December 20 | Friday #10
“It’s blood produced specifically for their needs,” Norma said, noticing his confusion.
“Wait… There’s technology that can create synthetic blood?” Will asked, amazed. “I mean, blood that’s like human blood?”
“Yup.”
“So why don’t they use it to save people? Why do we still need blood donations if you can just make it?”
“Oh, they do use it to save people,” Norma assured him. “In a way. To save them from constant vampire attacks.”
“Oh, for God’s sake!” Blake bristled. “Vampires haven’t attacked humans in ages!”
“Blake, if you’re capable of having a normal conversation, feel free. If not, kindly shut up.”
“I don’t know,” Alden replied dryly. “Would you be able to have a normal conversation with a pig?”
Will’s eyes went wide, and he stared at Blake in outrage. He couldn’t believe he’d said that!
“Great question.” Norma didn’t seem fazed. “And the answer is: apparently so, because that’s exactly how I feel when I’m talking to you.”
Blake shot up from his seat.
“I’m leaving,” he hissed, insulted.
“No!” Norma cried out dramatically. “I beg of you, oh Prince of Darkness, remain in my embrace!” Alden froze for a brief moment, seeming confused by her performance. Norma let out an irritated snort. “Go on then, you asshole, what are you waiting for?”
Blake lifted his chin and marched out without a word. Liam smiled to himself, then said his goodbyes and followed his friend.
“Blake is Blake,” Norma summed up. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Yeah.” Will offered a weak smile. “Good thing we’re immune to his charm.”
“Immune?” Norma repeated, astonished. “No one is completely immune to a vampire’s charm, though the intensity of its effect is usually tied to your preferences.”
“Meaning?”
“Well, you know, if someone isn’t into guys, Blake isn’t going to enchant them that much.
Besides, other factors come into play. Sure, vampires are naturally attractive, it’s part of the lure, but tastes can be more refined, right?
Still, on some people, it works really strongly.
Don’t be mad at those girls who flock around him.
It’s really not their fault, and their age doesn’t help.
You know, raging hormones amplify feelings. ”
“I’m into guys…”
“Welcome to the club. That’s why we have to suffer Blake’s charm.”
“…but his charm doesn’t work on me,” Will finished firmly.
“It does, just to a limited extent. The secret to any magic trick is the audience’s ignorance. And you already know what it is and what effect it can have on you, so you’re subconsciously able to fight it. You recognize that your feelings are false.”
“I stopped looking at him with admiration even before I found out what he was,” Will confessed, frowning.
“Like I said, some people are more sensitive to that kind of stimulus, others less so.”
Strange.
Will could have sworn there was a time when he perfectly understood the fascination with Blake. And then he just… stopped. Until now, he’d thought it was connected to his Awakening, but apparently he was wrong.
Either way, he was glad he could see Alden’s true colors.
November 11 | Monday
“…how can I know you’re you and not some mimic?” Will asked, walking down the school hallway with Norma.
Things had gotten a little better since the party. Norma was proving to be not only a great source of support but also a guide to all the weird things Will still knew too little about. Liam would chat with him sometimes. He had learned to ignore Blake.
“You can’t, really,” Norma replied, as she introduced the next topic.
“Though there are ways to spot them, it’s not that simple.
I dated a mimic last year. He had a mole under his right eye.
When he changed into someone else, the mole didn’t disappear.
It’s funny, because he could look identical to another person except for that one tiny detail.
Every mimic has something like that. A telltale feature that doesn’t change. ”
Will was about to ask another question, but just then he spotted Oscar walking toward them with a few of his friends. Oscar saw him, too. As they passed each other, he gave Will a smile. Will returned it, though it took a considerable amount of effort.
He felt frustrated. That evening when Oscar had suggested they go out might as well have never happened, because absolutely nothing had come of it.
And it wasn’t the first time. Dammit! Will regretted not pressing him for details.
He should have set a specific date and time.
Oh, and drawn up a formal document in duplicate, signed by both of them, since that was apparently the only way he’d get any results.
Did Oscar really keep forgetting his promises? Or was he simply losing interest?
“By the way, I’m throwing a party on Friday. Wanna come?”
“Like the last one?”
“No costumes and no late-night discussions among the freaks. Oh, and most importantly… no Blake,” Norma announced triumphantly, and Will managed a small smile. “You can invite your roommate.”
He wished she’d suggested that last time. The situation with Dan had normalized a bit, but that whole incident still gnawed at him. Sometimes Dan would make some exceptionally nasty digs, but at least they were talking to each other. Things could only get better from there.
Norma walked him to the cafeteria and then headed for the exit herself—she was meeting some guy outside.
Will entered the room. He got in line at the counter, and once he finally had his food, he started looking for his friend.
It was exceptionally crowded today, which was no surprise; the colder it got, the more students decided to spend their breaks inside.
He couldn’t find Dan. He was about to call him when he remembered his friend had to retake a failed test during lunch.
So, Will started looking for Liam instead.
The guy was sitting in the middle of the room with his teammates.
They seemed to be having a great time. Will didn’t have the guts to interrupt them.
He was about to flop down at the first available seat, but then he spotted Blake. Alden was at a table by the wall. It was all his. No wonder, he’d probably berated anyone who tried to join him.
Will stared at him for a long moment, wondering if this was really a good idea. Finally, he took a deep breath and headed toward him.
Blake had made a terrible impression on him, but he’d concluded that their relationship had just gotten off to a bad start. If he was going to hang out with Liam and Norma, he should get used to Blake, too. And Blake to him.
At least, that was the plan.
“Disappear,” Blake announced icily when Will reached the table.
Will stopped.
“Are you deaf?”
“I’m waiting.”
“For what?”
“To see if vampires can do magic, too,” Will retorted. Blake was speechless for a moment. “Guess not.”
He sat down across from him.
“Did you just call me a vampire in a room full of people?” Blake scolded him in a low voice.
“Only you could have heard that,” Will replied. There was a considerable distance between them and everyone else, and the cafeteria was chaotic. If anyone had actually been able to pick it up, they probably had skills like Blake’s, so the existence of vampires shouldn’t have come as a shock.
“You don’t know that. That’s one. Two, spare me. Liam’s company has made me immune to idiotic jokes, so you’re not going to impress me. Get out of my sight.”
“I just want to talk.”
“I don’t want to talk to you.”
“I get that my behavior so far might have annoyed or offended you. This is all new to me. I’m trying to get a handle on it, but…”
“I’ll shed a single tear for you. Now, scram.”
“Why are you like this?” Will asked, bewildered. He was bending over backward to be polite, and Alden was still acting like a complete asshole!
“If my presence bothers you, you know what to do. And even if it doesn’t, do the exact same thing.”
“Or what? You’ll call me a pig?”
Alden frowned.
“Why would I do that?”
“You called Norma that.”
“Excuse me? I would never in my…” Blake stopped mid-sentence, as if he’d just realized what Will was referring to. “I didn’t call her a pig. I compared our conversation to a conversation between a human and a pig.”
“Yeah, because that’s totally different.”
“You better believe it is. Let me explain it to you in the simplest possible terms: to me, you are a potential meal. Got it?”
“But you don’t feed on people anymore. I think,” Will added after a moment of hesitation, feeling a new wave of fear. Maybe pissing Blake off wasn’t a good idea.
“That’s because we came to the conclusion, long before you did, that harming sentient beings is in poor taste.”
“Uh-huh… And this whole Agency has nothing to do with it? Or the Hunters?”
“Irrelevant!” Blake cut him off irritably, earning a condescending smile from Will.
Will had a feeling it was relevant. Probably crucially so.
“You can be a vegetarian, but that in no way changes the relationship between you and a pig. It’s a potential meal.
Not when you’re full and have a choice, but in a situation where you’re not.
You’d slaughter the pig then, wouldn’t you? ”
Will was very… charmed by the comparison.
“No offense to the pig, but I don’t recall being able to have this kind of conversation with one, so…”
“You don’t seem to grasp what I’m trying to tell you, so I’ll be brief. I don’t associate with humans.”
“You associate with Abby. And Norma.”
“I don’t associate with Norma,” Alden stated firmly. “At least, not by choice. We just need each other sometimes.” Will raised an eyebrow. That sounded rather ambiguous. “And Abby is a different matter.”
“Is she not a potential meal?”
“None of your business.”
“Listen…” Will decided to try one more time. “I know I’m sort of… a new, forced element in your group. And I understand it might be hard for you to accept me. If you would just…”