Three

I looked at the empty space where the cart had just been, my mind numb. Mel drained the last of the blood from her third bag and threw me a satisfied grin.

"Now that...was amazing."

I couldn't look at her. I kept thinking of what Jamie had just said to me. He wasn't a Ruby, an Emerald or a Diamond. He was a Sapphire. And apparently, so was I.

But nobody could know. If people found out, if the Rubies ever knew, I would be killed. I shook my head, not wanting to believe it was true. I tried to focus on what Mel was saying. I had to act normal. My life depended on it.

"It looked revolting. Three bags. How could you stomach it?"

She giggled, wiping her face for any traces of blood.

"It was lovely. Once you start drinking it, you can't stop. It's a need we have. I'm so thankful the afterlife exists because where else would we get the blood from?"

Now she had my attention. I turned to her in total disbelief.

"Excuse me? The blood is from the Diamonds? That's disgusting!"

"Well where else would it be from? They die, then their ghostly selves rise up from the bodies. And those bodies keep us supplied with fresh blood throughout the years. They do four intakes of eighteen year olds a year. Each graduation will roughly see about thirty thousand Pearl Eds go to The Diamonds. In comparison, us Rubies have an intake of around twenty-two thousand and The Emeralds between eighteen and twenty thousand. So it means we have plenty of access to fresh blood all year round. The authorities preserve some of the afterlife bodies until they need to drain them of blood, so we will always have an endless supply."

I made a gagging noise in the hope she would stop talking about it.

"I always thought the three generations got around the same intake. I didn't realise The Diamonds got so much more than us."

"It's because of the promise of family. Sometimes, the thought of having a family outweighs everything else. Didn't you learn anything at Pearl Eds?!"

We walked along in silence.

Everywhere we looked were varying shades of red rubies, houses, trees and funky looking vampires. Most Rubies we came across were lone vampires. In fact, since the moment Mel and I were pushed through the door, I hadn't seen anyone else together but us.

I tried to distract myself from what Jamie had told me and studied my welcome pack again. I didn't need to read it as every word was already imprinted on my memory.

"If we carry on in this direction for an hour, we could cover around five hundred miles. Apparently, there is a huge meadow known as "Rubies for Newbies" and people make their base on the meadow to sleep at night for a couple of weeks while they explore the generation in the daytime. Do you want to do that?"

Mel squealed with excitement.

"Yes, I've heard about that. Everyone just parties and sleeps in that meadow. There are several blood cocktails to try. It sounds like a great idea Cassie!"

I was glad that I was able to make someone happy. Now I had The Sapphire world on my mind, I felt nothing but dread and fear.

We made it to the meadow in less than an hour. The grass was a fiery red. Back in the human days, there was something called a football pitch where people played sport. This meadow was at least ten of those put together, it was huge.

This was the first place I had seen where Rubies were interacting with each other. Some were dancing, some were chatting and drinking and some were just fast asleep on the grass. Panic started to bubble up inside me. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all.

"Mel...I don't know if i can sleep out on the grass like that. I need something over me. I need some sort of protection."

She eyed me with sympathy.

"You still don't feel right do you?"

Her voice was a whisper. I shook my head, meekly. She shrugged and lifted her ruby necklace to her mouth.

"Could we have a delivery of basic house materials in the 'Rubies for Newbies' meadow for Mel and Cassie please?"

Just a few seconds after she said it, a huge box thudded at our feet. I was momentarily confused.

"What on earth is....."

"This, my dear...is our temporary house. Page forty-one of your welcome pack, remember? It will take us a few minutes to build and then we will be closed in. You can have some privacy."

My memory swirled like a computer and popped up with page forty-one of how to summon your own house if you didn't wish to sleep out in the open.

It was a dry wall house. Less stable than bricks but closed in and safe. If you wanted a forever home, there were instructions on how to do that later on in the book, but you needed the Mayors permission to build using Rubies. Even though this generation could obviously spare the gems, Matthew Perkins was notoriously tight with permission.

We got to work and set the house up. Now we were Rubies, everything came naturally easy to us. I began to wonder if Jamie from the blood cart had been right, I clearly had some vampire abilities within me. Maybe things would work out.

In no time at all, we had erected a beautiful little house with a bathroom and a shared bedroom complete with single beds. It wasn't fancy or decorated, but it was all I needed, as long as I had a roof over my head. I didn't mind sharing with Mel.

We sat on our beds. We didn't have mattresses because vampires supposably preferred hard surfaces. I found it uncomfortable, but was just relieved to have somewhere to hide out. I was looking at my ruby necklace, wondering if I did or didn't belong here. I knew Mel's eyes were on me.

"What did that guy from the blood cart say to you earlier?"I glanced at her, stunned that she had been aware Jamie had even said anything. "I know, I know. You thought I was so mesmerised in the blood that I wouldn't notice anything, but I'm not thick you know. You've had a strange look on your face ever since he left. So come on, spill it."

I decided to let her in on it. After all, she already knew that I wasn't the same as her, that I wasn't fitting in like I should. If I couldn't tell her, then who could I tell? Maybe she could help, she seemed to know what she was talking about for the most part.

"He told me that I'm....that I'm something called a....a Sapphire."

Mel gasped, shaking her head. She walked over to sit next to me on my cold, hard bed.

"Cassie, you can't be a Sapphire. You just can't be. Please don't mention this to anyone other than me. They will find you and kill you. You are the only friend I've ever had, I don't want you to die."

I sighed, fiddling with my hair in frustration.

"That's what he said, too. He said that if anyone ever found out, I would be killed instantly. I don't even know what a Sapphire is."

"The Sapphire Generation of Misfits."

I raised an eyebrow, not at all impressed.

"The generation of what?"

Her face was still creased in worry.

"The Sapphire Generation of Misfits. When the three generations were founded, for the first four years, everything went without a hitch. But at graduation one day, a young man got pushed through to the afterlife and injected with death. But it didn't work. He didn't die. He was very much alive. They didn't know what to do with him so they sent him to The Rubies where he didn't fit in. He was injected, but he was never a full on vampire. He had some abilities but he also had qualities that Mayor Perkins was jealous of, he didn't want him in The Rubies for long. So then The Emeralds took pity on him and had him with them for a while, but he yearned for more. They eventually discovered it was something already in his blood hampering the transitions. At Pearl Eds, we weren't even allowed to know the name of the first ever Sapphire, it was such a raw subject. Because the witches and wizards are noted for their kindness compared to the other two worlds, they actually made him his own world. It's not as big as our generations of course, it's more like a large city. Every graduation after that, five Pearl Eds out of around seventy thousand had the same thing in their blood, so they were sent to The Sapphire world. At first, it was all OK, but then the other Mayors started getting word that The Sapphires were living the best of all of us."

I made myself as comfortable as could be on the bed, intrigued by her story.

"In the Sapphire Generation, you had immortality without being a vampire. You could visit your family in the other worlds without having to die because Kitty Harris, the Mayor of The Emeralds had given the Sapphire residents a transportation spell so they were able to visit. Sapphires could do certain spells without having to go to The Emeralds. They could see family without being a Diamond. They lived forever. They felt emotion and got to eat nice food. In fact, they pretty much had a rather nice 'human' like life with a few super powers added in. The Mayors of The Rubies and The Diamonds didn't like it. They got their heads together with the authorities at Pearl Eds and came up with a plan to get rid of them. Because if everyone started cottoning on to the fact that The Sapphire world existed, then everyone would want to go there. So they hushed it up."

I barely blinked while Mel had been talking. How come I had never learnt about any of this at Pearl Eds?

"Vampires are immortal for the most part but they can be killed, because as you know...they feel anger. Anger is their strongest emotion. Well, their only emotion if we are to believe it. So Matthew Perkins and Shane Smith of the Diamonds threatened to kill the beloved Kitty Harris unless she gave them the transportation spell to get into the Sapphire Generation,she had no choice so they got in and started killing them off one by one. Now, if you don't fit in and they believe you are a Sapphire, they kill you instantly. Rumour has it that there are only about fifteen Sapphires left where there once was five hundred plus. The remaining Sapphires have been tortured for years and are only alive because they agreed to work for the other worlds using the transformation spell. "

I felt sick to my stomach. Horrified that Jamie had been tortured at the hands of others just to live. And selfishly worried about what it all meant for me.

"Jamie was tortured. The guy that delivered your blood. He said he was tortured and they let him live but that his friend wasn't so lucky. Mel, what am I going to do?"

I put my head in my hands, surprised to feel a tear slide down my face. That single tear was solid proof I wasn't a vampire. I didn't belong here.

"Let's go outside of this meadow, there is a little empty road littered with ruby benches just a few miles from here. We can order some more blood and you can talk to Jamie."

"I don't think he wants to help me. He seemed to run off pretty quick."

Mel shrugged, standing up from the bed and heading towards the door.

"Well if he works for the other worlds now and the authorities let him live, then he has to follow our demands. I want blood and he's our blood man. Let's give it a try. I don't see what else you can do."

She was right. I followed her out and walked through the meadow where vampires were still partying, chatting and sleeping. We made our way to the road with the benches and sat down, making sure nobody else was in sight. Then we rubbed our necklaces twice downwards. The blood cart appeared a second later, grinding to a halt by the bench.

Jamie stepped out. He audibly groaned when he saw it was us. He leant against the cart and folded his arms across his chest. Although he seemed angry, I couldn't help but admire just how good looking he was.

"We meet again Cassie. I thought I told you I couldn't help. It's not going to help your case summoning me back here. Keep your head down and stay safe. It's all I can offer."

Mel sprung up from the bench and skipped to the back of the cart to help her self to blood. Jamie frowned, watching her.

"What?" She shrugged. "I wanted blood. We didn't get you here under false pretences. But while I'm having my fill, maybe you can stop grumbling and start giving Cassie real advice. Don't just leave her to it. It's not fair."

I stood up and closed the gap between Jamie and I. He was studying me now. I could see that Mel's words had made him more sympathetic to my case.

"Please. I know it's difficult for you. I can't imagine the horrors you have been through just to fight for your life. But...I...I need to know more about the Sapphire world. It's obviously where I am supposed to be. I don't belong here."

I found myself reaching out to see his necklace again. It was tucked under his shirt. I gently lifted it up, examining the precious blue stone. As soon as I touched it, my ruby started burning my chest again. Jamie held my wrist gently, making me drop his necklace.

"Don't do that. You know it makes your ruby burn you if you touch another stone. Listen, Cassie...I want to help, but how can I? There haven't been any Sapphires since the year I graduated. I didn't think I would ever meet another Sapphire again. There are only fifteen of us left in our world. The rest were killed. It's a bit of a shock meeting another one."

Mel stepped forward, slurping on a bag of blood. I couldn't stop staring at Jamie. His eyes were mesmerising.

"Hey, blood cart guy, why don't you just take Cassie back to your world on the cart?"

He started laughing hysterically. He looked half panicked and half genuinely amused.

"It's not as simple as that. They will find her. They will kill her." He shot me an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, but it's true. And then, for bringing you to the Sapphires uninvited, they will kill the last of us off too. Me first of course, but they will tar us all with the same brush and get rid of us all."

I shook my head and smiled, though it didn't reach my eyes. I touched his shoulder, trying to reassure him.

"I would never expect anyone to lose their life to help me. I guess whatever world I stay in I'm dead anyway. I'm not going to bring others down with me. I'm sorry I called you back here to ask. Next time we see you, it will be blood related only. I promise."

He smiled back, though his didn't look convincing either. I could see the guilt. He wasn't good at masking it.

"Cassie...just ...I mean...can't you at least try to fit in here so they don't hurt you. Just because we are labelled Misfits, it doesn't mean we don't feel things and have emotions. In fact, we feel them stronger than any generation. I don't want to see you hurt."

"This is nauseating." We broke out of our trance to look at Mel, I had no idea how many bags of blood she had downed while Jamie and I were talking. "Not the blood, you guys. It's clear you both fancy each other. It's very Romeo and Juliet from the human world. It will end in tragedy."

I stepped back from Jamie, my cheeks flushing at Mel's words. Jamie was also turning slightly pink. He ran a hand through his black hair.

"I know your friend is a vampire, but does she have no filter what so ever?"

I giggled, shaking my head in exasperation at Mel. I know we hadn't known each other long, but I could see her light blue eyes sparkling with mischief. She was spinning a plan somewhere in that mind of hers.

"Hey, blood cart guy."

Jamie rolled his eyes.

"It's Jamie. Not blood cart guy. What do you want?"

"Why don't you take Cassie and I back to your world? Both of us."

For the second time, Jamie laughed. I had to admit, he had a nice laugh. It made me feel warm inside.

"Take you both back? How is that any better than just taking Cassie back? Which I would rather do by the way, because you are impossibly annoying."

I tried to hold back a snort of laughter.

"Because Jamie the blood cart guy, if you take us both back, they won't kill us. Well, at least...I hope not. Listen, I was more than your average Pearl Eds student. I researched all the things we were told not to. I knew all about the Sapphire generation even though Cassie didn't. And I also know that even though a vampire can be killed, it is prohibited to ever kill a Newbie Ruby. They get a year guaranteed. One of the wizards from The Emeralds cast a spell to make sure of it. I can't die, even if I go to another world. You have an endless supply of fresh blood so I won't go hungry and we can convince everyone that Cassie is a Ruby, like me. So she can't be killed. And maybe, just maybe...in that year...we can form a plan to make sure Cassie can be a Sapphire forever and you two can run off and have weird little dark haired, big eyed babies that you will never see again because Pearl Eds will yank them away at birth."

Although my cheeks were once again flushing at her last words, my heart started to thud wildly at the thought of there maybe being a way out. But Jamie was shaking his head.

"It would never work. If it was that simple, don't you think all kinds of people from the other generations would be visiting the Sapphire world all the time? It's...it's unthinkable."

"No, because you Sapphires are rare. You only come along once in a blue moon. and besides, why would any other gens want to visit when they already belong somewhere? Also, I know a sure fire way to de-activate our Rubies so it buys us a couple of days before they realise we are gone."

I could see that he was thinking about it. I couldn't let Mel do all the hard work, I had to try and convince him as well. I started twiddling my hair, feeling nervous that the Sapphire world seemed so close, yet so far away.

"We could give it a go Jamie. How do we know what will work if we never try? Maybe...just maybe...your years of torture actually meant something. Maybe it all leads to this. Because I would hate to think of anyone being tortured if there was no greater purpose. It shouldn't have happened to you. Get some justice. Help me. Help all of the Sapphires become an acceptable world again. And if they come to kill us, I will clear you of everything. I will make sure that you...and Mel, were never associated with me. I will clear your name if it's the last thing I do."

He sighed. I could tell we had nearly worn him down.

"Sure, stand there twiddling your hair looking all helpless. Promise to save my life. Back me into a corner why don't you?"

I smiled at him sweetly. I wasn't trying to pressure him into anything but I wanted this so much. He scratched his head, eyeing Mel.

"And what about you? I mean...yes, you get a year without being killed, but why would you want to come with Cassie when you are a vampire. You have no emotions."

She tossed him an empty bag of blood and came to stand next to me, linking my arm.

"Because Cassie is the only friend I've ever had. And I think her emotions are rubbing off on me. Just because someone dictated that we all have to act a certain way, it doesn't mean we should. Now, will you help us?"

He looked at his cart helplessly, then back at us. He held his necklace in his hands and looked at it for what seemed an age. Then he looked at me, just like he was looking right through to my soul.

He walked to his cart and got back in, shutting the door. I felt absolute dread at the thought of him driving away. He leaned out of the window, a resigned look on his face.

"Get in."