Everyone was staring at Ryker. But he was more focused on the taste. It tasted heavenly. He couldn't figure out what kind of creature had this blood. Yet dreams of owning a flock of this mysterious creature for an unlimited blood source was forming in his head.
Then the after taste of Château Lafite hit him. The price of this alcoholic blood probably cost more than his childhood home in Revera City.
The music started playing again.
"What a barbarian!" Irvin spat, taking a step back as if Ryker's ill-manner was a contagious disease. A wave of disgusted murmurs rolled through the onlookers.
The sudden weight of a heavy, expensive-smelling jacket draped over Ryker's shoulders. Its material was fine, exquisitely tailored. Ian Tepes stepped out behind him. The Head of House Nosfera. A slow smile formed on Ian's face as he looked at Ryker.
The resemblance was uncanny, but the eldest brother's presence was a crushing force, while the youngest was merely obnoxious.
"That is certainly one way to make an impression, Ryker Larduca."
Before Ryker could answer, Ian had a spotlight on himself as he went up the grand staircase to a balcony overlooking the entire ballroom, a stage set for a king. Each of his steps echoed. Finally he reached the banister, looking down at the sea of expectant, youthful faces.
"Welcome, my brothers and sisters in blood," Ian began, his voice calm and clear, amplifying through the ballroom.
"Welcome to a new year at Nosfera."
Polite applause rippled through the room.
"We have gathered here tonight to celebrate our heritage, our strength, and our place at the apex of Rateh's great hierarchy."
Some of the vampires took glances at Ryker and Ian caught this.
"Even last place."
Ian gestured towards him with an open palm.
"I've been asked why Nosfera would extend an invitation to a fledgling with an Iota core. And the answer is simple. As vampires we are judged by our strongest and our weakest. There are some of us with immense mana cores."
He looked at a few students who puffed out their chests with pride.
"But without proper discipline, without the wisdom of our traditions, you are just a beast with a large engine."
The students he had called out earlier shrunk.
"So I ask all of you tonight to welcome this fledgling not as a weakling but as an opportunity to teach and also a lesson. That power comes in all forms. To show a weakling how to become respectable, that's an honour our race thrives on," he concluded, then raised a glass.
Ryker's eyes twitched. This was just an insult covered in fancy language.
"Be proud to be a vampire."
The room roared with cheers. But not for Ryker, for the grand concept of vampirism Ian was selling. Ian hit his glass with a ting. He wasn't finished yet.
"When the clock strikes midnight. As tradition dictates, we will take to the skies for the Twilight Dance," he announced, a smug look on his face.
"An exquisite waltz throughout Meridian, throughout the brutish minotaurs and virtuoso oni's, throughout the enchanting oceans, ending with the amateurish dragons."
A prideful smile grew on Ian's face. He raised his glass once more.
"As vampires we rule over all the lesser races!"
This chant roared through the room. Driven by a collective, primal pride forged from the legend of Dracula. The music had changed from a modern throb to an ancient gothic symphony.
A slight shiver hit Ryker. This felt like a cult. And these vampires were high off it. High off the delusion. He placed the fancy jacket on a table and made his way outside, into the castle courtyard.
The air was crisp, carrying the scent of damp stone and distant mountain pines.
Checking his phone, it was 11pm. An hour away. He decided to wander the castle grounds, avoiding the main party. But he wasn't alone. Rosy was sitting on the railing of the stone fence, staring at the distant lights of Meridian, her feet dangling in the air as the thousand foot drop below her didn't faze her.
Ryker put his phone away.
"How are you always in the right place at the right time?"
Walking to her, he leaned against the railing. The first time was after he was humiliated in front of everyone and she was at the dorm. The second time was when he needed a cab. And now when he needed some peace. It was unnerving.
"Obviously I can see the future. Or," she tapped her temple, "I notice things. Like the pitiful aura of someone who drank..."
She couldn't hold in her laughter.
"You actually drank with your hands," her face was buried in her palms.
Shaking his head at her laugh, he climbed over the fence to sit next to her.
"It was worth it. The taste was better than the company."
A smirk was playing on her lips.
"Irvin will never let you live that down."
He shrugged.
"My focus is on getting stronger. His opinion of me doesn't matter."
Some opinions did matter. Liv's, Anna's, Maddie's and of course that rock of a best friend. And for some strange reason Rosy's. The thrill of being accepted by her felt nice.
The duo fell into silence again. This wasn't awkward. They watched the distant lights of Meridian. But the silence didn't last as she asked a question that made him tilt his head.
"Do you know how to dance?"
She had a mischievous look on her face.
"I didn't know a waltz was required to be an S-rank?" he joked.
"It is for tonight," she nudged him. There was no malice in her eyes.
He stretched out his hand. When highschool prom came around, he wanted to dance with Anna so he practiced with Maddie. He wasn't a pro but he had the basics down.
Rosy chuckled.
"What is that? Are you begging for cab fare money?"
"I'm offering to dance with you."
She shook her head.
"I'm from the East. And not to mention we're vampires, we do things a bit differently."
Suddenly she took a step closer to the edge. The next second, she jumped. The wind howled as she dropped, a falling star against the dark mountain. Then, mid-fall, her body contorted, shrinking, wings sprouting in a spray of shadow. A bat flapped gracefully, catching an updraft before soaring back up to him, landing on the railing with the lightest of touches.
"Let's dance."
Like a couple they danced under the moonlight, flying around the mountain peak as bats. Their wingtips brushing against each other. She led and he followed in this waltz of the sky.
Each twirl and dive was an unspoken conversation worth a thousands words. It was freeing. A release he didn't think he'd find after the colosseum's mockery and the tepes brother's taunts and insults.
After almost an hour they landed back on the stone railing. Their breath misting in the cold night. Adrenaline surged through Ryker. The world didn't seem like such a petty place anymore.
"I didn't know you're from the East," he panted, shivering not from the cold but the thrill.
A smirk tugged at the corners of her lips. Her emerald eye was glowing.
"Well you never asked for my name."
This made him freeze. He didn't ask. That entire drive she was reading a book, they had a fight, they danced yet he didn't know her name.
"What is your name?"
As he said those words, it felt like the air shifted. The clock was striking midnight, as the moon had reached its apex, the midnight bell tolling from the Nosfera Castle. Dozens, then hundreds, of bats swarmed out from its windows.
Rosy's smile was shining through the moonlight.
"Roselyn Alucard."