[ The School at Sector 11,Zone E - St.Merrow's Academy ( Same day, morning..)]
The bell had rung. But Arabella was in no hurry.
She walked down the corridor…chin up, backpack slung half assed over one shoulder, books tucked under one arm, and a red cherry lollipop twirling between her lips.
Her thick curls bounced with each step,a little defiant,a little wild but they looked cute when styled right…much like the girl herself.
She was humming too. Something offbeat. Old school. Possibly something her grandfather played in the background…back when he would tuck her to bed and read those stories about all those angels and demons.
The hallway was empty…that was weird for a weekday morning. But then…
"Wanna know what a freaking beggar smells like?"
Jason sneered, holding Arabella's hoodie between two fingers like it was drenched in sewage… before yanking her back.
Arabella gasped, pulled herself free from his filthy grasp.
A few snickers echoed across the hallway as Arabella stood uninterested beside one of the lockers, eyes still half lidded from unknown fatigue.It must have been the new house. She slept but she didn't feel refreshed.
She stood there, staring back at them in absolute silence…but it only made them bolder.
"You know," chimed in Leah, Jason's tenth girlfriend, popping her gum, "it's impressive how you manage to look homeless even in this uniform."
"Maybe she is allergic to civilization," added another irrelevant member of their infamous group, drawing loud meaningless cheers.
Arabella's lack of reaction only aggravated their pointless anger.
Her hoodie was clean. Her shoes were worn but intact. It wasn't her fault the others had parents who shipped them weekly luxuries from the Inner Blocks while she got by on thrift and leftover vouchers… even when her grandfather was alive. And now with him gone… she had no idea how she was going to survive.
But these stupid bullies didn't deserve any place in her already disturbed mind… she had too much going on inside her head anyway to care about what others thought about her appearance.
She snatched the hoodie from Jason's grip and brushed past him, shoulder slamming into his without apology.
"Whatever keeps your fragile ego afloat," she muttered, too low for him to hear.
But just as she rounded the turn towards her locker…
SPLASH!!!
The sting came first…hot, sticky…clinging to her scalp and neck…soaking through her blouse.
The scent hit next…Caramel. Burnt sugar. Coffee.
Arabella paused.
She closed her eyes as the syrupy liquid dripped down her face and neck, some of it sliding into the collar of her shirt. Her knuckles whitened around her books.
And then came the unbearable cackling.
High pitched. Fake.
"Well well well… looks like someone needed a wake up call…breakfast too expensive for you, beggar girl? You look half asleep and half starved on top of looking homeless…" sang a sickly sweet voice behind her.
Arabella turned.
Slowly.
And smiled back at Betty, Jason's little wicked sister.
It was not the nice kind of smile.
It was the scary kind.
"You know, Betty," she said, blinking the coffee from her lashes, "you really can't annoy me with your toddler level IQ anymore."
The tall blonde, Betty Henderson,smirked, standing there, flanked by her three little minions…Pari, Suzan, and Nessa, all dressed like they were auditioning for "Mean Girls 2" in a low budget adaptation.
"Ohhh, scary words, Bella. What are you gonna do?" Betty teased, twirling the empty coffee cup in her hand like it was a trophy. "Call your grandpa to ground me?"
That got the others giggling. But that got Arabella too!
She stepped forward, her eyes gleaming, her boots hitting the tiled floor with a heavy 'thunk'.
" You got a problem with me, you talk to me, Betty, but if you dare bring my Grandpa in this filth I swear to God…next time you open your mouth, it will whistle because you won't have any front teeth left."
Betty's brow twitched, but she covered it with a scoff.
"Look who thinks she is still a 'somebody'," Betty sneered. "Your grandpa's dead. You are just a charity case now. Living off scraps in a house that's not even yours…just wait till they throw you out on the streets as well…then you will be nothing more than vampire food, just like your precious grandpa,darling…"
That one landed.
Arabella's smile faded.
"Shut…the…fuck…up, Betty!!!" Arabella's fists clenched, she gritted through her teeth, struggling to pronounce each word without splitting Betty's skull into two.
"Ooooh," Pari chimed in. "Careful, Bella's in her bad girl era. Probably thinks she's untouchable now that she's dating Caleb."
Suzan snorted. "More like Caleb downgraded. He went from Betty to that specimen? Must be having a mental breakdown."
Arabella stared at them. Dead eyed. Her fists clenched so tight the corner of her book ripped.Her breathing was getting louder… almost like a grunt…
She didn't say another word because it wouldn't be her tongue doing the talking, it would be her legs and her hands.
She just turned.And stormed off.
Boots stomping. The sticky coffee still dripped behind her. Rage trailing like smoke.
" Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in God forgave you… "
Arabella was shaking but her recitation was loud… she kept shaking her head as she meandered through the corridor, straight towards the gymnasium… calling on the Lord of the worlds to grant her patience… just like how her Grandpa would have wanted her to behave. "Forgiveness comes from strength," he used to say. " The strongest are the ones who forgive! "
She shoved the gym door open hard enough for it to bang against the wall… still muttering verses and scraps of wisdom…
The space was empty…just as she liked it. Echoes. Dust motes. Wooden floors that smelled like sweat.
Arabella dropped her books in a heap near the bleachers and walked straight to the heavy punching bag dangling in the corner.
She didn't warm up.
Didn't stretch.
She just hit.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
No rhythm. Just raw, directionless fury.
Her arms ached. Her fists burnt. But she didn't stop.
"Fucking Betty…" she hissed under her breath.
THUMP.
"Stupid. Rich. Spoiled. Brat."
THUMP.
The bag rocked violently on its chain.
Somewhere behind her, the door creaked shut.
She didn't hear it.
The lights above flickered. Once. Twice.
And then…CLICK.
Darkness.Absolute darkness… the power supply was switched off!
Arabella froze mid punch.
"Very funny, assholes," she called out, breath ragged. "Betty, I swear if you lock me in again I am going to drag you to the nurse's office myself. Unconscious."
No answer.
Just the sound of wind…?
Her brow furrowed.
The gym had no windows open.
She walked towards the door…stretching her hand in the dark to feel her way forward.
Her hand gripped the doorknob…and yanked it open.
But then she froze.
Her eyes went wide.
Her mouth parted.
And her breath…literally stopped.
Right outside, in the sunlit corridor… stood the same creature that claimed her Grandpa's life.
Skin pale as ice, stretched thin over bone. Its eyes…scarlet and glowing…locked right on hers. A grin full of sharp teeth, jagged…blackened in spots, curled up slowly.
The vampire stood there in broad daylight…Like it was immune.
"Hello, beautiful…" it hissed.