Chapter 3: Who Is She!?

Lorcan Judson

I’m sitting in the canteen on the cornermost bench. Luckily corner benches aren’t very crowded. I keep tapping my foot with earbuds plugged into my ears.

“Didn’t you socialize?” A familiar voice spoke, making me look at the owner of the voice. 

“Oh, Dylan.” I look at him before reaching for the earbuds to take them off.

“What's up with your earbuds?” Dylan wiggles his eyebrows before pulling the chair opposite to me to take a seat. “As far as I remember you aren’t a very big fan of music.”

“It's to make the girls think that I’m busy and they won’t approach me,” I reply, placing the earbuds in its case carefully so as not to damage them.

Because I don’t wanna lose them and buy a new set. It's not worth investing my money anyway. 

“Are they after you?” Dylan wanted to know, leaning a bit forward.

“Notoriously!” I shake my head. “They were sending me their phone numbers non-stop like I'm in charge of a phone booth or something.”

“Here I thought I was the only one,” Dylan scoffs. “They really do stare at you like you are some strange animal who ran away from the zoo.” A sigh escaped from his lips. “For a moment, I felt like I was not a vampire but a pot filled with honey to the brim and those crazy girls were swarming flies. That’s scary!”

“I know right.” I look at him with an ‘I feel you bro’ gaze. “By the way, where is Orlo?”

“Probably flirting with some young lass somewhere,” Dylan replies indifferently, looking as uninterested as ever. 

“Hey! Are you talking about me?” Orlo appears out of nowhere and lightly hits Dylan’s shoulder before taking a seat beside him. 

He always sits beside Dylan and opposite to me. One day, out of curiosity I asked him why he does so when he could even sit beside me. He said that if he sits beside Dylan, he can see my face while talking and it's eye-pleasing for him.

At the moment I couldn’t help nauseating internally. This guy is so flirty that he even forgot to spare me, his older brother. 

“Where did you go?” I ask, looking at him. 

“Oh! To talk to the professor,” Orlo promptly answers. “How was your day?” He looks at me curiously with a mischievous grin plastered on his face. 

“The girls are pestering me!” I sigh, already getting tired on my first day.

“Just avoid them,” Dylan advises, taking out his tablet to check on something. 

“Why avoid them?” Orlo looks at Dylan and me like we said something sinful. “You know, there is a saying that goes like - when life fucks you, just change the position and enjoy it.”

Oh God! This guy! I roll my eyes from right to left. Decency always leaves the chat whenever this guy enters.

“Language, Orlo,” Dylan reminds, shooting a cold glare at him. 

“Oh come on,” Orlo shrugs. “We are at the university. Can't we just enjoy human life for once?”

I shake my head. There is no use talking to this bonehead. He is as stubborn as a mule. 

He starts to blabber about his day.

 Yesterday we planned to join this university and I was sure that Orlo and I would join the same department. But somehow, Dylan and Orlo joined the same department which is the department of Physiotherapy and I, the person who is always out of luck, joined the Department of Occupational therapy.

I take my laptop from my bag and start to work meanwhile Dylan busies himself with checking the statistics of our kingdom. 

“Are you even listening to me?” Orlo slams on the table.

“No!” Dylan and I say in unison.

“Hey, that’s rude!” Orlo complains, pretending that he is upset with us. “By the way, Dylan, why don’t you tell Lorcan about my cute human?”

I frown. Cute human? I glance at Dylan who lets out a huge sigh.

“Quit doing that,” Orlo scrunches his nose.”Your sigh can blow away all the vegetation of this area.”

Dylan glares at the younger one while the latter grins, successfully completing his mission of getting on Dylan’s nerves. He looks away, knowing that he will never win against Orlo. 

“Our dear younger brother lost his heart to a girl from our department,” Dylan informs.

I narrow my eyes. That's kinda impossible. Orlo is a cheeky guy. Though he shows utmost enthusiasm towards humans, he hates them like me or even more. So, I cannot buy the information that he fell for a girl. 

Or maybe…that girl did a miracle and the impossible possible?

I avert my gaze to Orlo, wanting to hear from him. 

“He is right,” Orlo grins proudly. “She is so cute and adorable that I couldn’t resist her.”

“Did you talk to her?” I ask as my curiosity is piqued. 

“She doesn’t know that she caught my interest,” Orlo laughs, guessing what I am getting at. “She helped me to chase away those annoying girls and surprisingly everyone listened to her.”

“What’s her name?” 

“Amara Boden,” Orlo replies with an annoying lovebird smile on his face. 

“Well, speak of the devil, and here she is!” Dylan states without averting his gaze from the tablet screen.

Both Orlo and I turn our heads toward the right to find a slender figure with extremely pale skin walking in through the entrance. 

“Is she really a human?” I squint without averting my gaze. “Her skin is as pale as ours is.”

“Of course, she is a human,” Orlo hits my arm in a friendly way. “She isn’t a vampire.”

As my gaze follows that girl, my eyes suddenly widen and my jaws slack. 

“What is she doing here?” I blurt out as my eyes detect a familiar figure. 

“Who?” Orlo and Dylan ask in unison before glancing at each other. 

“The girl in the blue denim jacket, standing beside your girl,” I reply in gruff, rolling my eyes. 

“You know her?” Orlo grins mischievously.

“No!” I reply abruptly. “Her eyes were following me the moment I entered the class as if I’m a skeleton on display in a clothes shop and never left me until I left the room.” 

“Is that a blooming romance?” Orlo remarks, earning a glare from me.

“Orlo, you know how Lorcan is.” Dylan nudges him, signaling him not to mess with me. 

Orlo makes a face and they start bickering with each other like kids. I sigh before returning my gaze to the laptop screen. 

Though my eyes are glued to the laptop, I see everything through my peripheral vision.

I gasp when I saw that girl from my class passing by me. Out of reflex, I scoot a bit to the left without taking my eyes off the device in front of me. 

Suddenly a waft of intoxicating, sweet scent assaults my nose. I close my eyes instantly as it works straight on my nervous system. The primal instincts of a predator manifest in me, shaking my strong wall of self-control. An overwhelming sensation runs through my veins, as the dormant desire to monopolize someone stirs in me dangerously. 

I clench my fists hard, trying to win over my instincts. 

“Lorcan? What's wrong with you?”

I hear Dylan’s voice that’s contoured with worry. 

“Open your eyes, Lorcan,” Orlo says, putting his hand on my clenched fist. 

I open my eyes and look at them while breathing is ragged. Dylan’s eyes widen and Orlo flinches. 

“Your eyes turned bright red!" Orlo exclaims. 

They already turned bright red?!

 My eyes generally turn into a creamy golden color when I have my fill, jet black when I’m starving and I need blood in my system, and sapphire which is my real eye color. My eyes never change into bright red until I’m in a killing machine mode. 

Vampires' eyes only turn bright red when they lose control over themselves, drink human blood  and when they sense their mate near them. 

Lines of worry form on Dylan’s face as my breathing becomes heavier and the color of my iris is too reluctant to change into my original one. 

“Lorcan, try taking in deep breaths,” Dylan advises, putting his hand on mine. “Try abdominal breathing.”

I swallow hard, trying to control myself. Drops of perspiration start to adorn my forehead. 

“Lorcan, please.” Orlo’s eyebrows are knitted together forming a deep worried frown. 

I close my eyes again and take deep breaths. I focus on the sensation of the air passing through the airway into my lungs. Miraculously, I can feel the raging desires settle down and my tense muscles relax. 

I open my eyes slowly and look at my brothers. They let out a huge sigh of relief. 

Looks like my eyes returned to their normal color. I lean back, relaxing myself. 

“What triggered you?” Orlo inquires. 

“I don’t know,” I lie, shaking my head slowly. “It never happened to me before when I’m resting.”

“Don’t worry,” Dylan coos. “Maybe the scent of human blood is the culprit. That’s it. Just relax.”

I nod in assertion. I avert my gaze to the food counter to find a specific figure. 

That girl is chatting merrily with her friend with plates of food in her hand. 

Who is she? How come her scent stirred the dormant desires in me?