"Next time, please do that from the start." Helio stood up from the bed. When the girl had switched her prey in the heat of the moment, Helio's ties were loosened and that was enough for him to break loose. "Do you mind if a few things get destroyed around here? I'm kind of in a bad mood." Helio tried to chuckle but nothing really could hide the bulging veins on his forehead.

"No prob." Merin flashed a grin.

The veins on Helio's forehead throbbed. Actually, all of his veins throbbed. This was a bad day. He couldn't enjoy his classes, he couldn't enjoy his own party and he couldn't even enjoy dinner. Actually, He never had dinner. And for what? An assignment that wasn't even possible?

He couldn't even sleep and top it all up, he was almost r*ped. He was pissed- was definitely an understatement to say the least.

Suddenly the girl realized, she fu*ked up. 'R*pe?' She was frightened of the word. She'd already forgotten the things she went through. She hated that word and she was about to just that? Her recurring memories staggered her. Her chest started to burn and it hurt.

'I've to get out of here.'

Before she could turn into a shadow Helio grabbed her head. "You know my gramps once told me a story about vampires and how they could turn into shadows. He also told me, how to deal with them too. I thought he was telling me bedtime stories. I was really young back then after all. It's a shame I forgot about all that but I do remember one thing. 'If you're touching a vampire's skin directly, it can't turn into a shadow.'" Helio grinned. His voice was calm and so was his demeanor. But the colors from the girl's face disappeared and she started to struggle. She was reliving a past she wanted to bury. "Mom told me to respect women and she advised me to never hit a woman on the face. And though I hate people who hit women, I personally hate people who force themselves on others even more."

"You don't understand, I-" the girl attempted.

"I don't care about your reason. I'll sleep with people on my own wish, not on the whims of others. And I'll never sleep with someone whom I don't love." Helio's face went closer to the girl's face. "Besides, if you want to marry me, you should have first started with giving me a truck full of chocolates."

Merin chuckled but suppressed them.

"What?" The girl was more confused than scared.

"Well, but I guess it's too late now." Helio sighed and punched the girl's stomach so hard, she passed out. "It really was a shame. Please don't come again." He gently lied the girl on the floor and sighed in relief.

"Dude. I know what you did isn't wrong, but what now?" Merin scratched his head. Things weren't really looking that great for the two of them.

Two guys, one girl, the girl being unconscious. There was no way the two could ever hope to explain this to the dorm manager or anyone for that matter.

Helio lifted the girl up and held her like a princess. "I suppose we have to talk with the manager."

'Isn't she a bit too light?' He was almost surprised by the girl's weight.

"Are you crazy? She'll rip us apart!" Actually, Merin wasn't too far off the mark on this one. If the dorm manager knew there was a girl inside the dorms at this hour and unconscious no less, needless to say, more than one bone would have been broken.

"You know, for someone so strong," A girly voice came from below Helio's chest. Apparently, the girl wasn't unconscious. She touched Helio's cheeks and smiled. "You really go easy on girls, don't you?"

"Whoa!" Helio, a bit spooked dropped the girl on the floor, and she turned into shadows almost like she was water.

The girl disappeared.

"Well, there goes our problem." Merin turned on the lights.

Hard to imagine all of this happened with the minimal light the window provided.

"Yeah." Helio was out of breath. Suddenly dropping the girl might have spooked him more than he thought.

"But dude. What are you, a girl magnet or something?" The way Merin chuckled, indicated he was pitying Helio more than being jealous.

"I'll be happy to swap places if you want."

"Yeah, no thanks." Merin laughed some more and checked his instrument. "Shit, I broke it."

He broke three chords and the body of the guitar now had two distinct cracks. .

"That's wood, right?" Helio asked.

"Yeah. Plain Cedar!"

'Why Cedar?'

"I know someone who can grow plants. Maybe she'll be able to fix that." Helio sighed. This was partially his fault. If he had just opened his eyes the first time he felt the weight on his legs, maybe things could have been different. Not to mention the girl was actually here for him.

'But why was she doing this?'

It wasn't hard to imagine that these transfer students were here for him. But attacking him in the night? 'And she was a vampire.'

Vampire in general was nothing more than urban legends. But Helio definitely knew this wasn't a legend anymore. 'And the headmaster let her in, knowing that?'

Merin flashed a thumbs up and turned the lights off.

Both of them went back to their beds.

Helio still wasn't feeling sleepy. If anything he was excited and so was his Excalibur. But through all of these years, he'd developed a bit of self-restraint, so he denied his body the care it wanted and forced himself to calm down again.

And this time, Helio was able to fall asleep.

***

Aurora Hleilis was a war orphan. Though most of the world was at peace, few smaller countries still fought over land despite the warnings and the pressure from other UN. And she just happened to be in a country like that.

Her parents were farmers. Ordinary people with little power. In this world of mutants, people who had little to no powers were often treated as outcasts and shunned from society. Most of the young generation didn't know that people without powers even existed.

So where did these powerless people live? In faraway places, near the borders, or forests perhaps. Most of these people just tried to make an honest living and live without trouble. But fate was crooked. It always struck down the weak. Such was the world. Only the fittest were bound to survive. And Leilis's fate was no exception.

But life wasn't so bad. It was just her parents and her, but that was all she wanted. There was no one around to play around but that didn't stop her from having fun in her own way. And twelve years passed like that. Life was a bliss.

At the age of thirteen, Leilis encountered the first crisis of her life. It was a sunny day, rather hot. She was by the pond, showering. She was all by herself and it wasn't that bad. But then she heard a scream. The scream of her mother. She ran fast even in the wet clothes. And when she reached the house, she was stunned. She entered through the door, and in front of her, was horror.

There was fresh blood beneath her feet: blood was on the curtain like some kind of tapestry. The blood of her father. There were two man of uniform inside the house, holding flashy blue knives. They were grinning and ripping off the clothes of her mother.

'What is this?'