The Institute

Chapter seven - Learn from the past

Petal was waiting for me when I came out of the alcove. She took one look at my angry expression and thought twice about chastising me about being late to my next class. Instead, we walked out and over to the main building, up two flights of stairs and down a corridor. It seemed that the inclusive classes all took place in the main structure as there was a mix of all the different supernatural creatures making their way to their next classes. Petal motioned to the door and gave me a small smile as I nodded to her in thanks and walked in. 

Again, thanks to being side tracked by Lazarus, the room was almost full. There were two spare seats left, one next to Zavira who was glaring at me as if to say 'don't even think about it' and another over by the window at the front. It was a no brainer as I walked to the front and slid into the single seater desk, before I heard a voice that I recognised beside me. I slowly turned my head to see Caleb sat beside me and Kadzait beside him. The two were looking at each other, laughing at something when Kadzait saw me and hit Caleb's arm before pointing towards me. 

"H-hey Violet." Caleb stuttered as he straightened up. I ignored him and pulled out my books, trying to decide which book to write in before I decided on neither and conjured another for my none inclusive inclusion lessons. "How is your first day going?" I gave him a bored look as if to tell him that I would rather be walking over hot coals than having this conversation. 

"That bad, huh?" Kadzait asked. 

I sighed. "Look, I sat here because I think Zavira would rather gouge my eyes out than have me sit with her." I explained. 

"Well, at least we aren't your least favourite people." Caleb smiled. 

"No, just a close third and fourth." I muttered. The two looked at each other confused for a moment as to who the second was, when the teacher walked in. 

"Welcome class." the teacher greeted as he walked to the front. I was surprised to see the angel from the council take up position at the front of the room, and even more surprised when his eyes landed on me and he gave me a warm smile. "Today we are going to discuss which species can procreate together." 

"Well, we know of two that can." Zavira announced, making her group of friends around her laugh. 

"And which two are those?" the teacher asked, falling right into her trap making me slide down slightly in my seat 

"Why don't you ask the filthy half breed?" she hissed, making her friends laugh even harder and me to sink so far down that I was almost on the floor/  

"Get out!" the teacher boomed, his angelic voice taking on a dangerous edge as his eyes turned pure white and his aura told everyone not to argue. I heard the scraping of chairs and then the opening and closing of the door before the teacher's eyes returned to their normal colour and he straightened his tie as if nothing had happened. "You will all learn to tolerate others in this school and especially in my classroom. Zavira will be punished for her comment against another student in my class, would anyone else like to join her?" 

The room was silent for a few moments before the teacher turned around and started to write on the board. I sat up a little, feeling a bit safer that this wasn't going to be an attack against me and began to write what he was writing. "Werewolves, angels, fairies and witches have been known to breed with each other when needed. Usually, their children take on only one of the parents' powers, meaning that if a witch and a werewolf had a child the child would be either a witch or a werewolf." 

"So why does…" someone began to ask, but their voice tapered off as they thought about what they were going to ask. The teacher smiled that their warning had got through to someone before nodding that they could ask their question. "How many times has it been known that the child will take on both of their parents' abilities?" 

"Only once in our written history." the teacher answered before his eyes landed on me for the briefest of seconds. "It is believed that as the nosferatu were originally witches and they tend to develop one magical ability, that a child of both nosferatu blood and witch blood would make the perfect hybrid of the two." he said to the class while I just sunk back into my chair. 

"It is unknown what would happen if a nosferatu bred with any other species as they tend to only breed with other nosferatu and vampires." I felt all eyes on me, some with curiosity and others with hatred as always. 

"Now, can anyone name a species that has depended on cross breeding to survive?" the teacher asked. 

I glanced over to Kadzait as it was his turn to shrink away, but he didn't. Instead, he straightened up and puffed out his chest in pride as he answered. "The Lycans." 

"That is right." the teacher praised as he turned and began to write on the board again. "Lycans depend on the ability to breed with other species in order for them to carry on the line. Due to the lack of female Lycans, the last dying years ago, without cross breeding the race would die out. That is why it is important for the Lycan alpha to choose a suitable mate. Only alphas can breed other alphas as if the alpha chooses an unsuitable mate, it could mean chaos for their pack. Usually, this suitable mate is a werewolf, and often an alpha as well." 

When the teacher turned around and started to write again, Kadzait looked at me for the briefest moment before concentrating on the book in front of him. The teacher went on to talk about how over the years, more and more cross breeding has happened between the species showing a level and development of tolerance. Yeah right, walk a day in my shoes and see how tolerant you think everyone is then. 

The class came to an end and I sighed as I packed my things away. "Hey Violet, sorry about my dad, he can be a bit intense at times." 

"Your dad?" I looked Caleb confused before he nodded over to the teacher who was clearing the board. "Your dad is the council angel representative." I stated. 

"Yeah, good old Gabriel. He is a hard ass, but usually fair." Kadzait shrugged. I thought back to how he was on the side of not sending me to Broken Hill, nodding as I packed up the rest of my stuff. I looked at my timetable, sighing as I saw I still had two classes left and I was already feeling drained. "It is lunchtime. You coming to the hall?" 

I thought about what my body needed, and I knew where I needed to go as I shook my head no. Kadzait and Caleb shrugged to each other and walked out of the room as I teleported myself to the feeding chamber. As it was not late at night, there were plenty of nosferatu and vampires milling around waiting to go into one of the feeding chambers. I sighed and joined the queue, keeping my head low as I shuffled forward. "Next." someone called as I looked up to realise, I was at the front of the queue. 

I walked over to the curtained room, being motioned in by a pissed off looking vampire before the curtains were pulled tight behind me. Chained in place on the sofa similar to the one I had been on last night was a human male. He had bite marks all over him and he looked pale as a ghost. The sight was revolting and my hand covered my mouth as I muffled a gasp. He was gaunt and looked like he was about to pass out. 

I started to back away, only stopping when my back was against the curtain as my hand fell down from my mouth to my necklace. I couldn't do this; I couldn't feed from him. I knew I wouldn't be able to stop and what little blood he had left was just enough to keep him alive. 

"Hurry up in there!" someone shouted and that was it. I turned and ran from the feeding room, tears streaming down my face as I ran aimlessly down corridor after corridor, not sure where I was going or how to get out of here. What if that was Matthew, or Katie? That poor human, chained up, being fed on until they died. How could they do this? How could they treat people this way? I found a set of stairs and ran up them, bursting through a door and feeling utter relief as I found myself outside. 

The fresh air hit my face as did the nausea I had been feeling as I turned to the side and emptied what little contents was in my stomach. Someone grasped my hair and pulled it back as I wretched again, bringing up only bile this time that burned my throat and made me wince. I took a deep breath, spitting out what was left in my mouth before I stood up straight. 

I turned to see who had helped me only to find Lazarus looking at me with a worried expression. I felt anger as I pushed him away from me. "I'm fine." I stated as I wiped my mouth on the back of my hand. 

"No, you're not." Lazarus sternly replied as his eyes burned into me. I pushed past him and stormed across the open courtyard, hearing him following close behind me. "Violet, you need to feed." 

"I'm fine." I hiss back. 

"No, you're not!" he yelled as he grabbed my arm, turning me to him. "You think Mirovi just happened to be teaching our class today? He is keeping an eye on you; he wants you to learn how to feed." 

"I'm fine." I shout, a little louder than I meant to making others walking by stop and stare at us. 

"What is going on here?" I sighed as I turned to see both Caleb and Kadzait running over to us. 

"Back off you two, this is none of your business." I hissed, I then turned and glared at Lazarus. "Or yours." 

I tried to walk away again, but Lazarus grabbed me and Caleb and Kadzait blocked my path, looking at Lazarus with confusion. "She won't feed." he whispered sounding almost defeated. 

I turned and gave Lazarus a scathing look as I felt Caleb and Kadzait step even closer. "Violet, you have to feed." Caleb whispered. 

"I'm fine." I gritted out. 

"No, you're not. I know you're not. You're hungry and you're angry and upset." Lazarus announced. 

Kadzait looked at Lazarus with a dangerous look. "How do you know all that?" his eyes then went to me and he stepped even closer. "You fed off him?" I looked away, feeling my face heat at the judgement in his eyes. 

"She didn't know about blood sharing, she needed to feed." Lazarus shrugged, a smirk on his face. 

I didn't know what was going on, Caleb grabbed my arm and pulled me to him, making me stumble slightly as Kadzait's fist narrowly missed me and connected with Lazarus's jaw. "You son of bitch." he gritted out as he brought back his fist and hit him again. Caleb kept me pulled hard against his chest as I looked on in shock as Kadzait pulled his hand back to take another swing. 

Lazarus smirked and tackled Kadzait, the two falling to the floor at my feet as Caleb pulled me back to a safe distance. "Are you mad that she fed from me, or are you mad that she didn't come crying to you?" Lazarus taunted as he dodged another of Kadzait's blows. "Or, do you wish that you had what I have, a hotline to where Violet is and how she feels?" with the Lazarus struck out, hitting Kadzait in the jaw. "Do you want to know how she feels when she is turned on, or how delicious her moans are when she feeds?" 

My face burned with embarrassment at Lazarus’s word as Kadzait let out a primal growl, his hands shifting to claws as he struck out at Lazarus, slicing through his uniform and drawing blood from his chest. Lazarus hissed in pain and then used his enhanced speed to deliver three brutal blows to Kadzait's face. "Stop them." I gasped out, looking up at Caleb who winced as his friend took the third blow from Lazarus. "Please." I begged. 

His eyes moved down to my face, as I looked at his pleadingly. He sighed and nodded before stepping forward and getting in the middle of both of them, ripping them apart. "Both of you, pull yourselves together." he ordered, his eyes turning white as he held the two apart with ease. "Neither of you are helping anyone making a scene like this." he whispered. 

Lazarus and Kadzait looked around, as did I, to see a large gathering around us, looking on with interest. I put my hand up to cover my blushing face as the onlookers started to whisper amongst themselves. How much had they heard? Kadzait and Lazarus not exactly being discreet in their anger while fighting. 

That question was answered as Mirovi pushed his way through the crowd, his eyes landing on me and then the other three as he ordered. "You four, my office." he then looked around at the rest of the students gathered. "Everyone else, back to class." there was a bustle of movement as Lazarus and Kadzait stared at each other menacingly a moment longer before they both shrugged free of Caleb and started to walk inside. 

I hung my head and followed in behind them, hearing snippets of what people were saying as I passed them. People were calling me a blood slut, a w***e, joking that I had been here a day and already worked my way through three men. I grabbed on to my necklace, knowing that I had tried to stay true to Matthew as much as I could. I didn't want to be drawn to these three, even though they seemed to be going out of their way to be close to me. I remembered the promise to myself not to give in, not to let them in. Although that promise was proving to be harder to keep than what I first thought.