Chapter 60-A freak (2)

Chapter 60: 60-A freak (2)

Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong.

Two hours later, the ancient hotel bell rang through Old Scaris, its deep enchanted chime vibrating through the stone walls and calling every second-year student down for the midnight meal before departure time.

Maisa had spent those two hours pretending nothing was wrong with her. She had unpacked half her clothes, she had washed her face three times and acted as though her body wasn’t in decay.

She had even sat beside Sapphire and listened to her talk about the town, occasionally nodding at the right moments while her mind remained trapped on what had happened in the bathroom.

The soil, the sand, roots that came out of her body. She couldn’t begin to think of where they came from. It wasn’t normal for a vampire to have properties that make up the earth come out of her throat every time she vomits.

Yet every time Maisa tried to convince herself that she had imagined it, the memory of the gritty earth sliding from her mouth returned with horrifying clarity.

"Come on," Sapphire called from the doorway. "We’re going to be late."

Maisa stood. The thought of drinking blood horrified her. How could it not? She knew the blood would come out and the thoughts of the agony that comes with getting it out, she felt horrified.

"Coming," she gulped, her mind racing with ideas of how to miss out on the meal.

She reached for her bag. The instant her fingers wrapped around the leather handle, a sharp hiss filled the room.

Maisa froze. The leather beneath her fingers darkened and smoke curled upward, then, the handle burned straight through. The bag dropped heavily onto the floor with a thud.

Sapphire spun around. "What was that?" She inquired, her eyes searching for what had fallen.

Maisa stared at the ruined handle, her heart pounding. A faint red glow still lingered around her fingertips.

"It’s nothing," She quickly kicked the bag beneath the bed. "I just stepped down a little too hard."

Sapphire frowned. The sound didn’t sound like stepping down, it sounded more like something falling. "What happened?"

"Nothing, Sapph," Maisa waved the matter off. "I truly did step down hard and that is why that sound was made."

"Maisa," Sapphire called. She had doubts about what Maisa was saying and turned back to investigate.

"I’m ready," Maisa claimed. She grabbed Sapphire by the shoulders and pushed her gently toward the doorway before the other girl could inspect the floor. "Come on. I’m starving. Aren’t you?"

Sapphire looked suspicious but didnt say anything about it just gave a final comment. "You’ve been acting strange since we got here."

"I’m fine."

"You’ve said that three times."

"And I’ll say it a fourth time if necessary," Maisa insisted. How could she possibly come out to her friend and say that she not only had developed the ability to vomit soil and other particles but her hands have become made of flame that can burn through leather.

Sapphire sighed. "Fine. But I’m watching you."

They stepped into the corridor. The moment they started walking toward the dining hall, Maisa lowered her voice.

"Sapphire?"

"Hm?"

"Can redbloods have magic?" She asked, to know whether her condition can be explained. And since she is new to the whole vampirism thing, she sought to ask the next best person who can offer insight without judgement.

Sapphire glanced sideways. Their eyes met with Maisa’s eyes being a little hazy and Sapphire’s being sharp. "Magic?"

"Yes, do we possess magic of any kind?"

Sapphire looked genuinely confused. "No, redbloods don’t possess magic. Why would you ask that?"

"Why?"

"Because redbloods don’t have it," she added sharply. She was starting to feel that something was extreme wrong with Maisa.

The girl popped the most random of questions at the most random of times with a straight fave like the answer to the questions could either save or doom a nation.

Maisa’s stomach tightened. She couldn’t believe that she was the first redblood in history to break out and possess magic abilities. And it would be even weirder if one of those abilities was to vomit soil. The fire one wasn’t so bad in cases of self defense but the earth one was pure nuisance.

"Why not?" She asked, refusing to drop the matter and move on.

Sapphire shrugged. "Only naturally born vampires have elemental magic. It comes with being purebloods. It’s connected to the way their blood is formed and how they are born."

Maisa slowed slightly. "All of them?" She was shocked. In their research on vampires back home in the Everheart family, there was never a finding of vampires possessing magic. None of the vampires they fought or hunted ever used magic.

"Every pureblood has magic," Sapphire began explaining as they walked. "Whitebloods command earth, blackbloods control fire, bluebloods command air and mixedbloods have water magic."

Maisa’s steps became slower. "And redbloods?"

She clasped her fingers together and waited for the answer, but she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like it.

Sapphire looked at her. "Nothing. Redbloods don’t have magic...none at all."

The word struck harder than it should have. Maisa stared at her hands that felt as hot as fire and shivered. Her body was reacting very strongly to the strange things happening to her body.

"Nothing?" She asked to confirm. She wished for Sapphire to tell her that she made a mistake the first time and then give her the answer that would calm the storm in her heart.

"Redbloods are turned, Maisa. You’re not born with the elemental connection the purebloods have because you were born human, and became a vampire through the back door. That’s one of the reasons society considers redbloods inferior."

Maisa’s chest tightened. She looked down at her hands again. They were perfectly still now but she could still remember the way the leather had burned beneath her fingers.

The scene was fresh in her head. Her mind immediately returned to the bathroom. Her flower-shaped mark suddenly pulsed beneath her clothing and pain shot through her chest.

Maisa stopped walking. Gritting her teeth to hold in the pain and not let anything slip. The last thing she wanted was to draw attention and end up in Dracula’s dungeon, being torn apart like a specimen while they try to discover why she’s abnormal.

Sapphire turned and looked at her with concerned eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I’m fine," she said for the fifth time since they checked in.

Maisa forced herself forward but she wasn’t okay. The mark over her heart had been glowing ever since the bond awakened.

Four petals representing each of her mates and now two of those petals had begun fading. She hadn’t noticed before but now that she had, it was hard to ignore.

The white petal and the black one that represented Varitreya and Addessa. Their petals weren’t completely dark yet, but their glow had weakened dramatically.

Maisa swallowed. ’They’re pulling away,’ a thought crossed her mind.