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...

Julian hated himself even more now. He had once again showed weakness by calling out her name. If he wasn't careful Frost wad going to hear it and have a field day with it. "On the lamp." He muttered to the woman, motoning to where her tiny under were positioned.

Katie bit down hard, the taste of blood taking over. She dug her nails into his back, tearing at his shirt as she fed.

The young woman scowled at Julian several times as she hastily dressed herself. "Why are the cute ones always psycho?" She huffed before storming from the room.

It was all Tobias could do not to roll Katie beneath him and relieve her of her own clothing. As it was, he grudgingly pulled his lips from her's and slid his fingers through Katie's hair, gently guiding her blood covered lips to his throat.

Julian lay where he was for what seemed like forever until the urge for a cigarette became too strong. He got up and dressed, groaning when a chirping bird made his head feel like someone was dancing on it.

Katie didn't hesitate. She continued her feed, her nails digging deeper into his back. She had no control over herself but if she had things would have gone very differently.

Ebony hadn't slept since she had returned to the school after her encounter with Frost. ll night she had lay there thinking about Julian. About the taste of his kisses and how she wished they could finish what he had once started on the rooftop of the school building. It seemed like Frost's curse was working perfectly.

Tobias simply allowed Katie to continue. He would give her his last drop if he had to. He could feel the power returning to her limbs as his own became rather too heavy to even stroke her hair any longer.

Julian said nothing to Frost as he entered their apartment. He passed her, casting off clothing like it was botheringreat him and slammed the bathroom door shut. A few moments later he shouted for a beer and then groaned. 

It was almost dawn when Katie's screams tore through the dorm. Malik heard them first and had to catch the sinister smile that threatened to twist his lips. He felt Glenda awaken and head immediately to her granddaughter.

Of course Frost didn't bring him a beer, she never did. The blonde witch was sat at the breakfast table, smiling as she sipped her espresso. Julian had no idea what she had done to Ebony, or that the younger woman's love for him was to eventually drive her to her death.

Tobias had simply lay next to Katie all night, unable to move or even open his eyes.
"What happened?" Glenda was breathing rather heavily when she arrived to find Malik was already at the door.

Julian eventually got out of the tub and walked into the kitchen. He hadn't even bothered to dry off. He shook out his hair and he opened his beer, groaning again when the sound of the grounds keeper ruined his peace. 

Malik shook his head. "I don't know. I heard her screams but I didn't think it was appropriate to just burst in on her. If have learned my lesson there."

"Somebody's in a bad mood." Frost remarked rather cheerfully. Usually she would have lost her temper at Julian getting water everywhere. "Should you really be drinking when you have a class to teach in twenty minutes?" She added sweetly before biting into a butter smeared crumpet.

Glenda nodded her head, fumbling with her keys before pushing open the door. She was certainly not prepared for the sight of her granddaughter still in bed with the younger vampire.

"I'm not going." Julian said tipping back the bottle and drinking until it was half empty. "I'm done with them. Jack had the talisman that kept me there. I think I proved last night I'm not forced to stay. I'm leaving."

"Gran!" Katie was sobbing wildly. "He...I..." It took her a while to get out what she was trying to say. "I fed on Toby! He's dead!"
"Silly child, if he were dead he would have turned to ash." Malik chuckled softly from behind Glenda. "Remember your father? I will take him to the night student nurse. She will know what to do." He didn't even ask as he entered the room and lifted Tobias over his shoulder. "He will live." He told her dissappearing into black smoke.
Katie didn't stop crying, her shoulders shaking wildly.

"Leaving? Because some silly girl batted her lashes at you at dinner last night?" Frost scoffed, though she was smirking, her eyes closed as she breathed in the smell of her coffee. "Or are you suddenly afraid of magic?"

Marie was soon joining Malik at the infirmary. The red haired woman seemed a strange mixture of afraid and anxious. "Is... she okay?" She breathed, thinking the student she had seen Malik bringing here was her daughter.

"Sweetheart..." Glenda lowered herself onto the edge of Katie's bed. "It's going to be okay. You don't have to worry about the boy, all will be well."

"Screw magic. I'm bored. I want to hunt somewhere else." Julian said as he grabbed another beer. His headache would have to go away by the third or fourth. "Start packing."

Malik's laughter startled Nurse who dropped the bag of blood she had brought. "Tobias is fine." He said, dumping the younger man on the table. "Your daughter was hungrier than we thought it seems. But he will survive it."

Katie was shaking her head wildly, her face buried in her hands. "No it wont. It never will be. I hate myself! I wish they had just let me die!"

"Oh sweetie, we're not going anywhere." Frost replied, finally fixing her ice blue eyes on Julian. "I told you I wanted to attend that silly little ball. We are going, and you have a whole month to get used to that fact."

"Oh... it's just the boy?" Marie asked, flooding with relief now she got a look at the student that Malik had been carrying.

"You would rather be dead, than be who you were born to be?" Glenda asked sadly. "Honey... It was wrong of us to try and hide who you were all this time. I'm sorry you ended up so ashamed of who you were."

"Really?" Julian snorted, setting his bottle down hard enough on the table that it cracked. "And what do you plan to do to make me?" 

Malik laughed softly, pleased to see that look of pure relief on Marie's face. It made her look like he remembered her. "She's probably going to hate herself for this. You're going to be playing mom for a while now I'm afraid."

"Thanks for dealing with my screw up, Gran." Katie said as she got off the bed and headed to the closet. "I have to get ready. I have kitchen duty again." Her voice was oddly bland, as if she'd suddenly shut off.

Frost smiled sweetly, though it looked far from sweet on her. "You really want to ruin the surprise I spent all this time planning for you? I think sometimes you forget just how much I love you." She replied before returning her attention to her coffee.

Marie shook her head sadly. "Katie wont want me anywhere near her once she finds out I'm the one who forced her to drink the blood."

Glenda let out a weary sigh, but didn't move. "Katie, why are you so eager for death? Don't you see just how many people you have who love you?"

"No. I havent. We are leaving, Frost. If you want a ball enchant one but leave me the hell out of it." Julian said firmly, growling. 

"It has already been decided that I will take the blame for that, dear one." Malik said softly, reaching out to brush the hair from her face. 

"That's the problem." Katie whispered, her bright blue eyes appearing from the darkness of the closet. "Loving me gets people hurt."

One of Frost's icy fists slammed down on the breakfast table and she slowly rose to her feet before turning to face Julian. "I will not accept cowardice from my pup!" She hissed, shoving him roughly against the kitchen doorframe. "You will do your job, and you will do it well!" She added before kissing him roughly.

"We never discussed a price." Marie breathed, seeming to lose herself in Malik's beautiful face as his fingers touched her cheek.

"Loving you is a choice we make all by ourselves." Glenda breathed. "You are deserving of our devotion, and it is not the challenge you make it out to be." She added. "Child... You are everything that is good with this world. Have you never wondered why you have so much love, and your sister seems to repel it?"

Julian didn't return the kiss. Instead he bit her lip. Hr was feeling particularly dead inside and could only hope this was enough to push Frost over the edge. 

"Why must everything come at a price?" Malik asked her sadly. "Perhaps I did it simply because you deserve it. You love your daughter. Anyone can see that."

"I have breakfast duty, Gran." Katie said softly. "I need to do something I can't possibly screw up at. And...I'm not going to the dance. So...no need to talk dresses." She slammed the door to her closet and stayed there, hating herself and Tobias for what she'd done.

Frost grinned up at Julian when he bit her lip, her tongue sliding against the blood she found there. "You can't leave this town. It's as simple as that." She informed him. "You don't go to your classes, I'll start killing off one student for each day you don't attend."

Marie was clearly too jaded to accept this. "Everything has a price." She breathed wearily. "I've been paying it for a long time." She added, recalling the shame her mother told her she had brought on their family the night she found her in the arms of Julian, the very creature they were supposed to hunt.

Glenda sighed heavily, realising there was only one person who could talk any kind of sense into Katie. She didn't want to, but she was going to send Ebony, revealing that once again she had lied to Katie.

Julian grabbed the front of her dress and yanked her against him. "You think I care about some sniveling little kids? Think again, sister. I said we are leaving. There is nothing you can do to make me stay!"

Katie avoided everyone that morning. As she made the breakfast she stared into the bubbling oatmeal, seeing herself as she'd bit into Tobias. She was a monster. How could she keep playing at being good when she wasnt? Gran truly had no idea.

"How about I start with her?" Frost asked with a wicked grin, making no effort to free herself from Julian's grasp.

The loud whispers started the moment Ebony strode into the dining hall. The other students were all asking each other what a night class student was doing there. Ebony ignored everyone of them however as she seated herself opposite Katie. The younger girl was still wearing the glamour that had altered her hair, but for now she was saying nothing as she simply stared at her sister.

"She is gone, woman. There's nothing left but you. You win." Julian snarled shoving her against the wall.

Katie wasn't hungry. Why should she be? She'd practically eaten Tobias that night. Viciously she poked at her food, wishing she could just get up and walk away from it all.

"She's been there the whole time, you were just too stupid to see her!" Frost shot back, her ice coloured eyes never leaving Julian's face. She simply couldn't afford to not be at the solstice ball and see her plan finally come to fruition.

"I thought I had the monopoly on tragically tortured?" Ebony remarked after a whole minute of simply staring at her sister. "You're supposed to be the bubble headed princess that everyone adores."

"It doesn't matter anymore. She never wants to see me again. So I'll say it again...you win."Julian hissed, giving her another violent shake before dropping her to the floor. "I will say it slower this time so you can understand me. I am not going back. I'd rather drown in my own piss than go. We are done here."

"You again?" Katie asked, sighing when her next vicious poke cracked her bowl. "Yeah. There was a boy in my room. I'm sure everyone in the night dorms was talking about it before they went to bed. Happy now?"

"Well if you're going to be boring, there's no reason for me to keep her alive!" Frost huffed as she picked herself up. "Or her pathetic mother!"

Ebony smirking slightly, having never seen this side of her sister before. "Kinda." She confessed, running her fingers through her hair until it reverted back to its raven colour.

"Don't you touch her!" Julian roared. He believed that ebony was long gone so there was no need to protect her. Marie however...

"Ebby?" Katie didn't contain her squeal as she abandoned her food and tackled her sister in a bone crushing hug. "I've missed you so much!"

Frost was smiling even more now. "What's this? You still love your old girlfriend? Or you just want her because her daughter shot you down?" She purred.

Ebony laughed quietly, not used to a) such close physical contact and b) being hugged at all. "I've been here the whole time. You were just... busy."

Julian gave her a defiant glare. Marie had been his only true friend for as long as he could remember. She was the only one who ever truly cared what he had to say. Even in his worst moods she put up with him and that was rare indeed. 

"You haven't been hiding because youre mad at me?" Katie whispered. "I wouldn't blame you if you were."

"Fine... I guess I'll just kill her now and get it out of the way." Frost told Julian flippantly. "You know, because you're not going to be going to your classes and all..."

"You're not the one I was mad at, airhead." Ebony breathed, finally able to return her sister's embrace.

"I'm going to be late." Julian grumbled. He got to his feet and left the ro, feel the chain tightening and wondering why he wasn't trying harder to strangle himself with it.

"Does Gran know you're here? You know she's running the school now. Come on. We'll go and you can see her." Katie said, some of her cheerfulness returning.

Marie hadn't slept much at all since the trouble with Katie had begun. Even after she had left the infirmary after speaking with Malik, she felt no better. Like Julian, she thought him her best friend and the only person who really understand how messed up her life got at times.

"Yes, and no." Ebony insisted. "She knows I'm here, I had no choice in the matter. But I can't speak to her. She's just like mom... I have nothing to say to either of them."