By the time that we had gotten to the dining hall, other students were starting to pile in. We got our dinner and headed towards our table. None of the others were here yet. I wondered if they were looking for me. Keaira sat next to me, which was unusual because she usually sat on the opposite side of the table. I figured it was because she was worried about me. 

Five minutes had passed before the others entered the dining hall. The moment they saw us sitting at the table. They rushed over. 

“Oh my god, you had us worried. What happened to you?” Ariel asked as she practically threw herself at me. I did my best to stay grounded to the chair. 

“Ariel, let her breath,” Ally said as she pulled Ariel off of me. Erin came over and placed a hand on my shoulder. It was comforting to feel her touch. 

“Seriously though, what happened to you? Keaira said that you passed out.” Erin asked as she sat down on the other side of me. Ally pouted as she was about to sit down.

“It’s just as Keaira said, I passed out on my way back to the dorms. When I woke up, the nurse asked if anyone in our family used magic. I told her that as far as I knew, no one did,” I said. Erin gave me a weird and confused look. I guess that ruled the twins out. 

“Mom would have told us if we could use magic. I’m sure of it,” Ally said as she plopped down in one of the chairs in front of me. Keno just returned with his dinner and sat next to Ariel.

“I can use magic. It’s part of my shape-shifting ability,” Keno said proudly. He smiled at me as he picked up his role and tore it in half.

I wondered if I would be able to go to the staff table and talk to my aunt, but figured it was best to talk to her in private. The last thing I needed was to draw attention to myself. Especially when Leanna was watching close by. She looked at me and gave a half frown, then went back to talking to her little hinchlings. 

“So, what made her ask if someone in your family could use magic?” Ariel asked. I wondered if I should tell her I didn’t want to make her feel bad. But then I thought that maybe she would feel like she helped me in some way. 

“The necklace you gave me. Apparently, it's something called a focus. Supposedly it helps beginning witches to focus their magic, so they don’t like, blow themselves up,” I said as I held the necklace in my hand. Her eyes went large, and then she began bouncing in her chair. Yep, she was happy.

“I can't believe that my gift helped you find out that you were a witch. I must say, though, I am a little jealous. I wish I could do magic.” She said though she was still smiling.

“I haven’t done any magic, so I don’t know what it’s like. The nurse said that it had just awakened. I will ask my aunt if she knows anything about it. She seems to have a lot of secrets lately.” I said, thinking back to the fact that she knew that my mom was alive.

After the initial excitement of finding out that I was okay, the conversation died down as everyone ate their dinner. I slowly picked at my ribeye, not really hungry after feeding off the blood Keaira had given me. I would probably end up taking it with me back to the dorm. Instead of eating, I admired the diversity of the students. There were many different races. One that caught my eye, though, was a kitsune girl. She only had 3 tails, but I heard that the others grow in as they get older. 

There were other students that caught my eye too. There was a fairy that was fluttering around some boy. She was cute, though it was hard to make out most of her features because she was so small and so far away. Then there was a Nekotama. Her ears and tail were as white as snow. 

Another girl that stuck out was a wolf girl. And I didn’t mean like me. I mean, she was a biped wolf with blue fur and hair. I wondered briefly how she got to be that color, but I didn’t think it wise to just walk up to her and ask her. It woulda just felt rude. 

I guess I had lost track of time because when I felt a poke from Keaira, I turned around to see that most of my friends had already left the table. Sighing, I got up and wrapped my ribeye up, and followed Keaira back towards the dorms. 

“Um… I have a question. Would you like to come to my room and watch a movie with me? My dad sent me to school with a portable DVD player so that I didn’t have to watch whatever the other girls wanted to watch.” Keaira asked as we walked down the hall. I wish I had thought about asking for a DVD player. I didn’t much like watching The Bachelor. That seemed to be what a lot of the girls wanted to watch. I, on the other hand, preferred my anime. 

“Sure, it would be nice,” I said, smiling. It would be the first time that we had actually spent any long length of time together without the others. I kinda felt bad that she didn’t mention inviting Ariel, but I guess she had her reasons. 

When we got back to Keairas’ room, I was shocked. It was amazing. It looked like the kind of room you would see at home rather than my room. There were posters plastered everywhere. Her bed and desk were her hints of goth. 

“I know, it must seem a little unfair, the way my room is. It’s my dad’s fault, really. I could have shared a room with someone and been fine,” she said as she sat on her bed. She patted the spot next to her. I walked over and sat next to her.

“I don’t mind. I don’t know what the other girls think about it, but I understand. I don’t even have to get the special treatment and feel the glares and hear the whispers behind my back. They think that because I am a Helsing, that my life will be easier,” I said as I looked at the floor. 

“Look, if it's about Leanna, don’t let her get to you. She is jealous of you. Although she is a descendant, her family isn’t the most regarded because of their hatred for the treaty, while you are a direct descendant of the great Van Helsing. I mean, I guess in a way, we all are descendants, but your family is the purest. Until you, that is.” Keaira said as she placed her hand on my shoulder.

I thought about what she said. I wasn’t a pure Helsing, not with my father's blood running through me. I know that not many people know that, but the feeling was still there. It was like my blood was tainted. I was just some means to a possible end of the conflict between werewolves and vampires. 

“Sometimes, I just wish I was a normal teenage girl. No secret identity, no worrying if someone was looking to kill me. Just a normal girl going to school with normal people,” I said. I then covered my mouth and looked down at the ground in shame. 

“Well, I am normal. I may not be human, but that doesn’t make me any less normal,” Keaira said. I could hear the annoyance in her tone. 

Still looking at the ground, I uncovered my mouth and said, “I don’t mean it like that. I am sorry. It’s just finding out that I am a werewolf and then that people are hunting after me. It is a lot to take in. And then there is the fact that I am related to this really famous werewolf. It is overwhelming sometimes.” I said, looking at her. Her facials changed to a soft, understanding look.

“It was a lot to take in when I found out that I was a vampire and that we weren’t like everyone else. I grew up thinking that we were all vampires. I wasn’t exactly raised in what people call the real world. You see, we live in a town here in this realm. I had visited the human realm with dad when he visited others who chose to live among humans, but my home was here. I mean, I knew that there were different races here. Kind of hard to mistake a fairy for a vampire.” She said, then laughed. I tried to imagine a vampire fairy. It was a funny image.