The Vampire's Bride

"Good afternoon, Principal."

"G-Good afternoon, Principal."

"Good afternoon. Good, you brought her with you. Take a seat. I'll just take half an hour." The Principal ushered both of them towards a nearby couch.

"Why did you call us, Principal?" Leo asked as he pulled Mallory besides him.

"Well, I heard from the boy that you've caught something," The principal said.

"The vampire killers?"

"Yes."

Leo looked at Mallory. Their eyes met and he asked for her approval if he could share the information with the principal.

Mallory noticed the lingering question and nodded with a small smile. If this would help stop the issue, then why not?

Leo turned to the principal and spoke, "To be exact, I'm not the one who found out something. It was Mallory."

"Mallory?"

"Yes. Jillion reported the incident to me. I was with Mallory that time and Mallory found out something crucial," Leo explained.

"Oh? What is it?"

"The vampire is Aldo."

The principal's eyes widened in disbelief.

Aldo? The vampire who disappeared without a trace few years ago?

He's back as a killer?

"Are you sure?" The Principal inquired.

Leo nodded. "We saw him last night. He just killed his tenth victim."

The principal was quiet and tried to think it over. He still couldn't believe that Aldo came back.

He looked at Mallory and asked, "How did you guys know about Aldo?"

"He was my e—"

"He used to be a close friend of Mallory before he disappeared."

Mallory quickly looked at Leo when he cut her in. Leo gave her a sneak glance as if telling her not to tell of their relation to the principal.

Fortunately, the principal did not notice any secret conversation between the two and nodded. "So you're close to that disappearing vampire."

"Actually, he did not just disappear, Principal." Mallory slightly lowered her head as she felt hesitant to continue, "At first we thought he just disappeared but he actually died."

"Are you sure?" The principal asked.

Mallory nodded her head and played with her fingers. "I, umm... I saw his..." His body? His last moments?

His death?

Somehow, Mallory found it hard to explain. If she told them she saw him die, then they would surely ask questions about it — the horrifying scene that kept replaying in her dreams.

No. She made a promise with Aldo. She cannot tell them the truth about his death.

"I saw his body. It was hidden in a forest I used to visit when I was a kid. I forgot where though," Mallory half lied.

Although it was truly hidden in a forest she visited, she still remembered it as clear as the memories she had yesterday. Witnessing such a scene... witnessing somebody die in front of their very own eyes... nobody could just forget about it, right?

...

The principal gave a piece of paper to Mallory after a long talk about the vampire killer incident. He said, "I think you should join the Night Class, especially now that you are involved with this incident. If a certain special group of police heard about this, you'd probably be taken away. But if they knew that you're in the Night Class, they wouldn't dare lift a finger on you."

Mallory was confused. "The police?"

Leo turned to explain. "There's a special group of police in this area; it's filled with vampires. Of course it's to help prevent humans from panicking once they hear about vampires and stuff. They were the ones that helped yesterday."

"I see." It was understandable having vampires in the police forces. It was to help humans to control the raging vampires lurking around the city, s.u.c.k.i.n.g people's blood. It was also a way to protect vampires in hiding.

Basically, it was a win-win situation for both humans and vampires.

"You... don't want to join?" Leo asked. Mallory nodded her head. Leo sighed and combed his hair backwards as he spoke, "If it's about you being an average scorer, I already told you that tha- -"

"That's not it, Master Orpheus. I mean, that's not all," Mallory continued with conviction, "I don't think I should just join the Night Class. Even if it is meant to protect me since I am a vampire, surely, a simple change of schedule or a 'shadow' would be fine, right? I don't think it's appropriate for me to just join the Night Class. It's as if I was at the bottom then the next second, I'm at the top. No offense to the both of you but I hate that feeling. I'd like to take things my way."

Both men present was dumbfounded. They could not believe that there's someone who would not take the chance. She not only reject it, she even said that she'll earn it her way. Indeed, she was not like any other women.

"I got your point Mallory," Leo said. Mallory's eyes shone with gratitude but it broke when she heard the next part.

"But don't think that you will not join the class. I already told you, it's not an option."

Seeing his signature smirk, Mallory couldn't help but give a weak laugh. "M-Master Orpheus... please spare me!"

"No," Leo said outright. "Give me two weeks. Within two weeks, I'll make you join the class."

Mallory wanted to cry but lacked the tears to cry. She could not understand why Leo was persistently trying to 'poach' her.

"Anyway, Principal," Leo turned to the principal as he got up to leave.

"Hm?"

"That's not the only reason you called us, right?" He took Mallory's hand and pulled her up gently for her to stand.

"Ah, that's right." The Principal opened a drawer and brought out a folder. He skimmed through it until he stopped at a certain page. "You see, there was someone who wanted to meet Mallory. He's a friend of mine and will be working in this school. For some reason, he went home already. He requested to meet Mallory, next week Monday. Ah, found it!"

The principal showed the paper to them. Mallory and Leo could not understand any of the writings at the paper. They only understood a few words and came up with the conclusion with it. "A physical test? Mallory's?"

"That's right. Since she's a half-blood, he wanted to test her abilities and stuff. He was so excited but I guess he just needed to leave today, eh." The principal sighed before dismissing the two. "Go now. That's all for today. Good work."

"Yes! Thank you very much, Principal."

...

Leo and Mallory were out of the school building when Leo received a call from Brian. Unless it was important, Brian rarely use the telepathy to contact Leo. He opened his phone and answered the call.

"Oh, Brian? What's wrong?"

"Young Master, Young Master Jillion told me that he wanted to meet with you. Do you have time?"

"I do. Tell him to go either tomorrow or on Sunday. Is that all?"

"Young Master, he also told me that he wanted to meet your *cough* girlfriend *cough*... is that fine?"

Leo felt a vein popping on his forehead. "Tell him that he's an idiot! I'm not like him! What girlfriend?! Since when did I got a girlfriend? If he's talking about Mallory then tell him she's not my girlfriend!"

"Will I tell him the exact words you said or can I edit it?" Brian asked.

"What will you edit?"

Brian stayed silent for a second as if he was contemplating on it. "I believe I will add the word 'yet', Master Orpheus."

Leo felt his ears started getting hot as if someone realized he had a crush on someone. Like a teenage boy in love, he scolded his butler, "Idiot! Don't do that! I-It's not like that!"

He quickly ended the call and looked at Mallory sheepishly. "Brian called. What were you saying? ...Mallory?"

Mallory looked at somewhere distant and did not react. She opened her mouth and said softly, as if she was afraid to disturb something, "That child... looks like she's hiding something... something's wrong..."

"That child?"