She ran along the elm-covered path, her white Nike Shoxes pounding the soil-layered trail. The runner slowed as the trees lining the path dwindled, revealing clouds and blue early morning sky above her blonde head. Pausing at the sun's morning illuminations, she grasped her bewitched necklace, the locket inscribed with 'Laura.'
"It's fine...everything is okay," Laura calmed herself. Unlike humans, she couldn't allow herself to forget the power of the sun. Even with the charmed necklace that protected her from sunlight, she never took the locket for granted and always checked to ensure the golden charm was still around her small neck. Reassured, she ran across the walking bridge that was high above the unforgiving, rapidly flowing streams of the Dover River. Her long, light-blonde ponytail swung back and forth across her shoulders as she smelled the soft water and cool, early morning Massachusetts breeze.
Laura continued her run, then exited the bridge, ran across dew-covered grass, and passed the Dover College 1863 sign with its cardinal red crest and bold letters that signaled her entrance back onto campus. Her Nikes slapped down hard onto the campus's concrete walkway as she focused on the end of her run—the medial research building where she worked.
"Laura?" a voice called out. With her iPod earphones in her ears, Laura didn't hear the young man who rapidly approached her from behind; she barely saw the walkway ahead as her Nike-clad feet bolted down the sidewalk.
"Laura?" the voice called again, but all she could hear was "No no, no", the rehabilitating lyrics of Amy Winehouse. She soon felt a new presence straight ahead, so she slowed down. A bright, rosy smile from her petal-like lips bloomed on her face as she saw the man who was running towards her. He wore the same red 'Property of Dover College,' pre-med shirt that she did.
She stopped without a hint of breathlessness and removed the ear buds from her ears. "Sorry, Henry. I decided to run earlier than usual this morning."
Stopping meters from her, Henry bent over clutching his knees before standing upright and briefly gasping for breath. His auburn hair shifting slightly in the breeze, he took a swig from his water bottle and then offered it to Laura who smiled and took a gulp.
"Laura..." he said, inhaling, "we were supposed to go running together. When did you leave, at five a.m.?"
"I'm sorry. I should have texted you, but I just wanted an early start so I could get to the labs early."
"As opposed to how early? It's only six thirty now."
"Sorry, Henry. Let's re-schedule."
"Are you trying to avoid me?"
"Not this again! I'll see you in the lab," Laura said, beginning to run again.
Henry grabbed Laura's wrist before she could take off but forgot what he wanted to say when he felt her inhumanly cold flesh.
"You're so cold. Are you okay...are you sick?" he asked, staring into her light-green eyes and thinking she should be feeling warm instead of cold after having just run for miles.
'She's cold enough to be dead,' he thought.
"I'm fine." Pulling her wrist from his reach and inhaling, she distracted Henry from the truth. "Look, I am really sorry. Thanks again for helping me with my special project. I know it's Saturday, and you don't need to come to the lab; most people are—"
"You know I'll be there, but keep in mind it's before seven a.m. and not even old Dr. Brewster is up this early."
"That old fart. He gave me my first C ever!"
"No wonder he lives alone with his bulldog"
"I'm surprised his bulldog can stand him. Look, I need to get going. Thanks again for the project help. I'll see you in the lab in an hour. We can talk some more then." Lightly kissing his right cheek and telling him he was awesome, Laura burst into a full run and soon left Henry far behind.
Henry ran in the opposite direction, towards home, muttering, "If I'm so awesome why won't you date me?" Sighing, he stopped, turned around, and looked back at her and her firm jogging-pants-clad ass.
Giving up, Henry continued on his way home. He was among the small group of Dover College students who still lived at home. He had grown up in the small town where he had been raised by his single mother, an outspoken professor, who, after earning her doctorate, had achieved her tenured position.
Stepping onto his porch, Henry spotted the most shocking thing in his twenty-two years: Dr. Brewster, with his gray hair and black-as-night skin, kissing his mom. Brewster's hands were roaming under his mom's robe-covered body and caressing her breasts. Henry didn't know whether to throw up or beat the hell out of the lecherous old fart.
"Mom, Dr. Brewster. What...the hell is going on?"
"Humgh umph..." Dr. Brewster cleared his throat and seemed lost for words.
"I'm waiting...." Henry couldn't wait to hear Dr. Brewster's explanation.
"Mr. Burke, I was just walking by on this beautiful morning and simply saw your mother outside and decided to say a hello," Dr. Brewster began to say in his typical form.
"Charles, it's okay. I'll talk to Henry. I'll see you later tonight." Henry's mother stepped away to give Dr. Brewster room to maneuver the steps.
"Are you sure, Beverly?"
"I am. Don't worry. We'll catch up later."
Henry looked on, thinking he'd never thought black people could blush. He'd never thought Dr. Brewster was susceptible to human emotion.
Henry was eventually alone in the house with his mom. "Mom, you and Dr. Brewster?"
"We're both single adults, Henry. We started talking at last night's faculty town hall and one thing led to another—"
"You know what I don't want to know?"
"We should talk about it. It's healthy to talk about these things."
"Brewster is an asshole. He's the single most-hated professor in the pre-med division. If you don't believe me, check out 'rate my professor.com.' On top of that, he seems to get pleasure from failing seventy percent of his students."
"Charles is a great lover."
"Oh god, that is way TMI. I'm going upstairs...goodbye."
"It's true. I raised you to be honest and therefore I owe you the same in return."
"I'm heading upstairs to shower. Let's act like this didn't happen."
"It did happen, and I'm seeing him again. We still need to have this conversation."
"No, we don't, and we won't."
"Yes we do, Henry. The human body isn't anything to be ashamed of."
"God, I am so glad I'm getting an apartment in a week!" Henry turned and ran up the stairs. Meanwhile, Laura was just arriving at the old stone sorority house, with its Greek letters affixed atop the front door. She opened the front door to see a young man who appeared drunk, failing to stand up and stumbling all over himself. Laura had been hoping everyone would be gone by the time she returned.
"What a party. I can't remember a fucking thing. I hope I spent some time with you though, sexy," said Tom, a frat guy she recognized who hit on her every chance he got. After winking at her, he soon fell back onto a couch as though dead to the world.
Laura made a beeline for the basement. Running down the basement stairs, she soon saw her sorority sisters drinking from fresh blood packs that had been taken from the previous night's draining party.
"We're supposed to be storing the blood taken from the guys last night, not drinking it!"
A jet-haired girl with blood all over her lips responded while the fourteen other girls continued drinking, all with fangs out in full force as they fed greedily. "Look, we've been surviving on morsels for days. We need this. I know you're the sorority President but—"
"Yes, I am the President, and I am telling you we need to ration, Sarah." The heady scent of an open pack reminded Laura that she hadn't had a taste in days.
"You want some don't you, or are you too busy pretending to be human, unnecessarily running with that succulent AB negative, Henry?"
"We're friends; but if you touch him, I'll end you," Laura said, causing the room to suddenly go silent.
"I knew it. You're in love with the rare-blooded red-head."
Laura shot Sarah a fiery, orange-eyed stare that silenced the black-haired beauty. Surrendering to her needs, Laura walked to the group of girls and took a blood pack for herself.
"That's it," Sarah hissed as she drank from hers.
"One pack, each, and no more," Laura said, giving Sarah an admonishing stare as her fangs intuitively extended, preparing to pierce her own blood pack.
"I can't believe the boys on this campus haven't realized that we drain their blood at every one of our parties," said one of the other girls.
"They're drugged, Beth. It's impossible for them to know, and that's the point," Laura reminded her.
"I know. But for sixty years, they haven't come close to suspecting," Beth said.
Laura opened her now blood-covered mouth to speak, but Sarah beat her to the punch. "That's what they get for ruining what used to be a perfect women's college."
"Soon we're going to have authentic artificial hemoglobin. We won't even be able to tell the difference. It will be exactly the same as human blood." The other girls looked confused at Laura's statement.
"We don't need synthetic blood—the boys on campus supply all we need. I, for one, am not vegan. I need meat." Sarah ran her tongue along her lips.
"As new, young female vampires come here to be trained and educated, it will bring harmony to the hidden divisions we've created on campus. Who knows, as we graduate and move on outside the campus, we can change Vampire culture, making it more accepting of humanity."
"You're not going to change thousands of years of tradition."
"With all our rules—when you get to the heart of it—this sorority was founded to change Vampire tradition."
"Patriarchal traditions of male vampires having female vampires as their damn slaves!" Sarah had always been more of a feminist than Laura, which was part of the wedge dividing their vampire philosophies.
"Yes, but we've evolved passed that. This sorority has fulfilled the mandate of providing a safe haven to brand new vampires and teaching them independence. It's time to improve on that. The fact that you don't get this tells me you're not ready to replace me as this sorority's leader next year, Sarah."
Sarah's eyes began to glow with an orange hue. "Leave us!" she yelled to the other girls.
They didn't move an inch, although most removed the blood packs from their feeding lips, awaiting their true orders.
Laura looked at the other girls. "It's okay. Go on, girls." They all looked at each other, then shrugged, turned, and left the basement.
