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...

"Leave me alone. I was walking to the boys dorm and got lost." Katie muttered. Another reminder that Tobias was long gone was the last thing she needed. "I don't know who you think you are but if that blood didn't do anything for you, you're in the wrong dorm. Goodnight!" Katie yanked her arm away from the redhead and marched away, ignoring the free flowing blood.

Ebony was left standing there, covered in blood that wasn't her own and feeling far angrier than she had in quite some time. The young woman did not like feeling this unsatisfied. She huffed loudly and resumed her hunt.

Katie found a dark spot beneath the bridge walk way and caught a rat. She gagged as she sank her teeth into it but it was the only way she knew to close the wound. She hated this life. Not for the first time she found herself wishing her father hadn't sacrificed himself for her.

Julian was tracking the wolf as he attempted to leave the school. He wondered if he should tell Red what the beast had done or give it a pat on the back. He chuckled softly and turned away, deciding to let it live to see another day.

Glenda had been informed of the trouble by the night class dorm, and had dropped everything to come and straighten things out. She was almost there when she picked up the trail of blood leading away from the scene.

It was as Julian allowed the beast to leave that Ebony had picked up it's trail again. It was rather unfortunate for her that the trail brought her around a corner and smack into the very man she had been avoiding since she had returned here.

Katie burned her evidence, the tiny bonfire making her eyes glitter. For the moment they were more crimson now than they'd been in since she'd last seen Tobias. 

"You are on the wrong side of the wall." Julian said as he looked down at her. Like her sister he didn't recognize her. Masking her scent had been a good idea. "Get back to your dorm, little girl."

"Why wont you let me help you, child?" Glenda asked wearily, groaning as she tried to lower herself into a sitting position beside her granddaughter.

There was a raw fury in Ebony's eyes as she glared up at Julian. "Take a look around, it's night. I am a night class student. I have every right to be out here." She sniffed.

"Help me what, Gran?" Katie asked, wishing she'd gone with her idea to bury this set of tiny corpses. "My desire to set fire to things? I'm not going to burn down the school if that's what you're worried about."

"On your side of the wall, sure." Julian pointed out. "But you seem to have found yourself outside of the school area. Shall I take you to see the headmistress?"

Glenda stared at the fire for a moment, then back at Katie. "I followed the blood, child. Tell me what happened."

"You can try." Ebony sneered, ready to fight her former mentor, if she had to.

"Some stupid werewolf decided to try to attack me and Beth when we were walking to the boys dorm. The some girl who called herself Little Red came and fought him off. The wolf scratched me. Night students went crazy...you get the idea." Katie sighed, pulling her knees to her chest. 

"Too much energy. Here. Have a smoke." He handed her an unlit cigarette and turned to walk away. "Get back inside the wall. Don't be a hero, kid."

Glenda had known she wouldn't like the truth. Little Red. How like Marie's youngest to take that name, knowing the trouble it would cause. "Are you still bleeding?" She asked Katie gentle. "The last thing we need is the night class worked into a frenzy. Don't worry about the wolf, your mother will handle it."

"No worries there. I've had my fill... Heroes just disappoint in the end." Ebony told Julian's back. As she turned in the opposite direction there was another gentle breeze that seemed to cut through her magic, carrying her true scent to Julian for the briefest of moments. Not that it would matter, she had vaulted over the wall already anyway.

"Beth scraped her knee and they didn't even open the windows." Katie pointed out. "Those rats aren't cutting it anymore. It didnt even make a scab." She told the elder woman, holding up her shirt to show her hip. 

"There are no such thing as heroes." Julian whispered. "Only wolves in sheep's clothing."

"That's because you need something stronger." Glenda told her granddaughter gently. "Come with me, we can't have you losing any more blood, child."

Ebony was sat on the grass, her back pressed to the other side of the wall when Julian breathed those words. Seeing him that close again wasn't something she had been prepared for; he was just as beautiful and just as breathtaking as she remembered.

"No, Gran. I'll be all right. It will close soon." Katie said, even though she did get to her feet. "Mom said he had someone else get his things." She whispered, her tone filled with pain. She held her hand out to help the elder woman. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

Julian was glad when Marie swung a leg over the wall and joined him in the forested area a few minutes later. That familiar darkness was stealing over him and he needed the distraction. "Unregistered werewolf. Some night student was hunting it. I think he's got Katie's blood on him. Want to take point, sweet cheeks?"

"I didn't want to see that look you have on your face right now." Glenda confessed sadly as she allowed Katie to help her back to her feet. "I picked up the pieces of your mother's heart enough times to know sometimes small lies are best."

"A night student was hunting it? That doesn't seem right." Marie replied, scowling at Julian when he called her 'sweet cheeks'. "How does an unregistered wolf even slip in here anyway?"

"I should never have dumped Evan. I told Ebby he was safe. I had a plan. It was such a good plan." Katie whispered. "And it will still work. I'll fix it all. You'll see."

"We were busy looking after your bubble headed vampire kid. There was a perfect time time while we were sending her on her way." Julian snorted, blaming Katie as he always did. "And the night student smelled blood. We'll probably be herding more of them back before long. Again, Katie's fault. Now that Tobias is gone no one keeps them in check."

"Katie, honey, it isn't your mess to fix." Glenda assured her granddaughter sadly. "Don't be pouring your life away with that idiot boy trying to fix events your mother set into motion."

"And you honestly don't think it has anything to do with a night student hunting a wolf?" Marie snorted. "Please, it's no coincidence! Those students care only for themselves, one of them would not hunt a wolf simply to keep others safe!"

"I'm not fixing anything. I'm just making life the way it's supposed to be. No vampires, no darkness. Just plain and boring. Nobody gets hurt that way." Her smile was so fake it might as well have been glued on. 

"I didn't say the kid was doing it to keep others safe, Red. Don't put words in my mouth. She was probably hunting it because it had that lovely scent of power blood on it. Too stupid to know it wasn't his." Julian snorted. "Are we hunting or not?"

It was killing Gelnda to see that smile. "Date that boy, and I'll have him expelled." She suddenly warned, seeing no other way to keep Katie from this self sacrificing path.

"Oh don't get your panties in a bunch, princess." Marie snorted, shoving Julian ahead of her. "Seems like you're just bitter you let your kitten get away."

"Gran!" Katie stopped in her tracks and stared back at her grandmother. "Why would you do that? Evan is stable and...normal. He makes...sense..."

"You sound hard up." Julian countered, poking out his tongue. He hated it when Red was right.

"He doesn't make sense, child. Not for you." Glenda insisted. "He's a bully, and I don't like the way he treats you." She added, ignoring the look her granddaughter was giving her.

"You would know." Marie snorted, very much like her youngest daughter she had this seemingly impenetrable wall that no one could see through, when in reality she was an emotional wreck.

"Gran!" Katie was now staring open mouthed after her grandmother as the elder woman walked back toward the dorms. It was the most emotion she'd shown since returning to the school. "I can't believe you! I'm trying to be normal here! How can you turn your nose up at that?" She marched after her, clearly upset. Her chin quivered wildly as she kept on, her voice getting louder. "And it's not like he cares anyway!" 

"Why don't you find a vampire? I hear they're your type." Julian snapped. "In fact...did your mother tell you she hired a new teacher for the night students? Maybe he'll be right up your alley." The wolf snorted with laughter.

"You have no idea what he thinks, but I can assure you he would not want you cavorting with that lowlife!" Glenda snapped, in a rare raise of her voice.

"Maybe I will!" Marie hissed. "Better that than making a fool of myself flirting with little girls!" She added in another verbal attack on Julian. "The only smart thing Ebony did in her whole life was ejecting you from her world!"

Katie stood where she was, her open mouth now firmly closed. She stared at her grandmother for a moment longer before she ran past her and into the main house, slamming the door loudly. 

"Why you..." Julian lost his temper then, and turned on Marie, his claws raised. He was surprised when they never hit their mark. 
A tall dark haired man had hold of his wrist and was scowling deeply. "Never raise your hand to a woman, beast. Haven't you learned anything?" He asked, his voice as cool as an autumn breeze.

Glenda sighed heavily. She had been so certain she done with teenage tantrums, yet here she was... cleaning up her daughter's messes. "I told her she was too young to be starting a family..." She muttered as she continued to make her way home.

Marie had braced herself to take the attack, and was surprised when it didn't connect. All she could do was stare at the back of the man who had stepped in front of her.

Katie slammed the door to her room a second time, making sure her grandmother heard it. Once she was satisfied she went to her mother's old sewing kit and took off her shirt, beginning the process of trying to stitch up the nasty looking wound. "I hate werewolves." She grumbled. "I don't see why Gran won't just let me be normal." 

Julian was staring at the front of the man, his mouth wide open. It had been many years since he'd seen a master vampire and certainly nowhere near this school. The gentleman's eyes were what gave him away. One gold and one crimson. That never happened anymore. An original. What the hell was Glenda thinking?

"Because she cares about you." It was a familiar voice coming from the owner who sat on the window ledge, one long leg dangling lazily on the outside of the window. "I thought you would be safe here." Tobias whispered.

"Sorry about the mutt, he gets carried away sometimes." Marie breathed as she stepped around the stranger, though instantly her heart jumped into her mouth when she saw his eyes.

At the sound of his voice Katie stabbed herself with the needle. She hadn't meant to but the shock was overwhelming. "OW! Damn it!" There had been so many things she'd dreamed of saying to him. Neither of those had been it. 

The man smiled at her, a dimple appearing in his chin. "It's all right. It's a wolf trait. They are often hot headed and mean. Something endearing and yet annoying at the same time. He didn't hurt you, do he?" He asked, not yet letting go of Julian as he turned fully to face her.

Tobias hopped off the window and took the needle from her fingers. "If you had been taking care of yourself, that would would be healed by now." He pointed out, opening up his wrist and offering the cool blood to Katie. "Don't turn that pretty little nose up either, unless you want that wound to scar?"

Marie was quick to shake her head, feeling like a teenager again and meeting Cyrus for the first time. "He's just taking out his frustration on me. He couldn't even keep a little girl happy."

"I can't." His blood made Katie's heart leap and her stomach growl all in the same confusing motion. She was quick to turn her head and close her eyes. Her teeth betrayed her by growing anyway, even though she was telling them not to. "Why are you here?"

"I have heard the stories." The man said, his voice once again autumn cool. "Glenda is kind enough to keep us abreast of things. More often enough she is all that stands between an all out war. I'm sure you are well aware."

"I was tracking an unregistered wolf." Tobias lied. "When I saw it had made it's way here... and then the strong smell of your blood... I saw that your grandmother was failing in her duty of keeping you safe."

"Of course she is." Marie replied bitterly. It was almost comical the way she didn't see that she treated Ebony the same way her own mother treated her. "The great Glenda, everyone elses favourite person!"