Chapter 4-The student council

Chapter 4: 4-The student council

At exactly 4:00 a.m., the carriage stopped. Maisa looked outside and froze.

Veris Vampire academy stood before her. It was huge, ancient and extremely beautiful. The black towers reached toward the sky. The gates alone were taller than any building she had ever seen.

She stepped down slowly. The driver helped her with her luggage. Then he bowed his goodbye, "Good luck, Miss."

Before she could focus enough to offer a response, the carriage disappeared into the darkness. Leaving her alone by the gates of the unknown academy.

Maisa stood there so still without moving. Having an identity crisis, vampire... hunter... enemy... student. She stared at the gates and couldn’t decide which identity fit her more.

Then came the troubling questions. Should she knock? Call out? Run while there was still time?

Before she could decide, the gates opened. The motion was slow like the gates itself were trying to further her torment.

A girl stood on the other side, a vampire no doubt. She was dressed in black two piece tracksuit and sported sport shoes, her hair was tied in a flawless ponytail and at her hand she held a notebook.

Maisa immediately went tense. Her guilt had her convinced that the girl could see through her and recognize who she truly was.

The girl smiled politely. "You must be the new student, Maisa Loven."

Maisa forced herself to relax. "Uhm, yes."

"I’m your assigned guide."

The vampire looked her over. She looked Maisa over with curiosity. The semester already started and Veris wasn’t in the habit of late admitting which made her question Maisa’s connections to have landed such a chance as a turned redblood.

"My name is Kriza Kane," She paused. "Welcome to Veris Vampire Academy."

Maisa swallowed. Those were words she never thought she would here, not in thar lifetime at least. "Thank you," she replied weakly.

"The student council is waiting for you. Let’s make haste."

Her heart dropped. "Student council?" Maisa had no clue why they wanted to meet her when she just arrived.

"They’ll give you the academy rules and your schedule."

Of course, she breathed out a sigh of relief. Rules? Vampire rules? Her mind became chaotic again.

Maisa tightened her grip on her luggage. Every instinct told her to run. Every hunter instinct screamed that she was walking into enemy territory and should leave but there was nowhere else to go so she followed behind Kriza.

Step by step she walked through the gates. Into the world she had spent her entire life fighting and she couldn’t shake the feeling that the moment she entered the academy that her old life was gone forever.

The tower seemed taller the closer Maisa got to it. She had thought the academy gates were intimidating, but the student council tower was something else entirely.

It rose above the rest of Veris Academy, dark stone twisting toward the sky, ancient symbols carved into every surface. The windows reflected the moonlight like watching eyes, making her feel as if the entire building knew exactly what she was.

It knew she was an Everheart, a hunter, a mistake that had walked into its territory. Panic coursed through her, her dug her nails into her palm to calm her.

She followed behind her assigned guide, her footsteps echoing through the silent halls. Every sound felt too loud. The quiet conversations of passing students stopped whenever they noticed her. Their eyes followed her.

Some curious, others were full suspicion and the rest held cold judgement. They could sense instantly that she was a redblood which made no sense she gained a late admission to the academy.

Maisa tried not to react. A hunter never showed fear, that was what her father taught her but she wasn’t a hunter anymore and she hated that she still remembered every lesson from her former identity.

Her hands tightened around the handle of her luggage. She had spent years searching for this place. Her family had searched for the vampire school and it was not because they wanted to enroll students but because they wanted to destroy it.

Only days ago, she had been standing beside her family, listening to plans about finding Veris Academy. The legendary hidden school that trained young vampires. The place where future nobles and powerful bloodlines gathered.

The plan had been simple, destroy the young ones and force the older vampires to reveal themselves, then, eliminate them all.

She remembered the confidence in her father’s voice. "Cut the roots and the tree will fall."

At the time, she had believed him. She had believed she was protecting people. Now she stood inside the very place they wanted to erase.

She didn’t stand as a weapon, she wasn’t on a mission but she did so as one of them. The irony almost made her sick.

Her guide stopped at the top of the tower. "We’re here."

Maisa looked up. The doors before them were enormous, made from dark wood with silver markings carved into them. The student council emblem sat in the center, a symbol of authority and power.

Her stomach twisted. The student council were most definately the most influential students in the academy. The best of the best, the vampires who represented each bloodline and who would definitely smell something was off with her.

Her guide stepped forward and knocked three times. Knock! Knock! Knock! The sound echoed. For a moment, there was no answer and Maisa held her breath.

Then a commanding voice echoed inside, "Enter!"

The voice was cold and powerful enough that Maisa’s instincts immediately reacted. She could tell that the voice used to being obeyed.

Her guide opened the doors. Maisa hesitated to follow just for a second. Her feet refused to move. Something inside her screamed. Run!

The hunter in her recognized danger but the vampire in her couldn’t leave. The vampire in her was drawn forward.

"Come on," Kriza whispered.

Maisa forced herself to step inside. The council hall was breathtaking. A massive room with dark wooden floors, towering bookshelves, and a long table at the center. Light poured through the glass ceiling, illuminating the figures sitting inside.

There were four vampires, four different presences and to Maisa, four different kinds of danger and every instinct she had told her to be careful.

The first vampire she noticed was sitting at the head of the table. A girl with silver-black hair, perfectly straight posture, and an expression so calm it was almost frightening. The air around her felt heavier.

She looked royal, powerful and like a whiteblood. Maisa knew immediately. This was the kind of vampire her family had warned about. The kind that stood above all others. They were the most lethal vampires ever recorded.

The second vampire sat beside her. She had dark hair and sharp eyes paired with a cold expression that looked like it could cut through anything. Maisa could instantly guess she was a black Blood. The kind of vampire, hunters considered the most dangerous after royals.

The third vampire had books and papers scattered around her, her eyes immediately studying Maisa with curiosity instead of hostility. From her blue hair Maisa made a rough guess that she was a blue blood but couldn’t be certain.

Bluebloods were considered the intelligent vampires. The ones who survived through knowledge. They were strategic and could outsmart even the best of hunters.

The fourth vampire leaned against the side of the room, arms crossed, watching everything silently. She looked different from the others. She didn’t appear to mix well with the others, distant almost and Maisa could feel a connection to her. She guessed she was either mixedblood or a redblood like her.

Kriza spoke. "This is the new student, Maisa Loven."

The four vampires looked at her and Maisa finally saw their full profiles. Their eyes met and the world stopped.