Fairies

I started after Sian, managing to find some canvas, painting tools, paints and stand. We were given a lot of space, since everyone took the corners they preferred. And we were in the same hall which I had sorted as the exhibition hall previously.

Our professor, whose name I finally caught as Mr. Picasso, was good with giving tips, and he helped both me and Sian set up our tools and space.

Chairs weren't really provided to us, but I was comfortable standing, it made the painting experience better for me, of course Sian didn't agree, and brought a chair from somewhere, giving me that pleased smirk he always had.

I didn't know what I was going to draw, so I simply stared at my canvas. Mr. Picasso had asked us to submit anything we wanted in abstract, but what could I submit him.

It was truly mind boggling.

"Take your time, but next class is the submission, so you can stay back here if you have no other classes, till 4 it would be kept open for visitors."

And I thought Mr. Picasso was actually directing his words towards us, since the experienced student body must know about the information already.

I looked around to check out other's work, since I could see their canvas on display. But even then I did not get any inspiration. Even Sian was faster than me in picking up his brushes. Wow, he really did better than I expected, his strokes seemed mature, like he had practice before.

The professor seemed to have a mood for a tea break, so he excused himself and left us in our own world. I sighed, not really getting anything in mind. Nothing special at all.

At one point I found myself staring at the blonde, he was busy with his own canvas, actually very aggressive with his strokes. His eyes were glazed over as he worked, like he was losing himself in his painting.

So silently, so as to not disturb anyone, I made my way towards him. His brows were furrowed in concentration as he analysed his details, a deep frown making its way on his lips. The frown was actually more like a pout, his lips puffy and pink.

I shook my head, why was I even attracted to his lips, he was a dude for God's sake.

It wasn't until I stood next to him near his canvas that he even bothered to look up from his work, his eyes seeing me but his gestures and movements not reacting to me.

It was like he was comfortable with me there breathing down his neck, not literally but seriously, I was right there, hovering.

I saw what he painted that I remembered why I was roaming around. His work was inspirational if nothing else, it was done with a single color and a lots of strokes. It was... a very angry painting, forceful and rememberable.

I watched as he added a dash of red to it, instantly giving it an identity. It looked like a shadow spirit, holding a scythe. At least that was what I interpreted from the painting.

We didn't talk, as he gave the final touches, his cologne's strong scent baffling me, for it was sweet, very sweet, just like nectar. And here I had thought night crawlers hated to put on synthetic scents.

The other students I saw weren't paying much attention to us, and it was now that I observed how distinct every one of them was. Some were vampires as it was obvious by their pale skin and colored eyes, while some were more normal. I also saw one who had hooves for legs and I quickly looked away.

The females of the class, for the most part weren't really beautiful or not even ugly, they were just there, fashionable and giggly.

I was so immersed in watching everyone that I didn't feel the blonde even move, but when I got back to my original look out, I was startled, since the guy was looking directly at me, his eyes following mine as he just stood there.

I tried smiling but it just didn't came, so I settled for looking awkwardly around, shuffling at my feet.

"You are not getting ideas on the first day?" he asked me, although there was no malicious intent in his tone.

Still, it made me flinch back, "S-Sorry, I just don't seem to know what I can make that it will be special."

"Make something that you can relate to, or have emotional attachment to... or maybe just make anything, like I did."

I noticed his voice was pleasant to hear, almost melodious. Deep but not disturbing and light but not girlish. There was also this hint of cuteness to his syllable, overall it was catchy.

"I am not sure if I am good with going impromptu, it might end up being bad."

"Abstract doesn't have to be pleasing to the eyes, it can be bad... or good, but it should be meaningful, a stroke straight from your mind... or heart."

Like I had assumed, his conversations weren't monotonous or rude, he was very smooth with his words, he was approachable. But his eyes... they were smoldering, hard and guarded, but full of depth one couldn't even think of diving in. He didn't have one attribute about himself, but rather, he was complex, yet simple to understand.

Even I don't know what it was about him that was attractive, leaving out his physical appearance. He looked rich, like his velvet red blazer, but there was no arrogance in his behavior. He was not even stiff, however was slightly closed off.

"You going to stare at me the whole day or..."

I quickly snapped out of whatever trance I was in, it was humiliating enough, even if the blond didn't mean any offense by it.

"I am just trying to read you, you are complex."

I don't know what made me say that to him, but it definitely gained his interest. Since his body fully turned towards me as he roamed his eyes over me, rather openly.

And instead of feeling repulsed, I actually felt bothered by it, not a cringe bothered but bothered bothered.

I gulped and his eyes instantly recorded that reaction, if his slight smirk was anything to go by.

What was wrong with me?

I shook my head rather physically and stepped away, stammering an apology and leaving back towards my own space next to Sian.

I felt Sian eyeing me rather pointedly but I was too flustered to give him a response. So instead, I painted, trying to bring out the emotions in me.

An hour passed, two hours passed and the class was over.

Mr. Picasso had left us be and Sian was already packing keeping aside his painting in the collection room to dry out, he was planning to continue it on the next Monday, for us freshers the painting class only had slots on Mondays, and the rest of the weak went for theory and Digital work.

"Which class do we have now?"

Sian took out his phone to check, "We are free till 2 PM, it is currently 11:25."

"Then we can have lunch by 12, just let me finish this stuff up."

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed that the blond guy was gone, so I breathed in relief. It was embarrassing as it is.

"So, you going to tell me what it was all about?" Sian asked with a wide innocent look on his face and I checked our surrounding to see almost the whole hall empty, only a few other students were left.

"What are you talking about?" Going ignorant was always safe.

"You, blonde guy, painting excuse. Now spill."

"There is nothing to spill, I just liked his work and he was not really rude or anything, so I talked to him."

Sian wasn't believing me, "Yeah, that is why you opened the door for him, why haven't you done that for me before."

"Because you are the one who generally opens the door for me." Well he never did, but the pissed look on his face was worth it.

"Where is that girl you were hitting on." I changed the topic, looking around for that loudmouthed girl, bitch, whatever.

"She is nothing but a petty woman, you know those who insult others and preen under the attention."

I snorted, "I never understood those kind of people, I had one in my class as well, she was basically trying to prove her worth all the time by insulting other girls from other sections."

"Well, but I am sure that girl from your class was normal, this one though isn't, she is a banshee."

I chocked dry, "W-What, they aren't mythical creatures?"

Sian smirked, "Not at all, and almost all of them are rude as f*ck, I mean I have first hand experience with them. They feel the most vulnerable so they tend to act out."

I grimaced, "So we made an enemy already."

"She isn't, I could tell she was just messing with us, and she is rather good at painting."

"Surprise surprise, for being grossed out by her you are rather knowledgeable of her traits."

"That is because we talked."

I paused, my brush stroke dying out. I frowned at him, "When the hell did you even talk to her about."

"Nothing."

I chuckled, "Pack up, I really wanna get out of this stuffy hall, as beautiful as it is, I am more of a fan of the open sky."

He agreed.

--

We left the building sooner than later and the overhead sun nearly roasted us good, even though the breeze was cold. I blamed it all on the early morning rain.

"Where is the cafe anyway," I asked casually, rubbing my arms, "I don't think I saw anything like that around here yet. Don't tell me we have to go back to our dorm for a meal."

Sian was thoughtful, "We will have to ask around."

And we did ask around, to a couple, a gay couple. They were cute, even if vampires, their talk was genuinely kind. They told us the nearest cafe was half a kilometer away, towards the East block. They said south block was bad with food.

"So we are going to walk that far just for food."

"We could go to the dorms, they prepare lunches," Sian supplied helpfully, since the couple had told us so.

"But let's try out the cafe, I think it will be interesting."

"Don't tell me later that I didn't try to talk you out of it."

--

"Why didn't you try to talk me out of it?" I asked him seriously, and Sian closed his eyes taking in a deep breath.

I didn't favor dark places for eating lunch, it just wasn't my kind of place. And not when the place happened to be so loud.

The cafe was actually more like a restaurant, with attached benches and decorative feast. The walls were done with stone and unlike outside, the interior was dark and glittering with distorted pale light from the candles.

It had taken us some time to adjust our eyesight to the sudden change, and I don't know how much of an idiot we looked to the rest while we stood near the entrance just like that.

Finding the table for ourselves was hard, since the crowd was boisterous and spread out. But we did find some space on the last bench that only a single person had occupied.

We went there and greeted the man drinking coffee. His pale hair paler in the light. Well he was pale himself, could be a vampire. But who knows, the strange lighting made his tone strange as well.

I distractedly noted how the people on other tables observed us, the rowdiness surrounding us dying down a notch or two. Were we making some kind of a mistake?

The pale Vampire man glanced at us fleetingly and just grunted at us, so taking it as an invite, we sat down in front of him, placing our bags away.

He looked really annoyed with our presence but being shameless, Sian ignored his frowns, although I was't so lucky. Since I was trying not to be rude.

And just when I thought we could finally eat something and get out of the dark goth club, I heard a very familiar female's voice resound in the hall, and both me and Sian tried our best to not show our discomfort.

"Seems like we have to go somewhere else." I told Sian, who agreed wholeheartedly.

But luck worked faster than our feet and Luer really did spot us before we could even move to get up.

"Ruya!" she called loudly through the throng of people, and to my utter dread, the purple haired girl was with her as well, along with two other pretty girls. One with bluish hair, and the other one... woah.

"Shit, the banshee's here too."

Sian kicked my legs under the table to shut me up, since everyone most definitely heard it as well. And the Banshee was no exception.

"You!" the banshee raised her voice, looking at me with such cold intensity, it made the hall freeze.

"Yo!" Sian called back with equal intensity but with a friendly vibe instead.

"Don't Yo! me. You morons have been testing me this entire day." She was practically shouting at us.

I cursed myself in my head, this wasn't looking great. Plus she was friends with the fairies.

"Did he do something wrong?" The one with the blue hair asked the banshee, her dominating aura instantly making me shudder. I was starting to hate night crawlers.

"Queen, me and Luer met them this morning, they seem harmless," the purple haired one explained, with Luer nodding sharply.

"It is childish Queen, but he and that goof have been annoying me a lot, they aren't harmless," the Banshee spoke stubbornly.

"Let it go Jennie, we will punish them if something adverse happens."

The banshee's name must be Jennie, which suited her somewhat. And after she heard her Queen ignore her attempts, she gave in.

I stared at the Queen, she was definitely wearing blue lipstick, but instead of making her look attractive, it appeared to seem like some layer of poison rather.

She felt dangerous and very unlike her banshee friend, Jennie.

"Carry on with your feast my friends, we are just here to enjoy a meal." I heard the queen say.

The crowd, as if in her command, went back to eating and being loud, however there remained this tension in the air, which wouldn't go.

Luer skipped towards me with a happy smile and I prayed to whatever God was out there that somebody would save us. Anybody.

And that anybody happened to be... the Vampire man? His coffee still around. "Stop jumping around here, let me eat in peace, go away."

We hadn't heard the man talk yet and when we did, I noted how rich his voice was, thick and rough, casual yet demanding.

Luer huffed, her eyes turning entirely black, making me shudder. It must be some kind of a fairy trait, a warning sign.

"Don't talk to me, your dirt is making the air around foul."

Well that was not rude at all.

"Your giggling makes anyone sick, the boy doesn't wants you around, so take the rejection and leave."

Luer gasped at his tone and words, eventually turning to look at me with a slight frown. "You don't want me here?"

You got it right, I wanted to say.

I didn't know how to reply though, and also not come out as rude. "Well, I was just about to eat lunch and I... already have a boyfriend, so I don't want to... you know..." I left the sentence open for her to fill in.

And her face fell instantly, making me feel bad despite my resolve.

But then she suddenly perked up, "You are lying," she said slowly, staring at me, and the students around were actually more focused on us than their meal, the atmosphere getting heavy again.

I was aware that I was sweating now, but it was getting warmer suddenly, or maybe I was just nervous. "What did you say?"

"You are lying." Her tone suddenly changed to anger.

And I gulped, "N-No, I do have a boyfriend."

She sneered, "I am fairy Ruya, I know when people are lying."

"Are you sure," I challenged her, gathering all of the courage I possessed. I was not liking her behavior at all. I had been trying to be subtle with her, but she was just throwing my own kindness back at me.

"Then who is your boyfriend, him?" she asked me by directing her gaze at Sian, who had been keeping his quiet until now.

The question relating to him made it clear that the so called fairy couldn't detect liars, or else she would have remained adamant on her point, she was faking it, and for some reason I was very sure of it.

"He is isn't he?" she spoke again, proving me right, and I noticed the queen and the rest were merely watching, not even bating an eye at us. I had thought their queen was the responsible one, but she wasn't even disputing the stupid argument. And something told me she was The Rose of Trinity, because why else would anyone show respect to her, since the whole crowd had listened to her as if they were her slaves.

"He isn't," I came back to Luer with a promising voice, "But I suggest you don't argue with us Luer, I like you as a friend, let's just forget this.... thing, going on here."

And instead of calming down, she got triggered. And I watched in slow motion as her darkening hands reached out for Sian's neck, her eyes turning all black and her speed matching lightening.

I watched as the skinny fingers turned to claws and reached out to choke Sian. I remembered all the rules and knew she wasn't going to kill him, but for some reason, Sian's gasping face told me I couldn't be so sure.

So I did the only thing I could, forgetting for a minute that Sian was my father's right hand man. I reacted.

Grabbing her hands I pushed her away with a strength I didn't know I had, and saw her startled reaction to my instinctive movement.

I heard Sian coughing slightly, his coughs echoing in the hallway, I was sure the Queen saw it all. But my attention wasn't on her, it was on Sian's assaulter, and I had never been this angry before.

Or maybe I had been once or twice, but she made me seethe in rage.

I stood up from my chair and she had the gut to step back, her eyes returning to normal but instead of being angry she seemed to be hesitant and cautious now.

"What do you think you are doing, Fairy." My own voice sounded heavy and I wasn't above calling her other degenerate names. Even if Sian was as ass, I cared for him, and I knew Sian wouldn't have come here if father hadn't been worried for my safety.

"Y-You-"

"I," I pressed, "told you we could leave this alone, but you did not listen, was it your arrogance we just saw?"

I could actually feel the Queen getting up, but before she could come and close the case. I took the water bottle from the vampire man's side and without thinking, poured the water all over Luer's head, and she was too shocked to even move.

The pin drop silence that followed was worth it.

"Next time you go around chocking someone," I started slowly, making eye contact, "choke yourself instead, the result would be better. So you keep your cool the next time I see you."

I picked up my bag, and searching for my own bottle, as I motioned for Sian to move, who actually had a smug look on his face, despite his neck already bruising.

I took out my new water bottle, which was costly if nothing else, and kept it on the vampire man's table, the said person didn't even look up from his coffee and phone, as if bored and I felt apologetic for making his lunch hard.

"Sorry for that, and the water," I pointed at the empty plastic bottle still rocking on the floor, even if he wasn't looking. I wasn't necessarily thinking, when I wasted his drinking supply on Luer, and I still wasn't thinking anyway.

Then I turned to face Luer back, she was still in shock. And looked around at the rest of the people, who were all in some similar state, except the Queen who was just standing there, looking at me with an empty look on her face, her side kicks doing the same.

I started to leave then, my heavy boots clacking against the wood. But before I left I did have something to say back to the crowd, "I am a fresher," I started, "I don't know the people here or the society yet, and this is my first day, but I learned that fairies can kill, are rude and can't detect lies, because really, I don't have a boyfriend."

And with that I left the dark cafe, not even bothering to hide my scowl. What was done was done.