The threat

I tried to keep my steps steady with him, but it was hard and I soon started panting. My wedges were not made for such brisk walking.

'This town is literally crawling with vampires and werewolves,' Dave stated flatly.

'You mean that there are other vampires around, apart from you?'

'When Nani settled here there were only 5 vampire families around. I checked personally, but when I went around town this morning,it was filled with many other vampires and even werewolves.'

I stopped walking and looked at my feet. This was the place where I had been born and now I was realizing that there were many things that I did not know. My world was changing in a way that I could not understand. I seemed to have lost control over my life.

We had almost reached my class by then and I slowed down, forcing Dave to halt his steps as well. 'Why did you say that I was not safe? What did you see?'

'It's a question of what I felt and smelled. However expensive their perfume might be, a werewolf cannot hide its smell.'

'Is it Mr Loup?' At his blank gaze, I clarified, 'The tall man with the sunglasses.' He was the only one to have been wearing glasses indoors.

'How did you know?'

'I met him earlier and he gave me the heebie-jeebies.'

It was almost time for lunch and the corridor was quite sunny at that time of the day. I loved walking there, especially when sunlight streamed inside and lit the entire space. I was sure that Dave would enjoy it too. At that moment, I was shaken. Oh my God, vampires hated sunlight, didn't they?

'I'm not going to melt. I'm sensitive to sunlight yes, but I don't burn. The more fresh blood you drink, the more sensitive you are to sunlight. This is why Vetalas mainly come out at night.' I still looked at him with worry.

'I've worn a good sunscreen,' he added jokingly.

Seeing that he did not seem to be in too much suffering, except that he did try to avoid the big patches of sunlight, I said,

'I'm famished. Let's eat.'

My phone started ringing then, and I let Dave listen to the ring tone as understanding dawned on him.

'Toccata and Fugue. The vampire track. That's so funny, Ash,' he said with a serious face.

Still smiling at his reaction, I took the call.

'If it's not my favorite person in the world,' began Claudia's voice.

'What's up Claudia?'

'Lunch together?' I looked at Dave and mouthed 'lunch with Claudia' and he nodded.

'Sure. Where?'

'The new restaurant near the Academy. Meet you in 10.'

As it was so close, we decided to walk to the restaurant. 'How did you come to the Academy?' I asked with curiosity.

'I flew.'

'Huh?'

'Just joking...You should have seen the look on your face.'

'I rented a car in town.'

That was so obvious of course, but there were so many things that I didn't know about vampires that at the back of my mind, I was thinking that maybe he did have some superpowers.

We had reached the restaurant by then and the waiter seated us on the balcony outside. It was in a shady place, but I was still worried that it would be too much to Dave so I asked to be shifted inside. We took our seats and I gratefully took a sip of the complimentary water. Walking with Dave at his speed had made me thirsty. I think that he sometimes forgot that I was not a vampire.

'How well do you know Claudia?'

I was surprised by his question, but answered honestly.

'I know her since we were kids. We've been best friends since then. Why do you ask?'

Dave paused for a few seconds, before dropping the news.

'Do you know that she has vampire blood?'

The shock was so great that I did not swallow my water properly and started coughing and choking, tears coursing down my cheeks. Dave slapped me gently on the back and waited for me to return to normal.

With bright eyes, I looked at him and rasped out, 'Are you sure? How do you know?' He didn't answer, merely looked at me.

'How do you know what?' Claudia asked as she slipped in the seat next to me. Dave had probably already heard her coming before me.

I almost felt nervous in replying her. This whole vampire thing was making me question everything that I had taken for granted.

'I was asking Dave about his experience on stage.'

'Ah, you were great, Dave. Congratulations.'

'Thanks.'

Claudia then excused herself to go to the washroom, giving me the breather I required. As soon as she was out of sight, I asked Dave, 'Does she know she is a vampire?'

Dave laughed and teased, 'Apart from you, Ash, all those who are vampires know they are vampires.'

So that meant that my closest friend was a vampire. 'What do we do now?'

Dave stayed quiet again and I correctly assumed that Claudia was on her way back.

'Let's order.' We did and the meal came quite rapidly. Dave had ordered some venison steak, cooked rare, while I chose some fried rice. Claudia had a mixed salad as she was a vegetarian. Could vampires, even half-ones be vegetarian?

'So Claudia Tucker, are you related to the Tuckers from Pennsylvania?'

'Uh, I think that we do have family there, from my mother's side. How do you know them?'

I watched and listened attentively to the conversation between Dave and Claudia warily. Where was it leading? Dave was not planning on asking her directly if she was a vampire, right?

'Where did you get your canines filed?' I almost choked on a bit of carrot at the question and I could see that even Claudia was shocked. She brought her hands to her lips and with suspicion, asked, 'How do you know? Who are you?'

It was like being at a tennis match where I had to turn my head from left to right to follow the ball.

'I know your mother, Tania, right?'

'How do you know her?'

'I met her when I came here 25 years ago. You must have been around one or two then.'

'Who are you?' Claudia hissed again and she took hold of my hand, as if trying to draw some courage from me. 'Who is he, Ash?'

I turned to her and blankly asked, 'Are you a vampire, Claudia? Dave seems to think so.'

Her hands tightened around mine and I winced with pain. She immediately released it and after looking around to make sure there was no one around us, she softly replied, 'Half-vampire. My mum is a vampire and my dad is human. I've tried to tell you before, but how do we go around telling people we are vampires? You would have thought that I was crazy.'

'It's okay Claudia, it's not easy to talk about it, I know.' Then turning to Dave, who had almost completed his meal, I asked, 'What is it about the filing of canines?'

'Half-vampires do not have retractable canines. While some like it that way, those who stay on Earth prefer to file it. They don't suck blood, so it's not even necessary for them.'

I turned to Claudia and with humor, I remarked, 'At least I don't have to be frightened of you trying to suck my blood.'

'So, I guess that you are a vampire too, Dave,' Claudia stated, looking calmer now.

'Yes.'

'What are you doing here?'

'Ash needs me.' My eyes widened at his words. It was true that I needed him, but I didn't think that we had the same conception of need.

'She's in danger.'

'From what?' she asked incredulously.

'We'll talk about that later. This is not the place for such a conversation.'

Both of them were so involved with the conversation that I was starting to feel left out and continued eating my meal miserably. I suddenly felt a warm hand seek mine under the tablecloth and I lifted my eyes to see Dave smiling at me.

We left the restaurant after 15 minutes and went back to the Academy. I had a last meeting scheduled with some students of mine, so I bid goodbye to Dave, saying that Claudia would drop me home. I saw him drive away in his rental car and waved at him.

'You like him a lot, don't you?' Claudia asked smilingly.

'Yes,' I whispered.

I went to my class and locked the door, turning the key. As I turned, the lights switched off on their own and the key fell down from my surprised fingers. As the curtains were pulled, the room was plunged in partial darkness. I groped in the dark until my desk, looking for a torch that I knew was stored in my drawer. I needed to find the key. As I reached the table, I turned around and I screamed. A pair of angry red eyes were staring at me from the back.