“Lucius,” Said a raspy voice. An aged voice. “Lucius, would you please be so kind as to repeat what I just said.”
Looking up Lucius’ gaze fell upon an old man huddled over a large cluttered desk. The man was balding, and his face was worn with age. His hands trembled as he held the ink quill in one hand, but his face was twisted into the personification of rage.
“Sorry sir. What were you saying?” Asked Lucius, his eyes were drooping and he was a little dazed. He must have fallen asleep.
“So you can’t can you. I thought not; well next time you are bored of my classes please just draw in your notebook.” He spat these words at Lucius. “You’re classmates were distracted.”
Turning around he saw a giggling gaggle of girls at the back of the room. They were all wearing long blue dresses, which went down to their ankles. “Ahem.” Coughed the old man, the girls instantly fell quiet. Their heads twisted straight down, yet Lucius could still hear them conversing under their breath.
“Now if you don’t mind, work. I know I can’t stop you from talking, but please the cane won’t ever go away.” He snickered under his breath at this point, but this caused him to burst into huge bouts of dry coughs.
“Your dream nice?” Asked the tall girl sitting next to him. She had short red hair that went down to her shoulders, a rebellious act in these times she was often prone to saying. Her eyes were a greyish blue. She wore a rough white t-shirt and dusty grey jeans, completely at odds to the ball-room gowns that the other girls seemed to wear. She often stated that she hated the clothing that these woman were forced to wear in their society.
“Melinda, please tell me I didn’t snore?” Lucius asked half joking.
“No it was very discrete. I think the fact that your head crashed against the desk sought of gave you away.” She started poking him in the head. “Honestly it is like a rock.”
“Well thanks, I feel so much better.” Lucius said, the sarcasm ripe in his voice.
“You’re making a bad impression on the new girl.”
“Who?”
“Wow, maybe it isn’t like a rock after all. You were all over her before.” Teased Melinda. Seeing the blank expression on his face, she sighed and pointed to the far corner of the room.
What Lucius saw made him gasp. She was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. She was slender, with beautiful deep, dark brown hair. Her eyes were a startling luminous brown that seemed to light up the room. And her smile seemed to draw people towards her. All the other guys in the room were shooting looks at her every chance they got.
She got up, ignoring every other person in the room. Her eyes were intent on him and she seemed to glide through the desks in the way between her and him. She seemed to be ethereal; almost divine. Nothing but a ghost lost in the world of the living.
When she was standing right in front of him she whispered a single word into his ear “Maylin,” and then dropped a note onto his desk. She then flowed away from him and drifted through a wall at the end of the room.
Lucius picked the note up off his desk, which was a faded yellow, yet the writing was a rich jet black. It said only one sentence:
‘Come to Maylin.’
As soon as he had finished reading, the parchment vanished into a puff of smoke.
“Lucius what are you doing?” Melinda asked fear and concern crept into her normally unwavering voice.
“I was reading the note that the new girl gave me.” Lucius explained, feeling suddenly out of place.
“What new girl?”
A little bit dazed he said “Never mind.”
“Ok you can all leave the class now and return to your extremely wealthy families.” Said the old man; disdain clearly in his voice. Every one leapt from their seats packing up as they left the class room. The girls all seemed to move in swarms, while the guys tended to roam off by themselves.
“So what are you doing this weekend?” Melinda asked whilst grabbing all of her books off the table. Lucius was ready by the time she had packed away her quills.
“My father wants me to go with him to a book burning or something.” He said, disgust filling his voice.
“I do hate your father. I can’t believe he wants to get rid of the knowledge of the old ones.” She swung her bag over her back, and walked out the door, Lucius followed suit.
“My father believes they’re sins against the gods; but they tell us so much about our world. They found evidence in those books of a flying machine.” He said this with a deep expression of amazement.
“I don’t know why someone doesn’t send him a message to stop it.” She said this in a way that could have inspired an army.
“I have tried, but he refuses to.”
“Maybe I can send him a message.” This came from a colossal titan of a man behind him. He was covered in huge, bulging muscles and wore a huge metallic suit of armour. His face was completely enclosed in a massive knight’s helmet, giving him an almost robotic appearance.
He brought up a huge knife and burrowed it into Lucius’ stomach. Just as quickly he tore it out and darted away.
Lucius just touched the wound with trembling hands. The blood stuck to the tips of his fingers. It was his blood.
Falling backwards he landed on the rough tiled surface with a resounding THUD. Melinda crouched over him shouting for help. As he lay there he felt his consciousness slip away and his last sight of the world before he blacked out was the ethereal girl who only mouthed the word “Maylin”.
“Lucius, how long have you been down here for?” Asked the most-un-welcome voice of Cipher. He was laying over Lucius with a deep sense of amusement hidden in his eyes.
“Damn, even being stabbed is better than this.” Exclaimed Lucius, half of his face carpeted in dirt from the now muddy floor. He pushed Cipher from him dusting his clothes off as he went. “I did get to see my friends again.”
“What? Lucius what are you doing down here?” Asked Cipher.
“I was burying the girl I...”
“You buried her!” Yelled Cipher in astonishment. “Honest to god you buried her?”
“Yes. I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“How can you do that?”
“I had to bury her!” Lucius yelled back with determination. “She couldn’t have gone into the next life if I hadn’t.”
Cipher sighed before he said in fatherly tone, “Lucius I think we are going to need to have a little talk. It is apparent that you don’t want to kill humans.”
“Of course I don’t.”
“Yes, but we need to drink human blood, which usually results in their deaths. Look, I think the reason that you don’t want to kill them is you still see yourself as one of them, just maybe with a disease. You are NOT human. They are beneath us. Don’t let your conscience cloud your judgement.”
“But are we so different from humans?” Lucius asked in a highly sympathetic tone.
“Yeh, we’re undead.” Explained Cipher, as if he was pointing out the most obvious thing in the world.
“But...”
“Lucius, look I know you will never be one of the vampires who loves drinking blood. You’ll be those who will do it reluctantly once per month. And that is ok, but you do have to drink their blood. I’m sorry.” Cipher said in a solemn voice. Then in a cheerful mannerism he added “Now how about we go to Becca.”
“What,”
“Becca, the cradle of vampire civilisation. Nice beaches, fine women and lots of humans to eat. Plus they do have very good hair dressers out in the bay.” He tossed his rich blonde hair around as he said this.
“Captain Vanity in full swing. Wait didn’t this originally start off as a conversation about how you were going to be nicer about my love of humans?” Asked Lucius.
“Yes but you forgot one important thing.”
“And that would be?”
“I’m Cipher.” Bounding away from Lucius he darted from the basement, all the while shouting back, “I expect you up here in 5 minutes.”
After briefly giving his respects to the poor girl who lay dead in the dusty ground, he wandered upstairs to find Cipher. Ascending the rickety staircase that connected the basement from the 1st floor he felt as if a weight had been lifted from him. The guilt he felt for the girl’s death was still there, but it wasn’t killing him.
When he got upstairs he found Cipher waiting for him, carrying only a black leather bag, which he had slung over his shoulder.
“What’s in the bag?” Asked Lucius.
Giddy with excitement Cipher ripped the bag from his back and proceeded to tear it open. Tipping it upside down a huge leather tent fell out. “The pegs and rope are in another pocket, but this is a thing of beauty. Completely blocks out the sunlight, meaning we can sleep during the day.”
“Wow.” Said Lucius in a sarcastic tone.
“Fine, go burn in the sunlight. It will take us about a month to get to Becca.”
At this point Lucius remembered something. He did not know why he thought this but he knew it was right. “No. We shouldn’t go there.”
“Oh right. Where then should we go?”
“Maylin.” Lucius burst out saying.
“Maylin? That place is a dump. And the humans are all so scrawny.”
“Please. I have a feeling that we have to go there. And I am going out there whether you like it or not.” Explained Lucius.
“Oh fine. I just really wanted to go to Becca.” Said Cipher grumpily.
“Are you pouting?” Snickered Lucius.
“No.” Said Cipher too quickly.
“That is just sad.”
“Shut up.” He said hurriedly. Recovering he continued “Now it should only take us about a week to get to Maylin.”
“Ok fine. Are we going to take horses?” Asked Lucius.
“No we should be able to run most of the way. We don’t have stamina.”
Cipher walked outside the small house without hesitation. However Lucius wasn’t the same. Just before he left the house, he made the sign of Galinti, a 6 pointed star on the door. In this act he asked the gods to forgive all evil deeds done within it’s walls. He could only pray is prayers would be answered.
Looking up Lucius’ gaze fell upon an old man huddled over a large cluttered desk. The man was balding, and his face was worn with age. His hands trembled as he held the ink quill in one hand, but his face was twisted into the personification of rage.
“Sorry sir. What were you saying?” Asked Lucius, his eyes were drooping and he was a little dazed. He must have fallen asleep.
“So you can’t can you. I thought not; well next time you are bored of my classes please just draw in your notebook.” He spat these words at Lucius. “You’re classmates were distracted.”
Turning around he saw a giggling gaggle of girls at the back of the room. They were all wearing long blue dresses, which went down to their ankles. “Ahem.” Coughed the old man, the girls instantly fell quiet. Their heads twisted straight down, yet Lucius could still hear them conversing under their breath.
“Now if you don’t mind, work. I know I can’t stop you from talking, but please the cane won’t ever go away.” He snickered under his breath at this point, but this caused him to burst into huge bouts of dry coughs.
“Your dream nice?” Asked the tall girl sitting next to him. She had short red hair that went down to her shoulders, a rebellious act in these times she was often prone to saying. Her eyes were a greyish blue. She wore a rough white t-shirt and dusty grey jeans, completely at odds to the ball-room gowns that the other girls seemed to wear. She often stated that she hated the clothing that these woman were forced to wear in their society.
“Melinda, please tell me I didn’t snore?” Lucius asked half joking.
“No it was very discrete. I think the fact that your head crashed against the desk sought of gave you away.” She started poking him in the head. “Honestly it is like a rock.”
“Well thanks, I feel so much better.” Lucius said, the sarcasm ripe in his voice.
“You’re making a bad impression on the new girl.”
“Who?”
“Wow, maybe it isn’t like a rock after all. You were all over her before.” Teased Melinda. Seeing the blank expression on his face, she sighed and pointed to the far corner of the room.
What Lucius saw made him gasp. She was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. She was slender, with beautiful deep, dark brown hair. Her eyes were a startling luminous brown that seemed to light up the room. And her smile seemed to draw people towards her. All the other guys in the room were shooting looks at her every chance they got.
She got up, ignoring every other person in the room. Her eyes were intent on him and she seemed to glide through the desks in the way between her and him. She seemed to be ethereal; almost divine. Nothing but a ghost lost in the world of the living.
When she was standing right in front of him she whispered a single word into his ear “Maylin,” and then dropped a note onto his desk. She then flowed away from him and drifted through a wall at the end of the room.
Lucius picked the note up off his desk, which was a faded yellow, yet the writing was a rich jet black. It said only one sentence:
‘Come to Maylin.’
As soon as he had finished reading, the parchment vanished into a puff of smoke.
“Lucius what are you doing?” Melinda asked fear and concern crept into her normally unwavering voice.
“I was reading the note that the new girl gave me.” Lucius explained, feeling suddenly out of place.
“What new girl?”
A little bit dazed he said “Never mind.”
“Ok you can all leave the class now and return to your extremely wealthy families.” Said the old man; disdain clearly in his voice. Every one leapt from their seats packing up as they left the class room. The girls all seemed to move in swarms, while the guys tended to roam off by themselves.
“So what are you doing this weekend?” Melinda asked whilst grabbing all of her books off the table. Lucius was ready by the time she had packed away her quills.
“My father wants me to go with him to a book burning or something.” He said, disgust filling his voice.
“I do hate your father. I can’t believe he wants to get rid of the knowledge of the old ones.” She swung her bag over her back, and walked out the door, Lucius followed suit.
“My father believes they’re sins against the gods; but they tell us so much about our world. They found evidence in those books of a flying machine.” He said this with a deep expression of amazement.
“I don’t know why someone doesn’t send him a message to stop it.” She said this in a way that could have inspired an army.
“I have tried, but he refuses to.”
“Maybe I can send him a message.” This came from a colossal titan of a man behind him. He was covered in huge, bulging muscles and wore a huge metallic suit of armour. His face was completely enclosed in a massive knight’s helmet, giving him an almost robotic appearance.
He brought up a huge knife and burrowed it into Lucius’ stomach. Just as quickly he tore it out and darted away.
Lucius just touched the wound with trembling hands. The blood stuck to the tips of his fingers. It was his blood.
Falling backwards he landed on the rough tiled surface with a resounding THUD. Melinda crouched over him shouting for help. As he lay there he felt his consciousness slip away and his last sight of the world before he blacked out was the ethereal girl who only mouthed the word “Maylin”.
“Lucius, how long have you been down here for?” Asked the most-un-welcome voice of Cipher. He was laying over Lucius with a deep sense of amusement hidden in his eyes.
“Damn, even being stabbed is better than this.” Exclaimed Lucius, half of his face carpeted in dirt from the now muddy floor. He pushed Cipher from him dusting his clothes off as he went. “I did get to see my friends again.”
“What? Lucius what are you doing down here?” Asked Cipher.
“I was burying the girl I...”
“You buried her!” Yelled Cipher in astonishment. “Honest to god you buried her?”
“Yes. I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“How can you do that?”
“I had to bury her!” Lucius yelled back with determination. “She couldn’t have gone into the next life if I hadn’t.”
Cipher sighed before he said in fatherly tone, “Lucius I think we are going to need to have a little talk. It is apparent that you don’t want to kill humans.”
“Of course I don’t.”
“Yes, but we need to drink human blood, which usually results in their deaths. Look, I think the reason that you don’t want to kill them is you still see yourself as one of them, just maybe with a disease. You are NOT human. They are beneath us. Don’t let your conscience cloud your judgement.”
“But are we so different from humans?” Lucius asked in a highly sympathetic tone.
“Yeh, we’re undead.” Explained Cipher, as if he was pointing out the most obvious thing in the world.
“But...”
“Lucius, look I know you will never be one of the vampires who loves drinking blood. You’ll be those who will do it reluctantly once per month. And that is ok, but you do have to drink their blood. I’m sorry.” Cipher said in a solemn voice. Then in a cheerful mannerism he added “Now how about we go to Becca.”
“What,”
“Becca, the cradle of vampire civilisation. Nice beaches, fine women and lots of humans to eat. Plus they do have very good hair dressers out in the bay.” He tossed his rich blonde hair around as he said this.
“Captain Vanity in full swing. Wait didn’t this originally start off as a conversation about how you were going to be nicer about my love of humans?” Asked Lucius.
“Yes but you forgot one important thing.”
“And that would be?”
“I’m Cipher.” Bounding away from Lucius he darted from the basement, all the while shouting back, “I expect you up here in 5 minutes.”
After briefly giving his respects to the poor girl who lay dead in the dusty ground, he wandered upstairs to find Cipher. Ascending the rickety staircase that connected the basement from the 1st floor he felt as if a weight had been lifted from him. The guilt he felt for the girl’s death was still there, but it wasn’t killing him.
When he got upstairs he found Cipher waiting for him, carrying only a black leather bag, which he had slung over his shoulder.
“What’s in the bag?” Asked Lucius.
Giddy with excitement Cipher ripped the bag from his back and proceeded to tear it open. Tipping it upside down a huge leather tent fell out. “The pegs and rope are in another pocket, but this is a thing of beauty. Completely blocks out the sunlight, meaning we can sleep during the day.”
“Wow.” Said Lucius in a sarcastic tone.
“Fine, go burn in the sunlight. It will take us about a month to get to Becca.”
At this point Lucius remembered something. He did not know why he thought this but he knew it was right. “No. We shouldn’t go there.”
“Oh right. Where then should we go?”
“Maylin.” Lucius burst out saying.
“Maylin? That place is a dump. And the humans are all so scrawny.”
“Please. I have a feeling that we have to go there. And I am going out there whether you like it or not.” Explained Lucius.
“Oh fine. I just really wanted to go to Becca.” Said Cipher grumpily.
“Are you pouting?” Snickered Lucius.
“No.” Said Cipher too quickly.
“That is just sad.”
“Shut up.” He said hurriedly. Recovering he continued “Now it should only take us about a week to get to Maylin.”
“Ok fine. Are we going to take horses?” Asked Lucius.
“No we should be able to run most of the way. We don’t have stamina.”
Cipher walked outside the small house without hesitation. However Lucius wasn’t the same. Just before he left the house, he made the sign of Galinti, a 6 pointed star on the door. In this act he asked the gods to forgive all evil deeds done within it’s walls. He could only pray is prayers would be answered.
