Old Faces

You sat in the back, ready for class, ready and waiting before anybody else.

Everybody flooded in promptly, Tracy, her gang, the Football team, and of course the Untouchables.

Eyes laid on you, Vicky, Izzy, Millie, and Jane... But you paid them no mind, the time for them would come, but things had to be slow and steady. Seats were taken, Vicky to your left, Jane to your right and all the others in front.

Of course, the football team caught your eye, all beaten, several bruised and covered in bandages, the wounds of battle. It made you smile.

They avoided your gaze right quickly, as Mr Harrow took the class.

The Lanky Englishman paused as He called you on the register, He'd obviously heard of what you did, and his eyes flickered to the boxed up jocks.

You made sure to give him a very reassuring smile, nothing would disrupt you, not today.

"I realise tensions might be high today, ladies and gentleman" Issac Harrow was one hell of a voice in the classroom, the guy breathed just as much fire as you could in front of a crowd "So, I will amend that for you with a nice ice breaker to the middle of the week." He commanded such respect, much authority, You admired this man.

Mr Harrow turned and opened his arms, straightening his square glasses above the perfect bridge that was his nose. "We will meet again, with a little twist."

"We'll... twist?" Vicky said confusedly, her dark eyes flickering to you before retreating fiercely. You merely continued to shine at her, that gal owed you a coat.

"No Victoria. We are Meeting again, a fresh start for all of us, we'll pair up in teams and reintroduce ourselves with the past forgotten, an excellent writer's technique to ingratiate themselves with their characters." His fingers pointed high "And of course, one of us with pretend to act like a completely different person, a lie if you will; the Twist."

"I don't see how this is useful Mr Harrow, I am a terrible liar!" Millie called after shooting her hand up, the beautiful brown numbskull had her hair all frizzy today, it made her look particularly tasty.

"Well then, it's a good thing that our partners shall decipher who is the best liar before beginning. Very well then! make your pairs and be adult about it please, no screaming or arguing. Come on chop-chop!"

With those two chops, people rushed out of their seats to find a mate, doing so with a surprising amount of maturity, of course, you guys weren't high schoolers, you were bred for wealth everything you did needed to be excellent, as is a rich kid's curse.

There wasn't a spark of surprise on your bonfire when at least seven or eight faces turned to you... One of which shouldn't have even gotten out of her seat. Daisy promptly flushed and sat back down.

The Girls all looked at each other as You sat drumming patiently, beaming. Half of them bolted away, but then again, half of them didn't.

"Well... I just wanted to see what I could pretend to be and fool him." Millie muttered as she sat down; exasperated.

Izzy folded her arms, her eyes now a dark grey, settling, challenging, her best friend Vicky.

"We knew this day would come, Vicky," Izzy whispered.

Vicky was tall and dark, fierce as a lioness "I have business with this man, sit down, Bitch." Victoria growled darkly.

Your jaw fell through the floor... Where they... fighting over you?

Isabella darkened, the bitchiness level could be felt in the air "I want to talk to him first, Puta." she shot back.

The Heat rose, Your heart thumped, this was terrifying--

"I'm sitting with him." a Girl like spring sifted between the El Paso destroyer, and the Turkish Terror without difficulty, pulling up and chair and placing herself close next to you. Her Plaid suspenders and Bumblebee shirt making her look simultaneously extremely alternate and fucking stunning.

Her braid was pulled back tight to reveal her beautiful face, framed by her thick glasses. "Hey," Jane spoke softly.

"Oh yes... this is perfect."

The Two women behind Jane froze, exchanging a flood of argumentative looks before deciding the better of it. "You're the better Liar." Jane spoke, leaning her head on hands carelessly.

"Without a doubt." You agreed.

"What are you going to pretend to be? something cool?"

Hell rolled between your ears, oh the possibilities were endless, but there was only one, the perfect idea that shot into your mind faster than a cut can bleed.

Your eyes closed, and you pushed away all of your memories, every memory before you met jane "Nevermore." And with the power of insight, you prepared your mind for the ultimate unintentional act of self paradox.

Once in a field of Dark flowers, under the great battlements of a black castle, Count Dracula tested his own might. He'd already lived for many years under the tyrannical sun, but no fire could harm the Son of the Dragon.

And so He sat in that courtyard, with the great eye gazing down at him with hatred of his defiance of the natural order. and He dived into the sea of his mind, delved to reaches so deep that He rediscovered the depth of his knowledge, uncovered unimaginable things as He unbolted the shackles of memory and it's abilities.

It was silent for the days that He spent amongst the flowers, exploring the jungle of his hippocampus, but one word would linger on the air, echo beyond the mountains as they were mutter from his lips. just two words.

Nevermore.

He took a breath and was unleashed (In part) back into the world, gazing with knowing and bleeding eyes. Jane was startled by this man, He looked dark, and devious, and paradoxically... sunny.

"Hello, Jane," He spoke in a tone soft as silk, dark and sweet like caramel.

Her eyes darted around, worried at what others would see this man with his blood red eyes. But He had never feared being seen.

When Jane realised that nobody was really reacting, she turned to look into those eyes again and found herself asking "Who are you?"

He bore his white teeth "I am Nox."

Nox... NOX? Charlie!? how the hell are you back? this is impossible, the deal? Where is chip?

"He called me. I came."

Charlie, if that is really you then... You have to come back, Jormungandr-

"None of that is of concern, Vlad. Only this."

Jane had seen these eyes before, red and hungry, that night in the alley when she'd watched him devour a man. "You remember me, don't you?" Nox asked, he could see the recognition in those lamb-like eyes.

"Yes, I remember you. At the funeral-"

"-Everything was chaos, at the funeral. But I am glad to finally see you." Nox slid in on that word; a hiss from a devilish serpent. although the girl remained in her seat, holding a plain expression.

"So, if you're Charlie... the real Charlie, like Diana says... then You're..."

"A Vampire yes." Your eyes were predatory, observant. "I missed you, more than anything in the world Jane."

Jane's eyes flickered, that alone hit her like a truck, she had to rub the water from her eyes as she took a deep breath "A-Are you looking forward to our date later?"

Closer in Charlie lent, taking in her scent "Having you alone? Nirvana." Charlie's voice whipped, and Jane's legs quivered.

"Okay..." She sniffed back her flush "So then... Mr Vampire. Tell me everything you can about you."

Lord Nox raised an eyebrow "how very direct of you. I thought this was supposed to all fun no business?" He felt strange being here in the flesh... he'd been... gone for a while now.

"If I will be accompanied by a Dangerous creature tonight, then I need to be prepared right?" her eyes flickered, she was enjoying this challenge, of course, Jane Watson wasn't afraid of anything.

"Well first things first, Human blood." You slid in bluntly, clapping your hands together excitedly. "I am just gonna put it out there that I do and will continue to want to eat you, I cannot change this, There is nothing more that I now want than to grasp your little neck with my hands and sink my teeth into your flesh... but I'll keep a handle on it for now"

Jane's lip vibrated, her legs tightening.

"...As long as we keep playing this game, there is no possible way that this doesn't end with me tasting you. So I think it's probably best if I ask now... do you really want to do this?" Charlie was quite impressed with himself, he'd forgotten how well rounded he felt in comparison to his... current successor.

"Yup." Jane put on a coy grin and lent into you, disarming your ominous character. "I am totally on board. Now... How are vampires made exactly?" Okay... Nox definitely wasn't expecting this, did this girl seriously want to die?

Jane Watson, He knew this chick was crazy, but she is that devoted to literally die by your hand?

"Vampires are the dead reborn through an ancient curse." Charlie sounded more than chipper, and happy to oblige. "You see it goes like this.

The Vampire Bites the Human >> the bite injects venom. Then the Vampire tempts the human to become a Vampire by drinking the second component >> The Human drinks the vampire's blood and in roughly seven hours the Human will begin the break. this is the process of the Human body dying and being rebuilt with a brand spanking new cursed cells and installing a blood pool which fuels the now reanimated corpse, who after 5 days of breaking >>> becomes a Vampire! with its sire as its new master!" You cleared your throat, sat back and grinned.

Jane blinked "so... Nobody can be **** to be turned into a Vampire?"

The Class chatted, and people played their musses around you. But this was no muse "No, especially not me."

You could see the gears struggling to turn amidst those wild Mousey brown curls of hers "If you're the real Charlie, the one... I fell in love with, then You have--"

Nox's hand cracked into the air, silencing her. The Grimm hue of his eyes darkened "Do not, mention anything about the deal. I don't know what Diana, or Remhilde or Pops told you, but under no circumstance are you ever to talk to me, about the deeper analytics of the Deal."

Jane frowned "This isn't a game Charlie, Yes Diana told me what's going on but-- why can't you stop being so stubborn and-"

"For once that isn't what this is." You chuckled "I'm not real."

Okay... confusing.

"Well I am real, but I'm more like... an echo, the Me that You've been seeing must have pulled me up here by accident. But I urge you, and this is the really important bit, He's still listened deep from from in here." Nox touched your chest "He does that, a lot, He listens and he dreams. When we aren't playing out little game, Chip will come back and he'll merely think that he did a really good impression of his former self, he doesn't realise that I'm actually here." It was a little complicated, but Jane was on the up and up.

"Split personality disorder much?" She asked.

Nox's smile deepened "Yeah, something like that. You seem awfully calm about all of this?"

"A Giant monster ate half the city, My boyfriend is a Vampire and apparently half the stuff my Mom used to try and scare me with at night is real. so yeah... Taking it in stride." She'd always been a little sassy, Nox had missed her terribly...

"I'm glad that even after it all. You still call me you're boyfriend." He hissed, fiddling with his fingers cheerily.

Jane's lips curled into an awkward smile "Y-Yeah well... can't have all this work be for nothing."

"well then, Girlfriend, merely ask and I will tell you everything you desire."

The Beauty smirked "I'll take you up on that. Okay... why does all of this weird shit keep happening to you specifically? I've met others... like you now but, they aren't like you, You're so warm and always smiling even though everything has gone to hell."

It was a fair question, one Nox had asked himself on many an occasion. Corvus, Umbra, Ivan, Valerica, Cain... it was all just too much excitement in too little time. But He adored the challenge, the heat of the blood on his tongue, the deaths of his foes on his claws, the bodies of his women pressed against his... Nox wouldn't have his unlife any other way.

"I'm just a happy person... Well there's a couple of things right off the bat but-- this will all go over a lot smoother, the sooner you come to grips with the fact, that I am the reincarnation of the most powerful Undead to ever live... Dracula."

There was no expression at first, it of course sounded ludicrous, and Jane could not help but crush back her laugh before it spilt into the air, a loud bellowing laugh that made the students around them puzzle curiously.

Her fingers clutched her guts as laughing butterflies danced in her abdomen "Like... Dracula-Dracula? I want to suck your blood and sit you down on a pointy stick -- BLEH BLEH BLEH -- Dracula!?" Her eyes were watering, but Nox remained completely serious, sat with the smile never faltering.

"I do not go... Bleh Bleh Bleh." He chuckled patiently "However, I am not some cartoon Vampire. I'm a 5000 year old Transylvanian Prince and Warlord reborn, because the man himself transferred a part of his soul down his bloodline. My bloodline, we are all related to him and his clan distantly... and by extension, the Mummer's Dragon."

She didn't know what to believe, but he said it with just as much conviction as that cocky Sister of his. "You mean... Ca-"

"--Do not. say his name." Nox's eyes became dark again. This guy was serious and Nox would be damned if all of this work would be for nothing... Chip had never even come this close so far.

"Right. So according to you and Your sister, Your family are all Vampire-hunting demi-gods related to the actual Vlad 'Dracula' the Third? like the actual guy. who was an actual vampire."

"Actually correct yes."

Okay... she was clearly going to take this in her own time, Nox's heritage was Your heritage, and nobody could deny that Vlad was Charlie and Charlie was Vlad, The two were one and the same, it was a fact.

Jane snorted, continuing to laugh as Nox felt Goosebumps flush across his neck. Leaning forward, Jane jolted as He took her hand and got in close. "The Bell is about to ring. and when we leave this room, Chip will be back. I mean it Jane, He cannot know any of this, Promise me."

She pushed back one of her frizzy curls, and saw the omen of **** that would come if she didn't speak the words "I promise..." and so she did.

The mousey haired girl adjusted her glasses as the Bell rang, singing for the exodus of the students who quickly flooded out of the door, much to Mr Harrow's irritation.

"Two pages on your deception and its effect on you as writers Young ladies and Gentleman!" He cried as everybody syphoned off... Including you and Jane... or Jane... and Chip.