Beauty and the Beasts

Diluted Blood

Jasmine slowly walked into the hallways, her head down. She had heard the news, it was everywhere. Ian had been found dead in a lonely, deserted road. It wasn't possible he had gone there since he was still recovering fron the injuries Andrew gave him, and everyone has come to be alerted. They say it is a wild animal, but everyone at school believes otherwise.

"How could he go that far?"

"What is new about joking around with a girl? What did he say so bad that he had to kill him?"

"That's her. She is the girl."

"She isn't even that pretty..."

Jasmine swallowed, her hands clenched into fists as she walked down to the row of lockers. Andrew was standing in front of hers, his back to it, one leg propped up so his foot was flat out on the wall.

She lowered her head, then took a step further, deciding to not open the locker at all.

"Do you believe it too?" Andrew suddenly asked, turning to her. He was wearing a hood, and when she turned, she could see how sunken his eyes were.

"We...we have class."

Andrew swallowed, then held her hand as she tried to leave.

"Andrew, we have class."

"Do you really believe that I killed him?"

"Andrew!"

Andrew turned to the new voice, and Zane walked up to them. He wrapped his hand around his, then pulled it off Jasmine's, his gaze cold.

"Let the girl go."

Andrew yanked his hand away from Zane, his eyes flashing as he looked up to Zane. "Don't you dare touch me."

"You want to prove the rumors? Go on ahead." He leaned forward to Andrew. "I have always needed you to get the hell out of my mate's way."

Andrew's fists clenched, but he said nothing, and slowly walked away, leaving the school altogether. Jasmine felt tears well up in her eyes, and she turned around, knowing class was not the best place for her to be at this point.

"Jasmine."

She turned to Zane, her lips quivering hard.

"I will drive you home."

She nodded, feeling so grateful, then slowly walked in front of him. He took a few things from his office so as not to make it too obvious, then followed her to the car.

She was standing in front, her hand wrapped around her, her head lowered, her hair moving with the slow rhythm of the breeze. Zane stopped walking, his mind immediately losing everything else that had occupied it.

For some reason, all he could see was her, her tear stricken face, her hair. He swallowed, then walked up to her.

"Get in."

She said nothing, but let herself in, then rested on the dashboard, her body feeling slightly weak.

Zane started to drive slowly, with no intentions of taking her home. She needed more than a little enclosed space with nothing but her thoughts clouding around her.

"Do you think Andrew killed him?"

Zane said nothing. Andrew is a vampire. Of course, he killed him. But then if he told her, how would he explain why he knew? Or who she was to both of them?

"It was probably a wild animal. But even if I had a squabble with someone today and the person died the next day, I would doubt myself."

She turned to him, then gave a slow nod. "It is all just a misunderstanding, right?"

Zane nodded, slightly shrugging. The last thing he wanted to talk about was Andrew, especially since he knew exactly why he was lingering around Jasmine, waiting for Saturday like he was too.

Zane suddenly parked the car, then leaned back. On the far side of the road were fields of flowers, and he rolled the glasses down.

"Why did you stop?"

"Take some time to breathe. You need that more than trying to play detective right now."

She gave a small smile, then turned outside. The morning breeze pushed through her hair, and she closed her eyes.

Suddenly, flashes of the day before came back, the blood that had stained Andrew's shirt and fist, the boy's limp body, his swollen face. The way Andrew had turned monster from being the calmest person ever.

She suddenly opened her eyes and turned around, tears filling them again. Without a word, she leaned into Zane, her hands wrapping around him, her head buried in his chest.

Zane's eyes widened in surprise. He had no intention of even touching her before she turned eighteen, but this...

He let her stay there for a long time, feeling her body ease up a little. Slowly, she sighed, then leaned away, reaching her hands to wipe her tears away.

"I am sorry, I did not mean to. It just..."

"It's fine. Do you feel better?"

She immediately nodded, and he started the car again.

Andrew sneaked into the small room where the bodies were kept in the freezer, in his hand two blood bags. He looked around, making sure no one was there, before he walked in, checking the keys. He had stolen them from the attendant after asking which drawer Ian's body was in.

He went up to it, then slowly opened it up.

"Wake up."

Ian's eyes suddenly opened, and he sat straight up, almost mechanically. The wound on his neck was gone, and Andrew flipped the blood bags over to him.

He drank like he had never had anything better, and Andrew watched with satisfaction in his face. Once he was done, Andrew stepped away, watching as Ian jumped out of the drawer, his eyes dark red.

He walked closer to him, then held his face and put in the contacts. Light blue, like his eyes had been.

Andrew's smile spread his lips as he stepped away from the newly turned vampire, his eyes roaming his body, then his fangs. Ian was no small boy, and since he hadn't been able to bring any of the real vampires, he would take a diluted blood.

"Now, Ian. You belong to me."