" It is terrible to destroy a person's picture of himsef in the interests of truth or some other abstraction." (Doris Lessing, The Grass is Singing)

"What's wrong, Fayez?"

When he heard the unknown voice call his name, Fayez didn't really want to look up, as some idle chitchat with a stranger wasn't what he wanted to do right now. What he envisionned was drinking blood until he was drunk on it, then sleep and forget everything about this crappy day.

Being social was the last thing that was on his mind right now, but what if it was exactly what he needed ? After all, a distraction of some sort would be very welcomed - it couldn't possibly make the hunger dissapear, but it could temporarily alleviate it.

Plus, he suspected the owner of the voice to be a student, so it meant a potential source of information on how to find animals he could hunt there.

WIth that in mind, he slowly raised his chin and took a glance at the newcomer.

It happened to be a teenager, who couldn't be more than fifteen or sixteen. This fact in itself was quite surprising, as he remembered his father telling him that students at the ISB were aged between twenty and thirty.

"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" he asked.

The teen let out a small laugh, which made them look even younger.

"Everyone knows your name here, but I'm rather offended you don't know mine. After all, I have been called the smartest and prettiest girl of the ISB. I will forgive you, though, because you're new here, and you do look a bit lost. My name is Lindsay."

Although he could tell that she was joking, Fayez was still amazed by the confidence that oozed through this Lindsay's every pores.

Where did all this confidence came from? Was it her undeniable beauty ? - She was tall, slender, with long legs, a light brown skin, hazel almond-shape eyes and shoulder-lenght wavy brown hair, which were tied in a loose braid.

Then again, most of the supernatural beings were beautiful - based on humans criteria, at least. It must be something else, then. Was it because she was the smartest student here, as she had claimed to be?

Whatever her reason was for being so assertive, it was slightly annoying to Fayez, making him feel shy and inadequate in comparison.

"Nice to meet you, Lindsay, my name is Fayez."

Well done,you dumb shit, he internally cursed himself, slightly blushing in shame as the girl laughed again - a louder, more honest laughter than the previous one.

"You're a funny one" she concluded, once she had finally calmed down enough to speak. "You don't look so good, though. What happened?"

"It doesn't matter, what happened." Fayez muttered, not willing to relive the painful, humiliating and slightly confusing memory of Akhenaton mentally torturing him.

And touching him oh so softly afterwards to sooth the pain - no, it wasn't wise to linger on this recollection either. Akhenaton was an A-grade asshole, and Fayez didn't want to believe that the guy had shown him kindness, even for a brief moment. There must have been an underlying motive for his unexpected gesture.

"You look like you're going to faint" Lindsay insisted, and Fayez knew he had to say something, or the girl would never leave him in peace.

"I'm fucking starved."

"Starved?" she asked, a confused look on her baby face.

"I need blood" he snarled, his patience thinning. "Can you help me with that? No? Then kindly leave me the fuck alone"

"Wow, you surely know how to ask for help" Lindsay snorted, looking unbothered by his interlocutor's dormant agressivity. "Anyway, why don't you just ask someone at the canteen?"

"I don't drink human blood" Fayez replied, nervously pulling on his gloves - something he always did whenever he was feeling uncomfortable.

"Why not?" she asked, her eyes becoming even wider. "Do you have a medical condition or something?"

"I just don't like the taste" Fayez pretended, which wasn't technically a lie - he was a toddler the last time he had drunk human blood. It had been just before Anna's dearh, so he didn't remember the taste very well.

"A vampire who doesn't like blood?" Lindsay scoffed, looking doubtful.

"Human blood" Fayez quickly corrected her. "Animals' blood is fine."

"Whatever you say" she smiles, before she turned her back to him and started walking away, with the poise of a professional ballet dancer. "Follow me?"

"Where to?"

"I know where you can find animals to hunt"

At these words, Fayez got up so quickly that his vision went fuzzy for a few seconds, and he would have fallen back on his ass, hadn't Lindsay been quick enough to grab him by his elbow.

"You're really blood-deprieved" she whistled, looking a bit impressed despite herself. "I don't get how you managed to bear with Master Akhenaton's mental training for so long in that state. Anyway, we better hurry up and find some cute squirrels or tiny baby rabbits for you to drain off of their blood."

He smiled a bit, enjoying her sarcasm, but didn't reply anything - first, he was exhausted and his mind was blank, or rather, a red as intense as his bloodlust, second, he didn't feel confident enough to try to appear witty.

"What supernatural creatures are Masters Zephyr, Akhenaton and Master Ashur?" he asked, because for some reason, despite his current weakened state, he could still find enough energy in himself to ask about the fascinating trio.

Fascinating? Nah, that didn't sound quite right. Fayez wasn't fascinated by them at all. He was just merely curious - he had never met people who were in a polyamourous relationship before. That was the only reason for his inquisitiveness.

"Ah, I see, another admirer of the three sexy prefects" Lindsay smirked, mischief written all over her doll-like face.

"I am nobody's admirer" Fayez was quick - too quick - to defend himself.

"If you say so. A lone wolf, then? Such a pity", she sighed, before adding "we're getting close"

Just as he was about to ask her how she could know that, because so far the forest had been as frighteningly quiet as he had found it on its first day at the ISB, when he had got lost in the woods and met the mysterious lady, he smell a foreign and delicious smell.

He unconsciously started walking faster, at a speed such that Lindsay seemed to struggle to keep up with him.

"Are you sure those are animals?" he still had the presence of mind to ask, because the blood of the animals he had eaten in his life had never smelt so sweet.

"Of course they are" Lindsay replied with a weird smile, but Fayez was too far gone already to be suspicious.

He needed to drink from the living being he could smell a few dozen of meters away from him.

He ran, with Lindsay sharp on his heels, but stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted the source of the sweet smell.

Fuck.

It was a human.

Fayez didn't think he could hold himself much longer, not in the state he was in.

"Lindsay" he whispered in a tortured voice. "Why would you do that to me?"

Oh, come on" she sighed. "There are no animals to be seen, and you must drink, so drink. Pinch your nose if you don't like the taste, you big crybaby"

"You don't understand" Fayez whispered-yelled, feeling furious. "I don't want to drink human blood."

"Why?"

"Because - because it's not right"

"There's no point trying to help you, I don't even know why I bothered, Mister Self-Righteous" she exclaimed, forgetting to speak quietly and making the young human look around him with a surprised expression.

She left, before Fayez had time to beg her to prevent him from jumping on the human.

Suddenly, said human was in front of him, the smell growing so strong that the temptation was impossible for Fayez to resist.

"Are you lost, sir"a shy voice asked. "Can I help you?"

Fayez closed his eyes, in a last, desperate attempt to refrain himself from attacking the boy. He tried to remind himself how much he would despise himself if he killed another human - if it was possible to actually hate himself more than he already did.

He was doing so good, entering the ISB in order to protect the human race and now, because of a close-minded, selfish teen, his efforts would be in vain.

It was unfair.

This smell was so alluring.

He didn't want to drink from humans.

He was so thirsty it was borderline painful.

He hated how little control he had over himself. Maybe he should have drank small portions of human blood at the canteen this morning. At least, he wouldn't have been in the situation he was right now.

He needed blood.

BLOOD.

He looked at the boy, who was now staring at his fangs, a scared expression on his face.

Fayez took a deep breath, and he jumped on the boy.

Or rather, he tried to, as two slender arms closed around his midsection.

He snarled at the person holding him tight against their chest, as he watched his prey escaping him.

No.

Blood.

I need blood.

"Ake" yelled the person whom Fayez, even with his altered perception of the world, recognized to be Zephyr. "Go get the human, and I'll handle Fayez"

No.

Nobody handle me.

At this point, it didn't matter to Fayez that Zephyr was a prefect. He trashed in his hold, and almost managed to get free by elbowing the young man in the guts, making him groan in pain.

Fayez had never expected Zephyr to be strong enough to restrain him, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before he managed to get free, so he pushed and pulled at the blondie's arms with all the strenght he could conjure.

"Fucking hurry up, Ake" Zephyr muttered to himself. "I can't restrain him much longer."

"I thought you were stronger than this crybaby vampire" Akhenaton suddenly appeared in front of them, looking pleased with himself.

"I am, but try to control a famished vampire" Zephyr retorted, sounding offended. "It's not a piece of cake, believe me on that"

Fayez could hear the voices, but he couldn't focus long enough to decipher the meaning of the words. All he knew was that he was getting crazy with the need to drink, and this annoying prefect wouldn't let him go.

"Did it work? With the human, I mean?"

"Of course it worked." Akhenaton replied with his usual blasé attitude. "I'm used to this kind of shit. It's almost too easy."

Why? Why doesn't he let me drink? Fayez, thought, glaring at both men, who didn't look like they gave a shit. Why is everyone so cruel here?

"Okay, I have an idea" Zephyr finally declared, putting all of this weight on Fayez's chest when the latter tried to handbutt him. "Let's switch. You hold him"

"What do you have in mind?" Akhenaton asked curiously.

There was a silence, then Akhenaton groaned, looking disgusted at something.

"No, Zeph"

"There's no other solution. We can't leave him like that, and his hunger is quickly worsening. He is dangerous in his current state".

"I can do it."

"No, it's better if I do it, since he and I are from the same species. Plus, I fed a few hours ago, so I can easily manage a minor blood loss"

Akhenaton sighed, a worried expression appearing on his face, but he eventually nodded and got closer to his lover, giving him a quick peck on the lips before grabbing Fayez's wrists.

"Okay, Goldilocks. I trust you"

"Thank you, Captain Crank"

Akhenaton's touch on Fayez's body was almost familiar, and he didn't like the idea of being comfortable in the guy's presence. However, bodies seldom lie and he felt himself slightly relaxing, as he was forced to sit flush against the brunet's chest, their legs entangled and his wrists trapped in Akhenaton's right hand.

That was the worst part - that Akhenaton was able to restrain him with only one hand. He didn't look much stronger, but now Fayez was forced to admit that he actually was.

You just wait until I get more training. I will -

Blood.

Please.

He whined, probably not even aware of the pitiful noises he was making, but he suddenly stopped when he felt a hand carding through his soft hair.

"That's good, Ake" Zephyr remarked, looking a bit mesmerised. "Keep doing this. You have a calming effect on him, when you're not torturing him. He actually looks a bit sleepy right now. Aw, babe, you're blushing."

"Shut up, Zeph" Akhenaton snapped, although he kept running his hand through the starving vampire's hair. "You're the one - I saw this asshole looking at you several times today, when he thought none was watching. He looked like he wanted to eat you up alive"

"That's true, but he doesn't relax around me the way he does when you touch him. I think both you and I affect him, in a different way. Plus, I noticed that with Ashur, he -"

"Stop. I don't give a flying shit about him. All I care about is not to have a bloodshed so close to the ISB, because the headmaster would definitely lose his shit" Akhenaton grunted. "Now, let's do it, although I really hate the idea."

"Okay." Zephyr agreed, sounding more serious. "Look at me, Fayez. Nice and easy." he whispered, leaning between Akhenaton's legs and getting closer to Fayez which, for some reason, made the young vampire feel warm inside.

Zephyr smiled at him, as if he could read his thoughts, then he brought his thin wrist to his own mouth.