Cursed Blood

Chapter 4

My school day rolled to an end. I got a fancy ride in a private limo of our school (because we have no school buses) and then headed homeward. On workdays, Mom usually works late, and because I was raised in a single-parent family, the one who arrives first will make dinner. But now I felt completely washed-out and hungry. My shoulders slumped as I dragged myself through the hall. My hands and legs almost dropped off onto the floor limb by limb.

As I reached the kitchen, my whole body started trembling. I walked straight to the fridge and opened it. My eyes quickly scanned for a blank carton on the shelf. The delicious smell rushed to my nose. Grabbing the container out of the fridge, I couldn't even wait to find a glass and just gulped it down impulsively.

Then the trembling subsided. Mom has always reminded me about drinking milk whenever I feel exhausted. I guess she's got a point. But my craving grows more intense recently; maybe it's because of my teenage hormones. I got myself a second helping and then went upstairs to my room.

My mom returned home around dinner time, and like every day I heard her coming before she even opened the door.

"Good evening, mom!" I called out, "You're so early today."

"Honey, how many times do I have to tell you to lock the door?" she said disapprovingly.

"Our residence is pretty safe, besides it hasn't gone dark yet," I said as I brought a plate of stirred vegetable and put it into the microwave. We live in the most peaceful district of our town where it has the lowest rate of crime in the record, but Mom is always cautious about everything.

"Never underestimate anything, dear," she told me, "Bad things do happen to good people."

"I'll remember that," I promised with a smile. Mom had brought some more milk cartons from the nutrition department of the hospital and was loading them into the fridge. I couldn't remember not having milk. Mom just wouldn't let it run out of stock.

"Mom?" I hesitated.

"Yes?"

"You don't have to keep bringing milk home, and I think I don't need to drink it at school either..."

"God, no!" she cried in surprise, looking as if I'd just told her I was going to shave my head and pierce a ring on my nose.

"But..."

"Honey, it's for your health benefit."

"But I'm perfectly healthy!" I protested again, and my mom seemed to roam inside her head searching for another reason.

"Trust me, Viv, you need it," she finally said. Of course, I always trust her, not only because she's a doctor, but also because she's my mom.

"But..." I opened my mouth to speak again when Mom raised her hand up to stop me. I wasn't being rebellious, though something that lingered in her voice sounded quite mysterious to me. She looked at me for a moment and sighed.

"Listen, Vivienne, your body needs much more calcium than normal people. You can eat or drink anything, but you would still have to drink milk, and that's that."

It was already a proven fact this evening after I got some milk in my system, the trembling died down. Now, I just started to get a hang of that idea.

"So what you're saying is- I'm a milkaholic?"

"Theoretically speaking," Mom laughed.

"What kind of an 'aholic' is that?" I asked in disbelief. Mom just gave me a satisfied beam.

I was sleeping on my bed when the full moon rose as huge and bright as the sun. The silver radiance poured through the window. I winced at the unusual sickening light.

Then I saw a shadow of a man standing by my bed. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, he stepped forward revealing his tall figure and smooth pale skin. I felt a strong familiarity brushed over me. He raised his fair moonlit face and gazed into my eyes. And then in such a plain view, he disappeared slowly into a puff of smoke.

I woke up from my sleep with a start. My heart raced insanely. I just had a very strange dream. The dime light of dawn broke through the window. After my heartbeat got even again, I rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom.

After finishing a bath, I came to stand in front of the mirror, but then I had to do a double take at my own reflection. I leaned closer to examine my face. This was weird-really weird since I had never woken up looking so...not me? My eyes looked cat-like bright, my skin seemed to glow as if I'd just stepped out of a spa room. My hair even behaved like something in a hair product commercial, all shiny and smooth. Actually, my whole body freaked me out, but in a good way. Well, maybe I should give myself credit for being a vegetarian after all.

I went downstairs to find my mom in the kitchen. She was preparing our breakfast. I looked at her elegant body, her beautiful oval shape face, her ageless skin and then wondered how many male doctors had fallen in love with her.

"Morning, mom," I said.

"Morning honey," she replied, but when she saw me, her face lighted up in amazement, "Oh my, is that my daughter? You look so great!" I nearly jolted back in surprise. I was just in my usual uniform and make-up free. Nothing out of my routine, but what did she mean by that?

"Well...thank you," I said at last, "Not a bad hair day for me, I guess."

We sat together. Mom had made pancakes this morning. The strong delicious aroma wrapped around the kitchen. And as usual, I had a glass of milk waiting for me on the table.

"Mom, can I ask you something?"

"Yes, dear," she said, sipping her coffee while reading a newspaper.

"What was Dad like?"

Mom choked on her drink, frantically putting the cup down.

I don't know what made me ask this question. And for a moment, my mom looked like she was pulled back to a different time, sixteen years ago, probably even before I was born. This was the hardest part about asking this kind of question to her. You have to watch her face- it changed so entirely, but Mom tried to keep a positive tone in her voice.

"He's..." she paused and restated herself, "He was...like...an angel," and then she got this faraway look on her face. I never knew who my father was. We don't have any traces that can remind me of him. It has been just Mom and me in the picture all along. The only thing I know is that my dad died in an accident. And this might still be a grief for Mom that she never brought it up, or so I had never asked. Even now talking about him wasn't a pleasant thing. I wanted to tell Mom about my dream, but I decided to drop the subject. I just couldn't stand having her lost in some old and painful memories like that.

"Maybe, he's my guardian angel now," I said, ending the conversation with a smile to her. This seemed to loosen my mom up a little.

We finished our breakfast but before we got going, I headed to the fridge and took out a carton of milk. Suddenly, I had this funny idea. Unzipping my schoolbag, I fished out a black marker. Then I started to draw a cow face on my blank carton. I added to the cow picture with a tongue sticking out. Now, Alyssa is so not going to tease my milk carton ever again. Looking at the cow face made me snicker.

"What's so funny?" Mom asked, peering over my shoulder.

"Oh, it's nothing-"

"What's that, honey?" she took the milk carton from my hand and studied it.

"Just a tongue in the cheek joke," I replied.

"You draw a cow on your milk carton?" she asked, looking absently.

"Yes, because that's cow's milk, right?"

"Uh, yes, right," she replied awkwardly, "Nice drawing by the way," then she handed it back to me and walked away. Well, that made me scratch my head in puzzlement.

A moment later, when I stepped out of the door, the sunlight hit me. I shrunk back, squeezing my eyes shut. That was just too much input of brightness. I suddenly lost sight of everything.

"What's wrong, Vivienne?" Mom asked me in a panic tone. I hope it was only a temporary loss of sight. I tried to rub my eyes, but it just came in a blurry vision.

"The sun is too bright," I said, shielding my face with my hand.

"Really?" my mom sounded quite surprised to hear that, but then she just said, "You better put on the shade then." She handed me a pair of sunglasses from her purse.

"All right, honey?"

"Much better," I said, smiling, but Mom still looked mystified like she was trying to figure out something.

Later, I walked toward the Ancient Hall and spotted Cammie and Alyssa standing by the wooden gate of the building. Every day, I just know that they will be there waiting for me to show up. You just can't imagine how much I love these girls.

"Hello, ladies," I greeted them, but when they saw me, they froze with their mouths hanging open. "Sorry, I just had a little problem with my eyes this morning."

"Vivienne?...You look..." Cammie began, but unable to finish her sentence.

"Ah-may-zing!" Alyssa completed in three weird syllables.

"Er...well, thanks," I replied with a blush of embarrassment. I think they might have some problems with their eyes, too.

"Is there a hole in the sky? Because I think an angel just dropped down here," Cammie teased with a smile. I stepped up to her and pinched her nose.

"No wonder why girls fall on their knees for you."

"Yep, literally," Cammie agreed with a cool smirk.

"But really, Viv...you are so freakin..." Alyssa said.

"Aw...stop," I cut her off before my cheeks burned even hotter. "Let's get to class."

We started to walk inside afterward, but all the conversations that habitually echoed around the hall declined instantly- like someone had turned off the volume. As the three of us marched in step together, I could see many pairs of eyes turned to follow us.

"Why are they looking at us?" I couldn't help asking Cammie from the corner of my mouth.

"I think they're looking at you," she whispered back with a grin. What's wrong with me? I wanted to ask, but then I caught eyes with Jacques the new girl, and she was also staring at me, her arms folded on her chest, her face unreadable. I suddenly felt uneasy inside. There were some girls around her. They all looked like they were suffering from sleep deprivation.

Judging by the size of people who clung to her, I sort of understood. The girl must be gifted with interpersonal intelligence, namely the ability to charm people. But this seemed too far from my concern, so I brushed it aside and walked past her.

In biology class, I studied genetics. Each of us had made a replica of DNA for Ms. Grace, the only professor we had had since...forever. The theory says certain species carry different genes that make them diverse from each other. Humans pass down the same gene over and over. Some genes can even lurk in family lines and show up out of the blue, like straight hair in the family of all curly.

I like that I have Mom's dark-brown hair, thickly covering my shoulders and also a good pair of matching dark-brown eyes, but there are some parts of me that don't look like her, like my creamy white skin, high straight nose, and thick eyebrows, which slightly take on the masculine side, these must belong to my dad.

After biology was over, Cammie and Alyssa met me in the hallway.

"My mom sent for me," Cammie told us. "She wants me to drop by at her office before going to lunch."

"Are you in trouble for sleeping with the freshmen again, Cam?" I asked.

"FYI, she's not a freshman," Cammie said.

"What? I was just joking, and it's true?" I said.

"I'm telling you, Viv," Alyssa said, "the girl was smoking hot, an Indian chick for crying out loud. I walked in on them banging the hell out of each other last night."

My eyes grew twice the size of a ping-pong ball.

"Don't look at me like that, she's got nice butt!" Cammie just said as if it would justify her naughty deed. "Besides she helped me with my Sanskrit homework, so I made her scream my name along with her Hindu gods."

"You're going to hell, Cam, you know that," I said, even I'm not religious.

"I bet hell is full of fabulous people like me." She smirked.

Then we walked along the corridors past the overflowing students and staff members. A row of large shelves stood with trophies, awards, and plaques of honor from various competitions over the past hundred years. There are heads of the school founders made of stones with their names stamped on the plates. We stopped in front of the Headmistress's office. Cammie knocked on the massive door before she opened it, and then we followed behind her.

"What makes you want to see me, mom?" Cammie asked. Her mom stood up from her antique desk when she saw us coming. Cammie's mom looked like she could do modeling instead of being a school headmistress. With her long slim legs and breathtaking body, I had no doubt who Cammie took after.

The Headmistress's office smelled of sweet herbal tea and jasmine flowers. There were books on the shelves, stacking from floor to ceiling. Her massive desk was placed in front of a large window, overlooking the lively garden of the Ultara campus.

"Vivienne, Alyssa, how are you both?" she turned to ask the two of us.

"We're fine, Mrs. Logan. Thank for asking," I replied sincerely.

"Please, send my regard to your moms," she spoke to Alyssa and me. My mom was Cammie's family doctor as well as mutual friends and also with Alyssa's. Then the Headmistress turned to her daughter and spoke, "You just come at the right time, by the way, I have one more new student this year. And do you think you could make a tour for her?" she asked.

Alyssa looked at me and mouthed, "What?" I just shrugged back cluelessly.

"A tour for a new student?" Cammie asked exactly what we had in mind. Normally, we don't have to do a tour for new students, they can figure out by themselves after getting lost a few times unless this person is really important to the school.

"Oh, she's not just any girl, Camilla, dear. She comes from one of the founding families. All you have to do is show her around, and I'm sure she'll be here in a minute," after she said it, the thick wooden door of her office groaned open. Then a tall figure emerged from the doorway.

The three of us held our breath, unable to believe what we had just seen. We might as well imagine the whole thing because the girl who walked into the room looked like Narcissus's twin sister. She could even make Venus feel insecure. Her beautiful golden hair flew over the perfect shape of her hot feminine body. Her light brown eyes were soft and glittering. I could smell the scent of her flawless skin, which marked her different from anyone. I was taken aback by this hot goddess. The Headmistress was right- she's not just any girl. Her presence was like a slow motion movie, we almost didn't realize that we were unconsciously following her every move.

"Mother of God, who is she?" Alyssa whispered low into Cammie's ear.

"No idea," Cammie said tensely, probably trying to keep her fabulous xx chromosomes under control. "But wow...looks like I've met a serious competition here."

Suddenly the new girl's eyes shifted to my direction. I felt the chill of some remote recognitions rush into my body, but it seemed like she got the same feeling, her face twitched slightly in surprise as she looked at me. She withdrew her glance and went to shake hand with the Headmistress with a polite nod.

"I would like to introduce you to your classmates," the Headmistress spoke to the new girl. "This is Camilla, Alyssa, and Vivienne," she presented us. "I hope you all will tie a great friendship and help each other in time of need," she said with a smile, but we all were too paralyzed to give any greeting gesture. The girl smiled at us like some divine being.

"Nice to meet you," she said in a musical voice, "My name is Octavia."