Corpse Maiden

"Uhh...one question." Austin meekly raised a hand. "How can we hold an official meeting if we, as of yet, have not been recognized as an official club by the school board?"

Some of the air deflated from Cereza, but she recovered. "Alright, let"s conduct our first unofficial club meeting."

"Somehow that doesn"t seem any better." Austin sighed sarcastically but admitted defeat.

"What business will we be conducting today Lady Cereza?" Schera stood beside Cereza who sat at the desk which was the only fixture left on the inside before the building was abandoned.

"It is absolutely paramount that we establish ourselves an outfit that is recognized as a school-sanctioned club. In order to achieve this, we must first at least meet the membership requirements. As it stands, there is only the three of us. After initially coming up with the idea last year, this is the most members I"ve ever had at one time." Cereza fake cried.

"I know it"s an obvious question but have you advertised it properly? With a name like Supernatural Discovery Club, it would be weird not to be turned away. But you could influence the way the club is perceived by explaining the club"s activities in an exciting light..." Austin paused looking grim. "What kind of activities did you have in mind for this club exactly?"

"It"s simple. If I have more members I have more opportunities to form a strong base of familiars. That, in turn, grants me more power in our society. That"s about the long and short of it."

"No One Would Join If You Told Them That!" Austin yelled. Schera pushed her gla.s.ses up with her two fingers. The hairs on his neck stood up. He could feel her deadly aura stabbing at him. "What if we play on their fascination with the unknown?"

"Fascination with the unknown?" Cereza responded.

Austin cleared his throat regaining his composure. "Innately people are drawn to things that aren"t readily understood. Even in fear, the unknown has an almost mesmerizing effect. It is a person"s instinctual desire to learn that drives us to curiosity and amazement. It also couples with the need to be adventurous."

Schera scoffed. "You seem to be the type to hear himself talk. Would you mind terribly if I ask you to skip to the point?"

He sucked his teeth. "We get them interested by showcasing something supernatural. Get people talking."

"That"s a wonderful idea." Cereza interjected.

"What would you have us do?" Schera asked skeptically. "We can hardly afford to reveal our true natures you know?"

He looked puzzled before asking. "What exactly can you do?" He thought to himself that he really didn"t know much about them. From what they have explained, the mythos were off about a lot such as sunlight only being a mild nuisance and a wooden stake could only immobilize. The whole immortality thing was vastly exaggerated too, granted their lifespans were up to five times longer than humans.

Cereza"s hand went up energetically. "I can do all kinds of fun things. Here is one of my personal favorites." She closed her eyes clapping her hands together. A gust began to circle the room as she glowed in a red aura. Her eyes opened. An orb of hot plasma grew to the size of a baseball within her palms as she opened them wider.

The unstable ball exploded blowing out the window. The only furniture, the desk, had also been wrecked. Cereza stood in the center. Surprised wasn"t a word that could describe her look. Schera fixed her gla.s.ses that had been knocked sideways down her face. Austin was blown across the room, having been standing right in front of Cereza when her orb went off.

"Ah! Austin are you okay?" Cereza rushed over to Austin who had a trail of blood oozing from the side of his forehead. Cereza eyes began to tear as she cradled him. "I"m so sorry. It"s never been strong enough to hurt anyone."

Schera dusted her school skirt off. "If I am to understand you have nourished on human blood twice now. That would explain the instability and power behind it. You should take into account how much stronger blood magick becomes after imprinting Lady Cereza."

Austin winced at the pain of his head. "Blood magick? Vampyres can use magick?"

Cereza turned back to him, her eyes were still watery. "Yes. It will require the sacrifice of the blood within my body, but I can use it so long as I have blood in my veins."

"Strictly speaking, there are four types of blood magick. You just saw Destructive. There is also Enhancement, Invasive, and Transcendent." Schera threw on her best "professor" stance as she began to instruct.

"That might actually work well for recruiting." He touched his forehead wincing again. "I"ve got a plan."

Cereza stared intently at the gash on Austin"s head watching his life fluids run down his face. Her lips quivered as her heart tightened. "Your...blood..."

"Hm? What is it?"

"It smells so good!" She exclaimed.

"Eh? R...really?" Austin looked over to Schera who had turned her head away though her eyes were fixated on the gash as well. Disgust was set across her face but in her eyes twinkled something else.

After cleaning up, the three continued. "So you want to hold a magick show?" Cereza chirped. "Brilliant!"

"Hm. That is a remarkable idea indeed." Schera added.

"It has the added benefit of being an activity that the school board would continue to sanction." Austin nodded. "We can even host the event here at the clubhouse. Of course, we have to do something about the lawn."

"Leave that to me."

"How long will it take?"

"For me? The timeframe is significantly shorter than you would think."

"In that case, Cereza and I could organize the advertis.e.m.e.nt for the event with flyers. We"ll set it for the end of the next week, good?"

"I"m sorry Austin. I regret to say I won"t be available to help with that." Cereza smiled but still hinted a touch of sadness.

"Don"t worry so much today is just to put out flyers and spread the word. There"s going to be plenty to do in the next few days."

She shook her head. "I won"t be of much help those days either."

Austin looked her over suspiciously. "Hey now, you"re not trying to skip out on the work are you. This is your club you have a responsibility to uphold it above all else."

"I was going to mention it sooner but I have a pressing engagement to see to that I simply cannot put off any longer. I know it"s selfish of me to request you to see this through in my stead." She once again flashed a saddened smile.

Austin exhaled. "It can"t be helped. I"ll do my best."

"Thank you. I"ll definitely give you a worthy reward." She winked lifting her skirt up ever so slightly. "I should get myself ready, I will be gone for a week or so. I"ll definitely be back to perform in the show." She turned on her heels, her bright smile returning, walking out.

Schera"s hand was like a snake, lashing out and popping Austin in the back of the head. "What were you thinking worm? Couldn"t you see Lady Cereza was already in a bad mood because of the situation?"

Austin threw his hands up in defense and chuckled nervously. "What"s this event anyways? It seems pretty important."

"She has been summoned to the El Bernard estate by her father, Duke Gannon El Bernard, half-brother of her majesty the Queen. The Queen is nearing the end of her lifespan, soon she will be forced to succeed the throne. As she was unable to produce a descendant of her own, the crown will be pa.s.sed on to the offspring of Duke Gannon."

Austin"s mouth drop to the floor. "Wait that would mean, Cereza...is a princess?"

"Yes. Lady Cereza is the sixth Crown Princess currently she stands third to last of becoming queen. Though not many of her sisters have much interest in running vampyre society."

"I had no idea she was a princess. She never acted like royalty." The first thought in his head was the fact he nearly deflowered a princess if anyone was to find out it would probably be his head.

Schera glared through her gla.s.ses. "Yes, it would be, so speak nothing of it." She demands as if she could read his mind.

"Well look at the time I should really print out some flyers to hand out." Austin ran full speed in the opposite direction of Schera who once again brandished a lance.

It hadn"t taken him long to use the computer lab to print out flyers. Half he taped to the main halls. The remainder he would pa.s.s out individually.

He stood at the front gates of the school buildings waiting for students as well as teachers and staff. He simply needed a big enough audience to get the school talking, spreading the word about the upcoming event and give the club a little reputation.

"The Supernatural Discovery Club presents...Magicka? Is this supposed to be some kind of magic show?." The shrill voice came from just inside the doors loud and overbearing as it began to laugh. The doors came open just as Austin went to investigate and out she came, flyer in hand. "Oh I see, this is her club. Pathetic even for her."

Not paying attention to where she was going she collided into him with enough impact to send them both cascading down the short flight of stairs. Despite being a little disoriented and surprised Austin seemed to be fine.

He sat up slightly. "Ugh. You alright..." His voice trailed when his eyes focused and took in the scene in front of him.

He had taken most of the impact of the fall and ended up on his back. She, on the other hand, landed right on top of him. Her position was compromised. She was mounting him as she pushed herself up off his chest with both hands. His view consisted of nothing more than white lace. He couldn"t help but stare.

With quickness, she stood. Closing her legs and flipping her skirt down realizing the predicament. She blushed. Her flawless white cheeks were flushed from embarra.s.sment. Trying to mask it, she pouted defiantly. Now standing Austin could tell she was probably from the nearby middle school based on appearance alone.

"You...You saw didn"t you?"

Austin looked away still on the ground. "Uh...No?"

She grew angry reading his obvious lie. "Liar!"

"Ok. I might have caught a glimpse but it was only a second I wouldn"t even remember it." He smiled nervously.

She grew angrier. "You tell anyone you saw my striped panties, you will know suffering like no other."

"But...weren"t they white?"

She lost it. "You DID get a good look!" Austin deflated unable to close his mouth. He had walked right into that one. She blushed again. "You"ll take responsibility won"t you?"

Austin instinctually tilted his head looking her over for any signs of a pretense to understand her meaning. Her long blonde hair was tied in twin pigtails and swayed gently in the wind. For some reason, her hazel eyes had some kind of resolve within them. He looked her short prep.u.b.escent frame over again in a final attempt to flesh out her words.

"Take...Responsibility." He questioned dumbly.

"You"ve seen me in such an indecent manner, the first to ever see such a glorious site such as mine. Naturally, you now belong to me."

She came off smug and obnoxious. Austin decided the best option was to avoid this one, no need to entertain a kid. An eccentric one at that. He quickly started in the opposite direction.

She cut him off. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"I"m truly. It was a total accident. Can we just let bygones be?"

She pouted again. "Do you think you can steal a peek at a young maiden"s most sacred place!?" She yelled. Austin scrambled to cover her mouth before she could do ma.s.sive damage to his character. This kid, he thought to himself as he pulled her off to the side.

"Look, kid, what do I have to do get you off my back? I don"t have much money if extortions your game." He grimaced almost pleading. She could ruin him at this point. Not that he had much to ruin anyhow.

"Simply swear your undying love for me and I will forgive you your sin."

His face froze unable to accept the fact that her eyes and mug were both saying she was serious. He shook his head. "I"m flattered. But if I were to do something like that to a middle school girl, I"d likely get arrested. I"m in university you know." He grimaced again at the thought of jail.

"Don"t go flattering yourself on your own accord, it"s only natural you do that much after seeing my panties. And for the record, I"m not in middle school."

Austin looked at her underdeveloped body, he pegged her at least the seventh grade. He shrugged. "It"s even worse if your an Elementary schooler, that"s still out of the question."

Her eye twitched with irritation. "I"m a junior..." She gritted her teeth now in anger. "...In university!"

Austin stopped and remained motionless for several seconds before erupting in laughter. "You said that with such conviction I almost believed that."

Her eye twitched again. "I will drain all the life out of you and use your carca.s.s as a floor mat you worthless ape!

He scoffed. "It really shows your age when you throw tantrums like that. If you"re going to pretend at least commit to the part."

"That it! I was being nice to accept your undying love of your own free will, instead, I"ll revoke your free will altogether." In a flash, she grabbed him and hemmed him up against the back of the building facing the wooded area.

Her eyes were scarlet, it was then Austin understood the position he had placed himself in and the uneasiness he felt from her. Her fangs plunged the opposite side of his neck where Cereza had already laid her claim.