Monsters and Memorials

By the next morning, more bodies had been found, bringing the total body count to twelve – six boys and six girls.

The entire campus atmosphere was sombre with what had been declared the bloodiest day in Henderickson's history. Students spoke in hushed tones, many grieving the loss of their colleagues and friends, while others theorized explanations as to why a person would commit such a heinous act.

One thing was certain though; this was a pre-meditated attack, and even though nobody wanted to say it out loud, they all knew it wasn't an isolated event. So long as the killer was out there, nobody was safe.

The school had announced an emergency assembly to address the situation, and as throngs of students scurried to the university conference hall, they whispered conspiracies to each other. Amongst them was Keisha, listening keenly to their anxious chatter.

"I heard it's a serial killer!"

"This isn't a coincidence, it seems planned!"

"Maybe they were used as a human sacrifice!"

Keisha knew there was truth to their words, although they were way off with their theories. She seemed to be the only one who knew the truth about what was in the forest that night, and that terrified her. What if those demonic creatures came after her? What would she do?

A chill ran down her spine at the thought, and she tried to collect herself as she made her way to an empty seat, Shalini beside her. Taking their seats, the grim expression on Keisha's face gave away her unease, and Shalini cast a worried glance at her friend.

"Are you okay, Keisha?"

"Yes," Keisha lied, not wanting to worry the other girl. "I'm just sad about this whole situation."

Patting her friend's shoulder sympathetically, Shalini offered comfort. "I understand. This must be really hard for you. First, you're dealing with your room situation, now this."

Nodding in acknowledgement, Keisha thought about what her friend was saying. She'd completely forgotten about her current homeless state, being more occupied with surviving vampires and ghouls.

Her initial plan of seeking help from Mr. Samuel was out the window now she knew he was a blood-sucking vampire, so it seemed she was going to have to illegally bunk with Shalini until she figured things out. Thankfully, her friend's roommate had been sympathetic toward Keisha's situation, and was co-operative about it.

The unmistakable feeling of being watched fell over Keisha, and she looked up to see who was staring at her. When her eyes met a pair of familiar dark brown ones, they immediately widened in fear.

On the far side of the hall was Luka Haydes, watching her calculatedly.

As if sensing her fear, he narrowed his eyes at her and she felt her heart stop in utter terror. Breaking her gaze away, Keisha tried to maintain her composure, struggling to keep her breaths controlled.

Why the hell was that creature looking at her? Was he going to attack her?

Looking to the stage, Keisha thanked the heavens that Mr. Samuel was nowhere in sight, as she feared what would happen if both vampires saw her. She knew they'd most likely finish her off, and despite having the protection of the Klypeus the archer gave her, she didn't want to test the waters.

For now, she just had to figure out a way to make it out of this assembly without running into the vampire who was currently glaring daggers at her skull.

Taking a deep breath, Keisha silently cursed. "Fuck my life."

-

Luka watched the human keenly, his attention focused entirely on the girl rather than the boring assembly addressing the murder of twelve students.

He knew she knew the truth, that the 'police investigation' the Vice Chancellor was announcing was a fib and the cause of death wasn't violent mutilation like the school was saying. She saw the ghouls that night, meaning other than the supernaturals present in the school, she was the only human who knew the truth.

And that was a dangerous position to be in.

Samuel and he had decided not to let anyone know of Keisha's involvement in the entire situation, instead deciding that they'd handle the matter by themselves. This was after they woke up in the shrine, finding nothing but the dead shaman beside them.

At first, they'd thought Keisha somehow murdered the shaman and escaped, but the arrow in the woman's back and dart in Luka's chest pointed to a different suspect – a bounty hunter.

Bounty hunters were rare these days, as humanity moved towards science and technology, abandoning mystical arts and beliefs. Yet there were still some humans – bounty hunters – who were aware of the existence of supernatural creatures, and sought to destroy them.

The presence of a bounty hunter in Henderickson screamed trouble, and Luka wondered what his involvement with Keisha was. He'd saved her twice now, and it didn't seem coincidental.

However, this wasn't the biggest issue on the pureblood's mind as he studied the human who fumbled awkwardly under his gaze.

Ever since the shaman's mind-link, he'd been experiencing strange emotions. Anxiety, fear, doubt – he'd felt it all ever since the mind-link, but there was one big problem; the feelings weren't his.

At first, he thought he was going crazy, but after he'd been so overcome with sorrow last night to the point where he almost cried, Luka knew something was wrong.

He never cried. Ever.

That was something he'd given up a long time ago, along with the rest of his emotions. So, when he began to feel such a strong mix of feelings, Luka knew they didn't belong to him.

They belonged to the human.

Somehow the mind-link had messed him up, and now he could feel what she was feeling. At least that's what he was theorizing, there was no way for him to be sure unless he could find a way to confirm it with the human.

And that was what he was going to do.

Forming a plan in his head, Luka finally looked away from the human. All he had to do was make it through this boring assembly, then he would be able to test his hypothesis.

The pureblood smirked to himself, his mind coming up with the perfect way to test his little theory.

-

By the time the assembly was over, Keisha and Shalini joined the emotional crowds of students as they exited the hall. The images of the deceased students had been projected onto a big screen during the assembly, and the entire school had observed a moment of silence, which was the reason for the teary mood as the students departed to their various dorms.

Keisha insisted on taking a longer route to their dorm, using the solemn atmosphere as an excuse to clear her head and a sobbing Shalini agreed, unaware of her friend's true intentions. Really, Keisha just wanted to stay in a crowded, open place to avoid running into Luka or Mr. Samuel, and taking the longer route home was the only way she could do that.

As the girls strolled along the paved campus street, a boy approached them from amongst the crowds. Greeting them politely, he looked to Keisha.

"Are you Keisha Brown?"

"Yes, I am. Is there a problem?"

"Mr. Adams asked me to call you. He wants to have a word with you."

Confused, Keisha rose a puzzled brow. "Mr. Adams wants to see me? Is there any trouble?"

"No," he chuckled, awkwardly running his fingers through his hair. "I think he's assigning lab partners or something. But it doesn't seem too serious. Shall we go?"

Turning to Shalini, Keisha pulled the girl in close to whisper. "Can you wait here for me? If I don't come back in fifteen minutes, call me. If I don't pick up, call the police."

"Why?" Shalini asked anxiously. "Is something going on?"

"Everything is fine," Keisha reassured her friend. "I just want us to be more cautious after everything that has happened."

"I understand. I'll wait here. Be back soon."

Keisha and the boy left quickly, headed in the direction of the labs. As she silently walked behind the boy, Keisha reached up to touch the Klypeus beneath her shirt, the cool metal of the pendant calming her nerves.

She couldn't tell if this boy was telling the truth or not, but if he turned out to be affiliated with those vampires, at least she had the magical necklace to protect her. Tucking it back underneath her clothes, she felt her resolve strengthen. If this turned out to be a trick, the vampires couldn't harm her so there was no need to be afraid.

Plus, there were security cameras all over the laboratories and their surroundings, so she'd be safe.

Arriving at the lab, the boy stood by the door, motioning for Keisha to enter. "He's in there. I have to go now."

The boy didn't bother waiting for her reply and immediately walked off, leaving a bewildered Keisha staring in his wake. At least he wasn't lying, Keisha thought as she pushed the door of the lab to enter, feeling relieved that it wasn't a trap.

There was no way Mr. Adams would ever let anyone into his lab if he wasn't there.

The spring doors swung shut behind her as she walked into the lab, glancing around the hall that was dimly lit, owing to all the lights being off and the windows being closed. Finding it empty, she scratched her head in confusion. The lab was open so where was Mr. Adams?

"Hello? Mr. Adams?"

"Adams is busy."

Keisha nearly jumped out of her skin at the low voice coming from behind her, leaping away from where she stood. Turning to see who had frightened her, she gasped as her eyes fell on the one person she didn't want to see – Luka fucking Haydes.

"Consider me a substitute."

Reaching up to touch her Klypeus, Keisha backed away from the smirking vampire. "Stay away from me!"

"Or what?" Luka threatened, taking a defiant step forward, his dark eyes never once leaving hers.

"There are cameras here so you'd be an idiot to try anything," Keisha shot back in spite of her nerves, the pendant around her neck boosting her confidence. "Or don't you want to keep your true identity a secret anymore?"

Luka scoffed nonchalantly, stalking toward the human who in turn, backed away. "Cameras? You mean the ones I disabled?"

Keisha's eyes widened in horror, her back meeting the cold, hard concrete of the lab wall as she ran out of space to back into. Realizing she was caught between a rock and a hard place, she reached up to touch the Klypeus, putting her faith in the magical pendant around her neck.

Luka smirked mischievously at the human girl backed against the wall, slowly approaching her timid figure. Her eyes glared icily at him as he drew nearer, close enough that he was well within her personal space. He could sense her unease, and though she tried to act brave, he knew she was bluffing.

He could literally feel the wave of fear come over her. And for whatever sick reason, he liked it.

Placing his hands against the wall on either side of her, Luka trapped the human, watching in amusement as she squirmed beneath his piercing gaze. The poor thing looked uncomfortable as hell, too shy to even make eye contact as she looked at anywhere but his face.

How cute.

Keisha struggled to maintain her composure, feeling uneasy about the close proximity between them. He lowered his head to meet her gaze, bringing his face dangerously close to hers and she swallowed hard.

"Where's my defiant little princess?" he taunted, his voice low and husky, their noses barely taunting. "Too scared to run that pretty little mouth of yours?"

A strange feeling settled in the pit of her stomach, and Keisha couldn't tell if she was feeling belittled or butterflies. Flustered at his sultry tone, she internally cursed at her hormones for making her find this awful situation arousing.

Trying to get a grip of herself, Keisha turned her head away from him, huffing. This however proved to be a mistake, as it left her neck vulnerable to him. Luka wasted no time, immediately bringing his head to the crook of her head, so close that the tip of his nose skimmed against her soft skin.

Though she was feeling far from unbothered, she tried her best to mask it with indifference, suppressing the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She didn't want this asshole knowing he had an effect on her.

"I'm not afraid of you, monster."

She felt his warm, minty breath tickle her skin as he let out a soft chuckle, and Keisha bit her lip to prevent herself from gasping in pleasure. Her brain was melting from the heat his body radiated, and she struggled to form any rational thoughts as his head travelled ever so slowly from the crook of her neck all the way to her ear, his nose gently brushing against her every now and then, teasing.

"Oh, really?" the devilishly handsome vampire whispered into her ear, and Keisha let in a sharp breath. Taking her chin in his hand, he turned her head toward him, their faces mere centimetres apart as his dark eyes pierced through her wide-eyed ones. She could see every detail of his flawless face, from its graceful contour to its chiseled edges, his beauty making her short of breath.

For a moment, his starry eyes flitted to her plump lips before returning back to meet her gaze, and Keisha could swear they became ten times darker, burning with desire.

Oh. My. God.

His longing gaze pierced right through her, and Keisha couldn't make herself look away, trapped in his mesmerizing orbs. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, his eyes leaving hers and returning to her lips, the sight of them causing him to involuntarily lick his.

"Prove it."

Then he leaned in, and Keisha could only watch in fear and unholy anticipation as he closed the distance between them.