Night and Day

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Katie Rivers stood on the bleachers, staring at the evening sky. She hated night. Darkness gave her a sense of unwelcome anxiousness that she would much rather ignore. She was a bubbly person filled with light and joy that was hard to surpress. 
"There they come." Ann Talley, another of the cheerleaders whispered with glee. She was talking about the night students, of course, those that only showed up at night. 
It was the first night of the year and all the students were gathering on the field for the annual "meet and greet" that kicked off the year. 
Katie stood on tiptoe on the bleacher to see, frowning at the sudden cloud of darkness that was preventing her from seeing anything at all. The night students were a mystery to everyone. They avoided the day class and no one really knew why. Rumor had it it was because they were from rich families. At least ones that were richer than all the others. 
The little blonde was looking so hard to see she slipped on the cold metal and lost her balance. The ground behind her began to come up fast and she shut her eyes. There wasn't even enough time to scream. This was going to hurt.

Raife Saunders scowled at the giggling girls that were watching the night students arrive. "Stuck up and stupid." He growled, not sure if he meant the girls or the night class. He hated them both. The cheerleaders were whores and hr had no words for the night class. This wasn't his first year with them. He knew something wasn't right. He just wished someone would listen. 
Sighing deeply he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one. He was bound to get in trouble sooner or later. Why not start the year off right? 
He watched Katie Rivers as he took a drag and wondered where her sister was. Probably under the bleachers tying shoelaces together he concluded with a laugh. When Katie fell and hit that cotton ball head of hers, he'd know for sure...

"No. I will go with you to see this unwelcome guest. You forget. At the end of the day this is still my school!" The elder human shouted. 
When they arrived, Raife had Ebony pinned beneath him, his entire body shaking.  He was fighting whatever urge was coming over him and he was fighting hard. 

KatI threw her knee into Evan's crotch. "Get your hands off me, please." She said in her sweetest voice. "We may be dating in front of everyone but when no one is looking you keep your hands to your self. Do you hear me? You make me sick."

Ebony was certainly able to defend herself, usually. But this was her friend, and aside from that... He suddenly seemed much stronger than usual. The panic the dark haired girl was trying to contain was only making her heart beat even faster, most likely making things even more difficult for Raife.
Tobias knew he couldn't hide the scene from the headmaster, but held an arm out to keep the human from advancing anyway. "He was attacked and given an exchange of blood last night. We were trying to help him, until you showed up, and now that little witch."

Evan had backed up and was now holding his privates while basically hopping up and down in pain. "You'll pay for that!" He warned from between his clenched teeth.

One of the other students pulled Raife off of her, handing him a very strange looking twig which he bit into like a rabid dog. 
Ebony and the headmaster were removed from the room and returned to the foyer with lightning speed. The elder man was still sputtering when he realized it. The mixture of grief and rage on his face was terrifying. "You said...you could keep...the day students safe...if I kept your group safe...you'd do the same...what does that look like to you?!"

"What are you going to do?" Katie dared him, her blue eyed glittering with challenge.

"Even i cannot be everywhere all the time, headmaster!" Tobias snapped. "It consumes far too much energy as it is trying to keep my own classmates safe from your day students and their prying eyes!" He added, casting a disdainful glance at Ebony. "She is lucky he didn't rip her throat out."

"Nothing to you." Evan sneered as he finally managed to stop holding himself. "But I know how dearly you treasure your precious reputation... And useless sister!"

"What am I going to do?" The headmaster stumbled to one of the ornate couches and dropped onto it. "I'm going to gave to put down my own son. He's not even...like you..
you saw what was in that room..."his voice cracked and he began to weep softly. 
"Sire, the young girl. We shall need to ease her memory." Henry said, reminding Tobias that Ebony was still there.

"Katie laughed at him. "I'd like to see you try something against my sister. She'll break your nose." She really didn't know what had come over her she felt more like her sister than herself at the moment.

Ebony glanced to the other boy, then began to back up. "Erase my memory?!" She hissed as she shook her head. "Who are you people, and what did you do to Raife!!!" She demanded.

"Not if there's more than one of me." Evan sneered, making it seem very much like a genuine threat. "See you soon, goldilocks."

The two big young men from outside advanced on Ebony and caught her before she could make it very far. Both of them held her as the took her before Tobias. No one said anything more, not even their headmaster. 

Things weren't going so well for Katie either. Jolene had been watching the exchange with relish. As the little blonde turned to head back to the dorms she would find herself the victim of a vicious attack. She would wake lying on the river bed beneath the bridge she'd been standing on, her clothing torn and her body bruised and bloody.

Ebony was forced to her knees before the tall student before a handful of her hair was grabbed to force her to look up at Tobias. "You're a monster!" She spat, even as she continued to struggle.
"I do this for your safety, silly girl. Your boyfriend does not exist to you. Understood?" Tobias told her calmly even as alarm bells suddenly rang in his head. Something was wrong and he needed to wrap this up quickly.

"Screw you! You can't do this!" Raife was locked in the room but he could hear everything that went on. He beat on the walls and screamed, even though his body still felt like it was eating itself alive. "Ebony!"

Katie dragged herself to standing and moaned softly. Her entire body hurt. She could hear her sister now. Ebony would probably laugh at her, tell her it was her fault. And she'd be right. 
She dragged herself toward the pathway but couldn't really see anything in the dark. She had no idea where she was going. This worked out well for the second attack that came as she was trying to find her way out of the forest.

Ebony stomped on the foot of one of the boys holding her, but was still held fast by the other. "You're hurting him!" She insisted. "You have no right locking us away like this!"
Tobias wasn't really listening, he could hear Katie's heart pounding, and it wasn't for good reasons. "Keep the girl here until I return. I have more urgent matters!" He told them all rather quickly as he swept for the door.

Ebony was thrown into a room opposite Raife. She could still hear his protests.  The headmaster too had come to his senses somewhat and was yelling at the two boys to let his son and the girl go. He'd had enough of the games. 

Katie no longer knew which way was up. Her ribs were broken and she could barely breathe. Jolene was above her, watching for the moment of death. She would never let another female we have what she felt belonged to her. She planned to kill the little blonde and make it look like her football player boyfriend had raped her and murdered her afterward in a fit of rage. Even Tobias would believe that.

"Raife? Can you hear me?" Ebony called when she heard her friend's shouts through the locked door. She didn't know what was happening, or who these night students truly where. Hell... she couldn't even understand why Raife had pinned her beneath him like some ravenous beast.

"You really thought I wouldn't see what you were doing?" Tobias hissed, Jolene suddenly slamming to the ground and sliding through the dirt.

When Raife heard her voice he went instantly silent. It wasn't hard for him to be reminded of what he's done to the girl hed been in love with since the very first moment he'd met her. He'd ruined it and he didn't even know why. 

Jolene crouched there for a long moment and gave a loud hiss, baring her long canines. "The boy attacked her. I was simply observing hee death. You know it fascinates me!"

"Raife... please talk to me." Ebony pleaded softly through the door. She was leaning against the door, her forehead and both her palms pressed to the solid wood though she kept her eyes screwed shut. So much had happened in just two days that it all seemed like a blur. "You've been missing for a day... I..." She didn't even know what she was trying to say.

"You really think you can lie to me?" Tobias asked as he scooped Katie up into his arms. "You are a worthless creature, Jolene. Do not take you personal misery out on the students I swore to protect."

The silence was heavy in the air between them. But he was listening to her. He kept his back pressed to the door, his eyes closed tightly. 

"You are busy playing games with them. Why can I not do the same?" Jolene snapped.

"Rai! Just say something, dammit!" That was the usual Ebony talking, quick to temper. The was an audible sigh from her room and she sound of the dark haired girl sliding down the door to sit before it. "I thought you were gone. It... Scared me." Raife would know better than most that his best friend wasn't quick to admit she was scared.

"My 'games' do not end their lives!" Tobias growled. "Do you wish to get the hunter's association involved? The headmaster already knows what you did to his son!"

"I'm sorry." Those words were simple enough yet so very hard for him. Raife could barely get them out. "Ebony...you should listen to Tobias..."

"Oh shut up. There is little that old man can do. I am as afraid of him as I am your father." Jolene hissed, growling at Katie as she moaned and shifted in tovias' arms.

"Listen to him? Rai, he wants to erase my memory!" Ebony hissed. "I didn't even know that was possible! Who are these people?"

Tobias slapped Jolene to the ground once more. "He isn't the one you should fear." He warned, his usually golden eyes glowing red in warning.

"It's for the best." Raife breathed, not sure what made him so certain. "Then you can go back to class and forget you ever knew me or ever even got in trouble."

Jolene backed down slinking into the woods like a wounded, angry animal. "I am done talking right now." She snapped. "Play with your new pet. Let's see how long your father let's you keep it."

"I don't want to forget you!" Ebony insisted firmly. "I need you... Rai..." Even though she whispered those words, it would be something Raife would still be able to hear. Things had changed for her the moment her best friend kissed her, no matter how brief it had been and only for the benefit of others.

Tobias was gently peeling the wet and bloodied hair out of Katie's face. His little princess was a mess, and it was stabbing painfully at his insides. He would deal with his father when the time came, for now she needed him more than he had silently claimed to need her.

"I tried to hurt you!" Raife screamed, again beating at the walls. "Don't you get it?! I could have really hurt you! Forget that! Forget me! Leave me alone!" 
While he continued to shouted her door opened and the headmaster reached in, pulling her to her feet. "Come on, we have much to discuss. "

"Tried to break up with...Evan..." Katie gasped out. "Not sure what happened...he's mad at me...said something about...reputation. .." bloody tears slid down her cheeks. "They are all going to be disappointed...Ebony is going to laugh..."

"NO!" Ebony was struggling with the headmaster's grip on her. "I won't leave him here with those... Those... THINGS!" She roared. "I don't have the time to talk! Talk fixes nothing!"

"Don't spare a thought for what those people think." Tobias told Katie as he gently wiped away her tears. "I will fix what was done, the boy will not go unpinished, I assure you that, kitten."

"You are a night guard. It is time you learned how to do your job." The headmaster said firmly, his grip that much stronger. "Come you'll need to pick up the slack until Raife is feeling better."

"It's my fault...I should listen to them...I know my place..." Katie breathed. "Did I tell you he broke in my room...tore up the...rose?" She wheezed, again beginning to cry.

"If I'm supposed to be a guard, I should be keeping Raife safe too!" Ebony insisted as she was dragged along. "And you don't even seem surprised by any of this! What did they do to him?!"

"Don't cry... I can give you the whole garden if it would stop your tears." Tobias breathed as he walked with Latie back to the night student dorms.

"We will talk later. Not here." The gay haired man said firmly. "Now come with me and stop struggling. There is nothing we can do for him!" 

"My mother is going to be so mad at me." Katie wheezed, not seeming to realize just how bad off she really was. "Ebony...is going to...laugh...you...I'm so sorry..." she really wasn't even sure what she was apologizing for.

Ebony refused to believe that, but she couldn't do anything right that second, not with the headmaster dragging her away. "He told me to forget him." She whispered. "He's my best friend... I can't do that."

"We don't have to tell them." Tobias told Katie gently as they cut through the rose garden he had picked her earlier gift from. "I can make this all disappear, if you asked it of me."

This stopped the headmaster in his tracks. "Did you look into his eyes?" He demanded of her."You must tell me the truth." 

"There's nothing that can be done...I brought this on..myself." she gasped out, beginning to shiver.

Ebony was frowning at the headmaster, confused by his reaction. "He was shouting it through the door they had him locked behind, so... no." She breathed.

"I thought you were a smart girl, Katie." Tobias breathed. "Of course you didn't bring this on yourself. This was the work of jealousy, you did nothing wrong at all." He assured her as they entered the night student dorm through a secondary entrance. It wasn't long before Tobias had Katie changed out of her wet uniform and into one of his shirts and situated beneath the soft sheets of his large bed. He was respectful enough to have averted his gaze when necessary.

"Not Raife. Tobias. Did you look into his eyes?" The headmaster gave Ebony's shoulders a hard shake. "Think very hard, child." 

"None of this would be happening...if i...had just said...he could come to...my room...tonight..." Katie wheezed, finding it harder and harder to breathe, no matter how comfortable she suddenly was.

Ebony screwed her eyes shut, trying to recall everything that had happened. "I... I don't think so." She finally breathed. "I don't understand... Why is it so important?!"

"Did you want him to?" Tobias asked gently, a hand pressing lightly to Katie's chest, silently giving her the urge to sleep.