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"What would you like to ask about my brother and me?" Hadlee's quiet and scared demeanor made my heart tighten with guilt.

Maybe it was the fact I wasn't even sure myself what I wanted to ask, but I found it extremely difficult to cough up any words to say. A tense air of silence formed between the two us. My eyes focused on her movements and I noticed how she bit her lip in angst. Why is she so scared?

"Hadlee—" I slowly reached for her arm but when my fingers were inches away from touching her skin, she flinched away.

Without retracting my hand, I stepped forward even more until my fingers gently landed on her shoulder. Her small body relaxed and she glanced up at me with a questioning gaze. In her blue eyes, I saw a mixture of doubt, but I also saw the small bit of trust in her orbs.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pulled you away so suddenly." I smiled brightly when I saw her facial expression change to one of surprise instead of fear.

Hadlee leaped at me, wrapping her arms around my slender torso. I returned her sudden embrace as a gesture of trust. She was warm and the connection I had felt my first day toward her seemed to grow stronger. My irrational behavior scared her badly for some reason and I should have known.

"You don't need to apologize." Hadlee dropped her arms and stepped back to face me. "What did you want to ask?"

Her voice was much more relaxed and cheerful. It filled my body with an unknown feeling of happiness to watch her be friendly toward me. After all, I don't have many trusted friends here at this accursed academy filled with supernatural creatures.

"Well..." I nervously rubbed the back of my neck. "I heard you two were the last ones before me to transfer to this academy."

Maybe it was the slight widening of her eyes or the way her face flushed even paler if that was humanly possible, that gave away the truth in my statement. It was a bad acknowledgment, that was for sure. Some sort of doubt instantly entered my mind with a voice whispering, maybe I shouldn't have said anything.

"It was three years ago when my brother and I transferred to Wintercrest Academy." Hadlee's neutral tone surprised me.

"And it's been three years of hell." A dark shadow suddenly entered the room.

Both Hadlee and I quickly whipped our bodies to face the intruder. The familiar curly brown hair and strikingly identical blue eyes to that of Hadlee made my tense body relax with ease. I feel as if I'm in a video game, freaking jump scares popping out of nowhere with every room I enter.

"Harley!" Hadlee sounded extremely exasperated.

My cool hand touched my sweaty forehead and I felt my rapid breathing slow back down to a normal rate. "Damn Harley, don't scare the shit out of me like that."

Studying his facial features, I caught the movement of his lips curving upward into one of his recognizable warm smiles. I missed having him around in the past few days. He'd been blatantly ignoring me ever since he dropped me off at my house for the second time.

"My apologies, but on the contrary, it's quite fun to scare the shit out of you." Harley's slight smile turned into an annoyingly wide grin.

"Why does everyone think it's fun to scare the shit out me?" I grumbled to myself, shockingly earning a deep laugh from none other than the devil himself.

Stupid vampire hearing.

Harley's laugh ended and he entered the room, closing the classroom door until it clicked shut. He folded his muscular arms across his chest and his expression changed to that one of seriousness. His lips formed a tight line and his eyebrows slightly narrowed together, procuring a type of frown.

"Why are you talking about our transfer to her?" His scrutinizing gaze jumped from me to Hadlee.

Hadlee fiddled her fingers and I noticed how her body language changed drastically. Her expression was one of guilt like she wasn't supposed to talk about their transfer three years ago. This wasn't her fault, I was the one who dragged her away and asked about it. Taking a deep breath, I faced Harley with my resolve.

"I was the one that asked her. Don't blame her for telling me." The stern words coming from my mouth a lot easier than I expected them too.

His piercing blue eyes glanced between Hadlee and me before a long sigh came from his lips. "I'm not blaming anyone. It's alright Had, you can tell her."

She pushed back the long brown locks that hid her face from her brother. The shock in her eyes was evident and I'm sure she thought he was going to mad at her for spilling some personal information. Hadlee met my eyes and I hoped the story wasn't going to be heart-wrenching.

"We were orphans before we transferred to Wintercrest. My brother and I were put under the care of our uncle, but what we didn't know is that he worked for a certain underground company." Hadlee continuously glanced at her brother who held a stern expression with every couple of words.

When she didn't continue, Harley jumped into the conversation. "He worked with Wintercrest Academy and made a deal with the CEO. His twin niece and nephew for a new high ranking job in the company along with security for life."

"Two for two..." I whispered to myself as I took in all the disturbing information.

Their lives were traded for power and safety. An overwhelming sensation of anger flowed through my veins until my fists were clenched into tight balls. People who use human lives in exchange for avarice desires disgust me to my core.

Hadlee had a sorrowful mien while Harley seemed to reflect my vexation with his own. To calm the anger rising in my belly, I pressed my eyes shut and took a large inhale of air. Slowly I peeked opened my eyes and nodded at Hadlee to continue the story.

"Harley tried to protect me from the men in suits when they came for us," Hadlee breathed out. "But the next thing I knew, we were together in this pitch black room."

"We waited for what felt like forever. Sitting there in the dark, huddled together for hours was an endless torture. It was after that when I started to change." Harley had this dark and pained look in his eyes.

Such an unfamiliar expression than what I was used to seeing from him. It was an understandable reaction, I was furious at the company for having done this to two scared fifteen-year-old children. And who knows how many other people they have done this to in past decades of their existence.

And what made me even angrier was the fact there was virtually nothing I could do to stop them. Because I could be next for all I know, with my mother possibly working for them. The thought of mother pained me, creating a suffocating ache in my chest. I hated being alone and I can't even imagine what the twins went through losing both their parents.

"Change? As in transform into a vampire?" I questioned, returning my stern gaze to the both of them.

Harley nodded his head, a slight hesitation in his mien. "Yes, but we didn't know what was happening at the time."

I pictured two frightened kids hugging each other in a corner of a dark room, with wide eyes and shaking bodies. Even I thought I could imagine such a horrid experience, there was no way I would be able to sympathize with them. What they went through was morally wrong.

"I hate to ask this, but if you're okay with it I would like to know what the transformation was like." My voice came out quieter than I expected it would, for some reason my mouth was moving before I had time to think through what I was asking. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

Glancing at Harley, I caught sight of his infamous sad smile. It didn't reach his eyes. "No, it's alright. It's just something no person should go through. People born into vampirism have it easier than those bitten. The pain is the price for changing your fate."

His words had an ominous echo to them. The pain is the price for changing your fate.

I could see it. The price for the immortality, the super strength, the immunity to sickness, and everything flawed with being a human. You had to suffer in darkness, allowing not only your physical body to change but your mind as well. Because after becoming a monster, you couldn't go back to being human.

Wait a minute— immunity to sickness? My head shot up and I focused all my attention on Hadlee.

"Aren't vampires immune to sickness?" I asked, noticing how the twins stiffened simultaneously.

Harley's breathing faltered. "Vampires are immune to all kinds of human illnesses, although in history vampiric poisons were created and used by hunters to try and kill us."

The thoughts in my head were spinning around rapidly as I processed all his words. The puzzle pieces weren't fitting at all. Wintercrest and vampires have become the hardest puzzle I've ever tried to solve, but I wasn't ready to quite give up yet. I lifted my head, staring at Hadlee quizzically.

"Then why are you sick?" The question slipped from my lips, freezing the air between the three of us.

It was suffocating, almost impossible to breathe. Hadlee paled even more if that was physically possible. I had too many questions and so little answers. All the clues pointed to her being sick, for example, the first day I met her in the Nurse's office. Or the recent day she took off school because she was homesick.

Harley sudden let out a strained, deep laugh. "You're smarter than you let on, Saige."

His words took me by the surprise and I'm sure it was very evident on my face. Although in my mind, I was glaring at him with all my power and chastising his choice of words. What's that supposed to mean? Do I act dumb or something?

"You can't tell anyone!" Hadlee suddenly stepped toward me, gripping my arm tightly even though she appeared frail.

"Tell anyone what?" I questioned, staring at her in shock.

Harley took an almost threatening move toward me. "That Hadlee's not a vampire."

Time froze and I could distinctly hear the drumming of my heart against my ribcage. Maybe it was because I was in shock that I imagined hearing a second heart beating, but not as strong as mine. A frailer, weaker heart struggling to cling on to life compared to my loud and mighty one.

My eyes steadily moved to meet Hadlee's icy blue ones, holding a stern contact with her. Suddenly the vague feeling of having a subtle connection became much heavier and I realized that my human instincts had known from the very moment I met her. I felt safe with her because we were two lambs in a den of lions.

"You're human?" The unrealistic words hurried out from my dry lips, my mind trying to comprehend the shocking information.

Hadlee released her grip on my arm that I had forgotten was there. "Y-yes."

My body moved without thinking and I lunged for her and embraced her in a bear hug. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Harley was prepared to attack me when I had stupidly lunged forward, but he relaxed when he saw I was only hugging her. A quizzical look on his face.

Despite looking pale and fragile, Hadlee was warm. She was a warmth and light I thought I was losing every day I spent in this ominous town of darkness. Hadlee returned my embrace and it filled me with more human warmth. It calmed my shaking body.

Tears filled my eyes and I let all my emotions run free without a second thought. "Thank you."

Her confusion radiated toward me and I was about to explain to her why I had hugged and thanked her, but the lunch bell rang. The chatter of students sounded loud and clear as crowds began walking through the hallways. Hadlee and I separated from our warm embrace.

She had a perplexed expression, her eyebrows frowned together and her lips tucked into a tight line. I mouthed to her, I'll explain later. She nodded her in response, her face relaxing.

"Alright you two, let's go." Harley surprised me by having a doubtful glance directed at me.

I can't believe I spent my entire lunch period in Carson's classroom— oh my god. It completely slipped my mind that I was in Carson's lunch spot. The plan was originally to ask Hadlee a simple question and get out of here in five minutes tops before him and his friends came for lunch.

Harley was helping Hadlee with her stuff and I stood there overthinking the situation. Carson should have come here, so why didn't he? My eyes roamed the room and I believe I found my answer.

The classroom door which I could have sworn was closed shut when Harley entered, was now resting ajar. Giving a peek of the students passing in the hallway.

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★ @within_days

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★ : @within_days