Chapter One

“Crap” Kevin muttered when he felt the water hit his fingers. He could tell by the smell that it was holy. He stepped away from his locker and frowned. He remembered the burn on his mother’s arm after he touched her and still had the stuff dry on his skin. He cussed silently in rage as he punched his locker. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a boy smirk, nobody else would have noticed, but Kevin’s vampire eyesight let him see it. He could tell it was him by the way he smelled, cocky and proud. Kevin took a breath, calling back his rage and walked away, to the principal’s office for the third time that week. He failed to notice the fist-sized hole on his locker, from where he had punched through the metal, the human boy who watered down the locker felt a chill run down his spine. The teenaged vamp hadn’t even realized what he’d done.

            Mrs. Britt froze when she heard the door open but did not hear any footsteps. Only one of her students could do that. Kevin stood across from her desk when she looked up. She took in a breath as he shoved his hand in her face.

            “Can you smell that? Do you know how much soap I have to use to get it off?” He screamed, she took in a breath as his normally pale blue eyes darkened and gave way to black. He pulled his lips back and stood there, grimacing at her, while she regained her composure. He could kill her in a heartbeat, and they both knew it, but he would not do it, there was too much at stake. She was the only one who treated him with any measure of respect. Even his teachers made it clear that they wanted him dead twice, some more than others.

            “Do you know who it is?” she asked calmly, knowing that strong emotions pushed the vampire’s control over the edge. He nodded and let the power leak out of him, he tried to appear only human again, but the glint in his nearly clear eyes, the bluish shine of his pale white skin and the longer than average canines still managed to give him away.  Mrs. Britt looked him in the eyes and prompted for an answer with a jerk from her head.

            “Its Dallas” he said and Mrs. Britt had to fight to keep her doubt under the radar. Kevin’s nostrils flared, as he smelled the thought in the air.

            “I am not lying. He smells like holy water and he smirked as I touched the stuff!” he said through clenched teeth. His skin glowed like if there were a candle lit inside him. His eyes bled back to black, and his breath quickened. Mrs. Britt looked at him and closed her eyes, she was loosing, and she needed to keep him calm.      

            “I’m going to talk to him, and his parents, I’d like yours to be here as well. Do you know if they have anything planned for tonight at about ten?” she asked, trying to shift focus. Kevin drew in a careful breath, and nodded once. Mrs. Britt smiled at him and motioned toward the door, he walked out without thanking her.

            Kevin stood outside the door and tried to relax, it was getting harder and harder, especially in a high school. He could sense other’s emotions and smell their fear, their desire, and their disgust. By the end of the day, it left him feeling nauseous, Thirsty and sometimes even with a migraine. He tried to block them off, but they were all humans at the peak of adolescence, and their minds slid often to things that made their bodies release pheromones into the air. In humans it was a subtle dance of attraction between two people, to a vampire; it was a vein begging to be opened. Control came easy to Undead vampires who had decades of experience, but to a fourteen year old living vampire, it was a loosing struggle.

            Ten minutes later Kevin got up and walked back to his locker and frowned when he noticed the hole in it. He looked inside and saw that his books had been doused in even more holy water, and there, nestled between his ruined biology textbook and his math book was a rosary. He clenched his fists and his jaw as he tried very hard not to go after the kid who had done it. He did not even bother to touch anything and instead pulled out his cell phone and called Joseph, his daytime Guardian.

            Arias, the Guard and groundskeeper answered in the middle of the first ring.

            “Hello, this is the Lancaster Estate, how may I help you?” he asked and Kevin smiled.

“Arias, it’s me, I need Joseph to come sign me out, please” he said and he heard Joseph walk to the phone and ask what was going on. Arias muttered something and Kevin’s hearing did not pick it up.

            “He’ll be there in ten minutes. “ Arias said and hung up the phone. Kevin sighed and walked to the office to wait. He carried his backpack over his shoulder and a bottle of water in the other hand, trying to look harmless in the office.

            He walked into the office again and sat at the chair next to a human girl, who stood up and moved away, sneering at him. Kevin felt rage boil inside him again and he pulled his thin lips back again, showing her his fangs. She gasped and moved even further away. Kevin looked away, the girl was easily sixteen, yet she acted like a child, it pissed him off. The secretary looked at him and pulled her cross out from underneath her shirt. Kevin laughed out loud at her. She shied away to the back of the offices, pretending to be doing something or another. Kevin noticed how his laughter scared the other staff. Then he realized something, the man, sitting at the back was looking at him, Kevin sniffed the air in his direction and he smelled earth and blood he was a Lycan and wolf by the smell. He smiled and went on waiting in silence. At least he wasn’t the only predator in the room. The ten minutes passed by quickly, Kevin had barely managed to nod knowingly to the werewolf before Joseph burst through the door. The tall man made an impressive sight, his eyes scanned the room in under a second and he moved in a smooth, fluid manner that only years of combat training gave a person. He walked to the front desk and spoke quietly to the clerk. She handed him something and he made his way to the attendance office. A minute later he walked out and motioned with his hand to Kevin, who stood and walked out and toward the car. He slid into the front seat of the H2 and clipped his seat belt on even though it was useless. If he got in an accident and died, he would only wake up at dusk as an immortal, stronger, faster, more beautiful undead vampire. But he liked the sun and the feel of a heartbeat against his chest as well as the cluelessness of going to an all human school. His Father, Simon Lancaster, had insisted on a all vampire school, or at least a mixed school. Only private schools were all vampire, since Federal Law had a no discrimination policy. But his mother had wanted him to at least get a taste of what being human was like, even if he was restricted to daytime hours. She was also planning ahead by hoping that he would meet a human whose blood he liked and would eventually become his daytime partner or Daywalker when he died. Kevin had tried to explain to his mother that every girl in his school was afraid of him. His mother reminded him that Joseph had been his father’s Daywalker before he married her, and Joseph was not a woman. Still, Kevin tired to explain the general consensus on hating him, to no avail.

            “Did you bite someone?” was Joseph’s said, interrupting his thinking as he turned the car on. Kevin frowned.

            “No, some idiot put Holy water on my stuff, and left a rosary in my locker.” He said and leaned his head against the window.

            “Did you tell the Principal?” he asked and Kevin sat up and looked at him as if even asking the question was stupid.

            “Yes, and she wants to see mom and dad at ten, for a meeting with the boy’s parents” he said, Joseph rose an eyebrow, noting how Kevin had said ‘the boy’s parents’ rather than using his name. Kevin leaned against the window and closed his eyes, he wanted to take a shower and get the water, now dry, from his skin and he wanted to sleep before his parents woke up and went to the meeting.

            Kevin had unwillingly fallen asleep by the time that they pulled into the Lancaster Estate. He jolted awake when the car stopped, Joseph got out and started toward the house, and Kevin unbuckled and walked out. He walked to his room, leaving his things at the table; he ran up the stairs and yelled thanks at Joseph. H burst into his room and looked around, searching for anything out of order. Across from the door was his desk, with his computer and some pencils, his bed, a queen sized and raised nearly two feet above the ground. He walked to his bath room and flicked the shower on. He looked at himself in the full wall mirror. He looked tired, his eyes were red and his body looked tightly pulled into itself, and realized just then just how tense he was. He closed his eyes again and tried to relax, but failed. He clenched his fists and shook silently in rage and helplessness. He let out a breath, undressed and stepped into the shower.

            Arias Mendez, once named Ammit, stood in the kitchen drinking a bottle of water. He put it down carefully and frowned as he smelled the Holy water in the hall. He frowned and walked to find Joseph. He was halfway to the door when Kevin walked down the stairs and saw him.

            “Hi Arias, how are you?” He said and Arias stopped turning to him.

            “The hall smells of Holy Water and the Cross” he said and Kevin frowned and nodded. He stopped at the foot of the stairs.

            “Dallas, a boy from school poured water on my stuff and I got it on me, by the way, did I get it all?” he asked, knowing that undead vampires had more sensitive noses than living ones. Arias looked at him and leaned in closer, he came away and shook his head.

            “You smell like . . .” he stopped and grasped at the air as if he could pull the word out of it.

            “Apples and Aloe Vera?” Kevin suggested and Arias nodded then shook his head.

            “Some kind of flower” he said and Kevin shook his head and shrugged,

            “All I really cared about was about the Water, if its gone then I’m happy” he said and walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of coke from the fridge. Arias still stood trying to remember the name of the flower. He stopped and looked at Kevin realizing then that the boy was only wearing the loose pants from his pajamas. He opened his mouth to say something, forgot what it was and then walked out wondering what flower it was. Kevin turned on the television and drank the soda while he heard arias pacing around the hall outside the kitchen. He sat and sunk into the leather closing his eyes, Arias was the only undead vampire he knew who could walk under sunlight, but he needed more blood than normal vampires. He had trouble remembering things after a couple of days without feeding, which was why he could no remember the flower that eh smelled like. A second later the door burst open and Arias walked in.

            “You smell like white lotus, and even though this is your house, you really should put on some clothes.” He said, proud that he had managed to remember what he meant to say, he smelled the Water again and walked out again, slightly dazed.

            Kevin smiled and took in another sip of the soda, he pulled one leg up against this chest and the other under him leaning to the side as he flipped through the channels looking for something to watch, with a thousand channels in twenty channels he was certain he could find something to watch.

            Natalie Lancaster walked out of the bedroom and walked the two stories up the main level of the Lancaster Mansion. She dressed in a loose bathrobe and walked barefoot on the carpet of the living room and then stepped on the cold tile of the huge kitchen that she had designed. She had designed the entire Estate nearly a hundred years ago, then redesigned it with Simon’s help after Kevin had been born. She stopped then as she walked around the island and looked back into the living room. She smiled and nearly laughed when she saw Kevin asleep on the couch facing the TV. She walked to him and noticed the faint scent of lotus and Holy Water in the air. She looked at Kevin and sat against him on the couch. Kevin stirred and looked around disoriented at first then locating himself. He sat and looked at her. He smiled.

            “Hey mom how was your day?” he asked.

            “It was five, I slept well, and your father was a bit energized this morning, made for an interesting dawn” she said and Kevin looked away slightly embarrassed.

            “And how was your day? I’m assuming the water was from some human at school, and you’re anxious. Why?” she asked.

Kevin looked at her questioningly then answered.

            “Yes, a child of Catholics named Dallas. And has Joseph told you about the meeting?” he asked and she nodded.

            “What do you mean anxious?’ he asked and she hid a smile with her hand.

            “You’re not wearing a shirt, and by the way your pajama bottoms pull over your legs I’m guessing you’re wearing nothing under them as well. We only do that when were worried about something. Like Lycanthropes go roll around in dirt, or the way human’s hearts beat out of control.” She said and Kevin took in the bit of information.

            “Although your heart beat should also be faster than usual” she said and he listened carefully to his heartbeat. He smiled when he realized that it was.

            “And yes, Joseph told me about the meeting. What do you think I should wear?” she asked and then stood and walked away. Kevin heard her mutter as she walked into the kitchen again     

            “Something waterproof, maybe a leather jacket over silk” Kevin nodded knowing that he could not see her and got up, to go to his room and do some homework before the meeting.

            Simon Lancaster was dressed in dress pants and a shirt complete with a tie. There was a layer of waterproof material, just in case someone was stupid enough to try to attack him. The pants and the shoes were black and the shirt was a creamy tan color that made the gold tie stand out against it. His dark blond hair was cut short and was left nearly uncombed, giving him a slightly casual feel. Natalie, dressed in black leather pants and a ivory shirt that pulled over her breasts tightly and cut high enough over her stomach that she needed to button the first button of her jacket. Her jet black hair was loose and flowed comfortably around her face and was long enough to cover her shoulders. Kevin smiled and then looked down at his jeans and long sleeved dark blue shirt, feeling underdressed, even though he knew that both his parents were going to work after the meeting and that he was going back home. He wondered if Dallas’ parents were as well dressed. Then he saw his sneakers and noticed that his Natalie was wearing her vampire-made leather boots. She was clearly not going to work after wards.

            “Where are you going after the meeting?” he asked and Natalie turned and smiled.

            “I am going to work, but I’m also going to go hunting for a girl to feed Arias in the morning, he’s been forgetting things again. And did you notice he switched your shampoo with a lotus based scent? I think he means to bite you, don’t let him” she warned and Kevin nodded, realizing that Arias was not put off by his lack of clothes, but by the fact that he heart still beat, and he could see the pulse beating on his neck. He blushed suddenly. He had forgotten that living vampires could also be thought of as food by undead ones. He made a mental note to switch his shampoo and wear something that helped draw attention away from his pulse next time undead vampires were around. Or maybe just stay in his room. 

            Miriam, the nighttime Guard and groundskeeper, drove them to the school. She had a sword in the back, but Kevin talked her into keeping it in the trunk since it was illegal to have them on campus. They got there fifteen minutes to ten, and in a couple of minutes they were standing outside the office. Five minutes later the scent of Holy water reached Kevin’s nostrils and he frowned, it was harder for him to keep control after dark and after he display earlier that day, he knew that he would be in trouble, at least the sex starved humans were away for the night.  

            “I smell gun oil” Natalie whispered and Kevin froze. Simon turned and looked at her, smelling the air. Kevin smelled it then and smiled as he recognized the scent of the school’s police officer.

            “He is one of ours” he whispered and both Natalie and Simon relaxed. No human would have heard them talk or would they have noticed the tension, Kevin barely did, it was one of the things that he was looking forward to, being able to do that.

            Mrs. Britt walked them into the conference room. The Dean of Students and the Vice Principal were already there. The police officer also slipped in after Natalie, Simon and Kevin. They sat down as Dallas walked in with his parents. Mrs. Britt introduced the staff and then introduced both sets of parents to each other.

            “Mr. Mrs. Lancaster, this is Mr. Williams and this is Mrs. Williams” she said cheerfully, but with a hint of caution. Kevin noticed that both his parents had slipped gloves on; his mothers were leather and reached up to the middle of her arms under the jacket. His father’s were of another thin material and ended under his business jacket as well.

            They introduced themselves and Kevin had to shake hands with Dallas as well. He could feel the Holy Water where it had dried on the boy’s hands. He smiled suddenly as he realized why his parents were wearing gloves.

            “Well, the reason I called this meeting was simply because I suspect that Dallas is purposefully placing Holy Items in Kevin’s belongings, and it is considered a form of harassment, of intimidation if you will” Said Mrs. Britt and a quick smirk passed thought the faces of the Williams family. The vampires noticed it and so did the humans, almost.  Kevin took in a breath and waited to see what would happen next.

            “Personally, I don’t see how it’s a problem, my son is not harassing the bloodsucker, and he’s just practicing his faith. And you would not deny his freedom of religion, would you Mrs. Britt?” Mr. Williams said threateningly. Mrs. Britt leaned back defensively.

            “I would not, no. But what he is doing is wrong, and the Catholic Church does not approve of that kind of behavior” She said.

            “I will not have my son sharing a classroom with that animal. Its sick enough that we have to share a world with them because this godless country says we do, but now we have to have them in our school?” the woman yelled. Kevin clutched the edge of his seat, trying not to jump her. Simon moved and then spoke.

            “The solution is actually quite simple. If you don’t want your son in a mixed school, pull him out and pay for private school, that is what we have to do if we don’t want them hanging out with cattle.” He said, giving emphasis to the word cattle. The woman blanched and stepped back as her hand came up to her chest.

            “We are actually here to find a way to keep both students here and reach an agreement” Mrs. Britt stepped in, feeling empowered again.

            “There is no agreement if the will of our Lord is ignored” Williams said and Simon chuckled loud enough for them to hear.

            “Tell me, why a god would choose such a weak species as its chosen is beyond me, why not something which does not grow old and wastes away having achieved nothing in life?” he asked and the Williams looked at him blankly.

            “Again, we are here to find a solution to this problem, not to trade insults” the Dean said and Mrs. Williams turned to him.

            “Who brought you into this, dog?” she asked and he frowned, letting his eyes switch to wolf. Simon spoke again

            “Leave the Lycan alone, he is doing his job, nothing else. And he is right, we need to fix this” he finished.

            “We could make sure that the boys never have the same class, we can move Kevin if you wish, that way you don’t have to see him around campus. Its large enough, I’m sure my son can avoid yours if he must.” Natalie spoke and Mrs. Britt smiled liking the idea.

            “I am not moving Dallas for the sake of that thing!” Mr. Williams said and thrust his finger at Kevin as he walked to him. Kevin moved back and out his reach as he felt his eyes go black and his rage our over him. He licked his sharp canines and felt the metal break beneath his hands as he tried to calm himself down.

            “See, that damned thing, its like a dog that can’t be trained, it needs to be put down!” he screamed and moved to hit him. An instant later Kevin’s hand moved and caught his wrist in his hand. Williams pulled away and flung Holy Water at his face from a bottle in his other hand. The woman stood and pulled her jacket opened revealing a cross that began to glow angrily. She started reciting the Lord’s Prayer as the policeman drew his gun, but pointed it at the ceiling, not sure who to point it at. Simon and Natalie were at the opposite side of the room. Simon’s eyes had bled away to black and his fangs were bare, Natalie beside him looked at the Williams and planned in her head, a way to take them down without being splashed with Water or having that Cross touch her skin.

            “Put the cross away, we are here to talk only!” Mrs. Britt said and motioned for the officer to take the Cross from the woman. She slapped at the officer and Natalie took the opportunity to take her down. In less than a second, the woman was on the ground and her jacked was closed over the cross. The man was on his knees with Kevin’s fingers around his throat and his arm twisted behind his back by Simon, who held him down in the arm lock. The cop looked around his gun up and was trying to figure out how to handle the situation.

            Kevin slipped out of his cuffs and massaged his hands. Across the street a vampire officer and the human policemen were arguing about who to take in for questioning, they already had statements and they were just trying to figure out if there were actually any charges for assault to be filed and by whom. By the time they figured out that the Lancaster family was attacked first Natalie had gotten tired of playing prisoner and had also slipped her cuffs. Minutes later they walked away and then drove off, having pressed charges for assault with a deadly weapon and promising to go first thing the next evening to formalize the accusation and see what the settlement would be.