The next couple of days were a repetition of the same thing. Classes were dull and then hanging out with my friends and cousins. I did my best to keep myself together with the fact that my parents were alive somewhere. My aunt had all but avoided me. After a while, things were starting to feel as normal as could be. That was until Saturday. 

When I woke up Saturday morning, there was a letter on my bed. I was going to ask Ariel where it came from, but she wasn’t anywhere to be found. Sighing, I sat on one of the couches in the lounge and opened it. It didn’t say who it was from, but I could tell by the handwriting that it was from my mom.

Dear Michala,

 I am sorry to tell you this, but our suspicions were right. Someone within the academy is looking for you. One of our contacts heard rumors that one of the students was to find you and dispose of you. I wish we knew who it was, but that is all we got. Please be careful, we will be in touch.

Sincerely, someone you know.

As I sat there reading the letter, my heart was racing. It felt like I was going to have a heart attack. How was I supposed to live in this school knowing that someone was searching for me? And who could I trust? I knew I could trust Ariel, Keaira, and Keno, but other than that, anyone could be a suspect. I was sitting there thinking when I heard a sound from behind me. Looking back, I saw Leanna standing there.

“Hello princess, I see you’re all alone. Where are your friends? Did they realize that you weren’t worth their time?” she said, smirking. I wanted so badly to punch her in her face. What had I ever done to make her hate me so much? Other than the fact that I was a direct descendant of Helsing. But the war ended hundreds of years ago. It was stupid for someone to hold such a grudge. 

“No, I decided to take some time to myself. I am dealing with a lot, like the death of my parents,” I said as I folded the letter up and put it in my pocket. I would have to dispose of it later.

“Poor little princess, all alone in this world. Oh wait, that’s right, she’s the niece of the headmistress. You could do everything wrong and get a free pass,” she mocked before walking towards the double doors. Then she stopped and turned around.” Just remember your place, mutt. Whether u believe it or not, vampires will always be superior,” she said, then walked out of the dorm. 

After a while, I decided to go to the courtyard. Hopefully, Ariel or Keaira was there. Leaving the dorm, I noticed that there weren’t many students in the hallways. I wondered where they all were. Perhaps they were in the town that lay on the other side of the school. I couldn’t remember the name of it, but I remembered my History professor talking about it. Students were allowed to visit the town, as there were shops. 

Exiting the school, I saw Keaira and Keno sitting under the large oak tree. As I got closer to them, they both waved at me. Smiling, I walked over and sat down with them. 

“Have you seen Ariel? She wasn’t in the room or the dorm,” I said as I adjusted my skirt. Keno shook his head.

“She’s in Gil’drea. She said that there was something that she wanted to buy you. She talked about how down you had been the last few days with everything that had happened. She wanted to get you something to make you feel better.” Keaira said as she ran her fingers through her hair. I smiled. It was nice to have someone care about me so much, other than my family. 

As we sat there and talked, I couldn’t help but think about what mom had said in the letter. I wanted to speak with Keaira about it, but I didn’t want to worry her or Keno. I definitely didn’t want to talk to Aunt Brenda about it. She would probably say that I could no longer go to school. 

I decided that I would see if I could go to Keairas’ room tonight to talk to her about it. She told me that she was one of the few that didn’t have a roommate—perks of being related to a founder. I wondered why I didn’t get the same treatment, but I figured that was because of my aunt. But I couldn’t complain, I loved sharing my room with Ariel. 

We had been talking for nearly an hour when Ariel finally showed up. She had a bright smile on her face. I guess she found what she was looking for. As she sat down, she pulled out a tiny box that was covered in a red ribbon. 

“Here, Michala, I got this for you. The shop owner said it was supposed to be good luck,” she said, putting the box in my lap. I picked it up and pulled the ribbon apart, and opened the box. What was inside it almost made me pass out. It was a necklace with a dragon holding a diamond. It looked so beautiful. 

“Wow, Ariel, this looks amazing. You shouldn’t have,” I said as I admired it. There was something strange about it. It felt like there was energy coming out of it. I lifted it towards the sun and watched with amazement as the light reflected colors to the ground around us. I then put it on. Immediately I felt a tingling sensation coming from the mark on my neck. 

“That was weird,” I said as I held the dragon in my hand. 

“What was?” both Ariel and Keaira asked at the same time. That was a little surprising and funny at the same time. 

“When I put the necklace on, it caused a weird feeling with my mark,” I said. Keaira looked at me with concern. Then she looked at my neck and opened her mouth in awe.

“You met my mom?” Keaira asked, surprise still written on her face. I didn’t know that her mom was some kind of angel.

“Does your mom look like an angel?” I asked, a little curious and confused. She was a vampire. How could an angel have a child with a vampire? 

“Well, no, she’s not an angel. Probably felt that that was the best form to take given the circumstances of your change, I think. I wasn’t there when you were changed.” Keaira said, looking down at the ground. 

“But, I didn’t smell any vampires near the ceremony. I would have known if a vampire was around.” Ariel said. Keaira shook her head. I guess there was more to this story. 

“My mom isn’t just a vampire. She’s also a witch. Only a witch could create that kind of protection spell like that,” Keaira said, pointing at my neck. So there was a possibility that Keaira was a witch as well. That was kind of cool. “It seems that we were fated to meet, even before you came to school.” 

I took a few moments to digest everything that Keaira told me. It seemed that ever since my birth, her family has been involved with my protection from these hunters. It made me wonder what was so important that they would risk themselves for my parents and me. 

“So, are you a witch too,” Keno asked Keaira, a bit of excitement in his voice. She turned to him and nodded. It was crazy to think that not only was she a vampire, but also a witch. I wondered what that would be like. I could only imagine the things she could do. Then something hit me. What if she used her magic on her victims. But that isn’t her. She was always drinking from her thermos. 

By lunch, I was starving. I didn’t really eat breakfast because I didn’t feel like it after the letter and the crap with Leanna. I thought about talking to Aunt Brenda about her words, but with how my aunt seemed to be avoiding me I figured that there wasn’t any point. I would have to deal with it myself. I just needed to figure out how. 

As we sat down for lunch, Ally and Erin joined us for the first time. They were talking amongst themselves as they sat down. Then ally turned to me. 

“Hey Michala, how is your weekend going?” she asked as she played with her food. The way she was acting made me wonder what was going on. Neither of them ever sat with us. They were always with their friends. I wondered if my aunt had put them up to it. 

“It’s going okay. Wasn’t much to do, so just hung out with my friends,” I said. She nodded and smiled. Then she gasped as she pointed at my necklace. “Oh my god, where did you get that? I need to get one.”

“Ariel bought it for me. She says it’s for good luck,” I said as I grabbed it and held it. It gave off that same weird feeling of energy as I held it. I was starting to wonder if it was just my imagination or if something else was going on.