Chapter 25

Margret crossed her arms. Her hair was tucked back into a tight bun and was wrapped in a handkerchief. There were large black circles under her eyes. She'd just woken up, but she looked more than just tired from a bad nights sleep. Her cheeks sagged and she was chewing on her bottom lip.

"I don't think you should go to school."

Ren had just put on his hoodie when she walked in. He furrowed his brows as he looked at her.

He didn't want to say that she looked bad. However, that was the first thing that he wanted to blurt out.

"Did something happen?"

She didn't know that he knew about the murders. The last thing that was played in their house was the news. He knew she was trying to shield him away from the horrible propaganda that they spit out about vampires and the unjust rulings that were made on vampires cases. It wasn't anything new. He'd seen and heard about it all, but she still tried to shield him from what he'd already felt.

"Nothing major, but..."

She didn't have to say it for him to know what she meant.

The Hunter Society was back. Back when they were still "official", vampires weren't allowed in the same building as humans. Things were different, but they weren't much better.

He pulled his hood over his head. "They can't kill me. That'd be bad publicity."

He gave a weak smile. He meant it as a joke, but he didn't even find it funny. By the way she looked at him after, she didn't find it funny either.

On his way out, he kissed her on the cheek. She didn't respond. She was far away, removed from the moment. He understood on some level. He too wished he didn't exist.

He was ready for when he arrived at school and found that the once before somewhat calm atmosphere had changed. He stepped into his first period, not sure how bad it was going to be, but he could feel the hostility in the air.

All eyes were on him. He wasn't the only vampire that went to this school. There was a set of twins that had been adopted into a rich family. He didn't know them personally and he'd only gotten a glimpse of them when they weren't surrounded by a group of fan girls.

The twin girls weren't like him though. They were beautiful and had a well known family to stand behind them. They were exotic and had a following that would die protecting them.

Ren was on his own. He was even more different. He was the talk of the town because of what his father had done. Not only was he a vampire—he was the product of a violent vampire. He had the blood inside of him to be that ruthless and evil.

Mr. Kale was standing by the door when Ren walked in. He gave Ren a long and tense stare. "Good morning, Mr. Cornelli."

Ren's throat went tight. "Good morning, Mr. Kale."

He didn't have to imagine Kale's hand around his throat to feel it. He knew that look in Kale's eyes. He'd seen it so many times in his short lifetime. When he was younger, it wasn't so bad. He'd been a small thing back then, something that could have been easily kicked away.

He was bigger now. He wasn't that tall, but he was fully grown. The people that hated him now had a reason to be really scared.

Ren had his backpack now. He was fully aware of the judging eyes that were looking at him with another reason. They thought he might be the killer. They were thinking about what he might have in his bag. They were thinking about how he could attack any of them at any second.

He wasn't just a ticking time bomb. He was a maniac with no feelings. He was an emotionless killer.

As he sat down, he felt the surging anger swelling in his chest. That fucking thing was back. The anger and hatred that he couldn't get over.

He gritted his teeth. He was so fucking done with all of this. He wished he would have stayed home, but he didn't want to be there when his mom was. It was awkward. And he was still irritated that she had the nerve to keep things away from him, but ride his ass about not telling her about the Mines.

The classroom door flew open. Ren kept drilling holes in his desk, not bothering to see who exactly was making a big scene.

"Mr. Kale! I finished my paper!"

Regan strutted in, waving a piece of paper in the air. He was alone, which was strange because he was always being followed around by his two stooges.

Kale ripped the paper out of Regan's hand. "A week late as expected. I'm proud that you finished it at all though."

Ren rolled his eyes when Regan slid into his seat while trying to look cool. He got a couple laughs and that was enough to boost his ego to keep acting like a macho.

Ren zoned out for a bit while Regan kept disrupting Mr. Kale who was trying to get on with the next lesson.

The classroom door opened again.

"Ah, Darrien. I hoped you would be here."

Ren curiously looked up.

Darrien went up to Mr. Kale. He said something quietly to the teacher. Mr. Kale's face went blank and then he nodded.

Ren watched Darrien's body language. He couldn't gauge anything about what they were talking about.

Ren looked away when Darrien looked up. His eyes were on Ren now. Ren hadn't forgotten how strange he'd acted yesterday or that Darrien knew that he was hanging around Ashton. He didn't know if Darrien knew that Ashton was a Mantel though he absolutely knew that Ashton had been a vampire.

Regan stuck his leg out in the aisle. Darrien stopped in front of it. He slowly looked over at Regan.

Regan let out a low laugh. He was playing with the string of his jacket. "Are you going to say hi?"

Darrien looked at the offending leg. Ren watched with interest as Darrien kicked Regan's foot away. "No. I'm not."

He walked away, leaving Regan to glower at his back. Regan caught Ren looking at him. He flipped Ren off.

"Hey."

Mr. Kale was now talking about the Reginae government and how officials were elected. Ren wasn't paying attention at all. He wasn't even trying to pretend that he was. He was having a hard time keeping his thoughts straight. He didn't have much confidence in himself to be able to take notes.

Darrien sat in the desk in front of him. He had nothing with him as well.

"Can I borrow a pen and some paper?"

Ren sat emotionless. He met Darrien's eyes.

He wanted to ask if that was all that he had to say to him. Darrien looked back at him. Nothing. No anger, no disgust, nothing. He was looking at Ren as if this was a normal conversation to be had with a vampire.

It wasn't refreshing. In fact, Ren found it more irritating than if Darrien had just hurled insults his way. He wanted a reaction. He wanted the same old. At least then he would know what he was dealing with.

What he got instead was a blank expression that helped him in no shape or form. Ren got the paper and pen, thrusting it out to Darrien so that he wouldn't bother him again. But Darrien didn't turn around like he was supposed to. He was still looking at Ren.

"What?" He didn't mean for it to sound so hostile. He was trying so hard to keep his cool, but his irritable side was being affected by all the bad energy he was picking up from people.

It was like he could feel their thoughts inside his head. They weren't words or anything that could be interpreted as specific thoughts. It was just substance that he had to wade through to get down to his real feelings. He wasn't hungry, wasn't entirely mad as he first thought, but he just wanted to get rid of this built up energy. It was like his arms and legs were trying to hit and kick without really searching for anything.

The energy in the room was heavy on him. He was being squashed with so many different strands that he could breathe without getting a burst of someone's negativity.

And then there was Darrien.

He was a black hole. He was sucking in the energy, making it easier to breathe, but there was a hidden thing that made Ren recoil.

Darrien's eyes softened. He turned in his seat, muttering a thanks under his breath.

While Ren was glad that he didn't have to deal with being looked at so intensely, he could still feel the darkness that wasn't so different from his own inside of him. Ren was surprised by it and he didn't know what it meant.

***

Ren was standing outside his locker, waiting for the next bell to ring when he heard the chants. He looked around, watching others' reactions. They were just as confused as he was. He closed his locker. The chants were getting louder. People started moving in the direction that the noise was coming from, but Ren was hesitant. He could feel the hatred in the air. This time, he could taste it. It was a feeling that was being shoved down his throat.

He put his palm to his chest. His heartbeat was steady though that wasn't how he felt. He felt like he was swirling down a drain or that he was drowning in the middle of the ocean. He was grappling for something to hold onto, but the weight of the waves crashing into him was pulling him down. His senses were muddled. This was worse than when the scent of blood was making him crazy. This was worse than when he lost control of himself.

These were emotions that he knew were not his own, but for some reason, they were affecting him like they were.

He knew it was a bad decision to go see what was happening. He knew he shouldn't do it, but his feet were already moving on their own. Each step was another step toward the engulfing flames of vile hatred, anger, and chaos. That horrid side of him wanted to be the center of it while the real side of him that was his true self was shivering with fear.

When he turned the corner of the hall, he saw a massive group of people staring and pointing at the front doors of the school.

His hand dropped to his side.

There were at least a hundred people outside the school doors. They were shouting, waving signs, and trying to get closer to the glass doors. They were blocked off by officers who were guarding the doors.

Ren was edging closer. He was mentally yelling at himself to get back, but it was lost in the void that was his mind. He didn't know it would get this bad. The stories, the horror stories, he heard in just the history books alone weren't enough to prepare for what it would feel like to actually see the hate in its true form.

"We want justice! We want justice!" They chanted over and over. They were getting closer and the officers didn't look like they were trying that hard to keep them away.

He caught sight of one of the signs.

It large and bold red lettering it said:

RID THIS NATION OF INFESTATION

He backed up.

"We want justice! We want justice!"

The screaming was too much. He couldn't breathe again.

He tried so hard to run away, but he was rooted in that spot, faced with all the things that his mom had been trying to hide him away from. She'd been trying so hard to raise him to be a normal person.

She couldn't have expected this.

And the only thing Ren blamed her for was protecting him. If she hadn't, maybe he wouldn't have been weak against the oncoming threats. Because that was what they were doing.

They were threatening him and every other vampire in this country.

If it was this bad already, how soon was it going to be so bad that they came knocking on his door?

The answer was too soon. Too soon for him to be ready.