The headmaster

9.

The man sat across the room, legs crossed at the ankles. He eyed us with disgust. Jacob has shifted back to his human form. He was wearing one of Mom's gardening shirts and a torn pair of jeans I wasn't sure whose they were.

"Who are you exactly?" snapped Jacob. He was the first one to break the oppressing silence that has settled in the living room. It was clear he was an old one like Dad used to call vampires from ancient times. What bugged me was why the hell was he staring at me like that. I shifted nervously holding on to Jacob's tensed arms. The man slowly turned to face Dad with a tight smile.

"I am Theodorus, the headmaster of Keera Elite School, it has been brought to my attention," he paused and peeked at me. I frowned at the man. Ancient usually have one name since their family names fall through the crack of history or something. Well, Theo here did seem like he has walked through a lot. His eyes were almost black and dangerous. "⁠—that this young woman was involved in an incident," both Mom and Dad sprung around to face me.

"What is this all about? You said that someone insulted you." Dad got to his feet. Face fierce, eyes flaming. Our new guest took a deep breath, even though he clearly didn't need it.

"Mr. Cullen, this is a misunderstanding. But fear not, I will personally see to it, that justice is made," said the man. Mom pulled Dad's arm to force him to sit. The tension was palpable.

"So you are not denying that one of the students use such barbaric words⁠—" but the man cut Dad in midsentence.

"Mr. Cullen I'm not here because of such pity quarrel. I'm here because of what your daughter is," Dad pressed his lips together into a hardline and sunk back in his seat.

"What do you mean?" Jacob jumped in ready to bite. The man ignored him and kept his eyes on Dad then shifted to Mom who was silent since the beginning of the meeting.

"She is an immortal and yet is she not one of our kind," Mom lowered her gaze to her hands. "How come, you are an undead and your child is not?" the question was clearly directed to her alone. Mom kept quiet, actually, Mom has been vague about my birth saying that the Vulturi and their allies were seeking me and that the whole subject was taboo.

"She had nothing to add to the topic," Dad hissed his eyes bleeding crimson. "We allowed you in our house out of respect and you are insulting my wife. If you are done, I'll ask you to leave," Dad got up and gestured to the front door. The man didn't move he only stared at Mom's guilty face. I took a quick peek at my Jacob and found the same guilty plastered on his face.

"I'll add only one last thing," said the man as he got up. He pulled on his coat to get rid of wrinkles. "Since your daughter is still human even though she is immortal⁠—is of great danger to her. We have between the walls of our school various species and we can't guarantee her safety at all times. The fact that you didn't mention that detail on admission is tricky for us," he met Dad's furious gaze.

"Won't she be able to attend school anymore?" asked Mom finally finding her voice. The man paused but didn't look at her.

"It will be better to send her to the humans. We don't want to take responsibility if anything happens to her," with that he walked to the front door without looking back and closed it silently behind him. I let out a sigh. Mom turned to me with blazing eyes.

"Jacob, out⁠—now!" she ordered. I felt him tense against me. I held on to his arm but he pulled away easily. He gave a weak smile and then moved to the front door. He slammed it on his way out.

"Now you, young woman!" called Dad.

"You are so fucked!" added Mom while pointy a shaky index at me. Since Mom was a newborn in the darkness, in other words, a new vampire. She still gets fits and harbors human emotions. Right now, she was pissed. Very pissed.