back to the wall so I would be able to see every student that walkedinto the room. There were many doors, but that didn’t deter me. I would spothim emerging from behind one of them eventually. My brain kept up with thechaos.

It didn’t take long for theteenagers to pour into the lunchroom once the bell rang. I focused in on theirsoft shoes hitting the floor as the decibels rose to high levels. It seemedlouder than the last time I came in here. Maybe that was due to the fact therewere several new students present as I didn’t recognize their faces. But asthey milled into the room, I scanned each one, searching for the boy whodropped his journal.

After ten minutes the crowdthinned. Most of the students chose tables they were familiar with. Someflocked to areas that were empty when others took their supposed places. Inever understood that kind of behavior with the cliques in this school or anyother. It was as if that particular table or chair was theirs and no one else’seven though the seats were all the same – black chairs surrounding wooden roundtables. There were fewer students arriving than from before, and none of themwere the supposed guy I needed.

Had I missed him in the throng? Itwould be a first, but at least I would replace him once I scanned the area.

I gazed around the lunchroom,searching for his face. Eventually I spotted him. He lounged in one of thechairs near the center of the room, looking quite bored from the expression onhis face. Occasionally he smirked, but only when the pair that occupied histable broke out with grins sculpted onto their perfect faces.

I studied them closely. They weresome of the new students at the school I didn’t recognize them. Several peoplewalked up to greet the trio, most of them girls. They didn’t stay long and theboy didn’t smile at any one of them. This was odd behavior as the girlsthemselves were quite beautiful. I figured that any boy would like to havetheir attention. In fact all of the boys here liked to have that particularclique of the girls’ attentions from past observations.

I was about to make my move on thetrio when a group of girls and boys suddenly sat down at my table, like I wassaving the seats here for them. I stared at each of them in turn wondering whythey chose to sit next to me. It was odd because most people avoided me. Iwasn’t just an average high school student - I was peculiar and unreadable tothem.

The closeness of their chatterfocused my attention on them and I dropped my concentration on thepitter-patter of shoes on the floor. I was forced to listen to theirconversation.

“Do you think he’ll join the soccerteam?” the short kid asked. He was smaller for a boy of his age.

A red-haired beauty shook her longcurls. “Nah, he looks like a lacrosse guy.”

“He’s such a gorgeous beauty,” theother girl followed. She sighed heavily, ruffling her strawberry blond hairslightly. “I wonder if he’ll go with me to the prom.”

“Prom’s a long ways off,” the otherboy retorted. He was much taller than the shorter kid. He cracked open his sodacan, took a sip, and glanced at the last girl who spoke. “Besides, I thoughtyou were going with me.”

She punched his shoulder. “Not achance, Nate.”

He smiled and chugged his cola.

“So have you heard about whathappened downtown?” the red head asked.

They all shook their heads.

“There’s been a string of murderslately. But the latest body found had multiple puncture wounds. The scary thingis the blood was completely drained.”

I froze. I had avoided company forfar too long that I forgot that teenagers had the best gossip. If what shestated was true then I needed to switch my priorities until I found theculprit.

“They’re chalking it up tocultists,” she added.

The blond dropped her sandwich.“Where in downtown was this?”

The other girl thought for amoment. “I think it was in the west end.”

“Not near the Red Curtain?” Herface and tone was incredulous.

The other girl shook her headinstantly. “No, not near the club, but much further down the street. I think itwas at least a couple of blocks away.”

The blond sighed and resumed eatingher sandwich. “Thank goodness. I don’t think I could think of a lie good enoughto deceive my parents.”

The boy called Nate snickered.“It’s not like it would be the first time, Krista.”

She kicked him from underneath thetable. It shook slightly, but he made a face while grinning, knowing heagitated her while she looked smug that she had hit her mark.

“With all the bickering you two do,I’d swear you’d both be making out by this point,” the short kid laughed. Hebrushed back his long black bangs and winked at the red head.

“Shut up!” Krista and Nate bothshouted in unison.

I decided quickly that he wasright. In the few moments I knew these kids, the pair was definitely headed fora relationship soon, even if they both decided against it for the time. I’dseen this type of situation before and it wouldn’t be the last.

I half smiled and shook my head atthe two of them, momentarily distracted from my goal.

Finally Nate noticed that I was atthe table with them. My subtle move must’ve awakened them to my presence.

“You have something to add?”

His question brought them all to myattention. Their eyes strayed to my face and for the first time I felt like Isat among friends, like I belonged here. They didn’t look unhappy by the factI’d been listening to their dialogue. At other tables or with different kidsfrom different cliques the situation might have been awkward, but as it was, Ifelt like I could say anything I wanted in front of them without having to dealwith bad repercussions from talking with the teens as I had in the past.

I crossed my arms and smiled. “Iagree with your friend. Having seen and experienced a love-hate relationshipbefore. You two might as well get it over with. Kiss, make out, see how itgoes.”

Nate and Krista both dropped theirfood and glanced at each other. Krista squirmed looking disgusted from thethought of kissing Nate, plus Nate didn’t express happiness regarding mysuggestion either. They both shook their heads, shivered from a sudden chill,and went back to eating.

“I’m glad someone agrees with me,”the other boy stated. He met my eyes and raised his chin slightly. “I’m SethSievertson. Are you new here?”

Seth Sievertson. The name soundedfamiliar. I think he was in my Chemistry class.

I shook my head. “No. I’ve beenhere for about three months now.” I kept the answers short. It was better forthem if they didn’t know who I was.

“Three months?” Nate exclaimed.“How come we haven’t seen you around?”

“She’s probably been hiding fromyour laughable charms,” Krista scolded. She looked up at me and straightenedher back slightly. “Don’t mind him. I’m Krista Jones and this is NathanEckhart.”

The red head smiled. “I’m MalloryGregory. It’s nice to meet you.”

I returned the smile, but didn’trespond in the way that I should. Maybe if I was quiet enough they’d leave mealone. Plus I still needed to return the book to the guy and my time at lunchwas rapidly draining away the longer they held my attention.

Mallory’s smile slowly disappeared.They all stared at me, but I didn’t know why. Usually by now people ignored mewhen I made it clear I didn’t want to talk to them.

Seth finally leaned forward,closing the gap between us. “You know we can’t call you by your name unless yougive it,” he whispered.

They wanted to know my name. Myname was weird already, a name from ages past, and not often used. I sighedheavily, not wishing to speak it, but giving it nonetheless. “Abelia.”

They all narrowed their eyes,trying to make sense of it.

“Did you say Amelia?” Kristaquestioned, nearly getting it right.

Of course they’d confuse it withthat. “No, Abelia. A – B – E – L – I – A. Like Abel with an ‘I – A’ at theend.”

Several ‘Oh’s’ followed.

“That’s kind of an odd name.”Mallory gave me a sympathetic look. “I thought I had it bad with Anita. That’smy first name, though I go by Mallory so that I’m not laughed at.”

I sort of smiled, but it might havecome off as a smirk – I was out of practice with this stuff.

“So, can I call you Abel?” Sethpiqued.

The others looked like they wantedto call me by that as well.

I shrugged not really bothered byit. “Sure.”

“Nice to meet you Abel.”

I smiled once more, to let themknow I was satisfied. My eyes discovered the clock on the far wall. Therewasn’t much time left for lunch and I still had an errand to run. “If you willexcuse me, I need to return a book.” I stood up and slung my bag over my rightshoulder.

“Will we see you here tomorrowAbel?” Krista suddenly asked. She smiled genuinely at me, like we had beenfriends for a long time.

I flustered, mostly because thiswas my least favorite place in the world. It was crowded and noisy. “I don’tusually eat here.”

“Oh.” Her face fell. She lookedlike she wanted me to be here tomorrow.

“But I guess I can return.” I madean exception, which was a first.

Mallory threw me a grin beforebiting into her hamburger.

“Same time, same place?” Seth smiled.

I nodded once and turned beforeanything more was stated or implied. The thought that I had made four friendswas unnatural to me. I never really had friends before, and this was notbecause I moved around a lot - it was because of the life I led.

I made a direct path to my target.He still sat smugly in his chair, leaning back and letting his long legsstretch out in front of him. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to hiselbows, so I knew he was hot and probably sweating. He made no signs of life ashe stared at some spot on the wall to his right, but as I approached the tablehe inhaled deeply and his eyes flickered up to meet mine.

He watched me then, and I held hisgaze never once stumbling upon the floor even though there were many obstaclesI had to dodge. The kids let their bags lay wherever they landed on the floor.That didn’t necessarily mean they were placed beside their chairs. In somecases books and pencils were loose, rolling around. I stepped over theseblockades, but never once did I drop my eyes from his gaze.

I stopped at the table and placedthe book on the smooth wooden surface. “You dropped this.”

He glanced down at the book andthen back up at me. The friends who sat with him both stared at the book,looking like they were afraid of something though I didn’t know what. It wasonly a journal after all.

“Thanks,” he responded shortly.

Before I left the area, his eyesnarrowed slightly but the blank fathomless expression was plastered once moreonto his face in a matter of a few seconds. As I left the dining hall I glancedback at the table through the window in the door. He swept the journal into hisbag and started conversing with his friends rapidly. Whatever I did had himflustered and that didn’t make any sense. It was only a journal, one that Ididn’t read.