Alizé Cecilia Ryder's Story

Alizé Ryder

A woman sipped her coffee as she looked out of the window, watching the scenery rush past her. She had long coffee colored hair and a set of grey eyes that, at the moment, gave off a very bored expression. It was forever since she last traveled and wasn't quite used to such a long ride.

Taking another sip, her eyes widened ever so slightly as she saw the looming gates in the distance. A sigh escaped her lips. Iowa was no New York. She knew it wouldn't have as good of coffee.. but right now, the more different from New York it was, the better it was.... Or at least, that's what her counselor said.

Her counselor also said many ludicrous things, but sadly, this was the one that her uncle focused on. Some of those ludicrous things were to give up on revenge. This in itself was laughable. She'd like to see that woman in her shoes and get that horrible advice and see how she'd react. Another thing was to drop the charge on Officer Adams. She said there was no evidence to her claims and that he was completely clean.

Alizé's lips formed a thin line as she continued to think about all of these things. Sighing, she set her empty cup in the cup holder as her car went to a stop. Opening the door, she exited the vehicle.

Looking up, she looked at the huge gates. The gates that would keep her away from her plans for a year. She hoped this would be her only year here and her uncle would see the mistakes of his decision and allow her back. Either that, or her uncle would hopefully die, leaving her the money to do what she wished with it.

Entering the school grounds, she froze. There were crowds of people everywhere. Her eyes widened a second before returning to their regular size. She knew New York and she thought she understood crowds, but she was always in her house and not actually in the street with the crowds.

Trying to maneuver her way through the crowd, she accidentally bumped into a man in front of her. He quickly turned and looked down on the younger girl. She muttered a sorry and almost moved past until he said something which caught her attention.

"Oh! It's fine! Are you here for the Sponsorship program?" The man said in excited tone as her eyebrow furrowed.

"T-the what? I don't know what you're talking about." She said as the guy smiled, unwavering in his determination. Shaking her hand he introduced himself to her, to which she only half listened to, not bothering to take note of him.

Suddenly, she was pulled through the crowds and to a building before she could say another word. She opened her mouth in protest but his constant blabbering didn't allow her a word.

Once there, he bombarded her with paperwork and a lengthy speech with absolutely no end to it. A sigh escaped her lips as more and more of her time was wasted on this man. Looking up, she glared at him and put a hand up to stop him in the middle of his speech.

"Will you shut up and take me to my room if I sign this?" She asked straight forward as he looked happy and started talking more joyously.

Quickly scribbling her name on the document, the man took her arm and rushed her through crowds again and to a dark and odd building that looked horrid. Her eyes looked it over as they stopped.

"You are now to look after the normal vampires. If you need any information, just come to my office." He said as she quickly turned to him.

"Now you wait just a second!-" She started to protest to the man but when she turned, he was long gone and her bags were in his place. Her eyes narrowed slightly at her bag and slowly picked it up.

A soft sigh escaped her as she ran a hand through her hair. This was not her day. How was she going to deal with vampires? She had little to no information on them besides stereotypes which she'd rather not base it on, seeing as that would probably get her nowhere.

Looking at the door, she slowly made her way over and opened it with her free hand.

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Standing on the outside of the University, with it's large arched wrought iron fence looming overhead, and looking inside made Lilith feel small somehow. Maybe it was the massive size of the campus, or maybe it was watching all the other students gather together in their circle of friends gushing on about how much they missed one another and telling all their exciting tales of summer fun had and summer loves made. Lilith had no such stories to tell as she had spent the summer with her parents. Even though they lived in town she only ever saw them on holidays and would spend some time, only three weeks, with them during the summer break. This allowed them to have a normal life; making friends, having dinner parties, being able to go out in public without the snide comments and the disdainful glares. It was a sacrifice she willingly made because their happiness meant so much to her.

Taking a deep breath while running a hand through her silver mane, she looked around once more relishing in the small amount of comfort granted to her by the fact that the other students were so caught up in themselves that they didn't pay her any mind. After the thrill of being reunited faded and the normal day to day routine of a student settled in she was sure that the common practice of openly staring and avoiding her would return. Though being ostracized in that was was preferable to being beaten and bullied. That hadn't happened in quite some time, her gift being the main reason for that.

Lifting a duffel bag full of clean clothes, bathroom products, and various forms of entertainment, which was far too large and heavy for any human to lift, in one hand and her violin case in the other. Lilith began the long and winding journey to her dorm room. The dorm was on the outskirts of the campus and had this been a normal type of campus the building wouldn't have been so hard to get too but the many renovations had turned this place into a labyrinth something akin to what you would find in Greek Mythology.

Lilith weaved in and out of crowds of students mingling around careful not to touch any of them, not physically anyways. As she passed each of them she would put out feelers that only she could see. These gold strands would reach deep into the soul of the student searching for the one emotion she needed to sustain herself; Envy. Once found the energy from the emotion would zip up the strands in a hew of pink and recharge her, she often wondered if the reason her eyes were magenta was because it was the same color of the energy that gave her life.

Getting a few decent sized hits from those who were jealous of their friends extraordinary vacations; Caribbean cruises, trips to Paris, Rome, Berlin, Moscow, meeting ones idol while in LA or New York, left her feeling completely recharged. Not that she could blame any of them for feeling envious, Lilith sure was. Now that she was partly fed, per-say, she hurried on to the dorm.

When she reached her building there were a few humans looking at the dorm as if they had come across a shanty tent town for the homeless. ”New Sponsors I suppose.” Golden strands snaked out from her and touched on each one of them. She was pleased to find that at least one of them harbored enough envy to keep her plenty energized. Lilith looked at the two females and then the male once again before she turned back to the dorm. Standing in front of it, yet still behind the humans, she had mixed feelings, this was her home for five years now and she had come to really love her little room. On the other hand the dilapidated state of the building was a testament of how low vampires were on the totem pole in society, they didn't even warrant simple repairs like leaky roofs or broken windows. She walked past the humans, stopping in front of the red haired man and briefly looking him over, before walking up the few stairs. As she opened the door and screeched in protest as if the act itself had cause it some sort of grievous pain. She made it up the creaky stairs to the second floor where she looked down both end of the hall to see if anyone else had made it back yet. She noticed a previously vacant room now stood open ”Huh another Sponsor? The club manager sure has been busy. Turning to her right she walked down to her room which was located at the end of the hall. Putting her key in she turned the knob and threw open the door.

It was just as she had left it. She had taken it upon herself to renovate her own room over the years with the help of her father. The old brick wall had still been mostly intact, the only flaws were hidden by the bookshelf and her bed. Oh her bed, it was the loveliest thing in the whole room and it had taken her father all of her first summer break to build it. She was only 13 at the time so she wasn't able to help much but she did what she could like sanding and staining the wood. The day before school started they had brought it in piece by piece and assembled it inside the room. He had even made a closet on the end of it for her since her room didn't have one and a book shelf on the inside. After she left the University she planned to take it with her wherever she went.

The other walls had many holes in them but that was easily fixed with some plaster and then painted over with a simple cream color. On the brick wall she had hung a mantle and placed a faux fireplace underneath to give the room a feel of comfort. Inside the closet, behind the back curtain, she had strung some white Christmas lights that were plugged into an outlet that was controlled by a light switch. The lamp inside her bed was actually battery operated though you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at it. While there was a top bunk it didn't get much use and was mostly there for decoration, though Lilith suspected that her father had done that in hopes that she would find some girl friend to have slumber parties with.

All in all this was her little slice of heaven, her sanctuary if you would. A small smile appeared on her face as walked in, leaving the door open behind her, and she set her bag down then opened the window before beginning to unpack her things. As much as she loved visiting with her parents she had missed being here.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

A tall figure in a long, beige coat carrying as much as humanly possible and then some could be seen lumbering towards the university’s arched gateway. This was Edmund. If you could see his face, you would notice that it was twisted into an angry scowl, not at anyone in particular, but more at the university itself. The buildings, the students, the teachers; he hated them all. Every time he returned to the university, he had a sledgehammer of disappointment swung into his emotions. As he dragged himself through the arched gateway that loomed before him, in his mind the gates slammed loudly shut behind him, and stayed that way.

Now, you should remember that I said Edmund was carrying more than humanly possible. That may have been slightly exaggerated, but he still wasn’t travelling light. This could have been easily avoided if he wasn’t so passionate about his music. But he was, and there’s no use crying over spilled milk. His bass was slung over his back, his acoustic guitar was slung round his front, he carried a large guitar amp in his right hand and his electric guitar in his left. All of his guitars were in soft cases, so he needed to watch where he was going, lest he bash and damage them. As for the stuff that most people bring with them, he had made sure to leave a good supply of clothes and toiletries in his dorm. There was no way he would leave his guitars there; he wasn’t going to go an entire holiday without practice and quite frankly, he didn’t trust someone not to steal them. He could leave his clothes and toiletries there, nobody was going to nick his toothbrush, but they might well nick two thousand dollars’ worth of musical equipment.

In tow was Edmund’s faithful companion, the Eurasian Eagle Owl Malphas. Malphas was significantly less burdened than his master, and fluttering along beside him with ease. He usually perched himself on Edmund’s right shoulder, but Edmund’s guitars prevented him from perching comfortably. In his usual attempt to lighten Edmund’s mood, he spoke up:
“It’s such a glorious day. The sun is shining, there’s a cool breeze in the air and the birds are singing beautifully.”
“If only the birds would be quieter.” Edmund retorted.
Cheering Edmund up was not an easy feat, and in his current state even Malphas could do nothing to raise his spirits. Malphas was well aware of this, and so he didn't make any further attempts, as they would only rile Edmund up.

The pair progressed through the campus in silence paying no heed to the surrounding area that would surely startle any newcomers to the university. They had since grown used to the peculiar mishmash of architectural styles that bore the name “the University of Diversity”. Edmund often wondered if the diversity it spoke of was regarding the buildings, not the students. The students Edmund passed seemed to watch him with confusion in their eyes; why was he drowning in musical gear when he didn’t even have a suitcase? Ignoring their gazes, Edmund continued to drag himself through the campus towards the vampire dorm building.

Finally Edmund carefully removed all his luggage and laid it down carefully against the wall. He slumped down onto his bed and took a series of loud, deep breaths; he was tired out from having to shift his gear to the far edge of the campus, and the dorm building’s stairs didn't exactly help. He stared up at the dorm’s plain, brown ceiling for a while before sitting up and looking around the rest of the room. It wasn't huge, but Edmund made use of the space. Along the wall opposite the door there was a kitchen surface, some cupboards, a bread bin, a kettle, a microwave, a sink, a dishwasher and a fridge. Along the right wall was Edmund’s bed, his guitars, his amp and the door to his closet. His desk and chest of drawers were pressed against the room’s left wall. The room’s fourth wall had a large bookshelf on the right side of the door, put there as opposed to the left side to conceal a large strip of paint that was dangling off. The carpet was beige and fairly grubby, but this was normal for the vampire dorms. It wasn't pretty, but Edmund made do with what he had.

It was a minute or so before Edmund stood up. When he did, he walked over to sink, filled the kettle with water and turned it on. He simply stood and waited while the kettle boiled, and instantly poured out the water into a cup before dropping in a tea bag. He waited in the same silent, motionless fashion that he had waited before while the tea infused. After discarding the tea bag he slumped down into the wheelie chair by his desk, blew on his tea and took a sip. He smiled and took another sip; while no person could calm Edmund while he was in such a state, tea certainly could.
“You know, Malphas, perhaps you were right about it being a nice day outside.” Edmund apologised, “I think I’ll go outside once I've finished my tea.”
If Malphas had lips he would have smiled, but his expression still made it obvious that Edmund’s change of heart had pleased him.

Once Edmund had finished his tea he put his teacup to one side, sat up and stretched.
"I'll go and have a look to see who's back now." Edmund told Malphas as he walked towards the door, "Maybe see some new faces."
Malphas fluttered over to Edmund and perched in his usual spot on Edmund's right shoulder as Edmund unlocked the door and walked out again.

The first person Edmund saw upon leaving his dorm was a fairly normal looking girl with long, brown hair entering the room opposite his. She was human, as far as Edmund could tell, and if she was staying in the vampire dorm, that meant she was a sponsor. Edmund had never seen her before, and so assumed that she was new. However, Edmund rarely payed the humans much mind, so she could have been here for some time without Edmund noticing. He wondered if she had become a sponsor out of her own good will or had been fooled into it; unfortunately, with most sponsors it was because of the latter. Along the hall was another human girl, who was noticeably rather angry. Edmund didn't need to think about why she was here.

Upon climbing the stairs to the next floor Edmund was greeted by the sound of a loud, angry Scotsman. Turning his head, Edmund saw a man of about his height and age with long, red hair snapping at a man in a suit, a man Edmund recognised as a man who worked on the sponsorship program. The Scotsman was definitely new; Edmund would definitely remember someone so imposing.

Edmund made his way further down the hallway and wondered if any of the humans he had seen so far would be sponsoring him. His question was soon answered as he overheard a snippet of a conversation between a girl in a hoodie and an old man whom Edmund recognised as the Sponsorship Club's director.
"You're to look after the witch vampires."
Edmund's heart leaped; he had a sponsor! An expression of delight nearly escaped Edmund's lips, but he concealed the noise he did make with a cough. While he might have fooled any people in the surrounding area, he certainly hadn't fooled Malphas. All the gateways which had previously been tightly locked shut had suddenly swung open, simply because some girl had unwittingly agreed to sponsor him. Edmund decided that he ought to meet his new sponsor, so he briskly hurried over to the room which the girl had just entered, with the director hurrying past him at an even faster pace. Edmund found the door slightly ajar, so he rapped on it twice in quick succession with his knuckles and then proceeded to open the door and step inside, just over the threshold.
"Good morning." Edmund greeted the girl plainly but politely, I understand that you're sponsoring the witch vampires. My name is Edmund Malkin, and this is my familiar, Malphas. I'm one of the vampires you will be sponsoring."