Chapter 6: Lies

I'm in the headteacher's office and boy am I scared. Brandon's dad is furious. He looks at least six foot two and really ripped you can see his chest practically ripping through his white t-shirt. He keeps growling and scowling whenever he looks at me.

Aunt Kelly walks in about half an hour later and she looks angrier than Brandon's dear old dad here. I'm screwed in the ass with no lubrication at this point.

Kelly sits down next to me and she doesn't say anything to me but I can her anger choking me very very clearly.

The headteacher says something first.

"Good morning everyone. We're here to settle a matter involving Brandon Steele and his friends and Angelo Santiago. Brandon here claims Angelo assaulted Brandon and his friends." She says this so calmly.

"Lie." Abhartach whispers in my head. "Look at you, it's not possible that you could've beaten all of them up. It doesn't add up. You're no match for them. Usually." He says casually.

I look up at the headteacher and Aunt Kelly and calmly say.

"Maybe he had a concussion because look at me. How can I take them all on and win? He's actually the one who bullies me everyday. He takes my money and tells me to bring him pictures of Kelly. I don't know what he does with em but he's been picking on me for years and then says I beat him?" I raise my voice a bit at the last part then Abhartach tells me to calm myself and I return it to its normal decibel and continue.

"If anything he was probably beaten up over drugs or something."

Kelly looks at me and begins to tear up then she shoots Brandon's dad a cold glare. She was angry before, now she's furious and worried? I can somehow almost tell exactly what she's feeling. Must be an added effect to Abhartach's powers.

"Mr Steele, your son is one sick twisted boy. Not only does he make accuse my nephew of assault, he has the audacity to bully him and demand private pictures of-" Kelly breaks into tears abruptly and then holds out her hand. She regains composure and shoots me one more glance.

"And you! Why didn't you tell me what he was doing? I would've dealt with the little fuck." She swears and I know when she starts swearing you do not respond until she tell you to. "Well, answer me."

That's my cue.

"He threatened to make it worse and I didn't want to bother you. You do enough for me." I mean it.

"I can never do enough and we're family. We stick together."

"I want him punished and if I hear that he came near my nephew again, I'll personally deal with him myself." Kelly says before storming out, she's said her piece and that's it.

Headteacher Michelle looks at me and Brandon and tells him to apologise to me. He does so reluctantly then she awards him three weeks of detention and what I assume is litter duty, him and everyone of his friends who were involved. Then I'm dismissed just like that.

Lunchtime finally arrives. Ahhh, food calls to me. I walk in the cafeteria and I see my two favorite girls sitting at the usual place. Max is making what looks to be a dirty joke with his fingers and Carol laughs. Claris is there too and she chuckles lightly then makes an expression of seriousness which makes Carol and Max burst into laughter once more. I go over to the counter to buy some food and approach them.

"My peeps." I say as I take a seat next to Carol. Max winks and Claris says hi. Carol however kisses my cheek and Max grins devilishly. Of course she does.

"Why did Brandon's dad look like he wanted to bury you alive?" Carol asks.

"Well, he accused me of beating Brandon and his friends up. As if." I say as I munch on my burger and salad.

"Hold up, you? No offence but nigga you can't beat shit." Max says casually. Claris and Carol keep quiet for a minute and I assume it's due to the use of the n-word. Max is full on African and I happen to be mixed. My dad was African and my mom was probably either American or South American due to my dark brown skin and wavy red hair.

"Nigga no, we've got a person whose not quite comfortable with that word here." I say to her and Carol ships in too. "Yeah, nigga isn't a word you can just use, I mean look at how uncomfortable Claris is."

Max smacks her forehead laughs. She'd gotten used to using it around me and Carol that she'd forgotten all about Claris. Who can't exactly say that word. I've just now realised that between me, Carol and Max. We've each got an exotic gene pool here.

"Anyway, That was a crazy accusation. I mean, he's bullied you since we started High-school." Max says and Carol stops smiling.

Carol looks at me, she's horrified and sorry. She tries to say something but she just punches my elbow and in a fit of anger and disappointment she says. "Why didn't you tell me?"

I'd be lying if I said I didn't say because they were friends and she'd stop talking to him so I tell her the truth.

"Because I didn't want to lose you. I didn't want to make you stop associating with me to protect me." I say.

"I wouldn't have done that, I would've beaten his ass and stopped talking to him." She says and I know part of her would've considered option A but I don't say anything. I just look at her and she looks back at me.

"Well, wasn't this fun?" Max says sarcastically. We have a nice lunch afterwards. An hour passes after and school finally ends.

I get off at my stop and Abhartach pops up. "Let's go to the forest. Not too far but far enough." He suggests and I know I don't have a choice so I go wait for another bus.

"We're running there." He says

"It's three kilos away." I respond.

"Exactly."

By the time I get there, I'm panting and gasping for air. This guy is crazy. Is he trying to kill me?

"We need to prepare you for conflict, You can't always rely on my form. It's safer for you to draw on my power without transforming. So you need to learn to defend yourself." He explains.

"Ok, but how will I do that alone and the only Karate dojo here is the one Brandon goes to. The next one is in the next area which is like half an hour drive."

"You don't need a dojo. I will teach you. Draw can draw on my memories. I know a plethora of arts. Most of them old and forgotten but I know two that can tailor well to you." He says casually.

"Which are? Better not be something that will kill me in the process." I say concerned.

"Don't worry. Taijutsu and Taekwondo should suffice. They are arts from Asia. Anyway, let's get started.

We spent two whole hours doing nothing but basic moves and training. One hour remained till I had to go home and he began teaching me how to call on his power. I could only use his strength and fast reflexes but I couldn't maintain it for long.

I got home exhausted and took a quick shower then collapsed on my bed.

Is what I wished for but I'm having dinner with Kelly right after the shower and we make idle chit chat before she mentions that she's not angry with me and things return to normal. We finally begin to talk and she says something about a date. I hope it goes well.

I load up the dishwasher and go straight to bed.

Right before I sleep I feel something. A force of nature. It's close. I look towards my window and all I see is a silhouette, a shadow. Fleeting off.

"What was that?" I ask Abhartach and he responds rather quickly.

"Whatever that was, be careful." He says.

"I'm preparing your schedule. From today onwards we'll do sessions everyday after school and on weekends. We'll alternate days between combat training and ability training."

Then just like that I pass out.

*****

Year: 1865

I'm running away from something, I've never ran so fast. I feel invigorated. Stronger, faster and bigger. I feel as I felt when I transform but this time it's more. I feel whole. I see a a little boy desperately trying to protect his sister and I know immediately what's going on. I'm not running away, I'm chasing.

This is one of Abhartach's memories. So long ago. This memory is so vivid. He remembers it clearly but he is a vampire and he shouldn't care who or what he feeds on. Unless he didn't want to feed on them. Come to think of it, he only ever offers to help when I'm in trouble or when someone else is in trouble.

I have a few memories of him feeding but I have none of him feeding on an innocent person and I understand. This was a memory of when someone had linked with Abhartach before me and it had been so long. He had gone ravenous and had no control over who he fed on him.

He could've killed those children a long time ago and I know now. He isn't a normal vampire. He doesn't feed on just blood. He also takes the soul and once he has fed on a soul he can go for days without blood. So when he gets ravenous he would rather feed on blood that take the soul of an innocent person. What a messes up compromise.

The children scream as he grabs them by their necks, tearing into one instantly. He drinks fast, turning the boy into a fledgling and then he feeds on the girl too. Both die and their souls leave. But their bodies are now his to command. Then I wake up feeling hungry.