Young Writers Society

Declan

Darling Kassia, what was wrong with you? Immortality was a gift, not a curse. It had its setbacks, but in the long run, it benefited you. Declan's fingertips brushed Kassia's cheek, sweeping away the iridescent tear trickling down her smooth cheek. An inevitable shiver as his skin touched her warm cheek for the barest fraction of a second.

"There is nothing to fear, Kassia," Declan said in a soft voice that stilled the night air around them. She tensed and he could practically hear her thoughts begging him to calm her down, to tell her Adrian was lying.

But he wasn't, and that was quite the problem. Quite the problem indeed. But to see her suffer so tore right through Declan. He couldn't protect his coven, but perhaps he could do this one favor for her. He leaned in close, only for her to flinch.

Declan frowned. "I'm only trying to help -"

"Run!" shrieked the halfling behind Declan. He shut his eyes and massaged his temples as he counted the seconds it took for her to reach him. What was it with the world and having a grudge against Declan lately? It seemed determined to ruin every single thing he ever made or set out to do.

Just as she leaped into the air to attack him, Declan swung out an arm and hit her right on the neck. She crashed into the wall. Crack with the rubble falling down beside her. Declan certainly didn't kill her, but she ought to have a few nasty bruises tomorrow.

Kassia was gone. He could still pick her trail out from the other less savory smells lingering in the air, but he didn't want to. Instead Declan glared at the girl who he'd flung at the wall. He certainly didn't think she'd be so reckless.

Kassia:

I ran. I didn't know or care where, I just had to run. And so I ran, and ran...and eventually ended up back in my room at the Academy without knowing how I'd gotten there in the first place.

Panting, I froze and looked around. Someone had been in there... And the pool of blood from my wrist was gone. Someone had cleaned my room. I took a deep breath through my nose and smelt Lucius. Ah, so he was the one who cleaned my room.

Just as I was about to move, someone knocked on my bedroom door. I turned and looked at the closed door, frowning. When had I closed it? And who was knocking on my door now?

"Who is it?" I called.

"Davine." The answer was a little timid. She must have heard about the Lucius thing.

I sighed and walked over to the door, yanking it open. "What do you want?"

She stood there, blinking at me for a moment. "I, uh, I..."

I sighed again and leaned against the door-jam. "Yes?" I asked curtly.

"Uh, where have you been? You've missed a lot of training lately." The poor girl was frowning at me...and I realised that I was starting to think like a vampire. Crap, that wasn't good. "And I saw you with Lucius...you bit him?"

I hesitated, watching her closely now. "How did you see that?"

OK, I'm trying to fit my character in. Thanks Scar for trying to bring me in. Here I go...

~Shadow Davine~

She was actually starting to scare me, no offence to me. I hadn't seen here in a while, and that really bothered me.

"I...uh...I was walking by and...I uh..." I seriously had to pull it together. I was stronger than this, wasn't I? I sighed, spitting it all out at once. "I was walking by, looking for you, and I saw you bite him. It scared me, so I just left you be." I looked at her, more strength than before. She nodded, contempt, most emotion gone from her face. Well, not all. She looked hungry, but not in the normal way. Hungry like a vampire.

She seemed a little annoyed and a bit confused. "Is that all?" she asked, the annoyance showing in her tone. I didn't want to bother her, but I couldn't bite my tongue back soon enough.

"What was that about?" I bursted out. I sighed, not liking the way that just came out. She didn't like the question any more than I did.

"Go. Away." She hissed. I didn't really want to bother her, but I needed to know.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked, this question coming out when I needed it to. She narrowed her eyes, slamming the door in my face, making me step back unless I wanted to be hit. I sighed, standing there for a moment. I wasn't getting any more than that, obviously. I started walking back to my room, still dazed by the thought, and I walked right into someone, sending us both to the floor and my face turned bright red. WAS I BLUSHING?! I don't blush! I touched my face with shock. I was changing, for some reason, I was going soft.

The person I ran into got up, holding out a hand for me. I was dazed, feeling light headed. What was with me?!

Tatiana

My body ached. It was one of those moments when you wished you were dead, but you knew you would just be badly bruised. Freaking vampires. I hated them all, blood thirsty leeches. I put my hand on the back of my head, standing slowly and stiffly. The vampire just ten paces from me glaring at me. If looks could kill... well, then I would have died years ago. But at this moment, this saying applied. glared back at him, taking a step back, away from him.
"Freaking vampire." I muttered, putting my hand back by my side.
"I was only trying to help her." He said, his voice slicing through the think night air.
"By doing what, biting her?" I hissed. He took a step towards me. I put one hand up, shaking my head. "Stay away from me." I said through gritted teeth. I hoped that girl was safe.

**short, I know, writers block**

Lucius

He was off to do a little hand to hand combat for class. Normally his physical classes helped him more than the boring metally learning classes. Plus, the fact that he hadn't seen Kassia helped. He didn't feel up to talking to her or even seeing her for that matter.

Lucius walked across the grounds, breathing in the smell of freshly mowed grass and happily soaking up the sun. It was a nice day, which he hadn't seen much of lately. He was actually excited for a little training today. His muscles felt relaxed and loose. He was ready for anything at the moment.

Except Kassia.

He saw her standing alone and looking straight at him. He wondered how long she had watched him and regretted how he automatically tensed and stopped dead in his tracks. After all, he didn't want to hurt her feelings.

Lucius let the casual smile fall off his face and turn into a frown. What did it matter? Wasn't she as good as a vampire, as far as he was concerned? Even if Kassia was his friend, he couldn't stand that he had let her bite him. And part of him had liked it.

He turned his head away from her, disgusted mostly with himself. Things would never be the same between them, that was obvious. But she was still his friend, one of the only ones he had, and he owed her the truth. So Lucius swallowed his disgust and walked towards the girl.

"Hey Kassia," he said, forcing a smile. "Where have...you know....where have you been?"

Kassia:

I didn't sleep well that night, and the next morning when I went for a walk, there he was. He looked tired. I hope he wouldn't hate me for what I'd done to him. And I was alone when I saw him. He froze, mid-step and stared right back. I blinked. I hadn't realized I'd been staring. God, what was wrong with me? This was Lucius! So I bit him once....it shouldn't mean anything.

Sighing, I watched as he smiled, then frowned and finally cam over to me. He shifted a little, trying to keep some space between us. Uncomfortable came to mind. I sighed again and waited. He's talk when he wanted to. He swallowed a few times, nervous and then sighed.

"Hey Kassia," he said with a forced smile. "Where have...you know....where have you been?"

I looked away, not wanting to talk to him about that. He just had to ask? I remembered last night, how I'd confronted Adrian and almost lost it, run away only to be found by the girl and then Declan and then he'd said he was trying to help. I didn't believe it for a minute though. I didn't want Lucius to know I'd gone to the vampires for help only to find out I was becoming one. He didn't need to know about that.

"Kassia...?"

I heaved another sighed and returned my gaze to him, knowing I probably look like a hungry vampire and unable to help it. Lucius flinched but didn't take his eyes off my face. Was he concerned because he wanted another bite? He probably did, without even consciously knowing it.

"I've been talking to someone about...it. And in my room, unable to sleep properly all night," I said and looked away again. Lucius reached out for me, then hesitated and dropped his hand.

"Me too," he said, a little shyly. "The sleeping thing, that is. Did you hear about the boy they found last night?" I nodded and Lucius gave a knowing sigh. He knew the Headmaster and I had found the body. "What about the girl this morning?"

My head jerked up, a little faster than normal. "What girl?" I asked. I'd noticed a lingering taint of blood earlier, but had put it down to being surrounded by others and the dead student from earlier. Lucius stepped back quickly, startled.

"The girl. The one the Headmaster found just after dawn?"

I blinked at him. Dawn. At dawn, I'd been asleep, and I nearly hadn't been able to wake up again. I put it down to the stupid becoming-a-vampire thing. Typical. I needed to talk to Declan again....but that would have to wait until tonight. If he'd let me in, if he'd see me.

Lee

I woke before the sun rose, in the same shape I fell asleep in. Bandages wrapped tightly around my forearms, torso, legs, shoulder. Blood sinking through all of them. I got out of bed carefully and undid the bandaging. The gashes on my stomach had healed up- no need for that bit of gauze. Forearms? Still healing. Legs? Good, gone. Shoulder- OW! Still healing, definitely. And the gash Moon had made was still there, of course.

I slipped clothes on, trying not to burst into tears. I glanced over myself in the mirror. Long jeans, and a tee. Seeing that my forearms were still visible- and the blood on them- I groaned. I rewound the gauze on my forearms, middle, and shoulder and pulled on a hoodie, hiding my arms. There was nothing I could do about the gauze showing on my neck, or the bruises and shallow scrapes all over me. Biting my lip, I grabbed my bag and walked to the Academy.

I pulled the hood up and ducked my head, avoiding gazes. Most people here didn't know that I was the same girl that ran around, a black coated, blue eyed wolf, yesterday, and I had to go all today without shifting. I saw Kassia and Lucius and pulled my hood down further. But that exposed my scraped knuckles- and they just had to notice.

I saw something register in Kassia's eyes, and immediately tried to bolt. Tried- my legs were still in seriously bad shape, and buckled beneath me. I was on the ground in a split second, alone in the courtyard, with the two people who most certainly did not need to be bothered by the fourteen-year-old werewolf who suffered through nearly ten hours of the full moon last night.

Kassia:

I stared down at Lee, nose scrunched up with the smell of werewolf blood. What had she been doing? OH, right. I'd almost forgotten. Full moon. I sighed, forcing myself not to react to the stench of blood...forcing myself not to jump on her and--- And I cut off those thoughts pretty quickly. I was thinking like a vampire again, a hungry vampire.

I opened my mouth to speak, only to find that it was Lucius who got the words out. "What're you doing?" he asked her. I glanced at him but he refused to meet my gaze, focusing instead on Lee.

Lee hesitated, biting her lip. She was obviously in pain and I couldn't help her. All I waited to do was...well, bite her. It took everything I had to restrain myself, yet I couldn't help my thoughts drifting to...biting people. I blew out an annoyed breath and forced myself to return my attention to Lucius. His hands were shaking, but only barely. It was something only a vampire would notice.

I closed my eyes, counting backwards from fifty. I was staring at Lee again before I reached forty-five. She was staring back, wide eyed. Beside me, Lucius sighed. And somehow it sounded longing. I tore my eyes off Lee and returned to watching Lucius.

He was watching me again, a feverish glint in his eyes. Oh great, he wanted another fix. Now what were we going to do? I shook my head and turned away. I started walking away, leaving Lucius to help Lee up. I had to get away from the Academy, away from the students. I couldn't wait all day to go see Declan. Not among the students.

So I locked myself in my room and curled up on my bed, hugging my knees, and closed my eyes. I would go back to Declan's as soon as the sun set. I couldn't waste any time, not with my blood lust running rampant. It was too dangerous, I was too dangerous.

Lee

"I'm fine," I managed to whisper. Lucius opened his mouth, then shut it again, walking away. The second he was out of sight, I crawled to the corner, legs still wobbling. A clap of thunder and I swore, just as it began to rain. Wonderful. Now, not only was I gashed, bleeding, bruised, and scraped, but it was raining.

I got up uneasily and hurried to Combat, head still down, wrapping more gauze around my hands. I had taken to keeping a roll or two in my bag. I shook my head and slipped into my seat, ignoring Moon's gaze. I needed to start taking silver pills; I had once known a werewolf who had taken them and had full control of herself. I'd have to ask someone at JJ or the pharmacy about it.

I folded my arms on the desktop and laid my head down on them, losing my eyes. If I had been anywhere else, I would've whimpered, but with Moon in the room, I refused to. I wouldn't let him see how much the full moon affected me. One thing was for certain- I was staying in tonight.

I touched my face with one hand, feeling each bruise, scrape, tiny cut. I bit my lip as a spark of pain shot through my skin with each bit of contact. I laid my hand back down and stared blankly at the wall, my steady breathing silent.

I shivered, even in my hoodie, and tried to forget the lunar cycle for once in my life.

Isidor:

The moon looked like a spotlight outside the field and the cool air surrounded Isidor's atmosphere. That night, he didn't want to expect something sudden or he didn't want to see. He didn't want Kassia scold him or even Declan or Lucius beating him up for rarely showing up.

With his headphones over his messy brown hair, he felt a bit relaxed- at least. Music has been his best friend ever since her mother bought this black headphones for his birthday, a day after his father ate his own favorite beagle dog. He never wanted this vampire life, it could almost kill him but thanks to his loyal friends. They have been always there for him and now, he was going to pay up the benevolence.

Isidor gave out a small sigh.

He strolled down the dark hallway and took a full stop when he noticed Kassia's room door. It has been a lot of days since Kassia's incident and never did he do anything, even a slight of presence from him- just to let Kassia know that he'd still care for her.

With his teeth clenching, he held the doorknob with trembling hands and felt a sweat rolled down against his neck.

Okay, guys. Moving on. It's now obviously nighttime, by the way.

Kassia | Her Room ~ The Academy | 7:12PM:

Someone was at my door. I could hear them talking.... Wait, was that Isidor? And Adrian? Ohmygod. I groaned and got up, moving over towards the door. Their voices got louder, it seemed like they were arguing.

I sighed. Not more fighting, I thought sourly as I pressed my palm to the door. The pair fell silent when I suddenly yanked the door open after a few minutes. Isidor looked like he was a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar, while Adrian only looked angry.

Suddenly someone spoke, sending shivers of fear down my spine--and, by the looks of it, Adrian and Isidor's as well. The tone was icy. Both vampires turned towards the shadows before the sentence was complete.

"What are you doing here?"

Declan. Oh, hell.

Isidor:

I could feel Adrian's sturdy grip on my collar that made me to winch up a few centimeters above the cold floor. His steady eyes fumed in rage and distress. I didn't have much confidence to look straight into his eyes and tell that I wasn't part of this mayhem, especially now that Kassia wasn't feeling all right.

"Why are you doing this Isidor?" He made the grip even stronger, almost choking me and hurting my neck. His teeth clenching and eyes narrowed on mine. And I knew right then he wanted to punch me or something.

As soon as I heard a silent creak on the door, I gazed down and cringe a bit when I saw Kassia on the floor. It wasn't like she was unconscious or that she fainted, but her awakened eyes gave me an idea that she was somewhat eavesdropping. I directly retreated back from Adrian's hold and felt a bit of relief. Taking a swift glance at him, his face was still constant. The awkward silence broke when Declan appeared suddenly out of nowhere.