The Vampire's Bride

"You okay?" Leo asked.

Through Mallory's peripheral vision, she saw the words she had written for Lula. She pretended to be in shock before clumsily hiding the paper. "Y-Yes. I-I'm sorry I fell asleep."

Of course, such actions did not escape Leo's eyes. But he decided to play along and ignored the paper. "The car is ready. All bags are in the car. Let's go. It's almost quarter to six."

Mallory nodded and followed without another word.

When they reached outside, there was a black expensive car waiting for them. Mallory was dumbfounded at the sight as Leo pulled her in besides him.

The car started driving as Leo opened a laptop. The lights emitting from the screen made Leo looked even more dazzling as his voice rang.

"I need you to state your given name... full name."

"Mallory Jim Klein."

"Age?"

"Currently 19... turning 20 in the next two months."

"Birthday?"

"October 17 XXXX."

"Hobbies?"

Mallory continued to answer Leo's questions as she watched Leo's fingers who seemed to dance their ways through the keyboard.

Throughout the trip, the car was filled with the sounds of Leo's fingers and a soft music playing from the radio. Mallory was afraid to make a sound. She pulled her hood over her head. It was an indication that she was scared and felt uncomfortable. This was something Leo missed to see as he was busy typing.

It wasn't until she heard the car stopped did she regain her breathing pattern.

"Young Master, Miss, we have arrived." The driver quickly stood up and opened the door side of Leo.

"We'll be going now. I have sent an email to Brian. Remind him of what to do," Leo ordered as he held out a hand for Mallory to grab.

Leo turned around to meet the driver in the eye, "Do you understand?"

"Yes, Young Master."

Leo started walking without another word. Mallory slightly bowed her head, mumbling a small 'thank you' at the driver.

She followed Leo as they walked towards the principal's office.

Leo glanced at his sides while walking and saw no signs of the woman. He turned his head behind and sighed. "Walk besides me. It's still too early for school but who knows what might come out. After all there mi—"

Leo blinked his eyes. He was astonished as his right spot, that was just empty a second ago, was were the woman was found. What he did not know was that Mallory was scared of ghosts and such; therefore, Leo's unfinished sentence made it seem like ghosts would appear.

The corridors were dimly lit, there were only two people walking, and not a sound other than their footsteps were heard. Leo did not bother to explain what he meant since he was happy that she moved closer to him on her own accord... even if it was for a wrong reason.

[…]

Leo and Mallory stood at the front of an eerie-looking door.

Twice...

Thrice...

Then he introduced himself, "Orpheus and company."

A deep growl came from the other side of the door, "Come in."

Leo opened the door and entered with Mallory behind him. The room was lit but it was not the usual lights it usually had. It only used the side lights and a table lamp. The curtains were open, revealing large glasses that served as windows. Sitting at the chair was the principal, someone Mallory had met a few certain times. All she could see, due to the lighting of the room, was that he had...

"Green eyes?"

"Yes. Good morning, Miss Klein."

Startled, Mallory struggled to greet the principal.

"No need to be so formal. Take a seat. I'll listen to why you two are here." The principal chuckled at the young girl and spoke in a soft tone that made Mallory to be a little bit comfortable.

The principal snapped his fingers and the room was filled with lights as the curtains closed. The sudden change of lightings required Mallory's eyes a few seconds to adjust.

Once her eyes had adjust, she studied the principal's face as she followed Leo, sitting at a nearby couch.

"No need to bother for breakfast. We already had before coming here," Leo said as he started the topic rather... serious than what they had expected.

"And this is about Miss Klein?"

"Yes."

The principal nodded in understanding before reaching in a drawer, searching for a pile of papers.

He grabbed his reading glasses as he read through the papers.

"It states here that Miss Klein is in her third year of college. She have two half-sisters and is currently living in..."

Mallory felt something was wrong as she saw the papers but couldn't put a finger on what it was. She was utterly confused as to why the principal was reading such informations despite it being... normal. She still hadn't got the slightest clue of what was wrong.

Until she heard the last section of her school's data.

"Miss Klein, as the record shows, is considered to be a... human."

Mallory felt her blood had gone cold from those words. She glanced at the calm Leo besides her as if he had known all this from the start.

She did not know that they had such records.

The principal looked at Mallory in the eyes as he slowly but softly spoke, "Based on the record, it states that it does not have any evidence of you being a human nor a vampire. But since Young Master Orpheus had come here, that could only mean one thing. Miss Klein, you're a vampire, aren't you?"

"I-I—" Mallory could not bring herself to explain. She thought that the truth was hidden perfectly. She had entered this school without the knowledge of her family. It was only after they had given her numerous times of torture did they allow her to study. If they knew that the principal realized the truth... all her hope would be crushed.

It's probably because they had a fixed relationship, as partners, that Leo could roughly guess what was going on in Mallory's head.

He looked at her and spoke with a gentle soothing voice." Don't worry, Mallory... this school accepts vampires. You have nothing to worry. There are a few teachers and, you could say, a lot of students. You're not the first one to hide but they need to know if you are one to protect you. You don't have to worry."

Mallory found herself nodding as she heard Leo's voice.

She couldn't help but ask herself... Will this be hidden from 'them'?

Leo turned to the principal as he answered for Mallory. "Principal, she's a half-blooded vampire... a halfling."

"A halfling?"

Leo nodded in response, "Yes, sir. A wolf and a vampire to be precise."

The principal focused on Mallory with his next question, "Do you drink blood?"

"No." Mallory's reply was clear and firm that it held no room for arguments, no matter how small it may be.

Leo raised an eyebrow and slightly pulled his collar down, showing the bite that Mallory had made yesterday.

Mallory: "..."

Principal: "..."

Leo: "…"

Seeing this, the principal coughed and spoke, "I guess a few accidents cannot be avoided."

Mallory was confused and stared at the closed wound. "Why aren't you healing?"

Leo: "I can stop the rate of healing with small wounds. I knew this would be crucial so I decided not to. Besides it's your first bite in a while... why not keep the trophy and the honor?"

Mallory: "..."

Mallory's facial expression danced between irritation, confusion, and disbelief.

Laughing at her reaction, Leo patted her. "Haha... don't worry. I just wanted to show the principal that you drank my blood. I'll heal it now. Don't worry, don't worry..."

As soon as Leo finished speaking, the wound had completely closed. Not a mark could be seen. The only indication that he had a wound was a small part of his skin was slightly red.

"Since Miss Klein is technically a vampire, I suggest that we should change her schedule. Are you okay with that Miss Klein?"

"For what, Principal?" Mallory asked as she slightly tilted her head.

"Have you heard about the Night Class?"

Mallory nodded her head. The school was famous for its 'Night Class'. As the class name suggested, it had a special schedule: they have night classes. This class was filled with students who were one of a kind. One of them being Leo. It was the dream of many students as the rumors about it were praised and surprisingly tempting. It was hard to be accepted in the night class even if the student had outstanding results — let alone Mallory who was as visible as an ant on the streets.

"I am offering you an option to enter the Night Class."

Leo replied with, "Not an option." Meaning, she had no other choice but to join them.

Mallory was dumbfounded. Not anyone could just join the Night Class! After all, they needed to reach the rumored 'Unachievable Standards'.

Mallory: "I-I don't think I can join the Night Class, Principal!"

Principal: "And why is that?"

Mallory: "Because I doubt I actually pass t-the standards...!"

Principal: "The standards? Why?"

Mallory: "W-what why? I-it's the Night Class' standards... not any other ordinary standards..."

Principal and Leo: "But you reached the standards perfectly fine."

Mallory: "…"

Mallory felt her countenance darkened. Were the two joking around? But she dismissed the thought when she looked in the principal's eyes.

She was taken aback as the principal explained. "The standards are perfectly reachable by almost anyone. You just need to have something that can be called unique. You also need high grades which you are more than capable of. I won't tolerate those whose attitudes cannot be fixed. I don't like people who doesn't know how to be human. Those at Night Class do not have the time to teach them from the basics..."

Listing all these things in her head, Mallory found it unbelievable that almost no one had gotten in the Night Class.

Just need to have something that is considered unique... that's basically your strengths!

Capable of high grades... anyone could as long as they tried to!

Don't have attitude problems... putting all these together... genuinely thinking, it's easy!

So why haven't the other students got a chance to enter the Night Class?

Mallory's face scrunched as she tried to think of the reason why. "These are achievable by anyone, Principal. So why are the stud— —"

"Achievable by ALMOST anyone, Miss Klein."

This shut Mallory's mouth as she was cut. A thought entered her mind. It seemed plausible for the answer she was looking for. "They cannot be humans."

The principal nodded as he spoke, "That's right. But not just any kind of vampires can join. Each vampire will have their own tests from where I will be the judge to see if they are worthy of being a student of the Night Class. If not, then I'll just give extra effort in watching over them since they are not humans."

"And my test is?" Mallory felt curious of her test but the answer made her want to swallow her words back.

"Young Master Orpheus."