The more time we put between us and what happened at Shaw Manor, the more weight the situation suddenly seemed to have. I killed a vampire. A living breathing person at that. At least I assumed vampires had life in their own way of course.

The dreams kept coming. They dominated both Kalliphae’s and my night. We were being forced to relive the life of the vampire Carmilla Shaw. Kalli couldn’t escape my nightmares due to the more potent mate chat connection. We both woke every morning bathed in sweat, having just lived through part of another person’s life. It was like her life was flashing before our eyes.

It played out like a mystery where we knew the ending but not how we got there. The child Carmilla led a rather lackluster life away from the bustle of society. One could say she lived a sheltered life, but she was more of a prisoner of her own family’s poverty.

Still, the child thrived by devouring books at a near-record pace. Her father pilfered books from the local magisterium to keep his beloved daughter occupied. She never knew how he came about them, but her father was driven to awaken something in the girl by cramming knowledge into her head.

She came of age with still no signs of awakening. The young woman had knowledge in her head but could do nothing with it as long as she remained in their quaint forest home.

Every morning when I woke up I was tormented by the fact that this woman no longer lived and it was my fault. Kalli tried to reassure me that it was either that or I would have died but I still felt that I could have found a better way.

Perhaps I should have just let her have my blood.

Kalliphae was vehemently against that plan. You had no way of knowing she wasn’t going to drain you dry. You had to defend yourself.

Getting ready to go to a new school had never been so exciting. In my life, I had transferred to 4 different elementary schools and 2 middle schools before finally settling down in high school. I hated transferring. Always being the new kid. Always running into a new bully.

This school was already promising to be a new start. The best part was that I wasn’t going alone. I had Kalli by my side. We were both excitedly flipping through the class guide. Kalli pointed out a class. This one sounds fun. Flame Master Course.

It would be fun for a pyromancer.

She mentally nudged me. Take it with me.

Why should I? I’m not a flame master?

She snickered at me. Don’t lie. Lavender told me that you gave yourself my affinity for fire. It could be fun mastering it together.

I shrugged. Even though there were classes that caught my eye, being in the same classes as Kalli was even more important. We both packed our bags as we discussed our plans for the new school. With mate chat, there was little need to be together physically when we wanted to chat. The enhanced group chat gave the feeling that we were in the same room with each other. I could see what she did when I wanted to. I could feel all of her senses.

We both knew why it was reserved for married couples. The sense of oneness that we felt through the connection was intense at times. I fully expected Kalliphae to tell me to remove it once we were safe at home. However, I had been pleasantly surprised.

She informed me. After the last two times where we got kicked out of group chat, having a connection that can’t be severed is important. I’m willing to put up with the annoying stuff for the benefit.

I only had one question.

What annoying stuff?

She didn’t answer, but I could tell exactly what she meant by the emotions she sent through the connection. Of course, we both had to experience all of those things together. Mate chat didn’t have the same privacy features that group chat did, so we were almost always broadcasting.

We couldn’t even leave the group when we needed to either. Marriage was designed in a way that usually required a skilled mage to remove all of the magical features in a complicated divorce process. While I could delete the chat by removing the trait, Kalliphae had no way of breaking the connection. This was probably a good thing because I tended to annoy her far more often than she annoyed me.

Lavender tracked us down before we made the flight up to Los Angeles. It turned out that she was our mysterious benefactor. Kalliphae and I had come together for one last meal at Phylis’ restaurant when Lavender suddenly walked in, “Hello kiddos.”

Kalli jumped up and smiled, “Lavender. To what do we owe this surprise?”

I raised an eyebrow, “I thought you said we might never see you again.”

She chuckled at me, “When I allow myself to be seen is my business, and the two of you require my help once again. You never cease to amaze me.”

Kalli giggled and pulled out a chair for Lavender to sit in, “We haven’t done anything in the past few weeks other than getting ready for school.”

She shook her head, “That in itself is an interesting twist. The things you kids will get up to in school are going to be a breath of fresh air for the magical community. I’m here to make sure that Melvin here doesn’t get in too much trouble on his first day.”

“But he will get into some trouble, won’t he?”, Kalli kindly pointed out.

Always doubting me.

She smirked at me. Let’s face it. You can be kind of a bonehead sometimes.

I wasn’t disagreeing. We both know that I am going to get in lots of trouble on my first day.

Kalli rolled her eyes at me as Lavender cleared her throat, “If I can get the two of you to stop using the lover’s chat for just a moment, I’ll explain why I’m here.”

Kalli and I both turned bright red at the enchanter’s accusation. The girl's embarrassment was rubbing off on me through the connection. I tried to send her confidence, but Kalliphae rejected it. Lavender smiled, “If the two of you are done, I’ll explain. Melvin here has picked up quite a few new traits. Some of them he has given to himself. While it’s not a common skill for another awakened to be able to see that deep into your persona, you will find quite a few named mages in the academic world who possess the skill.”

It wasn’t the first time I was forced to think about the traits that I had stolen from Lady Shaw. It wasn’t my intention to do that. She was stealing my blood. I needed it back. Blood was necessary for survival after all. Lavender gave me a knowing look and said, “Let’s start by pulling up your skill and trait window. You know how to do that right?”

I nodded and complied.

Skills

Traits

World Editor

Bloodline: M

Manipulation

Bloodline: Shaw

Controlling Voice

Enhanced Regeneration

Buff (Edited)

Enhanced Mana Regeneration

Nocturnal Regeneration

Absorption

Affinity: Blood

Affinity: Fire (Edited)

Fireproof (Edited)

Heatproof (Edited)

Control

True Sight

God Eye (Edited)

MateChat[Kalliphae Hellquist] (Edited)

Vampiric Immortality

I was busy looking at my newly loaded menu when I heard Kalli gasp, “I can see it too.”

Lavender patted the shocked girl on the arm, “That’s a side effect of being Melvin’s mate. You will share a lot of internal menus. I believe you have both been sharing dreams lately as well.”

Kalli looked down, suddenly interested in her food. Lavender continued, “Melvin, I am going to place an enchantment on your menu. It is similar to the summoner class that I assigned to you. You will continue to see your menu as it really is, but almost everybody else will discover you have but a single skill should they be able to inspect you. Before you ask, if you do come across someone who happens to be higher level than me, then not being able to mask your skills will be the least of your worries. That is if they intend to do you harm.”

I looked back and forth between my menu and the enchanter, “What skill will people think I have?”

She winked, “It will be a surprise.”

Kalli laughed at me while I just groaned. Lavender continued, “Additionally, you need to set some more restrictions on your editing ability. It's okay to edit yourself or items that you intend to keep for yourself or Kalli. Whatever you do, do not use editing to do your schoolwork. You have other skills. Use those. You will inevitably learn that one of a manipulator’s strongest skills is people editing. Please use extreme caution when you do this. An edited person is a marked person. Removing the edit will erase everything gained after the edit was applied. If you edit a person, make sure they want it.”

“Isn’t people editing bad?”, I asked as I tried to wrap my head around the revelation.

Lavender smiled, “You have a unique ability to initiate people into our world with a simple edit. By editing their class you can awaken them to a class of their choosing. Additionally, you can assign a class to someone unsatisfied with their current class. Did I mention that you now have the ability to bring someone up to half of your current level?”

I grinned, “Do you mean like how I edited Kalli’s wand to make it the same level as I am?”

She nodded, “Technically. Items work differently than people. Editing a person’s level requires a lot more mana. Trying to force them any higher than half of your level would be dangerous.”

My brain was exploding with the thought of editing a person. I remembered what I had done with Kevin and Mrs. Schooley and the lecture I had gotten from Mrs. Hodgins about it.”

Lavender seemed to sense my apprehension and pointed out, “Just keep in mind that you need to inform a person before you make any modifications. Editing them without their knowledge or against their will would be wrong. I have faith in you to make the right decision.”

I looked up at the enchanter, changing the subject, “What do I do about these vampire traits I came across? Delete them?”

She raised an eyebrow at me, “That's a good question. If you are sure that you wish to be free of the traits, then delete them. However, you might want to consider the benefits that the traits offer. There are some skills that you would not be able to edit back onto yourself once you delete them. I know the red one concerns you a bit as it is a cursed trait. However, the benefit that goes along with it is a nearly unlimited lifespan. The drawback is that you will have to consume the life’s blood of others to sustain yourself. Contrary to popular belief, consuming the blood of a mortal does not lessen their life span. A vampire merely resets their own blood age to that of the vessel. Were you to bite young Kalliphae’s neck here, your body would be revitalized to the level of health that Kalli enjoys. She would have no side effects other than temporary lightheadedness.”

Kalli looked horrified and scooted away from me.

Don’t worry. I’m not going to bite you.

She cringed. You better not.

I reminded her of our adventure in Shaw Manor.

You offered to let me bite you before.

She growled at me. Consider that offer rescinded.

We left the diner that day with a full stomach prepared for a long flight. Fortunately, the trek to Los Angeles was a straight shot up the coast. Kalli loved the ocean and flew low on the phoenix to enjoy the sea breeze. She sighed and sent me a question. I wonder what the entrance exam is going to be like. Lavender wouldn’t tell us.

She did say that we could pass easily. How hard can it be? I wish she hadn’t played dumb when I asked her about my bloodline. We still don’t know who M is.

Kalli tried to reassure me. Perhaps you don’t want to know who your father is. My parents abandoned me. I don’t want to know parents that didn’t want me.

I felt bad for grumbling about my dad. I had forgotten that Kalli didn’t know who either of her parents are.

Maybe they didn’t want to give you up. Maybe something happened to them. I’m sure they loved you.

She was grumpy about the whole ordeal. The orphanage said they just left me there.

The same orphanage that treated you horribly? I saw your dreams of that place. I wouldn’t trust them one bit.

She sent me a feeling of warmth, but we flew on in silence for a while, each lost in our thoughts. It wasn’t a mystery to me that she was upset at the memory because I could feel that too. I thought about the Shaw legacy that I now housed in my traits window. Lavender assured me that none of them would adversely affect me if I didn’t activate them by drawing blood. They just lurked there like a fake tooth containing cyanide.

I was driven out of my thoughts when Kalli squealed. Mel. Look at that. What is that place?

I looked down at the fake snow-capped mountain sitting in the middle of an urban magical kingdom.

Oh. That’s just Disneyland.

She flew low to watch the thousands of people milling around. I’ll bet Lord Disney is very powerful.

I laughed and pointed out the roller coaster weaving in and out of the fake mountain.

It’s a theme park. People go there for fun. There was a person named Disney. Now it’s run by a corporation.

Kalli craned her neck to look back at me. Can we go there for fun?

I hesitated.

Sure, I guess.

The words had barely become a thought before Kalli landed behind one of the buildings. I was kind of surprised that she found an unpopulated place in the park to land. She proudly announced. They did say we could arrive for the entrance exam anytime this week. We might as well play a bit.

I couldn’t argue with that logic. Besides, she just scored us free admission.

Sounds good to me. It’s a date.