The next morning, I woke up and headed to the shower room. I was lucky that there weren’t any other girls there. As the warm water washed over me, I thought back to everything discussed last night. I decided that I was going to talk to my aunt. There were questions I needed her to answer.

After my shower, I headed into the lounge. Going to one of the fridges, I found that a few shelves were stocked with raw, cut meat. Although I would rather be eating a regular breakfast, I was craving protein. I found a decent ribeye and sat at the table. As I ate, Ariel finally decided to come out of the room. She yawned as she went to the fridge and grabbed a couple of eggs and bacon.

“Mornin, Michala. How are you feeling? You went to bed pretty early,” she asked as she began cooking herself breakfast. I waited until I had finished what I had in my mouth before answering her.

“I will be okay. There is just a lot I still don’t know about myself, or my family for that matter,” I said before taking another bite of the ribeye. She looked at me and shuddered.

“Not exactly one of my favorite parts of being a werewolf. But it is better than eating something that is still alive,” Ariel said, making a face. Knowing that she was one of the wolves in my mind, it didn’t take much to know what she was talking about. I still didn’t understand the whole mind connectivity thing, but it was too early to ask about it. Once she was finished cooking her breakfast, she sat down next to me.

“Listen, I know how it feels. It happened to me on my first time shifting as well. I ate a possum, and you won’t believe how disgusting it tasted. I couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth for a week.” Ariel said, scrunching her nose. At least she ate something, not many people liked them. I ate a bunny. Just thinking about it still made me sad.

Once we were done with breakfast, Ariel and I left the dorm, just as Leanna was coming into the lounge. I really didn’t need to deal with her today. We headed outside to find Keno. He wasn’t hard to find either. He was sitting on one of the benches just outside the doors. I guess he was waiting for us the whole time.

“Hey Michala, hey Ariel,” Keno said as he ran up and hugged us both, that smile still on his face.

“Hey, Keno,” Ariel and I said at the same time. We both laughed at our synchronized greetings. As we sat down on the bench, I watched the coming and going of other students. I wondered what it would look like from a human’s perspective- seeing all of us different races that they believe don’t exist.

“So, I got my student advisor today. He is so hot,” Keno blurted out. I almost fell off the bench when he said it. I thought he was into girls, but maybe I was wrong. When I looked at Ariel, I saw a look of defeat on her face. Keno must have seen it as well because he asked, “What’s wrong, Ariel. You look like someone just kicked your puppy.”

Ariel looked down at the ground and sighed. Then she looked at Keno and said, “I think I have a crush on you, but now I see that it’s pointless.” She placed her face in her hands and sat there her face beet red. Keno laughed.

“Ariel, I’m bi. I like guys and girls.” Keno said, placing his hand on her shoulder. She looked up and smiled. This was welcomed information. The last thing we needed was for Ariel to be mopey all day.

I was just about to say something when Keaira walked over to us. This was the second time that she had approached us since I got here.

“Hey, guys, got room for one more?” Keaira asked, standing in front of us. I nodded and scooted over so that she could sit with us. The perfume she was wearing was intoxicating. “Are you all ready for orientation tomorrow? I am dying to see who I have classes with,” she said, smiling. I nodded then looked at the ground, trying to distract myself from how amazing she smelled.

“All I know is, I hope I get the study of magical beasts. I know it sounds funny as we all are magical creatures, but I hope to get to see a real dragon,” Keno said happily. I blinked at the thought of seeing a dragon. Of all the mythical creatures, they had been one of my most favorite. The was dragons were depicted in movies always left me curious if that was how they really were.

By the time it was time for lunch, all four of us had spent most of the morning about classes and what we would do after graduation. I really didn’t have an answer, as there was still part of my life that I didn’t know about. When we finally got to the dining hall, we got our lunches and sat at our table.

“I hope you all don’t mind, but I had to bring some blood. It’s been a few days since I last fed, and am feeling a little weak. While eating regular food does quench my hunger some, I can’t exactly fight who I am,” Keaira said as she pulled a thermos from her bag. It wasn’t like anyone could see what she was drinking, but I guess she wanted to be respectful.

“No, you’re fine Keaira, It’s not like we don’t know you are a vampire,” Ariel said. She had a warm smile on her face as she answered Keaira.

“And besides, I just ate raw meat this morning,” I added before taking a bite of my spaghetti.

As we were eating, Leanna walked into the dining hall, with a group of girls following close behind her. They all looked just as snooty as she was, lifting their noses at anyone that wasn’t part of their group. Everyone who she came near seemed to shy away from her, or at least do their best not to meet her gaze. I wondered how someone like her could have that much influence this early. Then Leanna headed towards us.

“Well, well, I can’t believe my eyes. Keaira Blaylock, one of the descendants, mingling with the commoners. Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” Leanna mocked. This seemed to upset Keaira because she stood up and got in Leanna’s face.

“I would rather hang out with these so-called commoners than hang with the likes of you. Plus, you know full well that Michala is the descendant of the great Helsing lineage.” Keaira said her face just two inches from Leanna’s.

“Oh, I am quite familiar with her lineage. After all, it was Helsing who started the war.” Leanna said with a smirk. She rolled her eyes and was about to walk away, but Keaira grabbed her wrist.

“You know full well that that was not what happened. Your family can try all it was to muck up the story, but the fact still remains that it was Dracula who started the war,” Keaira said. I could see the anger in her eyes. It was strange to hear a vampire defending the tale of the vampire-werewolf war.

“You believe what you want, but my family knows the truth. The whole treaty is a sham, but of course, there is nothing that we can do about it. Yet,” Leanna said as she walked away, her troupe behind her.

Sitting back down, Keaira sighed, then went back to eating. It was quiet after that. Nobody seemed to ko what to say after that display.

After lunch, I decided that it was time to go see my aunt. I knew that it would be hard to have time to talk with her after today, as I would be busy with classes. I told everyone goodbye and headed inside. When I reached her office, I knocked on the door and waited for her to answer. She didn’t answer. I knocked again, and still no answer. I opened the door, only to find that she wasn’t in her office. I grumbled and shut the door behind me.

Annoyed with the absence of my aunt, I decided to take a walk around the school. There were students everywhere. Some were in groups, while others were off by themselves. As I continued walking, I came across an old path that looked like it hadn’t been walked in ears. Curiosity got the best of me, and I followed it. It led to an old graveyard. Not exactly the place I wanted to be. I was just about to turn around when I saw something that I never thought possible.