Blood Song

Mark

I'd never been what you could call a big fan of school. Not like Rebecca, who liked the academic bits and managed to tolerate the rest of it. I didn't even like the academic bits. And that was before I found out that I was going to become a vampire. You'll understand how it was that I couldn't see the point of sticking it out until I was finished. What good would a bunch of GCSE's do me when I started metabolising iron, and became almost invincible. Seriously?

Either way, I'd promised Mum I'd go to school, and I was feeling guilty about our intrusion into her privacy last night, as justified as it might seem. Plus I'd found that book, which fell squarely in the category of too much information. I'd had a couple of interesting dreams last night, though, so it was not all bad.

It was good to see Harry again. Rebecca seemed to have this concept of him as a grunting caveman type, but Harry was nothing like that when Bex wasn't around. I reckon he had the hots for her, so whenever he saw her he transformed from an articulate normal person to a grunting caveman type. It was unfortunate really, but that romance was going to be doomed no matter what. Harry was no Angus, let's face it.

I noticed the way Rebecca disappeared during lunch. I was profoundly jealous, but I knew I had English after lunch with Mr Parker, who would be sure to notice my absence, so I stayed. Talk about your bad decisions.

Eventually the school bell rang, setting us all free, except for Shanice and a couple of her goons, who seemed to relish detention. I picked up my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and made my way to the front of the school. It's pretty spectacular how fast a school can clear when that final bell goes, and today I'd had to discuss doing extra work to catch up with Mr Parker, who takes stuff like that seriously. There were one or two stragglers hanging around the front gates waiting for lifts, and I joined them for a minute or two before I realised that Angus wouldn't be fetching me this afternoon. He was probably smooching my sister again.

So I set off walking along the pavement in the direction of my house, staring at my feet and muttering darkly about unreliable vampires and English homework. I didn't notice the big Jag pulling up alongside me until a voice from the interior said, "Hello Mark."

I stopped suddenly and looked up into the face of a stunningly beautiful woman. She sat in the driver's seat, her hands resting casually on the steering wheel, but she still projected threat and power.