CHAPTER NINE: NEXT STEPS

Grayson stared at his reflection in the full length mirror in the clothes that Balthazar had brought him. He wore khaki pants, a white, button-down shirt, and a black v-neck sweater. There was a crest on the sweater located just over his heart. It was embroidered in rich, jewel-toned colors with a rather gothic-looking school building in the center and symbols for all of the Bloodlines along the outer edge. Balthazar had also provided him with a long, black dress coat--also with the crest--a pair of black leather gloves lined with fur, and a crimson cashmere scarf. Overall, it looked like some rich, preppy school boy outfit. 

Grayson sighed and shook his head. The one truly good thing about it--well, there were two things--were that no one would ever recognize him in this outfit and the clothes were warm. On the street, fashion hadn’t mattered, but warmth did. If something kept you warm it was worth its weight in gold. These clothes were incredibly finely made and they would last. They were probably the nicest things he’d ever worn. 

There was a quick knock on the bedroom door. Before Grayson could say anything, Balthazar poked his head in.

“Oh, it’s perfect!” Balthazar enthused from the doorway as he took in Grayson’s outfit. 

“It fits all right. Not exactly my style, but I guess it will do,” he said as he walked over to the side table and took a bite of sandwich.

The food was amazingly good here as well, which rather shocked him for a school run by Vampires. He was almost certain that while Vampires could eat human food, they didn’t need to and often did not. But they'd clearly taken great care with it for the humans that would be attending the school. The bread was freshly baked. It had a nutty quality that he liked. The turkey was cut off an actual roast bird. The mayonnaise was creamy and there was plenty of it. Juicy tomatoes and crisp lettuce finished the sandwich off. They tasted like they’d come just off the farm. He wondered if there was a farm in the Ever Dark, but he doubted it. Sunlight never shone here. Yet there were plenty of plants that seemed to flourish. 

“Are all the students wearing this or just me?” Grayson asked as he plucked at the front of the uniform.

“Just you.” Balthazar smirked.

Grayson stared at him.

“Of course not just you. We want people to come in as equals and differentiate themselves by how they do here. Uniforms level the playing field,” Balthazar said.

Grayson crunched a chip. Also fresh made. “Really? I thought someone just had a uniform fetish.”

“Grayson!” Balthazar laughed delightedly. “Teasing me after the night you’ve had! You must be feeling not only better, but… comfortable.”

Grayson played with the pickle on the plate and said almost to himself, “Comfortable? But how could I be? You’re a bunch of predators. The fact that you’re… you’re like you are--”

“Beautiful? Even those of us who aren’t traditionally so still have that fascination, yes? Some kind of sensuality?”

“That makes it worse. You’re made to lure people in,” Grayson said.

“Yes, yes, it does, doesn’t it?” Balthazar tapped his chin. “But… you do feel comfortable nonetheless.”

Grayson’s head lifted and he swallowed. He did. He had no idea why. Maybe it was the food. The sleep. The warmth. He almost felt safe here and that was totally crazy. What was even crazier was that he was comforted by the thought that Ryder was outside, waiting for him. He imagined the big man pacing, stopping with his hands on his hips, and staring at this place then pacing again. He wondered if Ryder would be wearing a shirt… He shook himself when Balthazar chuckled knowingly.

“Oh, don’t worry about going shirtless yourself. More clothes and shoes and everything you need will be put in your room at the academy,” Balthazar said.

“That’s generous.”

“We want you to continue to feel at home here.”

Grayson’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

Balthazar gestured expansively as he said, “This isn’t a prison. We aren’t jailors. Yes, we need you to stay here, but because of that we are going to make you as comfortable as possible.”

“Am I comfortable for the same reason I don’t hurt from using my powers?” Grayson suddenly asked as that very uncomfortable thought occurred to him.

“No.” Balthazar sighed. 

“It’s just… I don’t like a lot of people. New places pose challenges because I don’t know where all the exits are,” Grayson struggled to explain his normal anxiety. “But even though you’re all predators here I don’t feel anxious. I don’t feel anything at all like I usually do.”

“When the possibility of danger is everywhere the threat of it becomes dull.” Balthazar shrugged. “Or you believe that you are actually safe here despite everything.”

Grayson finished his sandwich. He didn’t know if either of those statements were true for him. But his anxiety was so much less. His mind felt empty instead of filled with the possibilities of being discovered, having to escape an enemy and losing everything. Maybe because he was truly stripped down to nothing and had nothing more to lose, he was free.  All he had and would have would be provided to him. He owned nothing any longer really, not even the secondhand clothes he had stored in his shitty little apartment.

“Since I’m not a real student here, what am I going to be doing exactly?” Grayson asked as he dragged the pickel through the remnants of his chips.

“Not a real student? Well, you will be joining the other students in all student activities, you are wearing the uniform and you will be called a student. So… you’re a student,” Balthazar smiled. 

“Yeah, but I don’t want to be a Vampire. Isn’t that what this school is all about? Wannabe Vampires? Humans trying to prove themselves worthy?” Grayson asked.

“Meaning that you’ll be a bad student because you won’t be trying very hard?” Balthazar seemed to find this beyond amusing.

“Well, I guess if you put it that way, I’ll be trying to fail.”

“Hmmm. Well, let’s leave that for now. The thing is… we cannot let you back out into the world until we know more about this Sect of Dawn and have eliminated them. Otherwise, I might as well drink you dry myself right now, because you will be so very, very dead otherwise.”

Grayson’s right hand went to his throat. He quickly dropped it. 

“Why do you care if they kill me or not?” Grayson asked.

“Seriously? We’re Vampires not sociopaths,” Balthazar answered.

“It’s just an awful lot of trouble for you to go through for a person who you don’t know,” Grayson pointed out.

“Gregory is dead so there’s room. How much effort is that?” Balthazar mused.

“I’m sure you have a list of people that could fill his spot that want to be here so… you haven’t said anything about my… my abilities,” Grayson said awkwardly.

“Is there something you want to tell me about them?” Balthazar perked right up at that.

It was so strange that he didn’t just read Grayson’s mind and know everything about them. But Balthazar had said that someone had asked him not to do that. Yet who would care that much about Grayson’s privacy? Wouldn’t they want to know how he could do the things he could do? 

“Humans would be far more interested in your abilities than us. After all, we know how we get those gifts,” Balthazar answered.  “You were wise to hide them, because now, especially, the humans would be very interested in you. And they would do most anything to get them, including terrible experiments and likely dissection.”

Grayson’s shoulder blades twitched and he crossed his arms over his chest. “The other Vampire seemed interested in me, too.”

“Yes,” Balthazar answered, but said no more.

“But you aren’t?” Grayson narrowed his eyes at him.

“That wouldn’t be completely accurate. But we aren’t going to hurt you, Grayson. While what you can do is impressive… we have a whole Bloodline who can do it better. Not to mention all the other advantages we have,” Balthazar answered with a shrug.

“But it doesn’t worry you that a human has these powers?” Grayson pressed.

“You’re the only one we’ve ever found so it’s not like there’s an army of you out there,” Balthazar said with another rather gallic shrug.

“One of me is not much against all of you?” Grayson gave a small smile.

“No, which is why you’re safe here. We do not see you as a threat,” Balthazar answered.

“But if you did…” Grayson let the statement stand.

“We don’t and that’s all we need to discuss on this matter,” Balthazar cut off the conversation. He flashed another smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He brought his hands together underneath his chin. “Now, you will take your place among the students. But, as I’m sure you know, you should say nothing of Gregory Starn, the Vampires who hunted you, the Sect of Dawn… or your powers.”

“I didn’t intend to talk about any of that,” Grayson answered a little mulishly. “I’m not stupid.”

“No, no, of course not.” Another smile.

“So… am I going to class or something? Vampire Biology 101? Vampire History 102?” Grayson asked.

Balthazar laughed, but then seeing he was seriously said, “Oh, there will be some of that. But we’re trying to find out what kind of person the students really are. What makes them tick. What Bloodline they’d be most useful to and fit in with. All of that.”

Grayson frowned. “But you just read their minds during interviews to get into this place, can’t you just tell from that? Why do you need a year to watch them?”

Balthazar stared at him with barely concealed amusement. “I only wish it was so easy! But, the truth is, that… well, the other Vampires likely wouldn’t take my word for it that someone would be perfect for them and vice versa.”

“Why not?” Grayson’s frown deepened.

“People need to learn things for themselves. Merely telling them--even if you have facts, logic and all that on your side--doesn’t really convince them. Truth is something that is felt much more than known,” Balthazar explained as he leaned one shoulder against the door jam.

“I guess I see that. Plus someone liking someone else enough to want them with them forever… well, no amount of reading minds probably can determine that definitively,” Grayson said.

“True, unless, of course, you can simply make the person like you,” Balthazar said.

Grayson remembered then that Eyros Vampires didn’t just read minds, but could control them. That’s why he wasn’t in pain after all. He felt no different. He was not aware of the command in his mind. It was incredible and terrible at the same time. He wondered if humanity really understood the power of these Vampires. He somehow doubted it.

“Is that why the other Vampires don’t trust you? Because you could make them do things?” Grayson guessed.

“Yes, and that none of their secrets are safe.” Balthazar picked a piece of lint off his impeccable clothing. “Eyros don’t have the flashy powers like controlling the weather or changing into animals or raising the dead.”

“That last one…” Grayson couldn’t help but shiver.

“Indeed! The Kaly are even less trusted than the Eyros, which is why… Well, now we stick together. Eyros and Kaly, the best of friends.” A real, fond smile crossed Balthazar’s face. “But what the Eyros can do… well, we can control all those other Vampires and through them all of their gifts so that makes us possibly the most powerful after Daemon.”

“Yeah, I can see what they’d be nervous around you,” Grayson said.

Balthazar nodded. “Exactly.” Looking Grayson over. “You appear ready to go.”

“I still don’t understand what I’m to do here.”

“Just act like you belong.”

Grayson stared at him. “You’ve read my mind. You know I’ve never belonged anywhere.”

“But you will belong here,” Balthazar assured him even as he stepped aside to let Grayson walk out the door before him. “You finally have people who know what you can do and are not afraid of you. And you can relax a little, because there are more powerful people here that can keep you safe.”

“Yeah, but there are also people after me… people like you--”

“Not quite like me.” Balthazar tipped his head up. Proud as a peacock.

“Okay, but Vampires after me and I got the impression from Gregory and the woman that he wasn’t the only one that got into the academy on behalf of the Sect,” he pointed out.

Balthazar nodded. “I did see that.”

“How did Gregory get accepted into the academy? I mean, you read minds as part of the process and look into their future, right?” Grayson asked. He grabbed the coat, gloves and scarf before  slowly walking past Balthazar into the hallway. “Surely, you would have figured out that he was part of this Sect. You would have known that he was an enemy. So how could it have ever worked?”

They started walking down the hallway together. It was beautiful with one wall completely made of glass looking out on an interior courtyard garden and the other wall covered in exquisite paintings. The whole space was lit with golden, offset lighting that made Grayson feel incredibly peaceful.

“Well, there are several ways I see it working.” Balthazar crossed his arms behind his back. “One way is that they are idiots and underestimated the power of the Eyros, not to mention Daemon, and thought they could sneak in their little spies.”

“That Vampire didn’t seem like an idiot to me,” Grayson said, remembering the woman’s sadistic glee.

“No, that is the least likely of the possibilities, I admit. But we must always account for stupidity,” Balthazar told him.

“Never assume malice when simple stupidity could explain it? Okay, I guess I can follow that,” Grayson nodded.

They crossed into another hallway larger than the last, more a main thoroughfare. Ahead of them, Grayson could see a marble foyer, a set of grand stairs leading down to a set of brass and glass doors. He was surprised when his heart began to beat harder as he realized he would soon see Ryder again. Now that he wasn’t running for his life, he could admit that the Weryn Vampire was attractive. 

Grayson liked big guys. It was a mixture of liking their strength compared to his, but also knowing that his powers secretly meant that he was stronger. It had been a long while since he’d had sex with anyone and he imagined Ryder would be literally an animal in bed. And since he knew about Grayson’s powers, Grayson wouldn’t have to hide them if he got too excited. 

He thought that Ryder was interested in him as well. So maybe they could make a night of it. Except, unlike on Earth, there would be no “one and done” with Ryder. He’d see the Vampire everywhere. The anonymity that Grayson counted on to not get attached wouldn’t be there either. 

It’s a bad idea to get involved with him for a lot of reasons, not to mention he is a Vampire, Grayson reminded himself.

Yet he was curious if Ryder would be shirtless when they met once again.

“My next theory,” Balthazar continued on, “is that they have Eyros Vampires working with them who are clever and powerful enough that whatever mind work he or she did wouldn’t be detected. Alter their memories so they… fit,” Balthazar said.

“That sounds risky,” Grayson said.

“Yes, and arrogant, because they would have to get past me. But that is most likely what they did. Gregory’s mind must have been restored after the interviews… but that was foolish. Redoing it would take time and would most likely be noticed, but…” Balthazar chewed on this.  “We did try to go back and get his body. Caemorn thought his soul would likely still be attached to it due to the violence of his passing.”

“Caemorn is--”

“Kaly! So he can literally raise the dead, control souls, all of that. So we could have learned much from dear Gregory, but alas… they took the body.” Balthazar’s mouth screwed up in almost distaste.

Grayson’s hands fisted at his sides. “What about Charlie’s body? Did they--”

“Both bodies were removed and the shop was set on fire,” Balthazar said.

“Oh, my God.” Grayson let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding.

They were at the doors.

“The police were, of course, looking for you. Whether as a victim or--”

“Or what?” But Grayson already knew. “They think that I did that? That I set fire to the store?”

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll get it all sorted,” Balthazar said as he pushed open the doors. “Besides, that’s your old life. This is your new one.”

Grayson looked out of the doors and saw Ryder standing there between two rose bushes. He wore jeans that hid nothing, a gray t-shirt, and another leather jacket that looked well worn and well loved. 

“Aw, he covered up for you,” Balthazar snickered.

Ryder strode over to them. He stopped a foot away and looked Grayson up and down. Grayson shifted uncomfortably.  Did he look bad? Like a dork in this outfit? Was his hair all right? Did he have anything between his teeth? Even as he thought these things, he tried to remind himself that he wasn’t getting involved with Ryder so it was probably best that the Weryn Vampire thought he looked bad.

“Everyone really is going to be wearing this uniform, right, Balthazar?” Grayson pressed as the minute examination continued. 

“Of course! You are the first student to put it on, but yes, yes, you’re fine. Doesn’t he look fine, Ryder? He’s quite well,” Balthazar stressed.

Ryder grunted. “You look better than you did. You were barely conscious last time I saw you.”

“How’s your chest?” Grayson asked.  Balthazar let out a bark of laughter. Grayson glared at him. “He was burned! That’s all I’m asking about!”

Ryder’s eyebrows lifted at the exchange, but a smile tugged at his lips. “My chest is fine. I fed well. One sleep cycle and it will be as if it never was.”

Still glaring at Balthazar, Grayson turned back to Ryder. “That’s good. It looked pretty bad.”

“It would have been far worse if you hadn’t acted,” Ryder told him. “Thank you.”

Grayson blinked. He wasn’t used to being thanked, let alone thanked for using his powers. And he had an idea that Ryder didn’t give out such compliments lightly.

“You’re--you’re welcome, I guess.” Grayson scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck.

“Now that we have the thanking out of the way, Ryder, you agreed to take Grayson over to the academy, get him settled in and such. I assume you read the packet regarding orientation, yes?” Balthazar looked at him hopefully.

Ryder chewed his inner cheek. “There’s a… packet?”

“Yes, it was an addendum to the Rules and Regulations Guide you were emailed,” Balthazar said with anticipation.

“There’s a--”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t get it? Didn’t read it? It’s 500 pages long. I detailed everything about how the school would run and you…” Balthazar narrowed his eyes at him. “You will regret not reading it, Ryder.”

There was more twitching of Ryder’s lips as he regarded the nettled Eyros Vampire. “Oh, I’m sure I will. But I think I can walk Grayson to his room without reading 500 pages plus an addendum.”

“That was just my portion of the guide…” Balthazar sniffed. “Well, there’s still time for you to peruse it--”

“You know that’s not really necessary for the Weryn,” Ryder said and there seemed to be more meaning there than what his words conveyed.

Balthazar’s eyebrows lifted. “Ah, you’re still on that course, are you?”

Ryder nodded and said nothing else. Grayson looked between them. Both Vampires stared at one another. Neither looked away until he cleared his throat. The staredown abruptly ended with both of them looking at him.

“Everything okay?” Grayson asked.

“It’s fine. Let me take you to your room,” Ryder said and gestured for Grayson to walk next to him.

“Oh, wait! I nearly forgot.” Balthazar reached into his inner jacket pocket and took out a beautiful cream envelope sealed with red wax that had the same crest as his sweater. “This is today and tomorrow’s events. It tells you where you need to go and when along with various rules.”

Grayson took the envelope from him. “Not quite 500 pages.”

“Not quite.” Balthazar flashed a smile. “We want you to be surprised.”

“Oh, okay, that sounds… interesting.” Grayson wasn’t sure what he thought of it.

“Remember that phones don’t work here. There’s no internet. No cell service. Nothing. We’re setting something up, but it’s… spotty. So things will be done the old fashioned way by paper or word of mouth,” Balthazar said.

Grayson nodded. He had heard that the Ever Dark wasn’t on Earth so no cell service would make sense. 

“Well, go on now.” Balthazar made a shooing gestured with his hands.  “And make sure you have lots of fun.”