Ch.16: Love or Attraction?

Sitting outside in the long hallway, Jasper brushed the back of his head against the wall and sighed.

"You know, it's been a long time since I last saw Malik that angry. He's usually the voice of reason when it comes to us three."

Since the odd group of students first brought Alice into the room, Malik loyally stayed at her side, ignoring his blood craving when they began treating her wounds. Not for a second did he take his eyes off her, and once treatment was over, he sat next to her bed and even held her hand as he patiently waited for her to reopen her eyes.

"What happened to those two anyway?" When Jasper last saw the couple together, both were deeply into each other, but out of nowhere, something changed with Alice. She began distancing herself from Malik and his friends. Every time Jasper tried to greet her or when Malik wanted to talk to her, she always had her guard up, evading their questions and avoiding being seen with them in public.

Throughout the summer break, Jasper watched his friend glue his eyes to the screen of his phone, awaiting Alice's phone call or even a text, but all he got was nothing.

"And to think, the only way we're lucky enough to arrive on time was because I overheard some other night students mention Sara throwing a party. I just wanted to crash it. I did not expect the scene that greeted us."

Despite his easy-going and friendly persona, Jasper wasn't one to easily open his heart, and rarely did he feel sympathy, no matter how harsh the crime. Blame it on his vampire genes, but something about last night's event deeply disturbed him.

Every time he thought about that girl he rescued from the fountain, he would feel this sensation of anger burning inside him towards the one who put her in that condition, which confused him. There were only two women Jasper held dear in his heart, his birth mother and his older sister.

Even with the numerous girls he charmed or dated, none of them moved his heart the way that girl did, and he hadn't shared a single sentence with her.

"I think I'm going crazy." The blonde vampire sighed when he noticed how Ethan's gaze strayed down the hall, where inside a room, Dia had just finished explaining everything that took place yesterday night.

"So that's what happened." The woman leaned back in her chair, face neutral, before opening her mouth.

"Forgive for not introducing myself before. I am the Headmistress of this school. I strive to make this a safe learning place for all students. Note that I will punish those in charge of the crime for the actions taken against you and your friends. Now, for my next question: how long have you known that you're a witch?"

Dia couldn't hide the shock that appeared on her face. A smirk graced the woman's face.

"I did a little research about you, young lady, and it turns out you come from a long line of witches thanks to your mother's blood that runs through your veins."

The woman stared at Dia, but her eyes looked as if she was staring at someone else. "It's scary how much you bear a striking resemblance to 'them'," the woman said this more to herself than to the younger one on the bed.

"I don't understand why this special bit of information was left out. Nor does it matter as starting tomorrow, you will be attending Night Class."

"Night Class? What is that?" The term was unfamiliar to Dia.

"It's a special class for our gifted students. As you may now know, humans aren't the only ones who exist. The balance between the human and supernatural world has been a struggle, but finally, we have found a way to coexist with each other. But even with these changes, not all are happy, and if the scale was to ever tilt in one direction, unforeseen and dire consequences lay in store for us."

The severity of this statement left Dia at odds and afraid. But she perked her ears up for what the Headmistress had to say next.

"To identify normal students from the abnormal ones, those like yourself are provided with a specially tailored uniform based on your supernatural class. Sadly, the one who makes our school uniforms is away on vacation. Meaning you have to wait until the next semester."

The woman got up from her seat and could see that Dia still had a lot of questions she wanted to ask but was too shy to open her mouth.

"I'm a busy woman, so if you have any more questions, ask that little huntress friend of yours to fill you in. Arthur, let's go," she told the older man guarding the door, allowing her to walk out first, before trailing behind her.

Left alone again, Dia folded her knees to her chest and rested her head on them. "None of this makes any sense. Why had Adrian and Aunt Vicky never tell me that I was present the day our parents were killed or that I'm a freaking witch?!" Frustration and confusion laced her voice as hot tears ran down her cheeks.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Today marked Dia's third day of school, and instead of stressing over exams and pop quizzes, she was thrown with the fact that the people she thought loved her the most had been lying to her. And to make matters worse, she's a witch!

"Do not let sadness overwhelm you, little master." The sudden voice of Lilith inside her head made the teen jump; a sparkle of silver light emitted from Dia's left wrist and a black charm bracelet consisting of purple gems and silver beads. A black skull pendant with crystal ball inside its head hung from the accessory.

The bracelet flashed again and a black bunny with big silvery white eyes and a purple ribbon tied around its neck appeared on her lap.

"Lilith?"

"This is my animal form. It helps me maneuver a lot easier and not draw so much attention." The bunny rubbed its head against Dia thigh, but Lilith's calm voice spoke from inside her head.

"Have you checked on your friends to see how they were doing?"

At the mention of her friends, the teen recalled their injuries and instantly felt guilty for thinking only about herself as she threw the covers off her and ran to the door. Lilith followed right behind Dia, who opened the door and descended the long hall when she saw a familiar face.

Ethan was first to move, reaching for Dia's hands and holding them as he scanned her for any injuries. "You're okay, right? That bastard didn't hurt you? Just say the word and I'll sever his head from his neck."

Such a vicious threat should've made the pigtailed girl scared, but weirdly enough, for the first time since fate decided to flip her entire life upside down, she smiled and burst out into laughter. Ethan and Jasper were caught off guard by her actions, but Dia didn't care.

"Sorry, it's just been a rough day, and those words made me laugh for some reason. Maybe Lisa is right about my sense of dark humor." She wiped the tears of joy from her eyes when she remembered why she was out in the hallway in the first place.

"By any chance, do you know what room my friends are staying in?" Dia asked feeling Lilith hopped itself on top of her head. Ethan's blonde-haired friend was the one to answer her question.

"If you're talking about Alice, she's in this room while your other friend is in the room right across." Jasper pointed to the room behind them and then pointed to the one right across. Nodding her thanks, she peeked inside Alice's room first, but quickly closed it. The scene with a boy holding the girl's hand made Dia feel like an intruder.

"I'll just check on-"

"Where the hell am I? No, scratch that! What the fuck happened last night!?" The door across from Alice slammed open, and Lisa stood in the doorway.