Night School Part 3

"I have to ... ? But I can't ... ? I mean-" Sunny, to her credit, tries to croak out.

"Um, can't she just lay low, hang in the library or something? Take some electives?" I interject on her behalf. "You guys got to have basket-weaving here, right? Stake carving 101?"

"Look"-the headmistress's once-watery eyes are blazing now-"I didn't ask to have you here. In fact, I was very against the idea from the start. After all, your very presence here puts my students at risk and that's not something I tolerate lightly." She scowls. "But now that you're here, you are under my rule. And you will not treat this fine inst.i.tution like summer camp. You will partic.i.p.ate as full-time students, taking all required cla.s.ses and following each and every rule. You will keep a low profile and not cause any disturbance. If I find that you so much as get a tardy slip, I have every right to punish you."

"And expel us?" I ask hopefully. Maybe misbehaving is the key to getting sprung from this place.

"Unfortunately no. But I can make life very miserable. After all, you have the nano-virus lying dormant in you, do you not? I'm pretty sure Teifert still does this to his potentials ..."

I make a face. Of course I do. Wooden nano-capsules, swimming through my bloodstream, ready to cause serious bodily harm, should I displease the bigwigs at Slayer Inc. "But Sunny-"

"Doesn't," Headmistress Roberta finishes for me. "Right. Well, then, I guess you, Rayne, will have to take the punishment for the both of you," she says with a smirk. "Should, you know, you decide to ... get out of line."

I can hear my sister's soft whimper next to me. I reach over and squeeze her hand. I don't know why she's freaking out though. I'm the one at risk of getting staked from the inside out here.

"Look," the headmistress says, her face softening a bit. "I don't mean to sound harsh. But this is for your own good. You must act like regular slayer students in every way or someone may take notice and report you." She sighs. "Remember, even the tightest-run organizations can have foxes in their henhouses. And I'm afraid Riverdale is no exception."

Man, this is the best place Heather could find to keep us safe from the fairies? Some Relocator she is. I mean, why not send a vampire to a beach hideaway in the sunny Caribbean while she's at it?

"I see. Well, never fear, we'll be model pupils. Phi Beta Kappa, perfect attendance. Do you have a cheerleading squad by chance? I'm all about the after-school activities these days." I rise from my seat, pulling Sunny up with me. "And uh, thank you for letting us stay here," I grudgingly add, forcing myself to swallow the bitter taste in my mouth.

Headmistress Roberta sniffs again. I'm beginning to think she should have that nose of hers checked out. "You're welcome," she manages to spit out at last. Though I'm pretty sure she doesn't mean it.

But in any case, we're dismissed and we walk out of the office and back onto the grounds. "Do you want to explore a little?" I ask my sister. "Or go grab some food?" As a vampire I can't eat ... food ... but judging from the current state of bloodl.u.s.t I'm in, I'm betting Sunny must be starving.

"No," she says sulkily. "I just want to go back to our room and fall asleep. Maybe I'll wake up and find out this was all just a crazy nightmare and I'm not hiding out from evil fairies at a school for vampire slayers with my beautiful boyfriend on the other side of the world."

Oh man. Is she going to be like this the whole time we're here? I should have asked Headmistress Roberta if I could switch to a single ...

"Fine," I reply, starting the trudge up the hill. Maybe I'll walk her to the room and then go out exploring myself.

We make it about halfway to the dorm when the cathedral bells start to chime. Suddenly our path is flooded with children of all ages and teens, pouring out of the cla.s.sroom buildings and down the hill toward the cafeteria. We do our best to push through them, feeling like salmon swimming upstream, but it's pretty tough with the sheer number of students they got here. I mean, really, how many slayers does Slayer Inc. need to train?

Eventually, the crowds start to thin and we're able to make more headway. But before we can get to the dorm, our path is obstructed again, as a group of five teens-two guys and three girls-purposely step into our path. They're dressed like something out of one of those secret society-type movies-long red cloaks, dark sungla.s.ses, haughty expressions on their faces. They look very out of place among the otherwise very normally attired Riverdale student body.

"Well, well, well," says the tallest boy in the group, surveying me with a critical once-over. "What have we here?"

6.

I square my shoulders and narrow my eyes preemptively as the group forms a semi-circle around us, effectively blocking any chance of escape. I can see behind them other students giving us a wide berth as they pa.s.s, throwing nervous glances in our direction. Whoever these kids are, I'm guessing they're not from the Riverdale welcoming committee, here to invite Sunny and I to popcorn and movie night back at the dorm.

Luckily I don't like popcorn. "Do you mind?" I demand, taking a step forward, facing off with the tall boy who's standing directly in my path. He's got messy brown hair, a strong chin, and cheekbones that could cut gla.s.s. Kind of hot, if you like the jerk-off, a-hole type-which, of course, I usually do. I mean, before I met Jareth anyway. "We're trying to get back to the dorm."

j.e.r.k.-.o.f.f. surveys me calmly, not stepping out of the way. "I take it you're the new girls," he observes. "I heard you were coming."

"Glad you got cc'ed on the e-mail," I retort. "Oh wait, I forgot. You don't have e-mail at this G.o.dforsaken place."

His mouth quirks in a small smile. "And you're supposed to be ... slayers of some sort?" he asks, giving Sunny a skeptical look.

"I swear they're letting anyone in these days," mutters the blonde to Jerk-off's right. She shrugs her cloak over her shoulder, revealing a perfect hourgla.s.s figure accented by a brown leather corset and a long, midnight blue, Victorianesque skirt that falls to her feet. Suddenly I feel super underdressed in my black sweater accented only by Sunny's dried-up snot.

But cool outfit or no, she's so not getting the best of me. "They let you in, didn't they, Little Red Riding Hood?" I sneer. I can feel Sunny poking me hard in the ribs, but I ignore her.

"Now, now, Little Slayer," j.e.r.k.-.o.f.f. scolds. "Take care. Here at Riverdale, we're taught to speak to our superiors only when spoken to."

"I'll have to keep that in mind if I run into anyone superior here."

j.e.r.k.-.o.f.f. chuckles. "What school did you transfer from?" he asks, his voice filled with amused curiosity.

"School? Please." I roll my eyes. "I, Rayne McDonald, was trained personally, one-on-one by Slayer Inc.'s vice president, Mr. Teifert, himself." There, that ought to give me some street cred with these losers.

Instead, to my surprise, the group looks at one another, then bursts out laughing. "So you were home-schooled?" The red-headed girl standing next to the blonde chuckles. She's wearing a short gold dress with black tights and platform heels and is the spitting image of Miley Cyrus. "That's so ADORABLE."

Argh! Of all the ... I mean ... ARGH! I squeeze my hands into fists, fury pumping through my veins. That b.i.t.c.h. I swear if I wasn't a vegetarian vampire trying to keep a low profile in a school full of slayers, I'd so bite the c.r.a.p out of her.

Instead, I raise my fists. "I'll show you adorable. Right up your effing-"

"Rayne! Stop it!" Sunny hisses, this time stamping on my foot to get my attention. I look over angrily and she wags her finger at me. "Remember what Headmistress Roberta said," she warns.

"Yeah, Rayne," mocks the shorter boy, who's stocky and wearing a tool belt lined with wooden stakes. "Remember what Headmistress Roberta said."

I swallow hard, forcing my hands down to my sides. "Fine," I manage to spit out. "But I'll have you know, I'm no babe in the slayer woods just because I didn't go to your stupid boarding school. I've taken down two big-bads through this so-called home-schooled program. And that doesn't even count all the werewolves. All while you have been stuck reading, writing and 'rithmatic'ing here at Riverdale I'll bet."

j.e.r.k.-.o.f.f. smiles nastily at me, then turns to the Miley Cyrus girl and nods. "Varuka, do you want to break it down for Home School?"

Varuka pulls out a small pad of paper from her Betsey John-son purse and flips through it. "Peter has staked seventeen vampires in total," she reads. "Mara has eight under her belt-but she just transferred last year. Leanna"-she nods in the direction of corset girl-"has killed twenty-seven, though some of them were during the burning lair a.s.signment. You tend to rack up kills pretty quickly that way. I just hit sixteen yesterday ..."

"And I, Corbin Billingsworth the Third," interrupts Jerk-off, "have slain sixty-three since arriving at Slay School." He pulls off his sungla.s.ses and stares me down with flashing, cat-like green eyes. "All stakes, Little Slayer," he adds, mockingly. "And all vampires."

I swallow hard. Oh-kay then. Evidently they're quite ... progressive ... here at Slay School. I'm suddenly really, really glad they can't tell I'm a real-live vampire.

"Well, well," I manage to say at last. "I stand corrected. And while I'd love to stay and pop the celebratory champagne for your oh-so-amazing feats of wonder and awe, my sister and I have to get back to the dorm. So if you lovely slayers will excuse us ..."

I attempt to elbow past them, but before I can break through, Corbin nods to Peter and the tool with the tool belt grabs me by the arms, whirling me around and effectively pinning me against his chest.

"Let me go!" I growl, struggling to free myself. But Peter just twists my arm, causing me to involuntarily squeal in pain.

"I'm sorry, Little Slayer," Corbin says smoothly. "But you didn't say 'please.'"

Ooh, that does it. I'm so ready to kick some serious Slay School a.s.s. Seriously, it'd be almost worth getting nano'ed just to get one good punch in ...

But no. For Sunny's sake, I need to suck it up. "Fine," I say, through gritted teeth. "May we, my good sir, PLEASE have permission to step away from your glorious presence for a short time?"

Corbin smirks and for a moment I think he's actually going to deny me still, but then he nods his head at Peter. "Let her go," he commands.

Peter does and I accidentally-on-purpose stomp on his foot as I stumble away. He howls in protest and Corbin's cat eyes lock onto mine. "You're a feisty one, Little Slayer," he purrs. "I like that." Giving me a mocking bow, he adds, "I'll be keeping my eye on you." Then he turns to his little minions and gestures for them to follow him down the hill, thankfully leaving Sunny and I alone at last.

"What a jerk!" I growl as I watch them go.

"You weren't exactly Miss Congeniality yourself," Sunny reminds me.

"What was I supposed to do?" I ask her. "Get down on the ground and let them walk all over us? Kiss their skinny slayer a.s.ses? Not in this lifetime, sister."

Sunny opens her mouth, probably to say something super annoying about turning the other cheek, but luckily is interrupted by an anxious Lilli, who's standing a few feet away, wringing her hands together, her face white and anxious.

"Are you guys okay?!"

"Yeah, we're fine. Just a little wounded pride." I glare down the road at the retreating gang. The others students scurry to keep their distance as they pa.s.s by like they're G.o.d's gift to vampire slayers. "What's up with those losers?"

Lilli rolls her eyes. "They're Alphas," she explains. "The best of the best, here at Slay School and they know it, too. Total bullies to anyone who doesn't live up to their skill or coolness standards-which is just about everyone besides the five of them. Trust me, you're best off avoiding them as much as possible."

"Don't worry," I say, shaking my head and turning away from the group. "I have absolutely no interest in becoming friends." With them or anyone else at this G.o.dforsaken school at this point.

"Anyway, I swear not everyone here at Slay School is like that. In fact, most people are really nice," Lilli insists. "Why don't you come down to the cafeteria with me and I'll introduce you around? We could get you some food or a ... drink of some kind." She looks at me like she can tell I'm starved.

Her offer makes my stomach growl, but sadly not for what the Slay School cafeteria will provide. This growing bloodl.u.s.t is going to be a serious problem. I wonder how long I can go without drinking ...

I realize Lilli is waiting for an answer.

"Sun? You want to eat?" I ask my sister for the second time today.

But predictably, Lady Lovelorn shakes her head. "I just ... I just want to go back to our room," she says sadly. "I'll catch you later." And with that, she turns and continues to trudge up the hill toward the dorm without even a good-bye.

"Sorry," I say to Lilli. "I'd better go check on her. She's really homesick."

Lilli watches Sunny go. "I understand," she says. "I can grab some extra food and drinks and bring them back for you."

I guess I should be grateful there's at least one decent person at this ridiculous school, even if she is a bit annoying. After thanking her, I say my good-byes and head back to the room to find my sister.

I find her, not surprisingly, I suppose, curled up in a ball, cradling her useless cell phone in her arms. The speakerphone is on and I can hear Magnus's voice over the airwaves. One of the last messages he'd left her yesterday, before any of this happened. It's all she has, I guess.

Hearing me, she sits up with a start, her face flushed with embarra.s.sment as she clicks off the phone.

"You okay?" I ask, sitting down beside her on the bed, reaching over to stroke her hair. She's growing it super long these days. Probably to further differentiate herself from me. The thought makes me a little sad.

"Not really," she replies, staring at the blank wall in front of her. "This is pretty much the worst day of my life."

"I know it sucks," I soothe. "But we can get through this. It's only temporary."

"You don't know that!" she cries angrily. "What if, after all this, Mom and Dad can't convince the fairies to leave us alone? Then one of us will be stuck becoming a fairy queen!"

"Yeah, but ... well, that's not the end of the world, is it?" I ask. "I mean, there's probably a lot of great perks that come with being a fairy queen. Think about it: riches beyond belief, magical powers, all the nectar you can drink, limitless glitter." I pause, then giggle. "Not to mention a hot prince named Dew Drip ..."

"Stop it!" Sunny cries, rolling over to face me. Her eyes are stormy and bloodshot from all the crying. "Don't you get it? It's not a joke! It's my freaking life here!"

I hold my hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. I just thought-"

She scrambles up and starts pacing the distance between beds. "Sure, it's not big deal to you. You're already supernatural six ways from Sunday anyway. And you like it that way, for some unfathomable reason."

"Well, yeah." I shrug. "Though I'd like it better if I had some kind of powers ..."

She turns to me, staring me down, fury clear on her face. "Well, I don't. I don't want to be a vampire. I don't want to be a slayer. I certainly don't want to be a fairy queen. I just want to be a human girl and I just want to be left alone." She shakes her head. "I mean, what's left, Rayne? Are we going to find out our long-lost cousin was a freaking leprechaun?"

"Ooh, that'd be cool. Maybe he'd share his pot of gold with us. Or at least his Lucky Charms."

Sunny glares at me.

"Come on, Sun," I cajole. "You gotta look on the bright side. Gla.s.s half full and all that. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? You become fairy queen?"

"I will never become a fairy queen," Sunny mutters. "I'll kill myself first."

"Well, you're already a drama queen." I shake my head, rising from her bed, defeated. Obviously she's in no mood to listen to reason. I head over to my own bed and plop down, staring up at the ceiling, annoyed as all h.e.l.l. From across the room, I hear Sunny pressing keys on her phone, to listen to Magnus's messages again-this time, sans speakerphone.

What am I going to do? I know she won't make good on her threat to kill herself, but at the same time, I feel terrible that she's so upset. She's my twin. And as the oldest by seven minutes, I'm supposed to be the one taking care of her. And yet I know, at the end of the day, if the fairies want her as their queen, there's very little I can do about it.

I crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head, hugging a pillow to my chest, feeling the tears spring to my eyes. I've been working overtime all day to be strong and optimistic for my sister's sake, but now, alone in bed, reality is starting to sink in big time. If only Jareth were here; he'd know what to do. And even if he didn't, he'd still take me into his arms and infuse me with the strength to face whatever was coming our way. With him, I feel invincible. Now I just feel kind of defeated.

Part of me hates admitting this. After all, a kick-a.s.s chick like me shouldn't be all weepy over a guy. I'm not like my sister. But at the same time, Jareth and I are such a good team. I feel like half of me is missing without him by my side. When did I get all codependent girl? Ugh.

I wish I wasn't so messed up when it comes to relationships. I usually blame my dad, but now even that excuse has gone all cloudy on me. Did he really leave to protect us? Did he really miss my last birthday to save my life? Was the birth of Stormy really not that big a deal? I've been furious at him for so long it's hard to accept the fact that I may have misjudged him. If we ever get out of this, we're so going to have to spend some time together to figure things out.

I hope he and Mom are okay in fairyland. As conflicted as my feelings are for my dad, I'd clearly die if anything happened to Mom. My best friend. The one who loves me unconditionally no matter how screwed up I am. I can't lose her. Not to the fairies, not to anyone.

I hear a m.u.f.fled noise and peek out from under the covers. Sunny's tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable in the rickety twin bed. Poor girl. I feel bad for grumping at her a few minutes ago. She has every right to express her unhappiness, and it's probably a lot healthier than stuffing it deep down inside like I tend to do. But, at the same time, I hate seeing her appear so vulnerable. So scared. If only there was a way to ensure I became the fairy queen and not her. Not that I want that, per se-h.e.l.l, I look freaking awful in pink-but I'd do it in a heartbeat if it meant allowing her to forever live in the human world as she so deeply desires.

I lift my arm in the air and study my elbow. Could it really be as easy as a quick kiss, as Mom said? A simple kiss to save my sister's life and ensure she never has to become something she doesn't want to be? Tentatively, I lift my head, pressing my lips to the wrinkly elbow skin, my entire body buzzing in antic.i.p.ation. Here goes nothing.

7.

I wake up the next morning with the worst backache ever. For being a posh private school, Riverdale's beds are lumpy as all h.e.l.l. I glance over at Sunny, who's still in bed with the covers pulled over her head, then at the clock, which reads ten to seven. Ugh. We've got ten minutes to get dressed and get to cla.s.s-or incur the wrath of Headmistress Roberta.

"Sunny, wake up!" I leap out of bed and cross the room to shake my sister. She moans in protest. "Get up and get ready."