The Institute

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Violet, happy birthday to you. Hip hip, hurray! Hip hip, hurray! Hip hip, hurray!" I sit on the sofa, the lights turned off as my human friend's chant in a singsong fashion walking out with a massive red velvet cake, my favourite. I smile as I look at each of their faces, their faces aglow and eyes dancing with the lights of the twenty-one candles that are slowly melting. "Make a wish babe." my boyfriend, Matthew, whispers in my ear as he wraps his hand around my waist and pulls me close to his side.  'I wish… I wish that I can stay here forever.' I pray inside my mind, my eyes screwed shut as if it would make my wish more likely to come true. I reopen my eyes and blow out the small flames to the cheers of the people I am closest to in this world feeling their love and affection for me.  You see, I am a half breed. Unknown to the humans, who walk around in ignorant bliss, all the things you were told go bump in the dark are real. The boogie man does exist and you really should be afraid of the dark. Now usually, someone like me would be raised by my own kind, except my own kind, want nothing to do with me. That is what happens when you are half witch, half vampire. Unlike in the very popular TV shows which are much more fanciful than real life, some vampires can reproduce.  The original vampires were a couple of witches who were madly in love and wished as many do, to live forever. Witches can live for a long time, but it uses a lot of energy to stay young and eventually their power dries up and they shrivel up like a prune. They finally managed to do the impossible, only needing the life force of others to keep them young, strong and experience everlasting life. When they had their first child, Serina, they found that their gift had been passed on to them. When Serina turned twenty-one, she stopped aging and stayed her beautiful self for many decades, but she was lonely. It didn't take long until Serina figured out how to turn others into creatures like her, and desperate for friends that would not wither and die, as well as a love to rival that of her parents, she turned a lot of people. However, whereas these new turned vampires could turn others, they could no longer have children. Serina, desperate to know if she suffered the same fate, began to try and have a child of her own and she found that she could reproduce with another vampire. That is how the nosferatu were created.  Nosferatu believe themselves to be better than your average vampire and believe that they are the 'superior' supernatural beings. They only tend to couple up with other nosferatu or other vampires, except in my case. I am the first known nosferatu-witch half breed. My parents, under pressure from the others of their clans, separated soon after I was born. Neither party wanting a 'filthy half breed', I was sent to live amongst the humans. Little did they know how much I would love it here.  Although I did struggle for the first eighteen years of my life, being passed around like a hot potato and struggling with perpetual loneliness, the past three years have been amazing. Humans are fascinating and wonderful creatures, they enjoy every day, their lives so short and fleeting in comparison to my own. I made a life for myself here. Although I may not have a family, I have all I need. I have love, not only the friendship type but the heart skipping, butterflies in your stomach type as well. I don't want to leave; I want to stay in my happy little human bubble forever. But I can't.  You see, although my family decided I was not worth the trouble, being the first of my kind the council saw me as big trouble. The council is made up of a representative of each of the major species, vampire, werewolf, witch, fairy and angel. Every year, the day after my birthday, I have to go in front of the council so that they can measure my 'progress'. Really, they want to see how the freak is progressing. That is how I know about the past of my people and my own existence.  When I went before the council last year, they discussed extracting me from the human world and enrolling me in Asloxorth’s, Institute of the Arcane a year early. Usually, supernatural children go there when they turn twenty-one, to hone their skills and keep them safe. As a nosferatu, I have not yet had to drink the blood of another. But now my aging had stopped, I would need to drink blood in order to live, otherwise I would desiccate and become a dried-out husk. I wouldn't die but it wouldn't be a pleasant experience. Being around humans as well was not safe, I could develop blood lust, wanting to gorge myself on the blood of others and end up exposing us all, as well as killing the ones I love and cherish.  The only reason I was not sent away then was because the vampire and nosferatu representative, Mirovi, headmaster of the institute and my biological father overruled their decision. This was the only time I interacted with my father. He was a cold man, and no that is not a vampire pun. In all the years I had seen him, he has never once smiled at me, never waved, no familial greeting or hug. If I wasn't informed of our relationship, I would never have guessed it. My mother, Liona, always attended the meetings as well. Not as a representative of the council but as a bystander. She was just as cold to me as Mirovi and it made me grateful that neither of their pompous clans wanted me.  Tomorrow I would have to go before the council again, and this time I doubted Mirovi would be able to overrule the others' decision. Which would mean goodbye TV. Goodbye coffee with my friends. Goodbye crappy minimum wage job at the mall which I have a love hate relationship with. Goodbye friends and Matthew, their minds wiped to not even remember my existence and hello to Asloxorth’s Institute of the Arcane, where I am sure that I will be as welcome as a fox in a hen house.  "Cut the cake babe." Matthew whispered in my ear, his breath on my neck as his husky tone snapping me out of my daze. I picked up the knife and slice the cake into equal sections, sharing them out amongst the seven of us crammed into my tiny apartment. The music that had been paused to sing happy birthday was restarted and we went back to sitting around, drinking, talking and eating our cake.  "It's time for presents!" my friend Katie squealed as she clapped her hands together. Each of my friends and Matthew pulled out a small box from behind their backs.  "You shouldn't have." I blush as I look at them all with affection.  "Don't be silly, you are the first of us to hit the big two one. I am sure you will do the same for us." Katie scoffs, thrusting her gift into my hands.  I swallow the lump that has formed in my throat, not as sure of my reciprocation as Katie was, given that they may not even remember me by the end of tomorrow. I pushed my doubts and fears to one side, determined that if this is to be my last night with my friends then I am going to enjoy it. I fumble with the tightly sealed gift with enough Sellotape rapped around it to wrap ten gifts, trying to pry open any corner I can as my fiends' giggle at my attempt. Finally ripping off the paper, a pack of tarot cards falls into my lap. "Thank you." I say, my voice uncertain as I pick up the packet, eying it wearily with an appreciative smile plastered on my face.  "Well, you have all that creepy crap in your room that you don't let us touch, I thought this would be right up your street." Katie explains, everyone nodding in agreement.  The 'creepy crap' as Katie calls it is my own little training equipment that I try to keep locked away from my friend's prying eyes. However, my friends being who they are, nosey buggers, managed to find it all and I may have overreacted slightly. I have managed a few spells and potions, figuring it out on my own with no help or supervision. I wasn't supposed to, but if you found out that you were part witch, living in a world where magic is the thing of fairy tales, wouldn't you do the same? But I knew that one wrong move and the council would not hesitate to punish me, and so I had banned my friends from ever touching my stuff again. Not only that, but it was dangerous. Every time I tried something new, I knew that I could end up blowing myself up, but it was a risk that I was willing to make so fascinated with what could be.  "Ooo, do a reading." Matthew encouraged beside me, my other friends nodding and clearing some of the empty beer bottles from the table in front of me to have space to work.  I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth, unsure if this is the right thing to do, but one look at the excited expressions on my friends faces and I couldn’t say no. I flipped open the cardboard lid and shuffled the oversized cards as best I could. Katie grabbed the tiny booklet that came with the cards and eagerly awaited me drawing a card. I took a deep breath and placed the deck on the table.  I picked up the first card, turning it over to show a depiction of a man lying on the ground with ten swords sticking out of him. "The ten of swords." Katie mumbled as she flicked through the pages. "A feeling of being powerless."  Yep, well that was on the nose. I grasped the next card, accidently pulling two together instead of one. "The tower and the empress." Katie studiously said, seeming to get a kick out of her little cheat sheet, as again she flicked through the pages. The tower had lightning coming off it, this could not be good. The empress though, was a beautiful woman sat on a throne with a Septer in hand. "ooo, you will find a new love." she giggles as I feel Matthew stiffen beside me. "Seems like quite the romance as well. This goes on about how it will be electrifying and finding new ways to climax."  The others giggle like school children but I can feel Matthew pull away from me slightly. I go to pack up the cards, muttering "I think that is enough for one day."  "Oh, come on." Katie pouted. "You have to draw five cards and you have only done three. It is just a bit of fun."  I look over to Matthew who sighs and nods. He knows as well as I do that it is much easier to give Katie her own way than try and fight against her. I placed the deck back on the table and drew again, pulling a card with a guy trying to carry a load of sticks. "The ten of wands." Katie announces as she flicks through the pages. "You will be put in a situation where you feel in over your head."  Great, just great. I sighed as I turn over the last of the five cards, displaying a heart with three swords sticking out of it. "The three of swords. You will be betrayed." Katie says, her voice chirpy and upbeat. Everyone else laughs, finding the whole thing hilarious nonsense. I neatly stack the cards back together and slide them back into the box, hoping that they are right, but magic seems to come in many different forms, and although I was not sure if the mystics of tarot cards were real, I did not want to push my luck.  "My gift next." Matthew insists, seeming to relax now that the talk of me finding another love is over with. He hands me a thin rectangular wrapped box, which was much easier to get into than Katie's gift given it had under half the amount of tape wrapped around it. I pulled out a thin blue box from the end I managed to open, the girls in the room ooing and ahhing before I had even taken the lid off.  I pulled off the lid, revealing a beautiful silver necklace with a half-moon pendant on a thin silver chain. In the centre of the pendant was a beautiful purple stone. "Thank you." I whispered as I wrapped my arms around his neck, causing Matthew to laugh in a deep tone as he hugged me back. I pulled back and he indicated for me to turn as he pulled the chain from the box and, after fumbling with the clasp a few times with his oversized fingers, put the necklace on around my neck. I smiled as I looked down, holding the beautiful pendant in my hand.  My other gifts consisted of other 'creepy' stuff, Katie obviously leading the charge in my friends’ gift choices. I got an incense burner, a beautiful notebook with a pentagram on the front, a lovely multicoloured canvas bag and a matching long sleeved hoodie which fit perfectly.  We spent the rest of the night relaxing, enjoying our youth together. I let the dread of tomorrow slip away, laughing and joking with those I held closest to me. We drank way too much and as the last of them left in the two taxis we called to take them home Matthew pulled me to him, his eyes dark with lust. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" he asked, pushing his semi erect member against my stomach.  I giggled slightly letting a small groan escape me. "I have to get up early tomorrow and you snore like a freight train when you have been drinking."  "I wasn't thinking about getting much sleeping done." he smirked as he pushed himself into me once more.  I bit my lip, tempted to give in to his request. "I can't." I whined. "I'll ring you after my meeting at work tomorrow."  "Fine." Matthew sighed, leaning down and placing a passionate kiss on my lips, his tongue searching my mouth as a small moan escaped me. "Something to remember me by." he whispered as he pulled back, a massive smirk on his face as he turned and headed down the stairs.  I waited until Matthew was out of view before I closed the door, leaning my back against it as I sighed. I hoped that that isn't all I have to remember Matthew by, I thought it myself, my hand automatically going to my pendant as I pushed off the door and padded through to my bedroom for some much-needed sleep.