Scent of Blood [Lesbian Story]

Revelations

“There’s a test today, worth fifty points,” Michelle told Athena who only eyed her indifferently from the side as they walked in tandem to fourth period. “Have you studied?”

“No.”

“Me neither.”

I don’t need to study

“But, I’ll try to at least get a high C for this class.”

Athena nodded as she unplugged her ears just as they arrived in the designated classroom; it was finally Friday of the third week of school. All week long she had gone for classes, even though most of the time she was not paying attention.

How could she? She had more questions in her head that school would never be able to answer. Despite the countless questions she had about Michelle, there was one question she knew an answer for; why was she back at Esterdell and attending Avian James Academy?

The answer was very simple; the clan had run out of hits in the area and ordered her to remain on standby at Esterdell. At first, Athena did not approve, but when her grandfather ordered her to follow, she had no option but to comply. As the head of the clan, her grandfather’s words were law and must be obeyed without question.

Who was she to disobey the leader? Let alone her own grandfather?

“Today’s test is worth fifty points, so I hope all of you studied your vocabulary.”

The whole class groaned as Michelle frowned and looked at Athena, who does not seem to be bothered by what the teacher had said. She figured that Athena had not actually cared anymore about school, but she does not mind it one bit. She was just happy that she was back.

Michelle smiled as she remembered Athena’s return Monday that week. She had not expected her to return to school after being gone for two whole weeks. She thought that it was her fault that she had left, but seeing her here now, she knew that it was not her fault. Well, maybe not entirely.

And so, fourth period went by in a flash. Michelle felt her brain sizzle inside, a little bit fried from thinking of words while Athena merely stared at her indifferently. Michelle often questioned what was going through Athena’s head.

Was she bothered by my presence? Did she not like me? Was I invading her space and silence?

Michelle wondered, but never once asked. Somehow, she was content with what she had and did not want anything to interfere with the flow. But sometimes she did wish that Athena would at least talk to her. Sure, she enjoyed the silence, but she would also want a little bit of communication.

On the other hand, Athena had her mind stuck on what happened last Friday. She was still angry and annoyed with herself; how could she not have sensed such a thing? She was aware of her actions when she had bested the old fool, but she did not expect them to target Michelle.

Why Michelle, though? She thought as she once again plugged her ears and sniffed her surroundings. The stench of the halls remained the same – depressed, desperate, and degrading. Athena really hated this place, but she had no choice. She had to suck up her urge to kill everyone and remove their foul stench. But much to her surprise, regardless of where Michelle was, she could always sniff her out.

Michelle was still a question for Athena; she wanted to know what she was and just how is it that she never had a distinct scent for Athena to notice. When they first met three weeks ago, she never smelt any scent on Michelle and even on the second day they met, Michelle retained the same scent: nothing.

It was as if there was nothing there and yet there she was, walking beside her. Athena still could not understand what this all was, but she did not seem to care. Michelle was either her target or not, and so far her name had never come up. That was how she always saw things – they were either targets or civilians.

But to Athena, Michelle was not any of the two. So, what was she?

“Have you heard?”

Athena attuned herself to the gossip of the class just as Michelle and her sat on their seats, unsure whether to find the fly interesting or not.

“Yeah, they found the body sucked out of blood.”

“Do you think the-“

“No! Vampires don’t exist, they’re just fiction!”

“But the body was sucked dry!”

“I don’t want to think about it!”

Amused, Athena eyed them briefly as she nonchalantly eyed Michelle, who rummaged through her bag. She noticed that she does not seem to be bothered by the gossip around class, even though she would have been that body had she not intervened.

Why she intervened that night, she did not know. All Athena knew was she was angry and irritated, and she just had to vent it all on something. As she recalled that particular night, her mind replayed how Michelle called out to her unconsciously.

Why had she called her instead of her friend that night? Did she expect her to have saved her? Why did she call out to her?

All these questions ran inside Athena’s mind like a marathon as Michelle smiled at her, which made Athena immediately look away. Michelle just giggled and paid attention too, but she did appreciate the concern from Athena.

As the minutes ticked away, Athena could smell something repugnant in the air as if it casually flew over the school. It made her cringe at the odiferous stench and irritated her brain, which made her make a quick sweep of the area as if to find where the odour came from. She tried to find where it suddenly came from and wanted to rip it to shreds whoever or whatever it was.

Michelle noticed the uneasiness in Athena; she had her fists in a tight ball with furrowed brows as her piercing blue eyes flicked past the closed door of the classroom as if she could see beyond the oak door. Athena smelt the air as she took a deep breath quietly just as the bell rang; she sprung out the classroom and was the third one out, leaving Michelle alone.

“What has gotten into her?” Michelle wondered with a concerned look across her face as she left the room as well. She wondered what happened just now; Athena looked a little agitated and for her to bolt out of class, something must be wrong.

Athena scanned the hallways as she walked on by; there was just something so foul in her smelling range that she just had to take it out. It annoyed the hell out of her and she wanted, no, needed, to gut whatever it is that had that scent on it. The smell was something like garbage that got vomited and thrown into the sewers, then eaten to be pooped out once again by a monkey, and the cycle repeats.

How on earth was that even possible? Athena just had to get her hands on whatever or whoever it was that had that ridiculous scent. As she rounded the corner, the smell got even stronger and invaded her nostrils faster, which made her cringe with every step she took closer to the thing that had that stench.

Not a moment later, she finally found where the stench had concentrated and much to her annoyance, it was in the Janitor’s closet. Athena ground her teeth in between her sealed lips as she growled internally, anger overflowing within her as she slowly opened the door. And as the door opened, her anger doubled as she saw the culprit of her rage.

“Athena? How may I-“

Athena took the senior janitor by the collar of his overalls and raised him high as she eyed him hard with clenched teeth. She growled at him inadvertently, something she never did to anyone in her whole life. Mr. Branforth growled back suddenly as she gripped Athena’s wrists hard with a force so strong that Athena could actually wince at it. But she did not.

“Why?”

“What are you talking about?”

Athena raised him higher and nearly bashed him to the wall, but thought about it otherwise. There was a huge uncertainty on her shoulders; she could not understand why she wanted to rip his head off with her bare hands, but there was something inside her that told her she should.

“What do you smell like a wreck, urine, and garbage all at the same time?”

“What do mean? I don-“

“Don’t lie to me.” Impatient, Athena bashed Mr. Branforth’s body against the shelf and made him angry, which caused a shift in his eyes. His usual dark brown eyes turned gold in a matter of seconds as if he was not even human.

“Put me down and I’ll talk.”

“Talk now.”

The two of them stared at each other and exchanged growls as if they were dogs about to rumble to the death. But Athena felt a tingle inside her that did make her want to kill him; it was not the usual anger and annoyance her surrounding had agitated her. But it was something much more, like there was a strong force driving her to do so.

But what was it?

“Put me down, pup.”

“Pup?”

“Yes, you’re a pup.”

With furrowed brows, Athena somehow found a little relief in that word and eased up on Branforth. She growled and bared her teeth as she lowered him. The old man’s eyes returned to their normal dark brown as he sat on his metal stool and eyed her, then like Athena had been doing the whole time, he smelt her.

“Answer me.”

“I cannot.”

“What do you mean you can’t?”

“I can’t answer you.”

Rage already overtaken her, Athena took out her dagger and pressed it against Branforth’s throat. She had run out of patience with his riddled answers and she wanted answers to her questions; she has had enough of questions for the past three weeks and she wanted to at least have one answer for a one question.

“I won’t hesitate to kill you, old man.”

“Kill me and you won’t find your answer.”

They glared each other down once again and Athena did not like her patience tested as she inched it deeper into his throat; a bead of blood already escaped his old, wrinkled, saggy skin. Branforth did not know how to respond, he knew the answer, but he also knew that she would not believe him. But at this rate Athena might actually do him.

“Meet me after Michelle had left. You’ll have an answer.”

Athena glared him down as if to tell him that she was not playing around with her knife; she was serious as she had been the first time they met. She does not like being toyed around with and she would certainly kill Branforth if he lied to her.

The last bell rang and Athena knew that Michelle would be there soon. She retracted her blade and hid it as Branforth wiped his neck. Athena eyed him carefully and hoped to see her damage to his throat, but to her disbelief there was none. How was that possible?

Branforth eyed her and noticed her indifference, but there was curiosity in her expression. He just remained silent as Michelle entered the room, which made Athena turn to her. Michelle eyed Mr. Branforth before she eyed Athena, then smiled at her.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Just saying farewell.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow then?”

Athena nodded and eyed Branforth at the corner of her eye before she walked through the door; it sent shivers down his spine, but he knew better. He knew something that she did not and knew that she would not believe him when he told her what she was.

Michelle waved Athena bye as she got in and smiled at Mr. Branforth who looked really tense. She eyed him curiously and he seemed to have noticed, and returned to his usual self. Michelle just titled her head as took out her overalls from the locker, wondering why he was always so tense around her.

Well, I suppose Athena could be a little intimidating. She thought as she went into the little changing room. Her mind was elsewhere however; she still could not wrap her head around what happened last Friday.

The very next morning, David met up with her and told her that a waiter told him that she had gone home, but she told her she had no recollection of that actually happening. David found it odd, but he never pressed on; he was just happy that she was safe and sound when they spoke.

When they spoke, there was something in his eyes; it was as if there a great dejection across his face, but he did not want to talk about it so Michelle did not ask. She wanted to, but she wanted to know more about what happened to her the night before. She did not mean to be insensitive to her friend, but she has her own priorities.

“Michelle.”

“Yes, sir?” Michelle responded a little out of it, her head obviously clouded.

“You can leave early today, around six in the afternoon.”

Surprised, Michelle raised a brow and tilted her head slightly, “But that’s in four hours?”

Mr. Branforth chuckled, “Do you want to or not?”

Michelle nodded without question, she wanted to go home and get some rest after a long week. She had a lot on her plate too and she wanted to figure out what really happened last Friday. She sighed as she went to work, exiting the Janitor’s closet.

The memory was quite a haze for her as she tried to recall whilst she worked; she remembered she had to go to the loo and excused her, but beyond that was a fog in her head. The very next thing she remembered was waking up in her bed and seeing that Tupperware full of fruits.

Michelle tried hard to concentrate whilst she worked; there was a part of her that wanted to remember it all. But why she wanted to, she did not know. She just had to close all the questions in her and hopefully by remembering the rest of her Friday night, she would at least cross out a few.

As she gracefully held the mop’s pole, she began her usual routine. She kept her eyes on the floor as if staring into her own reflection would make the answers pop out. But as she stared at herself, she recalled the sound of rustling leaves and the dim of it over her. She remembered the starlight that passed through the cracks of the leaves and a person carrying her.

Before she could even recall beyond that, she felt her brain sizzle inside her. She sighed as she continued her work; she could still hear a few people gossip and make fun of her, but she was already used to it. She did not really care what they thought.

Meanwhile, while Michelle did her job; Athena had been waiting for the time to go by, restlessly sharpening her knives on the roof of the high school building. She sat by the shadow of the only entrance there.

Her mind was full of questions and she was restless, and not to mention impatient. She wanted the answers then and there when she confronted Branforth, but he would not budge. She did not like her patience tested, simply because she had none. But Branforth held the answer to her great annoyance.

How could he even smell like that? Was that even possible to begin with?

She pondered as she looked at her blue eyes through her knife and as she stared at it, she recalled how Branforth’s eyes quickly shifted to gold. Was he even human? Athena did not know. All she knew was he was a threat to her and she wants to deal with him as soon as possible.

What irritated her more was the fact that he was Michelle’s mentor. Does she know anything? Impossible, she answered her own thoughts. Athena knew that Michelle was nothing like a threat nor even a civilian. And last Friday only prove her assumptions true.

You’re blood smells delicious

She recalled the words of the red-eyed woman and pondered on her answer to Michelle the night she confronted her. Had she known about it? Athena only bluffed Michelle at that time when she mentioned their motives. But she never intended for it to be true.

This is all bull’s crap.

Flicking her tongue, she raised the volume of her music; the violins screeched against her ears to bar any sound around her. She wanted the silence her music offered – a silence that none can ever fill or make. Whenever she listened to the sweet strings of the violins play, she felt comfort and ease.

Even if she had a long day or a long journey, her music always helped her get through it. It was something to escape to whenever reality hits her harder than her grandfather’s harsh words. It was all Athena had that was closest to a friend.

She stood up and walked over the edge, then eyed the people below her. Their stench still invaded her nostrils, but not as strong as they usually were. It was as if today had been a complete opposite for her sense of smell; she briefly clamped the bridge of her nose, hoping to make sense of it, but it was as it is.

As she leaned against the edge, she spotted a familiar dark hair pass through the tall gates of the Academy. Was that Michelle? She thought whilst she squinted her eyes as if to confirm that it was in fact her. As she concentrated on her back, she noticed the smell in the air and knew that it was indeed Michelle.

She looked up at the sky and realised that it was too early for her to be going home. Did Branforth release her early? She thought as she walked towards the exit and descended the staircase, eager to finally get some answers.

Athena flew to the Janitor’s closet in haste and as she opened the door, there was none there. She entered the room and realise that the smell in there slowly faded; it was as if Michelle’s scentless presence overwhelmed the room.

She sat on the metal stool and closed her eyes, then hung her head low. She let her senses determine where Branforth was, but his strong stench had already faded, which made her itch a little – itchy to slice his throat. She wanted her answers and if he did not give them, she would end him.

“You’re here.”

Athena looked over her shoulder and her piercing blue met his dark brown eyes. He felt the same cold whisper graze his spine every time she eyed him indifferently, as if she wanted to pull his guts out. At this rate, she might if he does not provide her with answers.

“Come with me,” Branforth spoke as he took a rake from one of the stands, then gave Athena one and one for himself. Athena stared at him indifferently, a little confused as to why he gave him one, but would be tremendously pissed if he asked her to rake the leaves.

Branforth exited the room and headed for the southern garden; there were not much people left in the Academy, but Athena could hear faint whispers about her, but she did not care about them. She would gladly cut their nosy tongues off, but she had other things to deal with right now.

“Do you know what a werewolf is?”

Athena raised a brow as she removed her headphones whilst following him, “Werewolf?”

“Yes, lycanthropy to be specific.”

“What are yo-“

“Give me the rake,” Branforth cut her as they arrived at the empty southern garden where the tall trees of the Academy were. She complied and threw it at him, but he caught it on reflex which drew all of Athena’s attention. “Lycanthropy, you know of it I’m sure.”

“Werewolves are fiction, they don’t exist old man.”

Branforth chuckled as he loosened up on her, “So, you say. But you yourself are one.”

Athena furrowed her brow at his accusation; she clenched her jaw as Branforth shifted his eyes to gold to prove his point. As his eyes turned gold, the odiferous stench returned, which made something inside Athena twitch, the need to rip something new burned within her.

Involuntarily, Athena bared her teeth as if on instinct and slouched down as if she wanted to battle. Her senses had gotten haywire as if they are not hers to control and he provoked it out of her. But, how? Branforth shifted his irises back to his natural ones and as he did, Athena smelt the airs around him change. Shaking her head, Athena could not believe what she just did; she stood tall once again whilst her eyes widened as they dropped to her hands, but retained the same indifference across her face.

“I don’t believe you,” Athena brushed him off as she clenched her fist. The uncertainty she just felt was overwhelming that her vexation grew ten times bigger. She turned her back to him and began walking away, as Branforth sighed as he eyed her back with pity.

He began to rake the auburn leaves as he recalled his own revelation; “You’ll believe it when you see it, kid.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fear is the greatest weakness you can have, Athena. Discard it. Let it fuel your hate.

Athena recalled her grandfather’s words as she slowly opened her eyelids; she had dozed off at the tree outside of Michelle’s dorm room. She did not know why she went there to begin with, but there was something that drew her to Michelle.

It was one of those questions that remained unanswered and Athena thought that if she waited, just maybe, the answers would reveal themselves. But why was she so hell bent on finding the answers? She did not know, but there was something inside her that compelled her to find out.

The sun had already set and the full moon met the starry sky. Athena hid under the shade of the leaves, whilst her eyes remained on Michelle; she watched her silently whilst Michelle remained on her desk for almost three hours now, probably studying.

As she watched her, Michelle on the other hand had other thoughts in her head; Athena crossed her mind earlier on, wondering why she felt a tense atmosphere between her and Mr. Branforth. Athena had waited for her at the closet after last period for the whole week, so it was natural that Mr. Branforth would be used to her.

But there was just something different about today. Michelle sighed as she stretched her arms and stood up; she walked towards her window and peered out into the sky. Athena noticed Michelle as she approached the window and studied her; Michelle smiled at the full moon as she marvelled at its beauty.

Athena felt a small tingle inside her as she kept her eyes on Michelle; that tingle is her biggest question yet. What was causing it? Can she even get rid of it if she knew? Athena leant back on the tree as she kept her eyes on her and just took in her beauty.

Michelle sighed as she returned to her homework as she briefly looked at the time; 9:30 the clock read. She stretched once again as she contemplated on whether or not she should do for dinner. As thought about it, her phone rang; she immediately sat back on her chair and picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, kiddo.”

“Mr. Finnegan, good evening,” Michelle replied a little uncomfortable.

“How have you been, Michelle?”

“I’m alright. I’m just doing homework, right now.”

“Homework? Do you need any help, kid?”

Michelle smiled as she chuckled, “No, sir. I can handle it.”

“Are you sure?”

Michelle sighed as she tapped her pen on the table, “Yes, sir. I can manage.”

“Alright, kid. Anyway, I’ll pick you up in ten, okay? Let’s have dinner out.”

“Okay, I’ll get ready then.”

“Okay, see you in a bit.”

Michelle dropped the phone and sighed before she started to get dressed. Even though she would rather eat at the cafeteria downstairs, she thought she had to at least dine with Mr. Finnegan once in a while. After all, he was her legal guardian.

Just as she promised, she was at the lobby under ten minutes. A red Cadillac pulled up in front of the dorm and honked its horn; Michelle smiled as she approached the old car and got in. Mr. Finnegan smiled at Michelle as she got in.

“So, what do you want to eat?”

“I’ll have anything just about now.”

Mr. Finnegan chuckled, “Cockroach on a stick?”

“Ewwwwwwww, no!” Michelle giggled at his joke.

“Well, you said anything.” Mr. Finnegan retorted with a smile as his light brown eyes met Michelle’s amber; his wrinkled eyes added charm to his slightly sagged skin as his smile pulled all that up.

Michelle did not know him that much; she only knew that he was in his late fifties and became a widow when his wife died back in ’89, and that they had no children. Michelle admired his deep love for his deceased wife, even though it has been quite some time since her death; he treasured his wife.

Michelle met him just four months ago; the memory was quite a blur for her, but she knew that he found her bloodied in the woods as he recounted to her once. And ever since that day, he had taken care of Michelle. But she did not want to hamper on his life, so she had asked him to let her live her life alone.

At first, Mr. Finnegan refused given the situation; Michelle clearly had no memory of herself and he wanted to find her parents. But when she insisted that she wanted to live her life, he could not say no. Michelle had lived with him for only two months since their encounter – just enough time for her to recover.

That was when he asked his Alma matter to take her in, but Michelle added a condition that she would pay the tuition herself. Mr. Finnegan then offered the school her services as a janitor under Mr. Branforth.

Months passed and there she was, happily having dinner with her guardian. The two of them were close in a sense that he treated her like his own child. For the next hour, Mr. Finnegan asked Michelle questions, all of which about her first three weeks in school.

“Have you made any new friends?” He queried as he took a sip of water, his eyes studied her.

“Well,” Michelle thought about it as he noticed the uncertainty in her eyes and worried him. “There is this girl, her name is Athena. We hang out most of the day, but not outside.”

“You seem a little uncertain about her,” Mr. Finnegan pointed as Michelle gaze into his light brown eyes; it held concern, worry, and most of all, intrigue. “What’s the matter, child?”

“It’s nothing really, sir.” Michelle smiled weakly as if to supress her doubts, which did not seem to convince Mr. Finnegan but nevertheless, played along. “She just enjoys the silence between us.”

“Hmm, well it will get better, I’m sure.” He assured her as he patted her shoulder which made Michelle smile warmly. “Well, I better take you home.”

Michelle nodded as she got up and followed him out the door; the night breeze blew as she looked at the beautiful full moon. It was magnificent tonight for its size, a lot bigger than it was supposed to be so they say.

They both hopped in the car and in a matter of seconds they were on the road. Michelle leant against the window as she thought about her relationship with Athena; sure she liked her company, but is that all there is to this friendship?

Michelle was not asking for much, but she would want to know something about Athena. She barely knew anything about her, anything except the fact that she liked classic music and is something of a fighter.

The first time they met – the night that bloodsucker was there – she knew that she was something different. She was able to bring down such a person and be able to come for class the next day was something else. But Michelle never had the courage to bring it up.

Somehow, there was something inside her that told her not to; as if just by asking, whatever they had would vanish. And Michelle did not want that. She sighed as Mr. Finnegan pulled in front of her dorm. He bade her goodnight and drove on.

Michelle sighed as she returned to her room; the darkness of her room made her feel a little lonely. She started to strip in the darkness as she flicked the light switch.

“Evening.”

Michelle jumped at the sound of a familiar voice; her heartrate sped up as she turned to where it came from. She held her chest as she saw Athena crossed-legged on her chair, eyeing her carefully.

“How do you keep getting in here?”

“Window.”

“It’s eight stories high.”

“Ask me then,” Athena provoked Michelle, aware that there were still questions that needed answering. Michelle studied Athena’s expression; her blue eyes remained indifferent, but there was something different about her.

“What are you really?”

“I’m an assassin.” Athena told her truthfully and wondered how she would respond to it. Athena had a lot of questions in her head too, but she wanted to stop running away and confront it. The tingle that Michelle gave her every time she was nearby; she wanted to know how was she doing that to her.

“Are you really?” Michelle felt her body stiffen at her response as she made her way to her wardrobe to change. She was unsure whether to believe Athena or not, but she was sure that there was some truth to her.

Athena drew her knife and stood behind Michelle; she put her blade on Michelle’s neck as she felt the coldness of the steel. Michelle could not believe what was happening; she dropped her change of clothes involuntarily as Athena pressed the knife closer to her skin.

“Do you believe me now?” Athena whispered against Michelle’s ear with her lips lightly grazing her earlobe; she listened to the beating of her heart that sounded like it was screaming against her ears.

“Athena?” Michelle squeaked as a cold chill grazed her spine, which made Athena retract her blade. Michelle turned around slowly as she watched her sheathe her dagger and caught a glimpse of several more under her skirt.

“Who are you, Michelle?” Athena asked as she sat on the chair once again and studied Michelle as she slowly picked up her clothes, then changed as if nothing happened.

“I,” Michelle began as she halted herself from pulling up her pyjamas; her mind returned to her deep thoughts about those two nights. “Don’t know myself.”

Athena studied her and found her telling the truth; the tingle inside her appeared once again as she felt the need to hug her. What is this feeling? She thought as Michelle sat on the bed and refused to meet her gaze.

Michelle pondered on all this information; her being an assassin would explain how she was able to handle such a person the first time they met. Michelle knew that Athena was capable and strong in her own way, but she never thought that she would be an assassin of all things.

That night at the restaurant, she remember calling out to her, but why? Michelle now knew that it was Athena that took her back, if what she said was true – that she was an assassin - then only she would be able to actually pull that off. Realisation hit her and the questions that surrounded Athena slowly went away now that Michelle saw a glimpse of the truth.

But, now that she knew, how does she feel about it?

“Are you here to kill me?” Michelle managed to squeak as she felt her skin grow cold as she lifted her eyes and met Athena’s cold blue eyes, her heartbeat on the run.

Interesting, Athena thought as she locked eyes with Michelle, still trying to figure her out. Athena felt an itch in her fingers as she tried to supress the need to touch Michelle – hold in her in a way that she was not used to.

The way she looked at her; the confidence, fear, and anticipation all at the same time intrigued her. In all her life, she has never once met a person who looked an assassin in the eye without begging for their life. She was used to seeing the fear, but Michelle’s fear was driven by another emotion – one she was not sure what.

A warmth suddenly spread inside Athena as she watched Michelle; there it was again and she still could not figure out how she was doing that to her. Athena sighed mentally as she stood up and walked towards the window. She could not bear the feeling inside her and it vexed her that she did not know how to get rid of it.

“Thank you.”

Athena halted her footsteps and looked at Michelle, who had a smile across her face with kindness emitting in her stare.

“For saving me twice.”

Athena dismissed her gratitude and left the place; she was confused and as she walked away from Michelle’s room she felt a pain inside her chest that she could not explain. It was something that she wanted to remove, but somehow a part of her told her that it was something that she could not remove.

What is this feeling?