Haunted

The start to the fall term was not easy for Magdalene. As she had always been home schooled, she had a hard time adjusting to the demanding schedule and amount of school work that was dumped on her at Harper's. She also had a hard time adjusting to her feeding schedule. As Nathan was currently working an overnight shift at the clinic, Magdalene would stop to visit him every night for her blood infusion. After the first couple of weeks, she got into the routine of going on a late night run. She used it as a cover to stop at the clinic for the infusion. She kept up the guise by running every night, even on nights that Nathan didn't have a shift at the clinic.

"Why do you go running so late?" Rose asked one evening as she leaned over her homework while sitting at her small desk in the corner of the room.

Magdalene glanced at her from her position by the dormitory door. She was wearing skin tight athletic shorts, long sleeve shirt and running shoes. She was stretching before she left. It was a Friday night. She was surprised Rose was doing homework that evening.

"It helps me unwind after a long day," Magdalene shrugged. "And it makes it easier for me to sleep at night."

That wasn't a lie. Magdalene had a hard time sleeping at night. The stress of her new life was a bit overwhelming to her. It was a different kind of stress than she was used to. A good stress. Before, she was stressed because she was constantly on edge, defensive, and ready for a fight. Now, she was overwhelmed with the amount of school responsibilities and taking care of herself. Running helped relax her. It gave her a chance to sort through what happened during the day and exhausted her body enough that sleep came almost instantly.

The first couple of weeks at Harper's she had nightmares of her father abusing her, using her as a free food source, cutting her with his small dagger and scarring her skin. The worst nightmare was the flashback of her last night at Palazzo in Bicchiere – when she killed her father. The traumatic experience left her jarred. She would wake up in heavy sweats, shaking, because she was afraid that somehow Marius Markus had come back from the dead and was there to torture her again. After she started her running routine, the nightmares seemed to stop. They no longer haunted her.

"It's Friday night, you don't want to go out or something?" Rose asked as she slammed her history book shut.

"No," Magdalene shook her head.

Rose turned in her seat to face Magdalene.

"Alright," Rose shrugged. "I'll be gone when you get back."

Magdalene nodded. "Where are you going?"

"Sonnie asked me to go to a fraternity party with him."

Magdalene smirked. "Given in yet?" she asked her friends with all-knowing eyes.

Rose's cheeks flushed pink as she turned back to the desk to face away from Magdalene.

"Not yet, to Sonnie's disappointment."

"Are you stringing him along because you don't know what you want?"

"I'm not stringing him along!"

Magdalene shrugged. "He obviously wants to date you. You know that. You haven't said no, which makes him think that you are interested even though you haven't said yes. That's stringing along."

Rose sighed heavily as she brushed her long blond hair over her shoulder.

"Sonnie has been my friend for so long…I don't know if we should date. It would ruin our friendship. But, talking about it could ruin our friendship too! If he realizes I'm not interested, I don't know if he'd even want to be friends with me."

"Then he was never your friend to begin with," Magdalene said wisely. She pulled open the door to the dorm. "I'll see you later. Have fun at the frat party."

Rose nodded her head but didn't say anything to Magdalene as she left.

Outside on the street, Magdalene took in her surroundings before she set off on her run. The streets were busy, which didn't surprise her as it was a cool fall Friday evening. People were out, getting fresh air, and taking a break from their class work. Magdalene headed north towards the main downtown area near Harper's campus. She had figured out weeks ago that if she paced herself right, left her dorm at 9:30pm and ran through the downtown area, she'd arrive at the clinic just before ten when Nathan's shift started.

He was waiting for her when she arrived. He was at the front desk of the clinic, in his dark green scrubs. He looked calm when she walked into the clinic. No one was there, which didn't surprise her. There weren't many visitors on the night shift.

"Hey," she said as she caught her breath.

"Hey," he replied with a charming boyish grin. His light brown hair was clean cut and short and his blue eyes sparkled that night. "You know, people might start to wonder about you coming down here all the time."

He gave her a teasing expression before looking down at the paperwork he was doing at the front desk. Magdalene paced in the lobby, trying to bring her heart rate down from her run. She put her hands on her hips as she studied Nathan.

"Yea?" she said. She was well aware that people would eventually notice her constantly going to the clinic every night. "What do you think I should tell them?"

Nathan looked at her with a smile. "I've been telling people you just have a crush on me."

Magdalene stopped in her tracks and looked at Nathan with raised eyebrows. "Who's been asking?"

"Holden."

Magdalene rolled her eyes. In the past weeks, she had grown closer to Holden. She considered him a friend and she enjoyed his company. He was flirtatious and attentive to her, but neither of them had yet to ask the other out. Of course Holden would be the one to notice that she was stopping at the clinic every night. He was probably jealous, thinking that Magdalene did have a crush on Nathan and was just trying to see him every night.

"Well, you telling him that probably isn't going to help—"

"Oh, so you know that he likes you?" Nathan laughed. "I said it to get under his skin."

Magdalene rolled her eyes. "A blind man can see that he likes me."

"Come on," Nathan cocked his head to the back of the clinic. "I got the infusion set up already."

He moved around the counter and opened the door to go into the back for Magdalene. She followed him, and walked down the corridor that was lined with exam rooms. She made her way to room number five. Nathan always used the same room for the infusion. She sat down on the exam table and removed her long sleeve shirt.

She felt Nathan's eyes studying her as she sat on the table in her sports bra and shorts. She didn't care anymore if anyone saw her scars. Nathan would see them on her arm anyways when he did the infusion and it was just easier to take off her shirt than dealing with rolling up the sleeve. Nathan had never asked where the scars had come from. Magdalene wondered every night if he would. But, maybe as a healing witch, Nathan knew to keep his thoughts to himself and not ask his patients invasive personal questions.

Magdalene didn't even feel the needle push into her arm. She closed her eyes for a moment as her vampiric hunger was fed. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she felt the blood pumping into her system. She blinked and looked up at Nathan with delicate dark eyes.

"I never asked how you used to receive blood," Nathan said quietly as he moved the IV tube so that it was hanging out of the way of Magdalene's arm. Once everything was hooked up, he released the clamp on the tube.

"Like this," Magdalene responded as she watched the blood run down the tube towards her arm. "Sometimes I would drink it from a cup if I was desperate. My father would like to withhold blood from me sometimes…when you're hungry, it's best to get it quickly, but I don't enjoy drinking it. IV is my preferred method."

Nathan nodded his head as he stepped back from the table.

"You've never asked any questions about my past," Magdalene said as she studied him. "I am grateful for that and I appreciate your help immensely. I wouldn't be able to be here if it weren't for your help and ability to keep a secret."

Nathan shrugged. "I don't mind helping out a friend."

Magdalene laughed, "We weren't friends when this first started."

"Cassie is," he replied. "She and Roman have good instincts. Besides, Roman wouldn't have asked for help if the council didn't approve of you coming here."

This comment caught Magdalene's attention. She nodded but said nothing. She didn't think the council of witches was aware that she was at Harper's. She was pretty sure that Roman had kept her arrival to the witch world a secret in an effort to keep her safe.

As a half breed, Magdalene was very rare, but also her father's clan was one of the most dangerous in the Mid-West. Most witches were hunting him or trying to infiltrate his clan in order to destroy it. The Markus clan oversaw most of the vampiric slave trade, which made it one of the most targeted clans by witches.

No one in the witching community except Roman knew that Marius Markus was dead and that Magdalene had killed him. When she did, all of Marius' power fell to her. She was now the matriarch of the clan. If the witching community found out, it would put a target on her back very quickly. Roman seemed to think that Magdalene would be taken into custody and held for being a vampire. Magdalene wasn't so sure. Even as the matriarch of the clan now, she didn't care about the vampiric politics or her father's slave business. Her lack of involvement would run the slave trade into the ground, which she thought the witches would appreciate. Roman was worried that someone else would just pick it up and the witches would have an even harder time ending the slave trade. With the vampire community believing that Magdalene was in power and running her family's business, there was a chance that she could be built into a double-agent. She could run the slave trade but report back to Roman, who in turn could eventually report to the council. He just didn't think it was necessary to inform the council of Magdalene's status yet.

"Nathan!"

Magdalene looked up surprised by someone yelling Nathan's name from the front of the clinic. Nathan frowned and opened the door to the exam room. He poked his head out into the hall.

"Holden, what are you doing here?" he said surprised as he stood up straight. He looked at Magdalene and shook his head for her to stay silent. "I'll be right back," he said to her.

He stepped out of the room and pulled the door shut behind him. It didn't shut all the way though. Magdalene stood up off the table and moved towards the door, pulling the IV and blood bag that was hanging up, with her. She stopped close to the door to ease drop on the conversation between the two young men.

"You can't just come bursting down here, this is a healing place, Holden."

"I didn't think you'd be busy," Holden replied.

"Bullshit," Nathan retorted.

"Why are you so defensive?"

"I have a patient here that I'm helping. If you want to hang out, come back at like three. No one is ever here then."

"No one is really here now," Holden said.

"You're going to get me in trouble. I can't have my friends sitting around, hanging out in the lobby when I'm supposed to be working. And you really shouldn't be done here in the back."

"You let Maggie hang out—"

"No I don't."

"Is that who's in the room now? Are you two messing around when you're supposed to be working?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Nathan shot back. "I already told you there is nothing going on."

"You said she had a crush on you."

"I was joking. Seriously, were you dropped on your head as a baby?"

Holden laughed a heavy, hearty laugh that made Magdalene smile. He seemed truly happy when he laughed like that. She bit her bottom lip as she continued to listen.

"Just wanted to see if I could hang out here tonight," Holden said. "Didn't mean to offend you."

"Get out of here," Nathan responded. "Go to a party or something. Pick up a girl."

"Alright, I'll see you later. Maybe at three…"

"Bring me some food, if you come back."

"Alright, man," Holden said. His voice seemed farther away.

Magdalene moved back to the table quickly and sat down, just in time before the door opened again. Nathan appeared with apologetic eyes.

"Sorry," he said.

"It's okay," Magdalene said smiling. "You don't have to sit in here and wait with me…you are supposed to be working."

He smiled at her comment as he nodded. He touched the blood bag to see how much was left. "Alright, I'll be back in fifteen minutes to clean everything up."

"Thanks," Magdalene said.

Nathan didn't say anything else and left the room leaving Magdalene alone. While sitting in the quiet room, she wondered about Holden and what he was actually doing at the clinic. Was he there to see his friend or did he come hoping to catch Magdalene there? Her stomach filled with butterflies at the thought of him coming to see her. She liked the idea of him wanting to see her. She bit her bottom lip as she thought about Holden; she loved looking at him, he was a beautiful looking man and she loved staring into his dark smoky eyes.

Was she no better than Rose leading Sonnie on? Was she leading Holden on at all?

No, she decided. He hadn't asked her out at all. He hadn't even made a pass at her. He was just her friend. She knew he liked her because she could feel his emotions every time she was around him. He always felt happy to see her and a little lustful.

Magdalene smirked as she looked up at the blood bag. It was empty. The door to the exam room opened and Nathan entered.

"Perfect timing," Magdalene said as he stopped next to her and removed the needle from her arm. She stood up and pulled her shirt back on over her body.

"This is what I do, you know," Nathan smiled.

"Thanks again."

"I'll see you later."

"Tomorrow, I think," Magdalene teased.

Nathan nodded his head with a smile but said nothing. Magdalene exited the room and made her way back to the front of the clinic. In the lobby, there were two girls waiting. One looked green with nausea, while the other looked perfectly healthy sitting next to her. Magdalene didn't make eye contact with them, just walked out into the dark night street.

The street was busy with college students out and about exploring the night. Magdalene turned and began to walk down the sidewalk back the way she had run. She didn't feel like running back to the dorm, but she did feel a burst of energy now that she had fresh blood in her system. As she walked, she took in the people moving around her in the streets.

She could sense that most of the people out were witches. This didn't surprise her as most of the students at Harper's were witches. There were some humans, most of whom knew about witches in some capacity. There were very few people in the college town that didn't know Harper's was a witching school.

As Magdalene walked, she picked up a different aura in the streets. She stopped abruptly and turned, looking behind her. It was a vampire, somewhere in the nighttime crowd. She scanned the people nearby: a young couple walking towards her hand in hand, four men across the street laughing at the bus stop, three girls passing her on the sidewalk, a guy on a bike, a small group of people crossing the street, a man standing on the corner—

Magdalene stepped forward looking at the man on the corner. It was him. He was the vampire. She recognized him instantly. He was from her past and haunted her in worse ways than her father. As she stepped forward towards him, she collided with someone walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction.

"Hey!"

"Sorry," Magdalene said as she looked away from the man on the corner for a moment.

The girl she had run into gave her a nasty look and continued on her way down the street.

Magdalene looked up to the vampire across the street, but he was gone. She frowned with uneasiness as she turned around, looking for him somewhere else on the street. She didn't see him though. It was as if he wasn't there at all. But she knew he was. She knew what she had seen and felt.