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...

"She's not your problem anymore. Remember?" Jack snapped. He could already see Julian approaching. All leather, vest, and tattoos, he was not the kind of guy you took anywhere near your mother. Or anyone else for that matter. Jack was already smiling, seeing Marie beginning to snarl. Perhaps this day wasn't lost after all.

"Ok." Rejected. Again. It was surprising how much it hurt. "Good luck in your training." She told her sister, squeezing her hand. "I do love you, sissy."

Marie's manicured nails bit into her palms she was clenching her slender fists so tightly now. Just the sight of Julian made her wish she still carried a weapon. "You would trust your own flesh and blood to that... that... beast?!"

Ebony had her back to Katie, knowing it was better this way. Grief was eating her alive and she wasn't the kind of person she burden her feelings on anyone else. "Just keep away from Evan... I can't kick his ass 24/7." In her own way, she was telling her sister she did indeed love her.

"Oh come now. He's only a werewolf once a month. It's not all that bad." Jack purred., knowing that Marie was digging her nails in deep. "The rest of the time he's a model hunter. My daughter will learn much from him."

"Yeah." Katie whispered, dealing with a grief of her own. Her family was torn apart and she didn't understand it. For the first time in her life she couldn't find a reason to smile.

"It only takes one bite that once a month and she will be gone just like your boy!" Marie hissed as Julian approached.

"Katie?" Ebony glanced back over her shoulder, her sad gaze meeting her sister's at last. "Stay away from Tobias." She didn't want to burden her sister with the truth, but she couldn't bear to think of her turning into one of those bloodsuckers. If only she knew the truth.

"Marie! Damn, I hoped a rock troll had smash that empty head of yours." Julian approached with his arms wide open, making quite the show of it. "Let me guess. It bounced? Killed the poor bastard?"

"He's over me." Katie shrugged. " he's already said he's interested in you so...no worries...I'll probably go back to Evan..."

"One can only hope." Marie replied sweetly. "I'm surprised you haven't gotten a silver bullet to the temple by now."

Ebony spun around and shook Katie by the shoulders. "Please, promise me you won't! They are both bad news!" She insisted. "Tobias isn't interested I me, I promise you. He would rather I was dead."

Julian flashed his brilliant white teeth at her and moved closer, giving her a sharp slap on the bottom. "All the ladies would be heart broken if that happened. Wouldn't they?" He purred. 

"It's ok, I'm not jealous or anything. You don't seem to realize how beautiful you are." Katie said gently. "Let go now, I have to get to class while mom is distracted."

With the reflexes of the hunter she once was, Marie's fingers snapped out and caught Julian's wrist and gave it a painful squeeze. "Don't you remember what happened the last time you tried that?" She hissed.

Ebony shook her head in disagreement. "Mar... Mom always told me you were the beautiful one, I was just... prickly." She whispered, letting her fingers slide away.

"You started trying to take advantage of me. And really how could you not?" Julian purred. He all but cracked his wrist as he suddenly yanked her against him. "You don't scare me, Marie. You quit. Remember?" He hissed in her ear. "You ain't hiding nothing from me. I can smell the vampire on you." He snarled, brushing her hair aside with his nose.

Katie saw what the other man was doing to their mother and broke away from her sister. Running at him at full speed. She kicked him on the back of the knee and made a strange hissing sound. It was one that had both him and the headmaster reaching for what looked like weapons at their hips. All Katie knew was that the man had let go of her mother. Weakness again began to set in and she wavered before finally throwing up an odd looking colored liquid all over the grass in front of them.

Ebony had come running after her sister, more than surprised when the usually meek girl attacked the man who had been holding onto their mother. While Julian's leg had buckled from Katie's initial attack, the dark haired girl landed a powerful punch with her small fist to his jaw. "Touch her again, and I'll be hitting somewhere a lite more delicate!" She hissed, prepared to defend both her mother and sister. 

Marie had been quick to place herself between Katie and Julian, trying to soothe the elder girl as she heaved.

Julian was grinning wolfishly as he rubbed his jaw. "My, my, Little red ridding hood actually managed to have children of her own." His dark red eyes swept from Katie to Ebony. "And they are just as prickly. How nice. Tell me...do they get lost on the way to Grandma's house too?"

Ebony sneered at Julian, protectively barring her sister from his view. "You had better hope I get lost before I see you again!" She hissed.

Julian shot forward and grabbed Ebony by the shoulders and threw her to the ground. "We're going to see a lot of each other, honey. Don't worry. You won't be getting lost from me."

"Who the hell are you?" Ebony growled from where she had landed on the ground.
"A mistake, that's what." Marie snapped. "This will be on your shoulders, Jack!"

"You shut up, Marie! You have given up on the girl! She is mine now!" Jack shouted back, "Run along and pretend to be perfect!"
Julian straddled her, a knee pressed to her stomach. "The big bad wolf, girlie. Nice to meet you." He snarled in her face."

Ebony was snarling at Julian all over again. "Get off of me! You don't scare me!" She added, sinking her nails into his legs.

"Oh baby. I like it rough." Julian purred, he leaned forward to nip at her only to be stopped by Jack. 
"You have a class to teach. We will meet up with you tonight, sir."  The headmaster said, his tone firm.
 The tall, lanky man with the wHite hair got up and shook his head. "Hear that, marie? I'll be seeing miss perfect in class." He purred, waving at Katie as he turned and headed up the field.

Ebony scrambled to her feet, her heart pounding as she balled her fists up. She was even angrier than she had been before as she glared at Julian's retreating back. "Who the fuck was that?" She hissed, forgetting to mind her tongue in front of both her mother and the headmaster.

Jack cleared his throat, giving Ebony a sharp look. "Get to class both of you." He said firmly. "If you are well enough to stand out in the grass katie, you are well enough to go to class." He added, turning his gaze on the little blonde.
She glanced toward her mother and took off running in the opposite direction.

Ebony glared at both adults, then took off after her sister. She was just about able to grab her books from her room and slip into the back of the room before class began.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Marie told Jack quietly. "Letting the wolf train Ebony? You may as well just allow her to self destruct now for all the damage it will do."

"Why was he sniffing around your favorite?" Jack asked, readjusting the weapon at his hip. "And what was he talking about with your old lover? What are you hiding now, Marie?" 

Julian made for an excellent history teacher. He enaged the students and kept them interested, all except the two sisters who couldn't seem to stay awake. 
He rapped Katie across the knuckles more than once to wake her up. But Ebony would find herself with the chair kicked out from under her, water poured on her, even ice dropped down her shirt.

"As you pointed out, it is none of your business. Not anymore." Marie huffed. "I only hope I can trust you to do your job as a headmaster and keep Katie far from that night class you seem to favour."

The rest of the class found it all rather amusing to watch this happening to Ebony. By the end of the class the young woman seemed to be shaking, though it wasn't clear if it was from rage, or she was cold now that her uniform was soaked through.

"As headmaster, it is my job to know all about my students for their safety as well as everyone else's. What if Katie were to pass out again? I'm concerned about her. Tobias said her blood count is very low,Marie."

Julian caught Ebony before she could leave his class. He knew full well she was angry with him. "If you are to be a hunter you will deal with days of no sleep and icy conditions. Suck it up, girl. You will never make it if you dont."

"And that is why she has the herbal tea I send her." Marie replied evasively. "My daughter's health is my concern, not yours. Her safety is all you should be worried about. I don't want her anywhere near Tobias."

Ebony snatched her arm free from where Julian had caught hold of it. "I can take anything you can throw at me, sir." She replied with an falsely sweet smile even as a drop of icy water dripped from the tip of her pert nose.

"You know well that Tobias is king of his people. Not even his father is as powerful. If he has shown interest in your daughter there is little I can do to change it." Jack said, shaking his head. "This is a tenative truce with the vampires. I am doing my best to ensure that it continues."

"Good girl." Julian said with a nod. "Now move along. You are late for English. I will get a report if you are not there. And you will regret it."

"You say I'm the one who walked away?" Marie scoffed. "You're a hunter who protects vampires."

"What are you going to do, spank me?" Ebony snorted as she continued to the door. Losing Raife had left her with little respect for anything at all, even her studies.

"Why shouldn't i?"Jack shot back. "I have nothing left to fight for. The night I walked in on my wife in the arms of another man...everything I believed was gone. I am willing to do things that might end my life. I am hoping for it." He turned away from her, his back stiff.

That evening Katie found herself in the office sitting next to her father. The strange doctor was filling a bowl full of dark liquid and connecting tubes to it, humming softly while he worked. She hated these doctors. They scared her. They always had. She wished she were back home stealing cookies with her sister and pretending she was a princess.

"Then Ebony truly is so much like you." Marie whispered. "She will self destruct, I promise you that. She lost her only friend, what is there for her in this place if you give up too?" She asked, ashamed to think of the night Jack had caught her in the arms of her lover. She hadn't meant for it to happen, any of it. But the moment that vampire entered her life... She changed.

"I know you hate it." Cyrus told his daughter, giving her a gentle pat on the leg. "But it's just until you're strong enough." He added, his blue eyes smiling at his little princess.

"You said it yourself. She doesn't give a shit about me. No one does." Jack hissed. He'd been self destructing for years. Perhaps it was time he ended it. "I have brought her Julian. He is what she needs. He will not betray her. Not that you care. Go on, Marie. Your perfect life is waiting. It's got all the elements that you wanted. All the money and beauty. No death and monsters and hunters. Right?"

Katie shook her head as the doctor came closer. For some reason she didn't want him to touch her. The liquid in the bowl was making her stomach growl and that worried her. "No!" She shouted, jumping to her feet. "Leave me alone!"

"You brought a wolf to a lamb who plays pretend in wolfs clothing." Marie responded. "Jack... She isn't as strong as she would have you believe, she is simply too hard headed to accept her weakness."

"Honey, what's gotten into you?" Cyrus asked his daughter as he tried to calm her. "We have done this so many times before, don't you want to be strong?"

Ebony hadn't gone to english class, or any other classes after the morning history lesson with Julian. She had spent the day on the roof of the building, simply staring up at the sky. It had sickened her to watch the other girls fawning over their new teacher, while all she wanted to do was knock those perfect teeth right out of his head.