36 hours ago, Lilah was not expecting to be in this predicament. She sat, soaked from head to toe, though slowly drying. Next to her sat her friend Violet, also soaked. The two didn’t talk, but whenever their gazes met while they waited on the bench, they had to work really hard to stifle their giggles.
**flashback
Lilah walked through the hallway briskly, occasionally pausing to readjust a frame on the wall. Her black boots clicked on the floor tiles as she walked, and her long dress, also black with long bell sleeves, fluttering behind her slightly. Her onyx hair framed her pale face, cut in a bob. She was slim, but there was something slightly intimidating about her. Perhaps it was the red eyes, and the way she seemed to peer right into someone’s very soul.
She moved past an open door to the left of the hallway, and paused for a moment, deciding instead to move over to the doorway. Violet was sitting inside the empty classroom, behind her desk at the front, grading some papers. This woman also had the same red eyes and pale skin, and also wore a black dress, but her hair was white as snow. She looked around as she heard Lilah’s footsteps in the doorway.
“Hey, Lilah,” she said, cheerily smiling at the woman.
“Violet,” Lilah sighed, “aren’t you bored? I feel like I’ve been here too long.” She leaned against the doorframe, and pulled a fidget spinner out of her pocket, spinning it.
Violet’s face fell a little bit as she thought. “Well, we have been here for, what, three decades? And before that was another century at the other school?”
“And always my duties are the same, patrol the halls, and make sure any students, especially new ones, know where to go. And what the consequences could be if they don’t.” She signed again, staring at the spinner she had balanced on her finger. “I’m bored. That’s not usually something vampires deal with, is it?”
Violet pushed her chair back and stood up, stepping over to the side of her desk and leaning against it. “So, what do you want to do about it?” She folded her arms across her body. Typical teacher mode, typical Violet mode. A stark comparison to Lilah’s currently moody teen-like posture in the doorway.
“I honestly haven’t really thought that far yet,” Lilah admitted, sending the spinner spinning again.
“Well,” Violet started, and lost herself in thought before snapping her attention back. “It is the holiday, which means we don’t have as many students on the grounds. How about a small road trip?”
Lilah tore her eyes away from her fidget spinner to look at her friend and colleague who was smirking at her, her red eyes almost glittering with excitement. Lilah couldn’t keep her face straight as she smiled widely. “Hell, yeah!”
Violet walked over to Lilah. “We start,” she paused and quickly snatched the fidget spinner off the balancing finger, “with sneaking out the bathroom window.”
Violet started sprinting away while giggling, but her giggle came out as an almost maniacal cackle, now holding the fidget spinner above her head. Lilah followed quickly, but careful not to let her boots click against the floor too loudly, in case they were caught.
** Present
“Lilah,” snapped a harsh male voice from the other room. Lilah cringed, took a deep breath and stood up, walking into the office of the headmaster. He didn’t look up from his notes as she walked in. His long white hair was pulled back into a braid and hung down to his waist. He wore a black suit, but he had removed the jacket, which hung on the coat hanger beside the door. His waistcoat, however, was an emerald green with a matching bowtie. He was writing furiously as Lilah stepped around the corner.
“Here, headmaster Merle,” she said meekly.
“Please, sit,” he motioned to the chair opposite his desk without looking up. Lilah closed the door and quickly stepped over to it and sat at the edge of it, waiting, her hands tucked between her legs nervously. After a few more notes, the headmaster put his pen down, folded his hands on the desk and finally looked at Lilah, again with deep red eyes. “So, may I ask why you are in this state?”
It was rhetorical, Lilah knew. She smiled nervously as she remembered.
**flashback
Violet and Lilah climbed out a bathroom window of the school, both trying not to giggle too loudly. Lilah had gone first, plopping herself onto the grass and moving aside along the wall, and watching Violet in case she needed help climbing down. Once she was down, as well, the two made way for the gate on the side of the grounds closest to the bathroom they’d chosen. The night was typical for the fall, the sky clear with the almost full moon giving plenty of light.
There wasn't any need for this sneaking, of course. The two of them were teachers, they could come and go as they pleased, but Violet had always said that pretending they were instead much younger than their years was more fun. She was insistent on it, and Lilah went along.
Violet pretended to break into her own car, and the two climbed in, and headed off on the ten minute drive to the small nearby town.
They pulled up to a bar on the outskirts of town that was attached to a small hotel. It was a bit foreboding, but the two had stayed there before, and even frequented the bar every few weeks or so for a drink. And maybe a meal. It was a two-level motel, all the doors to the outside. Metal stairs led to the second floor every ten meters or so.
Out front of the office was a somewhat large fountain, switched off for the night. The statue in the middle was of King Arthur, holding aloft Excalibur. When the fountain was on, water poured from the sword’s tip in some interesting artistic license.
Violet went into the front office to check in for the next couple of days, and then came back out to drive around the building so the two could get to the room easier. The two women pulled down the visors to check the mirrors, each casting a quick spell to alter their eyes. Lilah had green eyes before being turned, and Violet had brown. The two hopped out of the car and rushed over to the bar excitedly.
As they walked in, they were greeted by a passing waiter, telling them to sit anywhere and he’d be right with them. Violet grabbed Lilah’s hand and led her over to a booth to the side of the bar, where they could see everyone well, each settling on opposite sides of the table. The waiter came over shortly and they ordered a drink each. Thankfully, being a vampire didn’t mean you couldn’t drink, at least, Lilah thought to herself.
While they waited for their orders, two men sitting at the bar itself had taken notice of the two women that had walked in. They seemed to talk quickly to each other and then stood up, walking over quite confidently. Violet and Lilah had been noticed by a number of people, of course, but these two just happened to be the first ones that stood up.
“Hi, there,” said the taller of the two men as they arrived at the table. He smiled, his teeth white against his tanned skin. His blonde hair was a little longer, but still cropped professionally and pushed back. He wore a green muscle shirt, obviously to show off that he worked out, and black boarder shorts. Not altogether odd, this time of year, but it was a little late to be wearing them.
His friend was also muscular, though a few inches shorter. He had dyed pink hair, and wore jeans and a blue t-shirt. His skin was also tanned, with a few signs of some recent sunburn on his face.
Violet and Lilah glanced at each other quickly. Neither of them answered. Just then, the waiter came over with their drinks.
“‘Scuse me, boys,” he said cutely, not so subtly brushing them aside as he placed the drinks in front of each of the women. He didn’t move away from the table once he was done, and turned to the men that had walked over. “You know you’re barking up the wrong tree with these two, right?” He rested his tray against his hip and waited.
The taller man sheepishly blushed, apologizing, and lead his friend back to the bar.
“Thanks Jazz,” Violet giggled at the waiter. Of course, he knew them. He had worked here for about five years, and was always friendly with the two women. And he knew they were vampires.
Jazz relaxed a bit turning back to Violet. “Oh, it’s no problem, sweetheart,” he assured her. “Oh and by the way, I overheard the two ladies in booth four were looking for a good time, and they’re here from out of town.” He winked slyly at Lilah and hurried away to continue serving other tables.
The women he was referring to had also noticed Violet and Lilah come in. They were trying to hide their curiosity, though. That was fine by Lilah. As much as she wanted to have fun, and have fun with them, she also wanted to settle in with her drink first. Violet was already making eye contact with one of them as Lilah started sipping her drink.
**present
The door slammed open and in walked Monique, followed closely by Violet who looked stunned. Monique was very intimidating. She stood taller than most men, and her blonde hair was cropped quite short. The dress she wore was buttoned up all the way to the top of her neck, black with light blue adornments, and a blue ribbon tied at the neck. The dress went down to the floor, with a long slit up one side, showing her long boots underneath when she walked. Her slim face paired with her red eyes to make her look incredibly fearsome.
“Headmaster Merle,” she said sternly as Lilah sat stunned, looking up at the woman. “Need I remind you that Miss Violet and Miss Lilah are under my supervision as deputy headmaster?”
The headmaster showed little surprise with Monique bursting through the door. “That may be, Miss Monique, but -” he spoke calmly, but Monique interrupted him abruptly.
“No buts, Headmaster, sir,” she threw the sir in sarcastically. “We’re done here. Come, Lilah.” She turned quickly, and walked past Violet who had moved to the wall behind the tall woman, and taking care to not be in her way. Lilah jumped up and followed closely behind Violet as they almost had to run to keep up with Monique.
** flashback
After some time, Violet directed Lilah’s attention over to the two women Jazz had indicated earlier. They were walking over to Lilah and Violet’s table now. They were both about the same height. One of them had brown hair, longer on top with an undercut, and green eyes, and she wore a denim vest over a black shirt and black pants. The vest itself adorned with patches of punk bands. The other woman had short red hair and she was wearing a short red fitted dress, will matching red shoes. She carried a black clutch in her hand.
Violet motioned for the two women to join them at the table. The red haired woman sitting next to her, while the brunette sat next to Lilah.
“Hello,” the red-haired woman spoke in a sing-song voice. “I’m Robin, and this is Lana.”
“Hi Robin, Lana,” Violet said to the two of them. “I’m Violet, and this is Lilah. What brings you both to town?”
Robin blushed a little. “We were just passing through on our way to the city and decided to stop to have some fun, and we saw this bar. And then that wonderful waiter told us that you both are here often.”
“We’re teachers up at the school nearby,” Lilah smiled, and Jazz brought all four of them refills of their respective drinks. He winked at Lilah as he walked away again.
“What do you teach?” Lana spoke up.
“I teach history,” Violet said.
“I’ve become a counsellor, technically,” Lilah said, “but I used to teach languages.”
**present
Monique led both Violet and Lilah down a number of hallways over to her own office. She led the two women into the office, closing the door as the two of them sat down and moved around to her side of the desk, but didn’t sit. The walk had been silent, but very brisk, and Lilah and Violet were left catching their breath.
“I’m disappointed,” Monique began, “but not surprised.” She finally sat down, and Lilah and Violet shared a look and a smile.
**flashback
The bar closed after the four of them had continued drinking and talking, and Violet led the four of them up to the motel room she’d rented, stopping off at the car to grab some board games out of the trunk. While they were playing and continuing benign conversations, Lana broke the small talk quickly.
“If you’re both teachers at the school,” she said, “does that mean you’re vampires?” Robin looked at her sternly, eyes wide. Violet smirked across the table they’d dragged between the two beds to set up their game.
“Not what you thought we were, huh?” She giggled.
Robin slowly turned her head, looked at Violet with stunned wide eyes. She almost looked a little scared. Violet put her hand on the woman’s and gave it a little squeeze.
“Relax, we’re surprisingly boring compared to the myths.” She closed her eyes and dropped the spell altering her eyes, opening them to their usual red hue. Lilah did the same. Robin gasped.
“Cool,” Lana’s voice came out hushed. She cleared her throat. “So, are any of the myths true?”
“We can’t go out in the sun, and we do need to drink blood,” Lilah said. “But almost everything else is things embellished for stories and legends. We also don’t need to kill anyone for that blood, and Lilah and I prefer willing donors.”
“Don’t you need to, like, sleep in a coffin?” Robin asked. “Why are you at a motel? Where are your coffins?”
Violet let out a hearty laugh. “That one’s probably the worst one. We can sleep anywhere.”
The four of them talked a little more about what being a vampire meant, continuing with their games until sunrise. Lana and Robin left to their own room to get some rest and do whatever it was humans did during the day these days.
The next night, once the sun set, the four of them met back up at the bar again, and had a few drinks.
“So, Lana and I had an idea,” Robin giggled. “We picked up something today, when we went shopping, and we left it in the car. We parked by the fountain.” Both Robin and Lana had giant smirks on their faces.
**Present
“What am I ever going to do with you two?” Monique sighed, shuffling around some papers on her desk.
“Slap on the wrist?” Lilah piped up innocently. She was met with a stern glare from Monique.
Suddenly, Monique’s face softened. “It’s not like I don’t understand,” she sighed again. “At least you didn’t do this with students around, so it’s not like your behaviour can be taught to our newer generations. And nothing was irreparably damaged. Slap on the wrist it is, I suppose.”
Lilah and Violet perked up as Monique finished, and were beaten back down just a bit by her next sentence.
“But don’t do it again!” She snapped. “You may go.” Violet and Lilah shared another small smile.
**Flashback
Violet and Lilah followed Robin out to her car, Lana close behind after paying their tab. Robin popped open the trunk to reveal it was full of water balloons. She picked one up, tossing it in the air a few times before nodding over to the fountain and raising an eyebrow.
Lilah picked up a balloon in each hand and swiftly popped one on top of Violet’s head. Violet let out a small shriek, and grabbed for some balloons herself, and dashing over to the fountain. Robin picked up a bag full out balloons and followed them, and Lana did the same after catching up with the rest of them. They all jumped into the fountain and were throwing balloons at each other, laughing loudly.
It was short-lived though. It was only a few minutes before the owner of the motel and bar hurried over, yelling at the four of them to stop what they were doing. It turned out, headmaster Merle had also been visiting from the school and he followed close behind, looking very angry.
**Present
Violet and Lilah walked back to the staff quarters from Monique’s office, not talking much and both trying to hide their smiles, in case Merle had decided to follow them again to reprimand them.
“We really shouldn’t do that again,” Lilah said as they turned down their adjoining hallway.
“Yeah,” Violet agreed half-heartedly. They each went to their door, and shared one last look.
“It was fun, though, wasn’t it?” Violet looked hopefully at Lilah.
“Of course.” Lilah smiled widely at her as they each entered their rooms.
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