“Well, well, well,” Acard said with a stupid smile on his face as he watched the two of them enter. Vincent felt he would get used to that look of his. “I’m gd you’re alright, pal. That slip and fall you took yesterday day did look nasty.”

  While Vincent was exhausted from the day before, he still had a lot more energy than his first day. Still, having to deal with this punk would really make his new supernatural life even harder.

  “We were all so worried for you,” Acard continued, looking like he was not worried at all. Vincent just hoped that the kid got properly reprimanded for his indiscretion.

  Vincent’s heart was warmed to see the other students approach him with encouraging words and concern.

  “That was quite the fall, man,” Alexander said with a little chuckle. “You took it like a champ.”

  “More like a chump,” Acard said as he was bound to never let up.

  Vincent got a nod and a big smile from Mizuki and a silly thumbs up from Max.

  This friendly welcome was refreshing for Vincent, as the realization that he had friends for the first time, not kids shunning him, whispering about him, ridiculing him, etc., was nice.

  As they went back to their seats, Acard continued his barrage.

  “So,” Acard said, leaning forward. “Do you have anything to share with the rest of us on what you learned from our previous lesson?”

  Vincent turned in his seat, eyes narrowing on Acard. “Yeah, I do.” Acard leaned back, not sure where this was going, which made Vincent smile on the inside. “I just wanted to say… thanks.” Acard’s jaw dropped, and Vincent spun around, pleased with Acard’s reaction at his comeback.

  As Acard opened his mouth to say something, the headmaster entered.

  “Hello,” he said, moving to the front of the room. Lucian Illustrious was not just the headmaster, but one of their teachers? “Welcome to your first year at Crescent Academy. I’m Lucian Illustrious.”

  This man was full of tricks, Vincent thought.

  “Let’s begin with some introductions, shall we?”

  “Introductions again?” Acard groaned.

  “It is quite a treat,” Lucian said, meeting Acard’s gaze. “To have such a lively werewolf in my cssroom, Mr. Gray.” His gaze moved from Acard to Vincent, speaking as if he knew they were both werewolves, which made total sense to Vincent, not in the understanding of how it made sense to him, just knowing that this guy probably knew a lot more than what people assumed about him. “I’m sure the two of you will get along splendidly.”

  He nodded to Vincent. “It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Bck.”

  “If you know we’re werewolves,” Acard said. “Then why do we need to introduce ourselves?”

  “Why indeed,” Lucian said, without eborating further as if it was clear as day. His eyes then moved to Max and Mizuki. “Let’s see here. You’re Mr. Miller,” he said, his eyes moving from him to Mizuki. “And Miss Mizuki.”

  “Yep, that’s us,” Max said, proudly. “The mischievous duo.”

  “Shut up,” Max,” Mizuki said, spping him on the back of the head. “There’s nothing mischievous about us.”

  Lucian gave a satisfied little smile. When he turned to Isabel, she jerked upright at the mention of her name. “Isabel Dawn,” he said, his voice admiring. Why was hers the only name he said fully, Vincent wondered? “It will be intriguing to see how your character will fare compared to that of your sister’s whom I also had the pleasure of teaching.”

  Isbel’s shoulders slumped slightly as if she had heard this before, but then she jerked upright. “Yes, sir.”

  Acard mouthed ‘yes sir’ in a mocking motion which Vincent saw out of the corner of his eye and frowned at.

  When Lucian turned to Alexander, he pushed his gsses against his face in a way that made Vincent feel as if there was judgmental energy coming from him.

  “Alexander,” Lucian said with a bit of straining sternness, pcing his hand against Alexander’s desk.

  “Isn’t it Mr. Illustrious, sir?” Alexander said as he stared out the window, not a care in the world.

  Lucian let out a sigh as if he had done this routine before. “When you’re in my css,” Lucian said seriously, his tone reprimanding, a finger tapping against Alexander’s desk. “I expect you to pay attention.”

  Then again, Vincent thought, family does strange things to people. It made him think about his actual parents and what they were like. How they would have treated him. The arguments they would have had. Would they have been proud, or disappointed? What did they even look like? Were there pictures of them? So many questions.

  “Sure, sure,” Alexander said, waving a hand. “Cause you know all about being present, don’t you, dad?”

  Yikes, Vincent thought. That probably hit a nerve, even if Lucian seemed like a cool, calm, and collected person. Lucian frowned, shaking his head slightly before moving back to the front of the cssroom.

  “The one thing I ask above all else in my css is your attention, and effort.” Vincent saw it for a moment, thinking perhaps it was his heightened senses that were allowing him to view the fleeting movement, but swore he saw the tensing of Lucian’s jaw as he spoke, as if this was in response to what Alexander had said. He wondered what kind of dynamic the two of them had at home? “While I have high expectations of you all, if you give me your undivided attention and full effort you will do just fine.” He gnced at Alexander, then back to the css. “For today, though, you are free to do what you want. Come prepared for a proper lesson tomorrow.”

  Vincent watched the man leave, wondering what caused the tension between him and Alexander. When Lucian noticed him staring, he froze, and a weird feeling hit him when their eyes lingered for a long moment. Lucian gave him a small smile and a nod, then left.

  As his gaze dropped from Vincent, he felt he could find his breath again, which made him wonder if gazes of supernatural beings had any power to them, as he had felt weird when looking into both Isabel’s and Shay Grave’s eyes. With them, it was a feeling of loss of control and being pulled to them. When he gazed into Lucian’s eyes, though, it felt more like he was seeing into his soul, or his – what did Isabel call it – essence?

  Vincent was broken out of his stupor as Acard belted out an emphatic, “That’s what I’m talking about,” at the mention of a free period.

  Vincent was staring at the door that Lucian had left out of, lost – and deep – in thought.

  Acard noticed him staring, and gnced at the door himself, frowning. “What are you staring at, idiot?”

  “Nothing,” Vincent said, turning away from him in a frustrated motion.

  “You still mad about slipping off the roof?” he said with a chuckle. “Don’t worry about it, chump. We all make silly mistakes.”

  “I didn’t fall,” he said, knocking a clenched fist against the top of his desk. “You pushed me.” He was sick of this punk’s antics.

  “Oh yeah,” Acard said as if realizing something. “I did, didn’t I?” He leaned back on his chair, kicking his legs up on the desk and let out a stupid chuckle.

  “Why’d you’d do it?” Vincent asked, feeling his hands grip the side of his desk with rising anger.

  Acard shrugged. “I felt like you needed a bit of encouragement.”

  Alexander let out an audible sign, rising from his desk in a smooth motion, one hand in pocket, making his way to the door. He looked frustrated, and Vincent wasn’t sure if it was because of the exchange between him and his father or Acard. He guessed the former.

  Acard watched him go, jutting out his lower jaw as if he was displeased at his departure. “Where’s he going?”

  “Why do you even care?” Vincent said, feeling a scowl form on his face as he had had it with this Acard punk. How did Lucian Illustrious possibly think he and Acard could get along?

  “I’m just trying to get along with my fellow cssmates,” Acard said with a stupid little grin. He leaned forward, as if he had a brilliant idea. “I know, let’s me and you meet out back and get better acquainted with our fists?”

  Vincent ignored him, thinking back to when Chikaze had put Acard in his pce. It made him smile.

  “Hey,” Acard said, showing his teeth with a snarl, his agitation rising. “I’m talking to you, punk.” Apparently, he didn’t like to be ignored.

  “Why can’t you just drop it, man?” Max asked with annoyance.

  “I’ll drop you if you get in my way, ya pretender.” Acard stared at Max in a dangerous, taunting manner. “Now, sit there and shut up if you know what’s good for you.”

  “Don’t tell him to shut up,” Mizuki said, pcing a hand on Max’s shoulder. “I’ll give you a fight if you want one, mutt.”

  Acard flinched and growled at her. “What did you say?”

  She grinned. “I called you a mutt. Whatcha gonna do about it?”

  Acard looked her up and down, then showed a single-fanged smirk. “Oh, there’s plenty I’d like to do about it. As for fighting, I don’t fight weaklings, or girls.” He then shoved his hands in his pockets as he let out an angry grunt, and sauntered off, grumbling to himself.

  “Just as I thought,” she said, her eyes watching him leave. “All bark and no bite.”

  He stopped just for a moment, then gnced over his shoulder. “Oh, I’ve got plenty of bite. Just none for ugly girls like you.”

  She set her jaw and clenched her fist, looking like she was going to lunge at him.

  “Enough!” Vincent said, smming his hand down on his desk. He stood and turned to face Acard with as much confidence as he could muster. “You want to fight so bad? Fine. Let’s fight.”

  “Oh-ho-ho,” Acard said, turning slowly to face him with an eted smile. “I’m ready whenever you are.” He stood there, shoulders back, body tense and ready to leap into action. Did he want to fight here? No way, Vincent thought. And, what was he getting himself into anyways? Well, he did say that he had to confront him one way or another. So, this was that confrontation, right?

  He gulped, finding his courage.

  “Not here,” Vincent said, feeling a sense of unease rise at this crazy confrontation, thinking about a good pce free of prying eyes. A pce where he could redeem himself for a wrong done to him. He pointed a finger up at the ceiling. “On the roof.”

  And with that, he just realized he had signed his own demise.

  .   .   .