Narrator- Catherine

I never had a mortal friend. Nor did I see one. When I was young, mother and father usually took Melly and Patty to the mortal’s places to check if they were in need of any help or in case there were any vampire attacks. One day while they were both gone, I asked Erica to follow them. And when she did, she told me that she saw them kill a mortal who was bitten by one of our kind. I questioned them a lot about that incident though I and Erica were punished severely for sneaking into their business.

They would never tell us why they killed the mortal, until I grew up to realise it myself that the reason they killed him was because he was bitten and soon he would turn into a vampire. A lot of the students in our academy were once humans. After they were bitten by vampires. Mother and Father killed them, buried them and finally they were reborn again. As Vampires.

The incident Erica witnessed about the mortal boy mother and father killed was a mystery for both me and Erica. We never discovered if he was turned into a vampire too. Because he was never seen in the Academy. Then one day, while we, the Cross Sisters, were sneaking out of the academy to go deer hunting in the nearby forest, we noticed this handsome vampire who blocked our way with several more guards and told us to return back or he was going to inform his master about us.

Who was his master? I wondered until he said it himself, Master Hector. Erica told me he was the boy she saw, the boy mother and father killed. I asked father why he didn’t let the boy inside after turning him into a vampire. I was told that he was a strong man and thought of my father as his life saviour. He even told father that he would do anything my father told him. And that’s when my dear father made a wild decision and asked him to be our bodyguard.

In one or other way both mother and father were happy with him. They called him son and sometimes even asked us to call him brother. When I asked what his name was, father said he named him Ethel. Ethel Cross.

Everyone in the Academy was looking for a way to save themselves. Ethel was different. He saw a way to help us, his sisters. After father made him our bodyguard, he would spend most of his time sleeping outside our room or the room nearby. I liked the fact that Ethel was by our side.

Father was right about the fact that Ethel was strong, in fact he was stronger than anyone .He knew how to use both swords and guns. I learned sword fighting from my father but using guns was harder than I thought. At times he would come and ask me to teach him spells that could help him see his mother and fathers spirits. I helped him. Because it was one of us that separated him from his family. His family had to bury an empty coffin while we took the body and turned him into a vampire.

Ethel is mostly close with me and Erica. I even told him about the incident where Erica happened to witness his death in the hands of my mother and father. He laughed at everything Erica said about how our father broke his neck in an instant with a turn of the head. He laughed and laughed until suddenly that laugh turned into silence, and then tears were filled in his eyes.

I hugged him and let him cry on my shoulders. I let him cry until he felt that the sorrow was completely gone and the tears that filled his eyes were completely out. Ethel was huge and tall, taller than father. Though he was a grown up man, to me he was still a kid from the inside. A kid who wants someone he can share his feelings to. Someone he can hug when he is upset and a kid whose heart still lingers for his deceased parents.

I didn’t know Ethel was the one who would be escorting us to the Institutes. After leaving mother and father’s room, we came back to ours and started packing our luggages. I pack everything important to me, including father’s given locket.

Suddenly I realised I had to write a letter. A letter to the one person who most importantly should be aware of our mission. Reno.

Will he read it? It doesn’t matter. I will send it through Ethel. I think to myself. Soon I start writing and once I’m done I fold it in an envelope and mark it with Reno’s name.

Should I really send him? I think for a while and then realise that it’s been almost five years. I am pretty sure he moved on already. Sending him a letter now will make me look like an idiot.

I look at the letter one last time. I shouldn’t be sending it to him. Thinking, toss it in the garbage.

I wish Ethel could come along with us. But I know that it will be hard for him to see the mortals after all these years. And one thing common in him and my mother, they both can’t resist themselves when they come in contact with human blood.

“So, are you ready?” Ethel nervously asks, leaning his broad shoulders against our room door.

“Ready for what?” I ask.

“War. Look, I know you’re scared, it’s not too late. If you wish, I can still convince father.”

“It’s not war, brother. And no, I don’t want you to convince father. It was I who volunteered to help. And I want to do something. It just hurts seeing mother and father go through everything alone. I want to be of use to them. I want to help them with my powers, brother.”

“I know what you mean, Catty, but Krulisa is not someone any of us can tackle. I wish I could come with you, I don’t understand why father won’t just let me come with you all.”

I know why. Father doesn’t want Ethel to get hurt seeing the mortals. The life Ethel once had.

“If not inside the Institutes I can at least stay in the forest and help you all. And besides, I know how to look after myself.”

“There’s a forest near the Institutes?” Of course, now I’m curious.

“Yes, there is. The three Institutes stand in a row and facing them is the forest of Hallsenberg. After I turned into a vampire, Reno and I would go to the forest often and play, kill monkeys and birds. After the Nadarian coven moved far from our Academy there was no Reno. So I stopped visiting the forest too.”

“Then I guess it’s better if we can gather in the forest after everyone in the Institutes fall asleep, right? I mean the mortals sleep. They have something called sleeping when they are tired, right? You told me you did too.”

Ethel curls his lips as if trying to control his laugh. And when he can’t resist, he lets it out.

What’s so funny? I scowl.

“Yes, my dear sister.” He says, still giggling. “Mortals do have sleep. But it’s not only when you’re tired. Some sleep just because they want to. It’s funny the way you say it.”

“What an odd thing it is to do just because you want to, I wonder. And what is so funny about the way I said it? I said the way you told me.” Now I look like a fool in front of Ethel.

“Never mind, sister. And yes, you need to tell Reno about your war plan. He will be worried about you though.”

“IT’S NOT A WAR! YOU HEAR THAT?” I protest

“Alright! Fine. Calm down.”

“I will. After you get out of my room.”

“You heard what I said. You need to tell Reno.”

I heard. But I pretend I didn’t. It will be even more embarrassing to tell him about the letter. I stay silent.

Reno was my boyfriend. My first love and my first Nadarian boyfriend. The Nadarian’s were different from the Vampires. They were stronger, powerful and had blue blood. I remember Reno once told me that his grandparents were killed by the mortals because they feared the Nadarian’s for their scary looks. Some called them the blue monsters. Their looks used to frighten the mortals. Blue lips, Blue eyes, long black hairs and snow white skin. Everything in them was different from us.

Except for one thing that both us and Nadarian’s had in common was, saving the mortals. The Nadarian’s feared the mortals and thought that harming the mortals will only bring a bad outcome to the immortals. The mortals are powerless, but they have their own strength and are more skilled in using various weapons. If a war breaks out, we might win by losing our entire coven.

The Nadarian coven used to be a few miles away from our Academy. That’s how I met Reno. He was the son of the higher Nadarian’s who was a friend of my father. Reno was five years older than me and unlike others, he had short black hair. Ethel and Reno used to hang out a lot. He often brought Reno to our Academy.

That’s how everything started and both Reno and I fell for each other. Everything was fine between us. Our families had no trouble with our relationship. Both mother and father liked Reno and so did Ethel and my sisters. Until one day when one of their members was killed by a Vampire. Father told us that the Vampire that killed the Nadarian was not from our Academy and neither did they know him or her. After that day, the Nadarian’s decided to move out and find a new hideout.

The Nadarian’s lost their trust in us. They feared that one day maybe the Vampires would be the one to bring an end to them. One thing for sure, the Nadarian’s hated wars. They were even scared that a war would rise between the Nadarian’s and the Vampire.

Things ended between me and Reno. It was hard to say goodbye to him but I had to because that’s what he wanted. His family turned against our relationship and so did mine. Though the Nadarian’s left, they did promise my father that they will always be ready to help us if any problems arise. And my father promised them the same. The Nadarian’s trusted us and the Vampires of our Academy. But not the others.

“Reno? I can’t. After all these years you think he will care? He is better off on his own. I hope he is happy.” I don’t look at Ethel as I speak.

“What about you? Are you happy?” Ethel asks, his voice full of concern.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” I am not. I lied. “And it will be good if you send a letter to him. Just let him know that we sisters are off to a batt- I mean mission.”

“Catty! You’re not alright! Are you?”

I turn around and face Ethel. Smiling, I walk towards him and hug him.

“You worry more than mother and father. Like I said, I’m alright.” I can feel him rubbing his hand over my back as he hugs me back.

“I worry because you’re sensitive. And I feel good when I am by your side because that’s the only way I feel assured that you’re safe.”

“So, you're telling me I am weak?”

“Yes.” He says, giggling and hugging me tighter.

“If you're done hugging, can we leave? We have to reach the Institutes by today, you know.” I push Ethel away. He looks at me, and then at Melissa who is standing at the doorway, folding her hands.

“How long were you standing there?” Ethel asks.

“Hmm, let me guess. ’I WORRY BECAUSE YOU’RE SENSITIVE!’ From that part.” She says. “And by the way, you both look like lovers.”

“SHUT UP MELLY! YOU'RE SO CREEPY!” I take Ethel’s hands and walk out of the room leaving Melly all alone. I can still hear her laugh.

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