Chapter 1 – The Over-the-Top Vampire

Gabriel nervously adjusted his glasses, the cheap plastic of the frames pinching the sweaty skin on his nose. He tried to shrink even further into the chair, as if he could merge with the wood and become invisible. Impossible, he thought, a sigh trapped in his throat. Skinny and awkward, the Arcane School of Luxflutuante seemed tailor-made to amplify his ineptitude. Everything there was grandiose, brilliant, and too magical. And the smell – a mix of sulfur, melted candles, and something sickly sweet – made his stomach churn.

It was his first day in Faytheria, at the Arcane School, and he definitely felt like a lab rat cornered. "On Earth, I was invisible. Here, even a vampire notices me," he thought, clenching his fist. On his palm, Fay's mark pulsed faintly, like a warning.

Seraphine Noctaria. Her name sounded like a gothic and menacing melody, and she looked like she had escaped directly from a 19th-century horror novel. She leaned over his desk, her pink hair swaying like the curtains of a macabre theater. Her eyes – two burning coals framed by deep purple circles – fixed on him. "Why me?" Gabriel thought, the mark on his hand tingling. It was as if she had dressed herself with the curtains of a haunted mansion, and, for all eternity – judging by her mentality – she must have been 150 years old… with the emotional maturity of a 16-year-old teenager.

"So, my human…" Her voice vibrated like a poisoned tuning fork, making Gabriel shiver. "… do you really think you can ignore me?" Seraphine smiled, revealing sharp and dangerously long canines, which shone like small ivory daggers. "You know, apparently…" She pulled his collar, approaching until he felt the cold of her breath. "… you smell of fear. Delicious and burnt sugar."

A small black beauty mark, like a single drop of India ink, adorned her left cheek, just below her eye, adding a touch of mystery to her face, Gabriel thought, looking closer.

Gabriel swallowed hard. The mark on his palm burned, and Fay's voice echoed: "Careful, worm. She doesn't play." He ignored it. "I… didn't…" he stammered, his Adam's apple dancing like a caged monkey.

Seraphine was a magnet, attracting and repelling at the same time, a gothic and intimidating force of nature.

Behind the predatory smile that revealed her sharp, long canines like ivory daggers, there was something else… a… playfulness? As if she were about to tell a cruel joke.

She leaned in even closer, and a cascade of pink hair brushed his arm, raising the fine hairs on his skin. The strands, long and thick, were tied in two elaborate braids that coiled on top of her head in two voluminous buns, adorned with black satin ribbons that seemed to writhe on their own.

"Yes?" she asked, her voice a velvety whisper laden with sarcasm. "Finish the sentence, human. I'm… eager… to hear."

Before Gabriel could formulate an answer, a thunderous sound echoed through the room, followed by a sharp cry. All the students turned to see the origin of the chaos.

"Watch out, Oracio!" someone shouted, too late.

Oracio pulled his notebook, and the desk, with an agonizing creak, toppled over, scattering books, parchments, ink bottles, and quills all over the floor. In the midst of the confusion, Seraphine, until then still and imposing beside Gabriel, was caught off guard. She tried to dodge, but tripped over one of the fallen books (a particularly thick volume on "The Art of Transfiguring Slugs into Lemons"), and lost her balance.

In a desperate move, she grabbed Gabriel's backpack, worn and uninteresting, decorated only with a faded keychain of an anime character.

The backpack, not designed to support the weight of a falling vampire, ripped with a loud, sharp sound. The contents – pens, pencils, erasers, notebooks, a crumpled water bottle, and… a bag of cheese-flavored chips (Gabriel's secret snack) – flew through the air, as if they had been ejected from a cannon.

Gabriel watched the scene with growing horror. His backpack, his snack, his dignity… Everything was scattered across the classroom floor, exposed to everyone's gaze.

Virtual Reality, huh?, he thought, with a bitter smile. An immersive, innovative experience, the final frontier of entertainment… Bullshit. There should have been a warning on the box, in big letters, flashing in neon: "WARNING: MAY TRANSPORT YOU TO A BIZARRE WORLD, FULL OF THEATRICAL VAMPIRES, DISASTROUS DRAGONS, AND A GODDESS WITH SERIOUS ANGER MANAGEMENT ISSUES. AND ELVES. DON'T FORGET THE ELVES." But no, of course not. It had to be a surprise.

He sighed, adjusting his crooked glasses. I should have stayed home… binge-watching anime… eating my chips…, he thought, with a resentful look at the crushed bag on the floor. I'm still going to eat those chips… even if it's the last thing I do.

Some students laughed openly, while others whispered and pointed. An elf with pointed ears and a superior air rolled his eyes, as if all that chaos were a personal offense.

Seraphine tried to regain her composure. She stood up, straightening her crumpled dress and messy hair. It was too late.

"This… this is nothing!" she exclaimed, her voice faltering a little. Her face, naturally pale, was now as red as… well, as the blood she probably used to drink.

She cast a furious look at Gabriel, as if he were to blame for all the confusion. And then, with an abrupt and inelegant movement, she ran out of the room, leaving behind a trail of chaos, shame, and… cheese chips. Floating just outside the door, a transparent oval aquarium contained the lower body of Lira. Her purple tail waved gently in the water, and her curly purple hair swayed elegantly, while her arms were resting on the edge of the aquarium. Lira watched the water in the aquarium cloud up. 'Storm coming,' she murmured, but no one heard.

Beside the floating aquarium, Greta, the incredibly muscular orc with a black ponytail held by a delicate red ribbon, waited for Seraphine. Greta tapped the vampire's shoulder gently, her large brown eyes filled with concern.

"Are you okay, Sera? You looked pretty upset," Greta asked, her voice surprisingly soft and gentle.

Lira tilted her head to the side, her large blue eyes fixed on Seraphine. "Did you see any flying squirrels today? I tried to catch one the other day, but it was too fast."

Seraphine snorted, her face still flushed. "That… that clumsy human! And that idiot dragon! They completely ruined my triumphant entrance to Transfiguration class!"

And so begins the journey of the extravagant vampire and a nerdy human. Who will become lunch?