Blood Bank

June 1, 2009.

It was Monday morning, and Dawn was getting ready for her new high school. Maybe she was a vampire, but that wouldn’t stop her from doing what she wanted to accomplish with her life. Due to the vast number she had gathered in her house’s warehouse, it was nearly difficult to tally how many certificates she had acquired from various institutions since then.

She usually moved where she lived to avoid being seen by people she had known from different locations for about 300 years. But it wasn’t until recently that she had the courage to return to Lincoln, her hometown. She was worried at first since that town reminded her of how her own family disgraced her for turning herself into a vampire.

She never wanted to be one. Everything was a huge mistake. Someone was chasing her; she didn’t have a choice but to run away and embrace her new life.

For her family, feeding on human blood was the most disgusting way of living they had ever known. So, she tried her best not to feed on it. Maybe animal blood tasted so awful and may weaken her vampiric abilities, but she didn’t have a choice. She needed blood to survive.

She had only two options here. To feed or to die? There was no option number 3 if you were a Vampire.

It almost took her a century and a half to train herself to control her heightened emotions and cravings for blood; incredibly, her Vampire abilities to stay hidden from the world. Worst of all, people might kill her if they’d known, and she didn’t want that to happen. But honestly, she still couldn’t stop herself from craving human blood.

After she packed the things she needed for school, she inhaled deeply and gulped before staring at her reflection in the mirror. You can see the fear in her almond-shaped eyes.

‘It is the modern world. What if they found out that I am a Vampire?’ She asked herself.

After a minute of staring at herself, she averted her gaze away and tied up her long brown hair.

She was 18 when she turned into a Vampire, and she never aged again. Thanks to her vampire system because it wasn’t evident on her face that she was 304 years old. And yes, she could walk under the sunlight with the help of her daylight ring to protect herself from the sun curse that might burn her to death. It was crafted by her witch friend, Amelia, who passed away in the early 18th century. Until now, she had no idea if witches and other supernatural creatures like her still existed at that time. As far as she knew, she was the only Vampire living in town.

She took her bag to go to the garage of her house and got into her sedan car.

Her luxurious brick-stone mansion was already too massive for one person. Nonetheless, there was plenty of amusement in the house. There was a garden, an arcade, a movie theatre, a liquor room, and a basement.

She was already on her way to Lincoln University. The city was, as usual, extremely loud. Nothing had changed. When she was finally able to park in the university’s lot, she double-checked the documents in her bag before stepping out of the car.

When she looked around, she noticed students saying their goodbyes to their parents, teenagers making new friends, transferees who were lost and confused, bullies, and couples kissing and flirting at the corner of the university.

‘Well, real-life sits in. Gross.’

Everyone was wearing elegant clothes except her. She was only wearing black jeans, a white V neck, and a brown leather bomber jacket.

Dawn shook her head and walked towards the registration office. She was completely ignoring the people around her until she came across a woman and bumped into her who appeared to be in a rush. Because of that, the documents held by Dawn fell onto the ground.

“Oh, god. I’m so sorry,” the woman apologized and helped Dawn to pick up her documents. “I’m really, really sorry. I didn’t really mean to bumped into you-”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine,” Dawn said after she mustered up a smile. But when she looked at the woman’s face, her eyes were left in shock. The girl resembled Amelia by her black curly hair, amber eyes, and old-fashioned clothing style. “Amelia?”

And because of what Dawn called her, the girl was also confused.

“I’m sorry? My name is Emily. Emily Blight and not Amelia or whoever,” the girl corrected. “And you are?” At the same time, she handed the documents to Dawn before shaking hands with her.

Dawn had almost forgotten that she was in twenties and no longer in the 18th Century. She was trying to recall Amelia’s surname, but she couldn’t even catch a glimpse of it.

She apologized to the girl and said, “I’m sorry, Emily. I’m Dawn Black. A transferee.”

After Dawn shook her hand, Emily suddenly gasped. She could feel the strange aura coming from Dawn by that simple touch. She couldn’t explain it, but she knew it was dark energy. She was shocked.

‘What was that?’ Emily asked herself, confused.

That was the first time she felt strange energy towards someone. So she immediately withdrew her hand while looking at Dawn. Even if she wanted to speak, she couldn’t, as if something was blocking her throat out of shock. Emily opened her mouth, trying to speak, but no words came out. She ended up smiling before walking away.

“I guess; I’ll see you again? Welcome to your first day at Lincoln University!” Emily said softly and went to her room.

Dawn’s gaze just followed her. She couldn’t thank her, but what could have happened to Emily? She just shrugged it off and entered the registration office to her left instead.

When she entered the office, she saw an old man sitting in a swivel chair. He was like in his forties. Then Dawn’s gaze went down to his desk nameplate.

“Welcome to Lincoln University, Ms. Black.” The old man greeted her with a smile.

“Thank you, Mr. Emerson.” She greeted him back before handing the documents to him.

“Let me see.”

While Michael was checking her documents, he couldn’t find Dawn’s birth certificate even though he had reviewed it three times in a row. He looked at her with mixed astonishment. And before he could even speak, Dawn preceded him. She used mind compulsion to compel him. Honestly, the documents she had brought were just props to pretend that she would enroll in the school. Compelling someone was hypnotizing them, but it might not be that effective since she was feeding on an animal’s blood. And, thank goodness, her power didn’t fail her at these time.

“It’s in there! So, would you please show me the way to my classroom?” Dawn said as her eyes dilated. She smirked, and she couldn’t help it.

But she immediately restrained herself after remembering the possible things that could have happened if she didn’t control herself. Still, she couldn’t resist the fact that the smell of his blood flowing through his veins was attracting her. His neck was so tempting to the point that she couldn’t bear looking at it.

Dawn cleared her throat.

In the past, Dawn flirted with men and fed on them before ripping their hearts out after satisfying herself, but it was different now. The world and her hometown were so quiet, unlike the war before, and she didn’t want to ruin it.

Under Dawn’s compulsion, Michael replied while nodding his head. “Ah, right. Please, follow me.”

“Lovely.”

When Dawn and Michael arrived in the classroom, the first person that Dawn saw was Emily. She smiled at her, and Emily did the same. Even though it was the first time they had met, they immediately had a strong connection between them. The feeling was like meeting an old friend after all those centuries.

The crowd was staring at Dawn.

“Good morning, class.” Michael started.

“Good morning, sir.” The students greeted him back.

“Meet, Dawn Black. She is your new classmate starting today. So please, treat her well and be kind to her.”

And before Dawn could even walk to an empty seat, a woman with blonde hair suddenly approached them and happily held her hands without hesitation.

“Hi, Dawn! I’m Kate Lawrence, the school president of this university! Nice to meeting you,” she said, smiling. “I hope we can be friends!”

Kate was a cheerful person. She had dirty blonde hair and a pair of silver eyes. It seemed as if the sun had stopped shining on her because her skin was too white. Indeed, she was a beauty.

“Nice meeting you too, Kate.” Dawn said, smiling.