After Wann left and didn’t show again I got to reading another one of the textbooks, which was a methodology on killing the supernatural. It had instructions on how to efficiently kill all sorts of supernatural beings. Though their knowledge was minimal in most cases, take Cold Walkers. It said a silver blade through the heart was enough to kill one. What bullshit.

They didn’t even have their facts right. The book had even less information about Moon Walkers. It only told about the turning and shifting, and how a single silver bullet or a blade through the heart could kill it. I wanted to laugh. They knew nothing and they tried to wage a war against them…

I read another book up to the last page, and I had to admit, Korean textbooks were quite an interesting read. Yes, yes, I was studying. Oh, look at old little me, reading up on her classes. So what? I liked the language so it's all good.

Before I could grab another book, Vince knocked on the door frame, since the door was left wide open.

“I knew, I'd find you here. Can I come in?”

“Sure. What's up?”

He cocked an eyebrow and pointed to my schedule discarded on the floor, “You're late.”

It got me thinking. What was I late for? Then it hit me hard - I was late for the close combat class with one of the most notorious hunters of the century.

Without much else to say, Vince stepped away from the door and I scurried out with my sports bag latched onto my shoulder. Good thing Vince was still right behind me directing where to go because I had no idea whatsoever how to navigate in this labyrinth of a basement.

When I finally barged into one of the rooms, I was met with curious and unamused eyes equally. Though one set of mismatched eyes was glaring at me begrudgingly. Yup, this would be fun.

“So the Beast Slayer finally decided to join us in this unimportant matter of a class,” Michail said in a deadpan voice. His angry face didn’t twitch a muscle.

“No need for the pleasantries, kiddo,” I answered and set the bag near the wall on the bench. “I was just reading up on stuff and got lost in-”

“Who cares? Get your ass in here.” His commanding voice snapped me out of my half-assed excuse.

The here he was referring to was a circle drawn on the ground in bright red paint. In the middle of it stood a bulky girl, who reminded me of an ox, though she had no visible horns. I mused I’d have to spar with her to prove a point. Then I noticed a collar on her neck. Which was unusual.

Still, I stepped into the ring and took a stance. Then she came at me with a force of a bull and splatted me to the ground. Hard and bone-cracking. I lost the air from my lungs as she slammed me around the make-shift ring. Her hold was bone-chilling and I wondered for a moment if this was the time of my passing. A shame, she stopped when Michail blew a sharp sounding whistle which also gave me a migraine.

Everyone was full-blown laughing. Vince was clutching on his mouth not to shout at the instructor. And the devil himself was shaking in a loud echoing laugh. I mused this was a way to show me I'm nothing special and the stunt I pulled with the wolf was nothing to be amazed at anymore.

“Ahh, I haven't laughed this much in a long time,” the man wiped at his eye.

I only just glared at him and stood up, checking if my ribs were alright. Nope, four of them were shattered. Sweet. It'll take the entirety of a day to heal.

Vince, on the other hand, had this odd expression plastered on his face. I bet, he wanted to get a word in with Michail, but he didn’t get a chance.

“Oh, you stood up? And I thought I'll have to stop this here. Well, why don't you slay another one, then, Beast Slayer?” Michail mocked.

The rest of the class were trying to hold in their laughter, and whispered among themselves. Wann had his arms crossed over his chest, face smug as if telling me he could do better.

I stood there concentrating my eyes on the haughty girl, standing tall, but breathing heavily. On the closer inspection, she smelled nothing like humans did. She smelled like an animal. Her insides, the heart beating three times slower than it should and that hot pumping blood in those long wide veins made me gasp, “Where did you get your hands on a were-bull?”

“Aha, so you know of them?”

“Of course, I do. They're the rarest species of shape-shifters left. So that's why the accessory...” I mumbled.

As I recalled, the collar was to prevent the supernatural in captivity from misbehaving. It sent electrical flashes to the skin and it hurt like hell; I knew – tried one of those myself when I was younger and more stupid. Other kinds of the accessory might even tear your head off if you're doing what you're not supposed to do. I saw that happen once to a Moon Walker. It wasn't a very nice sight. All the brains scattered around. Yuck.

“With all due respect,” Vince interrupted, “this is barbaric-”

“It's fine-” I began.

“-how could you treat her this way? Is she under drugs?” So he wasn't worried for me, but rather the bull? Hunters didn't do that, not for the shapeshifters, not for any supernatural.

“Yes, it is under drugs, but that is why our little Beast Slayer is still alive.”

“This is not according to regulations, instructor Michail. This kind of thing is intolerable-”

“I got permission from Vertig, so's fine.”

Vince at this point was gaping at the older man, trying not to shake in his shoes and searching for words to end all of this. I mean, I got it. But all of this exchange was so unlike humans, I got even more swept away by the pace of this boy with steely blue eyes. I knew from the beginning he was different, but I never expected him to have compassion toward the supernatural. Though, his fight was meaningless, if he was willing to only use words.

“Do I try again?” I redirected the attention.

All eyes were on me and it made my heart skip a beat. Oh, this had been good. Should I play with it? Or should I play with them? We'd see...

“Well, if you are still prepared to get your ass whooped, then be my guest,” the instructor was the kindest.

Finally, I saw what was going on. He took out the were-bull to laugh at me. The hate he radiated tickled my skin. He was the real deal – he at least had a bit of an idea what I was. Unlike Wann, he had his hatred based on a good reason. But why was he not doing anything? Was he, perhaps, trying to get my true self exposed? If so, I'd given him a challenge.

“No tips? This is a class, after all.”

He shrugged, “Try not to die.”

Awesome tip, instructor.

Either way, I stepped back into the ring despite the nagging from a worried human. Oh, this would be fun... They wanted to see me play their game, I'd give them a sight.

The were-bull was concentrated on me. Dazed, drug-dimmed eyes piercing through like I was the grass she would have loved to munch on. And let me tell you, I was the best quality goodies and she was drooling.

My hands began to itch and my blood boiled. I had long forgotten this sensation. My blood-lust was awakened. Not literally; I wasn't planning on slaying them all and sucking them dry. What for? I still had some fun to have.

She charged at me at full speed and I just stood there waiting; trying to decide what to do with her. At the last second, before our bodies collided, I decided. I jumped up, caught my fingers under the collar and pulled myself up on her shoulders squeezing her neck with my shins and thighs. She was thrown off balance and I felt like in a rodeo. I always wanted to try riding an angry bull and look at me now – I was riding one. I even tossed one of my arms up and shouted like in a real rodeo. Yee-haw!

One glance was enough to tell that Vince was about to cry from frustration, the instructor had his jaw clenched tight, staring me down, the other students were all breathless. And Wann had a death glare set in his eyes. I guess I did do something out of line when I tore off the collar sparking the drugged up bull out of her daze. The collar sent electricity through my body, but it wasn't something I couldn't handle. Though, my palm would take an hour to heal...

Before knocking the were-bull out I managed to tell her to try and get away from here as soon as possible. I wasn’t sure if she heard me, but I sure hoped she would manage to run. I mean, it's not my business, but I didn't like this cruel behavior with supernaturals. I understand, I had a lot of contradictions, but I genuinely did not want any of them to be tortured by these hunters.

We fell hard on the floor and I stood up and dusted off my clothes.

“Well, this was fun. Does this count as slaying, instructor?”

After all this show ended, someone came and took care of the passed out were-bull. Vince was nagging them all the way out, making sure that the creature was treated well. We resumed with the class.

After getting in terms of not being able to mock me any further, Michail showed us some nice moves on disabling the opponent and maintaining the hold on them. Taught us some grappling techniques. Overall, it was quite educational.

I never bothered to stop and learn some proper technical moves rather than only move on instinct. I'm not saying moving on instinct was bad, but sometimes it's just not enough. It's like hunting; you have to know what and where to do and sometimes the instinct gives away your position before you can make a move and the prey escapes. Amateurs go by instinct alone, but I considered myself a pro so it was time for me to learn to act like one.

*****

I spent the night sound asleep and healing all the injuries I got from the fight with the unfortunate beast. I could have healed faster, if I had consumed some blood, but that was out of the question, given the fact Wann was always on my tail. Of course, I could have just snapped his neck and everything would be over, but so would be my fun and maybe the opportunity to get the spark to live back.

The next morning we had a collective scrambled eggs breakfast. For the six of us, not counting Wann, we put the whole carton and a half of eggs in the pan. Sylvester was the one frying, I scrambled and then cut up some tomatoes and cucumbers. JR made tea. Khai, Peter, and Dre dished out the stuff and we ate with a lot of chatter around.

It was strange, but didn’t bother me much; it was weird making friends with people who were basically my enemy. Wann did not join us, his reason being “I ain’t eating with a freak, all of you are freaking losers. Whatever.” He shoved me on his way out of the kitchen and I almost dropped the eggs, but everything else went well.

So we ate and then I left for language class with Vince walking me half the way. He had a different class in another building. Wann was practicing his aiming with pebbles on us the whole way. I really wanted to take back my thoughts of last night and snap his neck right then right there. Although I managed to control the thirst, it was hard to concentrate.

The class ended and we were free to do whatever so I decided to just lounge at home and conserve my energy. Unfortunately, Wann had other plans for me. His goal was to make me lose it and I nearly did. Since I wanted some alone time from Vince and especially Wann, I tried to get rid of him by cutting corners and ducking into buildings, but he was too good of a hunter so I had to try harder to escape his taunts.

Finally, I managed to get rid of the tail by sneaking in an alley and hiding above his head. When Wann left, I got down from the balcony of some old building and resumed in the other direction from the persistent hunter. That was a mistake.

A woman passed by and my nose flared. I took in the sweetest aroma deep into my lungs and my eyes shifted. Right then I was a predator – instinct kicking in, clouding my better judgment, thoughts of devouring surging my head. The most dangerous kind. It was getting darker with all the mist and starting rain, so it was easy to hide my presence and stalk her down.

At times like this, I couldn’t help myself but play with them. Since my appearance was deceiving; gave off that innocent vibe, she could feel the danger, but couldn't see it. It gave the beast in me satisfaction. She hastened her step once she felt it. I did the same. She ran, I followed.

Before she could scream for help, I leaped at her and bared my fangs (yes, sounds awesome given my name) at her neck. I did not have the poison to calm down the prey while feeding like the others had, so I had to hold her mouth shut and her body pressed to the ground so she wouldn't ruin the tiny bite marks into big gaping holes. Those were disgusting to have as scars. You see, the normal bite marks heal quickly and leave no scars. But if you struggle too much, the fangs widen the wound and it becomes bad. I know what I say.

I pinned her down and slowly drank while trying to soothe her with my other hand, like petting her hair and during every sip saying she's doing great. I hated myself during those times when I was this kind of monster.

The warm thick blood gave me satisfaction that humans get from sexual intercourse. It quenched my thirst and sated the undying hunger. The taste was sweet mixed with a bit of bitterness, but it was just right. It was good, different from the one time I went after a middle-aged man or that drunk stripper. The man’s blood was stale and dry, and left a bad aftertaste, but it was filling; the stripper – suffice to say, I regret everything that happened that night...

After I got my fill this time, I got my sanity back and cursed under my breath. I was not back, not yet.

Before leaving her, I took out a small glass vial, I always had those near me for cases like this, and filled it with her blood. It contained maybe fifteen drops of her blood but that would suffice for about a month.

I was about to break her neck so she wouldn’t talk, but I got interrupted by someone approaching us. Given this city's major population, it may as well have been a hunter, so I just bolted.

I fed, I got some spare blood and it was enough. Either way, she might die before someone gets her to the hospital. If not, I'll just finish her off then. Or I could just let things happen in their natural flow. In any case, what I did could have been avoided if not the injuries and the thirst I had for the last couple of days.

I came back to my room. Wann wasn't there. I got an empty half a liter bottle and filled it with water. Taking out the vial, I opened the cap and turned the vial upside down pressing my finger on it. The little blood drop sat there teasingly waiting for me to lick it up, but it'd have to wait. I wiped the blood on the rim of the water bottle and closed the cap, then shook it to mix up the blood. That should last for three days, if I chilled it right. After a while longer the water becomes disgusting.

When I was done preparing the water, I hid the rest of the blood in one of my jacket's pocket after making sure the vial was cooling properly. I had specially made little coolers for that.

The feeding method I used would had made any other Cold Walker laugh at me from disgust, but this was the only way I could think of; the other way was to go around killing more humans than was necessary and I didn’t like needless casualties.

Tonight again Wann didn't return to the room for the night, which was good. I hated the stench of his cigarettes and sex.

While sleeping I had a dream. Well, more like a flashback of a murky dark forest and a blindingly gorgeous man with long hazel hair, tied back with a silk red ribbon. His face was ashen and he had a style fit for the kings. As a child, I thought he was a god. His blood-red eyes were mesmerizing and kind. I was so wrong.

The man took me with him and lead me to other men and women as beautiful as he was, but not as gorgeous. He was like a lily amidst daisies. That man smiled at me and said we would live there, together.

The smile soon turned into sharp toothy grin and I opened my eyes.

I hated seeing my past. But those were the only dreams I had while sleeping and there was nothing I could do about it, because sleep was essential to me as to any other living being.

“When was the last time this happened?” I said as I wiped off the tear on my cheek, smearing blood all over my own face.

Since it was morning already, I got ready and got to eating my breakfast. Only Sylvester was there. Neither Khai nor Dre or RJ were present.

“Mornin’. Eggs again?”

“Mhm, it's fine. I like eggs,” I deadpanned.

“So I’ve noticed... Say, yanno why Tai‘s been like kicked puppy recently?”

“Who?”

“’M just askin’, ‘cause yer in the same room as Hellsing and Tai don’t know better. Yanno what I mean?”

“Not really,” I said around a bite of fried egg.

“Look, I know somethin’ happened. And 'm tired of Hellsing's shit. Did he or did he not do somethin’?”

“He did. But all is good.”

I was done eating and left the guy there. It was not my business what he thought and what kind of view he had on Wann or the crying boy. I just had nothing to do with it.

On the way to the class, Dark joined me.

“Good morning, Fang.”

“Dark,” I returned the greeting.

She seemed disappointed for some reason, maybe even pouting, but who cared.

“So, have you heard the news yet?”

“About what?”

“A woman was attacked last night. A Cold Walker did it,” she seemed excited, but tried not to show it too much.

“Really?”

“Yes. She's in the hospital now. Recuperating. Argent went there to ask her some questions and to protect her. It might come back to finish what was started...”

At this point, I wasn't really listening anymore. The woman from last night was alive and talking. And Wann was the one questioning her. And even guarding? Why him?... Right, something to do with the best of the academy or whatever. Didn't really matter. What mattered was what I needed to do. I guess I'd just wait for them to make the first move. If the fun was meant to end here, let it be. I'd go somewhere else after the party with all the hunters of this damn city.

“So, anyway, you want to go catch a movie with me after the class?”

“Huh?”

“Movie. With me.”

“Why?”

“Because friends go to the movies together...”

“Friends?” Imagine my confusion at all of this. I had no idea what my face looked like, but it put her out really fast.

“Oh... I get it. Sorry, I got ahead of myself...”

“Nah, it's … fine, I guess. It's just... I don't really like movies that much. Sitting in one place... full of people. Not my stuff. I like walking more.”

“Then, do you want to go for a walk around the town? I could show you around.”

“Yeah, no. It's cold. So no, thanks.”

Well, what did you expect me to do? I had no idea what this girl wanted from me. I talked to her once and she thought we were friends and whatnot. Was she alright in the head? I mean, I got it, mine was the personality to die for, but no, seriously, what the flying birds balls?

“Fey!” came from behind the crashing sound of that familiar voice. The word was completely unfamiliar, though.

“Vince?”

The guy ran up to us at full speed and almost crashed at us. He was grinning like an idiot and just wheezing and trying to catch his breath.

“Don't run if you can't handle it.”

“Shut it. I missed you by four minutes and you're already this far.”

“It's cold.”

He burst out laughing and then into a coughing fit. A weird fellow, indeed.

“So, what is it?”

“What is Fey?” Dark asked.

“Fey,” he looked at me directly, “I got it. I got invited to be the supervising instructor during the Hunter convention.”

“She's right, who's Fey?”

“Fang sounds too manly, so I'm calling you Fey from this moment on,” he answered, rubbing at his neck, and marched forward talking about how it's an honor to be chosen for the convention and how he couldn't believe he got the supervising instructor position.

This guy was a handful. Deliberately deciding on people's names... Though, I did not hate the sound of it. Fey had a nice ring to it.

Since Wann was guarding the woman, the class went by without any incident. The language instructor was relieved by that, too. The classes flew by in a flash. Today, besides the language class I also had communication class and a crafts class; probably in case we got ambushed and left with nothing to fend ourselves. Not that I needed that kind of knowledge...

Vince was busy so I had to spend the rest of the day alone, or so I thought. Dark insisted on accompanying me back to my room and doing our homework together.

“How do you feel?”

Startled, I lift my head to see her staring at me with this strange look in her eyes; like watching someone fragile...

“I feel fine, why?”

“Uh, I meant, how do you feel about living in this dorm and not with other girls.”

“It's fine, really. It hasn't been that long. Though Wann is a fuckslut, but it's not my business, is it?”

She blushed. And the room filled with a silence as awkward as death.

“So, you don't mind living with him?”

“Look, I don't really give a bird's ball where I live as long as I can sleep in a warm place. But I like this room. It faces a nice scenery and I like it. And moving now and getting used to other people again would be a pain, so I'll just stay here for the remainder of the time.”

I was not used to dealing with types like her. I admit I didn't like the look on her face after what I said, but I was just being honest. And I had some other business on my mind. I wasn't worried or anything like that, I was just calculating. And her constant blabbering made me lose concentration.

I spent the rest of the day trying not to lose my shit while Dark rambled on. I mean, sometimes she would say some very interesting things, like Wann being her cousin, but them not being on very good terms, how her family and Wann's family are in the die-hard hunting business. Also, she said she wanted to be a doctor, but she had no choice but to go to Huntig Academy because of family reasons and how she hated learning on how to kill. All in all, she's a good-natured kid who did not know the darker side of this world.

“Hey, since Argent won't be coming back to sleep, why don't I stay here and we have a sleepover?”

I arched one of my brows.

“What makes you think this is a good idea?”

“Because you're not being fair. Bloomer can give you nicknames and walk with you at all times and you even smile sometimes. But I can't, even though I want to be friends with you as much as he does.”

Sighing, I turned to her, “Let's get some things straight-”

“I'm not,” she said looking me dead in the eyes.

Well, this I did not expect. Though, I would be lying if I said I didn't swing that way. But this was just too sudden. She barely knew me... Who in their right mind would like me in that way, anyway? Oh right, there was someone as crazy as that…

Her name was Victoria. She lived in Victorian England and she was someone who made me rethink a lot of aspects of humanity. Her love was pure and powerful. Even though she knew about my origins, she stood by my side and kept on loving me. She lit up my life like no other and made me want to actually live, not just exist. She wasn't the first one I loved, but she was the first one to make me love the world and life as much as I loved her. I did not just want her; I wanted her to be with me for the infinity I had to spend alone... With her, I thought, everything wouldn't be as black or as white. It was supposed to be different with her.

The next thing I remember about her was the ear-shattering screams while we both burned. Screams of pain and promises to love me forever.

“Fang?”

I took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes; worry and confusion clouding them.

“Look, Dark. I cannot accept your feeling for me because differently from others, I am unable to feel emotions as pure as those anymore. And your feelings are wasted on someone like me, who will only end up hurting you, even worse – getting you killed.”

Her face fell and I could see tears forming in her eyes. I almost asked her not to be a little shit, but I managed to hold it in.

“Dark, I know this is painful, but listen to me,” I forced her to look me in the eyes, “you do not want me. We can still talk about stuff if you want to, but please, don't bring this up again, because I just can't change my own heart. Do you understand?”

“...”

“Dark-”

“Call me Jun one time, at least, please.”

“I can't.”

She would have slugged me but the alarm sounded so loud both of us had to cover our ears. It tore through my brain. Why was it so loud, damn it?

“What's going on?!” I wasn’t sure I would be heard through the horrible sound.

“Cold Walkers!” came the answer from JR, who had flung the door open. “Hurry, we need all we can use!”

Shit! This was not happening right now. The only explanation I had for this – it was my fucking careless mistake. I should have never left her alive…

Dark was about to go after the other guys. Was she crazy? What could she do? I smelled blood seeping in through the window. It was bad. This was really bad.

“Jun!” she only turned her teary eyes to me. “Hide! Don't come out until it's safe!” I ordered while grabbing my coat.

She obeyed and I left to take care of the mess I caused. When would I learn? I guess, I still had plenty of time to do that.

I smelled Vince ahead of us. We were headed for the nearby park with the street lights illuminating the area. Dead, half-way drained bodies were lying everywhere. There went Dre and Peter...

We actually followed a trail of blood and bodies and I was getting anxious. Too much blood mixing and creating a nauseating stench. One did not mix the blood at any cost…

The group was scattered throughout the park to locate the intruders, they were hiding – to make the game of cat and mouse more enjoyable for them. And we, the hunters, were the mouse.

Not long after, Wann joined the search party. He was all kinds of pissed and when he saw me, he ignored me, which was weird on its own. I also noticed he had some bruises on his face. So I guess, whoever was here tonight, they took care of the witness I left.

Man, I thought we could evade causing too much ruckus. I reckoned right then I would have to deal with much worse of a situation. I mean, they could tell me apart from humans if they paid enough attention, so if the Cold Walkers talked, I was in trouble.

“What a feast tonight I am indulging myself with,” came a fruity voice from above our heads. It sent a shiver down my back. “I cannot wait to sink my fangs into you all, my darlings.”

This one's old. Maybe a couple of thousand years. I was just hoping this one wasn't-

“A Noble,” Vince breathed out.

Well, shit.

“Show your face, you filthy leech,” Wann should had better reconsidered his choice of vocabulary. They hated that particular word.

Sure enough, the Cold Walker landed right in the middle of our little party, lead by Wann. The beautiful creature with translucent skin and long flowing, now blood-stained hair exuded an aura of killing intent. Every student from my language courses were here, except for the scarce number of girls, who were mostly hiding or already killed. Only couple of them were here ready to kick ass or die trying. Though, I could say half of the student body was already breathless and heartless, literally. What were the instructors doing?

“What a pleasant young man we have here.” The Noble stepped closer to Wann, baring sharp fangs.

I didn't recognize the face, but he had a broach with two fencing swords crossed inside a skull pinned to the lapel of his fancy waistcoat. Which meant only one thing. He was from the Viscardi family of Pure-Bloods. And it meant real trouble.

Wann took a defensive stance with his silver katana held ready to cut. Idiot, just enticing the beast to play with them more.

“Why are you here?” Vince asked firmly, no crack in his voice.

“Well, but of course to take care of the little lamb. I am not sure of which one of my children could not finish their meal, but all has been taken care of,” he was still smiling, confident he will get out of here alive.

Cold Walkers, especially Nobles, hated leaving traces of their presence. This city was probably his territory and I left an unfinished meal in the middle of it, which incriminated them and would eventually cause the hunters to go after them. They hated that too.

The tension and fear was so thick one could cut it with fingers. One was clear, he's stalling for time, which meant he was not alone. And we had to hurry.

“Viscardi, why don't we take it somewhere less crowded?” I whispered.

The Noble turned his head slightly while listening. I piqued his interest and he smiled right at me. Well, if not for Vince standing in front of me, he would have, anyway.

“I see a brave one willing to sacrifice for the others. But I am not so kind. Where did you get the knowledge of my name?”

“Huh? What's he talking about?”

“Vi- Bloomer, shut up.”

“Fey-”

“I said shut up. Get out of here. He's a Pure-blood. And he's stalling for time. The others are coming. Get all of them and leave.”

“Now, now, little one. Why don't you introduce yourself to uncle Viscardi?”

“Wann, do as I say or none of you will live much longer!” I ignored the beast in front of me.

Wann, unwillingly, but gave an order for all to draw back. They listened in a flash, except for Vince and Wann himself. Damn it.

The Noble let them run. But the look in his eyes was predatory. The others were here. But they were no Nobles, so the hunters should be able to take care of them, right? They were hunters, right? I didn't want this to end this quickly, my search for something to spark the life back into my soul.

“You should know who I am. Why don't you try to guess?”

“I do not like games, little one.”

“Well, too bad, I love them.”

I launched myself at him; he evaded me, but I scratched his face so he vaulted after me leaving the humans behind. They would catch up to us, so I would have to be quick about this. We played a game of tag, with the Noble being it. My speed, compared to his, was dull. The creature caught up in no time and kicked me couple of times, sending my body through the entirety of the park into an abandoned construction site, just a bit outside the city. With that he made a much bigger gap between us and those two. Which was good. What was not so good was me and my arm missing from my body. I must have torn it off on one of the trees.

“Oh, you are still alive, little one.”

“Fang Knights,” I spat out some blood, standing on shaky legs, pressing on the bleeding part.

The gasp of terror gave me satisfaction as nothing else could have given me at that exact moment. Though, the missing arm and me profusely bleeding out dulled the moment a bit.

“How's the old man doing?”

“You... The Immortal...”

“Woah, it's been couple of hundreds of years since I last heard that. Takes me back to the good old days, playing tag with all of you. So, Magna Viscardi, why don't we play a game?”

“How?..”

“Since you know my name, you're as old as two-three thousand, right? And I remember Mayin had a son. So I just connected some dots.”

“You Monster!”

His attack was sudden; I couldn't react fast enough so I got my innards torn out. Man, that hurt like a bitch. Though, this gave me an opportunity to grab onto him and bare my teeth at his neck. I managed to tear out a generous chunk of his decayed flesh. His head was hanging sideways on the bit of the neck I left. There was no blood. He came at me with his claws out and gouged out my eye and tore off the lower lip and the ear; all on the right side.

All I needed to do to finish this was to take off his head. But that was hard to do while bleeding like an open bag of water. Good thing, he was too desperate to think. He leaned over me to bare his fangs at me to rejuvenate his body using my blood. So as he leaned closer I kicked my legs out and right to his head. It flew off like a football; his body dissolved into dust over me, and I got into a sneezing fit as his garbs fell on top of me.

With this one gone, there should be only couple of tens of Nobles left. Which was a good thing. Since only the Pure-blood Nobles could make more of the Cold Walkers.

*****

It didn't take much time for me to pass out while trying to recover. I mean, differently from the Cold Walkers, I bleed; and I bled a lot. Like a human. And the shortage of one limb and a generous chunk of skin would have me bleeding out, if I was a human; well, half of it anyway... So I was passed out for some time; I had my eyes blinking at the sunrise.

I came to and went back under a couple of times before I remembered how much I hated cold. Which served me as a really good quality in this exact situation. Before heading out, I grabbed the coat I had hidden the vial with blood in. I struggled a bit with the opposite hand reaching the pocket holding the precious liquid. I took it out, unclasped the cooler and bit off the top, and shoved the whole thing down my throat, spitting out the glass. Swallowed the blood in seconds and concentrated on the delicious life returning back to my body.

Oh, how good it felt to regain the torn-off limb and get my face grow back. I didn't need too much attention on me with all the scars and stuff. Though, I had to stop the healing at some point to make it more believable for the others. I still not had my fill of fun yet. Some of them were promising.

So I willed the healing away after I got through half of the wounds. I let my arm grow back completely. It would be hard to explain the regrown limb later. I put my guts back in and let the tear heal halfway, so maybe a bit of the innards would be visible. I got back the eye and ear, my lip healed back too, but I left some of the skin off. The healing did not take much of energy; most of the effort took the resistance to heal it. After that, I just disconnected again for a while. No danger was in sight; I could relax. So I just laid there in the shade of an abandoned building and slept.

The next time I opened my eyes it was dark again. I scrambled up and checked on my wounds. They were as I left them. Good. What was not good was the fact I used up the stock which was supposed to last for about a month in a beat. It made it obvious I would have to go hunt again if I wanted to last longer without going on a rampage. A thirsty beast was most dangerous...

I got up and picked up the Noble's clothes so I could pose them as a proof. I stalked the way I got thrown before so I could find the way back; I wasn't too familiar with the location.

Later, I found out I was quite the distance from the clash spot.

When I finally reached the park the sun was peeking out burning my skin, pain prickling at my nerves gently. So I put the hood of the coat as far as possible on my face.

The location was deserted; there was no sound, no birds were singing. Well, with the heavy aura of death I doubted they would any time soon. I saw ragged clothes lying there and here on my way back to the dorm, piles of ashes indicated that they dealt with the threat well. The blood had soaked the ground, but the bodies of fallen hunters were taken away; probably to burn them.

“If you want to go, just go; no- no one's coming with you, just so you k-know,” I heard Wann’s voice booming. It was the last thing I wanted to hear after just waking up.

“We have to find her. She is one of us, you like it or not,” Vince, I mean Bloomer talked in a voice full of worry.

Now that I thought about it, I had heard the Bloomer name before. It didn't take long for the memory to return. That name was pretty infamous among Moon Walkers. Bloomer family had slain the last of Lupin's clan. Every Moon Walker wanted to get their hands on one of the Bloomers to bite their head off. Come to think of it, it's just like in my situation. Though with me, every supernatural being wanted my head off. Not that it would stay off for long anyways...

I stumbled out right before Wann. His expression showed so much it made me want to laugh. Eyes wide, mouth gaping, hands clenched into tight fists, heart thrumming. He really did not expect to see me ever again and now he was so disappointed he wanted to cry in frustration.

“Yo,” I said as I smiled the fake smile, just to spite him.

“Fey! Are you okay? What happened?” I heard right by my ear; before long I was down on my back with a guy taller than me crying and thanking someone.

“Dude, calm thyself,” I tried to pry him away from me. “You cry like a girl.”

“No wonder – he is one.”

“Wann, shut up.”

I finally got up and pulled Bloomer with me.

“The situation?”

“About half the course fell; we managed to get every one of the Cold Walkers. The instructors are contacting the families and locking down the school for a while. Until the mourning ends.”

“Got it.”

“Fey, your wounds. They're horrible,” he only now saw my condition. Why the hell was he worried?

“You try going against a Pure-blood Noble and get out of it without a scratch,” I joked. He would have died in the first five seconds.

“Wait, you got the Noble?” Wann refused to believe.

I stretched my hand out and gave him the robes. The broach was in plain view. He couldn't believe it. As he took the clothes he was profusely cursing me out. Something about me being selfish liar and plotting with the enemy and other shit like that. To be honest, it was funny how he was so jealous of me. If only he knew what kind of creature I was and what kind of advantages I had, he’d go crazy.

“That's beside the point, we need to get you to the medics. Now,” Bloomer dragged me down the slope that the park was on. He was rushing as if I would die right there and then. I wouldn't, but he didn't know that...

“Calm down, I'm not dying.”

“Bloomer!” came Michail's voice from the front gate of the main building. “I told you not to leave the building, you-”

“We found her, sir.”

The old man stopped dead in his tracks, mouth half-open. And then fear ghosted his face after blending in and turning into his usual angry mug. He cleared his throat and stood up straighter.

“And the Noble?” suspicion had covered his eyes. I knew he wanted to say more than just that. What stopped him?

“Off with his head,” I exclaimed.

“Well done, Knights.”

“Yeah, whatever. I'm hungry and tired. Can I go?”

“No, you have to see the doctor first.”

“Bloomer-”

“Vince.” He looked insulted. “I asked you to call me Vince,” he said rougher than I imagined he could manage.

“Ah, hate the family name?”

This was left unanswered, but I knew the answer so I didn't pry further. He forced me to return to calling him by his given name.

I and the knowledge of their names was never a good thing. If you knew what a Cold Walker could do with the knowledge of your given name, you would never let it slip. I presumed this was why none of the instructors had their names in the open.

The boy dragged me to the med point and made me take painkillers and then I was stitched up by a funny woman.

I never needed stitches... But when this game of charades started I had to sacrifice something. I wasn't sure, at that point, what made me wait; what made me so focused on the whole 'lie to them' thing. I could have just healed as normal and be done with it; I could have just left.

Was I really waiting for them to figure out the way to kill me? I probably was. But for that, I needed to give them more tips about this whole thing. Because as of now they thought silver blades could be enough to take out a Cold Walker. While it was true to the minions, the Creations, it was completely useless against Pure-bloods. So if not for me, they would all had been dead.

Though, if I finished what I started, this would have never happened in the first place. Cold Walkers would had just stayed low and watched, as they always did, not counting the time when they wanted to rule the world, but I fucked that one for them, too...

Argh, this was so complicated. Why didn't I know what I wanted? What did I need from them? What was wrong with me? Why did I come back? I could have just left. Then why?