Page 40 of Ever Dark Academy: Vol. 1

He saw a female Vampire in her mid-fifties with long, curly hair teleport from below the steps of the dorm to the top of them and then teleport again onto the dorm’s foyer. One student was chased around by a rain cloud that had her running and giggling. Mirryr Vampires would suddenly take on the appearance of the student they were talking to. Helm Vampires turned invisible. There one second and gone the next. Syrin Vampires were singing sweet, soft melodies that rose on the wind, welcoming all to this place. His shoulders relaxed slightly as the song reached him.

“Are you all right?” Ryder asked.

“Fine.” Grayson didn’t know how he felt watching this open use of powers in front of so many people who, instead of being afraid, were acting like it was the best show in the universe.

“Ah, the notorious fine that means so many things.” Ryder quirked a smile at him.

Grayson grimaced. He didn’t talk about his feelings with people. It was messy. It opened up… what? What did it open up? Ryder already knew what he could do. And watching these Vampires use their gifts made what he could do seem normal. So how was he protecting himself by being silent with this man? Confessing part of his past stopped Ryder from continually asking him things. Maybe if he said something now his anxiety would lessen and Ryder would let it go.

“I would avoid crowds like this before,” Grayson said, the words sticking in his throat like shards of glass as he explained his strategies to someone else, “because if I got excited or angry or anything really, my powers might be triggered. People seeing what I could do was potentially death.”

He wondered if that was still true. Wouldn’t people just think he was a Vampire now? Would they really be so shocked and afraid like they used to be? Only those who realized he was human would be a danger to him. People who wondered if they could take what he could do and give it to others. Maybe the safest place for him to be was in a world filled with Vampires.

They’d both stopped walking just outside the scrum of people. No one was really looking at them. There was too much of a spectacle going on to wonder why two men were just standing there, hanging back, not completely engaging.

“So this is strange?” Ryder tilted his head towards the Vampires and students.

“Strange? Yeah. It’s like I’ve gone down the rabbit hole and what was up is now down and what was down is now up and… I don’t know.” Grayson shrugged his shoulders. “I actually resented Vampires exposing themselves before.”

“Really? Why?”

“Because a lot of what kept me safe was people not believing in supernatural things,” Grayson explained. “You all came around and boom! Everybody’s a believer. Everything is possible. Including a human who can move things with his mind.”

Ryder nodded slowly. “So you saw it as your world getting smaller rather than larger with us in it? It wasn’t freeing?”

“The more open you were, the more I had to hide,” Grayson said. “I felt more of a freak than before.”

“You could have gotten yourself a set of silver contacts and just pretended to be an Ashyr Vampire,” Ryder suggested in a neutral tone.

“Would you have done something like that in my position?” Grayson asked, lifting an eyebrow at him. “Pretended to be someone or something you’re not?”

Ryder surprised him though by saying, “Sometimes it is better to fit in.”

Grayson turned fully towards him. “You can’t believe that.”

Ryder lifted an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“Just… you’re so comfortable with yourself. With who you are… or, what you are, I guess,” Grayson suddenly wasn’t so sure. “I mean what would you have to hide?”

Silence fell between them. Grayson was, again, doing something he didn’t do. He was asking someone else questions about themselves that were intimate, private, and would demand a quid pro quo. Then again, he had told Ryder about his past.

“Mirryr Vampires hide in plain sight. They can be whoever they wish,” Ryder said suddenly.

Watching one of the Mirryr Vampires change sex and race in a second had Grayson shaking his head. “Do they actually physically change? Or is it some kind of limited mind control where we see only what they want us to see?”

“Good question. I’ve never asked,” Ryder admitted. “But, then again, since I can shift into a bear and a wolf and more it's not really a big deal to shift from being human to human.”

“Fair point.” Grayson hunched his shoulders as the crowd grew more raucous.

Vampires were coming around with silver platters full of champagne flutes that they were handing out by the dozen. Grayson was handed one. Ryder though waved them off.

“Aren’t you going to have one?” Grayson asked, studying the delicate crystal glass. He’d had champagne once when his mom let him have a sip. He took another now, surprised by the bubbles on his tongue. He took another, liking the fizzy yeastiness.

“No, though alcohol doesn’t affect Vampires like humans, I need to focus. There is much I must do tonight. So… come. We should get you checked in,” Ryder said.

Grayson nodded and down the champagne. He needed something to keep him calm. He set the empty glass down on a nearby tray and prepared to shoulder his way through the crowd. Though it was really the amount of luggage some people had brought that had him dodging and weaving more than the amount of students. He had always traveled light. A pair of jeans, a few t-shirts, underwear, socks, boots and a jacket. That was his complete kit. But from what he could see some of these students had brought pets, furnishings, artwork, and more.

There was actually a birdcage as big as a car with half a dozen birds inside. The Vampires were not phased by it, but easily lifted it and carried it inside. Another student had brought dozens of canvases, oil paints, and easels evidently to continue their art career or hobby, Grayson didn’t know. Someone even brought a pool table.

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